Caludon Update Autumn 2020 by Caludon Castle School

Contents He adte acher â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Address Ne ws and events in the Music Department Gre at Le arning Remembrance Day Student Le adership Phoenix Ne ws THRIVE Compe titions Anti-Bullying Week Kindness

Good luck, Mrs Marr

Headteacher’s Address We are nearly at the end of one of the most challenging terms that any of us have ever experienced. However, it has also been one of the most rewarding. I have had the opportunity to witness such impressive resilience from children and sta , who have continued to engage with their learning.

We know how distressing it is for you if your child has been self-isolating at home. You are rightly concerned about your child missing their learning and their lessons. We have been strongly encouraging all teachers to o er ‘live’ lessons on Microsoft TEAMS at least once a week where possible. Several sta have been nervous about doing this, but many are o ering this to support students who are at home. Sta are working hard to teach students who are in their classes at school, as well as provide work for those who are self-isolating at home.

Monday 4 January will be a teacher Inset day totally focused on preparing for the term ahead in anticipation of another challenging term. During the Inset day, sta will prepare in terms of upskilling themselves with technology to support blended learning and remote learning. We also want sta to continue to prepare resources and deepen planning, in particular for Year 11 and 13, as these are key examination year groups within our schools.

Following the recent government announcement, remote learning will take place for Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 during the rst week. Year 11, 13 and those taking vocational examinations the following week will be contacted about the arrangements for returning to school from Tuesday 5 January onwards.

I am optimistic about the term ahead. Schools are only as good as the sta who work in them, and we are very privileged to have such committed sta , who are striving to o er great support and learning to students.

Thank you to all who voted for the year decorated Christmas trees – the winning Christmas tree was decorated by Year 8. Picture below.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope that you have a good break. This will be my last letter to you as head teacher of Caludon Castle, as from January 2021 I will take up position as the CEO of our schools’ trust. We will be welcoming Ms Sarah Kenrick as our new head teacher.

Thank you for your support as parents. I will miss seeing your children on a daily basis, but look forward to hearing about their development and progress.

Yours faithfully

Mrs M Marr

Headteacher/CEO

News and events in the Music Department Winter Concert Following the success of our ‘Summer Concert Series’ in which four different concerts were broadcast live on YouTube, we have launched this years Winter Concert on our YouTube channel: Caludon PAF. Gather around the Christmas tree with the family and watch our students and staff show their many musical talents.

Sir Charles Barrett Memorial Foundation:

The music department were very excited to learn that 10 of our students have been successfully awarded a grant to further their music education, from the Sir Charles Barratt Memorial Foundation. Mrs Vincent and Miss Ellul completed numerous applications on behalf of our students which enabled them to receive nancial help with either purchasing a new instrument or paying for music lessons. Our students received a combined total of over £2,000.

Student Voice from the 6th Form Music Ambassador: My name is Fjorilda Dautaj and I have enjoyed playing the violin since Year 1. I remember listening to the rich brilliant sound and felt myself being drawn closer to it. When I rst started, I practiced for about 30 minutes a day and I was so happy to see what I had started to become. Then, when I was growing up and wanted to achieve higher grades, I practiced more to attain the level I wanted to achieve. However, I also needed to learn theory to get past Grade 5 violin, so I rst took lessons to improve my skills and to earn my Grade 5 theory Although it was hard at rst, I now realise how interesting the mechanics are behind music. Now I am working towards my Grade 6 theory and I’m still fascinated by it. I had achieved my Grade 8 distinction in violin three years ago and I still enjoy playing and listening to those pieces from time to time. When learning a new piece, I always listen to different performances of the piece and steal some ideas I like as well as adding my own interpretation I rst joined a training string orchestra and then I joined CWYO (Coventry and Warwickshire Youth Orchestra) where I am now leader of the orchestra. Joining an orchestra is so bene cial, I learnt so much from this experience about techniques, theory and the meaning of and behind music. I also had the pleasure to challenge myself with different pieces and I take joy in playing music from great composers such as Beethoven, Elgar and Mozart Piano is such a vital instrument to learn if you learn music, which is why I started taking proper lessons around two years ago. Little did I know how much it would have helped me in my theory exams! Piano is such a grand instrument and an instrument anyone can start learning and enjoying at any level or from any age. I wish I had started sooner My favourite musical inspirations are Itzhak Pearlman and Julia Fischer because of their heartfelt and brilliant interpretations which captured my attention when I rst listened to them. I rst heard Itzhak Pearlman's beautiful interpretation of Per Una Cabeza from "The Scente of a Woman" and Julia Fischer's amazing playing of "Mendelssohn violin concerto in E minor. In the future I hope to teach music to others and bring them the inspiration and joy of music just as my teachers have bought to me. Thank you to my great teachers for all the support and their dedication to music and teaching

After all these years, I have learnt that music is much more than a sound and it connects in many different ways with your own life and the lives of others. It is rhythm, movement, science, art, creativity, inspiration and so much more. But most of all, it is love

Remembrance Sunday:

Emma, a year 7 student, performed ‘The Last Post’ at 11am on Remembrance Sunday for her neighbours. Emma has just taken her grade 5 exam on the trumpet so this was a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate her skills and remember those who had given their lives for us. Well done Emma!

Music Mark Award: For the second successive year, the Caludon Music department has been awarded the prestigious ‘Music Mark’ in national recognition for their excellent provision of musical education to our students.

As a Music Mark member we recognise that music has a value in and of itself. The pursuit of learning to sing or play an instrument, learning to compose, learning to listen critically and the myriad of other musical skills, are valuable in their own right. This is then demonstrated by • music enabling increased behaviours for learnin • music boosting children and young people’s social developmen • music fostering team wor • music building life skill • music encouraging creativity and critical engagemen • music being fun and for everyone

Follow me to get to the Coventry Telegraph article and music video!

Caludon Orchestra

Our school orchestra are still unable to meet up face to face and rehearse as the musicians are from all year groups across the school. To keep them all practicing, they are currently taking part in a ‘Virtual Scratch Orchestra’. Classical Brit Award winner, Jess Gillam, has launched the national project online, and students are busy learning their own individual parts to Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson. Written in 1948 by Leroy Anderson and recorded by The Ronnettes, Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby, this piece is a rm Christmas favourite and will be great fun for them to learn. Students will then submit their parts and these will be edited together to form an orchestral performance. Keep an eye on our school Twitter page for the nished product.

The Key and their charity single ‘Stronger Together’:

Great Learning The Day OF The Dead In years 7, 8 and 9, students in Spanish have been learning about El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead), a special day that is celebrated in Mexico and other Latin American countries, honouring the memory of loved ones that have passed away. Students learnt about the traditions and customs that are popular, and then designed their own ‘calacas’ (skulls). As you can see from our new displays, students really embraced the typical themes with lots of bright colours and vibrant patterns which make this a truly happy celebration. Mr Ricketts

Interactive and collaborative learning in MFL In Modern Foreign Languages, we have continued with lessons as normal, albeit with some tweaks Year 8 have enjoyed consolidating their learning with the iPads with apps like Gimkit and Quizlet live. Year 7 have consolidated their learning of key terms by playing collaborative games. The students have all adapted and coped to the new way that these activities take place in lessons to stay as safe as possible whist having fun learning.

Mr Ricketts

Learning with biscuits and VR headsets Geography is all about connection between people and our planet. We have used the VR headsets to help connect students to real places around the world. Year 9 used them to see the real impacts of climate change in various places around the world. This not only allows our students to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;experienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; these places, they also have fun exploring at a safe distance! Students have also had fun whilst consolidating their learning on a tricky GCSE topic - Plate Tectonics Theory. As you can see from the picture, the students recreated plate boundaries with Oreos then used them to explain how that causes earthquakes and volcanoes! Miss Mallett

Blending technology into science lessons

The Science Faculty have gone above and beyond to try and keep learning as safe and normal as possible. Technology has been harnessed to help enhance the learning of students. A-Level lessons have included mirroring where a practical example of titration was projected onto the interactive whiteboard from an iPad. This is great as it shows the complex process to students in a clear and effective way. Kahoot quizzes have been used in lessons as a fun and interactive way to assess students learning. Tassomai has also been embedded into all GCSE lessons. This is an app that provides multiple choice exam questions so that students can practice by using their phones. Finally, the Science Faculty want to say a huge well done to all the science students as the engagement in home learning through Fire y is at an all time high

Ms Duf eld

Year 11 Food Practical This is the Year 11 Mock Practical. They had to research, plan and make a two courses suitable meet the brief they were given. Some students were looking at meals that may be on a Valentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s menu. The others were looking at healthy family foods on a budget. I must say I am extremely proud of what they have produced and how they stayed so calm in the exam...and in the cleaning up!

Ms Co

Virtual Verbatim Seminar with Mark Wheeller The Year 13 drama students had a fantastic opportunity to take part in a virtual meeting with playwright Mark Wheeller, whose work we study throughout the drama curriculum in all key stages. Wheellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plays use verbatim theatre to tell stories of real people and their problems. The Year 13 students, who are currently devising a piece of theatre for their A Level exam, were able to speak face to face (screen to screen) with the playwright and ask questions about how to go about using verbatim in their own work. This has sparked some really creative ideas for their piece, which will be performed just before Christmas and will go toward their nal A level grade. Break a leg year 13 Miss LesterÂ

GCSE Theatre The year 11 drama students have worked extremely hard in this rst term back to devise and perform an original piece of theatre for their GCSE exam. Although the students have had to cope with many hurdles, such as changing groups and students selfisolating, they have all shown the resilience and determination we expect from Caludon Castle School students and have created some fantastic work

Miss Lester

Fantastic Food

Staff and Student Book Club

We are hugely proud of the student practical work completed at home in Key Stage 3. They embraced the challenge and produced some really high quality work. Ms Ruddy

Our brand new sta and sixth form book club is now up and running. We've already read and had a fantastic discussion about Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and are now reading 1984 by George Orwell. If you're interested in widening your reading and want to discover some brilliant classic texts, why not email Miss Knight and join us? We meet once per month via Teams.

Ms Knight

All our usual remembrance activities have had to change this year of course, but Caludon students and staff still did us proud in respecting the two minute silence. Tutor groups and staff all had the chance to view the History Department PowerPoint, a change from our usual Remembrance Day assembly, but it was just as moving and thought provoking Many thanks to Miss Rogers and Mr Evans for their help with these resources. Amongst all the changes and adaptions we have all had to make this year, there are still some consistencies. Respect for those who came before us and gave their lives, is one of them If you would like to nd out more about soldiers who lived in your local area, scan the QR code. It is amazing! It provides information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on soldiers from around the world

Ms Linton

Remembrance Day

Student Leadership Talking Points Ambassadors

Digital Ambassadors

The Talking Points Ambassadors are in full swing this term and they are using their voices to make it clear! At the end of term, they will be sharing a Christmas Talking Points video with the school to show off their skills and get others involved in oracy. They will also be sharing some exciting games with students from KS3 and KS4 to help them with their oracy

We are very proud that our Student Leaders and Digital Ambassadors continue to share their technological expertise. They have created some great support clips on how to access TEAMS and how to use Fire y more effectively. If you are stuck, then go to the Student Leader Fire y pages for extra top tips As a team, we are looking into how we can continue developing student leadership and we have received some very exciting ideas from the Fire y task set, so thank you for your wonderful ideas. We can’t wait to put into action some of your ideas and help shape your leadership skills even more. It is rather sad that as much as we would like to see you all in person, we are limited in the current climate. Please keep checking Fire y for messages and communicating with us via TEAMS or Fire y

Ms Ivin

Mrs Hensman

6th Form The 6th Form have elected their new student leaders. They are Christie Horrillo, Connor Moore, Johnetta Okyere & Sophia Eales. The 4 were elected after a rigorous application process and an interview. They were all superb that we decided to have 4 senior leaders. They have already organised our sixth form virtual open evening welcome video and are busy thinking about how to engage our new subject and faculty ambassadors Ms Slack

“Hi, my name is Sophia. I am a student leader at Caludon Castle Sixth Form. I am currently studying Psychology, English Literature and Fine Art. Next year I am going to University to study Psychology. In my spare time I enjoy taking my dog for long walks and painting”

“My name is Christie. I am currently studying

Biology, Spanish and Geography. The thing I enjoy most about 6th Form is the relaxed environment. Next year, I hope to get an apprenticeship within the police force. My main responsibility this year is to manage the way my peers receive information through displays”.

Phoenix News Keep Calm And Carry On! We returned after the summer holiday to an aquatic disaster! The pump on our 260L sh tank had failed after years of faithful service and a lot of our sh were dead as the tank was completely polluted! Mr Stokes managed to salvage our plec and a few tetras but our sharks, angel sh and rainbow sh all died. It was a sad moment for us all! Mr Earle and a few students managed to clean the whole tank through - it stank! Before they could add in new customers, they had to get replacement lter sponges, a lter pump and needed to test the PH and nitrate.The day before 2nd lockdown we bought new tetras; rummy nose, xray, neon and black widow and some plants (Elodia Densa!). We are now back in business! Once the ecological environment permits, we will start to add some sharks and angel sh back into the mix. If you want to get a sense of well-being and calmness, there are not many things better than spending time relaxing in front of a well-stocked tropical tank Dyslexia Awareness Week The 5th-10th of October was Dyslexia Awareness Week. Students at Caludon developed their understanding of dyslexia and had an opportunity to think about how it affects some of their peers. Students responded really well to this, sharing what they know, and were surprised to nd out there are so many famous dyslexics It is estimated that up to 1 in every 10 people in the UK has some degree of dyslexia. Dyslexia is a life long problem that can present challenges on a daily basis, but support is available to improve reading and writing skills to allow them to be successful in school and the work place. We have lots of strategies to support students who have been diagnosed with dyslexic traits at Caludon Castle School. We also need to raise awareness that there are so many positives to having dyslexia. For example, dyslexic people are known to be: • Creativ • Great problem solver • Observan • Empathetic • Excellent ‘big picture’ thinker • Good at making connection • Strong at narrative reasonin • Good at three-dimensional thinking

But the most positive fact of all comes from a survey commissioned by BBC2 for Mind of a Millionaire. They found evidence that 40% of entrepreneurs are likely to be dyslexic, which is 4 times more likely than the national average!

THRIVE This academic year, we have launched a new programme aimed at a selected group of Year 8, 9 and 10 students to help them realise their great potential and o er some extra support and challenges. THRIVE is an acronym which re ects the priorities of our programme:

• • • • •

Teaching to the Top: ensuring there are high levels of challenge in work done

Home Link: building connections with parents and carers

Intervention: giving extra opportunities for boosting skills

Voice: ensuring students have opportunities to develop speaking and discussion skills

Engagement: engaging with students’ interests and career aspirations

All students on the programme, known as THRIVE ambassadors, had the opportunity to attend three sessions of after school intervention in one of English, Maths or Science, enabling them to develop skills for future employability whilst working in small groups. We loved seeing Year 8 engage with protest literature and debates, Year 9 making their own scienti c discoveries and Year 10 developing their mathematical skills. THRIVE ambassadors are also invited to home learning support after school each week.

Some of our Year 9 THRIVE ambassadors also took part in a series of masterclasses on public speaking and delivered a speech to adults. This was very nerve-racking for the students but they gave passionate speeches on topics including social media, men’s mental health and homelessness.

Finally, in November we had a great session in which some of our THRIVE ambassadors gave the teachers some feedback about every aspect of school: the school day; behaviour and motivation; mental health and wellbeing; and lessons and learning. We are currently using their feedback to make a few changes for next term. Our ambassadors enjoyed the pizza they had as a reward for their time!

Well done to all THRIVE ambassadors who have made a fabulous start to this new and evolving programme.

Miss Webb

Competitions Digital Creators’ Challenge Year 10 Students; Theodore, Dinil, Neh and Al e, entered the Digital Creators’ Challenge with Vodafone. They had to use their communication and analytical skills to generate ideas and problem-solve to create innovative solutions to real world problems.The competition is designed to connect young people with careers of the future, to give them insights into the skills needed to succeed in their careers and unlock their business potential The students got into the regional nal and were in the top 3 for the ‘best use of technology’. They won £1000 for the school to purchase IT equipment and received a certi cate from Vodafone to recognise their talents. The team enjoyed a goodie bag from Vodafone which included a portable Bluetooth speaker, power bank, water bottle, RFID card holder, rucksack and USB connectors. Congratulations to them all Mrs Richmond

Creative Writing Competition

Students were invited to ex their creative muscles and enter the Castle Phoenix Trust creative writing competition. They were given the option of creating a poem, short story or piece of descriptive writing on the theme of 'Light’. We plan to bring you the names of the winners and some samples of their work in our next edition.

School Games Extra Curricular Challenge Over the last 4 weeks, a number of key stage 3 students have been competing in several challenges organised by the Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Schools Games. The mission of the School Games is to keep competitive sport at the heart of schools and to provide more young people with more opportunities to compete and to achieve their personal best. Due to the current climate, this years competitions have been slightly different as the School Games are currently being held virtually. The competition is split into three different categories: dance, football and athletics, with a challenge in each. Students were to practise in the challenges of their choice over a three week period. The best 3 attempts from each challenge were then recorded and have been entered to represent Caludon against other schools across Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire. The students challenges were fantastic and have really made the school proud. The Caludon winners were Ava and Grace (Yr7 Dance) Katie (Yr7 Athletics), Charlie (Yr8 Football), Finley (Yr8 Athletics) and Jack (Yr9 Football and Athletics). The organisers have since been in contact to congratulate the level of participation from Caludon in these challenging times

Mr Roper

Year 7 Autumn Games Competition

On Friday 23 October, Year 7 took part in our rst ever Autumn Games Competition. Each tutor group nominated 4 gladiators to take part in pumpkin relay race and pumpkin hoopla. With their cor sticks raised triumphantly, 7.2 were crowned worthy winners of the illustrious golden pumpkin! Well done to Paige, Dexter, Rhiannon and Kai for bringing home the gold to their tutor group.

Mr Holland

A massive thank you to all staff and students for all their brilliant conversations and contributions to Anti-Bullying Week 2020 At Caludon Castle School, every week is anti-bullying week. Our work is supported so well by our students who share their ideas and views to make Caludon an ‘Altogether School and United Against Bullying A particularly big thank you to… 7.2 • Am • Joycely • Jami • Kia • Jaco • Evi 7.5: • Rene • Natha • Lia • Saniya • Hasan • Grac 8.2: • Dor • Jac • Ale • Kier • Nerius • Finley • Be • Ayla 8.3 • Isabe • Reginald • Be • Mica 8.6 • Josh • Nathan 10.6 Charli 10.4: The whole tutor group. All of these students went above and beyond in their engagement and participation in Anti-Bullying Week. Well Done!

’

…

Ms Edwards :

Anti-Bullying Week

Good luck, Mrs Marr As you will be aware, Mrs Marr is moving to a full-time role as CEO of the Castle Phoenix Trust in January, so we are bidding her farewell as our head teacher. Mrs Marr joined the school as Senior Deputy Headteacher in September 2005, following a few years working harmoniously with Caludon as their general advisor for school improvement at the local authority. She was immediately thrown into Caludon life, often holding the fort whilst the head teacher supported other schools, and in 2011 Mrs Marr took over as sole head.

Mrs Marr has always been passionate in her belief in the power of education to enhance lives and broaden opportunities, and has been totally committed to Caludon Castle and its students for the last fteen years. Life as a head teacher is never easy, particularly during the last nine months, but Mrs Marr’s priority is to ensure that students have the chance to achieve their potential and she is always ready to go the extra mile for the children in her care, working tirelessly to improve their education.

Mrs Marr has shaped a curriculum, which is about giving students as much choice as possible in the current climate, and with a consistent drive to strengthen learning and teaching. Her knowledge of, and continuing interest in IT, has also ensured that Caludon remains at the cutting edge of technology, whilst her background in mathematics means that she still loves a matrix and a spreadsheet, driving school improvement through the rigorous implementation of systems and structures.

Mrs Marr has also used her headship to drive the development of leadership at all levels in the school, not least for students. She is always looking to give them opportunities for new developmental experiences, such as becoming student ambassadors. Interviewing the students for the position of head teacher’s ambassador, remains one of her favourite jobs and something that the students really value as a con dence boost, despite nding it ‘scary’.

Mrs Marr treats children with respect and kindness, encouraging them to approach her and o ering them support and encouragement. She introduced the head’s tea party as a way of recognising all types of student achievement, and uses this, and any conversation or meeting with students, to listen to their views. She values their voice and likes to respond to students’ ideas, whenever she can.

Whilst we are not losing Mrs Marr from the trust, and her main base will remain at Caludon, she will no longer be our headteacher. We look forward to her continuing to lead the trust and seeing all the schools in her care continue to ourish. Perhaps she will achieve a better work life balance, though we will believe it when we see it! However, we do wish her well and hope that she can spend more time with her grandson (Covid permitting).

Good luck, Mrs Marr.

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Thank you, especially for when you came and gave us the golden badges. It was amazing and I can’t describe how proud I felt.

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Lucy-Mae Jones

I think that I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that you have made our experience at Caludon the best it could possibly be.

Thank you.

Caden Hadley

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Daniel Harrison

It has been a huge pleasure and privilege for me to have been one of your ambassadors and I know it has had a signi cant impact on me. Personally, without your support and kindness, I feel that I would not have reached the same level of achievement and accomplishments.

Ayomide Akinsinmide