We’re in the business of learning.....
The Heath
OCTOBER 2013
RESULTS!
Year 11 Learn for Life Days & Sixth Form News
Yet another record breaking year at The Heath as 144 students, 69% of our cohort, achieved 5 A* -‐ C including English and Maths, the Governments’ main headline figure. An impressive 206 students, that’s 98% of our cohort left with 5 A* -‐ C giving them the opportunity to access further education or employment. We have had some fantastic individual results with 89 students achieving at least 1 A*/A. The results go to show the hard work and dedication of our students and staff especially considering that nationally results have dropped. Here at The Heath we continue to improve year on year. Jamie Jardine Principal
On Friday 11th October Year 11 students will begin their preparation for post 16 education with events taking place at both Riverside College and The Heath Business Park. Students will have “taster” sessions for A Level, BTEC and vocational courses as well as a chance to have their say in the design and planning of The Heath Sixth Form. There will also be a presentation by Liverpool John Moore’s University on progression to Higher Education. The Heath Sixth Form prospectus will be unveiled shortly revealing to students the exciting range of courses and opportunities available to them. All current Year 11 students will be given a copy of the prospectus at our upcoming
Learn for Life day on 11th October and they will be available from the school after that time. Following on from this, on Monday 14th October, our Year 11 students will visit a Careers Fair at the Business Park where schools, colleges, universities and employers will be present to answer any questions about future choices for education and employment. We are committed to offering our students the best advice and guidance available to support them in the decision making process. We are very excited about being able to offer Year 11 students the opportunity to continue their educational journey at The Heath Sixth Form from September 2014.
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
ART
Ready...Steady...Draw!
T h i s m o n t h t h e A r t Department would like to invite all students, staff and parents of the Heath School to join in The Big Draw 2013. We want to encourage EVERYBODY to enter this year. Use the I-Zone if you need an idea to start you off. Log into the IZone and click on Resources> Art> Christmas Card Competition Folder. Try drawing with biro, fine-liner, pencil, crayon, ink, charcoal, sharpie on plastic, brush and ink, wire, string or paper. !
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There are plenty of free, fun Big draw events being held all over the UK, and the North West events are listed above. Why not go along in ½ term and see what’s on. The Tate Liverpool has a cartoon workshop, The Maritime Museum has a Sailing and Spaceships theme event, and The Brindley is holding Family Fun Days. Have Fun From The Art Department.
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SMSC In Action It’s that time of year again where pupils and staff at the Heath have been given assemblies this week on the Shoe Box Appeal. Operation Christmas Child is a charity which both staff and pupils at our school have supported for numerous years and have had ongoing success in collecting and filling shoe boxes to send to Samaritans Purse who distribute to children throughout the world. Both staff and pupils have been asked to start collecting items to fill a shoe box and hand into Mrs Green or Mrs Pulman by the 10th of November. 20 pupils will then be given the opportunity to visit the distribution office in Liverpool where the boxes are sent and spend an afternoon experiencing the logistics behind the processing of the shoe boxes. This is a very worthy cause and we are looking this year to build on previous years by aiming to collect over 90 boxes and beat our previous record. All pupils and staff have been given suggestions of what to include and not include within the shoe boxes and are reminded to include £3.00 for postal costs. So everyone get behind the appeal and let’s put a smile on lots of children’s faces this year!
History On 1st of October 88 Year 8 history students visited Quarry Bank Mill in Styal, Cheshire. Students had a fantastic day exploring the world of Britain’s early industrial heritage. Students had the opportunity to see a working water powered cotton mill where children as young as 9 were expected to work up to 16 hours a day. Students tried out the beds in the Apprentice House, had a hand writing lesson on slate and learned about the dangers associated with working in factories during this time. Scott a year 8 student said ‘it was fun and educational’ and that he would ‘definitely like to go again’. Olivia who also went on the trip said her favourite part was seeing the machines the children worked on and the beds they slept in’. The National Trust guides praised the students as ‘the best groups they had worked with this year’ which was particularly pleasing. Quarry Bank Mill featured in the series ‘ The Mill’ on channel 4 in recent weeks. Mr P Cooper
Year 7&8 Information Evening. Improving communication with parents and carers is of the upmost importance to The Heath. As part of this focus we will be holding an information evening for Year 8 on Wednesday 16th October and Year 7 on Wednesday 30th October, 7.00 – 8.00 pm. The evening will be presented by the Progress Coordinator for the year group and provide an ideal opportunity for you to meet and talk to key members of the year team and learn about the events that will be taking place during the school year. The evening will centre on key areas such as • • • • • • • • • •
Pastoral support Communication with the school Pupil Premium Academic achievement Key dates Home based learning How to effectively use the IZone E Safety Attendance and punctuality Careers, Information and Guidance
Our intention is to improve the way parents and carers receive information about the school, while allowing an opportunity for you to talk to us about any queries you may have about the school year ahead. Mr Dance
The Heath Governing Body Conference The Heath held its first full day Governors’ Conference on Monday 23rd September 2013. Governors were given the opportunity to receive current information regarding Ofsted – the role of governors in the new framework and they were provided with a full curriculum update by Mr Rogers, Vice Principal. Mrs Gargan, Head of Sixth Form gave a presentation to governors explaining how plans for The Heath Sixth Form are moving forward and Mr Byrne provided an update on teaching and learning in school. The conference was a great success and Mr Jardine plans to make the Conference an annual event.
Year 7 Transition I am very pleased to say that Year 7 have made a superb transition in their first weeks at The Heath. They have handled the massive change admirably. Many teachers have commented on how polite, smart and well mannered they appear to be. From my own observations, I can say they are a bright, intelligent year group full of character. Most importantly, I am pleased to say that they are supporting and helping each other – which is important and vital as we begin this journey together. I am thoroughly looking forward to our Kingswood trip in October, which I am sure will be a massive success and will bring us even closer together as a year group Mr Cookson
PE News It’s been a busy time in PE since our last newsletter. The year 7 and 8 netball teams have started their All England Netball Association junior umpiring course. The girls have completed the theory and practical parts of the course and will be putting their skills into practice in the new school year. Well done girls! Most of the rowing team have now received capsize and water safety training and have had 3 sessions on the water. They are beginning to look really confident in the water and their rowing skills are improving week on week. Well done team Heath! The Heath hosted the Runcorn Primary Schools rounders tournament in July. This was only possible due to the leadership work by our Year 8’s and 10’s. They officiated the matches, organised the teams, set up the equipment and ensured everyone had a great time. A big thank you to all the girls. The year 7 represented Halton at the Merseyside Youth Games on 5th July. They competed in the quad kids event, involving running, jumping, throwing and relay. Our rounders teams were in action against other Halton schools. The teams have played really well, winning some of their games. But most importantly, the girls have been a credit to the school and played with great determination and spirit. Well done teams! The Olympic Ambassadors have now been selected from Year 10 pupils who have shown a real interest in improve the provision of PE and Sport at The Heath. The team have already begun duties and have set up their own breakfast activity club, attend forms weekly to do speed stacking and have interviewed the new PE teacher. They were also part of a team building workshop hosted by Living For Sport Star Jenna Downing. I’m really looking forward to their input on Sports Day. The Year 10 Olympic Ambassadors also attended the “Lead Your Generation Legacy Summit” at Loughborough University. They shared ideas with other secondary
schools about how they can lead our younger students to participate more in physical activity. The students began their day with activities that had been adapted to be fully inclusive for younger students and for students with a disability. The activities included Quicksticks Hockey, Boccia and volleyball, with some fun warm up games suitable for all levels. There was a presentation by people who had a variety of roles in the games, including a Boccia official, an accreditation steward and a member of the team who lit the cauldron. Following on from this, a Paralympian who competed in the 100m sprint and the captain of the ladies hockey Team GB (who won bronze in London 2012) spoke to the students about their journey to London 2012. They answered questions from the students about what had inspired them, how they had overcome any obstacles along the way and what their hopes were for the future. The whole experience was fantastic and our Ambassadors are now ready to put their ideas into practice, being totally inspired from the event. At the end of last term, The Heath PE Department hosted their first ever Sports Personality Award. What a fantastic night it was, highlighting the achievements of our many successful students. The ultimate award of the night was the presentation of Sports Personality of the Year. This award was a result of a whole school vote. The voting was very close but the overall winner was Ellen Johnston of Year 11. Pictures of the night can be seen on the school website. So far this academic year, the extra curricular clubs have been very well attended. We have welcomed our new Year 7 to the school teams and they are showing real promise. We look forward to our first matches against other Halton schools. The boys’ football teams have already been in action in the English Schools Cup, with the Year 8 team progressing to the next round of the cup. A round up of all results can be viewed on the school website or by following the PE Department twitter account @HEATHPEDEPT
Conwy Castle Trip On Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd of October the History department took all Year 11 GCSE students to Conwy Castle. This trip, undoubtedly famed for poor weather, soggy booklets and broken pencils, proved an absolute success. The weather was OK, if a little misty, but we avoided the rain on both days ( just!). The highlight was, as usual, Mr. Byrne’s guided tour. Rumour has it that Conwy Castle will look no further should a vacancy arise for a tour guide. Though his tales of the ‘Upper Crust’ and ‘Left-‐ handed Round Towers’ may leave the crowds wanting more, the real purpose of the trip was focusing on the development of Conwy Castle in comparison to other medieval castles. The Year 11s will soon have the enviable task of analysing this historic site as al source and a piece of evidence, something we, as a department, are thoroughly looking forward to! Good luck to one and all! Mr. Young
Year 11s....and a massive wooden guard!
...the tour continues....
Pupils in the way of a cracking photo of the castle!
Get Caught Reading The start of the year has seen a real focus on reading for pleasure with the English Team’s ‘Get Caught Reading’ campaign. It started out with a focus on finding out what our male teachers were reading in the hope of inspiring our more reluctant boys with suggestions of what to read. Along with reviews of their favourite books, hilarious pictures of the male staff reading around school were also taken. Lots of the teachers wanted in on the action and they made some really great recommendations. Some staff chose fiction classics like Bram Stoker’s Dracula for Mr Cooper, Mr Jardine’s choice of Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Mr Wade’s recommendation of Frederick Forsyth’s The Odessa File. In contrast, Mr Gregory and Mr Brown both went for sporting autobiographies as their most engaging reads. The campaign then went a step further when, not wanting to miss out, female members of staff
Mr Byrne in full flow....
contributed their book choices, with favourites from Captain Correlli’s Mandolin to Wonder by R J Palacio and a couple of classics by Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte thrown into the mix. Finally, our students caught on that getting caught reading was actually quite cool and they selected some super reads that they felt would inspire, engage and entertain their peers. Top student book choices included War Horse, by favourite children’s author Michael Morpurgo; The Hunger Games Trilogy, a whole host of Jacqueline Wilson novels and, one for the boys: Contact Harvest. The displays for ‘Get Caught Reading’ were put up in time for Open Evening and have really brightened up the English corridor – we hope you get chance to check them out sometime. Students and parents should also keep an eye out for more reading competitions and challenges throughout the year.
LIPA 4:19 at the Heath’ is a part time performing arts academy which is part of Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. The academy is based at the Heath School, Runcorn and has been operating in Halton for the past 4 years. We currently have students aged from 4 - 19 at the academy, which runs on a Saturday morning during term time, but we have spaces for new recruits. Classes are in Singing, Dance and Drama and operate on a rotational system of 1 hour each for 7-19 years from 9.30am -1pm. Early Start Classes (4-6 years) run from 10 - 11.30 am each week. For all age groups, classes are fun and stimulating and provide challenging, inspiring lessons structured around technique and performance skills. Since beginning LIPA 4:19 we have performed and produced 9 shows in venues, such as an outdoor Shakespeare performance in Liverpool Sudley Manor, an 80’s Rock version of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. More recently we performed a show based on musical movies at the Brindley Theatre and the Heath School. Students also have the opportunity to take exams in the various art forms.
Recently we have performed for the Mayor of Halton’s inauguration and also reached the final of Halton’s Got Talent on 20th July Students have also performed in various charity events at the Brindley Theatre, Runcorn and Parr Hall, Warrington, alongside stars from London’s West End Stage in "West End Stars Live!". Zoe Curlett, one of the stars said: "Highly 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" All staff at LIPA 4:19 are trained and experienced performers and practitioners – highly skilled in their various fields of performing arts and working with young people. Children do not need to audition for LIPA 4:19, just complete an application form and places are allocated on a first come first served basis. Termly fees do apply.
If you would like to 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
Geography Field Work 2013 On Friday the 20th September 2013, all of our Year 11 Geographers went out and about in the local area, undertaking a field study for their GCSE controlled assessment. All pupils were responsible for their own data collection and learning that day and every group of students turned in an excellent performance. The day was a complete success and this was down to the hard work and attitude of all involved. Well done Year 11! Mrs Hignett
Performing Arts Extra Curricular Timetable Day
Clubs, rooms and times
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KS3 Drama Club: DR2, 3.10-‐4.10pm Vocalise Singing Group (All years): 41, 3.15-‐4pm
Wednesday
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Dance Company rehearsal: Hall, 3.10-‐4.10pm
Thursday
• •
Band Night/The Collective: 41, 3.15-‐4 pm Commercial Dance: Hall, 3.10-‐4.10pm
Friday
• •
Beginner Taiko (KS3): 41, Week 2 Lunchtime Advanced Taiko (Y8&9): 41, 3.15-‐4pm
Monday Tuesday
KS4 Drama Club: 42, 3.10-‐4.10pm KS3 Dance Club: DR2, 3.10-‐4.10pm Samba Band (All years): 41, 3.15-‐3.45pm
Principal’s Surgeries
Mr Jardine will be holding his Principal’s Surgeries on the following dates between 4pm and 7pm: Thursday, 10th October 2013
Thursday, 3rd April 2014
Thursday, 14th November 2013
Thursday, 22nd May 2014
Thursday, 6th February 2014
Thursday, 10th July 2014
If you would like to book an appointment slot to see him on any of the above dates please contact his PA, Marie Wadsworth on the school number 01928 576664 or by email: mwadsworth@heathschool.org.uk
The Heath - Closure Dates SCHOOL CLOSES
SCHOOL REOPENS TO STUDENTS
Friday 18th October 2013
Monday 28th October 2013
Thursday 19th December 2013
Monday 6th January 2014
Friday 14th February 2014
Monday 24th February 2014
Friday 4th April 2014
Tuesday 22nd April 2014
Friday 2nd May 2014
Tuesday 6th May 2014
Friday 23rd May 2014
Monday 2nd June 2014
Friday 18th July 2014