CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2014
BEST EVER GCSES ALSO INSIDE HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLUE BOX! FANTASTIC FUNDRAISING STUDENT CO-OPERATIVE LAUNCH DAY AWARDS AND PROMS
HELLO... Welcome to the latest issue of In the Spotlight. Once again the Summer Term proved to be a busy term at Chorlton High School and it has been a particular challenge for this edition to cram everything in! Year 11 students worked very hard over the Summer Term preparing for and sitting their GCSE exams. We are delighted to announce that yet again we have achieved record Key Stage 4 examination results this August highlighting the hard work and dedication of students and staff, and the excellent support from parents. We hosted another successful Chorlton Arts Festival week in our Blue Box Theatre, with staff and students working hard to deliver a week long programme of events to celebrate the arts in our community. It was also an exciting term as we celebrated the 10th birthday of our Blue Box Theatre and welcomed back many of our alumni students for a celebratory evening. It was an important term for our Co-operative Academy development as we held our ‘Co-operative Student Launch Day’ which engaged students in being part of a co-operative school. I hope you enjoy reading about all the wonderful activities and successes from the Summer Term in this issue. We now look ahead to a new school year and all the new achievements it will bring. CHRISTINE TAGGART COMMUNITY AND MARKETING OFFICER AND IN THE SPOTLIGHT EDITOR
INSIDE THIS ISSUE...
OUTSTANDING EXAM RESULTS
1
STUDENT CO-OP LAUNCH DAY
5
AWARDS AND WINNERS
SCIENCE AND 10 ENGINEERING NEWS
CHORLTON ARTS FESTIVAL
2
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLUE BOX
3
COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS AND FUNDRAISING
6-7
GLOBAL DIMENSIONS11 AND SKIING
PROMS AND GRADUATIONS SUMMER ELE DAY
9
8
4 SPORTING SUCCESS 12
OUTSTANDING EXAM SUCCESS
Chorlton High School wishes to congratulate all of the students who have contributed to the school’s best ever GCSE results on the back of a phenomenal set of A Level results the previous week. 67% students achieved 5 A*-C GCSE including Maths & English, securing for themselves brilliant springboards into further education, despite instability in examinations and attainment across the country. In an outstanding year for the school and its students, 39 Year 11’s achieved strings of 8 or more grade A/A*s and 202 students achieved at least 1 A/A*. Girls alone secured 71% 5 A*-Cs including Maths and English. There are some extraordinary examples of students whose hard work and effort has manifested amazing results: • NATHAN AND MICHAEL COX, (our cover stars) twin brothers, gained 22 A*s, 4 As and 1 B between them • CAL DEMBY-HARRIS whose record of effort was ‘outstanding’ for every single report of his school life achieved 12 A*s and 1 A • KOFI ANTWI (pictured celebrating above) who recently received the Manchester Educational Award for his contribution to school life, and who had 100% attendance for his 5 years at Chorlton High gained 7 A*s and 6 As.
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The school’s commitment is highlighted by the consistent climbing of exam results year upon year. Andy Park
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Headteacher Andy Park paid tribute to the great dedication and commitment of students, staff and parents, “We have strived to ensure that all students at every level have an excellent foundation for future success. The school’s commitment to ensuring students achieve is highlighted by the consistent climbing of exam results year upon year which enable our students to access the best College and FE places in Manchester”. The whole school community has worked with passion and determination towards these phenomenal results and to ensure that the cohort of 300 Year 11 students have not only achieved academic excellence, but have enjoyed the richness of cultural and social experience that thrives in the community of Chorlton.
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
CHORLTON ARTS FESTIVAL 2014 The Chorlton Arts Festival showcases local talent in the performing arts, working with over 30 venues across Chorlton. We have been working with the Chorlton Arts Festival for several years now, and continue to offer our Blue Box Theatre as a venue for a programme of events. This year was no exception with a full week of workshops and performances in our Blue Box Theatre to celebrate the Arts in our community. ‘ARTS IN SCHOOLS’ EVENTS Every year we run a programme of free events to coincide with the Chorlton Arts Festival which allow children in Chorlton to experience a range of Arts during the school day. On Wednesday 21st May we welcomed Year 5 Brookburn Primary School students to the Blue Box for a professional creative workshop led by The Halle Orchestra. Brookburn staff and students alike were stunned by the quality of the work produced in a morning. On Thursday 22nd May, 200 primary school students enjoyed a spectacular performance by the Lempun Puppet Theatre Company. For some students as young as Year 2 this will have been their first experience of professional theatre, and it is a pleasure that the Blue Box can provide this for them as part of the Chorlton Arts Festival. TWELFTH NIGHT On Monday 19th May and Tuesday 20th May we saw a fantastic production of
Twelfth Night organised by the Primary Arts Team. The aim of this project every year is to use the Arts to bring Year 4 & 5 pupils together, which will be of benefit to their transition to high school in the future. This project has been part of the 198 sessions our Primary Arts Team have run in 8 local primary schools this academic year. This year the project involved a staggering 465 children! Both evenings of the performance were a big success and all the hard work put into this project definitely paid off! CHORLTON YOUNG MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR 2014 On Wednesday 21st May we hosted the Chorlton Young Musician of the Year Award 2014 final. In the culmination of the contest, young people of all ages from around the Chorlton area showcased their musical talents in a bid to win the prestigious title. Yet again the talent and professionalism of the students was impressive. The winner of Chorlton Young Musician of the Year 2014 went to pianist Jay
Carroll (Loreto High School). Maddy Thomas (Chorlton High School) received the Runner-up Prize for her acoustic guitar and vocals, and the Special Commendation Award went to clarinettist Hattie Midgeley-Stevens (Chorlton High School). BEFORE I DIE On Thursday 22nd May we celebrated original play writing produced by our gifted and talented Stage Door Theatre Company with a performance of ‘Before I Die’ written by Year 11 student Jonah Gourley, and directed by our Performing Arts Teaching Assistant Aiden Bell. To round of the week we celebrated our Blue Box Theatre’s 10th Birthday with the ‘Composers and Choreographers Project’ (see right). Once again we have had another very successful Chorlton Arts Festival Week here at Chorlton High School and we are looking forward to doing it all again next year!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLUE BOX! When Chorlton High School was opened in 2004 we were proud to launch the Blue Box Theatre to the school and the wider community. The opening of the theatre marked the beginning of a new journey for our school, its Specialist Arts College status and the diverse community we serve.
The last 10 years have seen the theatre play host to hundreds of dance, drama and music performances from Chorlton High School students, local Primary Schools, professional and community groups. The Blue Box has been central to the development of Chorlton High School and has become a symbol of the arts within the school and in the local community; transforming and enriching creative opportunities for all. Friday 23rd May saw the celebration of the Blue Box Birthday party. A week long programme of events for Chorlton Arts Festival was closed in style with the ‘Composers and Choreographers Project’ which showcased the incredible talent of our musicians and dancers.
This was followed by birthday messages from current students and staff and an insight into the journey the theatre, and indeed the school, has been on since 2004 when the Bee Gees opened the theatre, and Tony Blair visited the school. The beautiful birthday cake was cut by ex-student and Waterloo Road star Tachia Newall, and parents and students both past and present marked the occasion with strawberries and wine as they caught up with old friends and reminisced about their time at Chorlton High School.
and the school’s Performing Arts status had impacted on their lives. For some it was fundamental, having subsequently exceeded in companies such as The Rambert Dance Company in London and for some it complimented their academic success as they shared University and career success stories. Happy Birthday Blue Box Theatre, we look forward to seeing you help shape more young people’s lives and provide them with fond memories for many years to come.
It was particularly poignant to see so many alumni attend and want to be a part of the celebrations. It was very clear how much of a part the theatre
ALUMNI SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE BLUE BOX THEATRE
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I’ll always remember the many hours I spent in the theatre. I hope the theatre has many more happy birthdays.
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Thank you for being an inspiring space to learn and a great venue to be enchanted in.
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I always enjoyed putting on and watching shows here. No doubt the location of my best high school memories!
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Thank you for making me fall in love with drama and building up my confidence to make me feel that I can do anything if I put my mind to it.
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CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
SUMMER EXTENDED LEARNING EXPERIENCE From Monday 23rd – Friday 27th June 2014 our students enjoyed their summer ELE week with a formidable range of activities including: sports days, performances, bungee trampolining, climbing walls, community gardening, co-operative arts projects, yoga, zumba, bootcamp, Thai boxing, news reporting, and a chance to democratically share their views on the school with its leaders.
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The students were really engaged with the activities and loved the range. I was particularly impressed to see the pride the children were taking in their efforts at a range of activities. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable day that enabled the students to really engage with the school on a positive level.
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Member of Staff
I loved Sports Day. I never knew that I was fast! Year 7 Student
I had a brilliant day! The bungee trampolining and climbing wall were amazing and it was really nice to work with my form and form tutor all day.
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Year 8 Student
On Monday and Tuesday, Years 7 and 8 experienced a ‘Happy Day’ full of fun health and well-being activities and learnt about strategies to keep themselves happy and well. Both days were a resounding success and the students really enjoyed the activities. We also held three sports days in which students enjoyed a range of activities. For Years 8 and 9 at Broughton Park the students got to experience a myriad of different sports such as team skipping, touch rugby, softball, lacrosse, ultimate frisbee, tug of war,
rounder’s, handball and hockey. Year 7 had a wonderful day at Longford Park and competed in many different athletic activities. In addition to these activities, Year 9 worked on their Arts or Computing GCSE projects. There were a range of activities such as a collaborative composition project resulting in a music video, recording in the studio, photography and the GCSE Year 9 students performed their Theatre in Education to local Primary Schools. A member of the drama staff commented:
“The Year 9s were very professional, very respectful and we saw some of the best examples of creativity we’ve seen in years. They really built a sense of unity, were totally supportive of one another and collaborated brilliantly.” All in all, it was a really successful ELE and the students and staff felt that they had a very positive experience. As a Year 8 said at the end of the week: “It was the best ELE yet!”.
STUDENT CO-OPERATIVE LAUNCH DAY
As part of ELE week, on Wednesday 25th June 2014 we were proud to hold our Student Co-operative Launch Day with our students. Celebrating that we are a Co-operative Academy, students learnt and developed their understanding about Great Britain as a democracy, the importance of voting, how democracy works and what it means to be a member of a co-operative society. During the day students were given the opportunity to give Chorlton High School “two stars and a wish” based on what they thought already makes the school successful and what they thought could be improved.
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We now understand what democracy is and can now think of new ideas for the future and live in a world everyone is happy with.
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Year 7 Student
They then used this wish to put together a persuasive pitch that they delivered to members of the Senior Leadership Team. “Stars” about the school included: our Blue Box Theatre, wide range of subjects, our library, the fact we take
opinions of our students into account, our performing arts specialism and the wide range of ethnicities, cultures and religions within our school. “Wishes” for the school included: new equipment, a greater variety of books in the library, iPads for students and more extracurricular activities. A key part of being a Co-operative School is our School Council and students were shown that it is important that student’s opinions are heard by those who make the decisions. Within their form groups students explored the role of the form rep and the personal qualities required. This training helped students to consider whether they would like to be a form rep ahead of the Year 7-9 School Council elections which took place the following week. Throughout the day students explored the co-operative values through a range of co-operative challenges and arts projects. Students completed a number of co-operatives games which students had to work collaboratively together to
solve, whilst in Art students worked together to create bunting detailing the co-operative values. Throughout the day the CHS Cooperative News Team were hard at work reporting on all the different activities taking place to create a Co-operative Day news report which is available on our website.
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I learnt that form reps are able to pass on ways of improving the school and can make a difference. Year 8 Student
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It was an action packed day which we hope gave students a really good understanding of what it means to be a Co-operative Academy and the importance that their voice has in the future development of our school.
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS PLANTING AT CHORLTON WATER PARK As part of our summer ‘Extended Learning Experience’ (ELE) week, we took two form groups down to Chorlton Water Park for the morning to help plant wildflowers. As a Co-operative Academy we feel it is vital to work in partnership with the local community and make significant and positive contributions to Chorlton and the surrounding area. Year 8 student Karina Davies who took part in the planting gIves us her report on the day.
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The students worked hard and planted around 100 wildflowers including Foxgloves, Red Campion and Cowslips. The digging was quite tough in places but the students showed great commitment and enthusiasm. Park Staff and the Friends of Chorlton Water Park who grew the plants from seeds really appreciated their help. RICHARD SALISBURY NEIGHBOURHOOD ENGAGEMENT AND DELIVERY OFFICER
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Year 7 and 8 went to Chorlton Water Park to help our community and to make the place look more attractive. The Gardener that works with the plants in Chorlton Water Park gave us some instructions and safety guides on planting, so we put on our gloves and got stuck in.
As the students were working I decided to go to a few people and see what they thought about the project. I asked Abdi what he has learned about the project and he said “I have learned not to dig in hard soil. Damp soil is better for planting because it has a bit of water in it and this helps the plants grow.”
Whilst Miss Maxwell and I were sitting on the bench we spotted Nadia holding something in her cupped hands. Miss Maxwell and I went down to have a look and to our surprise it was a tiny emerald green frog. As Nadia went to release the frog we spotted a mysterious thing moving in the grass. We went down to take a closer took and saw that there were lots of frogs jumping all over the grass.
I also asked Nadia the same questions and she said “I have learned that mixing soils also helps plants to grow. I have also learnt where frogs live and the kind of habitats they like.” Not only is Chorlton High School a School, we also help the community and animals that live in that area. BY KARINA DAVIES YEAR 8
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It was lovely to see the students getting so involved. They listened carefully to the instructions and were able to successfully plant a sizable area which I hope they will look at proudly when it starts to bloom. They really loved looking at the surroundings, especially the grass that had the baby frogs in it.
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MISS MITCHELL
CHS FUNDRAISING To support the ethical values of being a Co-operative Academy we have had an active programme of fundraising throughout the year. This academic year we have raised an impressive £2,302 for various charities.
£2,302 CAKE SALE PHILIPPINES APPEAL
£85
STAFF FUN RUN 42ND STREET
£211
PERFORMANCE TICKET SALES CANCER RESEARCH UK
£223 CHS BAKE OFF SPORT RELIEF
£243
CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY
STAFF FUN RUN On Wednesday 2nd July 2014 we rounded off our fundraising year with a Staff Fun Run to raise money for 42nd Street. As a school and community we wanted to show our appreciation and give something back to 42nd street, a local charity that provides emotional support, counselling and group-work for young people. They have worked with a number of students, families and staff members at Chorlton High School and have had a significant positive impact. The Fun Run was organised by Ms Galbraith to raise money, celebrate the running club that we started this year, and to reinforce the cooperative values of social responsibility and caring for others. She also wanted to promote healthy lifestyles within our community. CHS Student Sports Leaders worked hard to support the event, leading the pre-race warm up sessions with the teachers and encouraging staff and students to make donations.
SAVE THE CHILDREN
£548
“Danya and I thought the Fun Run was a good way to raise money for charity. We helped to collect money and keep the teachers running.” (Tia-Rae Barton - Year 7 Sports Leader)
WINTER FAYRE CHISILA COMMUNITY SCHOOL ZAMBIA
£992
“Tia and I wanted to help with the Fun Run warm up to give the charity extra support. We helped with the warm up and collecting money. We had lots of fun” (Danya Alder - Year 7 Sports Leader) We were delighted to have raised over £200 for such a worthwhile cause, and both staff and students are already planning another charity event for the next academic year.
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
CLASS OF 2014 PROM
KS3 GRADUATION On Wednesday 9th July Chorlton High School held a graduation ball to celebrate going from Year 8 to Year 9. In order to participate we were given a passbook. This meant that a teacher had to sign each box showing that you have good manners, you are polite and you are respectful. Students who have been exceptional all year round had an automatic entry (golden ticket) to the ball. As days went on everyone was talking about the graduation. The more everyone talked about it, the more exciting it was! Finally it was the night! It was the night everyone would laugh, dance, eat and remember the good memories of being in Year 8. As everyone arrived strutting down the red carpet, the photographer was there taking stunning pictures of us. Everyone looked beautiful in their dresses, suits and smart shoes. Before we could get up and show off our dance moves Miss Carroll and Miss Osbourne gave out our certificates. Afterwards, everyone got up and had so much fun with friends and even people they don’t normally speak to. Of course this could not have been so fantastic if it wasn’t for Miss Carroll so I would like to say thank you for being an amazing Head of Year and organising the graduation ball.
BY KAYDIAH HENRY YEAR 8
Year 11 students marked the end of their time at Chorlton High school in style. The students, all dressed to impress - joined teachers on their final night together at the Etihad Stadium in one of the luxury suites to say goodbye. On arrival the group were treated to a freshly prepared meal, followed by the Awards ceremony which celebrated the many talents and personalities in the year group. Finally the floor was handed over and the evening was spent dancing, chatting and taking photographs of the beautiful dresses, suits and the friends they had made in their five years together. The group were a real credit to themselves, and the staff who work at the stadium were impressed by their maturity, their friendliness and their impeccable manners. An emotional Mr Jameson said that they had been a phenomenal year group, a real family. “It’s been a privilege to be a part of their lives and see them grow into such amazing adults, they all deserve much success in the summer” – a view echoed by all.
PREMIER LEAGUE READING STARS Whilst all eyes were on Brazil, Chorlton High School’s Premier League Reading Stars squad visited the Etihad for a fantastic author morning organised by the National Literacy Trust. When Ms Hockey suggested an away fixture for the group in June, the squad thought she meant a couple of weeks in Brazil to see the World Cup…. instead they ended up at the Etihad Stadium, home to Premier League winners, Manchester City. The squad of fourteen were excited to meet authors Sam Gayton and Nigel McDowell, who got them thinking about the origins of stories and tales, including the novel idea of Flash Fiction, where a story is
told in less than 10 words. It might seem impossible, but it really got them thinking. The best one was ‘Three strikes, two penalties, one goal’, which does say it all in just six words. No visit to the Etihad is complete without a tour of the stadium, the dressing room, the media suite and the obligatory run up the tunnel to some crowd applause and of course the chance to sit in Manuel Pellegrini’s seat on the bench. “We all had a great time” said Ms Hockey, “even the Manchester United supporters in the squad enjoyed it!”
AWARDS AND WINNERS MANCHESTER EDUCATION AWARDS Year 11 students Kofi Antwi and Joe Breen finished their Chorlton High School Careers on a high when they were awarded with Manchester Education Awards at a ceremony at Manchester Town Hall. We are enormously proud of our entire Year 11 but Joe and Kofi have stood out by making exceptional contributions to the life of Chorlton High. Joe’s active participation in school life is in spite of the fact he has some additional learning needs. He has an absolute passion for History and wishes to study it at university. He has never allowed his additional needs to diminish his love of learning and he now looks forward to studying History A level at college. Kofi has been an active representative of Year 11 on the School Council. He played a leading role in initiating a student year book at Chorlton High. Kofi persuaded the vast majority of the year to pose for photographs and collated comments and thoughts from members of staff. All this while studying hard for his upcoming GCSEs and maintaining his “always positive” attitude to school life. Well done Kofi and Joe. We are very proud of you!
ATTENDANCE SUPERSTARS Every year at Chorlton High School students are presented with an Attendance Challenge: to achieve at least 96% attendance. Kofi Antwi and Callum Fennell are to be congratulated on a truly outstanding achievement over and above this challenge, achieving 100% attendance over the past five years. Not a day off in all their time at secondary school. The boys were presented with their award and congratulated for their achievement at the Year 11 Leaver’s Assembly as well as receiving a free pass to the Year 11 Prom and £50 worth of Trafford Centre Vouchers.
the hard work she has put in over the years in helping with his transition through Chorlton High School. In addition the nomination recognised her commitment to providing special educational needs co-ordination for many of our students at Chorlton High School. On Monday 7th July 2014 Mrs Parfitt was invited to go along to the awards lunch and ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester. We are very proud to announce that she won the ‘School Support Staff of the Year’ Award. We are delighted to have won the award which acknowledges a fantastic member of staff at Chorlton High School.
Let’s hope that they get the results they deserve in August as an extra reward for their commitment to their education.
MEN SCHOOL AWARDS WIN Back in May we were delighted to find out that Mrs Parfitt, our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, had been shortlisted to the final of the MEN Manchester Schools Awards. This event celebrates the best in education from a wide range of categories for schools across Greater Manchester. Mrs Parfitt was nominated by a Year 11 student who thought Mrs Parfitt deserved to win the ‘School Support Staff of the Year’ Award to recognise
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
FORENSIC SCIENTISTS The Science Club has had a very successful year. Year 8 pupils have regularly contributed to the sessions and as a reward Miss Smith and Miss Moylan took them on a visit to the Manchester Museum. Here they took part in a Forensic Science workshop. They completed practical experiments using equipment usually only used at University. Gel Electrophoresis enabled them to match DNA patterns to potential suspects in a ‘solve the crime’ problem based activity.
WHAT THE STUDENTS SAID “This has made me much more interested in careers in Forensic Science.” ATALANTA HARKAVY YEAR 8 “I really enjoyed doing the practical and using equipment we don’t get to use in school. I have learnt things about DNA that I didn’t know.” RUBY WAIT-WEGUELIN YEAR 8 “I thought the best part of the day was learning about the structure of DNA because I have long wondered why it was a double helix. “ LYLE CROSS YEAR 8 “I have learnt about how forensic science helps solve a crime.” JAMIE CARTER YEAR 8
ENGINEERING CHALLENGE WIN Our students designed a train which was both environmentally friendly and had innovative solutions to boarding. Their train ran using solar cells which could track the position of the Sun for optimum power generation. They eradicated first class in order to promote community cohesion and to allow more passengers to travel on the train. Lightweight yet strong materials were chosen for the bodywork of the trains in addition to extra suspension to reduce energy lost through sound and friction. These expert ideas were presented to a panel of judges in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style format in front of the whole conference. Their delivery was clear and entertaining throughout, even making the judges break character and laugh. As the judges retired to decide their results, the pupils were given speeches by rail industry insiders. These ranged from electrical and software engineers, to business and communications engineers.
On the 2nd June, we took a team of budding engineers to the GenYRail event held by the UK rail industry at Manchester Town Hall. As part of this event, our team had to compete against 15 other schools from the North West region to design a train which could meet the needs of tomorrow.
NEWS CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL
Finally, it was time to reveal the winners. As our names were read out, the pupils were clearly elated. Their hard work and dedication had paid off. Well done to Oscar Keenan, Arthur Berry, Nasir Ahmed, Leila Haggerty, Brandon Neild and Adam Ashcroft who all really made us proud at the event.
GLOBAL DIMENSIONS
students to visit their old primary schools and really impress their teachers in how much they have developed as individuals.
For many years we have been taking Year 8 students into our feeder primary schools to deliver the ‘Global Dimension Peer Education Programme’ and we have continued to develop this programme over the last year. The programme consists of a series of workshops delivered by Year 8 students across the year, exploring global issues and helping Key Stage 2 students to recognise their responsibilities as citizens of the global community.
During the Autumn Term the students were taught key skills for becoming a Peer Educator. They then had to plan their own workshops to introduce different countries to the Key Stage 2 students. During the Spring Term the workshops focussed on being a good global citizen and the team helped the Key Stage 2 students explore their global connections to others. During the Summer Term the team focussed on Fairtrade and helped the Key Stage 2 students to think about why Fairtrade is important and its wider implications globally. The students delivered a series of interactive sessions with the Key Stage 2 students.
The Global Dimensions Team is made up of Year 8 students recommended by their form tutors as keen and enthusiastic members of their year. It is a lovely opportunity for the
Over the course of the whole Global Dimensions Project our students have really excelled at delivering the sessions. They have been praised by staff at the Primary
Schools for being confident and friendly in their delivery. At the end of each session there have been lots of smiles from the younger students which indicate a successful lesson. The students have created their own activities to teach the Key Stage 2 students, as well as adapting various activities they do in lessons to deliver the information about being global citizens in a wonderfully unique way. The students had such energy and enthusiasm in all of the primary schools they visited and we would like to say a big well done to all of them!
SAALBACH SKI TRIP The 2014 ski trip to Saalbach in Austria was yet another successful and rewarding experience for all. The trip each year involves a long coach journey which captures some beautiful scenery along the way. The students soon settled into the Ferienhof Wolflbauer Hotel and made themselves at home. It was great to see the Eder family who were overjoyed to see Chorlton High School staff and students again. Each student was given guidance by a ski instructor, and everyone showed significant improvement in their skiing ability, including the advanced skiers. All non-skiers and beginner ski groups progressed to intermediate ski abilities and the intermediate skiers ended the trip as advanced skiers! The winners of the slalom races for each ability group were: • Beginner 1 - Lewis Maclennan Year 10 • Beginner 2 - Rosa Howarth Year 10 • Beginner 3 - Malachi Clarke Year 10 • Intermediate/ Advanced - Joe Wood Year 10 • Teacher - Mr Casey
“The entire group had excellent time management each morning and their positive attitude to every aspect of the trip was recognised and appreciated by the teaching staff, instructors and the hotel staff. The ski instructors commented on how impressed they were at the rate of progress, and determination of the students.” MR BROWNSELL “The ski trip was a really fun experience; I would definitely recommend it to other students. Saalbach was a great place to visit and everyone really enjoyed themselves.” YEAR 10 STUDENT “I really enjoyed the ski trip because the ski instructors were very helpful and helped everyone improve their technique.” YEAR 10 STUDENT “I thought that it was a great trip and something I will definitely remember forever.” YEAR 10 STUDENT
CHORLTON CHORLTON HIGH HIGH SCHOOL SCHOOL IN IN THE THE SPOTLIGHT SPOTLIGHT
SPORTING SUCCESS
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR OWN BRITISH CYCLING CHAMPION Whilst the Tour de France made its way through Yorkshire our very own cycling star in the making, Robert Donaldson (Year 7) was crowned British Cycling’s Under 12 Champion. On Sunday 6th July Year 7 student Robert Donaldson won the National Youth Cycling Championships in London making him British Champion for the year! The Championships run by British Cycling, have cyclists competing from every age group from Under 12’s right up to Elite Men which was won by Mark Cavendish last year. The Youth Championships was held at Redbridge Cycling Centre in London with 500 competitors across the Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 ages groups. Robert won the Under 12 category in a 12 mile race from a field of 60 riders making him the Under 12 champion.
SPORTS NEWS CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL
The success doesn’t stop there! Robert is also leading the National Series which consists of 9 national races with 3 left to go. He is also top of the British Cycling Under 12 rankings having scored more points this year (by winning more races) than any other Under 12 rider. Robert now gets to wear the National Champion’s white, red and blue jersey in all road races for the next 12 months. We are all incredibly proud of his fantastic achievement at school and wish him luck in future races! We look forward to hearing about his further successes.
ATHLETICS COMPETITION On Wednesday 14th May 2014, Year 8 & 9 pupils represented Chorlton High School at the Manchester Schools Athletics Competition. All the students competed to a very high standard in their events and had a very successful day! A big well done to Izzy Hopwood who won bronze for the 1500m, and Kim Snape who won silver for the Sprint Hurdles. Well done to everybody who took part!
BMX HIGH ACHIEVERS This term Year 7 High Achievers were taken to Manchester Velodrome for six coaching sessions on the track. This was then followed by four sessions at Platt Fields BMX track for specialised coaching in BMX riding. Pupils had the opportunity to be involved in competitive time trials against other schools in Manchester. The pupils were engaged in a new sporting activity and all worked really hard throughout the training. A really enjoyable experience, well done!
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL NELL LANE CHORLTON MANCHESTER M21 7SL Tel 0161 882 1150 Fax 0161 861 8753 admin@chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk www.chorltonhigh.manchester.sch.uk @chorltonhigh design manchesterdesignfactory.com 07884 427009