Autumn 2018
Welcome FROM THE HEADTEACHER The students and staff have begun the academic year in determined and enthusiastic fashion.
At GCSE level, despite having new, more challenging papers, students rose to the challenge and accomplished some fantastic results, with Emily Sumner achieving a remarkable seven Grade 9s.
We were delighted with the exam results that we received in August, especially at A Level, with the best average grade in the county.
Looking forward, we are now just 30 weeks away until the start of the next round of full examinations and we are busy preparing for those already.
With over 100 new students moving to the increasingly popular Marches Sixth Form, there is a real buzz of positivity around the school at the moment.
We look forward to the next half-term taking us to Christmas with some key mock exams to support Year 11 through as well as more fun in our House events and rehearsals for this year’s performance of ‘School of Rock’ gathering pace.
Dear Parents and Carers,
With four of our A Level students all gaining straight A* grades, and Finley Hudson being offered a place on the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, we are fully focused on educating and fulfilling the ambitions of all of our students.
I am always happy to hear feedback from parents and carers and I can be contacted directly at pearson.a@mmat.co.uk.
Alison Pearson Headteacher
Vision: ‘Achievement through caring’
Mission: We believe: Successful, creative, lifelong learners participate in a journey of self-discovery. They know how to learn, and acquire skills to be happy and thrive in a changing world with confidence and courage.
Values: Excellence - striving always for mastery and personal success Integrity - consistently acting with honesty, compassion and respect Empathy - embracing and supporting the uniqueness of every individual Creativity - inspiring and challenging through invention, experimentation and exploration Equality - ensuring fair opportunity for all
The Marches School T. 01691 664400
Morda Road, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY11 2AR
E. admin@marchesschool.net
W. www.marchesschool.co.uk
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News Student Becomes Apprentice GCSE RESULTS 2018 Car dealer Furrows of Oswestry have been working with the Marches School to give students the opportunity to take part in extended work placements at their dealership and they have been so impressed with Thomas Simmonds, they have given him a job. Thomas, who was 14 when he first signed up, has been appointed a modern apprentice on the Ford Apprenticeship programme. Congratulations Thomas.
On Thursday 23rd August, Marches students celebrated success in the new, more challenging GCSE examinations. Top grades were at a high level, resulting in a record number of students being offered places in the Marches School Sixth Form. Of the students who chose to take separate Sciences; in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, 100 percent of students achieved a pass. In addition, student performance in the academic English Baccalaureate is again strong. The Marches School is also delighted to continue to close the gap on grades between disadvantaged students and other students.
Mural at RJAH Orthopaedic Hospital Following the wonderful mural that was painted for the Wilfred Owen Festival on Welsh Walls at the end of the last academic year, our Art department was approached by the RJAH Orthopaedic Hospital for our students to produce a similar mural on their Veterans Orthopaedic Centre Appeal. The new mural is again, stunning. Well done to our Year 10 Art students and to Mrs Robinson for organising the project.
Fifty GCSE and A Level Drama students from the Marches School and Sir John Talbot’s School have taken part in workshops with world renowned Theatre Company, Frantic Assembly. The students were fantastic and even learnt how to fly! The workshops have inspired the students to take creative risks with their Devised examination pieces. It was nice to see students and staff from both schools having a fun and creative workshop. This has been a wonderful experience for the students and we look forward to seeing how they apply it to their Devised pieces.
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More News
Volcano Project Year 7 students in Miss Jordan’s class have been focusing on volcanoes recently and their projects were brought in and presented.
We have recently invited Linsey from Hope House to accept the cheque for the money we raised, which was £937.74, during the 2017-18 academic year.
The students made their projects by building and annotating their volcanoes with paper, card, papiermâché, Lego and even a ‘Bake Off’ style cake!
The charity for the 2018-19 academic year has also been chosen. The Harry Johnson Trust received 63 percent of the vote from our students. For more information on the Harry Johnson Trust, please click here.
8 The Marches School Open Evening turned out to be a great success as we welcomed a total of 185 different groups of families. Thank you to all that attended; parents, carers and future students, as well as current students who helped our visitors with guided tours and were a shining example for students here at the Marches. Thank you also to the staff who stayed and provided wonderful department workshops.
Year 7 Careers Day Year 7 students from the Marches School enjoyed an interactive and varied day as more than 20 volunteers attended the school to take part in the annual Year 7 Careers Day. Companies who gave up their time to inspire our young students included Coldmove, Four Crosses Vets, Shropshire Council, Chester University, SIGS Swiss, Furrows, Crumbilicious, Shropshire Fire Service, Hawk Plant Hire, WSP, Lovegrove EBS Ltd, Shrewsbury College, Thomas Consulting, Department for Work and Pensions, Aico and STEM Learning. The varied range of job roles and industries provided a real insight into a number of future options available for our students. We would like to pass on our thanks to the volunteers, as without them, none of these events would take place.
www.marchesschool.co.uk
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School of Rock Auditions This term we have seen our budding actors and actresses show their on-stage capabilities as they have auditioned to take part in our next school production of ‘School of Rock’. With performances and talent at a superb level, competition for parts was strong and healthy which has resulted in the production team having plenty of tough but exciting decisions to make. Congratulations to those who have auditioned, we are already looking forward to seeing the final performance!
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School Trips Battlefields Trip
DUKE OF EDINBURGH
Two Year 11 students, Yasmin Aktar and Hannah Walker, travelled to France as they went on a Battlefields Trip to aid their work in GCSE History. It was a highly beneficial trip. They went to Lijssenthoek Cemetery and Passchendaele Memorial Museum, before attending the ceremony at Menin Gate.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is back up and running again as students headed on a training walk to Treflach Hall and the Sweeney Fen Nature Reserve from the school site.
They then headed to the Somme, a German cemetery (Frikorps) and the Thiepval memorial.
It was an enjoyable occasion and staff and students are now looking forward to the rest of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award weekends that will be taking place over the course of the academic year.
They finally visited Tyne Cot and watching the Journeys End play before setting off for home.
Cross-Trust Theatre Trip Over 70 GCSE and A Level Drama students from the Marches went to The Everyman Theatre on a cross-trust trip with Sir John Talbot’s School to watch the stage premiere of ‘The Lovely Bones’. It was a sell-out performance. The play was very intense and gave the students lots of inspiration for performance and even more to write about in their written exam. The students were excellent role models for the trust and we look forward to our next cross-trust performance theatre visit to see ‘Wicked’ in December.
Carding Mill Valley Year 11 GCSE Geography students visited Carding Mill Valley near Church Stretton to carry out fieldwork to investigate how bedload changes downstream. The fieldwork will be vital for their exams in the summer. All students worked very hard and were enthusiastic despite the challenging environment.
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Morocco Trip 2018 During the summer holidays, a group of staff and students travelled to Morocco and they had an enjoyable and a successful time. They travelled to Marrakech, before trekking to Jebel Toubkal which is the highest peak in North Africa, then travelling to Aroumd, exploring Essaouira before travelling back to Marrakech.
www.marchesschool.co.uk
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Stage Performer Year 7 student Chloe Beddows will be performing in the stage production of ‘Mother Goose’ at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury towards the end of the calendar year. Chloe, who auditioned during the summer, is a part of the Face2Face Performance Academy and is looking forward to seeing her friends who she performed with in a production last year. With an aim of making it to the West End since she was just 6 years old, Chloe will star in 24 productions at Theatre Severn, as well as 2 more with Face2Face and the Marches School production of ‘School of Rock’ early in 2019. Chloe’s friends and family will be visiting to watch her perform, with her grandad visiting from London, to see one of the stage performances and her mum will be watching three performances. Good luck Chloe.
Nurture A nurture group: • is a small discrete class. • provides a safe and predictable structured environment. • gives children opportunities to revisit previously missed ‘nurturing’ experiences. Students access a special curriculum which has been designed to develop their language, communication and written skills through a specifically tailored English, Humanities and Phonics program (eight timetabled sessions a week in Year 7 and nine timetabled sessions in Year 8). As well as developing curriculum-based skills, students are encouraged to celebrate their own progress and develop confidence in their own ability.
Students are regularly assessed using GCSE criteria, Ruth Miskin Read, Write Inc. booklets, Phonics assessments, LUCID scoring, and spelling tests. Teachers alter lessons according to the needs of the students and aim to make learning fun whilst revisiting basic spelling, punctuation and grammar skills. Teachers also maintain regular contact with parents/carers to ensure students are supported and encouraged at home and school.
The Mainwaring Hub
STEM Days
The Mainwaring Hub is a facility within school which aims to We are very excited at the Marches to work closely with our promote inclusion and remove the barriers to learning Primary partners providing STEM (Science, Technology, experienced by many students. Young people can utilise this Engineering and Maths) facility at social times – before school from 8am, at break and experiences. Every Wednesday during lunch time – in order to ease any ‘large school’ anxieties. morning, primary schools are The idea behind the Hub is to create an environment which is more relaxing and calm than a regular classroom, helping students to feel at ease and promoting learning confidence in mainstream lessons through support and encouragement. The Hub is also the base for many interventions including literacy, numeracy, social skills, bush craft, mentoring and emotional support – and it is also there for those who just want a general chat with a cup of tea! The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) is based in the Mainwaring Hub alongside a team of teaching assistants who are on hand to support and help children within the school with their educational and social development.
invited to the Marches where our specialist teachers deliver lessons promoting the STEM specific skills. Pupils take part in exciting experiments in our Science laboratories. They also work in our ICT suite on a range of activities including coding. Our Maths teachers deliver sessions showing Maths applications and undertake challenges and problems to solve. In our Design and Technology workshops, the students get the chance to design and make something to take home. Your primary school teacher will let you know when they have chosen to attend for your child’s experience.
www.marchesschool.co.uk
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Sport YEAR 10 GIRLS RUGBY The Marches School Years 9 and 10 Girls’ Rugby Team were undefeated in the tournament that took place in September, beating Sir John Talbot's School, Corbet School and Oswestry School. Some of the schools did not have enough players and our girls stepped in to play for them as well and were praised by the teachers for sharing their knowledge and helping the other players, with specific thanks going to Lucie Calloway, who helped Oswestry School get into the scrum position and talked them through the process. Well done all.
The boys competed in the North Shropshire 5-a-side tournament against teams from Lakelands, Sir John Talbot’s School, Oswestry School, The Grove and hosts Thomas Adams. There was some sparkling football displayed by the boys who seem to have gelled straight away. The Marches won the tournament with some fantastic performances from every player in the squad. It was pleasing to win the first competitive tournament that we entered this year and hopefully it will be the first of many. Well done boys!
U19 North Shropshire Netball Champions Our Sixth Form Netball Team travelled to Ellesmere College to compete in a North Shropshire Tournament earlier this term. Despite being down to Oswestry School at half time in the first game, the team rallied to comeback and beat them, then going on to win all of their remaining games to become North Shropshire Champions, defeating Oswestry School, Ellesmere College and Thomas Adams School. The tournament success is the first time that the Marches School has been victorious at Under 19 level, and it breaks the trend of Ellesmere College victories, as they have won the tournament for the previous 5 years.
Triathlon Success
Congratulations to Sixth Form student and Oswestry Olympian Matthew Collins who took part in the Saundersfoot Triathlon and came first out of all the junior competitors that entered. Matthew took part in the gruelling course and finished an incredible third behind two senior competitors in a time of 1 hour, 9 minutes and 4 seconds.
www.marchesschool.co.uk
CRICKET SUCCESS Year 8 student Henry Walker has been selected for Shropshire U13 Cricket Team for their tour of South Africa next year. We wish Henry the very best as he tours the country in February.
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Information PARENTS’ EVENINGS TERM DATES 2018/19 Years 12 and 13 - Thursday 29th November 2018 Year 11 - Wednesday 12th December 2018, Thursday 28th March 2019 Year 10 - Thursday 24th January 2019 Year 9 - Thursday 7th February 2019 (Options Evening) Year 8 - Thursday 9th May 2019 Year 7 - Thursday 11th October 2018
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Autumn Term 2018 Tuesday 4th September to Friday 21st December 2018 Half term: Monday 29th October to Friday 2nd November 2018 PD days: Monday 3rd September and Friday 26th October Spring Term 2019 Monday 7th January to Friday 12th April 2019 Half term: Monday 18th February to Friday 22nd June 2019 PD days: Friday 15th and Monday 25th February Summer Term 2019 Monday 29th April to Friday 19th July 2019 Half term: Monday 27th May to Friday 31st May 2019 PD days: Monday 22nd July
@MarchesSchool
EXAM DATES 2019
Bonington - 311 Points Hargreaves - 412 Points Stephens - 454 Points Mallory - 413 Points Whittaker - 314 Points
● Year 11 MFL Oral Exams 1st April - 12th April ● Year 11 Photography Exam 4th April - 5th April ● Year 11 Art Exam 11th April - 12th April ● Years 7, 8 and 9 Core subjects mock exams 29th April - 3rd May ● Years 7, 8 and 10 Non-core subject mock exams in class 10th June - 14th June ● Year 10 Core subjects mock exams 17th June 21st June ● Year 12 Mock exams 25th June - 5th July ● GCSE and GCE Exams 13th May - 26th June
2018-19 Leadership Group Head Girl and Boy: Hattie Leslie-Miller and Dan Lee Deputies: Lucy Arrowsmith and Max Kinsey Heads of Houses: Niamh Lowton, Harry Curtis, Emelia Newton, Ioan Delahay, Rebecca Owen and Freddie McGuinness
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A VISIT FROM CAMBRIDGE Former Sixth Form students Alex Keir and Jonathan Jones paid the Sixth Form a visit this term to speak to current students. Years 12 and 13 students listened to the alumni as they described the work they were required to do in order to go to a university like Cambridge, the application processes and the experiences they have received as a result. Thank you to Alex and Jonathan for coming in and to Mrs Wyatt for organising this very beneficial experience for the students.
RYLA Sixth Form student Freya Gillies-Foers attended the Wynnstay for lunch recently as she accepted her Rotary Youth Leadership Award at Arthog this summer. Freya has been complimented on her bravery since completing the award.
Careers Talks
Sixth Form students have been lucky to welcome visitors who have come in to talk about life post-Sixth Form. Elizabeth O’Brien and Elly Vesty, who are two Science lecturers at University Centre Shrewsbury, came in to speak to students who have an interest in a career in Science.
Students also heard from Tom Howells, from the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, who spoke about the various careers that there are on offer in the trust, including office-based roles and the more traditional outdoor careers.
Coffee Morning for MacMillan Sixth Form students have done superbly well recently as they hosted the ‘Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning’ in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support in the foyer of the Sixth Form Centre. They raised an exceptional total of £236.84 for MacMillan by selling delicious cakes during break-time to both students and staff.
Welcome FROM THE HEAD OF SIXTH FORM Dear Parents and Carers, We have made a wonderful start to the academic year here in the Marches School Sixth Form. We are celebrating a key anniversary as we have just surpassed our fifth anniversary since starting post-16 education in 2013. The time has flown by and we have just taken on record numbers, with over a hundred Year 12 students in our most recent intake. We have a new Assistant Head of Sixth Form as Mrs Jones has joined us and has continued the fine job Mr Jones was doing prior to the summer. We would like to congratulate our students who have just left us and have celebrated incredible examination results. We have had four students
achieve straight A* results which is something we are very proud of, with students now heading to first choice universities and studying prestigious courses such as Medicine and Chemistry. Moreover, looking ahead to the current group of students, we have had several careers talks over the past few weeks, as a variety of professionals have come in to speak to the students about potential careers, with engineering professionals, Science university lecturers, a music workshop and the Shropshire Wildlife Trust amongst those to have come in. We now look forward to the weeks and months ahead with our teachers and students working hard to build the foundations for their knowledge during 2019.
Claire Boyes Assistant Headteacher: Head of Sixth Form
A Level Results 2018 Once again, the Marches School are celebrating a 100 percent pass rate for their Sixth Form students. The Marches School Sixth Form offers a unique, individual style of care which is bearing fruit. Students from the Marches School Sixth Form have their sights set very high. Finley Hudson has achieved 4 A* grades at A Level, securing a highly competitive place at the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology. Lord Dyson wrote to Mrs Boyes and explained that Finley had been chosen due to his “passion, intellect and tenacity”. Sam West, George Garratt and Tom Evans matched Finley’s grades by achieving straight A*s and will follow a traditional route by attending the country’s top universities, and studying English Literature, Medicine and Chemistry. Applications for the Marches School Sixth Form are still open for September 2018 start.
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Autumn 2018