Shaftesbury School Newsletter Spring 2024

Shaftesbury

TEDxShaftesbury Youth returns

Twin Science Roadshow

World Book Day

WELCOME

We move ever closer to sunnier, warmer days and the hope of less rain and wind. On a greater positive note, we have managed to avoid any heavy snowfall!

You will have seen from our Friday Bulletin that the school and the young people who attend have had such a busy term. I feel like we are always saying this, but it is so true! Our young people balance and juggle so much within their young lives these days and sometimes, it can feel overwhelming to them. We continue to support and provide wraparound pastoral care to our young people each and every day - our pastoral teams and Year Leaders are always run off their feet! However, it is so important to provide this support, particularly at key times in their school lives, such as during Pre-Public Examinations in Key Stages 4 and 5, and also during Key Stage 3 Assessment time. With this in mind though, and as we have seen, our young people’s resilience has shone through and although tested at times, (sometimes many times), they always do themselves proud.

Here at Shaftesbury School, we pride ourselves on providing many opportunities for students to attend trips. And we have seen a lot of trips go out this term, from university trips, Maths and French trips, to poetry and DT design trips. Developing a sense of cultural capital for our young people is something we continue to work hard on.

Our PE department have also been busy (again) this term and we have had so many triumphs including our Year 10 Football team beating Sherborne Boys’ 9-2 and our U13 Girls who won the Area Handball and now go onto the Southwest Finals in May along with our U13 Boys and U15 Boys! We have hosted a Primary Netball festival - 13 teams, over 200 people on the netball courts, and took part in the #LetGirlsPlay initiative where 173 girls took part in football on a Friday lunch time.

As we move closer to Easter, we need to reflect on the impact we are making on one another’s lives and how this translates daily into school. We reflect on our values as a school and our Christian underpinning of ‘love thy neighbour as thyself”. We must remember the notion of mutual respect, courtesy and a warm, welcoming smile as we move through our days and through our lives.

Warmest Regards

Mrs S Bowen Interim Head of School

Awards Evening

Earlier this term we held our annual Awards Evening celebrating the top achievements from a range of students for best effort, attainment and progress. Marcelo Staricoff joined us as a special guest and gave a compelling keynote on the merits of ‘not knowing’. Students from Years 7 to 13 were presented with a fantastic array of awards and we are very proud of them all.

Marcelo said “I can’t thank you enough for inviting me to be part of such a special occasion tonight. It’s amazing how close I feel to the school after just one day with you all, the hospitality and warmth of welcome from you all, admin and the students was truly fabulous, hugely appreciated.

Please pass on how impressed I am to everyone with all that your school offers and the amazing ethos which is so palpable and reflected by every member of your community. A truly memorable day and I hope that the students during the day and in the evening enjoyed it too”.

TWIN SCIENCE ROADSHOW YOUTH SPEAKS

Shaftesbury Schools continues to deliver the cutting-edge educational initiative with its Twin Science roadshow visiting local primary schools coordinated by Mr More and delivered by Mr Sweetenham. With a dedicated focus on promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects, the roadshow aims to ignite a passion for programming and innovation among our youngest learners. The dynamic team from Shaftesbury School engaged students through interactive demonstrations, captivating experiments, and hands-on activities that brought the wonders of programming to life. The roadshow not only emphasised the importance of STEAM subjects but also encouraged curiosity and critical thinking. By fostering a love for programming, Shaftesbury School aspires to sow the seeds of technological enthusiasm in the minds of these young learners, nurturing a future generation of creative thinkers and problem solvers. The positive impact of this engaging roadshow is sure to leave a lasting impression on the budding minds of our local primary schools.

Shaftesbury School once again had the pleasure of hosting the Youth Speaks Debate competition, organised with the local Rotary Club.

Joined by students from Blandford and King Arthur’s School, junior and senior teams debated topics as varied as ‘should the monarchy be abolished?’, ‘Is AI positive or negative?’ and ‘is incarceration beneficial?’.

Each team had to research and present an argument for and against the motion and deliver this to an audience and panel of judges, including the local MP and Mayor of Shaftesbury.

The students were absolutely fantastic and their well-researched debates were delivered with poise, enthusiasm and confidence.

We were delighted that our Junior team of Olivia, Chloe and Margaret were awarded the first prize for their debate on Artificial Intelligence and are incredibly proud that our Senior team of Liv, Suden and Isobel took second place with their debate on the prison service.

We thank all those that supported the event and wish the junior team the best of luck as they progress to the district finals.

I want to pay particular thanks to Clive and Katya who provided a delicious dinner to our guests (for many the highlight!). I would also like to pay

Young Masterchef

Shaftesbury School hosted the Rotary North Dorset Young Masterchef competition this term. Students from local schools competed in a competition to design, prep and cook a two-course meal keeping within budget and timescale. The local judge, a professional chef, was highly complimentary of the student’s food. Congratulations to Rose from Gillingham, and Freddie from Shaftesbury, who won their age categories.

thanks to all staff that gave their precious time to coach, support or attend last night. It was very much appreciated after a long half term.

When our young people leave us, it is often nights like this that they will remember when they are older, and serve to remind us about why we do what we do. The students taking part demonstrated that you can disagree without being disagreeable and that they are a highly capable group of young adults with the determination to understand complex and controversial topics and step outside their comfort zones to deliver this message.

Olivia, Margaret and Chloe then progressed to the Regional finals in Romsey, facing competition from both State and Private schools from as far afield as Hampshire, Portsmouth, Bournemouth and Poole. The girls delivered a fantastic version of their debate on the positive and negatives of Artificial Intelligence and were awarded a thoroughly deserved second place finish for their enthralling and captivating debate. They were dressed smartly and represented our school with such high standards. This included grace and maturity in congratulating the eventual winners and speaking with real passion when addressed by the judges.

The school would like to share their pride and congratulations to these individuals and are thankful for all the parents, staff and community members that have supported them in their journey to the Regional Finals.

On March 9th we were delighted to run our second TEDxShaftesbury Youth event! This event brought together passionate young people from a variety of backgrounds to deliver powerful talks on a range of topics from men’s mental health to feminism, and the creativity crisis, to why we should all love bugs.

Competition was fierce for places on this global stage, so we were delighted that three of our students secured spots. Speaking in front of a sold-out audience, the event was also livestreamed around the world, and the talks will be uploaded to the official TEDx website - we look forward to sharing these links so everyone can enjoy them.

This transformative experience not only expanded the horizons of our students, encouraging a thirst for knowledge beyond the classroom but also forged meaningful connections with other dynamic young speakers.

The event served as a nexus, enhancing links within our community and fostering a sense of unity. Our students demonstrated exceptional oracy skills, and confidently shared their thoughts on the global stage, representing Shaftesbury School with pride. This international exposure is a testament to the school’s commitment to nurturing well-rounded individuals. The TEDx event was not just a showcase of talent; it was a celebration of the vibrant intellectual community at Shaftesbury School, leaving an indelible mark on all who participated.

Leo gave a brilliant talk about cryptocurrency, arguing we all need to understand how it works and explaining it to the audience, who came away far better informed than they were before. Alex T gave an impassioned talk about why the history of Northern Ireland should be taught in secondary schools, whilst Rowan’s talk entitled ‘Feminists, we need men’ tackled stereotypes and argued that for feminism to truly succeed we need men as allies.

TEDxShaftesbury Youth also introduced a Lightning Stage this year - a brand-new addition to the TEDx programme, featuring talks on a specific topic or idea delivered in a short, sharp, clear, concise, and entertaining manner intended to immediately capture the attention and interest of young audiences. On a separate stage, the Lightning Talks gave the TEDx speakers of tomorrow a chance to talk to a captive audience about a topic and take questions.

Six fantastic Shaftesbury students took to the Lightning Stage, with Reuben D talking about ‘The Joys of Music’, Gabby W-C talking about teenage mental health, and Lucy H educating the audience about the dangers of space junk. These were followed by Jake C talking about the benefits of gaming, Esme C-C speaking about how we are all unique in the vast universe, and last but not least, Rafe M talking about men’s mental health.

A big thank you to all the staff who mentored the speakers, and especially Mr More who made this event possible. A brilliant team of students volunteered on the day, and a special shout out to Charlie who was one of the photographers for the event

TEDx speaker Rowan said “I was nervous at the beginning of the day, it was a fantastic opportunity to have my voice heard, I got to meet a whole range of people of like-minded people that will be my friends and support for the rest of my life. I am really excited about what might come next”.

Lightning speaker Lucy said “I was surprised by the amount of questions I received, and I really enjoyed listening to what others had to say about my topic space junk”.

This year we also ran a competition to design the TEDx stage, which was sponsored by Merck. The winning team was Faith, Jude, Evie and Emily (Year 8) from Shaftesbury School, beating over 100 other entries! They designed the ‘Gallery of a thousand hopes’ - school children from across the Shaftesbury area were invited to write down their hopes for the future, and these were hung across the back of the stage creating a beautiful backdrop. We were delighted that Mark Jackman from Merck could attend on the day and present the students with the award for their winning design.

LIBRARY

UPCOMING LIBRARY EVENTS

Tuesday 26th March will be the Accelerated Reader Reward Party in the library – students who have reached their target for the term will be invited to spend an hour or two in the library with some fun activities. These students have already smashed their targets so will be getting an invite – Ashley C, Ruby J, James P, Erin Y, Ellie J, Will M, Jack R, Delilah W, Milie B, Olivia C, Albie C, Martha G, Charlotte H, Cassie L, Jacob M, Heidi P, Macey T, Amelia B, Szymon L, Bea M, Eddo F and Sonny S in Year 7. Emily L, Lyla A, Sophie D-B, Chloe T, Esther W and Jess R in Year 8. Lucy H, Hannah A, Abraham C, Millie O, Evie P, Sam T, Alfie S and Blake S in Year 9. Huge congratulations to them all for their fab reading and quizzing this term.

Tuesday 30th April we are hosting the author Simon James Green, who will be running comedy and mystery story workshops for Year 7 students. He has written some fabulous middle-grade fiction that he will be using during these workshops. For our YA fans of his work, he will also be around during break and lunchtimes to say hi to and ask any writing related questions.

Thursday 20th June we will be holding the Book Award Ceremony for our shadowing groups – King Arthurs School and The Blandford School groups will be joining our Book Club to watch the live ceremony and cast their own votes for the Shadower’s Choice.

On Wednesday 21st February 2024, Shaftesbury School book club went to Talbot Heath in Bournemouth for the WABA book awards. The members of Book Club arrived at Talbot Heath and sat at the tables of the book they wanted to vote for. Then, the pupils from Shaftesbury, along with pupils from other schools, worked together to create a presentation about the book they wanted to win. Then, there was a short break before the presentations began. Each group gave information about the book they wanted to win.

After the presentations were finished, the voting took place. While the votes were being counted, Sue Cheung, author

WABA Book Award Trip World Book Day

of Chinglish, gave a presentation about empathy writing. After her presentation, Sue awarded the WABA award to the school that nominated the winning book. The name of the winning book was This Book Kills by Ravena Guron. And the winner of the book award was Shaftesbury School! The pupils of Shaftesbury were awarded a trophy and were presented with the honour of hosting the Book awards next year. The day was “interesting and amazing” and the pupils were very pleased with what they achieved. In total, it was an exciting trip that was enjoyed by everyone who went on it.

Written by Erin Y

Thursday 7th March

This year for World Book Day we celebrated with a new batch of posters for staff – this time letting students know what they are ‘currently reading’. We also ran a ‘share-a-story’ in a day special feature – Mr Davies read from The Landlady by Roald Dahl, a fabulously creepy short story and we played a segment of his reading at the start of each lesson throughout the day. By the end of the day everyone had heard the whole story. A fun way to celebrate books and reading! All students in KS3 and KS4 were given a World Book Day token by their tutors this week too. World Book Day books are available in WH Smiths in Shaftesbury if you are looking to spend your token on one of the £1 books.

Sixth Form

After the huge success of Rag Day in December – where the Sixth Form raised a total of £2,030 for Young Lives vs cancer and War Child – Year 12 and 13 have been busy as we start 2024. They have taken BTEC Exams and PPEs, and Year 12 have visited the National Apprenticeship Show in Exeter where they were able to talk with employers. Year 12 PDE students have been involved in setting up a range of enterprises, from car washing to cake sales, to raise money from an initial investment of £10. The Prefect Team

has expanded with many more Year 12s now joining with some fantastic ideas about how improve the Sixth Form area and their experience in school from a student perspective.

In the last week of term, the Year 13 Prefect team are organising another Disco for Year 7 students. Coming up we will be taking all of Year 12 to The UCAS Discovery Day at Winchester University in April, this will give them an opportunity to investigate further their future progression pathway.

The Sixth Form team have enjoyed talking to Year 11 students about their applications for Post 16 Education and aspirations for the future. We look forward to welcoming them to our induction morning on 26th June and working with them in September.

Year 13 are looking forward to their Summer Ball in May where they will celebrate their time at Shaftesbury School before they start their exams and then move on to pastures new.

Careers

ARMY CAREERS

The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers visited us in January. Students had a competition to see who could build the furthest travelling car and found out more about engineering, mechanics and life in the army. Well done to everyone who took part!

ROYAL NAVY TEAMBUILDING AND CAREERS

The Royal Navy were in school for three days at the beginning of January. All of Year 8 took part in various team building activities and used a wide range of skills to design equipment for the Navy to use and complete challenges. Feedback was that our students were polite and keen to join in. The Navy also delivered a careers session to Years 10 and 11 who also took part in a mini personal training session.

JOHNSON’S LINEN STALBRIDGE TALKS

Year 7 and 9 listened to a great talk from Johnson’s Linen Stalbridge on their company, careers and training opportunities.

SIXTH FORM MOCK INTERVIEWS

All Year 12 and 13 students had the opportunity to develop their interview skills by taking part in a mock interview with local employers in November. Students had to prepare for this by writing a CV or personal statement and the event helped them develop their confidence and experience with interviews. This was a fantastic day which was well supported by the local community. Thank you to all the employers who helped us!

NORTH DORSET CAREERS FAIR

All Year 10 students visited the fair in Sturminster Newton to speak to local employers, apprenticeship providers and colleges. This was a really inspiring event that encouraged students to make informed decisions on their future.

WHAT’S COMING UP FOR CAREERS?

We have a number of exciting trips to employers and universities planned, including visiting Wessex Water, the University of Bath and KPMG. We also have the RAF and an air freight logistics specialist coming into school to work with our students.

Would you like to support our careers programme at Shaftesbury School? We are keen to hear from anyone who can offer a talk, work with a small group of students, take part in mock interviews or would consider a group of students visiting their workplace. Please email Claire Brown, careers lead Claire.brown@ shaftesburyschool.co.uk

P.E.

Handball

We are so excited to share the news that one of Shaftesbury School’s former boarders, Georgia Batty-Smith, is now representing Great Britain in the U20 women’s handball team.

Georgia was first introduced to handball in PE lessons at Shaftesbury School and then joined the after school Handball Hub Shaftesbury Spartans which ran here at school. She was encouraged to attend Dorset Handball trials and then later joined the Poole Phoenix Handball Club.

When she left school after her GCSEs she went up to Loughborough University to work with the England Junior Development Squad. Recently she was involved in the team winning the IHF Trophy 2023 with GB F19s which was history making!

Cross Country

Congratulations to Olivia C in Year 7 who finished in 5th place at the Dorset Schools Cross Country! She will now go on to represent the area at the South West Schools Championship.

Also a huge well done to Felix S, Barnaby H and Sophie-Louise F from Year 8 who all placed really well in their groups.

#Let Girls Play

Shaftesbury School recently participated in The FA’s #LetGirlsPlay initiative, hosting an interhouse football tournament that saw an incredible turnout of 173 girls!

There was lots of fun and energy as girls from different houses came together to compete. It was great to witness exceptional talent, fantastic teamwork and enthusiasm but mostly to see the girls outside having fun in the sun enjoying their games.

It’s always good to see the positive impact of initiatives like #LetGirlsPlay can have in encouraging young women to pursue their sporting interests.

A big shout out to the Sixth Form students Alice, Isla, Abigail and Rosie who gave their time to referee throughout the day - also showcasing their footballing talents!

Interhouse winners

Year 7 - Hambledon

Year 8 - Gold

Year 9 - Gold

Handball

Round 1 of the English Schools Handball Cup has taken place at Shaftesbury School. Our students were outstanding, and should be really proud of their performance. 3 out of our 5 teams have now qualified for the Regional Handball Cup finials being held at Leaf academy. Our U13 girls and our U13 boys teams will be competing on the 1st May, and our U15 boys team will be completing on the 15th May.

Primary Netball Festival

On the 6th March Shaftesbury School hosted the Primary Netball festival for all the local schools. 13 teams took part, we had 30 Sports Leaders coach the primary students and them umpired all there matches. Our students we incredible, a true asset to Shaftesbury School. We are now looking forward to the Primary Football festival taking place in April.

New Support Network for Young Carers at Shaftesbury School

Shaftesbury School will shortly embark on a journey to provide a greater network of support and guidance to the students that are caring for others at home.

Defined as ‘Young Carers’ this is a vastly underrepresented community of young people, often having to spend great deals of their time and emotions caring for their loved ones. While traditionally this has been considered parents that might have medical conditions or disabilities, in truth, this could include young people living with and helping any family member that requires support - be that mental health, substance use or otherwise.

Ultimately, we know this group of young people are underrepresented and not always identified at a school level (a national problem) and this then creates barriers to providing support.

Shaftesbury School are working with a national organisation called ‘My Time’ to improve and develop our network of young carer provision and support. This will involve a long term strategy of identifying these young people, understanding any barriers they are facing to their education and working/supporting them to access guidance and care that allows them to flourish both in and out of school.

Mr Motteram, Deputy Headteacher, will be championing this programme and will be sending out more information shortly to parents and students as this programme is launched across the school.

In the meantime, if any parent wishes to make contact to discuss their child who is supporting them in any way, please reach out and email michael. motteram@shaftesburyschool.co.uk so the process of identification and support can start to take place.