NEWSLINK
WAYLAND ACADEMY NORFOLK’S
SPRING 2018
Foundation Learning Page 4
Learning Languages Matters Page 9
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Although it’s been a short term, we’ve managed to squeeze in lots of action-packed activities, we even managed to squeeze in a few snow days!! In amongst the action, a group of Year 11 students have successfully completed their Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award which has been fantastic to celebrate. Year 10 will be embarking on their practice expedition in the summer term as Duke of Edinburgh looks to be growing from strength to strength. In this issue, we are saying farewell to the following colleagues: Karl Green, who will be leaving shortly after Easter and has been at the academy for 13 years. He has worked tirelessly over the years, going above and beyond to keep the site running smoothly, as well as driving the academy minibus for all manner of journeys and trips at all hours. We wish him good luck and every success in any future ventures. Mrs Whittle, our Pastoral Support Officer is retiring at Easter; she has supported students, families and staff at Wayland for 12 years. She will be a greatly missed “matron” to staff and students alike. We wish her a very long, happy and well deserved retirement. Finally, Dawn James, one of our duo of reception staff who is also retiring at the end of April. She has
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answered the phones, greeted visitors and dealt with an abundance of scrapes and bumps over the last 15 years, as well as being an immense help to all the staff at Wayland when they pop to reception asking ‘Can you just do this?’ or ‘Can you just do that?’ and of course the answer is always yes!! A happy and welcoming face to great all visitors at the academy, we wish her all the best on her retirement and many happy years caravanning! Can I also draw your attention to the developments within the maths faculty? Homework for all years is available on MyMaths and can be accessed by following this link http://www.mymaths.co.uk. Students must first login using Username: wayland and password: graph. Then they can login to ‘my portal’ using their unique code (they can get this from their teacher). Year 7 students will also receive Times Tables assignments through https://ttrockstars.com/login (students can get their personalised login from their individual teachers). Looking forward to next term, we have geography fieldtrips, Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, Sports Day and transition to name just a few things. One of the things I’m looking forward to most, is the RAF 100
Dates for your diary MARCH Mon 19 – Wed 28 - Year 10 Work Experience Mon 26 - Meningitis Vaccinations for Year 9 students Wed 28 - WAN closes 3.15pm for Easter APRIL Mon 16 - Students return to WAN Thu 19 - Year 11 revision tips evening for parents 6 – 7pm Thu 26 - Bag2School Collection Fri 27 - Sun 29 - Ice hockey trip
charity day and cycle challenge. We are planning an event at the academy to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RAF, culminating with a cycle challenge. We will share more information nearer the time. As part of the cycle challenge, staff and students from the academy will be endeavouring to cycle 250 miles in 12 hours. Pop along and say hello, as we’ll be doing it on stationary bikes in reception. I would also like to thank all parents/carers for your continued support with attendance and ensuring your child arrives at the academy on time each morning. We are pleased to let you know that our attendance percentage this term exceeds the national average. Have a great Easter break everyone. Glen Allott Principal
IMPROVING LIFE CHANCES THROUGH EDUCATION.
MAY Thu 3 - Year 7 Parent/Teacher Conversation 4:30-7pm Year 11 Passport to Prom deadline Mon 7 - Bank Holiday Mon 14 - Year 6 Interviews week Wed 16 - Year 10 Trip (NEACO) Thu 24 - Year 9 & 10 Crime and Punishment trip to London Fri 25 - WAN closes for Half term 3.15pm JUNE Mon 4 - Students return to WAN Year 8 Gressenhall trip Mon 11 – Wed 13 - Year 10 Geography field trip Mon 18 – Tue 19 - Year 10 Geography field trip Tue 19 - Sports Day Wed 20 - Reserve Sports Day Wed 27 - DofE training day Thu 28 - Norfolk Show trip Year 11 Prom JULY Mon 2 - Yr 8 Easton College Campus Tour Wed 4 - Year 10 DofE Training day Tue 3 - RAF 100 Charity day and cycle challenge Thu 5 - Year 9 Parent/Teacher Conversation 4:30-7pm Tue 10 - PE reward afternoon Thu 12 - Year 10 Parent/Teacher Conversation 4:30-7pm Tue 17 – Wed 19 - Game of Houses Tue 17 – Fri 20 - Year 10 Silver DofE Award expedition Tue 24 - WAN closes 3.15pm for summer AUGUST Aug 23 - Results day
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Foundation Learning News
Foundation Learning Pupils Foundation Learning are currently studying littering, recycling and food waste and the affect that these have on our environment and indeed the planet itself. We have taken part in an eco-survey studying what constitutes litter, the damage that litter causes and why people are guilty of littering. Also, as part of our studies and in connection with Breckland Council we have taken part in the Sainsbury Community Discovery Event, a food waste / recycling workshop. Mr Hitchman came in from Breckland Council and delivered a lesson which covered; What is litter? What damage is it doing to our environment, including birds and animals, and how can we reduce the amount of rubbish produced by recycling properly? As part of the lesson pupils had to think about which food items could be recycled, so with the use of a few very ripe bananas and other fruits, the challenge was set. Pupils were able to take part in making a delicious smoothie using only a bicycle fitted with a blender! The faster they could pedal the better the smoothie was mixed. Everyone agreed they had made a delicious smoothie, and it was a great lesson to help us with our further investigations into doing our bit to save the environment. Pupils were then all given a bag of goodies to take home to help them to think about REDUCE, RECYCLE, REUSE!
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Library News Unfortunately, due to the recent severe weather conditions which resulted in the Academy’s closure, our annual World Book Day events had to be postponed. Events will be taking place shortly and the competition results will be announced in the next edition of Newslink. Before the harsh weather set in, students from Year 6 at Wayland Junior Academy Watton battled against the cold and snow flurries and joined Mrs Barnett in the library for a quiz and World Book Day bunting making. The winners from Starlings class were Tallulah
and Sophie and the winners from Wrens class were Courtney and Millie. Everyone took part with enthusiasm and together demonstrated an excellent knowledge of children’s literature. The bunting was based around students’ favourite books and favourite characters and will be displayed around the library; hopefully it will encourage others to read these much loved books. If anyone has any surplus books or DVDs in good condition that they would like to donate to the library, please see Mrs Barnett.
Multi-Cultural Coffee Morning The Library was a hive of activity on 12th December for our first Multi-Cultural Coffee Morning. Families shared cakes, completed craft activities and made new friends. The next coffee morning will be on Tuesday 27th March when students and their families will be invited to decorate Easter biscuits which will then be distributed to senior citizens within the Watton community. Please look out in the next edition for the photographs and information on the next Multi-Cultural Coffee Morning.
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Y11 Revision Cracked Y11 got the new year off to a flying start with a revision skills workshop. Students, accompanied by their tutor, participated in an hour long session, delivered by Tim Foot, a revision skills guru. They were introduced to a number of revision techniques which will hopefully, if put into practice, have a positive impact on their results in the summer. Students were buzzing when they left the sessions and seemed really focused on what they could do to give their revision a kick start. Tutors will follow up the sessions in tutor times encouraging and supporting Y11 to get their revision underway in a way that works for them.
Duke of Edinburgh Award Over 50% of the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award students from 2017 have completed their awards and can proudly claim they are Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award holders. This year’s DofE Silver Award students have just received the information for their expeditions.
Well done Y11. Now go and start revising! Miss Gooding
Message from Karl Green Area Site Manager Many thanks to the site team for all their hard work during the snow days of Wed 28 Feb – Fri 2 March, it was like painting the Forth Bridge at times, trying to clear the Academy site.
Climbing Club on Thursdays 3.30-5pm Lots of climbers are becoming more proficient with their climbing skill and we have introduced a climbing route guide which enables climbers to see their progress. If any students would like more information about WAN Climbing Club or would like to join please see Mr Read.
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Norfolk Skills and Careers Festival Year 9 students enjoyed an interactive event held at the Norfolk Showground. It was designed to inspire students about their future career choices and showcase the variety of sectors and career opportunities in our local area. The Festival was structured around a number of employment sectors: Energy, Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering, ICT – Digital and Creative. Financial and Insurance Services, Leisure, Tourism and Culture, Food and Farming, Agri-Tech and Life Sciences, Health and Social Care, Logistics, Construction, Higher Education and The Armed Forces. The students had a good look around the stands gaining valuable information whilst acquiring as many pens and free paraphernalia as they could.
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Accelerated Reader Students in Year 7 & 8 are well under way with their quizzes after having finished reading their chosen books. We have some students who are amazing us, and themselves, with their scores of 100%. Thishis is because they are reading at the correct levels for their ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development), taking their time and focusing on the right books to take out of the library. Some are even bringing in their own books from home to read. Our students never cease to amaze myself or Mrs Barnett with their accomplishments. This term has seen more word millionaires: Thomas Easter 7S 3,306,495 Freddie strange 8H 2,468,978 Linus Dobbin 8M 2,434,790
Favourite books this term: Bad Dad - David Walliams Diary of a Wimpy Kid The long haul - Jeff Kinny Everything’s Amazing (sort of) – Tom Gates
Benjamin Kidd 8S Ruby Woodward 8H Bridie Stratton 8N
1,776,994 1,742,361 1,335,235
Our high flyers are: Anais Cato 7S Maddie Findell 7N Wiktor Kubaczka 7M Summer Ward 7H Wiktoria Sala 7S Isobel Mason 7N Gulcin Ucar 8H Niamh White 8S Toby Hull 8N Gracie Bailey 8H Beau-Kerry Bonner 8M Kyle Pask 8S Well done to all our readers you are amazing!
For optimal reading growth every student at WAN from Year 7 – 11 should: • Practise reading unfamiliar material • Read for at least 45 minutes every day • Select a wide range of reading materials to improve reading skills and expand vocabulary If you would like more information on the Accelerated Reading Programme please see the quick link on the Academy Website: www.waylandacademy.org.uk or email mashby@waylandacademy. org.uk Thank you for your continued support with the Accelerated Reading Programme. Mandy Ashby
Geography Our Year 8 geography and history students will be looking forward to the annual trip to Gressenhall on May 4th (Star Wars day) where Yr 8 students will find out about life in a workhouse and look at issues of building houses in rural areas. Yr 10 are starting to gear up for their geography field trips to the North Norfolk coast. We have previously had both rainy days and full sunshine on our field trips so of course we are hopeful to have dry days for this trip. Well done to all the Yr 11 students who have been busy with their revision for the GCSEs, good luck..! Mr Read
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Super Scientists
The above students have excelled themselves in Science over the term. Want to get recognised for this award yourself? Just produce an excellent HLP, show outstanding effort every lesson or achieve a fantastic test result.
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Trips
Learning Languages Matters That was the message fifteen Year 8 students from Wayland Academy, joined by Fakenham Academy and Attleborough Academy, received when they attended an MFL conference at the University of East Anglia in January. And as Brexit approaches, the case was put that having modern language skills is more important than ever. Students had fun acquiring some of these, by participating in lively workshop sessions, including quizzes and role plays. They also enjoyed a tour of the university led by UEA student ambassadors.
British Science week 9-18th March 2018 The theme this year was exploration and discovery. Students in KS3 and 4 have been investigating and discussing the issue of the problem with plastics in our environment. They had the chance to reflect on their own use of plastics and how they are recycled. They also had a debate to discuss the recent news reports about how different countries are trying to tackle the problem with plastics.
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English News
English Students in Year 11 are currently working their way through a number of revision tasks designed to strengthen their skills and knowledge as well as improving their levels of confidence and familiarity with the exams. They have also been supplied with a range of materials to support their revision at home, as well as opportunities for additional support through after-school sessions. Please read through the information below to ensure that you are aware of all opportunities and expectations for your son or daughter.
PPEs All students attended PPE (Pre Public Exam) sessions in the school hall. The area was laid out in exam conditions and sessions were led by Mr Sutton. The purpose was to review the November mock papers. Students were taught to stick to exam timings whilst being given modelled examples of responses leading through to scaffolds for responses and then into independence. ‘I found the sessions very useful. They helped me to understand the requirements of the tests more and I gained confidence from the experience.’ (KW) ‘The sessions gave me a lot more confidence and the exam-style layout helped to give me more experience with working in those conditions.’ (LL) ‘They helped me to know what my answers should look like so maybe I won’t go so blank in exams.’ (LF)
Revision materials All students have been issued with a booklet documenting key dates on the run up to the exams, which are repeated below. Booklets have also been issued for revision of: • Language Paper 1 • Language Paper 2 • Macbeth • An Inspector Calls • A Christmas Carol • Power and Conflict poetry
After-School Revision Sessions Writing revision sessions have been running fortnightly since the beginning of November and have now been replaced with literature revision. This takes place with Mr Linney, Mr Sutton and Mrs Stroud. Students may attend any one of the sessions, although it is recommended that they attend the session run by their own English teacher. Mr Linney takes a session on Tuesday evenings from 3:30-4:00, Mr Sutton and Mrs Stroud take sessions on Wednesdays from 3:30-4:00.
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12th March
Language and Literature Mock Exams
22nd March
Speaking and Listening Exam
23rd March
Speaking and Listening Exam
14th May
GCSE Exams Start • Tues 22nd May – Lit Paper 1
21st May
• Fri 25th May - Lit Paper 2 Half Term
4th June
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Tues 5th June – Lang Paper 1
•
Fri 8th June – Lang Paper 2
Week No
Week Commencing
Topic
1
Feb 19th
Macbeth
2
Feb 26th
Macbeth
3
Mar 5th
A Christmas Carol
4
March 12th
A Christmas Carol
5
March 19th
A Christmas Carol
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March 26th
An Inspector Calls
1
Apr 16th
An Inspector Calls
2
Apr 23rd
An Inspector Calls
3
Apr 30th
Conflict Poetry
4
May 7th
Conflict Poetry
5
May 14th
Conflict Poetry
6
May 21st
Conflict Poetry
1
June 4th
Language Paper 2
English News
English Exam Papers There are four exam papers in English: two for language and two for literature. These produce two different grades for students so English is worth a double-weighting in results. Language Exam Paper One - Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing (50%) 1 hour 45mins Section A: Reading - one fiction text Section B: Writing - descriptive or narrative Tuesday 5th June - am Language Exam Paper Two - Writers’ Viewpoints and Perspectives (50%) 1 hour 45 mins Section A: Reading - two non-fiction texts Section B: Writing - to present a viewpoint Friday 8th June – am
Literature Exam Paper One - Shakespeare and 19th-Century Novel (40%) 1 hour 45mins Section A: ‘Macbeth’ - extract and whole text essay Section B: ‘A Christmas Carol’ - extract and whole text essay Tuesday 22nd May - am Literature Exam Paper Two - Modern Texts and Poetry (60%) 2 hour 15 mins Section A: ‘An Inspector Calls’ - whole text essay Section B: ‘Power and Conflict’ Poetry - comparative essay Section C: Unseen Poetry - two unseen poems Friday 25th May - am
Revision at home A great deal of work is being completed in lessons and some of these tasks are listed below. Students must attend every lesson with the intention of working to their maximum potential and making the best progress that they can. In addition to this, and the other resources already listed, there are tasks below that can help to support your child at home. English Literature • Learn the key quotations for each text. This will take a long time, so start early. Read several quotes and try to remember them; then cover the page and see if you can say them in your head without looking. • Make a list of the key characters for each text. For each character, draw a mind map of five points and five quotes. Now learn this and see if you can recall it from memory without looking. • Make a list of the key themes for each text. For each theme, draw a mind map of five points and five quotes. Now learn this and see if you can recall it from memory without looking. • Look at the list of sample questions for each text. Use the exam guide sheets to practise planning a response for each question. • Watch all of the GCSE Pods for each of the set texts. • Complete the Doddle tasks set for free use. • If possible, attend one English revision session after school each week.
English Language • Practise writing stamina under exam conditions in class. • Learn the acronyms and timings for each question. • Learn the language and structure terminology. • Revise what is needed in each question. • Prepare thoroughly for your speaking and listening certificate exam. • Complete the Paper 1 and Paper 2 revision practice questions pack.
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Teacher Profile
More than just a teacher: Miss Gooding Born: Thompson, Norfolk Primary School: Thompson, Watton Junior (Year 6) Secondary School: Wayland High School (now Wayland Academy) Sixth Form: Swaffham University: Loughborough Degree: P.E., Sports Science and Mathematics (Joint Honours Bachelor of Science) – First Class Honours Favourite subject at school: Maths, German and PE Worst subject at school - History Favourite place you’ve visited: I worked in Dubai and USA which were both incredible experiences. I travelled around Thailand which was also amazing. Did you always want to be a teacher?: NO!! Ever since I did work experience at RAF Marham I wanted to join the RAF as a Physical Training Instructor but was advised to go to university and get a degree so I could go in as a Physical Education Officer. Unfortunately, due to an injury in the meantime, I couldn’t go in the RAF so ended up teaching instead. To be honest, I actually love what I do now so maybe it’s fate that I ended up doing what I’m doing.
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Greatest achievement: Playing rugby for England Students. It was an absolute honour standing on the pitch singing the national anthem. Running out of the player’s tunnel at Twickenham to the roar of the crowd was also pretty spectacular. Role model: Without a shadow of a doubt it has to be my mum for putting up with me. What do you like to do in your spare time? Uh, hello. You’re asking a teacher about spare time?! I am a fitness freak so work out every day. Nothing better than a good sweat to get the frustrations out and get you ready for the day. Most valuable thing you’ve learned in life: Not to be afraid to quit something. As long as you’ve given it your best shot, if you know that it’s not the right thing for you then there’s no harm in walking away. Do what makes you happy, not what you think other people expect of you. What would you change about Wayland Academy? The students here are absolutely amazing and have so much potential but they don’t always seem to see that in themselves. I really wish each and every student would believe in themselves a lot more, dream big and just go for it.