Attleborough Academy Times Spring 2018
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Page 14 Sixth Form Presentation Evening
Page 6 Annual Presentation Evening
ÂŁ6,000 Donation from former Headteacher for Attleborough Academy Library - Page 4
Ski and Snowboarding Trip 2018 - Page 18 part of the
Academy Times Spring 2018 Principal’s Foreword Parents will know that it is our aim at the Academy to not only ensure that our students achieve academically, but also, and just as important, to educate them to become admirable and kind individuals; Nic is certainly testament to our ability to do this. Equally, we also celebrated the achievements of the Sixth Form this term when our Guest Speaker, Jan Coates, joined us in welcoming back the 2017 Year 13 students. Jan inspired us all with her positive and pragmatic outlook on life, which has given her so many opportunities during her admirable career. I would like to repeat my appreciation to those businesses and organisations in our community who sponsored the many prizes and trophies that we give out to acknowledge the success of our students at these Presentation Evenings. Acknowledgement is one of our main core values and so we thank all those of you who help us reward the success of our students so admirably.
Welcome to the Spring Term 2018 edition of the Academy Times although as I write this foreword, we are still recovering from the effects of the ‘Beast from the East’ that made it feel like the depths of Winter rather than Spring time! As I look back on the impressive range and number of activities and events that have taken place and are highlighted in this magazine, I am, yet again, very thankful to our dedicated staff who have made all these opportunities possible for our students. In our Main Academy Presentation Evening, held at the end of last term, we celebrated the many successes of our students and we also welcomed back, as guest speaker, Nic Jackman our former Head Boy. Nic spoke fondly of the many experiences he had been offered at school and how they had shaped him to become the confident young man and successful actor he is today.
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We also learnt this term of the generous donation from the estate of the school’s first Headteacher, Mr Jeffrey Blagg. Mr Blagg’s son, Julian Blagg, visited the Academy with his wife to donate £6000 to the Library. At our 50th Anniversary celebrations last Summer, we recognised and celebrated Mr Blagg’s service and commitment to the school by renaming the Library the ‘Jeffrey Blagg Library’ in his honour. This donation will go to the development of our Library services, which Jeffrey was so keen to initiate and develop during his leadership at the school. This is the term when we hold our final set of mock exams for our examination years and so I would like to wish our Year 11 and Year 13 students all the best of luck with all of their upcoming exams. I would also like to thank our staff for their hard work and dedication and all our parents and carers for your continued support. Mr McShane Principal
Sporting Round-Up Norfolk Schools Cross Country After a long period of absence, this year we entered students into the Norfolk Schools Cross Country, and we are glad we did! On a long, tough course for all age groups, all our students performed really well, given how little experience they had had. Top finishers included: Lucas Fulcher – 12th for Year 7 boys, Harry Sparrow - 18th for Year 7 boys, Tilly Anema - 7th for intermediate girls, and Owen Bollingbroke - 13th for intermediate boys. As a result, both Lucas and Tilly have been selected to represent Norfolk. We wish them the best of luck.
Netball Both the Year 7 and 8 teams have started their leagues this term, beginning with an inter-house match against each other, where the Year 7s narrowly took the win. We then travelled to Thetford Academy for two very convincing wins. Both games were fast-paced, and it took a while for the girls to play their own game, but once the momentum had started there was no stopping them. The second match of the season saw us come up against Wymondham College, away. This is always a tough fixture for us and the girls were nervous for this match. The Year 7s found their rhythm quickly and took an early lead that Wymondham College could not overcome, taking a comfortable win 15 – 9. Year 8s struggled to settle and Wymondham College took a 15 - 1 goal lead after the first quarter, leaving AAN girls with their heads down. However, with a few positional changes, they worked hard and although they were beaten they kept Wymondham College goals to a minimum. More matches to come.
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£6,000 Donation from former Headteacher for Attleborough Academy Library Mr Blagg also had a very extensive personal library, and kindly made provision that the Academy could select some books from it. As a result, the Academy librarian, Miss Kathryn Elliott, visited his home and chose some books for the library and English department. Principal Mr Neil McShane was then surprised and delighted when notification came at the end of the year that Mr Blagg had also left a sum of £6,000 in his will for the Academy library. His son, Mr Julian Blagg, and his wife came to the Academy to meet with the Principal and librarian to give the donation cheque, witnessed by Sixth Form students.
We were delighted and honoured to receive a donation for £6,000 from the estate of the school’s first headteacher for our Academy library. Mr Jeffrey Blagg became headteacher of Attleborough High from when it first opened its doors in 1965 and led the school over many successful years, becoming well known and respected in the community. The school was officially opened in 1967 by Mr Robert E Presswood, the Director of Education for Cardiff who, during his opening speech, stated that “it is of fundamental importance that the school reflects the aspirations, desires and characteristics of the local community”. Dr F Lincoln Ralphs, the Chief Education Officer for Norfolk at that time, who was also present at this ceremony stated that “the inhabitants of Attleborough will begin to rejoice in this essential amenity. It has been taken great care of and to take care of the things that are worthwhile is the basis of education” – and Mr Blagg certainly took great care in his time as leader of the school and he strove to reflect the aspirations of the local community, as have the three leaders of the organisation who have followed in his footsteps. 04
A few years ago, Mr Blagg was invited back for our Annual Presentation Evening where he was warmly welcomed by current Principal, Mr Neil McShane, to participate in the celebrations acknowledging our students’ achievements. Everyone who was present greatly enjoyed meeting Mr Blagg and were taken by his kindness, intelligence and gentle humour. 2017 saw the 50th anniversary of the official opening of the original school under Mr Blagg’s leadership and a range of exciting events took place to mark this important milestone. Sadly, the academy had been informed that Mr Blagg passed away just months before Attleborough Academy celebrated their 50th anniversary; throughout the occasion he was remembered fondly by the staff and former students who had been present in the years he had served as headteacher. During the 50th Anniversary celebrations a ceremony was held to rename the library to ‘The Jeffrey Blagg Library’ in honour of Mr Blagg’s dedication and leadership of Attleborough High. Mr David Jones, who had been a colleague of Mr Blagg’s, spoke warmly about him during the opening ceremony.
Miss Elliott commented about the occasion: “This most generous donation is fantastic news for the library and the whole Academy, as it is a well-used and popular space for many of our students. It is extremely fitting that the library now bears the name of Mr Blagg as it is something that he fought to have included in the original school and was a great supporter of throughout his time in charge. For him to have left us this money as a statement of the importance of a school library is a wonderful legacy.” Principal Mr McShane commented: “we are exceedingly grateful to receive this substantial sum from Mr Blagg; this donation will ensure that the library which is named in honour of this former headteacher - remains at the heart of the Academy. This will keep alive Jeffrey Blagg’s legacy: his determination to work to enhance the lives and prospects of all Attleborough students and his strong belief that a well-stocked and sustainable library resource was central to the school right from its inception.”
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Author Visit
Students were treated to a special visit from local author Mitch Johnson, who came in to speak to Year 7s about his debut book, ‘Kick’. The story follows 12-year old Budi, an Indonesian boy who works making football boots but dreams of becoming a footballer himself. Students were given some tips for their own writing and had fun competing in a race to put a pair of football boots together. However, there was also a more serious message regarding the human rights of children like Budi working in sweatshops and some mind-boggling statistics, such as the fact that it would take Budi 20,000 years to earn as much as a top footballer’s yearly salary! A group of Year 7s then enjoyed a creative writing workshop with Mitch, where they were taken through the story-writing process in a series of activities. Some great ideas and opening sentences came out of this session! Mitch was also able to spend some time talking to the Year 13 Creative Writing A-Level students, giving them an insight into his time at university and the journey to and practicalities of getting a book published. This was a really useful and honest insight into the life of a writer. Many thanks to Mitch Johnson for visiting us and helping to inspire the next generation of writers!
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Annual Presentation Evening 2017
On Wednesday 6th December, Attleborough Academy held its annual Presentation Evening. This was to celebrate the achievements of the main Academy body through the last academic year. The students who took their GCSE exams last summer returned to receive their certificates. Subject awards were also given for outstanding achievement across the curriculum. It gave students the opportunity to catch up with their former teachers and gave parents and carers the chance to celebrate their sons’ and daughters’ achievements. Current students were also rewarded by gaining cups for performance, progress and attainment, amongst other areas, whilst still in the Academy. The guest speaker was Nic Jackman, former Head Boy at Attleborough Academy, and now a successful actor in film and television where he has appeared regularly on Holby City. He gave a motivational speech on his journey from being a quiet and timid student in Year 7, to currently acting in a feature film in Mexico called ‘Silencio’ starring John Noble and Rupert Graves. The thriller will be screened at festivals and released in the later part of 2018. He spoke to the students about the importance of setting high aims for yourself and persevering through setbacks. Nic spoke about his time at Attleborough: “My education and experiences from the Academy have played a huge part in shaping who I am. I’m very grateful for the support and recognition I received while studying here and it’s a real pleasure to be back as their guest speaker.”
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We would like to extend our thanks to all the students, parents, members of the community and teaching staff, who joined with us to celebrate another year’s outstanding achievements at Attleborough Academy. We would also like to thank all our many sponsors who made this evening possible by their kind award donations: • Acutech Precision Engineering • Attleborough Christmas Carnival • Attleborough Heritage Group • Attleborough Town Council • Caroline Flaherty • Dolphin Double Glazing Services • Donna Kissinger Estate Agents • East of England Co-Op Funeral Services • Edwards and Blake Catering • Inspired Flower Design • Last Step Flooring Ltd • M+A Partners • Martin Christopher Opticians • Millbank Estate Agents • Norfolk Christmas Trees • Plandecil • Sherbourne House Hotel • St Marys Church Attleborough • Weatherill Brothers Ltd • William French
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AWARD WINNERS ANNUAL PRESENTATION EVENING 2017 YEAR 11 AWARD WINNERS
MAIN SCHOOL AWARDS Year 7-10 Students 2016 -2017 PRIDE AWARDS
YEAR 11 AWARD CATEGORIES
(for most reward symbols earned) PARTICIPATION AWARD RESPECT AWARD INDEPENDENCE AWARD DETERMINATION AWARD
SARAH MEAD CORE SCIENCE AWARD – Small cup
Raquel Fontes
SARAH MEAD SCIENCE AWARD – Large cup
Alfie Holmes
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AWARD
Rebecca Parsons
ENGLISH LITERATURE AWARD
Julia Jopkiewicz
AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN
EXCELLENCE AWARD
(for most reward symbols earned)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Lily Whear
ORACY SKILLS AWARD
Esther Collier
MATHEMATICS AWARD
Joseph Gyde
PARTICIPATION AWARD
BUSINESS STUDIES AWARD
Jamie Currie
RESPECT AWARD
ICT AWARD
Sophie Chatfield
INDEPENDENCE AWARD
COMPUTING AWARD
Jamie Allen
DETERMINATION AWARD
ART AWARD
Aimee Pope
EXCELLENCE AWARD
ART AWARD: EXPRESSIVE ARTS
Tamara Birch
MUSIC AWARD
Nikita Lane
(for most reward symbols earned) PARTICIPATION AWARD RESPECT AWARD INDEPENDENCE AWARD DETERMINATION AWARD EXCELLENCE AWARD
MUSIC PERFORMANCE AWARD
Heidi Lodge
CATERING AWARD
Rebecca Bush
D & T AWARD: GRAPHIC PRODUCTS
Chloe Williams
D & T AWARD: PRODUCT DESIGN
Alfie Holmes
FRENCH AWARD
Chloe Williams
THE LINGUISTS AWARD For exploring language beyond the classroom
(for most reward symbols earned)
Lily Whear
CITIZENSHIP AWARD
Ellie Leaker
PARTICIPATION AWARD
GEOGRAPHY AWARD
Joseph Gyde
RESPECT AWARD
HISTORY AWARD
Julia Jopkiewicz
INDEPENDENCE AWARD
RELIGIOUS STUDIES AWARD
Rebecca Parsons
DETERMINATION AWARD EXCELLENCE AWARD
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR PROGRESS (for most reward symbols earned) PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR PROGRESS YEAR 7
Jodie Hughes
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR PROGRESS YEAR 8
Julia Leiva
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR PROGRESS YEAR 9
Lois Martin
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR PROGRESS YEAR 10
THE HOUSE CUP
Jade Barker
GENERAL AWARDS DAVID BARTRAM AWARD FOR DETERMINATION
Aleks Ivanov
ALL ROUND ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Esther Collier
ACADEMY COUNCIL’S AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING GCSE RESULTS
Alfie Holmes
OUTSTANDING PROGRESS AWARD (The Parry Cup)
Rebecca Bush
MOST IMPROVED SEN-D STUDENT
Jack Clarke
SENIOR PREFECT OF THE YEAR
Raquel Fontes
Boudicca PRINCIPAL’s AWARD
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PRINCIPAL’s AWARD (Head Boy)
Ben Castle
PRINCIPAL’s AWARD (Head Girl)
Chloe Williams
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PRINCIPAL’S AWARDS
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD (Head Girl) CHLOE WILLIAMS
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD (Head Boy) BEN CASTLE
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR PROGRESS
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR PROGRESS JODIE HUGHES (Y7)
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR PROGRESS LOIS MARTIN (Y9)
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PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR PROGRESS JULIA LEIVA (Y8)
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR PROGRESS JADE BARKER (Y10)
PRINCIPAL’S AWARD FOR PROGRESS ALFIE HOLMES (Y11)
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YEAR 11 AWARD CATEGORIES
SENIOR PREFECT OF THE YEAR RAQUEL FONTES
RELIGIOUS STUDIES AWARD REBECCA PARSONS
ICT AWARD SOPHIE CHATFIELD
MUSIC PERFORMANCE AWARD HEIDI LODGE
MATHEMATICS AWARD JOSEPH GYDE
ART AWARD EXPRESSIVE ARTS TAMARA BIRCH
ACHIEVEMENTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE LILY WHEAR
ART AWARD AIMEE POPE
CATERING AWARD REBECCA BUSH
CITIZENSHIP AWARD ELLIE LEAKER
ENGLISH LITERATURE AWARD JULIA JOPKIEWICZ
BUSINESS STUDIES AWARD JAMIE CURRIE
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PRIDE AWARDS
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YEAR 8 PRIDE AWARDS RUBY SMALLWOOD
PARTICIPATION AND EXCELLENCE AWARD - YEAR 7 WILLOW CUBLEY
RESPECT AWARD - YEAR 7 KYVAN WOODROW
DETERMINATION AWARD - YEAR 7 MITCHELL PAGE
PARTICIPATION AWARD - YEAR 9 CHARLIE MILLS
RESPECT AWARD - YEAR 9 MATTHEW JEWSON
INDEPENDENCE AWARD - YEAR 9 ZEYNEP AYHAN
DETERMINATION AWARD - YEAR 9 HUGO FREITAS RODRIGUES
PARTICIPATION AWARD - YEAR 10 JOE DANIELS
RESPECT AWARD - YEAR 10 MIA SOUTH
DETERMINATION AWARD - YEAR 10 FRASER ARDEN
EXCELLENCE AWARD - YEAR 10 GRACE LUCKHURST
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Natural History Museum Trip December 2017 At the museum, the students were greeted by Hope the blue whale (who is 25.2 metres-long!) instead of Dippy the Dinosaur as he is on his tour around the UK. Dippy will come to Norwich Cathedral but not until 2020! In the Red Zone they discovered the power of the earth in the earthquake simulator and travelled through time to see the formation of the planet. In the Green Zone they were able to see the treasures that rocks can contain and see what a Dodo looked like in real life. Whilst in the Blue Zone they came face to face with a Tyrannosaurus Rex and found out how the human body worked. In December, Year 8 were given the opportunity to visit the Natural History Museum, London. In total 40 students travelled down to London where they were able to explore the museum and find out more about Geography and Natural Science. On the ride into London the students were given an extra special treat
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as they were given a guided tour along the Thames which pointed out some of the spectacular features of London’s skyline. Such delights included: The Shard, which is 95-storeys high, the Tower of London, which started to be built in 1078 and Big Ben, hidden inside the Elizabeth Tower which is the second largest, four-faced chiming clock in the world.
The group were also involved in the Rocks the House talk in the Attenborough Lecture Theatre. Here, Beth Evans and Ruben Gomes got involved in making an “earthquake” against one another whilst Jodie Hughes got her hands dirty playing with custard to show how the mantle of the earth can move.
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Christmas Concert On Wednesday 13th December, the school opened its doors to host the annual Christmas Concert in the main hall, organised by the Music Department. There were a variety of musical acts, ranging from solos to ensembles, and encompassing a wide range of musical styles. Over fifty performers from Years 7 to 13 took part in the concert, ranging from beginners, who had only started learning in September, to more experienced students. The concert was overseen by GCSE and Sixth Form Music students, who prepared the set design, organised rehearsals and managed the overall event. It was a fantastic evening enjoyed by staff, students and parents. A massive thank you to all who attended and well done to all of our very talented performers.
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Sixth Form Presentation Evening
In January we were proud to welcome back all our former Year 13 students, who had travelled from their universities and workplaces from around the country to attend our annual Sixth Form Presentation Evening, which is held to honour the year group’s achievement.
to do the job. Every success we had was a huge deal to us because they were hard fought for - but it did feel like we were helping to pave the way for more women to do this type of work in the future.”
The evening was led by the Head of Sixth Form Mr Andy Cole, supported by Director of Sixth, Mrs Carmina McConnell and was attended by former Head of Attleborough Sixth Form Mr Brian Hunt, AAN Principal Mr Neil McShane, members of the Academy Council and all our Sixth Form teachers and tutors. Our guest speaker, Jan Coates, joined our assembled students, parents, staff and members of the local community to celebrate the achievements of this year group. During the course of this celebratory evening, the students were presented with their examination certificates on stage to the applause of the audience. After an interval where staff, students and parents had time to mingle and share their experiences since leaving the academy, our guest speaker, Jan Coates gave the assembled audience a superb inspirational speech about her extraordinary career and presented her strategies for success. Jan initially served in the Royal Air Force for 22 years beginning in 1979, qualifying in aircraft electronics and working on both Phantom and Tornado aircraft systems – and went on to become an aircraft technical instructor and engineering course designer. In her speech, Jan spoke about how in this early part of her RAF career, females were relatively new entrants to aircraft engineering in the RAF: “these early years were both exciting and challenging as the culture was one of doubt and prejudices regarding whether women should be allowed
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After leaving the RAF she began a new career in the Education sector and went on to be Head of Quality and Standards for CITB’s National Construction College to focus on leading on the attainment of Ofsted Outstanding Training Provision. Then, in 2015 she decided to move forward again to join the Attleborough based company, Fireworks Fire Protection Ltd - a highly successful and rapidly growing business that installs high pressure water mist systems across a range of sectors in the UK and abroad – to develop and manage their Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental Management Systems. During this awe-inspiring career Jan, a mother, has run her own businesses and trained in a diverse range of additional skills.
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For the second part of the evening event, further wonderful awards - to acknowledge progress, endeavour and individual subject excellence - were distributed and the students’ achievement celebrated. Heads of subject and subject teachers spoke about the specific qualities of each of the excellent award winners, before Principal Mr McShane concluded the enjoyable and successful evening by presenting awards to the highly deserving Lead Presidents Aaron Cahill and Poppy Williams.
from my speech. I was hugely impressed by just how much the award winners I heard about during the evening had already achieved – and I am certain they will all go on to pave out successful paths of their own. I wish all of them a very bright and happy future.”
The evening could not have gone ahead without the fantastic support of Attleborough Academy staff: from the superb organisational and decoration skills of Fiona Campbell-Horne, supported by Alexandra Cooper and Cala Parks and sound and lighting expertise provided by Garry Baisden and Stefan Middlebrook.
Our thanks go out to all our ex Year 13 students who attended along with their parents, our staff and members of the community, and for the incredible generosity of all our prize sponsors - Attleborough Surgeries, Breckland Industrial Limited, Breckland Auto Services, Brian Hunt, Christmas Carnival, Cider House Joinery, Connaught Bowls Club, Daniels Plumbers Limited, East of England Co Op Funeral Services, icanbea, Last Step Flooring, K M First Aid, P F Southgate, Richard Johnston and St Mary’s Church. Jan Coates commented about the evening: “It was an honour to be asked to speak at Attleborough Academy’s Presentation Evening – I hope that everyone took something either interesting or inspirational
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Sixth Form Presentation Evening Prize Winners Subject Award
Prize Winner
Art
Grace Mahony
Biology
Matthew Hogan
Business Studies
Kiara Oluyole
Chemistry
Daniel Smith- Hughes
Computer Science
Liam Havers
Creative Writing
Kiara Oluyole
English Literature/Language
Amy Foster
Geography
Alexander Neil
Health and Social Care
Sian Evans
History
Laura Higgins
Maths
Joe Ground
Further Maths
Daniel Smith- Hughes
Media Studies
Aaron Cahill
Photography
Emily Hinsley
Physics
Daniel Smith- Hughes
Product Design
Tempany Martin
Psychology
Poppy Williams
Sociology
Shannon Painter
Brian Hunt Award for Progress
Tom McIndoe
Keith Maughan Memorial Golden Moustache Award
Breeze Lister
The Sarah Mead Award for Endeavour
Bethany Cook
Head of Sixth Form
Aaron Cahill
Principal’s Award to Lead President 8” Salver in Presentation Box
Aaron Cahill
Principal’s Award to Lead President 8” Salver in Presentation Box
Poppy Williams
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Playhouse Lighting Trip In January, our Year 13 Drama students went to The Norwich Playhouse for a technical workshop. This was tailor-made for them to explore how the opening scene of their set text Frankenstein could be enhanced through lighting and sound. Before the workshop, the students analysed the text very closely and wrote to the technical team explaining what atmosphere and effects they wanted to achieve: “The overall vision for the play is going to be one that combines dark gothic macabre, with the theme of twisted science, and the human arrogance of industry. To this end, the lighting must reflect both theour idea and a defiance but In January, Yearof 13 the Dramasupernatural, students went to The Norwich Playhouse of for anature, technical workshop. This was for of them to explore how the opening of their setThey text Frankenstein also thetailor-made concept new technology andscene machines. must becould be enhanced through lighting and sound. Before the workshop, the students analysed the text very entwined so as totechnical createteam a vision ofwhat Science vs and Nature, which has closely and wrote to the explaining atmosphere effects they wanted to achieve:amalgamated in the Creature.” been “The overall vision for the play is going to be one that combines dark gothic macabre, with the theme of twisted science, and the human arrogance of industry. To this end, the lighting must reflect both The Playhouse Teamandresponded saying thatthethey needed us to and the idea of the supernatural, a defiance of nature, but also concept of new technology machines. must be entwined as to a create vision of Science Nature, whichuse has been be moreThey ‘technical’ andsosent proa forma sheetvsthat they with amalgamated in the Creature.”
professional companies. The students completed this and we The Playhouse Team responded saying that they needed us to be more ‘technical’ and sent a pro were all set to go. forma sheet that they use with professional companies. The students completed this and we were all set to go. Cue#
Text reference
Desired effect
Lighting
Sound
LX1
Darkness.
Tension, gothic atmosphere, something bad is about to happen. Audience focus zooms from outside to inside.
Total blackout.
Relentless rain. Plays through whole scene.
Sudden flash of brilliant light.
Shocking, sterile.
Bright cold blue, white.
Heartbeat. Starts hesitant, gets louder and steadier, plays through whole scene.
SFX1
LX2
SFX2
It was an excellent event. We all learned a huge amount of technical terminology, which is essential
the exam, and then got the opportunity to have a go at experimenting with different light and Itforwas an excellent event. We all learned a huge amount of technical sound combinations. The results were tremendous and everyone got very excited by how terminology, which is used essential exam, and then got theas he was professional it looked. Jackson his actingfor skillsthe to show the Creature’s bewilderment ‘born’ into the human world and theat lighting changed from thewith red glow of the womb to aand cold blue opportunity to have a go experimenting different light as Frankenstein rejected him. We created a shadow to symbolise the fact that the creature is part sound combinations. The results were tremendous and everyone human, part monster and is terrifying but still heartbreakingly vulnerable. got verylike excited byPlayhouse how professional looked. Jackson hisand We would to thank the for making their it theatre our classroom for theused afternoon for addingskills such depth to the students’ learning. The bewilderment following week students an essay acting to show the Creature’s as wrote he was ‘born’ entitled: “How could lighting be used to bring out the Hero and Villain theme in Frankenstein?” into human world and from the red practical glow of Their the answers were well informed andthe highlylighting perceptive.changed There is no question that their experience hasto given insightas thatFrankenstein will boost their exam grades significantly. have the womb a them coldanblue rejected him. WeWecreated followed up the workshop by creating mini theatres using Blu Tack actors and mobile phone torches awhich shadow symbolise the fact that the creature is part human, part has beento a lot of fun! monster and is terrifying but still heartbreakingly vulnerable.
We would like to thank the Playhouse for making their theatre our classroom for the afternoon and for adding such depth to the students’ learning. The following week students wrote an essay entitled: “How could lighting be used to bring out the Hero and Villain theme in Frankenstein?” Their answers were well informed and highly perceptive. There is no question that their practical experience has given them an insight that will boost their exam grades significantly. We have followed up the workshop by creating mini theatres using Blu Tack actors and mobile phone torches which has been a lot of fun! www.aan.norfolk.sch.uk
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Ski and Snowboarding Trip 2018
Year on year we have lots of fun on the ski trip to Italy and once again it didn’t disappoint! We had a bigger group of students join us this year, with 17 brave souls willing to put themselves forward for the challenge of spending a week on a snowy mountainside. The beginners were quick to progress and they managed to complete some tough runs by the end of the week. Everybody in that group from Attleborough was a naturalborn skier. The group’s Italian instructor, Gulia, even said they were the best beginners she’d ever had! Even when they stumbled, they got straight back up on their feet and continued, which was just as impressive as seeing the view from the top of the mountain over a glacier at 2991m high. The intermediate and advanced skiers progressed really well each day and were able to show some real talent at the sport. Mr Cole led the group on the pistes and by the end of the week he had the group come down one of the most notorious black runs in the resort, “Paradiso”. Each of the students said they loved the challenge of the slope and felt a tremendous sense of achievement in completing it. The ‘Most Improved Skier’ award went to Karis Harvey as her technique was brilliant.
Jake Linnett he took this somewhat literally and was awarded the ‘Ostrich’ award for trying to bury his head in the snow too many times! Yet again, the weather treated us kindly and we had backto-back sunshine all week. Après-ski events included bum boarding and a torch-lit ski where all the schools grouped together and skied down the slope whilst holding light sticks. We went on night walks to the gelateria to try out all the tasty flavours: strawberry and mint were clear favourites with this year’s group. Highlight of the après-ski schedule this year however was the Disney themed disco, attended joyously by Olaf, Mr Incredible, Genie and Cinderella with her Prince Charming. A very special mention goes to Kieran ‘Kiwi’ Fitt in Year 13 who skied for the last time with us this year after having been on every trip since 2013 when he was in Year 8. Although he might not be skiing with us next year, he hopes to become a ski instructor; so maybe we haven’t seen the last of him and his glittery personality just yet?! If you are interested in joining us next year, get a letter from Miss Billin in HU1. Deadline for signing up is soon – don’t miss out!
The snowboarders also loved being out on the slopes and they all got stuck in to the fun. Unfortunately, for 18
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Kiwi in 2013 and then in 2018
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AAN Sixth Formers’ Red Cross First Aid Sessions In January we were delighted to welcome Rebecca Cotterell from British Red Cross to our academy to provide our Sixth Form students with basic first aid training at no cost to the academy. The British Red Cross has built up their training branch over 35 years and is acknowledged by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as a standard setter for first aid at work training and practice. The one-hour training sessions at AAN were aimed at increasing students’ confidence to be able to provide first aid support; an interactive workshop to increase the practical skills needed to help save lives when an accident strikes. Over the course of a day, over 100 of our Sixth Form students attended one of the four, one hour first aid instruction sessions that Rebecca presented. The students were instructed on a range of medical emergency procedures before practising them. Students on our A2A course will receive an additional three hours of first aid over this term, along with those Sixth Formers who did not get the chance in January.
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In each session Rebecca recorded ‘before and after’ on the students’ confidence in their ability to respond when witnessing someone in medical difficulty, and the results reflected the huge benefit from the knowledge and instruction our students received during the day’s workshops. Year 12 student, Julia Jopkiewicz, commented: “The course allowed me to gain confidence, knowledge and understanding on how to help people in need of first aid. It was a fun and friendly experience with various discussions and hand on activities; anyone who takes part will only benefit from it.” Similarly, Year 12 student Rebecca Parsons also recognised the value of the session she attended: “The first aid experience gave me vital and potentially lifesaving information that no one should be without. While enhancing my basic medical knowledge, the course was also able to broaden my social skills and confidence through group activities. The relaxed and light-hearted atmosphere provided an effective learning environment, ensuring these valuable skills will not be forgotten.”
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Teenage Cancer Trust
Attleborough Academy Sixth Form chose the charity Teenage Cancer Trust as the recipient of the money raised by several of their fundraising activities this year. Following a number of inventive fundraising activities, Attleborough Academy Sixth Form were excited to be able to hand over a cheque for £580 to the Teenage Cancer Trust when their Education and Awareness Executive, Morwenna McNeill, visited the Sixth Form to give a presentation about the charity. Not only our current Sixth Form Presidents, but also all Sixth Form Students who had been involved in the recruitment process for the Presidential Team, were highly active in raising money for this worthwhile cause: through refreshments and stalls at the whole academy Sports’ Day and through non-uniform donations. The Teenage Cancer Trust is devoted to improving the lives of young people diagnosed with cancer. They provide invaluable accommodation for young people suffering from cancer to be solely amongst patients their own age, by providing specialist units within NHS hospitals in relaxing and peaceful surroundings. This wonderful charity aims to increase awareness amongst young people of the warning signs of the rare instances of youth cancer.
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A representative from this charity has made regular visits to AAN to develop greater understanding about the illness and to encourage students to be pro-active in looking for warning signs. The Teenage Cancer Trust educates young people about cancer – its signs and healthy living, with the aim of empowering young people to take control of their own health. They explain what cancer is, the treatments available and how people can be pro-active in learning the signs for early diagnosis. The charity delivers free, interactive education programmes and web-based downloadable resources. It was with pleasure, when Morwenna from the Trust came this term to speak to our Sixth Formers, that we were able to donate £580 to this extremely worthy cause. Attleborough Academy’s Lead President Keziah Collier commented: “As Sixth Form students at Attleborough Academy we recognise the importance of coming together to support charities and giving back to the community. The Teenage Cancer Trust provide excellent care for teenagers and also save lives through educating about cancer. We were excited to raise money for such a relevant and worthwhile charity.”
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The Sixth Form & Staff Giant Book Swap In the Autumn Term we held the first Attleborough Academy Sixth Form and Staff Giant Bookswap event. Assistant Principal Mrs Carmina McConnell organised this event in order to promote the joys and educational, intellectual and emotional value of reading to students across Attleborough Academy by creating an opportunity where everyone had the chance to restock their home library. The event aimed to extend everyone’s access to texts across a large range of genre and topic, role model prolific readers and to promote discussion about books and reading by sharing responses and recommending texts to each other. In the weeks leading up to the event, Sixth Form students and staff donated nearly 400 books both fiction and non-fiction, hardback and paperback: from classic novels, historical novels, modern literature, through to children’s classics, history, crime and fantasy. In return for the books that they donated for the event they were given book swap tokens ready to use to ‘purchase’ books at the book swap event. It was exciting to see the books mount up before the event and to witness the extensive range of style and genre of texts that our students and staff enjoy reading. Students Beth Alexander and Emma Seager donated the highest number of books individually in the Sixth Form, whilst Psychology teacher Mr Paul Hendy, and Claire Sadler provided the most book donations from our staff. On the day itself, a number of Sixth Formers worked with Assistant Principal, Mrs McConnell, carrying books, organising them into categories and labelling and laying out the room ready for the event in the Sixth Form Centre. When doors opened later in the day the room was buzzing with our staff and Sixth Formers swapping ideas about books in the process of spending their tokens. Within a short amount of time piles of books quickly found new homes and readers to appreciate them. We were able to also donate a number of relevant books to our academy library, and our librarian Ms Elliott carefully selected the books on the day for this purpose. After the book swap was over, both students and staff requested another book swap, so watch this space for more news! Mrs McConnell commented: “This was a very successful and enjoyable event, giving all those who joined us hours of additional reading treats for no financial cost. It provided a superb opportunity at the academy to extend the range of discussions about books: to share favourite texts and to explore with colleagues and students just how invaluable reading is. It also showed how, irrespective of electronic books, people still take great pleasure in owning a physical copy of a book that they can hold, inspect, show and talk about in the company of others. We hope to hold a repeat event in 2018 and include students from every year group.”
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Children in Need at AAN
Fundraising fever hit Attleborough Academy on Friday 17 November as the entire school community joined together to raise money for Children in Need. At the Academy, The Sixth Form President Team – the group of nominated students who organise social and fundraising events for the whole school, and who are the representative body for the whole Sixth Form – planned and ran a large range of fund raising activities to take place throughout the day. During the day hundreds of homemade Pudsey cupcakes and tray-bakes, baked by Sixth Formers Ella and Georgia, were sold around the school, and they proved so tasty that they completely sold out within a very short amount of time! Around the Academy, the Presidents coordinated a range of activities, ranging from a penalty shootout and face painting, to competitions such as guessing the number of sweets in a jar.
The Sixth Form also took part in a sponsored ‘Row-athlon’. Throughout the school day, a team of students and staff pushed the boat out to see how many miles they could row. Everyone who took part gave it their all, adding to the overall distance and total raised, with some students raising sponsorships of over £40 each. Overall, the team effort reached 68 miles and Attleborough Academy’s Sixth Form Progress Manager, Mr David Nevard commented: “the Row-athlon has been the biggest and best challenge that I have been part of in over 10 years of fundraising for Children in Need. I’m amazed by the team effort that got us to over 110,000 metres in 6 hours! A huge well done to everyone who took part and thank you to everyone who sponsored us”. By the end of the day over £400 was raised by the students for Children in Need - a total that is ever growing as the money is still rolling in.
At lunchtime, the charity fundraising turned competitive as staff and students went head-to-head in a netball match. This was an exceedingly closely fought match with great skill shown on both sides. Tala, Emily, Senna, Beth, Chantelle, Shannon, and Maddie formed the student team, while the staff line-up consisted of Miss Billin, Miss Anderson, Miss Newton, Mrs Sparrow, Mrs Cushing, Mrs Marsh, Mrs Phoenix, Ms Jones, and Miss Wilson. For this heavily hyped contest, spectators donated to watch the game and were not left disappointed as the match proved to be a thriller. During the first half, the staff had built up a commanding lead of 4-0, but the student side showed real commitment and resilience as they steadily pulled back. With a solid defence in place, the team scored point after point. After the game drew level at 6-6, goal-attack for the students – Chantelle – scored a superb final net to win the match. A great victory.
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Sixth Form A2A Programme of Study
For the second year we have run our innovative new one year programme of study for Year 12 students: the A2A course. This bespoke programme, designed to meet individual level and need, includes a one day a week work experience placement throughout the academic year, along with a range of Level 2 and 3 qualifications and life skills. Since beginning the programme in September 2016, we have been incredibly lucky in that a wide range of local businesses have embraced the opportunity to provide Attleborough Academy students with on-thejob experience. From Primary and Infant Schools, to different sector charities, gyms & sports centres, science research centres, car repairs, restaurants, retailers and manufacturers. The work experience helps our students to develop essential skills that will prepare them for a successful future in the workplace. Sixth Former Kah enjoyed a series of days at The John Innes Centre in the Autumn term learning about the
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research carried out in this world famous centre of plant research. This term he has moved on to gain different experience in a charity shop, where Kian too gained valuable work experience. Tamzin spent time supporting the work in the academy’s student support centre and this term is carrying out her day each week at the Fairland House Care Home. Both Lace and Dane have been learning the skills associated with a family business: Dane at the Attleborough Boxing Club and Lace in catering. Aleks has put his sporting skills to great use by working for Vinnies Gym, where he hopes to be completing an additional qualification with the organisation. Both Louise and Rebecca have been in Attleborough retail work: Rebecca has enjoyed the creative surroundings of the craft shop, with Louise being at Myhill’s pet store. Kierra has been working with ‘The Lighthouse Charity’ in Attleborough where she has been involved in their programme to support the elderly in their usage of computers, alongside being involved in the ‘life stories project’ recording events in a local resident’s life. This A2A programme, along with providing opportunities for
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students to increase their qualifications within the academy timetable, is also having a very positive impact by providing practical learning opportunities in the workplace. Over this year, the aim has been to extend the range of experience the students on this course gain in diverse and interesting ways that will benefit them greatly in their future lives in both theoretical and practical ways: this year the A2A students have taken part in four First Aid training sessions, along with having the opportunity to study for their Driving Theory test, whilst many of them have also had specific small focus group English skill lessons. Assistant Principal Mrs Carmina McConnell, who set up the programme and has been working to extend the provision commented “We have had wonderful support from Attleborough workplaces for this programme. Many organisations in the area have really engaged with the idea of bringing an academy student into their workplaces once a week to guide them into developing new practical work skills. The students have learnt a range of new skills and have gained great confidence from the experience and
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the ability they have shown in the different work areas.” As A2A student Kah commented since beginning a new Work Experience with The Lighthouse Charity: “This allows me to gain new experience, learn about how charities are organised and also help the community”. Dane commented: “I work with people all ages and cover all types of skills and helping people to master them.” All the students agree that this opportunity to experience a work place environment prepares them well for the future. Rebecca commented that “You learn people skills.” Whilst Louise points out: “The people who I work with treat me like an adult, give me a range of responsibility and are really great to work with.” If you are a local business and you are interested in accepting a Sixth Form student for Work Experience, please contact Mrs McConnell through the Attleborough Academy Office
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Borderline
On Tuesday 21st November, a group of Year 11 and 13 Drama students were lucky enough to get tickets to go and see Borderline at The Garage Theatre in Norwich. This production and the following workshop was a part of Norwich’s Refugee Awareness Week. It was an hour long devised piece of theatre that was originally created in the Calais Refugee Camp by a drama therapist, theatre practitioner and a group of refugees. The play premiered earlier this Summer on the London Southbank and has since toured all over Europe to great acclaim. The actors left Norwich after the show to head back to their base in London and then on for a world tour starting in India. The play was a satirical comedy and had our students laughing one minute and crying the next. The actors explained at the end that the play was constructed of their own stories and those of their friends and families which gave it an honesty not often found in the theatre. In the Q&A session, we asked why they chose to use comedy and one actor replied: “we have had enough of tears, we need to laugh. Humans have the remarkable ability to
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laugh even when their hearts are breaking, and this is very therapeutic for us. Laughter is the best medicine and it cuts across cultural and linguistic barriers.” We all came away feeling warmed by the magic that these actors had woven from the most tragic of stories and inspired by the strong message that the human spirit can survive in the most desperate of times. It was a real reminder of what is really important in life and how human relationships are more valuable than material objects. The workshop that followed was equally as thoughtprovoking and encouraged us all to question what it is that causes human beings to persecute one another. It all boiled down to the same thing: fear. Fear of change and fear of the unknown. These actors felt like our friends by the end of the performance and any stereotypical ideas we might have had about what a refugee is were blown out of the water. We met people from Syria, Sudan, Italy and Germany and saw them all working collaboratively as one big family. A particularly poignant moment in the play was as they stood around a mound of shoes and a single voice sang ‘I Have a Dream’. Mrs Phoenix asked them what their own personal dreams were, and one person
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said, “to return to Syria”. It was then agreed that they would all like to go home and also that they dreamt of a world where people put love before hate. Our students all agreed and went home with the advice of another actor ringing in their ears: “You can help with just a smile. One smile can change everything.” We went with the primary aim of seeing a piece of live theatre to review in the drama exam and came away recognising that theatre has the extraordinary ability to change the way that we see the world. This was a wonderful opportunity for our students and we were very proud of the maturity and sensitivity with which they received it.
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Sixth Form: Accepting Applications for September 2018 Achieve your aspirations with Attleborough Academy Sixth Form For further information, or to arrange a visit, contact Mr Andy Cole, Head of Sixth, on (01953) 452335 Apply through our website at www.aan.norfolk.sch.uk
Attleborough Academy Norfolk 9 Norwich Road, Attleborough, Norfolk NR17 2AJ t: 01953 452335 f: 01953 456817 e: office@aan.norfolk.sch.uk www.aan.norfolk.sch.uk