NEWSLETTER - Axe Valley Academy | Axe Valley Academy ...€¦ · Here are 11 things to really look forward to: 1. Sports Day—Thursday 20 June Year 12 Work Experience—Monday 17

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NEWSLETTER Issue 15—June 2013

Reminder: 24 hour Attendance Number 01297 630157 or

email [email protected]

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Message from Headteacher Grease—the 1970s cult musical set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School—is coming to The Axe Valley Community College! Students have been preparing since January to bring the biggest show of the year to the community. It is a ‘must-see’ event and I would strongly encourage everyone to come along and enjoy a spectacular performance. And on the theme of music, thanks to Mrs Trueman for sharing her memories of The Axminster School’s Folk Band and to parents who have brought in LPs. Come-back tour? On the subject of things that play an important part in the life-blood of the college, I am delighted that our Athletics' team are once again participating in a such a wide range of events and achieving some superb results. Last year I had the privilege of watching the East Devon Athletics Championships at Exeter Arena, which was inspiring. Next Friday (21 June) we have our non-uniform day fundraiser for the term. Proceeds will be split between the Cystic Fibrosis Trust (www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk) and a group of students raising funds to go to undertake volunteer work in Tanzania in Summer 2014 and another student who will be doing similarly but in Napal. Students will be asked to make a voluntary contribution of £1 for the privilege. Lessons will run as normal and to avoid any impact on learning we must insist that students bring their books and equipment for the day. Thanks in advance for your support. On a very different note, I would like to broach the topic of Facebook. Social media is a fun part of everyday life, but it can carry risks. Safety, of course, is the biggest concern and we provide guidance through assemblies and our curriculum on e-safety (visit the www.thinkuknow.co.uk website for more information). It is also important that students act responsibly. Remember there is no such thing as privacy on the internet. Word spreads quickly. Search engines can turn up posts years after they are created - even after you

think you have deleted them - and comments can be forwarded or copied. Inappropriate or inaccurate comments which are damaging to a person’s reputation should be avoided, as they could result in a claim of libel. In short, do not say anything online that you would not say in public. We have had a number of instances recently where students have published inappropriate and offensive messages and we have taken robust action to defend individuals and the college. With less than six weeks to go until the end of the year we are entering the traditional mad-end-of-year period. Here are 11 things to really look forward to: 1. Sports Day—Thursday 20 June

Year 12 Work Experience—Monday 17 June to Friday 21 June

Year 6 Transition Day—Wednesday 26 June

Year 11 Prom—Thursday 27 June

Grease—Monday 1 July to Wednesday 3 July

Year 13 Prom—Friday 5 July

Prize Days: Years 7 & 8 Monday 8 July and Years 9 & 10—Tuesday 9 July

Presentation Evening—Tuesday 9 July

Art Exhibition Week—Friday 12 to Thursday 18 July

Year 10 Work Experience—Monday 15 July to Friday 19 July

Activity Days—Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 July Boys Win Recipe Contest Health and Local Food for Families (HALFF) visited the college in April during one of our Challenge Days to talk to Year 8 pupils about the importance of a healthy diet. They were set two challenges: to come up with a healthy breakfast/snack recipe and a healthy fish dish recipe. Sam Slade’s honey and blueberry inspired snack bar won the first category whilst Josh Coleman’s wholemeal bap with salmon, tomato, lettuce and mild mustard triumphed in the second category. Sam and John were

Cyclist during their training session on Sunday 9 June—see Article on Page 3

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presented with Sam Stern’s Cooking up a Storm (the teen survival cook book) by Rebecca Varley and Laura O’Rourke from HALFF (photo above courtesy of Pulman’s Weekly News). Mrs W Cryer, Collect Connect Dartmoor Classic Cycle Challenge 2013

Last Sunday, 9 June, a group of fourteen students completed a 100km cycle ride across three counties. The route started at college and followed the Axe to Axmouth, then climbed up Stepps Hill across Trinity Hill and down into Marshwood Vale to Beaminster. Then it climbed up White Sheet Hill to Crewkerne and then over the A303 to the Somerset Levels, returning to Axminster via the Blackdowns and Membury. This was the final ride before the event which happens on Sunday 23 June, when the group will cycle the 100km route across Dartmoor. The Dartmoor Classic Cycle Challenge is a very big cycle event involving hundreds of cyclists, most are adults and they travel one of three routes, a 100 mile route, a 100km route and a 30 mile route. The college has entered and completed this event successfully in the last two years. We were the first school to take part in the event. The group have spent the last three months training after college on Thursdays and on Sundays for this event.

The college has been able to take part in the event because of the very kind sponsorship of local firms, who have allowed us to buy and maintain a number of bicycles which students use. The training and organisation requires a great deal of commitment. Special thanks should go to Mrs Fanzo, Mrs Fletcher and Mr Hunt for their help and support. The students taking part are: Joey Davies, Jacob Horton, Matthew Knight, Harriet Burrough, Callum Eastwood, Jessica Evans, Alice Fitzhenry, Jessica Board, Jack White, Edward Polley, Joseph Dunnett, Thomas Lowe, Emma Biss, Callum Gilding and Ollie Board. Finally, I would like to thank all the parents who have supported their children to take part in this event. Mr J. Mythen, Deputy Head Sixth Form Product Design

Inspirational ideas, great innovation and creativity are all possible at college in Technology subjects. Pictured within this article are examples of some of the items AS and A level students have been designing and creating for their final exam pieces. You will see that students have worked really hard to create some interesting and varied products. The lamps (on page 3) were designed as part of the AS Level Year 12 Product Design Unit 2 – by students: Sam

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Bonser, Danny Searle, Bez Durias and James Blockwell. As part of the A Level Product Design – Unit 4 – Design and Make Project, Emma Tristram created the “hen house” out of recycled pallets; Georgina Lamprill made the educational toy for a pre school out of acrylic and different types of timber and, finally, Chris Trenchard created the chair from plywood (he firstly created the model which is also photographed). Well done to all students, let us hope they gain the grades they deserve! Resistant Materials GCSE and Product Design AS/A2 level pieces will be displayed in the Art Exhibition which will take place 12 to 18 July in the Main Hall – so you can

get a chance to all see the work close up! Mrs S Stone, Subject Leader – Technology Axminster School’s Folk Band—LPs being digitally recorded LPs dating back to the early 1970s, have been lent to us,

which have the Axminster Schools Folk Band performing (see photo above, which is a copy of the front of one of the singles!). We are now in the process of digitally recording them, so that they will be available to listen to via our website. Watch this space! Mrs Pat Trueman, Maths Intervention Coordinator, recalls her time in the Axminster School’s Folk Band when the LPs were recorded: “Prior to transferring to Colyton Grammar, I spent 18 months at Axminster Secondary School in the early 70s. During that time, I joined firstly the school choir and then a small folk group was formed. As I remember there were approximately a dozen of us. We were led by Peter Callaghan the Music teacher. We were first and second year students with an average age of twelve. We spent every break and lunchtime learning new songs, practicing our singing and guitar playing. Dean Morgan played the double base. Mr Callaghan was a task master and was never satisfied with second best. During my time, we recorded a single, an EP and an LP of various folk songs. Sadly I now only have a very battered copy of the EP with a photograph of us all on the front cover. The original record was recorded in an upstairs room of the Axe Vale Social Club and I remember the LP being recorded in a former pub at Whitford. We typically spent our weekends and evenings performing at a number of local venues, including various church rooms and town and village halls etc. We also did a regular gig at an hotel in Crewkerne and performed on

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stage at a Variety Performance in Weymouth Pavilion. At another local club we entered a knockout competition that was run over a numbers of weeks; a forerunner to the X Factor! I think we were the only children to perform, all our competitors were adults. I seem to remember we came third overall. For a short time, you could say we became local celebrities. We made two appearances on local television. It was exciting to visit the TV studios in Plymouth and watch ourselves on TV the following day. However the most exciting event for me was the visit by train to Granada TV Studio's in Manchester. We performed on a children's programme called 'Anything You Can Do' where we were part of the 'Westward TV' team of entertainers who competed against another Regional TV team. During the visit, I remember we got to view the set of Coronation Street and meet some of the actors of the day. Unfortunately however, this was before the days of video recorders and the show was broadcast before we returned home so we never saw the programme. Happy childhood memories, long forgotten. My battered guitar is still tucked away at home somewhere.” Mrs P Trueman, Maths Intervention Coordinator Beaford Arts—Primary School Event—8 and 9 June

Emily Slade, a Year 6 pupil from Seaton Primary School, has the following to say about her visit to Beaford Arts which was organised as by the Art Department. “I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Beaford. It was very enjoyable and I feel that the skills I have learnt will help me in later life. We all had a wonderful trip and the days were so crammed with art that they flew by. We experienced drawing plants and our fellow students in the woods. After that we made silhouettes, using graphite powder and templates made from our drawings and foliage we had collected. The next day we played with tissue paper shapes and harmonious and complementary colours. Finally, we combined all that we had learnt into our final canvases, we worked and built up our pictures in stages from rough sketches to glorious masterpieces. There were a few minor hiccups along the way, but overall none of this would have been

possible without the help and guidance of Mrs Fletcher and Mr Sinclair.” Upper School ARTS ASPIRE Workshop – 11 June 2013

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On Tuesday 11 June I organised an after school workshop entitled “USA Marks to Shapes” for the Upper School ARTS ASPIRE Group. It was wonderful to work with these students on an innovative drawing project. They worked on huge sheets of paper taped to upturned tables and built up their drawings with charcoal and rubbers. They had to start with marks all over the paper and slowly let images develop. The process led them on to refine these images and end up with a completely unforeseen outcome. It was a very exciting method and one that can liberate students approaches to drawing. (see pictures over page) Mr C Sinclair, Subject Leader - Art Hamlet Trip—13 June 2013

Fifty students from the college and local primary schools went to see Hamlet performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-Upon-Avon yesterday (13 June). The trip was organised as part of the ASPIRE programme for gifted and talented students. The college’s ASPIRE programme extends its activities wherever possible to Year 5 and 6 gifted and talented pupils from the local primary schools. On this trip there were primary pupils from All Saints C of E Primary School, Beer C of E Primary School, Hawchurch C of E Primary School, Kilmington Primary School, Shute Primary School and Seaton Primary School. The students attended a theatre workshop where they had the opportunity to take part in several scenes from Hamlet. They learned about how to position themselves on stage so that they could be seen from all three sides of the stage. The RSC actors also showed them how the same Shakespeare lines could have a different impact on the audience depending on how they were read, e.g. threatening and intimidating or pleading. The students watched the almost four hour matinee performance of Hamlet. At the end, the students met with some of the leading actors at a reception exclusively arranged just for the college and its primary schools group. Jonathon Slinger, the actor who played Hamlet, generously gave the students half an hour of his time to answer the students’ questions. Mrs R Levi, ASPIRE Coordinator

Devon Schools Athletics Success Reid Mawdsley (Year 11 student) has qualified to represent Devon Schools in the 200m and 4 X 100m relay, after coming 2nd in the 200m and 3rd in 4 x 100m relay finals in the Devon Schools Trials. We wish him well. Mr T Davies, Subject Leader—PE East Devon Athletics Championships—Thursday 27 - June—8.50am to 6.00pm—Exeter Arena Please note that the annual exodus to Exeter Arena for the East Devon Schools Athletics Championships (Years 7 to 10) will take place on Thursday 27 June. Athletes will be selected by 21 June and letters given out by Monday 24 June - be ready to represent your college ! We enter a team of girls and a team of boys from each year group and every team can enter two competitors for every event. This adds up to a lot of students having the opportunity to compete for the college at Exeter Arena (for some students it is their only chance to compete at such facilities). We were intending to use Sports Day as a trials/selection process. As Sports Day has now been postponed, we will be unable to provide a list of students attending until Friday 21 June at the earliest. Mrs T Moran, PE Department Year 7 Rounders’ Match Congratulations to the Year 7 girls rounders’ team who won their first friendly rounders’ match on Wednesday 5 June against Honiton. It was a perfectly sunny summer afternoon— the girls were excited but also very aware of the concentration and effort that would be required. Amanda Apsey bowled superbly throughout the match— never getting flustered. Sophia Harris and Nicole Tait ran hard between posts, while Courtney Hartnell made crucial decisions to get players out. Maddie White kept her cool as backstop with accurate throwing. All players made noticeable progress in their tactical understanding, particularly with decisions on whether to throw to second base or not! It was an incredibly tight scoring affair, but Axe Valley were the deserved victors—11.5 rounders to Honiton’s 11. Hopefully the girls can put on a similar performance with increased hitting power at their East Devon tournament on Tuesday 18 June. The full team were: Maya Coman, Courtney Hartnell, Maddie White, Lily Fitzhenry, Amanda Aspey, Sophia Harris, Nicole Tait, Anne Cruzado and Amelia Speers. Mrs T Moran, PE Department

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Non-Uniform Day—Friday 21 June 2013 We will be holding a non-uniform day on Friday 21 June. The monies received will be shared, as follows: 50% for Cystic Fibrosis Trust 50% for the Tanzania Project involving students: Dana Barker, Chris Loveridge, Dan Bolton and Jamie Salter and the Napal Trip being undertaken by Georgina Dixon. May I remind students that they will still need to bring in all books and equipment for their lessons on that day? Mr M Smith, Headteacher Inappropriate Viewing Can I remind parents that cartoons such as: “Family Guy” and “South Park” are adult cartoons? They contain totally inappropriate references and are sexually explicit. Please do not allow your child/children to have access. In addition, please ensure that appropriate filters are in place on your home computers and laptops. It has come to my attention that some students are accessing adult material and making reference to it in college. Ms P Tollett, Student Support Manager Message from Technology Department If you have borrowed tins, pyrex dishes, tubs etc, can I please remind you to return these to the Food Technology Department before the end of term? Many thanks. Mrs K Fanzo, Technology Department Gardening Club We have tomato plants for sale in the Gardening Club—50p each of 3 for £1. Mrs L Slade, Gardening Club PTFA Quiz and Chilli Night and Textiles Collection The PTFA’s next fundraiser will be a quiz and chilli night which is due to take place on Saturday 6 July—7.30pm—Main Hall. Quiz Entrance fee £2 per person and Chilli £3. There will also be another textiles collection—this will take place on Monday 15 July—so if you are having a “clear out” please bring items in to college by this date! Items required include: towels, bedding, belts, handbags, shoes and all clothing. Many thanks. PTFA Error on Calendar Please note that the Transition Day is on Wednesday 26 June and not as previously indicated – Tuesday 26 June!

Swap Shop – Dates and Appeal for More Clothing Dates:

The next one will be on Tuesday 25 June between 2.00pm and 4.00pm

There will be a stall at the Transition Day Evening Event on Wednesday 26 June – t6.30pm to 8.30pm

The last one before the Summer break will be on Tuesday 16 July

The first one in the Autumn term will be Tuesday 17 September

We urgently require more girls’ shirts, trousers and skirts, but all donations gratefully received. In addition, we urgently need volunteers to assist with the running the shop and sorting out/washing of items. If you can spare a few hours, please contact Reception. Many thanks. Lisa Ovenden PAYMENTS

All cheques for the school must be:-

Made payable to DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL.

Have your child’s name and reason for payment written on the reverse.

Placed in an envelope with your child’s name, tutor group and reason for payment marked on the front.

All handed into reception. Thank you. Finance Office Reminders for your Calendar 17 06 13 to 21 06 13—Year 12 Work Experience 18 06 13—Year 8 HPV Vaccinations 18 06 13—Year 7 Parents’ Evening 21 06 13—Non Uniform Day 26 06 13—Year 6 Transition Day

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