Wrenn ACADEMY
Issue 6 | January 2018
“Proud to be Wrenn”
Wrennaissance
Wrenn Gets Gold! Wrenn takes the mental health of its students very seriously, that is why we are proud to announce that we have just been awarded the GOLD accreditation by the Northampton Mental Health Stigma Programme. In the photo above you can see Mrs Wilson-Smith, school counsellor and 2 students, proudly receiving the Gold award. As an award holder we have demonstrated a commitment to tackling the stigma surrounding mental health: • Raising awareness about mental health issues. • Ensuring students know where they can access help and support. • Promoting the wellbeing of our students.
“Gold and Silver schools are keen to demonstrate their commitment further by engaging the school and the local community in a range of activities on Mental Health Awareness Day.” Wrenn pupils cheered on Tessa Parkinson as she arrived at Wrenn Academy to collect our school stamp on her jumpsuit for raising awareness and promoting the profile of the Northamptonshire Mental Health Programme. Tessa handed out mental wellbeing resources as well as balloons which were launched by the students.
Principal’s Welcome Where has the last term gone? It seems only yesterday that we were celebrating the achievements of our magnificent Year 13 and Year 11 students. I was incredibly proud on results day, and the efforts of all our staff and students over the year resulted in the major headline “The Most Improved School in the County”. Since the start of the new academic year we have continued to raise the expectations and aspirations of all our students. Through our “Proud to be Wrenn” values we ensure all our students have opportunities to excel beyond their potential. As parents you play an important role in the successes of your child and I would like to thank you for all your hard work and continued support. Our school have won two nationally recognised awards this term, firstly the GOLD AWARD from the Northampton
Mental Health Stigma Programme. Wrenn takes the mental health of its students very seriously and this award is recognition for all the support and counselling from Mrs Wilson-Smith and all our Year Team Managers. Secondly the SILVER AWARD from the National Citizen Service (NCS). This is a UK Government voluntary personal and social development programme for 15-17 year olds. Mrs Vann is our ambassador at school for this programme, and the award is recognition for our 44 students who participated in the 3 week residential
NCS Award Wrenn proudly achieved the SILVER AWARD from the National Citizen Service (NCS).
programme during the summer holidays. I urge all our parents to check this fantastic programme out on the NCS website. I am sure you will enjoy reading our 6th edition of our Wrennaissance magazine, and like myself feel a sense of pride in all our student achievements. I would like to wish all our families a very Prosperous New Year. Steve Elliott Principal
A Surprise Visit from an Ex-student! “I would like to inform you about the successful end to my military training, which I have endured for fifteen long months, and leading to the start of my career as a Grenadier Guard in London (Wellington Army Barracks). I am on leave until 3rd January next year, starting my ceremonial duties at Buckingham palace. To show my appreciation for what you and the staff have done for me, I am visiting Wrenn in my no2 dress uniform.” Thank you Daniel…Its was fantastic to see you!
Brave the Shave Our story: Myself (the tall handsome guy in the middle) was eager to brave the shave. Charity is great and I love having the ability and opportunity to help people and do things to improve their quality of life, especially the fight against cancer. One day I called up Dillon (the small guy on the right). I asked if he wanted to do it with me, he was sceptical at first but decided to do it. We then got Jose (the super annoying guy on the left) to do it with us. Before the end of half term we did a cake sale at school and we raised £62.03, over hardworking days with
dozens of people helping out, thank you to you guys! Many people helped the overall event and it was amazing. We are almost a 1/3 of the way to completing our goal of £300 and we hope we can exceed this. And we hope you can be a part of it. bravetheshave.macmillan.org.uk/ shavers/william-channon
Wrenn would like to thank all the staff at “Touch of Class” for their help with this “Brave the Shave” charity event.
School Games Success – Proud to be Wrenn! Our Year 9/10 Girls’ Rounders Team represented not only the school but the whole of the Wellingborough & East Northants district at the School Games competition. As you will see from the picture, we came back with a medal…. here’s their story…. Our first game was against Prince William and we won 14 – 3!! Our second game, against Northampton Academy, also resulted in a win, 12 – 6.5. Our last, and certainly toughest game, was against Campion, which ended 13.5 – 13.5.
Sadly, due to overall rounders scored, we finished with the silver medal and missed out on gold by just 1.5 rounders!!!!!!! Nonetheless, the girls were amazing and played their very best – the best I’ve ever seen them. Silver is a fantastic achievement!! Huge congratulations to them.
Science Cup For the latest Form Cup Challenge, the students were tasked with developing and creating a way to sustain human life on the moon. Their main foci were; oxygen, food, water and accommodation. Each form excelled and demonstrated great ingenuity, creativity and forward
thinking. There could however, only be one winner, decided through a student and staff vote. On this occasion, and for the first time, 8C won the challenge with the majority of votes. For their prize they will be visiting the National Space Centre in Leicester in the new year.
Poppy Parade Our students continued to do us proud at this year’s Remembrance Parade as well as the Sea Cadets who led the parade.
Reverse Advent Boxes I first heard about the reverse advent box project from a friend who set up a Facebook group to collect boxes and items. I offered her my help and said I would talk to the students and staff at Wrenn. Never in a million years did I think we would make over 7 boxes between us! I have been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of our students. In fact we had enough food to donate to the food bank in Wellingborough. Special thanks goes to the many students who filled the boxes and decorated them so they looked amazing. Wrenn Student go above and beyond! Mrs Bass English Teacher
When I first heard about the reverse advent calendar I thought it was a really nice thing to do. I thought it was something different! My first thoughts were that they should be able to have a good and exciting day. They shouldn’t miss out on this day. Their day should be full of surprises. They are no different to us. So we signed up for it and as days went on we collected loads of stuff to put in our box. In the boxes we put food and accessories and everything they needed. Hopefully then they can enjoy the day we all enjoy! Year 8 student
Author of the ‘Gone’ Series talks to Wrenn Pupils A group of Year 8 pupils were excited to attend Corby Business Academy to meet the author Michael Grant, who wrote the well-known ‘Gone’ series. They were told about how he started his writing career when he wrote the ‘Animorphs’ series of books with his wife, which were made into a television series. One pupil who listened to Michael Grant commented “listening to what he had to say was inspiring.”
Roald Dahl Day Spectacularly and enthusiastically we celebrated Roald Dahl Day this year with some of our staff dressing up as characters from his very famous books. Competitions have been running throughout the week and one lucky pupil will win a set of his books by coming up with a design for a new delicious chocolate bar. The canteen also joined us in our celebrations by decorating the food area; serving some Roald Dahl themed food and giving away free Fizzy Lifting drink!
Irfan Master visits Wrenn We were delighted to welcome back the superb Irfan Master to our school to talk to our Year 8 pupils about his latest book ‘Out of Heart’. This is about a boy whose Grandfather donates his heart when he passes on, without telling his family. Irfan now lives in Australia so we were pleased that he took time out of his busy schedule to spend time at Wrenn Academy.
Summer School In August 2017 we launched our first Summer School, targeting students who needed an extra boost in English and Maths or had been identified as needing additional support with the transition from primary school. Students spent the week utilising the facilities at London Road exclusively, whilst immersing themselves in a project based on a secret theme. Twenty Six students took part from a range of feeder primary schools and
every student felt they had benefitted from the experience. We believe that supporting our students shouldn’t just begin in September, and that with early support we can assist in laying the foundations for their long term future. Building on the success of this year we will be extending the Summer School to include 50 students from our new cohort.
WOW Day 2017 A few weeks ago, we had WOW day (World of Work). This was an exciting experience where I got to see, along with the rest of my year group, what other people did for their jobs. This was a great experience as I got to see many career paths and, if I was interested, what I would need to do to achieve this career. One of my workshops was Spacecraft Engineer and I got to meet a real-life spacecraft engineer who has worked on many ships and satellites which had actually gone into space! We had a fun workshop where we had to design a shield to prevent a chocolate from melting. Not only was this fun but it also made me think about a career as an engineer. WOW day was a very exciting experience which helped me think about what I need to do in the future. I would recommend this to all other students. Finnley Coles 8C
On WOW Day, I attended the following workshops; Fire Services, Army and Animal Welfare. These were extremely interactive. The people leading the workshops listened to my questions and answered well. They gave advice for getting into the different careers. I hope this event continues every year. My favourite part of the day was handling the corn snake, gecko and bearded lizard. I loved it so much! Beth Holton 8C
WOW day is an experience I’ll never forget. It taught me some ins and outs of working for or with companies and it helped me understand the world of work. One of my favourite activities was the Army experience, closely followed by floristry where we made stunning Christmas arrangements. Both seemed opposites when compared side by side, however I thoroughly enjoyed both. I very much appreciate this experience as it helped me narrow down my career choices and I’m sure it helped others too. Agata Ferst 8C
On World of Work day there were many activities related to all different careers and jobs. Some of those activities included: Army, RAF, Water Supply challenge, Floristry, Fashion, Midwifery and many others. During the morning we listened to people explain and talk about their own jobs and what each one involved. Each job that was presented had many different roles and requirements. During the day we did three different activities. My three were: Build a Bog, RAF and Water Supply challenge. Each one was completely different. Each one gave us information about different jobs that some of us had never heard of or thought of doing. Jukes 8C
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