Appleton Academy
Featuring:
o Achievement points winners
o Year group summaries
o Sports Day
o Appleton OAA Olympics
o Trips and visits
o Scholars update
o Art and PD showcase
Together with our community, we can achieve extraordinary things.
Welcome
Welcome to our final newsletter of the year, highlighting the fabulous work taking place in secondary. Appleton has been its usual busy self with a wide array of trips, visits and activities taking place and students have been taking full advantage of our wider curriculum offer. It certainly has been a busy year!
In each newsletter we share a flavour of what has been happening in the academy, including insights into the fabulous work taking place in classrooms
In this issue we celebrate all the wonderful achievements of our students
We also have our usual library and reading update, articles on our many trips out this term for students and our dropdown days along with much more!
If you have things you would like to see featured in the newsletter, please let us know.
Mrs Garlick
Excellence Points
By Mr Hirst.
Well done to the following students on achieving thousands of excellence points. As in previous years, the vast majority of our students earned lots of excellence points and it was a small minority who accrued the most behaviour points.
Over 50% of students did not receive a single behaviour point this year. Please congratulate the following students for being top of their year group and also in the top ten in their year group.
TOP STUDENTS IN EACH YEAR, WELL DONE!
Top 10 Year 7
Year 7 - Caroline Pakalaite
Year 8 - Maddison-Skye Chapman
Year 9 - Kiera Booth
Year 10 - Luke Sayles
Year 11 - Declan Kelly
Caroline Pakalaite
Tomi Agbelusi
Brody Nicholl
Isabelle Johnson
Darren Kelly
Marakai Ryan-Trought
Hannah Whitfield
Amy-Rose Collins
Soraya Zare
Tobias Godward
Top 10 Year 9
Keira Booth
Sienna Conquest
Nimrit Dhillon
Jayden Darvill
Mela Kaczynska
Navjot Sidhu
Harry Adams
Sophie Benson
Connor Readhead
Ryleigh Wilkins
Top 10 Year 8
Maddison-Skye Chapman
Janusz Gos
Pagan Peddar
Alice Pruchnik
William Stacey
Liam Woods
Alfie Dodson
Lucia Romani-Brady
Ffyon Burnham
Finley Vero
Top 10 Year 10
Luke Sayles
Vincent Woodfine
Lewis Hardaker
Kieran Lawrinson
Arham Mahmood
Alfie Kaye
Brooke Elliot
Jack Henson-Bates
Kyle Hant-Stanyon
Ali Al Shmre
Y11 Summary
The 2023-2024 school year was a remarkable period filled with academic achievements, extracurricular successes, and personal growth for our students here at Appleton. The commitment and enthusiasm displayed by students created an environment conducive to learning and development. On the whole students tried their best, were safe and respectful.
Academic Achievements:
• Examinations: Our students are on track to excel in their GCSE exams, with a notable improvement in grades hoped for across all subjects. This reflects the hard work and dedication of our learners. Their results day is August 22nd in school. They were asked to attend additional classes all year and did so with gratitude and thanks to staff.
Extracurricular Activities:
• Arts : The Academy’s drama and Music production was a received well at Christmas time, showcasing the talents of our students in acting and music. Additionally, the art department held a well-received moderation exhibition that displayed a variety of student artwork, from paintings to digital art. One student was particularly commended for his extremely high standard of artwork.
• Clubs and Societies: Participation in clubs and societies increased especially with D of E with many achieving silver awards and going on to study outdoor and sports leadership in college next year.
• Prom: There was an impressive array of cars delivering the prom students to their end of year celebration. This year we had a black and white theme. The students dressed remarkably well and behaved themselves impeccably on the night. They are all a credit to their parents who went the extra mile to ensure they stood out. There was an impressive array of awards won with the pinnacle being prom King and Queen. Pizza, kebab and chips went down well and a good time was had by all. Thanks again to the prom committee who raised plenty of money to make the night such a success.
Personal Development:
• Leadership and Service: Many students took on leadership roles within the school, participating in committees and community service projects. These opportunities helped students develop essential skills such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving.
• Workshops and groups: A series of workshops and seminars were organized throughout the year, focusing on topics like mental health, career guidance, and digital competency. These sessions provided students with valuable knowledge and coping strategies for personal and academic challenges.
Conclusion:
The 2023-2024 school year was a period of significant growth and achievement for our year group. The combination of academic rigour, extracurricular engagement, and personal development opportunities has prepared our students well for their future endeavours. We are proud of their accomplishments and look forward to hearing from them all in the future.
Mr Martin
Y10 Summary
A big thank you from the Year 10 team to all those students who have stepped up this year and shown that you are ready for the most important year of your school life, next year. Your hard work, dedication and positive attitude towards learning has given you the best opportunity to realise your potential in Year 11. Enjoy your summer, be safe, and come back well rested and ready for the final push towards your GCSEs!
Mr Bellwood, Miss Harris and Miss Blay
Y9 Summary
I would just like to say a huge well done to our Year 9 students this year for your continued hard work and commitment. We are very proud of the mature young adults you are becoming and can't wait to see you further develop as Year 10's, beginning your journey towards your GCSE's and all the exciting things that lie beyond!
You have all achieved so much this year, each in your own individual way. I wish you all a safe and restful break over the summer, Mr Hargreaves and I very much look forward to greeting you once again as you return to us, ready for the next challenge, in September '24.
Mrs Ashton and Mr Hargreaves
Y8 Summary
Well done to Year 8 on achieving a huge amount of achievement points this academic year. Your excellent attitude towards being respectful, safe and your best has shone through and collectively you have earned over 300,000 achievement points.
This academic year has seen Year 8 be involved with biking trips, the mini OAA Olympics, climbing trips, careers fairs, two drop down days covering varying topics as well as many students acting as ambassadors for Appleton through supporting with external visitors in school.
We have received some lovely feedback from all subjects and staff have made some difficult decisions on who should receive the end of year awards due to there being so many deserving candidates.
We hope all of our Year 8 students and families have a lovely summer and would like to thank our students for their hard work this year and our families for their continued support over the past 2 years of school.
Miss Crookes and Mr Brogan
Y7 Summary
Well done Year 7 for a fantastic start at Appleton Academy. I can't believe how quickly this year is gone and how much you have grown up already! I bet it feels like you've been here forever, but for Mr Naylor and myself it has gone very quickly and we have enjoyed every minute. So many of you have tried very hard in each of your subjects, attended trips and joined clubs. So many of you have taken part in biking and climbing trips and the commitment and dedication we saw towards the OAA mini-Olympics and sports day was fantastic! We have had a hard time picking subject awards, but these will be revealed in the assembly this Friday as so many staff across all subjects had wonderful things to say about lots of you! Have a great summer holidays and we look forwards to welcoming you back in Year 8.
Miss Douglas and Mr Naylor
On Friday 12th July we held out secondary sports day. We didn’t get the summer weather we were hoping for, but still a great effort from all that took part. Well done to all those that won points for their form.
Form group scores:
Congratulations 9.5 who had the highest score across all four year groups!
By Mrs Ashton.
You may remember reading in our previous Newsletter, about the year 9 students who were involved in creating their own RAP in school, under the supervision of 'The Rap School'. The next stage of the programme, run by Go Higher, was for them to spend the day at Leeds University so that they could showcase what they had developed during this first session with Rap School.
Starting with an 'all you can eat' continental buffet, students then listened to a lecture on personality types. They had fun figuring out which 'animal' their personality related to using a Myers Briggs type psychometric profiling activity. Next, they got to see the sights and sounds of a university campus as it normally looks on a busy morning, with students heading to lectures. Actual students from undergraduate and postgraduate level were on hand to answer questions and 'quiz' the students.
Two team building exercises followed, including a bridge building game and a 'crack the safe' challenge. These games were designed so that each student in the group had a key skill to bring to the challenge, with a sweet treat as a reward.
After a brief break for lunch, students were then taken to a lecture space in the great hall to listen to Jamie Buchanan, former Leeds Rhinos player, give a motivational talk about his life, achievements and the lessons he has learned along the way. Before the talk began they also got the opportunity to watch a rap video, professionally recorded by The Rap School, who used all the lyrics the boys had written. This was a great and unique aspect of the trip.
The boys all posed for photos with Jamie and boarded the bus back to school. A great day out!
The third and final session took place in school to conclude the course and reflect upon all of the things they had learned and discuss how their new skills could be further developed, in addition to how they might link to their future choices. The boys further developed their team building skills with a bit of healthy competition at table tennis, whilst they had their discussions about the future and how to be their best selves!
Well done to all the boys who took part in this, they have been excellent ambassadors for our Academy and should be very proud of their achievements, as we are of them.
Appleton Outdoor Adventure Olympics
During the first two weeks of the term, every form in Year 7 and 8 put forward five competitors to take part in events in Rock Climbing, Mountain Biking and Archery. These events took place during PE lessons and The OAA team were impressed by the effort, attitude and skills of each student who took part.
All the scores from each events were added together and here are the results:
Year 7
7th Place – 7.3 (13pts)
6th Place – 7.2 (18pts)
5th Place – 7.5 (20pts)
4th Place – 7.1 (21pts)
3rd Place – 7.6 (23pts)
2nd Place – 7.7 (24pts)
1st Place – 7.4 (28pts)
Year 8
7th Place – 8.3 (15pts)
6th Place – 8.7 (19pts)
5th Place – 8.1 (21pts)
Joint 3rd Place – 8.2 and 8.5 (22pts)
2nd Place – 8.6 (23pts)
1st Place – 8.4 (25pts)
Top Bikers
Top Climbers
Fastest Speed Climb – Amber Gummery 8.7 (22 secs) Best Bouldering Score - Janusz Gos 8.4,
Top Archers
Highest Score Y7 - Hannah Whitfield 7.7
Highest Score Y8 - Lucas Russell 8.1
PSHE Drop-down Days
Over the last two weeks of term, we have hosted a series of drop-down days to allow students to further their education in Relationship and Sex Education.
This was an exciting opportunity for us. The day was delivered by Step2, who used their excellent resources, expertise, and highly qualified staff to deliver five different sessions to our students throughout the day. These sessions covered various aspects of RSE such as Child Sexual Exploitation, safe healthy relationships and accessing support for unhealthy relationships.
Our students were a credit to Appleton Academy, engaging in different exercises, participating in meaningful discussions, and showing a great amount of respect while finding out about some sensitive issues.
We would like to extend a huge thank you to Step 2 for helping us by delivering these sessions and also to our students who were welcoming and received the days enthusiastically.
Y10 trips & events
Year 10 Bradford College Trip
115 Year 10 students attended Bradford College to take part in taster sessions in a range of subjects. Students took part in sessions in art & design, photography, sport, science, public services, engineering, among others. Students gained valuable experience and fully immersed themselves in the sessions.
Year 10 Mock Interviews
All year 10 students were invited to take part in mock interviews with a range of external visitors from local companies. Students have spent time creating CVs to take into their interviews. Visitors were very complimentary of our students and spoke highly of the attitude and effort they put in to their interviews.
Year 9 Trip to New College, Bradford
Year 9 students from Appleton Academy had the rare opportunity to attend the 2024 New College Bradford ‘Festival of Progression’. This was where students from a variety of high schools across Bradford attended various sessions at the college ranging from motivational speakers, zoology, labs, poetry and more. There was an interesting session on birds of prey and many exciting opportunities with technology.
This was a fantastic event with many eyeopening sessions and talks, especially by some motivational speakers such as Richard McCann, who did a presentation on the hardships he encountered, but also the power of resilience and the rewards of showing this throughout life!
StudentVoice...
“Ireallylikedthezoologysession becauseIlearntsomeinteresting factsaboutbirdsofprey…”
“Wegottoflydroneswhichis partofacoursetheydoat university…” “It ’smademeconsiderdifferent optionsforwhenIleaveAppleton attheendofmyGCSEs…”
Appleton Scholars’ work in the final term…
It has ,once again, been a busy term for our Appleton Scholars . The Scholars’ programme at Appleton Academy is a programme that identifies students with the potential to go onto a higherlevel apprenticeship or university degree course and provides opportunities to build their knowledge, attitudes, skills and habits along with stretch and challenge in order to prepare them with the skills and confidence to succeed in a higher education environment. This term the scholars have had sessions on time management skills with Andy Griffiths and mini discussions on career/future aspirations to help shape next year’s scholars’ curriculum
Year 10 students had the opportunity to visit Deloitte. Deloitte is a multinational professional services network that provides a wide range of services to companies across various industries. As one of the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms, it offers audit, consulting, advisory, and tax services. Deloitte operates as a network of firms with professionals in over 150 countries. Appleton scholars had the opportunity to work on group projects and present their ideas to a group of the staff at Deloitte, as well as the Appleton Headteacher and the rest of the scholars’ mentees…
There have been many more opportunities for scholars to broaden horizons once again with the chance to speak to staff from the university of Cambridge. Cambridge University is a prestigious institution, home to more than 20,000 students from diverse backgrounds worldwide. Students had the chance to learn about the different Cambridge colleges, punting, libraries, museums and more
Well done to all scholars and look out for updates in the next newsletter!
The Great Yorkshire Show 2024 ran from 9th – 12th July and saw 140,000 visitors (Including a group of Y10 students on a trip) enjoying the very best in farming and agriculture. On Thursday 11th July one of our Year 9 students Olivia took part in showing at the huge event in Harrogate. Out of all the competitors including adults, Olivia placed 5th/23, was awarded the Great Yorkshire Show Welsh Section B young rider and also was the highest placed gelding in her class.
Olivia now plans to continue with her success, travelling to the south of England to Hickstead to compete again in the summer holidays.
Library Update
By Mrs Parr.
In June we launched our latest anthology of art and creative writing. The work has been created in partnership with our writer in residence, Nik Perring and our artist, Chris Mould. The students performed their work at a launch for parents and invited guests and were treated to a performance from RAPP artist Donovan Christopher.
Ten students had their work printed on pop up banners to be displayed around school. Pictured is Lilith Broadbent with her beautiful poem, 'Love Nature'
Award winning author, Phil Earle visited school this term. He spoke to students from the scholars programme about his writing influencers and how the book 'Holes' changed his career path. He also chatted to Year 7 students about their form time read, 'When the Sky Falls’ .
English – Mission Chaos
Supporting our students to become writers.
This half term we have sent an amazing 304 entries to the Young Writers competition ’Mission Chaos’ .
We hope our students will build on the success of the previous competition, and that we will get to see even more of their stories in print in the upcoming academic year.
English – Bradford Literature
Festival
We also took 30 year 9 students to Bradford Literature Festival for the Gothic Fiction Day.
"Step into the shadowy realm of Gothic literature as we explore haunting landscapes and the macabre. Explore the dark secrets and psychological depths in influential texts and contemporary fiction with sinister settings, mysterious characters, supernatural occurrences and unforeseen twists. Featuring expert insights into the cultural and historical contexts that birthed tales of suspense and horror, Gothic Day provides an overview of genre conventions, tropes, settings and character archetypes, as well as its influence in art, media and contemporary culture."
The staff and students had a fantastic day learning how to use the features of Gothic Literature to their own creative writing.
Activities Week
Finally, during activities week students in English were asked to solve the murder of Shakey MC in a Shakespeare themed murder mystery. They had to examine evidence and work in a team to eliminate the red herrings and solve the case!
Art at Appleton
Each newsletter we feature amazing artwork created by our students
Year 9 Bradford College trip
This term, Year 9 students visited the Bradford School of Art end of year show and enjoyed an exhibition at Bradford College. Students looked at the exhibited artwork, photography work, textiles fashion work and costume makeup work in the gallery and enjoyed a catwalk showcasing the finished student pieces from the year.
On the left, two of our students looking at the work of a past student of our own from Appleton Academy!
DT at Appleton Year 9 Lamp Project
Year 9 have created lamps in their product design lessons this term. They have explored wood cutting and filing skills as well as working with plastics such as acrylic, to bend and form plastic on the vacuum former.
Looking to the future: Alumni appeal
At Appleton Academy we highly value our connections with former students. We like to celebrate their achievements and experiences with students, staff and the local community.
We would love to hear from former students and hope to be able to work with them, in the capacity of volunteer, mentor and/or inspirational speakers. If you are a former student and would like to be contacted about the possibility of working with us, please complete the form on the link below or alternatively