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The Heath
Our Results !
The Heath School is once again celebrating fabulous GCSE results and we are Singing Exams Before the summer break, five of our exceptionally proud of the singing students travelled to Liverpool success achieved by our for their London College of Music students this summer. OCTOBER 2012
Singing Examinations after preparing for several months with their singing tutor in school, Mrs Hutchings. They w e r e a l l r a t h e r a p p r e h e n s i v e beforehand as the exam was very demanding, having to sing three songs for an examiner and also to have to answer questions on musical theory and scales. However I have now received their results and we are so proud of what they have achieved! Katie Woodward in Year 11 gained a distinction in her Grade 5 Pop Vocals, Thomas Ray and Ellie Stanfield from Year 10 gained merits in their Grade 4 Pop Vocals, Lucy Hughes in Year 8 gained a Merit in her Grade 3 Pop Vocals and Shannon Doherty in Year 8 gained a distinction in her Grade 4 Musical Theatre exam. Here’s to more singing exams in the future! Well done to you all! Miss Dale
97% of our students achieved 8 GCSEs grade A*-‐C and 66% achieved at least 5 GCSEs grade A* -‐ C including English and mathematics. 72% of students achieved grade A* -‐ C in English, with 22% of these graded A* or A. Our students excelled in STEM subjects with 91% of students achieving at least 2 GCSE’s in science. A massive 61 out of 64 students who took separate science achieved three GCSE’s grade A* -‐ C with 37 being awarded at least one grade A* or A; and 17 students hitting the highest grades in all three
disciplines. In Technology 77% of the students achieved grade A* -‐ C, of which a quarter a c h i e v e d A * -‐ A . T h e mathematics results were also wonderful, 78% achieved A*-‐ C of which 22% were awarded grade A* and A. Across the school the number of students hitting the high grades in a whole range of subjects was outstanding, 43% of all of our students gained at least one A*-‐ A grade and 13% of students achieved 8 GCSEs grade A*-‐A. The results illustrate the commitment to success of our students, their families and the exc e p t i o n a l t e a c h i n g a n d learning opportunities provided by our dedicated staff.
If you know of anything happening in and around our school community, let us know, or if you have any comments about the newsletter email: stewartd@heathschool.org.uk
New Bus Service
Mathematics News
There is a new bus service which will start up on the 29th October B a c k i n J u n e t h e for pupils travelling from Daresbury, Moore and Sandymoor. Please Mathematics department see details of the route below. took Year 6 pupils from Pupils will have a pass purchased through school but the service can be used from the 29th a member of staff will be on hand to take pupils’ names and parents will be invoiced accordingly. Service
No. Heath School
Daresbury – Moore – Sandymoor to The Heath School, Runcorn TIMETABLE - Schooldays Daresbury, Ring ‘O’ Bells Moore, Canalside Moore, Six Acre Lane Sandymoor, Newmoore Lane Sandymoor, Dorchester Park Sandymoor, Sandymoor Lane The Heath School
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The Heath School Sandymoor, Sandymoor Lane Sandymoor, Dortchester Park Sandymoor, Newmoore Lane Moore, Six Acre Lane Moore, Canalside Daresbury, Ring ‘O’ Bells
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Victoria Road Primary to T a t t e n h a l l O u t d o o r E d u c a t i o n C e n t r e i n Cheshire. The day was designed for students to engage with Mathematics and develop their problem solving skills in a fun environment. They took part in various activities, including a sticky nose competition, multiple team games and an orienteering trail. You may recognise some of these students as they are now current Year 7’s at The Heath.
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ROUTE DESCRIPTION From Daresbury, Ring ‘O’ Bells via Old Chester Road, A56 Chester Road, Runcorn Road, Newmoore Lane, Wharford Lane, Pitts Heath Lane, Sandymoor Lane, Daresbury Expressway, Heath Road, Clifton Road to The Heath School. Vehicle Capacity – standees Boarding/Alighting - fare payers)
minimum capacity 49 including seating and
Runcorn Fire Station
all entitled pupils will have a valid travel pass (no
On Saturday the 29 th of S e p t e m b e r , C h a r l o t t e Pickering and Faye Moore of 8LTBR went to Runcorn Fire Station to help out with a charity car wash to raise money for the Fireman’s charity and managed to raise over £200. The girls really enjoyed helping out and the fire service really appreciated their contribution. Well done girls!
PE News
The new school year began with a very exciting trip to The Paralympics at The Olympic Stadium. 20 very lucky students had been selected to attend the event in London and what a memorable event it was. We had an early start as we departed from Runcorn to London Euston and made our way to Stratford. We watched a variety of events throughout the morning session, including a number of medal ceremonies. It was a fantastic day and one which the students (and myself and Mr Jenkins) will remember for a very long time! Boys football is going really well this term with all sessions extremely well attended by all year groups. Match results so far:
Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11
English Schools Cup V Winsford – won 11 -‐ 0 V Bishop Heber – lost on penalties V Caldy – won 4 – 3 V Maricourt – won on penalties V The Grange (Hartford) – won 6 – 0 V Kirkby College – won 3 – 1 V Childwall – won 4-‐2 (aet) V Bluecoat (Liverpool) – won on penalties
Halton League V OBA – lost 2 -‐ 0
V OBA – lost 8 -‐ 0
Netball is very well attended by years 7, 8 and 9 but all year groups have been entered into Halton Schools League. Match results so far:
Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 11
The Grange Won 15 – 0 Won 11 -‐ 1 Lost 6 -‐ 3 Lost 15 – 1
A fantastic start for our teams. Well done girls! Rugby numbers are growing by the week and Mr George is arranging friendly matches and festivals for the next term.
St Chads Won 8 -‐ 2 Won 4 -‐ 1 Lost 9 -‐ 4 Lost 20 -‐ 3
PE News continued... Girls football has got underway. Match results so far:
Yr 7/8 team Yr 9/10/11 team
Bankfield Won 3 -‐ 1 Won 5 -‐ 2
OBA Won 4-‐1 Won 6-‐2
Mr Fildes’ handball club has proven very popular and he hopes he can arrange some matches with other Halton schools before the forthcoming handball tournaments. Miss Parkinson’s cheerleading class is another popular club, with the girls performing some fantastic routines. Hopefully we can see them perform at school events very soon. The Youth Sport Trust held their annual Young Ambassador Conference at The Partnership for Learning Centre. 3 of our students attended the conference and were trained to become Gold Ambassadors.
On the 19th September Mr Fildes took Sarah Felton (Year 10) and Luke Cawley (Year 8) to a football coaching session at Manchester Grammar School run by coaches from Valencia FC in Spain. Luke and Sarah took part in a number of activities designed to improve their awareness and decision making during a game, and to pick up a few tips on how to play ‘the Spanish way’. Sarah said ‘ The training session was very helpful and I leant a lot of new skills. It helped with my confidence and it was a great experience to train with coaches who treated us professionally. The coaches and staff were extremely friendly and told us how to improve.’ Overall the day was a great success and was enjoyed by everyone involved, even Mr Fildes picked up a few tips, unfortunately he didn’t get asked to play for them in their Champions league match that night.
English Creative Writing Club
LIPA 4:19 students including 3 pupils who attend the Heath performed in a show at the Warrington Parr Hall on Friday 5th October 2012 alongside Leading West End Artists in ‘West End Stars’. The concert was in aid of Radio City’s Cash for Kids charity and features all the theatrical showstoppers from musicals such as Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia, Les Miserables and many more. The young LIPA students were truly professional and gave a stunning performance. The West End stars commented on their achievement:-‐ ‘Well done to all !!! What young professionals you were! Thank you for all your hard work and for making the show so extra special-‐ Stars in the making xxx’ ‘Many congrats to all who took part – a wonderful evening filled with talent and commitment!’ Kate Allerston – LIPA 4:19 Principal
If you would like apply for a place or find out more information please contact Kate Allerston, Principal of LIPA 4:19 at the Heath t: 01928 576664 or e: kallerston@heathschool.org.uk
The Creative Writing Club has had a very successful first year since it began. The pupils are enjoying being inventive with the topics they have chosen to write about. They enjoy the time they spend writing as well as discussing ideas amongst peers and friends, as well as taking the time to socialise and discuss their favourite authors and books. Benefits Creative writing can benefit you as a learner in many ways. For example, you will be having fun, but you are actually undertaking, at times, vigorous work as you use both thinking and English skills. Students are given the room to express themselves, develop ideas and, perhaps most importantly, write from the heart. Advantages The club allows pupils who are less confident to start developing their skills and gain confidence in the skills they have. It also allows the opportunity for pupils to get feedback on your work and illustrate for you that you have the freedom to explore ideas without the time constraints of a typical lesson. Why creative writing... Creative writing can breathe life into reading and writing, providing lively opportunities for you to explore each area as you see fit. It is students exploring your imagination and your language. It is not uncontrolled ‘verbal doodling’. It requires accuracy in expression of vocabulary and, above all, a vivid imagination. Competitions We have entered a number of competitions this year and have enjoyed success! Pupils have had their work published in the Mini Sagas Swashbuckling Stories Anthology and we had a great time preparing our entries for various competitions the Young Writers organisation arranged over the year We hope to see many more join us at the club in Room 18 on Thursdays after school. Mr Cochrane
Drama News The Drama Department have been busy making the most of the Drama on offer in our community this term. Year 9 GCSE Drama students took a stroll to Runcorn’s Brindley theatre on September 19th to watch the critically acclaimed ‘Crime of the Century’ by Chickenshed. The powerful piece of theatre in education combined physical theatre, multi-‐ media and hip hop music to hammer home the dangers of knife crime through a narrative that was based on a true story. The Heath students were amazed at the show and took the opportunity to question the actors, in the Q & A session afterwards, about life in London, the rehearsal process and their inspiration. Students are now reviewing the show as part of the written GCSE component. Year 11 have also been busy this term as they’ve taken on their controlled assessments and appointed their Drama Captains. Jade Griffiths and Abbie Talbot now form the student leadership within the Drama Department and look forward to leading student voice and supporting all upcoming shows. Year 11 have also found time to take in some theatre this term, as they travelled to Liverpool on October 10th for dinner and a show at The Unity theatre. The students watched the experimental ‘Cold Call’, a show based around physical theatre and exploring the subject of monotony in the workplace. The Creative Arts departments have been working hard this half term on this year’s show, which is the retro favourite, ‘The Wizard of Oz’. After the most well attended auditions staff have ever seen the cast are now putting in the hours at rehearsals. Weston Primary
School is working closely with The Heath, as its Year 3 and 4 children are destined to play Heath Munchkins and have already started work on ‘Ding Dong the Witch is Dead’! Year 8 made a sterling contribution to set/ props on their recent Learn for Life day as they spent the day crafting everything from poppies to lollipops and Munchkin houses! The show promises to be a hit and will show on December 17th, 18th and 19th from 7pm. Tickets will be on sale from November and we look forward to seeing you there for a mince pie and a trip to ‘where happy little blue birds fly’! As the 2011-‐12 academic year came to a close some last minute fundraising took place thanks to ten members of our multi-‐talented staff! The male staff formed ‘No Direction’, a boy band with moves that could’ve stopped traffic and cute T-‐shirts/trilbies to match. The female staff formed ‘The Fridays’ a stunning girl group that could holler like Beyonce and manage the harmonies too! The two bands went head to head in our end of year assemblies, in an X Factor style sing off, to rapturous applause from every year group! The boys managed to triumph, but have decided to continue with their teaching careers despite considering a tour! Thanks to all staff involved and the students who supported them, a great end to a great year!
Conwy Castle Trip On Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th October Year 11 History GCSE students went out to visit Conwy Castle in North Wales to collect evidence to complete their controlled assessment. We had to visit on two days due to the large number of pupils choosing History for GCSE and the weather was complete opposites. On Wednesday the sun was shining for us but on Thursday the rain came down. However on both days we had a great time and gathered lots of evidence on medieval castles to complete the controlled assessment. This visit helps pupils to understand features of medieval castles to enable them to complete the controlled assessment element of the GCSE which makes up 25% of the final mark. The History department has an exceptional record of attaining top class controlled assessment results and we are sure this year will be no exception. All always the pupils were a credit to The Heath School, they behaved perfectly and showed a mature approach to completing coursework. Miss G Piggott Head of Humanities
Y11 Geography Controlled Assessment Fieldwork Our Y11 Geographers went to Frodsham on market day to investigate the extent to which shoppers buy local. They conducted land use survey maps to find out what goods and services people can access in Frodsham as well as recording whether the shops were locally owned or part of a national chain. They also recorded the types and number of market stalls. Questionnaires were conducted with both shoppers and shop owners to discover their views on buying local and what locally sourced items they bought. During analysis, our students will need to assess the impact buying local or not has on the environment, both in Frodsham but also on a global scale. The issue of food miles needs to be examined in detail and written about. The weather was pre-‐ordered to be fine and sunny and this helped with the excellent work completed out in the field. Our students were a credit to the school and several people commented on the excellent polite behaviour and smart appearance of our Heath students. Well done Year 11! Thanks to Mrs Hignett, Mr Brinkley and Mr Barlow (who drove the minibus!). Their second piece of controlled assessment work centres on the use of mobile phones and the impact they have on people both in the UK and around the world. This is similar to last year’s work when the students learnt about coltan, a mineral essential for mobile phones, which is mainly only found in a part of Africa where there are ongoing conflicts about who controls and ultimately profits from this rare mineral.
The Heath - Closure Dates SCHOOL CLOSES
SCHOOL REOPENS TO STUDENTS
Thursday 19th July 2012
Tuesday 4th September 2012
Friday 19th October 2012
Monday 29th October 2012
Thursday 20th December 2012
Monday 7th January 2013
Friday 15th February 2013
Monday 25th February 2013
Thursday 28th March 2013
Monday 15th April 2013
Friday 3rd May 2013
Tuesday 7th May 2013
Friday 24th May 2013
Monday 3rd June 2013
Friday 19th July 2013
Inset Days Monday 3rd September 2012 Friday 5th October 2012 Monday 22nd July 2013 Tuesday 23rd July 2013 Wednesday 24th July 2013