Belvedere Ezine Autumn 2013

2013 autumn

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More exam success Cathy Cassidy visit

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www.belvedereacademy.net

Inclusion Charter Mark

Barcelona Trip

The Val3ntine Brothers

Summer School http://kaywa.me/v5Qax

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Sheikh visit

Gifted & Talented

Summer School

Barcelona Trip

The Valentine Bros

Cathy Cassidy

Headgirl’s Message Inclusion Charter Mark Exam success GDST Rally

What’s inside…

FEATURE STORIES

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

We are the

champions The GDST Northern Rally 2013 was held at Newcastle High School 18th September.

themselves. Their behaviour and team spirit was impeccable.

Girls competed in 7 different events including Senior rounders, badminton, trampolining, table tennis, tennis, Junior rounders and volleyball. As well as the usual Northern Trust Schools to compete against (Newcastle, Sheffield, Nottingham, Northampton, Shrewsbury, Birkenhead) there was also the addition of the newest school Church High. There is also a very prestigious gifted and talented challenge event that runs for year 9 students from the same schools.

Overall, the results for Belvedere were outstanding and Belvedere’s success was mentioned in the presentations a lot.

The standard of all events is extremely high with many county and even national players competing in most of the events.

In all the years that I have attended the Northern Trust Rallies, I have not witnessed such a successful trip. All the girls that attended were a credit to Belvedere and

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Junior Rounders Winners Volleyball runners up Table Tennis A runners up Tennis B runners up Gifted & Talented runners up Junior rounders Despite Belvedere being the overall underdogs we ended up coming out on top for the first time in Belvedere history. The team was Jazmin Mooney (Captain), Maya

Haddley, Olivia Johnson, Phoebe Rhodes, Martha Potter, Amelia Corrie-Fairhurst, Alex McDermott, Rachel Smith, Lauren Evans and Anisha Singh.

We won six out of seven matches only losing the other by half a rounder. After seven consecutive matches we were awarded 1st place above Birkenhead, Church High, Shrewsbury, Newcastle Central, Northampton, Nottingham and Sheffield.

Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

Introduction

Tennis

We all travelled to Newcastle on Tuesday 17th September 2013. When we got there we went to the Metro Centre, the biggest shopping centre, and shopped for two hours. The night before going to Central Newcastle High School we stayed at the Holiday Inn. The next day there were lots of events like rounders, volleyball, tennis, trampolining, table-tennis, badminton, and the challenge. We were very successful and won Junior rounders, smashing all of the other teams. Lots of others sports came runners up. A fantastic achievement for the Academy. Well done, Belvedere!

The tennis took place at Northumberland Tennis Club and our participants for this event were Tia Morris and Eloise Morris, the sister duo. The sisters battled it out against England’s finest players and they ended up runner up in the B sector. Well done, girls!

The Challenge The challenge event took place in the library. The team included, Rebecca Bulayima, Morgan Bunclark, Hannah McCoombs, and Faye Walmsley. The team had to create a presentation about a machine in the future that can read minds.

The girls came runners up.

Holy Furlong and Maira Malik took part in the B sector for the first time and managed to come third. This is a great result for your first year. Fantastic girls.

Mrs McAnespy.

Volleyball Paula Wulff, Kaitlin Hampson, Kaiqi Li, Imaan Guleid, Sophie Mulligan, Emma and Kate Hickson participated in this event and won all matches bar three.

They played fantastically all day and the hard work paid off as they came runners up. Well done to all the participants.

Tabletennis Olivia Vanden-bos, and Louise Row, were a smashing team, who competed in the A sector and still managed to come second.

This is a great success. Well done you two.

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

Once again, the students at Belvedere have excelled themselves in the latest round of external examinations.

At A-Level, almost 80% of all the grades were awarded A*-C, significantly above the national average for the sixth year in a row.

We wish all of last year’s cohort every success as most of them take up their places at University to continue their studies.

Another fantasti

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

tic set of results...

A big congratulations also to last year’s Y11 students; almost 90% of them achieved five excellent GCSEs including English and Maths- again a figure well above the national average of just below 60%.

The Belvedere girls also achieved well above national norms with almost 90% of all grades being awarded A*-C. This compares very well with a national figure of 69%. The majority of the students have joined us for their Sixth Form education.

We wish all of them every success as they embark upon the next stage of their lives.

A huge thank you and well done to all parents and staff of last year’s Y11 and Y13 cohorts!

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

Belvedere earns the Liverpool Inclusion Charter Mark Inspections in school can be stressful for staff and pupils.

The inspection of the Inclusion Department which took place in July, however, was surprisingly pleasant and positive.

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The parents have ‘overwhelming confidence in the Academy and were full of admiration for the work of the Inclusion Team’.

The Inclusion Team… reaches out to all students across the whole Academy, supporting the Pastoral care of all young people.

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We had to send the inspectors plenty of papers and documents beforehand. So when the inspectors arrived, they had already realised how well students are looked after here at Belvedere; how many different ways of helping girls to progress and prosper are in place, and how well students are helped to overcome obstacles they may meet on their way through the school years.

The inspectors spoke to various girls and found how they had grown in confidence over the years, and that there is a good relationship between older and younger girls, and also between students and staff.

They found that students are making very good progress at Belvedere and they were very impressed with their mature attitude (those of you who were there, you know who you are!).

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Parents also supported the view that in Belvedere their concerns are taken seriously and are being dealt with promptly and that bullying is never tolerated. One parent said that the communication between the Inclusion Department and home was “outstanding”.

At the end of the day, we received the Inclusion Charter Mark for the second time in a row together along with a glowing report. Although it was the Inclusion Department that was inspected, the praise we have received goes out to all of us: to all the staff, all students and all parents.

It was noted how calm and purposeful the atmosphere is around the school and how many different Enrichment opportunities we have in our school. It was also reported that it is not academic progress alone which counts but that the school always has the well-being of the whole child in mind too.

We have our very own school counsellor, Gabbie Hill, and this has proved a huge benefit as she supports girls who are going through a difficult patch in their lives in a positive and constructive way.

Only when people work together on all different levels, can a school be truly inclusive. This feedback from the inspection is yet another proof that our school is exceptional across the city and that we can all be proud of being part of the Belvedere experience.

And every single one of us makes this happen.

Mrs Marshall and Ms Thelan.

Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

Welcoming our new Year 7s: The Year 7 Induction Programme The first week of September saw the Year 7s enjoy their induction programme. They completed a range of activities such as a scavenger hunt, ice breakers and team building activities within their form class and colour groups.

“ The induction programme was very good, I really enjoyed the build a tower with newspaper challenge and my group won the chocolate.” Megan O’Neill

They got to know the school and made lots of new friends. We look forward to a successful year with the new Year 7s.

“ Our first two days at school helped me make new friends easily. ”

“ The induction days were very helpful as I got to know my way around school very quickly especially when we completed the scavenger hunt.”Catriona Chandler Madelaine Dykes-Swindell

Miss Scott.

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

A message from the Head Girl Hello...

I’m Paula, your Head Girl for 2013/14 and together with the rest of my team I want to make sure that you have your say in the school. We’ll be working with many of you during the year to make Belvedere as welcoming and vibrant as possible so if you have any new and creative ideas, the Team and I will do our best to help you put them in place.

If you ever have something on your mind, feel free to stop us in the corridor or come and see us in our brand new office.

remember exactly what it’s like. Whether you’re just having some difficulties in one of your lessons and aren’t sure who to go to, or if you’re in Year 9 or 11, about to make some important choices, we’d be happy to give you advice!

What we really want is for you to enjoy your time here as much as we have so don’t be shy – we’re not that much older than you!! – and bring a friend along if you don’t want to see us on your own.

Hope to see many of you soon.

We’re here to talk about anything and everything. We’ve all been through the process, from Year 7 to Year 12, so we can

Your Head Girl Team.

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

A visit from

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

the Sheikh On 3rd July, Belvedere was delighted to welcome Sheikh Abdullah, Dr Nyeem and Dr Dhiya Al-Jumeily who are the owners of a British School in Abu Dhabi. Our visitors met girls from across the Academy and were presented with special Belvedere lapel badges. If you look carefully at the photograph taken in the outer hall you can see our guests with Mr Kennedy, all wearing their badges!

The Sheikh, pictured on Mr Kennedy’s right, was delighted with the Academy and impressed by the girls, saying on his

Before the Sheik and his entourage arrived, I was very nervous; especially as I had to read out a small speech which was very scary, but went well. Also people had been telling me that I had to bow to him and I couldn’t look him in the eye which added to my nerves but in the end the Sheik was nothing like that!

way out, “You have a beautiful school on the outside and a beautiful school on the inside too!”

Mrs McDonald, formerly Curriculum Leader of Maths at Belvedere, has joined the school in Abu Dhabi as Vice Principal and will hopefully keep us informed as the school develops.

Good luck to her as she starts the new academic year 3,500 miles away.

Mr Kennedy.

very well and it was such an interesting experience to have. I was very privileged to get asked to go to the event and I even got free cakes!

Overall the visit was a great success and me and everyone else enjoyed it alot.

Martha Potter, Year 9.

When they first arrived everything was quite formal but after we had presented some gifts to them, they came round and talked to us, which was very interesting.

I spoke to the Sheik himself who was very nice but quite intimidating at the same time. He told us about his own background and school days and he also discussed the new British School as well.

He and his colleagues also asked us about our own lives, what we enjoyed and also our ambitions too. The Sheik’s son even suggested an exchange visit between us and the school in Abu Dhabi!

After the Sheik departed everyone was excitedly talking about their own encounters with him. I felt the day went

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

Belvedere hits

Barcelona

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

In the early hours of Sunday, 14th July, a group of 40 excited Belvedere girls along with Mrs Barry Gallardo, Mr McGovern, Miss Cosgrove and Miss Pozo set out for Barcelona. We spent the hot, sunny afternoon on the beach, having a dip in the sea, sunbathing and watching our Year 8s making a very impressive human pyramid!

On the first full day, we went into Barcelona city centre and explored the city’s (and Europe’s) most famous collection of streets, Las Ramblas. While there, we popped into the Boquería Market where we were all glad to quench our thirst with some delicious fresh fruit juices from a huge selection.

Miss Cosgrove introduced us to the Gothic Quarter and we saw some of the Port Vell (old port) of Barcelona before being whisked away by coach to see the famous Camp Nou, home of Barcelona F.C.! It was a really interesting visit and we even got to go down to pitch level. In the evening the girls loved the music and dancing at the hotel!

The second day was just as busy, with an ‘arty photo’ competition organised by Mr McGovern, a trip to see the world-famous basilica the Sagrada Familia, the intriguing Poble Espanyol with its representations of the different regions of Spain and lastly Montjuic Castle, which despite not having

much to see inside, boasts an amazing view of Barcelona!

The girls enjoyed a dip in the hotel pool and trip to the beach that evening, before some of them took part in the hotel’s Talent Show - particular mentions must go to Lili Johnstone for her amazing performance of ‘I’m Yours’ and to Phoebe Rhodes, Olivia Johnson, Martha Potter, Eve Scanlon and Rebecca Robertson-Enciso for their rendition of ‘Summer Nights’!

The last full day was arguably the most exciting for some of the girls - it was Port Aventura day! Everyone (especially the teachers!!) had a fantastic day. That evening, we took part in the very Spanish custom of going for a walk along the seafront and taking in the atmosphere of Comarruga, the Spanish town where we stayed - Señorita Pozo felt right at home!

We also had a lovely ‘awards’ ceremony where the girls who had particularly impressed their teachers with their enthusiasm, efforts to speak Spanish and participation in activities were rewarded with a souvenir from Spain.

We were delighted to be able to take the girls to Barcelona and that they had such a great time on the trip - we’re already looking forward to next time!

Mrs Barry Gallardo - Trip Leader.

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

The Val3ntine Brothers Return!

An outstanding Twitter craze spread across the school that the amazing Val3ntine Brothers were returning on 10th June because we came second in their Twitter competition.

During their last visit to Belvedere, they wrote on their website, “Belvedere Academy was immense! They packed 800 girls (Years 7 - 13) into the school hall! They all got up on their feet for our last song.

Belve made a huge effort in our Twitter comp. They created so much activity about us on Twitter that we topped the Liverpool trending map for our first time ever and so did Belve!! We were so shocked!! Xx” We interviewed them for a second time to ask a few questions...

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to come back. This is like our second home.

We love Belvedere!”

Aisha Chowdhury “We asked Belvedere girls if they could ask you one question what would it be. The number one response was, ‘Are you single and what girls do you go for?’”

Joel “Well, we are all single and I don’t really have a type. What about you Roo?” Reuben “I am not old enough!”

Sam “And for me, well love is love! I don’t have a type.”

Lily Davies “What made you want to come back?”

Lily Davies “How did you get from YouTube stars to teen pop sensations?”

The Val3ntine Brothers “The atmosphere was amazing and because the gap between you and Upton (winning school) was so close, we decided

The Val3ntine Brothers “We aren’t really teen pop sensations just yet, but the level we are at now we got to by putting ourselves in loads of different

Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

situations and posting videos on YouTube to get known.”

Lily Davies “I was at the Epstein on your last concert, how did it feel having all of the girls screaming your names and reaching up to the stage?”

The Val3ntine Brothers “We were so surprised we were definitely not expecting it! The feeling was surreal and all of our family were shocked!”

Aisha Chowdhury “Since you have been on the schools tour, have you had a massive increase in followers on twitter?”

The Val3ntine Brothers “Yes we went from 800 to 3300 that means we gained 2500 during the schools tour.”

Lily Davies “As Justin Bieber’s fans are called Belibers, do your fans have a name?”

The Val3ntine Brothers “Well before we started the school tour, a small group of fans started calling themselves ‘The Valentiners’ and that has sort of just stuck!”

Year 7 walk for Sunflowers

Aisha Chowdhury “When can we buy your songs on iTunes?”

The Val3ntine Brothers “Within the next few months we will be selling our single but just keep checking!”

The songs that The Val3ntine Brothers sang were: Irreplacable, Daft Punk mash up, Close to you and Tonight Tonight.

We really enjoyed having the Val3ntine Brothers in school and all of the girls were very excited about it. We hope that they will decide to return again as we loved having them here and we are sure that all of the teachers and pastoral staff enjoyed having everyone in early!

Lily Davies and Aisha Chowdhury, Year 7.

On Friday 7th of June, the whole of Year 7 participated in a sponsored walk. The walk was in aid of Sunflowers, a local charity that supports people living with cancer.

All together Year 7 raised an impressive £600. The largest contribution was from 7C who collectively raised £196.80.

However, every form raised an amazing amount. My friends and I thoroughly enjoyed this important event. It was a fun way of supporting a charity; we hope to have another event in the future.

Sameera Mossa, Year 7.

Photos show the band in concert and girls from the Press Club enrichment conducting their interview.

Photos: Mr Dykeaylen

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

An ideal opportunity to get signed copies of thier favourite titles.

Cathy explains her methods of using daydreaming to evolve storylines.

Eager students asking Cathy questions during the Q&A session.

AN AUDIENCE WITH

Teen author Cathy Cassidy caused a lot of excitement when she visited Belvedere to give an inspiring talk to Years 7 and 8. Cathy’s books, which include Dizzy and Cherry Crush, are hugely popular and are borrowed from the school library every day.

In person Cathy was every bit as charming and imaginative as the characters in her novels. She arrived just as another set of guest stars were leaving; The Val3ntine Brothers were finished performing for the whole school assembly and Cathy was so inspired by the idea of an up-and-coming local boy band visiting a school she considered using the idea in a future novel!

She told pupils about her life growing up around the corner from Belvedere and about what lessons she enjoyed at school.

Her favourite thing to do was daydreaming; something that wasn’t approved of by her teachers but which has helped her become a writer. She encouraged the girls to daydream to allow their imaginations to develop great stories.

She gave the girls interesting insights into the life of a published author. For example, Cathy doesn’t plan her novels, but draws a page of characters and important objects which will feature in her book and goes from there.

At the end of the talk Cathy spent time with the girls, signing their books and answering their questions. She may well have inspired the next generation of authors. Will we see an exBelvedere pupil’s book in the library some day?

Miss L. Murphy, Librarian.

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

MFL Gifted & Talented Sessions

On 18th of June, a number of students (Years 7 and 8) were selected as Gifted and Talented in languages and were asked to participate in three sessions, where we learnt different languages.

The first hour, we learnt Swedish with Mr Ryder and we were given a booklet with a variety of questions and fill in the blanks to help us explore the patterns of Sweedish words. We had fun as we investigated words and their patterns and by the end knew some words by memory, for example, “hund” means dog.

In the second period, we did Mandarin with a Mandarin expert, Katie Lou Holland in Year 9, who kindly came in to give us a memorable lesson. First, we tried to write out the characters of Mandarin. After that, we answered questions like, “How old are you?” and “Where are you from?” and we all had a fabulous time trying the pronunciations of the words. Finally we had to hold a conversation in Mandarin, and a few pairs were called up to perform them, and indeed they were successful.

In the last session, we learned Catalan/ Valencian with Miss Pozo and first of all we had to guess where Catalan was spoken,

and nearly everyone got it right, which is near the south-east of Spain. Later on, we were given a set of words and were told to put them in categories as some of the words sounded French or Spanish. Some words were easy, some were ok and some were really hard, but in the end everyone knew the correct answers and we only made some mistakes, which was really good. After that, we learnt how to say ‘Good morning, good afternoon and good evening.’

Furthermore, we learnt how to say, ‘my name is’ and ‘how old I am’ and ‘how I feel.’ Everyone was able to pronounce everything amazingly and could actually start a conversation. Finally, we learnt about who is in our families and we had to write a translation in French or Spanish for the words in Catalan. Everyone did wonderfully and we could spot the similarity between the words.

We had a fabulous time and we had to take our papers home, so there was a piece of the sessions to keep and use for the future. Before we left, we wrote some positive feedback on these sessions and our teachers seemed to be pleased.

Aksa Anzy, Year 7.

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

Becoming a ‘Belvedere Girl’ Lauren Deegan, Eva Halpin, Kristy Hayes and Olivia Grimes are just four of the many external students who joined Belvedere Sixth Form this year. Here they share their experience of becoming a ‘Belvedere Girl’.

We knew that the transition from GCSE to A-Level was going to be a big step and moving to a different school would make it more difficult. However, along with the friendly and welcoming environment within the Academy, the induction programme they had in place made settling in a lot easier.

The induction programme started in the summer when we were invited on the school trip to Alton Towers, which was a great day and introduced us to lots of new people. Although three of us came from different schools, we spent the day together and kept in touch over the summer, making it easier on our first day in September.

The first three days consisted of different activities to help us settle in and get to know each other better. This involved motivational talks, team-building activities and a day out to the ice-rink and Red Hot Buffet in Liverpool One. These activities had a big impact on how well we settled in and we soon felt a part of the school.

We are very happy with our choice to move to the Belvedere Academy and are looking forward to the next two years to come!

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Ogden Trust – Physicist of the Year Awards In July at Liverpool University Central Teaching Complex – The Ogden Trust ‘AS Physicist of the Year’ awards took place. This was a prestigious event and celebrated the excellent achievements of Physicists across a selection of schools and academies in the North West region.

Choosing a person from Belvedere to receive the award gave us a real ‘headache‘ because a significant number of year 12 Physicists from our first Academy intake were (and still are) performing to a very high standard. This could have been awarded to any of four students from the group but after careful consideration the award was given to Annie-May Walsh.

We would like also to congratulate Paula Wulff, Ellen Appleton and Helen Davies who also made excellent progress by achieving grade As and demonstrated a superb Physics awareness consistently throughout the course. Well done to Sophie Pate who also scored a grade A at AS level.

Annie-May has not only made excellent progress at AS but also showed real evidence for a widening of her subject

Wedding congratulations Congratulations to Miss James who got married over the summer holidays. Her new name is Mrs Byrne.

awareness and deepening of her knowledge beyond the immediate specification.

Annie-May has a real passion for Physics that I am sure will continue well into her undergraduate years.

Every year Belvedere produces students who go on to study Physics or Physics related subjects and we want this trend to continue well into the future. The aim of the Ogden Trust is to support the increase in uptake of Physics as a facilitating subject for university entrance. At Belvedere we are part of a developing partnership of schools and academies under the Ogden Trust banner. We hope this year we can utilise further opportunities provided by the Ogden Trust to engage our students in this fantastic subject.

At Belvedere we are also affiliate members of the Institute of Physics (IOP) and would encourage all girls taking AS and A2 to become student members themselves. If you are interested in becoming a student member please see Mr P A Caulfield, Mrs Young or Dr. Moon.

Mr P A Caulfield .

Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

Duke of Edinburgh

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a successful enrichment activity in the Belvedere Academy and growing in popularity each year.

10, 11 and 12, showing that the girls of the Belvedere Academy work well as a team, not just when they are paired with close friends, but across the year groups too.

More girls than ever are completing not only the expedition sections of the DofE Award in school, but their service, skills and physical recreation sections too.

Together, they trained for their expeditions but they were also very busy raising money to help to subsidise the cost of the expeditions for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award within the Academy.

Last summer, 31 students went on two Bronze Award expeditions in Lancashire.

During the practice and the assessed expedition, they learnt many skills, which include navigation and camping skills, cooking on trangias, and evaluating their fitness. But most of all, everyone had great fun working as a group and made lots of memories, especially of the animals!

On 5th of June, we travelled to the University of Liverpool together with Mrs Huyton and Mr Betts. We were greeted by Dr Helen Aspinall in one of the University’s lecture theatres where we were told the plan for the day. After being told what we were going to be doing, we made our way to one of the newest labs in the University which was a great experience for us all.

Our task was to investigate a murder and come to the conclusion of who committed it by testing unknown salts and trying to match them with the one found at the crime scene-hopefully providing us with the identity of the culprit.

Before we knew it, the time was up, our results were being collected in and it was time for lunch. We all really enjoyed ourselves figuring out who the criminal was.

After lunch, we were faced with an even tougher challenge. We were to get water to

Parents and teachers played an essential role in supporting The Duke of Edinburgh last year by joining the 100 club. I can assure you that the £40 draw winners were very pleased!

I would like to thank the staff and our two helpers Caitlin Hampson and Sophie Mulligan who devoted their time to make this expeditions possible.

Duke of Edinburgh has also been collecting unwanted good quality second hand adults and children`s clothing, sheets, blankets, curtains, soft toys, shoes, belts and handbags for Bag2School in order to raise money. The next collection will be in October 2013.

The group was made up of girls from Year

Mme Saulnier.

a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius after 45 seconds. Again, we enjoyed figuring this puzzle out. When it was time for ours to be tested by the judges, our water ended up at 10.5 degrees Celsius-so close!

However, we had also had to write out our method, and, in our opinion, our method was very good.

Our final activity for the day was a lecture from Dr Helen Aspinall. We were shown how glow sticks work and how different chemicals can create different colours of light. Before we left, it was time for the presentations. We were surprised to receive 3rd place for the second challenge of the day. All of us were very proud of ourselves.

Salters’ Festival of Chemistry

Overall, we had a great day and it was a wonderful experience for all four of us.

Rebecca Bulayima, Faye Sikora, Yumna Kaleem and Morgan Bunclark, Year 8.

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Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

The who’s who of who’s new...

Dr Moon

So, how have you found Belvedere? It’s been really nice; really nice facilities and all you girls seem keen. Yeah, it’s been really good.

What made you want to be a teacher? I’ve thought about it for a long time, ever since I finished my degree. I did various other things and I just decided it was time. I thought I was old enough and mature enough to maybe be good at it.

What’s your favourite thing at Belvedere? I was going to say the school dinners! Loads of things really but if I had to choose one thing it would be the attitude of the students compared to other schools.

What was the naughtiest thing you did at school?

We put a whoopee cushion on the teacher’s chair but that was in juniors.

Georgia McChrystal, Megan Johnson and Tia Brennan, Year 8.

What’s your favourite joke? It would probably be a science joke like, ‘There was a light bulb that went on holiday and the luggage man asked where his luggage was and the light bulb replied that he’s a travelling light.’

Where were you teaching before you came to Belvedere? I was working in Notre Dame at Broadgreen International.

What was your first day at Belvedere Academy like? It was nice to be with my Year 7 class but it was also a very hectic day.

Miss McCone

What was the naughtiest thing you ever did at school? The naughtiest thing I ever did was attach weights to one of the teacher’s jumpers.

Zarwa Malik, Maryam Islam and Rebecca Morris, Years 10 and 8..

Miss Pugh

Who is your least favourite King or Queen and why? My least favourite King is King John mainly because he was stupid.

What’s your favourite joke? Umm that’s a hard question! It would be one that starts with ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’ but they’re not that funny anymore, so I guess my favourite jokes would be from the wrappers on the chocolate Penguins.

What was your first day at Belvedere like? My first day at Belvedere was brilliant. It was nice to spend the day with my Year 7 form. That was the highlight of the day. Also everyone was really welcoming and kind.

What was the naughtiest thing you did at school?

I was actually a good student at school so I guess the naughtiest thing I ever did was throw something across the classroom.

Zarwa Malik, Maryam Islam and Rebecca Morris, Years 10 and 8.

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Allerton and went to Bishop Eton Primary School and SFX Secondary School.

How did you get into teaching music? I’ve always loved music from an early age. After University I had my fair share of decent office jobs but I felt I wasn’t really contributing anything worthwhile and to cut an extremely long story short I was accepted into Sandhurst (which is where officers train for the

army). However, after some sad news about a friend in the army I changed my mind and decided to start a PGCE a few weeks later. The rest is history and I have no regrets. I love teaching and the holidays aren’t bad either!

Are there any subjects you liked at school except music? When I was in school I enjoyed all of my subjects apart from Chemistry. I was terrible at it!

Amelia Johnson, Year 8.

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Mr O’Keeffe

Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

Mr Grunwell

How have you found Belvedere so far? I’ve found it very busy but it’s a very pleasant place to work.

Its good fun and all the pupils and staff are very friendly.

What made you want to be a teacher? Wow good question! Basically I enjoy the subject and I started teaching while I was in South East Asia and I really enjoyed working with young people.

What was the naughtiest thing you did at school?

Me? Oh I was actually wasn’t very naughty, I was the quiet kid doing all of his work. I don’t think I ever did anything naughty. Well me and my friends didn’t like rugby and we didn’t want to play so we ran away and hid and that was as bad as it got.

What’s your favourite thing about Belvedere? The students are pretty awesome so far and the other

Georgia McChrystal, Megan Johnson and Tia Brennan, Year 8.

Where did you grow up? I grew up in a little town called Enniskillen.

Did you like it? Yes it was grand, lots of nice small islands and it had a really nice atmosphere.

Have you had a previous teaching job? Yes, in Glasgow in Scotland at a primary school. I taught there for two years and I was an undergraduate in Liverpool so I decided to come back.

Mr Mason

Zarwa Malik, Maryam Islam and Rebecca Morris, Years 10 and 8.

teachers have been really good. The free lunch is good. I’ve never seen that before.

How did you get into teaching English? I have always really enjoyed the subject and teaching runs in the family so I decided to study English it at University.

Was English your favourite subject at school? I would not say it was one of my favourite subjects at school because I enjoyed Drama and Music but English has always been something that has come to me really easily.

Alexandra Kay, Year 12.

Is there a specific artist whom you look up to for inspiration? David Hockney - he uses everything around him for inspiration, and he uses lots of mixed media. At the same time, he keeps up with technology. I would say that while technology grows, his art does as well.

What was your proudest moment as a teacher?

My proudest moment as a teacher was getting a job at Belvedere; I felt rewarded for all my hard work.

Another proud moment would be helping a failing student to achieve an A in Art. Where did you work before you came to Belvedere?

I worked at Gateacre School. I decided to come to Belvedere for a challenge, as it’s known to have very high standards. I really enjoy how the students here are polite and conscientious.

Where did you teach before you came to Belvedere Academy? I taught in Liverpool College and also Childwall.

What was your first day at Belvedere like? It was nice to meet my first class which was 8 Red and it was also a very hectic day.

Mr Cassidy

What was your first day at Belvedere like? It was nerve wrecking. However, I was given a group of Year 7s for my form, and since they were very nervous too, it wasn’t too bad. Overall, I had a very enjoyable first day.

What’s the worst thing you ever did as a student?

I locked a teacher out of a classroom. After much contemplation, I admitted to it and received a detention.

What was your proudest moment as a student? I won an England School Football Trophy and I also represented Europe in a match in Italy. We went during our GCSEs, so I had to sit some exams there.

One was sat in a pizzeria. While in Italy I met lots of famous footballers, so it was very enjoyable for me.

What was the naughtiest thing you ever did at school? Well, at school I had a French teacher who loved everything about Tintin. He liked it so much he had a model of Tintin so our class decided to hide it.

Dr Vaquer

What did you do to achieve the title ‘Dr’? I did a medical degree for four years at university.

Zarwa Malik, Maryam Islam and Rebecca Morris, Years 10 and 8.

23

Belvedere Ezine | Autumn Edition 2013

The who’s who of who’s new (cont.)...

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Barnsley South Yorkshire, I loved it!

America and took part in Camp America it was really good.

Have you got any pets? Yes I have a cat called Oscar; I love him!

Did you have any ambitions when you were younger to be anything other than a Social Sciences teacher? Yes, for some reason I always wanted to be famous, maybe an actress or something.

Do you have any hobbies outside of school? I like going shopping and getting my nails done but I also love outdoor activities. A few years ago I went to

Miss Mullen

Amelia Johnson, Year 8.

What made you want to be a teacher? I wanted to be a Maths teacher because, I enjoyed school and have always liked Maths. I want to try and get more people to enjoy and do well in Maths.

What was the naughtiest thing you did at school?

I was an angel in school...

How did you get where you are today? By working hard in school and university and also by doing things that I enjoy.

What was your first day at Belvedere like? I enjoyed my first day at Belvedere, all the staff and pupils are very welcoming.

What jobs have you had previously? I have had many different jobs throughout school and university, e.g waitress, retail assistant, tutor...

What other lesson would you teach if you had the chance? Textiles or dance.

Have you got any pets? I had a pet tortoise, Flash.

Georgia McChrystal, Megan Johnson and Tia Brennan, Year 8.

What is your favourite play and why? Macbeth, because its content is as still relevant to this day as it was when it was written.

Have you ever performed in a play? I have performed in more than 20 but my favourite would be Guys and Dolls. I played the lead.

What is your favourite type of drama and why?

Augusto Boal’s, invisible theatre and twenty first century modern verbatim.

Drew Milne and Emily Marshall, Year 8

Dot Art news.

Year 9 Art was so exiting, we learned so many new techniques and when we heard about the Dot Art Competition, we decided to put all these techniques into action. We really enjoyed participating in the competition, and we were very proud that paintings we had completed in class had been selected to be entered.

The event was a great experience and I was able to both admire the work of my peers and the work of individuals from other schools. We were congratulated by the Lord Mayor and were given our certificates, with Lydia Brady in 1st place

24

Miss Sagar

for the school, Amber Underwood in 2nd and Sarah Whelan in 3rd. There were some amazing pieces of art and Sarah was surprised and delighted to be highly commended for her work.

Sarah Whelan, Year 9.

Mr Hill

Another successful Summer School was organised by Mr Irwin for girls who joined us in September 2013.

Taking place during the Summer holidays, over 100 Year 6 girls from schools across Merseyside took part in two fun-packed weeks of events, team building and making friends.

Running for the last two weeks in July, the Summer School enabled the girls to experience a wide range of activities that were aimed at easing their transition in to Year 7.

By September, the girls had already made lots of new friends and were feeling more

Learning Pointilism with paint and cotton buds.

The girls eagerly awaiting their next challenges.

confident about making the step up to secondary school.

building exercises, graphics to science there really was something for everyone.

On offer during the two week Summer School were a diverse range of activities to fill each day. From cartoon design to business challenges, drama to arts and crafts, sporting challenges to team

The two weeks simply flew by and the girls really seemed to enjoy their time at Summer School.

Weighing out the ingredients for cake making.

Anyone for tennis?

Mr Dykeaylen.

Building structures to hold an egg in the science challenge.

Top: Queueing up ready for a fun packed day. Various: The fantastic results from Mr Dykeaylen’s cartoon challenge.

25

ousands... th by en se be d ul co rt ve ad Your from teens to parents to grandparents ...

...it makes sense to advertise your business or event in the Belvedere magazine.

The Belvedere Academy magazine is published four times a year, in September, January, April and June. 1500 electronic copies are widely distributed among parents, primary schools, local businesses, nurseries and churches. Advertising with us in the magazine will reach a large target audience throughout Liverpool.

All revenue is put back into the production of the magazine.

GREAT RATES! The advertising rates and advert dimensions are: • PRIME POSITION FULL PAGE COLOUR ADVERTISEMENT ONLY £300 Position - back cover or on the inside front or back cover. 210mmx297mm.

• FULL INSIDE PAGE COLOUR ADVERTISEMENT ONLY £250 210mm x 297mm.

• 1/2 PAGE INSIDE PAGE COLOUR ADVERTISEMENT ONLY £250 Landscape 210mm x 148mm or Portrait 148mm x 210mm.

Low cost, high coverage, wide audience range.

It’s easy to book your space:

To place your advertisement, please contact Mr Peter Dykeaylen on 0151 727 1284. Advertisements should

be submitted electronically as either high resolution JPEG files or as PDF files, either on CD or emailed to p.dykeaylen@belvedereacademy.net

UPCOMING DATES FOR YOUR DIARY OCT

21 NOV

15 DEC

17 DEC

19

Half Term

Academy Prize-Giving Liverpool Cathedral 1.00pm

Academy Carol Service, Liverpool Cathedral 1.30pm

Academy breaks up for Christmas

Cheques should be made payable to GDST Academy Trust. All copies and payments must be received one month before publication.

the team Congratulations to the News Team from Belvedere’s Press Club Enrichment run by Mr Dykeaylen and Miss Murphy: Zarwa Malik, Maryam Islam, Rebecca Morris, Aksa Anzy, Lily Davis, Drew Milne, Georgia McChrystal,

Megan Johnson, Tia Brennan, Aisha Chowdhury, Amelia Johnson, Alexandra Kay, Emily Marshall.

Many thanks to teaching staff who have also contributed articles and photographs. For more news please visit www.belvedereacademy.net If you have any comments or suggestions for the magazine then please contact Mr Peter Dykeaylen: p.dykeaylen@belvedereacademy.net The Belvedere Academy, 17 Belvedere Road, Princes Park, Liverpool, L8 3TF. 0151 727 1284 E: info@belvedereacademy.net www.belvedereacademy.net