Headlines 2011

Headlines Building Work Builders have arrived on site and begun preparations for the full scale construction work on our building. There has been a short delay but I am hopeful that we will move into our new in the summer of 2013.

The picture below shows an artist’s impression of how the building will look. The road to the front is Latham Avenue and the rectangular section on the right hand side of the building is the CLC. In the top right hand corner is the sports hall which will be refurbished as part of the work. Our existing school building, which will remain in operation until we move in and then demolished, is the grassed area to the right of the new building and in front of the sports hall.

I wish them well in their endeavours and congratulate them for their drive and ambition in striving to do the best they possibly can. Mrs Rutter and Miss O’Loughlin are running the geography and Spanish courses respectively.

Grease Update Tickets are now on sale for what promises to be one of the best productions put on by pupils and staff at the Grange and they are selling like Grease Lightening!

Three performances are scheduled for 12th, 13th and 14th July and tickets are priced at £3 for adults and £2 for children. Tickets are limited so don’t risk being disappointed, buy your ticket now!

Rehearsals:

EBacc Ambitious pupils from Year 10 have opted to take an additional GCSE in either Spanish or Geography in just one year. In order to fit this in to their studies, their lessons are before and after school.

Now that’s commitment! The reason they have opted to do this is to enable them to have the chance to pass at grade C or above in the GCSE subjects that make up a new award called the English Baccalaureate. The subjects are; English, mathematics, science, geography or history and a foreign language.

June 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines The Grange has the Kendo Attitude Do you know what Japan’s national sport is?

Sumo? Judo? Karate? We associate all of these with Japan but in fact if you asked a Japanese person, they would say kendo. As you may be aware by now, our school is one of only three schools in the country to have a kendo club.

Kendo means "The Way of the Sword". It is one of Japan's oldest martial arts, and is most closely associated with the Samurai (the Japanese version of a knight).

From an outside perspective, kendo might seem to be just a load of people shouting and stamping their feet, however it is far more than that.

People who learn kendo don’t just learn kendo.

They learn skills that can be used in other areas of school life and beyond! It incorporates all of the five ‘R’s and helps us to build our strength, spirit and teaches us that it is important to be part of a group and that we should always be polite to one another.

Currently there are five main members of the kendo club which is led by English teacher Mr Wilmott, himself an accomplished Kendoka. The five stalwarts are Ryan Robinson, Macauley Lyon, Joe McNally, Jamie Allen and Tom Furey. Since starting they have all put the maximum amount of effort into something that they enjoy and their kendo has improved massively.

We are always looking for new members and if any pupil is interested in joining they should see Mr Willmott in room 308, talk to one of the members of the kendo dojo or simply come along and have a look. They are in the gym on a Monday from 3.00pm to 4.30pm.

The Kendo Club

Graduation 2011 Learning coordinators spent their half term compiling lists of pupils who have achieved Graduation at gold, silver and bronze. I look forward to the Graduation ceremony which is a grand occasion to celebrate the achievements of our young people. Invitations to parents and carers of Grange Graduates will be sent out soon.

The dates of the ceremonies, which take place in the afternoon, are as follows: Y10, Monday 18th July; Year 9, Tuesday 19th July; Year 8, Wednesday 20th July; and Year 7, Thursday 21st July. I hope to see you there.

Class of 2011 Prom As has become tradition, we celebrate the end of Year 11 and the young peoples’ time with us by holding the annual leavers’ prom at Stobart Stadium in Widnes. We will of course see many of them again in the autumn when we invite former pupils back to the awards evening when I hope we can boast for the sixth consecutive year, that this year group have broken our previous best record.

June 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Review of the Year We began the year with news that our pupils had for the fifth consecutive year, broken school records for attainment in GCSE examinations. The new Year 11 started preparations for their examinations and careers with “Springboard to the Future” held in November. For Children in Need we raised £852. There was an Arts trip to London and our Christmas show was a fusion of the traditional and contemporary.

The return of Christmas bingo brought a festive cheer to the end of term. The House system was underway and by Christmas there was a spectacular New Age Kurling competition organised for the final day of term.

The spring term saw record fund raising for the Comic Relief charity thanks mostly to the ingenious “Penny Wars”. The Staff Sumo Slam and exercise video contributed hugely to efforts to raise money and a staggering £2180 was sent off to Comic Relief. We also revived the Grange swimming Gala over at the Kingsway Leisure Centre. It was a great success and I am looking forward to it becoming an annual event. There was nothing sinister in the fact that members of Green watch from Runcorn Fire Service assisted in the House “Ready Steady Cook” competition! We introduced a new curriculum with options for Year 8 and we started the School Forum for staff and parents/ carers. A family event was organised called “The Big Doodle” and as the term came to an end we had yet another spectacular dance show; “So you think you can dance” with former pupils returning to judge the competition.

In the summer term pupils and staff enjoyed a trip to Paris. We said goodbye to Year 11 who celebrated the end of their time with us at the Prom’ held at the Stobart Stadium.

The new style House Athletics championship was held on a sunny day and the great triumph of that day was the increased number of pupils who took part. The summer production this year was Grease. A standing ovation on the final night was fitting tribute to the quality of the production; a massive well done to the cast and production team.

We entertained Y5 pupils from several local Primary schools with a Pirate themed day, and later in the term we welcomed our Y6 pupils who will become our new Y7 next year.

Ofsted visited and gave us a clean bill of health commenting upon our pupils most favourably; “Students engage very well with each other, staff and other adults; they are keen to learn and make the best use of the opportunities the school is offering them”.

July 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Review of the Year Throughout the year there have been many activities that run regularly; The Duke of Edinburgh Award, Gifted and Talented trips, STEM activity days, numerous clubs, societies and sports teams.

The year ended with trips and activity days and of course the Graduation Ceremonies. This year we marked the ceremonies with the unveiling of our new House ties.

Farewell

Well done to all pupils and staff who regularly turn out and put in the hours. We introduced Family Assemblies in years 7 & 8. The term “Late Gate” was introduced as we looked to improve punctuality to school. Another addition to the language at school was “Vivos” a system of rewards for good learning. Sporting highlights of the year involved the Y9&10 netball teams and the Y10&11 football teams. During the course of the year various projects and curriculum developments have enabled us to be successful in achieving the Intermediate level of the International Schools Award.

Attendance has been good again this year maintaining 93.9% overall which we achieved last year. I will be looking to improve upon that next year and climb above 94% heading towards our target of 95%.

We say goodbye to three of our long serving members of staff at the end of this term.

Mr Elsby, Mr Johnson and Mrs Arnold have decided to hang up their board dusters and who between them have chalked up 88 years of service at the Grange. Mrs Arnold joined the Grange in 1991, Mr Johnson in 1982 and Mr Elsby in 1972. I thank them for their dedicated service to this school over a long period of time and wish them well for a long and happy retirement.

Uniform and Appearance Thank you for your continued support with uniform and appearance. I have been impressed with the improvements and I am delighted to see such smart looking, business like pupils walking around school.

I wrote to you recently and included a full uniform list. I trust I will receive your support once again from September and throughout the year. You may have noticed that I have added to the girls’ list “pinafore dress”; this was suggested by a number of girls and as they look so smart it seemed like a very good idea.

July 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines New Building

Term Dates 2011-2012 Autumn Term 1: Monday 5th September 2011 - Pupils return to school Friday 21st October 2011 - Pupils break-up for Half-Term holiday Autumn Term 2

Work on our new building is underway and will begin to intensify over the summer holiday. When we return in September we will have lost the car parking at the front of the CLC building and the exit gate. This means that there will only be one gate for both entry and exit from the site and the front yard will become a car park in order to minimise the loss of car parking spaces. Areas at the back of school will be surfaced to make up for the loss of the yard and provide hard surfaces for pupils to socialise.

Tuesday 1st November 2011 - Pupils return to school Friday 16th December 2011 - Pupils break-up for Christmas holiday Spring Term 1 Wednesday 4th January 2012 - Pupils return to school Friday 10th February 2012 - Pupils break-up for Half-Term holiday Spring Term 2

From September therefore, it will no longer be possible to allow parents to drive onto the site to drop off or pick up pupils.

And finally‌.

We strive to continually improve the standards we achieve at school; academic, behaviour, attendance, punctuality, uniform and appearance.

We have made significant improvements this year and we look to continue this next year. It is only possible to make such improvement with your support; thank you and have a happy summer!

Tuesday 21st February 2012 - Pupils return to school Friday 30th March 2012 - Pupils break-up for Easter holiday Summer Term 1 Monday 16th April 2012 - Pupils return to school Monday 7th May 2011 - School closed for May Day Bank Holiday Friday 1st June 2012 - Pupils break up for Whit Half Term holiday Summer Term 2 Monday 11th June 2012 - Pupils return to school Thursday 19th July 2012 - Pupils break-up for Summer Holiday

July 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Memories of 2010-2011

Memories of 2010-2011

July 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Welcome Back The summer break seems such a long time ago now especially when we opened the school to pupils on a chilly morning on Monday 5th September. A new year always brings with it fresh hopes and ambition and I look forward to it being a very successful year for everyone at the Grange.

Throughout the school our pupils have set improved standards for the smartness of their appearance and I would like to thank parents and carers for supporting us in this regard.

At the Grange we value the partnership with parents and carers highly because with a positive partnership we can really make a difference to the lives of our young people. In a speech that coincided with the first day of term, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg highlighted the importance of parents and carers in helping schools and teachers by adopting “simple, common sense, inexpensive routines. Small changes that make the world of difference to…classrooms”. One of his suggestions was that parents should make sure that the “T.V. was turned off when it was time for homework”. Of course it doesn‟t have to be quite like that literally but what he means is that when it is time for homework, parents and carers make sure that there are no distractions and their child is fully focussed on the task.

I have asked staff to make more use of homework this year and you should therefore see an increase in the amount being set. Too little homework was set in the past and I am firmly of the opinion that this can only hold back the progress of pupils and so on the other hand, the setting of appropriate and stretching homework will help pupils in their studies.

I have spoken to all our pupils through assembly during the first week and expressed my delight that the class of 2011 have set new records for examination results at the Grange. I have set each year group the challenge of continuing this trend. The success of our pupils clearly reflects the quality of education we provide so the more success this school enjoys the more success each and every individual pupil achieves and the better chances they will have when they leave us.

There will be a few changes to the way in which we conduct business with the sole aim being to maximise academic performance for the benefit of each pupil.

To balance the emphasis on performance we will continue to develop the House system. Such was its success last year that it feels as though we have had the houses for ever not just for one year!

I wish everyone a successful and fulfilling new school year.

September 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Examination Results 2011 The class of 2011 have set a sixth consecutive record crop of GCSE results. It is a proud boast that we are the only school in Halton to have improved the coveted 5 A*-C including English & Mathematics each year for the past six years. I was also pleased that more of our pupils achieved at least 1 A* or A grade than pupils did on average, nationally. Where there is potential we can help pupils to unlock it and achieve at the very highest level.

In the picture below you can see the CLC which will form the front entrance of the building and behind it lots of machinery working on the site where the main part of the school will be built.

Our headline figures are listed below:       

60% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*-C 45% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*-C including English & mathematics 96% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*-G 93% of pupils achieved 1 or more A*-C 99% of pupils achieved 1 or more A*-G 24% of pupils achieved 1 or more A*-A 56% of pupils achieved 2 A*-C in science

Congratulations to our record breaking class of 2011 and I hope that the class of 2012 are up for the challenge of setting a new record!

New School Building Such a lot has happened to our existing building and our new building over the summer holiday. In my last newsletter in July I alerted you to the necessary changes to the car park and yard which have altered routines quite significantly for pupils, parents and staff. The good thing is that there has been no disruption to lessons.

Target Setting Parents’ Evenings Mr Downey has recently written to the parents of pupils in Y9, Y10 and Y11 inviting them and their children to a new style parents evening. These evenings will be in addition to the traditional parents‟ evenings when parents and pupils meet with subject teachers. The new meetings will be with a member of the Senior Leadership Team and will typically last for about 15 minutes. During the meetings our expectations will be set out and minimum target grades (MEGs) will be discussed.

The guidance and support that pupils and parents can expect from us during the year will also be discussed.

I believe that these meetings will help to boost performance in examinations and better prepare both pupils and their parents for the year ahead.

Work on the new building is still at ground level so there is not that much to see yet but just as we witnessed with the building of the CLC, once the foundations are in, the building takes shape fairly quickly.

September 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Send my Sister to School Campaign Send My Sister to School is a campaign which calls upon world governments to work together to provide free, good quality education for all children around the world. In 2000, world leaders made a promise to ensure that all children throughout the world would have access to schools by 2015. Presently, there are still 67 million children who miss out on an education, and more than half of these are girls.

Last year, all of Y7 looked at this issue in their RE lessons and were shocked and concerned about some of the lifestyles and conditions experienced by these children. We joined 4700 other schools throughout the world to take part in the Send My Sister to School campaign. Every Y7 wrote a message explaining why they believed it was so important to make sure that all children, especially girls, should have access to education.

The messages were sent to our local MP Derek Twigg, and he was asked to pass on their concerns to the Prime Minister, David Cameron.

Derek came into school recently to see a group of pupils (now Y8) to update them on progress and to hear first-hand the concerns of our youngsters.

Pictured alongside Derek Twigg MP and Councillor Stef Nelson, Chair of The Grange Governing Body are, Rebecca Rowlands, Molly Rigby, Chloe Gardner, Caitlin Porter, Leasha Sutherland, Lewis Pearce, Natalie Hayes, Lily Gaynor, Amy Dignall, Simon Shaw, Elliot McNamee and Anthony Goble.

Breakfast Club We operate a breakfast club facility from 8.00am every morning to which all pupils are welcome.

We serve a range of breakfast foods from cereal to bacon butties at reasonable cost.

Owing to the building works the entrance to the breakfast club is now through the school hall just like at lunchtime.

Breakfast Club Price List Toast 25p Egg on toast 55p Bacon Roll £1 Cereal 70p Fresh Fruit 40p Fruit Pot 60p Yoghurt 40p Tea 30p Coffee 60p Fruit juice from 25p Break 1 price list Pizza Bacon Roll Sausage Baguette Cheese Muffin Pasta Box Sandwiches Fresh Fruit Fruit Pot Cereals Yoghurt Soup Drinks

£1 £1 £1 80p £1.20 £1.30 40p 60p 70p 40p 60p From 25p

September 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Important Dates this Term

Important Dates this Term

Thursday 15th September: Y10 Parent Progress Evening

Thursday 13th October: Y7 Settling In Parents‟ Evening.

Wednesday 21st September: Y7 Photographs

Friday 21st October: Break for half term.

Thursday 22nd September: Open Evening

Tuesday 1st November: Pupils return to school.

Tuesday 27th September: Y9 Language Day at St Chads School.

Wednesday 9th Vaccinations.

Thursday 29th September: Y11 Parent Progress Evening.

Thursday 17th November: Y11 Springboard to Success Evening.

Thursday 6th October: Y9 Parent Progress Evening.

Thursday 8th December: Christmas Show.

Friday 7th October: Y8 Girls HPV Vaccinations.

September 2011 Issue

November:

Y8

Girls

HPV

Friday 16th December: Break for Christmas.

Wednesday 4th January: Pupils return to school.

Tuesday 11th October: Y11 „I Choose The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney Halton‟ Event.

Headlines Anti-bullying Ambassadors

Halton Young Women’s Award

Bullying can ruin lives and it can take a variety of forms. I am determined to tackle this pernicious behaviour when it occurs in school. To this end I was delighted that ten of our Y9&10 students have become “Anti-bullying Ambassadors”.

Alisa Gaskin Year 11 was nominated for her commitment to Community and Family Services. Alisa also manages to find time to be part of the school drama group and recently played a key role in the musical production of Grease. Alisa is studying for 10 GCSE‟s and hopes to continue her performing arts and academic studies at college next year.

On 30th September nine pupils from year nine and ten spent a full day at The Queens Hotel in Chester completing a training course to become Anti-Bullying Ambassadors in school. The pupils were part of a two year national training project funded by the Department for Education and Diana Award to raise awareness of bullying in school and actively involve pupils in anti-bullying work.

Ms Cooney who is coordinating the project with the students said “The nine students who were involved in the training event behaved in an exemplary manner, they fully participated with all the activities with rigour and enthusiasm. They were truly inspired by the speakers‟ stories and their subsequent ambassador initiatives. Since returning to school the Ambassadors have started planning their own school project including activities for National Anti-Bullying Week in November.”

Also nominated were Holly Bousfield Year 11 and Taylor Goodall Year 9 for their sporting achievements.

Sporting Success Congratulations to Taylor Goodall Year 9 and Holly Bousfield Year 11 who have been selected to represent Great Britain in Tae Kwon-Do. Also congratulations to Callum Brizell Year 10 who has just received a scholarship to train with Widnes Vikings.

Pictured are: Ritchie Redmond, Anna Timms, Georgia Leatherland, Chloe Furnival, Emily Dowling, Reece Moore, Jack McAdam, Taylor Goodall and Elisha Whittington.

October 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Prince’s Teaching Institute The Grange Comprehensive School is pleased to receive The Prince‟s Teaching Institute Mark for 2010/11.

The Prince‟s Teaching Institute recognises and rewards school departments that develop inspirational ideas and activities which enhance teaching, regardless of their pupils‟ backgrounds or abilities.

The Grange Science Department received the Mark in recognition of the work done to increase challenge within the curriculum, further enthusing pupils through subject-based activities beyond the curriculum, developing the staff‟s own specialist subject knowledge and developing subject-based links outside school during 2010/11.

1) Year 7 Treasure Hunt: Pupils took part in an A-Z treasure hunt around the school. Pupils were given the task of finding 26 different characters representing the different jobs you can do with a Language. They had a week to complete the task but one star pupil, Peter Helps from Mr Murray‟s form completed it on the first day, staying behind after school until 4.30pm. Many others completed the treasure hunt successfully with Miss Crozier‟s and Mr McGovern‟s form having the most students completing it.

Further to this, two of our science staff, Messrs Murray & Talbot have both received nominations for the prestigious Pearson Teaching Awards.

I am really pleased that the department has received this recognition and it is no coincidence that this year they have secured their best results ever after a period of curriculum development including the addition of single sciences.

The European Day of Languages The European Day of Languages, a Council of Europe initiative, is held annually on the 26th September to celebrate language and cultural diversity.

2) Inter-house competition: The first inter house competition of the year took place on this day.

The competition was a European Day of Languages quiz based on European culture, geography, music and languages. Each house had a team of 6 players, one pupil from each year group and a member of staff. It was a close battle, with Brindley and Priory coming joint 1st and Bridgewater and Castle house joint 2nd.

The Day was first celebrated in 2001. To mark its 10th anniversary this year, students participated in a range of activities to raise awareness of the value of languages and to promote language learning.

October 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines The European Day of Languages 3) Year 7 & 8 lessons: Subjects across the Curriculum incorporated an international flavour into their Lessons. Pupils took part in activities ranging from Salsa dancing to food tasting and much more.

House Captains Priory House: Reece Moore and Megan Traynor

4) Italian theme canteen Pupils had the opportunity to enjoy their favorite Italian dishes, Lasagne with Ciabatta bread and other delicacies.

The day was a great success and plans are already being put in place for next year‟s celebration.

Future House Events     

Castle House: Chelsea Taylor and Bradley Griffiths

Brindley House: Hannah Kenna and Barnaby Byrom

Inter - house 5-a side football tournaments: all year groups.

Inter - house chess competition.

Castle House „PLAY YOUR CARDS RIGHT‟ Inter- form competition.

Inter - house „Tug of war‟ competition.

Final day of term: Inter - house competition to be decided.

Bridgewater House: Denica Durr and Josh Dykins

House Captains of all four houses have been selected and they are:

October 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Attendance I am pleased to report to you that attendance is currently at 95.3% which is 0.6% better than this time last year. This is really good news so early in the year and I hope that it remains above our target of 95% by the end of the year.

Building Update As you can see from the picture below, progress has been made on the foundations of the new building. New to the site since last month is the huge crane which has been busy recently lifting and moving various constructions materials into place.

Important Dates Friday 21st October: Break for half term Monday 31st October: INSET day Tuesday 1st November: Pupils return to school Wednesday 9th Vaccinations

November:

Y8

Girls

HPV

Wednesday 9th November: Y11 Maths GCSE Paper 1 exam Monday 14th November: Y11 Maths GCSE Paper 2 Exam Tuesday 15th November: Y11 Science Re-sits Thursday 17th November: Y11 Springboard to the Future Evening Thursday 8th December: The Christmas Show Friday 16th December: Break for Christmas

Target Setting Evenings We held meetings with parents/carers and students in Y9, 10 & 11 recently. Much talk about minimum expected grades (MEGs) was had and overall, all those involved were very positive about the outcomes of the meetings. Ambition is running high in these year groups and no-one, especially the students wants to settle for their MEG – they want to exceed them. This year is already feeling like it could be yet another record breaker!

Thank you to all concerned for making those evenings so successful and positive.

Tuesday 3rd January: INSET day Wednesday 4th January: Pupils return to school Tuesday 10th January: Y11 English Unit Exam Friday 13th January: Y11 English Literature Exam Monday 16th January: GCSE Mock Exam Results Tuesday 24th January: Y9, 10 & 11 Biology Exam Thursday 26th January: Y11 Parentsâ€&#x; Evening Thursday 26th January: Y9, 10 & 11 Chemistry Exam

October 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Science Award

Head boy and head girl

Each year Daresbury Science and Innovation Centre ask schools across the northwest to nominate a student from Key Stage 3 who has made an outstanding contribution to their learning over their three years of science.

A few weeks ago I was approached by two Y11 students asking me if I thought it would be a good idea to have a Head Boy and Head Girl. I didn’t need much time to make up my mind about this and promptly invited them to attend one my Senior Leadership Team meetings to present a proposal.

The chosen individual is asked to represent their school and to attend an award ceremony at the Daresbury, accompanied by their science teacher and parents/carers.

This year, Richie Redmond from 10RBN was selected to receive this award.

Richie was awarded a £30 book token and Certificate by Professor Colin Whitehouse, Deputy Chief Executive & Director of Campus Strategy, Science & Technology Facilities Council. Before the award ceremony the award winners were given a tour of the facility and then attended a fantastic buffet supper with parents and teachers.

What a brilliant way to end a super day! done Richie for all your efforts!

Well

The proposal was unanimously supported and thanks to Mr Burton plans have been put in place very quickly to enable Y11 students to step forward as candidates. Voting by all Year 11 and all staff will take place on Friday 18th November and the results announced at 2.45pm that day.

The candidates for Head Boy are Barnaby Byrom, Craig Goulder and Luke Turner; and for head Girl they are Hollie Bousefield, Tessa McMillan and Lauren Peate.

Schools Fantasy Football The new season is underway with a massive 109 entrants this year. October’s manager of the month was a parent, Mr Myers, who amassed a total of 49 points to head the table.

A Musical Evening Our Christmas show this year is simply titled “A Musical Evening”. It will consist of a variety of traditional and contemporary Christmas music and dance and an opportunity for our GCSE students to showcase their compositions through solo performances and Ensembles.

The show lasts for one night only, Thursday 8th December 2011 starting at 7.00pm. Last year’s show was a great success and rehearsals for this year’s show bode very well indeed. Tickets will be on sale from Wednesday 23rd November priced £3 for adults and £2 for children.

November 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines New Building Update The first signs of a building rising from the ground have started to appear this month as builders poured 410m3 of concrete into the primary section ground floor slab. Last month I mentioned the huge crane that had arrived on site: we have an even bigger one now!

Project Underdog Project Underdog is an exciting project which stems from the recent riots and devastation that hit many city centres across the UK. Its aim is to raise funds for those communities that are still recovering from the riots and for local communities to help reach out to the youngsters who have been affected by the devastation. A group of unsigned creative artists and bands from across the UK, including our very own Alisha Nutall, have joined together with InScreen Ltd to raise money by producing a charity single for a fantastic cause.

“I hope we raise a lot of money for charity because that’s what it’s for. It’s about this Summer’s riots and getting kids off the street. I loved this whole experience so much and feel like the luckiest girl in the world”, said Alisha.

The single is out on 27th November in all shops.

You can find more information about the project at www.projectunderdog.com November 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Standards There is absolutely no doubt that standards at the Grange are rising. The past six sets of GCSE results have risen year on year, in fact they have gone from 23% to 45%, almost doubling in just six years. Sustained improvement in the measure that matters most - 5 or more A*-C including GCSE English and maths.

Attendance Attendance too has risen significantly over the same period; from 89.6% in 2006 to 93.9% in 2011. Attendance for the first half term this year was 95.2% compared to the same period last year which stood at 94.8%.

Behaviour

Parents were invited along to the presentation and the event was well attended with lots of mums, dads and family members present. It was a very relaxed and informal atmosphere as parents were looked after and provided with tea, coffee and biscuits prepared by the pupils.

The pupils had worked cooperatively with staff throughout Year 10 to achieve a 100% success rate with a number of pupils achieving as many as 9 certificates!

Mr Carney and associate Governor, Mr Gandy presented the AQA certificates to the pupils and all involved said that they had enjoyed the presentation and were looking forward to acknowledging further successes as the pupils progress through their final year at The Grange School.

Behaviour is also improving.

In our Ofsted monitoring visit last June, Inspectors reported that “Students engage very well with each other, staff and other adults; they are keen to learn and make the best use of the opportunities the school is offering them.”

This is backed up by the reduction in the number of behaviour incidents, fixed term exclusions and the days lost through exclusion which have dropped significantly.

100% examination success

Sophie Sloan and Melissa Locke

The first ever Grange School Year 11 AQA Unit Award Scheme Certificate Presentation was held on Friday, 21st October just prior to the half term break.

Mr Woods, AQA Co-ordinator, said “I am very proud of the achievements of the Year 11 AQA unit award scheme pupils. The group have been pioneers of the AQA scheme at The Grange School and have, through their hard work and the support, guidance and assistance of Mrs Connor and Miss McCann, achieved great results whilst having some fun along the way!”

November 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines

The A Team A huge haul of “A” grades were achieved

by Y11 students in ICT who are taking the OCR National Qualification at Level 2.

Mr Hutton, Curriculum Leader for ICT said of his top performing students: “Congratulations to Y11 students who have successfully achieved distinction criteria in their ICT coursework”.

Pictured above are: -

Charity Walk

Stacey Anderson, Macauley Astles, Richard Baker, Jamie Berry, Kalan Bird, Mark Birkenhead, Hollie Bousfield, Robert Bromfield, Andrew Burgess, Barnaby Byrom, Liam Chadwick, Anthony Delahunty Shauna Finn, Craig Goulder, Thomas Grave, Kieran Gresty, Robyn Grey, Kerys Hitchmough, Stan Houghton, Helen Howard, James Jacobs, Lewis Jones, Hannah Kenna, Connor Maguire, Tessa McMillan, Callum Moore, Matthew O’Carroll, Jack O’Neill, Carla Ormond, Corey Price, Gemma Rees, Sophie Sloan, Daniel Southern, Jessica Story, Calum Thornley, Karl Toole, Luke Turner, Jamie Weeder, Keiron White and Kyle Wright.

Congratulations to Hannah Bennett who spent part of her summer holiday walking the 89 miles of the Kintyre Way in Scotland helping to raise funds for the charity Epilepsy Action.

Hannah raised a whopping £1,184 through sponsorship and donations.

Hannah herself says…

“Epilepsy is a condition in which a person’s brain produces sudden bursts of electrical energy causing them to experience strange sensations and to sometimes lose consciousness. Epilepsy Action provides help and advice to people with the condition and the money I have raised will go towards funding the free phone helpline and future research.

The Kintyre Way was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. I was so proud of myself when I received my certificate” . And so are we Hannah.

For more information about the charity go to www.epilepsy.org.uk

November 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Head Boy and Head Girl Elections Congratulations to Barnaby Byrom and Hollie Bousefield on being elected to the positions of Head Boy and Head Girl. They have made an impressive start, attending the Awards Evening and delivering the opening address to the class of 2011 and their families.

They have also chosen to support Halton Haven as their charity and have organised a contingent of Grange Santas to take part in the 5Km Santa Dash on Sunday 11th December 2011.

Alfie has very generously set up an award in his name for outstanding contribution of the community. The very first recipient of this award was Nathaniel Capes. Listed below are the award winners; congratulations and good luck to them and all of the record breaking class of 2011!

Mr Carney presenting the Knowelden Award to Alex Cross.

Cllr and Mrs Swain with our Head Boy and Head Girl.

Nathaniel Capes receiving the Alfie Neild Award for contribution to the community from Mr Neild himself.

Awards Evening

The class of 2011 returned to receive their certificates and enjoy a reunion with friends and staff. It was a great delight to see them all again and chat over old times and discover what they are doing now.

Amongst our guests were Councillor John Swain and Mrs Swain, Councillor Stef Nelson, the very first Head Boy of the Grange, Mr Alfie Neild and recently retired, former Assistant Headteacher Mr George Elsby.

Mr Talbot presenting the Head of Year Award to Georgina Smith.

Mr Stanley presenting the Head of School Award to Savannagh Maguire.

December 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines School Forum

Public Speaking Competition

Each half term I meet with parents and carers who, together with Mr Beard, one of my Assistant Headteachers, form the Grange School Forum.

We discuss issues of interest and concern, canvas views and opinion and listen to details of new initiatives.

On Tuesday 15th at Riverside College in Widnes I attended the Halton public speaking competition.

I was impressed by the quality of our two competitors, Lilly Gaynor and Richie Redmond whose witty, satirical talks were entitled “To Queue Or Not To Queue” and “Much Ado About Nothing (to talk about)”. I was very proud of them. I know from first-hand experience how daunting it can be to speak in public, especially when up on stage with the spotlights literally shining in your face. Whilst neither took first place, which confounded me because I thought they were brilliant, they both delivered accomplished performances. Well-done Lilly and Richie and to Miss Bate who coached them so expertly!

At our last meeting three of our Y10 Anti Bullying Ambassadors, supported by another Assistant Headteacher, Mr Gill gave a presentation explaining their role in school, what they had already done in school and what they plan to do in the future.

Should you wish to become a member of our School Forum, please contact Mr Beard.

Building Update

In addition to the latest photograph below showing progress to date, you might like take time to visit our website at www.thegrange.com to see a fly-through, artist’s impression of how our new school will look when it is completed.

Whilst some details may change, you get a pretty good idea how it will look both inside and outside.

Security of Pupils’ Property Often, the start of the new term in January brings with it lots of new and expensive bikes, mobile phones, IPods and the like. Whilst we make every effort to provide a secure environment, please note that responsibility remains with the pupil should they decide to bring such items of personal property into school.

December 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Bright Sparks Mrs Rutter and Mr Burton organised and ran an event on Saturday 26th November, to which the most able Grange pupils from years 5, 6 and 7 were invited. On the day 60 pupils arrived to enrich their skill, knowledge and understanding of music, ICT, French and History. Mrs Foster, Mrs Harries, Mr Milne, Miss O’Loughlin and Miss Yan provided the expert tuition ably supported by Mrs Jackson, Mrs Coleman and Mrs Wainwright from the junior school.

Also in attendance were some of our brightest Y10 and Y11 pupils who helped out and guided the younger pupils through the various activities.

Thanks to Emily Dowling, Chloe Furnival, Lily Gaynor, Anthony Goble, Georgia Leatherland, Jack McAdam, Reece Moore, Alisha Nutall, Shannon O’Reilly, Aaron Owen, Natasha Preston, Ritchie Redmond, Patrick Swift, Sarah-Jane Thompson Mayers, Anna Timms, Bethany White and to our Head Boy, Barnaby Byrom and Head Girl, Hollie Bousfield for giving up their Saturday morning to help out.

House Tug of War We have been planning to hold a tug-of-war competition for over a year and finally, on Children in Need day we held the inaugural event.

Teams from the building site, teaching staff and kitchen staff competed fiercely in a gruelling competition that saw several team members being pulled, prostrate across the gym floor!

It was decided then, that a pupil, inter-house competition should be held soon after; and so on Friday 2nd December, four teams assembled and tugged their hearts out. The mighty Bridgewater team won the completion easily, remaining undefeated throughout. In second place were Castle followed by Brindley and then Priory.

I am pleased that such was the success of the day that we are already planning to hold similar events after the holiday. It is a priority of the school to push our brightest, most able and talented youngsters to achieve the highest.

Uniform and Appearance Again I am pleased with the standard of uniform worn by pupils and their general appearance.

Thank you for your support in these matters and I ask you to continue to do so when we return to school in January after the Christmas break.

December 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Farewell Sadly we are saying farewell to Mrs McGregor who, after 11 years, is moving with her family to pastures new. I asked Mrs McGregor to say a few words: “A huge thank you to all staff, pupils and parents for your kind comments and good wishes. I will really miss working with you all. The Grange has been such a huge part of my life and I have made some lifelong friends. I have got married and had both of my children during my 11 years here, (my fabulous Year 11s were only 4 & 5 years old when I started). I wish you all the best for the future especially Year 11. Mrs Thomson and I are extremely proud of each and every one of you and I know with determination and a lot of hard work you will achieve the success you deserve.

Make sure you save me a seat at the Prom as I am looking forward to celebrating with you!!!!”

Mrs McBride also leaves us for a short while as she prepares for the arrival of her first child. We wish her lots of luck and look forward to her returning later on in the school year.

End of Term Festivities

The Grange traditional Christmas lunch will be served on Thursday 15th December 2011. The following day is the final day of the term and as in previous years school will close a little earlier.

Each year group will be dismissed at the following times; 12.30pm for Year 11 12.35pm for Year 10 12.40pm for Year 9 12.45pm for Year 8 12.50pm for Year 7.

On the final day we plan to inject a little more festive fun as pupils and staff enter in the spirit of things with an Inter House Fancy Dress Competition. The school council are judging the staff competition and the winners will be announced by Head Boy and Head Girl, Barnaby Byrom and Hollie Bousefield. The winners of the pupils’ competition will be awarded points for their houses and certificates and prizes for themselves.

The autumn term always seems to be the longest and most exhausting of the year and so it is quite fitting that we have the Christmas festivities to look forward to at the end. Thank you for your support this term.

School re-opens to pupils on Wednesday 4th January 2012 at 8.30am Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Our festive celebrations kicked off with the Music Evening on Thursday 8th December; and on Tuesday 15th December the choir along with Mrs Foster will be visiting Simonsfield Residential Home for Carols around the Christmas tree. The following day the residents form Simonsfield are visiting school in the afternoon for a tea party organised by Mrs Westwood and Y10 ASDAN students.

December 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines Exam Season This is the time of year that is most associated with school examinations. As you are no doubt aware however, examinations and coursework deadlines seem to happen throughout the year these days.

Nevertheless, for our Y11 pupils, there will be a 4 week block of intense activity starting on 16th May when the first examination is the English paper 1.

Mr Beard has written to the parents and carers of Y11 recently about examinations and revision. If you wish any further details please contact Mr Beard or Mr Talbot at the school.

Good luck to all Y11!

Attendance The first three weeks of the summer term were disrupted by several Bank Holidays. Whilst I welcomed the opportunity to take advantage of the wonderful weather over that period I was very anxious that the disruption would lead to a significant fall in pupil attendance; but in fact it did not.

Overall attendance was maintained at 93.9% during the three weeks compared to the average for the year up to the Easter break which was 94.1%.

There was a judging panel of 9 staff and I have to say it was a daunting task for the youngsters having to face up to the Simon Cowell like scrutiny that Miss Ellis and her team of experts put them through.

All this bodes well for the actual performance. I am really excited at the prospect of this production being one of the best ever at the Grange. I do hope you will be in the audience!

Further details will be sent out in due course.

Cast List: Danny: Barnaby Byrom Sandy: Lily Gaynor Kenickie: Jack McAdam Doody: Tony Carmon Roger: Reece Moore Sonny: Richie Redmond Rizzo: Alisa Gaskin Frenchy: Lauren Peate Marty: Shannon Dennett Jan: Leanne Burns Patty: Katie Whitmarsh Miss Lynch: Lauren Sutherland Cha Cha: Rochelle Pike Vince Fontaine: Kevin Collins Eugene: Anthony Goble Johnny Casino: Marc Steele Teen Angel: Aaron Owen

Thank you for your continued support with attendance and punctuality.

Grease This summer our Performing Arts Department are planning a production of the well-known hit musical Grease. I attended the auditions recently as an observer and I was bowled over by the standard of performance I saw from all of the budding Dannys and Sandys and many more characters.

May 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney

Headlines School Forum

Stranger Danger

Following a letter to parents and carers requesting members of a Grange School Forum in the autumn, a group of six parents has already met on two occasions. Following an initial meeting where our ways of working were discussed, we have since met and discussed communication, raising such issues as whether parents prefer paper or on-line communication, the development of the new school web site, and Learning Gateway, and also what we can do where sometimes communication between home and school needs to improve. Future meetings with this lively group are already planned. In addition to myself, the group consists of six parents, Mr Beard and those staff linked to what is being discussed. Issues to be discussed in the summer term include the nature of our parents’ evenings including the quality of the grade card, and a meeting with Mr Stanley our Executive Head to talk about progress with the new school and building.

Following an incident last month of an attempted abduction of a 8 year old girl in Murdishaw, police have issued the following statement.

The group is not just a ‘talking shop’. Points made are fed into the relevant school meetings and where appropriate, changes to our practice will result from what is discussed. For example, one proposed outcome of the last meeting was to provide parents and carers with workshops based at the school on how to access information on the school website and the learning gateway. Plans are being formulated right now as to how best we can make this provision available.

If any parent or carer wishes to get involved with the Grange School forum, then please contact Mr Beard.

"Although incidents such as this are very rare, we understand that the local community are concerned and we are doing all we can to find the man responsible. We would urge parents to reiterate safety messages to their children and report any suspicious behaviour to Police, particularly during the school holidays when children have more opportunity to leave their home to play with friends. We have increased our patrols in the area and urge anyone who has concerns or questions regarding this investigation, to contact staff at the Runcorn Neighbourhood Policing Team on 0845 458 0000."

Further information on ‘Stranger Danger’ can be obtained from: PC Niki Lewis, Police School Liaison Officer Cheshire Constabulary Community Safety Team, Unit 10, Turnstone Business Park, Mulberry Avenue (off Dennis Road) Widnes Waterfront, Widnes, WA8 0WN E-mail nicola.lewis@cheshire.pnn.police.uk Telephone 0151 495 5829 Mobile 07920220681

Graffiti Safety Alert The following information has been brought to my attention.

Graffiti vandals are using ‘bingo dabber pens’ filled with Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) to burn their ‘tags’ (names) into glass surfaces. This is becoming a ‘craze’ among young persons and once used the pens are discarded.

If picked up the acid will burn and even when washed off will continue to burn into the skin causing extremely unpleasant injuries. It is extremely corrosive and serious injuries may occur if it comes into contact with

skin.

May 2011 Issue The Monthly Newsletter for Parents and Carers from the Head of School, Mr B. Carney