www.deferrers.com
deFerrers.COMmuniqué BTEC NATIONAL CERTIFICATE EXHIBITION
Number 052 Summer Half Term 2010
COMMUNICATING THROUGHOUT DE FERRERS SPECIALIST TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE principal@deferrers Dear Parents This is the half-term when major external examinations begin. Year 11 are on their revision programme, making final preparations for important GCSE examinations. Year 12 and 13 also start important examinations at AS and A2 level. Our first ‘pioneer’ cohort of International Baccalaureate students have taken their examinations and we look forward to celebrating their results in early July. External examinations will continue well into June and, although not required by law, Year 9 students will formally take assessments in English, Mathematics and Science under full examination conditions. Parents of Year 9 students will receive teacher assessments later this term.
The first cohort of BTEC National students to complete the qualification here at de Ferrers exhibited their work last night. It was a fantastic show with work varying from Graphics to Illustration, Fine Art, Photography, Textiles, Craft and Fashion. The students have all completed the course with at least double merits. Most students are off to university next year having secured places to destinations like Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield and Lincoln on BA courses varying from Graphics, Textiles, Product Design and Architecture to Fashion. Students who exhibited were Coral Adams,
Kayleigh Creighton, Aaieesha Javed, Naira Mahmood, Jessica Nuttall, Jordan Willingham, Ben Ballantyne, Danielle Askey, Nicolle Orton, Katie Lester, Emma Reeve, Rebecca Locker, Rosie McAdam and Javeria Anwar.
Congratulations to them all and a big thank you from their Art staff for being such a delight to teach.
We wish all the above students every success! The recent Ofsted monitoring visit at our partner school in Tamworth has gone well and I thank you all for your continuing support.
M A York Principal
SCI E NC E W E E K 2 010 - S E E
PAG E
7
ICT Tenth Annual Technology Show Updates Communiqu茅
Look out for the new website. This year we will be hosting a visit from the engineering team that built the Gold medal-winning skeleton bobsleigh, and some lucky students can try the virtual reality bobsleigh run. We also have animation workshops, the Stardome Planetarium and much more.
We have been continuing to update and expand our Frog VLE, which is attracting interest from other schools all over the world. Read about it on our FrogBlog: www.deferrerstv.com /frogblog. We have run surveys, started peer mentoring groups, posted the sign language visual dictionary and much
more. The 2010 election pages were very popular with many students voting and giving their views. You can now take part in the VLE World Cup pages.
Next term will see the launch of our new-look ILPs which have impressed members of Dove Voice and the Student Council, as well as our parent portal, allowing parents to have access to data on attendance, assessment and much more.
ART STUDENTS SHOWCASE SKILLS AT CONFERENCE
Nine Year 8 students were invited to showcase their art skills and knowledge of the 6Rs at a Learning 2 Learn conference at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The students spent the day working with two artists from art company 驶Protean始 who specialise in recycled leather, tin and plastics. The work they created was all focused on the 6Rs- Resilience, Responsible, Reflective, Relationships, Reasoning and Resourceful. In front of a whole conference room full of teachers, the students then gave a presentation about their work and the Rs. All of the students were very confident, mature and friendly. B R E A K I N G
T H E
B O U N D A R I E S
Ellie Lloyd-Jones, Danielle Coltman, James Pickering, Anfia Amir, Faye Brooks, Abigail Birtles, Dion Quinby, Eleana O始Hare and Yasmin Williams.
INCLUSION AND WELL BEING
A group of eight students from de Ferrers were invited to represent the thoughts of children and young people in Staffordshire on inclusion and well being in schools, alongside a small group of students from two other schools.
Their contributions and ideas have been included in the poster that has been developed by a professional artist to promote the new Inclusion and Well-being 2010-2020 Strategy in Staffordshire. Two posters will be deliv-
ered to every school in Staffordshire. The students from de Ferrers feel that the poster gets the views of young people across well and were pleased to have had the opportunity to be involved in the making of the poster.
CommuniquĂŠ This year's Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award candidates have started their outdoor activities with a training weekend in the Peak District. The weather was excellent for walking. They also practised tent pitching, rucksack
packing, then on the second day they planned their routes for the Practice Weekend and spent a few hours orienteering to learn map reading skills. Silver candidates take off for their three day Assessment Expedition in June.
TRENT READING CLUB
Showing their enjoyment of reading with others brought smiles all round as a group of Year 11 students met for the last time at Trent Reading Club to receive gifts for their regular attendance over the last two years. We hope that their enthusiasm for reading will help bring them success in the GCSE exams. Trent Reading Club runs everyday in the Learning Centre between 8.50am and 9.10am and gives students an opportunity to make new friendships as well as providing enjoyable reading time.
They can select books to suit their reading ability and interests from either the Learning Centre or from home. This club is supervised by the Inclusion Support Assistants at Trent.
CHINA Year 11 Young Designer 2010! CALLING Communiqué
I have been given a once on a lifetime opportunity by accepting a place at the Global Young Leadersʼ Conference, where I will represent the college and the UK.
The conference will be held in China and so for two weeks in July I will be experiencing the countryʼs unique culture as I visit Beijing, Hangxhou, Shanghai and Xiʼan. I will meet young people from all over the world who have also been nominated for their potential leadership qualities. During the meetings we will meet existing leaders in their fields and we will discuss world issues with them as we try to identify the characteristics of a successful leader.
On a personal level I am also looking forward to visiting The Great Wall of China, the Laughing Buddha at Ling Yin Temple, the Terracotta Army and, hopefully. experiencing a Chinese Acrobatics Show.
I feel very privileged to be offered such an amazing opportunity. I hope to share some of my experiences with you when I return from this exciting adventure. Watch this space!
Jenny Heathcote Y12
Twenty two students were nominated this year for the Key Stage 4 Young Designer Award. Selected pieces of work from each of them was showcased on Frog and students from across the college were invited to cast their vote to decide the winners from each material area within Design and Technology.
After a week of campaigning by the nominees, the votes were counted and the winners announced in the final Year 11 assembly. Congratulations to: Connor Elliott for Food Technology, Sophie Donnelly for Textile, Sam Johnson for Graphics, Natalie Gould for Product Design and Phil Tate for Resistant Materials.
Team Tanzania
Team Tanzania has had another great half term, raising funds and planning for the fast approaching expedition. Race Night was a fantastic success. Everyone had a great time and the event raised well over £2000 overall. The team would
like to thank all those who helped out with the evening and of course, the hoards of punters who literally filled Trent Hall!
The team members are now working on final preparations for the project phase. They have been in contact with the local school in Tanzania and are planning a range of projects to do while they are out there, including renovating classrooms, introducing recycling measures and building a play area for the children. If you know of anyone who can offer advice on play areas or help out in any way prior to the expedition, please get in touch.
Once again, thank you for all your support – only fifty five days to go!
Communiqué
PSFA
On Thursday 29th April the PSFA held a Fashion Extravaganza and Pre-prom Night on Trent.
There were hairstylists, beauticians, florists, jewellery, accessories and shoes. Fashions for the mums were provided by A La Moda whose models strutted their stuff in the first catwalk show of the night. There were also tuxes for the boys, as well as a split screen VW camper van for transport to the Prom parked outside. But the main attraction was the beautiful prom dresses on display and on the catwalk. Students became glamorous models for the night – quite a transformation from the usual green blazer and skirt, white shirt and tie at half mast. The boys also scrubbed up exceptionally well….. and then there was Mr Griffiths, our new drama teacher all the way from Liverpool.
Mr Griffiths, Pace and Sam provided the introduction and a bit of light hearted banter and then the girls were escorted, one by one, down the catwalk by the boys. Photographs were taken by Autumn House Photography and displayed on the screen behind within seconds of being taken. The girls looked stunning in the gorgeous dresses supplied by Beau Belles of Derby. Absolutely fabulous! Several of the stall holders
commented to me on the night how well the students behaved, how good the performance on the catwalk was and how there was a lovely, relaxed atmosphere to the event.
Thanks to everyone who helped out on the night including all the PSFA members and Matt Mills who gave up a night out to come and help and in particular Mrs Chadwick whose idea it was to run the show. Thanks to our models: Charlotte Bedoe, Georgia Bennett, Tamsin Chadwick, Laura Chalkley, Rachel Freeman, Charlie Holland, Priya Rai, Ellie Shaw, Louisa Statham, Holly Upton, Ayrton Cooper, Connor Elliott, Sam Moorcroft, Alex Parker, Jack Roberts and Mr Griffiths. A full list of stall holders can be found on the PSFA page of the college website under the Parentsʼ Menu This was our last event of the year. Keep an eye out for notices about our Autumn programme of events on our webpage starting with our AGM which is most probably going to be held on Monday 13th September. Full details will be distributed at the beginning of the Autumn term. Have a good Summer and good luck to all those taking exams in the next few weeks!
Anita McLean
NB: For those who wish to have a look at the photos taken on the night please visit the autumn house website: www.autumnhousephotography. co.uk and enter PROM on the Client Login page.
STUDENTS’ WORK IS WRITE ON
Award winning Children's author Keith Gray stepped into de Ferrers as a Writer in Residence this term, helping thirteen students from Years 7 to 10 create their own short stories.
Three days of intense planning, style development and, finally, writing were spent before read-
ing aloud to parents and teachers the finished work on the last afternoon.
It was not only a hands on experience, but very informative and useful too. We'd like to thank not only Keith Gray for coming in and lending his experience, but also the organisers: namely, the College librarians and the English Curriculum Area, as well as the parents who gave up their time to hear the end result. Thank you!
Emma Woodhall 10.2
LOST PROPERTY
Communiqué
Please could you ensure that all of your childʼs property is named in full, as there is an increasing amount of PE kit being placed in the Lost Property on Dove Campus and students who have lost their belongings do not always come and check to see whether their belongings are there.
Everything is checked for names and returned to the student where possible. Should your child lose anything please encourage them to check in the lost property or alternatively feel free to come and look for yourself.
The Lost Property was sorted out before the Easter holidays and there were thirty seven pairs of trainers, ten pairs of football boots, numerous PE shirts, shorts and socks all unnamed. These items have now been kept as spare for use in our PE department.
“I agree with Nick” Interest in debating has reached a new level after the success of the Prime Minister debates on television. Employers and universities are constantly seeking candidates with highly developed communication skills. Anyone in the current Year 9-12 who would like to improve their public speaking technique or who simply enjoy a good discussion, should watch out for the debating announcements in the daily notices in September.
On Wednesday 24th March, in only our second year as a team, the Debating Society got to the final of the Burton Cup in the first year that we have competed in the competition. We were
Day of Arts 2010
On Friday 26th February 2010 Art staff were joined by the educational Art company ʻProteanʼ. Students from KS3 worked collaboratively to create a large scale work of art that will be displayed in the hall. Protean designed the work to reflect the ʻ6Rsʼ that our students are encouraged to use when learning to learn; reasoning, reflection, responsibility, resourcefulness, resilience and effective working relationships. The art staff were also keen for the artwork to focus on ecological issues and so the entire project was made using recycled leather, plastic and tin.
The design is made up of approximately forty letters (mainly the letter
R), but hidden amongst the Rs are the words de Ferrers. Around the edge of each letter students attached statements about what the Rs mean to them and how they use them in their learning.
against a strong Abbot Beyne (last yearʼs winner) and our team of Antonia McMeechan, Claire Wood and Muhammed Ahmed (all Sixth Form) engaged in an interesting debate about the subject “This house believes that Burtonʼs mayor should have similar powers to Londonʼs mayor.”
Both teams had some good arguments even (though the opposition tended to go into talking about New York when the
International Visitors
On Thursday 29th April, we were pleased to welcome two visitors from Limoges, France who came to see how life in a large British college compared to life in a French school. M.Rouay and Mme Lestrade, Inspectors of French schools, spent the day with staff and students. Both were
subject was actually about Burton and London) but, all in all, they produced some good arguments. All of our team members did extremely well and a lot of credit needs to go to them, even though we lost by three points (69-66). A lot of praise is needed for Mr Grady and Mr Thornewill, without whom we would never have got to where we are today, a talented and constantly improving team.
Daniel Jones, Year 11
very impressed with the college and their welcome. They were particularly impressed with the positive relationships that they witnessed around the college. Well done to all involved for creating such a positive impression.
Communiqué
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
SCIENCE WEEK 2010
Would your family enjoy introducing someone from another country to your way of life?
The 15th - 19th March was National Science week and de Ferrers students were involved in a number of related activities.
First up was the "Design a Space Alien" competition where students had to invent a planet and the conditions on it before designing an alien that would be well suited to living on it. Some really inventive entries were submitted by Years 7,8 & 9 students. The winning aliens showed a good understanding of adaptations and scientific understanding as well as being fantastically out of this world. The entries will be on display on Dove Campus.
Jour de la Francophonie at Aston University
HOST is a national charity, backed by the Foreign Office, which has been linking students with volunteer hosts for many years.
Winners Year 7 - Iona Bentley, Hannah Keith, Robert Deaville Year 8 - Moa Dahlstrand, Ron Taylor Year 9 - James Fowler
See www.hostuk.org or call Ruth Pelly, the voluntary organiser in Staffordshire, on 01335 330555.
Runners Up Year 7 - Joe Couthread, Josh Sibley, Luke Ottey, Tilly Inwood, Holly McDonald Year 8 - Charlotte Knopik, Hunnain Ajaz
During the week, the Nutty Professors ran a "Great Egg Race" where students had twenty minutes and limited resources to solve a problem stop an egg from cracking after falling thirty centimetres! Only one group successfully completed a messy task, the winners being Elizabeth Lester, Tilly Inwood. Video clips of the testing can be found on the school VLE under the Nutty Professors page.
Well done to all the competitors and entries for making the first de Ferrers Science week a success, and we hope it will be bigger and better next year.
There are international students from all over the world at universities in the UK: they speak English and most are in their twenties.They would love to spend a weekend sharing your family life in order to understand more about the UK. You could have fun introducing them to British food, customs, your local community and area, and you could learn about their country and culture. This is an opportunity to make friends across international boundaries. Geography comes alive, and afterwards, any news bulletin about your guest's country will have much more meaning.
de Ferrers Specialist Technology College
On the 24th March 2010, ten Y8 students were invited to Aston University in Birmingham to take part in a French activity afternoon. The afternoon began with an introduction to the language. Then the students were split into three groups – each representing a French speaking country. While in the three groups, they each received a talk on their chosen country by a native speaker. A few biscuits later, a presentation was ready to be presented in front of the rest of the groups with the presentations being judged by the Head of Languages at Aston University. Prizes for the winners were mugs and memory sticks. On the whole, the day was an interesting experience, although Mr Martin was driven mad on the way back! Vicky Haward 8/5 & Meg Poxon 8/6
P R E S E N T S
w i t h
S p e c i a l
T h a n k s
t o
J o s e f
We i n b e rg e r
L i m i t e d
Wednesday 14th July Saturday 17th July 2010 7.30pm
The Hall, Dove Campus, Harehedge Lane, Burton upon Trent
Tickets - £7.00
(Concessions £5.00) Licenced Themed Cocktail Bar Tickets available from both Campus Receptions
Communiqué
SPORT
EAST STAFFORDSHIRE SPORTS SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS EVENING
On the 18th March 2010 some of de Ferrers students were awarded Scholarships for their outstanding contribution to chosen sport. The event was held at Pirelli Stadium and forty one scholar-
de Ferrers Sixth Form complete the double!
The de Ferrers U19 football team made it a double celebration for the season after beating Friary College 3 – 1 in the Staffordshire County cup final. This adds to the success already achieved by the U19 Basketball team who also won the
YEAR 9 CLAIM DISTRICT TITLE
The Year 9 Football team proved unstoppable in the District 7a-side Championships, remaining unbeaten throughout the whole competition and not conceding a single goal in the process as they won the competition in emphatic style! In their qualification group, the boys knocked aside the challenge of the other 4 schools finishing top and setting up a finals night
ships were awarded covering nineteen different sports. Here are the de Ferrers students were awarded on the evening -
Table Tennis - Edward Freeman, James Ward and Bekki Lycett Motor Cycle Short Track Tom Woolley Martial Arts - Sophie Barnett
Also Rose Jay, an ex-student of ours, won Junior Sports Person of the Year for her outstanding performance in Rugby. Staffordshire Cup for the fourth year running.
Football:
Year 8 County Cup Final: Oldfields 6 – 2 de Ferrers U19 County Cup final: de Ferrers 3 – 1 Friary
Basketball:
U19 County cup final: de Ferrers 84 – 45 King Edward VI Stafford
Music
The recent Spring Concert, held on the last day of last term, proved to be a resounding success, leaving the packed Trent Hall thoroughly entertained. The evening saw all of the college's ensembles showcasing their talents, from the pulsating opening of Holst's 'Mars', performed by the Wind Band, right through to Souled Out's storming rendition of 'Jailhouse Rock' at the end.
It was a somewhat poignant event however, as this was the final college concert for our current Year 13 students, who have given so much of themselves to the music of de Ferrers over the past seven years. Thank you all and good luck in the future.
We are delighted once again to announce that DeFJO
have been selected to play at the National Festival of Music for Youth in the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham. They will appear in the Schools' Jazz Festival on Friday 9th July if you would like tickets so that you can support the band please get in touch with Mr Aston as soon as possible. Well done!
The final event of the year will be DeFJO's performance at the Tutbury Music Festival on Sunday 11th July. This is an all day event, held in the magnificent grounds of Tutbury Castle and tickets are available directly from the Castle. DeFJO are scheduled to appear shortly after 3pm for a forty minute set. We look forward to seeing you there!
Growing Leaders
Well done to the seven teachers in Cohort 1 who have now completed their "Growing Leaders" training. Cohort 2 commenced on 5th May with all participants and coaches attending their first training session. The participants have decided upon a college project to assist them in completing their course.
de Ferrers Specialist Technology College Principal: Mr M A York BA (Hons) BEd MBA
Dove Campus Harehedge Lane Burton upon Trent DE13 0AS Telephone: 01283 239961 Fax: 01283 239971
clash with William Allitt. Goals from Jacob Dunbar and Josiah Bennett meant a comfortable 2-0 win in the final to claim the trophy.
TEAM: Cory Young, Josiah Bennett, Conor Chamberlain, Jacob Dunbar, Connor Ellis, Kyle Humphries, Aaron Kendrick, Joe Linstead, Callum Lowe, Harry Williams.
Trent Campus St Mary’s Drive Burton upon Trent DE13 0LL Telephone: 01283 239936 Fax: 01283 239950 e-mail: office@deferrers.staffs.sch.uk
www.deferrers.com