Tallis News July 2013
Message from the Executive Head Teacher Dear Parents and Carers, This term has been extremely hectic and as you will see from this summer’s Newsletter there have been many exciting activities and events that have taken place. Please take some time to read through these reports as I am sure you will find them interesting. I have enjoyed my last 2 years at this school and am very pleased to report that we have achieved a great deal in that time. We fully expect the examination results (GCSE and post 16 results) to be another record breaking year and I look forward to celebrating this with our students on the 15th (KS5) and 22nd August (KS4). You will have gathered from previous communications that the school has a new Leadership team who are outstanding and will be headed up by our new Head Teacher, Mrs Carolyn Roberts. Mrs Roberts is an exceptional Head Teacher, and I am sure will take the school forward to achieve the Ofsted Outstanding badge which it so richly deserves. May I take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and also to thank all of the students who I have had the pleasure of working with over the last 2 years. I am truly proud and honoured to be associated with the school, which I am sure will become one of the best in the country, in a very short space of time. May I also offer my heartfelt thanks to my colleagues who have worked so tirelessly to give our students the best possible opportunities for their futures. Finally, I must thank our Governing Body which, under the outstanding leadership of Tim Warner, has achieved so much in so little time. I look forward to hearing of the successes of your sons and daughters in years to come. I wish you all the very best for the new term. Enjoy the summer break, Mr Byron Parker For further information and news, please visit
www.thomastallisschool.com/news
Staffing Goodbye
Mr B Parker Ms N Pankhurst
Ms G Benson Ms K West Ms R Willoughby Ms G Mitchell Mr G Robertson Mr C Catling Ms M Mulrenan Ms S Myers Mr M Bennett Ms C Gradowicz Ms G Nichols Ms K Swannack Mr M Ray Ms E Agboola Mr B Doerner Mr A Obembe Ms E Strachan Mr W Jenkinson Mr M Shaw
Executive Head Teacher Art and Design Deaf Support Centre Drama English English Head of LSU Humanities Inclusion Maths Maths MfL (maternity cover) PE and Dance Science Science Science Science Science Science Visual Media Arts Visual Media Arts
Welcome
Mrs Carolyn Roberts Ms J Rawlings Ms Tremaine Bilham Ms Roxanne Blakelock Mrs Jo Cameron Ms Elizabeth Church Ms Louisa Coppins Ms Grace Galvin Ms Anna Gilmore Ms Katie Goodrum Ms Zara Jaffray Mr Alexander Jibb Ms Sheila Kelly Mr Paul Lederer Ms Hannah Lees Mr Haroon Mansour Delmorine McKoy Ms Hannah Phull Ms Allana Rider Mr Patrick Robson Miss Helen Sheehan Ms Rebecca Wells Ms H Davey Smith Ms Sarah Phillips
Thanks to all staff leavers for your dedication and contribution to Thomas Tallis, We wish you every success in the future.
Marie Smith Hannah Tomlinson Stacey Condell Sarah Strilchuk Gareth E Smith
Head Teacher Assistant Head Teacher Science Teacher English Teacher Deaf Support Teacher English Teacher Psychology Teacher PE Teacher Science Teacher Humanities Teacher Deputy Curriculum Leader of Drama ICT Teacher Inclusion Teacher Science Teacher Geography Teacher Maths Teacher Health & Social Care Teacher Science Teacher Drama and Dance Teacher Maths Teacher Deputy SENCO Classroom Teacher English Teacher Art & Photography Teacher Head of the LSU English Teacher Science Teacher Science Teacher Science Teacher
Term Dates 2013/2014 Staff Inset day st Yr 7, Yr 12, 1 day back All years return Autumn Half Term Staff Inset day Last day of Half Term Xmas break Staff Inset day st 1 day of Spring Term
Tuesday, 3 September Wednesday, 4 September Thursday, 5 September Monday 28 October – Friday 1 November Friday, 6 December Friday, 20 December Monday, 23 December – Monday, 6 January Monday, 6 January 2014 Tuesday, 7 January 2014 Summer News………………………
English
KS3: It has been a busy year for KS3 English. The lunchtime book club has been a huge success and Year 7&8 took part in a Greenwich schools' book quiz in April. The book quiz was organised by students from Shooter's Hill Post-‐ 16 Centre. There were eight rounds including, 'Classics', 'Dystopia' and 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid'. The students really enjoyed themselves and every participant got to choose a book at the end of the competition. Students were also treated to talks by two published authors; Ellie Daines and Francis Hardinge, with an opportunity to ask questions and get their autographs afterwards. The teams came joint fifth out of sixteen teams and represented the school fantastically. Year 9 students sat their end of Key Stage 3 Reading and Writing tests at the end of April; their conduct throughout this period and their performance in the tests was impressive. The end of Year 9 levels are promising and the number of students achieving an overall level 6 or 7 is on the increase. KS3 Book Club: We meet every half term to discuss books that challenge, engage and entertain KS3 students. We buy the books and students get them for free. We carefully choose a range of fiction and non-‐fiction from both the classic literary canon to contemporary. This book group discusses complex issues such as war, politics and race to name a few themes that come up through our choice of texts. We provide refreshments for a lively atmosphere and everyone contributes to our blog after each group meeting. Please see http://ks3tallisbookgroup.tumblr.com/ for more information on books that we have read over the last 2 years. Please see Ms Vyas or Ms Walsh in the English Faculty for more information or email kwalsh@thomastallis.org.uk.
Faculty Updates……
KS4 and 5: The GCSE English/iGCSE English examinations and English Literature examinations ran smoothly in May and June, with the dropdown revision sessions and warm-‐ups running successfully. Pleasingly, many of our Year 11 students came out of their English/English Language Unit 1 GCSE exam feeling very confident and positive about the paper. Results for English/English Language this year are expected to exceed 75% A*-‐C, and may end up above 80% A*-‐C. We all have our fingers crossed! The A Level examinations for Philosophy, English Literature and English Language have also gone well, with English staff’s powers in exam question prediction proving spookily accurate, and students feeling confident of their success. KS4 and 5 Reading Group: The KS4 and 5 Reading Group continues to work its way through some twentieth century classics, with Daphne Du Maurier's "Rebecca." The Reading Group is going well and we have well-‐attended meetings, twice in a half term. It has been great to see many sixth formers who have not pursued English at Key Stage 5, especially scientists, who are continuing to foster their love of reading through this group. We have read a range of texts, chosen by the students from a selection (although 'Slaughterhouse-‐5' has proved most popular). The facebook group has 46 members including former students who are keen to stay in touch. The current students are enthusiastic about keeping things going and would like to find ways to replenish our books stock once the current supply runs out. Find us on facebook at Tallis Reading Group. Creative writing Group: Members of the Tallis Creative Writing Group have been working with Claire Powell, an aspiring young writer and graduate of the University of East Anglia's prestigious Creative Writing MA course. Their short stories will be published in an anthology which is launching soon. Watch this space! Our creative writers are currently compiling their work into an anthology, which will be produced and launched during the Summer term.
KS5 school journeys and residentials: It has been a busy time for trips in KS5 English, with English Language students participating in workshops at t he G uardian n ewspaper a nd t he B ritish L ibrary a nd Y ear 1 2 E nglish Literature students attending the opening performance of the Globe’s new production of The Tempest a nd a private screening of Baz Luhrmann’s n ew a daptation o f F . S cott F itzgerald’s, T he G reat G atsby. English Literature students have just returned from the infamous residential school journey to North Yorkshire in July in preparation for their study of Gothic Literature as part of their A2 course. They visited the village of Haworth, where Emily Bronte lived, and Whitby, where Dracula’s ship makes landfall. In Whitby, they toured the ruined abbey and wandered the narrow streets of the port. We looked down from the headland to the beach where Dracula’s ship ran ashore, and met the Whitby Walker himself. They then stayed in the recently refurbished Youth Hostel, on the headland looking out to sea. In Haworth, they visited the various sites in the locality so p owerfully d escribed in Wuthering Heights. They also went to the Bronte Museum, walked on the moors at twilight, and b athed at the Bronte Bridge, visited Penistone Crags. It’s been another busy year in the M aths department with "Summing" things up in Maths the usual focus and push on examinations which will allow students to follow the pathways they desire. Year 11 have done really well and we predict that the number of students that will get an A*-‐C will b e higher than last year's 75%, meaning a new record for the 4th year running! We also predict there will b e a record number of A*-‐A grades, potentially as high as 20% of the year group. Year 12 and 13 are also predicted to have record breaking results as we expect 87% of year 12 to get an A-‐E grade, with 41% getting an A-‐B. In Year 13 we are hopeful for 100% A-‐E, with 47% getting an A*-‐B grade. As well as the examinations however there has been lots of interesting and creative Mathematics going on. A 2nd edition of the Tallis Fanzine has been published; "Alchemy" follows up on the well-‐received "Delicious Pi". Please email myself or Mr Nichols if you'd like a copy! We h ave also been using AppleTv, YouTube and Weebly to modernise learning in Maths, please visit www.mathstallis.weebly.com and have a look at all that’s being going. You will also see details of our world record, a KS3 Magic show, a year 7 p uzzle d ay and lots more! C hris Hordern, Head of Mathematics.
Friends of Tallis
Maths
We are re-launching Friends of Tallis in September and are looking for parents and carers to take part in a variety of ways. Are you a dad with a little bit of spare time? or a mum who might like to help out? or a carer who'd like to get involved? Email sbolton@thomastallis.org.uk and we'll be in touch over the summer holidays.
It has been a very busy and successful year in the Science department, there have been some changes this year to the way that Science is run at Thomas Tallis. The KS3 course has been condensed into a 2 year course, leaving 3 years for the students to gain a range of different science qualifications from BTEC Science all the way to Alternative and Traditional Triple Science. KS3 90% of year 9 students achieved a level 5+ in their end of KS3 exams, which will put them in good stead to achieving their target grades at GCSE. GCSE Student in Years 10 and 11 have been working their socks off to achieve the best grades possible in their coursework and preparing to sit their GCSE exams for the multiple GCSE routes that we offer. The exams went smoothly and we are hoping to have another successful year of GCSE results as we are predicting that 77% of our students achieve 2 A*-‐C grade in science, In addition we also anticipate that 30% of our current year 11 Triple Scientists will be moving onto Post 16 courses with at least A grade triple science GCSEs under their belt. POST 16 The success continues through to Post 16 where we are predicting above 90% A*-‐E grades for Biology, Chemistry and Physics AS and A2 Levels It hasn’t been all work and no play though… please see below for a selection of the enrichment trips run this year. • A Biology trip where students received a seminar on Animal Behaviour. Students were engaged and were involved in practising different training techniques after a demonstration. They clearly loved this session. After the taught seminar, students had the opportunity to observe the different animals and look at animal behaviour • A Physics trip to the national maritime museum to view an astrophysics exhibition and to the royal observatory to use their telescopes, and listen to lectures from famous astronomers. They also attended a lecture at UCL on the nature of magnetic monopoles. • A Chemistry trip to Kent University where they prepared light sensitive chemicals and use spectroscopic techniques to prove that their synthesis had been successful. A great trip that really inspired the students, several are now interested in studying chemistry at university. • Year 13 students attended a residential study trip to Wrotham in Kent. The students completed 48 hours of intensive study in biology, chemistry, physics and maths, and this led to the students being particularly successful in their January modules. Several students score 150/150 in chemistry, the highest marks in the country. We subsequently have many Year 13 students who are extremely hopeful of going on to study science and engineering at top Russell group universities. The trip wasn't all work however, and the students had a chance to improve their climbing skills in driving winter rain! The science department has been working hard to put a bank of learning resources onto our website http://thomastallisscience.weebly.com/ Here you will be able to find revision materials for all year groups, past papers for GCSEs, online homework’s for KS3 and KS4, PowerPoint’s to help with homework, Information on the different courses we offer and lots more. Please bear with us as this site is still under construction, but it should be fully functioning by September 2013. Zahra Shaikh, Director of Science
Science
As part of efforts to support achievement in Year 7 the students win merits for their efforts in lessons, with those gaining the most winning a Golden Ticket. The Golden Tickets get students a reward at the end of each half term. Over the last half term each tutor divided the students into mini teams with each student working hard for their merits but at the same time to benefit their team. Each group then enjoyed a two hour kayaking session at Southmere Boating Club, Thamesmead. This year most students have won a Golden Ticket, with all of them aspiring for success which we all hope will embed a value that will stand them in good stead for their learning journey at Tallis as well as into their futures. I wish them continued success. Robert Walsh (Pastoral Leader Year 7)
Year 7
French Exchange Visit On Wednesday 15th May we had a fantastic morning when 50 French students from South West France visited Thomas Tallis.
A former Tallis teacher, Martine Lapeyre, (who in fact, had been my French teacher many years ago), contacted us to arrange a visit. The students were interested to meet English students and see how our schools differ from French schools. We started the exchange process by writing letters to the
students. Our pupils were very excited to receive post. The letters were very well written and beautifully decorated with stickers, pictures and photographs. The students enjoyed receiving actual letters rather than emails and immediately replied. Martine then contacted me to arrange the visit. The 50 students arrived at 8.30am and we split them into 2 groups. They joined 2 French year 7 classes and we ran a French version of “speed-‐dating” in order to break the ice and get the kids talking. This was very successful and friendships started to form. We spent time in the Dojo and played games with hula-‐ hoops and footballs. The students were then given refreshments of cake and juice they were introduced to the students who had been writing to them. We had a wonderful time with the French students and we hope to arrange a weeklong exchange with the students and their families in the future. Laura Crocker Head of French
Year Group Updates……
It has been an incredibly busy and successful year for Year 8. Over the course of the last three months all year 8s have been engaged in a dialogue that has helped to set their course for their future at Thomas Tallis and beyond. The students have displayed a high level of maturity and thoughtfulness, as well as tenacity in seeking out advice to choose the best pathway for them.
Year 8
As a year group the students have had a lot to celebrate academically. A number of students have already achieved their target levels set for the end of year 9 which bodes well for the start of their studies at Key Stage 4 . As well as the academic side of school the year group has also managed to ensure they have continued to work well together and support each other. The Sports Day held at Sutcliffe Park Athletics track was triumphant – not only on the track and field but also in the manner the students encouraged and looked after each other. Students also had the opportunity to try their h and (or legs?) at static bike racing. Rollapaluza Cycling Club in association with the Sustrans charity brought their Roller Racing Rig into school whereby riders would be able to ride 250 metres in order to turn a h and on a clock. Some of the fastest students managed this in less than 14 seconds with legs spinning at over 200 rpm. 40 students has an enjoyable trip to the Tyn y Berth Mountain centre in Wales where there participated in a range of activities including rock climbing, gorge walking and raft building. Despite the mud and rain the photos suggested that they all had a b all. Next year the students will face great challenges. If they display the same degree of mettle that they have shown this year we have no doubt they will achieve the successes that they deserve. students had three challenges to fulfill on the day, which was hugely successful, and there was a real vibe about the centre; feedback from those involved was very positive.
Wrotham May 2013
Year 9
The trip to Wrotham involved our 24 G&T students in Year 9 who spent several hours planning a peer mentoring session in Maths for other Year 9 students; the group was coordinated by Ms Willougbhy and was charged with preparing three sessions to be delivered as a learning away day with the intention of getting students ready for their Math assessment the following week. The group was taken to Wrotham for an overnight stay by Ms Willoughby and Mr Rodwell. They spent all day Thursday doing final preparations for their sessions, which also included completing some of the challenges at Wrotham. The following day the G&T students were joined by another 48 students whom they were going to lead and deliver the sessions to with support from staff. The
St udent s collaborat ed, cooperat ed, shared and developed t heir skills in learning t oget her.
Year 10 The year 10 have been working extremely hard over the last couple of months, the majority having sat their 1st early entry for Maths, Science and English. They are to be congratulated for their excellent attitude and h ard work. The 1st Drama examination days have also taken place, the students were very positive about their performance. Year 10 Sports day, the final one was a great success, excellent competition, close run and fantastic weather. Congratulations to all who took part and particularly to 10RA who won the event. Additional congratulations to Ms Pollitt and Mr Ray who in support of the tutors, literally went the last ½ mile – entering the 1500m to motivate the runners. Directions Day students will be given the opportunity to sample Year 12 lessons and will be given advice about future p athways. A big thanks to Jon Nicholls and the year 10 students for their promotional materials for this event. Finally, thank you to all staff who have supported the year group, your help and guidance has been invaluable. Denise Armstrong Pastoral Leader Year 10
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Performing Arts
2014 School Trips Year 8 and 9 are going to Spain 15 May – 22 May 2014
Geography Fieldwork – July 2013 During the second week of July over 100 Year 10 students took part in fieldwork for their GSCE studies. They visited Canary Wharf to look at the impact of economic regeneration and the influence of global companies in providing work and wealth. They were lucky to be based at the international Law Firm Clifford Chance for the day and thanks go to the hosts for providing a space for the group to b ased at, as well as an excellent talk from the global premises director about the worldwide operation of a global corporation.
On the second day the students visited the Darent Valley in North Kent and spent the day studying the river. This involved them measuring and observing different aspects of the river’s behaviour including its speed, its depth and the size and shape of the stones and sediment it was carrying. The students relished the opportunity to learn from the n atural landscape and to experience the work and power of a river at first hand. We were lucky to experience glorious sunshine throughout these days and the students were superb ambassadors for the school. Thanks to Mr Sheedy, Ms Uden, Mr Macdonald, M r Frederick and Mr Greig who provided the transport, motivation and geographical inspiration to make these days such a success.
Cherry Orchard Visits Humanities
The Humanities Department welcomed 30 Year 6 students for a little taste of Year 7 History and Geography.
The students had a great time familiarising themselves with skills such as causation, and making plasticine animations drawing the most significant reason why William won the Battle of Hastings.
Spain Trip – Spring 2013
Year 7 Day Trip to France On Tuesday 2nd July Mr Greig, Mrs Robinson, Mr Hordern, Mrs Tunnicliffe and I took 46 year 7 pupils to France for the day. The day trip was open to all students who study French, including our fast-‐track French as a second foreign language class. We departed from Thomas Tallis at 6.30 am and made our way to the Euro Tunnel. Many of the students, and our own Mr Greig, had never been on the shuttle before and so even the journey became an exciting event!
Our first visit was to Cap Blanc Nez where we admired the view of the sea. We then made our way to a Chocolatier and discovered how chocolate is made, and just how good hand-‐made chocolates taste! Our third visit was to a goat farm. We were shown how cheese is made and the students were able to taste different types of goats cheese. The farmer then allowed us to eat our packed lunches in her garden and after lunch we were allowed into the barn with the farm animals. The students really enjoyed holding the ducklings and petting the goats and rabbits. For our evening meal we went to a restaurant in Calais. It was a real pleasure to share dinner around the table with the whole group. The students were served freshly made French cuisine which they enjoyed. After dinner some of the students, and teachers, had a paddle in the sea. Then it was time to go home. It was a fantastic day out which I intend to repeat next year. The pupils behaved immaculately and we all wished we could have stayed longer.
Thomas Tallis Career Academy
University Links;
In June 2013 our students were p laced at the following organisations; • Bank of England • OFCOM • Accenture • Canary Wharf Group • McGraw Hill • Moody’s Career Academy students follow a rigorous two-‐year enrichment programme alongside a curriculum equivalent to at least three A levels, enabling students to progress to higher education or the world of work. The programme aims to tackle social mobility and raise the aspirations of 16 to 19 year olds, boosting their employability skills by giving them real life experiences of the workplace, something which is p articularly relevant in the current climate.
Forging closer links with our local university - Sociological Imagination Conference: Goldsmiths University
On the 20th March the Year 13 sociologists attended a 'Sociological Imagination' conference at Goldsmiths. They enjoyed lectures from inspiring academics such as Bev Skeggs and Les Back. The students then debated the morning lectures in small seminar groups, where they explored analyses of the London Riots - looking at the moments that weren't part of the mainstream discourse - encouraging us all to be attentive to the small everyday occurrences amidst extraordinary events. The second challenging theme looked at 'new perspectives on class' and introduced the students to cutting edge research being conducted by the sociologists at Goldsmiths. The students found this an exhilarating event and rose to the challenge of exploring these complex, yet deeply relevant ideas. The students found the university to be both welcoming and exciting: we will be continuing to forge closer links.
STUDENT VOICE! 14 March, Student Voice discussed the role of the arts with Sir Nicholas Serota, and his team. As part of our intellectual symposium series, Tallis Talks, the Student Voice organised a trip to The Tate to meet and discuss ideas with Sir Nicholas Serota and his team. This was a truly inspiring experience, where the students spoke eloquently and thoughtfully about the role of the arts in education. Nick’s team commented that they were truly impressed with the critical reflection of the students. Nick sent a personal note after the meeting praising our students: "I found the group so impressive in their articulate examination of the issues and their self-‐awareness". Thank you to everyone for organising the trip and to everyone involved at The Tate for facilitating the session. It has given The Post 16 Team and students much food for thought -‐ perhaps a creative intervention of the month led by students?.......from Barbara Hepworth to Turner.
Student Voice Up-‐date:
A group of Year 12 students visited Goldsmiths during our progression week, to help explore their post-16 plans through their Aim Higher event.
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This is one of the many exciting and innovative events organized, and led by the student voice. The social wing of student voice, have organized a cinema night, a cultural event, and several other fundraisers. They are now in the p rocess of evaluating the year with their peers and will use this to plan for priorities in the next academic year. Work in progress is the setting up of a weekly Tallis podcast. The planning meeting for this is on Monday 24th of June. In July, we are hoping to make a visit to a new link Caption describing or graphic. school in Cambridge to exchange thoughts picture and ideas on the central, and innovative role to be played by our growing student voice. Students have also had a say in redesigning the school gym, changing library procedures, changing the colour of their ID and are due to meet with representatives of the canteen to see if they can improve their choice of food!
6th Form Update ……...
KCL K+ Programme
Year 12 and Year 13
This year we have had a group of students involved in the exciting K+ programme. This is specifically targeted at students with no family history of university education. The students have found this mentoring scheme really useful. It has been really inspiring to have contact with leading academics in a wide range of subject areas.
Aspiring Professional Programmes
This government programme is sponsored by the SMF (Social Mobility Fund). Two of our Year 12 students applied for this and have been accepted on what can only be described as an amazing opportunity. At the end of Year 12 they now get to work with NASA scientists at Kings London, creating biomedical experiments to be tested on Astronauts on the space station…Not a bad excuse to have time out of school!
Teaching and Learning Group
A student voice sub group – “The Teaching and learning group” have been working with staff to create a teaching and learning manifesto for the 6th form. They have also had a say in redesigning some of the curriculum offer for next year and in creating evaluations for progression week. They have also taken part in considering how to improve the advice and guidance given to students across the whole school as well as meeting with representatives from the borough to discuss transition into Year 12. Some of these students have taken part in senior staff and governor meetings, giving student voice feedback and helping think strategically on the direction of the Post 16 part of the school.
A broad selection of speakers from the world of work came in to share their experiences with Tallis Post 16. We were very privileged to have guests from the Tate Gallery, Haymarket, Barristers chambers and even some ex-Tallis students.
Exam Results Day; A Level – 15/8/13 GCSE’s – 22/8/13
6th Form enrollment 22 September – Recommendations 23 September – Meeting requirements
For further information and news, please visit www.thomastallisschool.com/links R
Film
Links to images, videos, podcasts and news blogs www.thomastallisschool.com/news
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TTRA 2013
Students in Year 11 and Year 13 have worked very hard this year in preparation for their exams. They have been attending revision classes, Saturday sessions and mentoring diligently. They have arranged study groups and attended revision sessions tirelessly. None of these sessions could have taken place without the kindness of staff giving up so much of their time and dedication to our students. Students themselves have been fantastic at attending and taking part in peer mentoring by arranging times themselves to meet up and prepare for exams together.
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‘Cup Winners’
6 Form boys won the London Cup and the Blackheath District Cup
Beryl Davies Girls Trophy (11 schools c ompleted)
Thomas Tallis came ‘2nd’ Greenwich Schools Athletics (11 schools completed)
Yr 7 and Yr 8 girls WON! Yr 9 and Yr 10 came ‘2nd’ Boys Competition (9 schools competed)
Yr7 ‘3rd’ Yr 8 and Yr 9 came ‘2nd’ Yr 10 came ‘3rd’
Congratulations and well done!