Summer 2017
Welcome As you can imagine our staff and students at Sir John Talbot's School are overjoyed with the recent Ofsted outcome. Sir John Talbot's School is a great place to be in terms of high standards, excellent knowledgeable teachers and community involvement. The growth of our Futures award, the continued strength of our Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, the Rotary Interact club, Sports clubs/activities and community arts work are all just a part of how we develop the whole child. ‘Teachers’ subject knowledge is strong. They plan their lessons carefully and ensure that there are a variety of engaging tasks which meet the needs of pupils.’ Ofsted 2017. Anyone associated with Sir John Talbot's School will tell you that we value every child. As the local community school we pride ourselves on getting to know all our children and what their hopes and dreams are and help them get there. I am incredibly proud of staff and students alike and know that we will continue to make Sir John Talbot's the number one school of choice for the Whitchurch area. ‘Leaders have created a culture of high expectations and positive behaviour at Sir John Talbot’s School. Pupils are respectful and well behaved. Relationships between pupils and staff are positive.’ Ofsted 2017. I am particularly proud of our A level students who demonstrated to Ofsted how confident, articulate and well-rounded they are and how well the school
prepares them for the next step in life. We still have work to do and you have a huge part to play in moving us forward. We are passionate about students’ literacy and ability to communicate well. Please continue to read with your children and take the opportunity to ask them about their work and take them to the theatre, library and places of interest. The other area that we know has a huge impact on any child’s achievement is attendance. Please avoid taking children out of school for any reason unless absolutely necessary. Just missing one lesson of any subject will set a child back. Thank you for your continued support for the school and if there is anything you feel we can improve on please make contact. There will be an opportunity for a parent governor position in the new school year and a letter will be sent out early in September. If you are interested and would like to have an informal visit please contact reception and let me know. Have a wonderful summer.
David O’Toole 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
Sir John Talbot’s School T. 01948 660600
Tilstock Road, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 2BY
E. admin@sirjohntalbots.co.uk
W. www.sirjohntalbots.co.uk
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News GCSE COOKING! Year 9 students are pictured in action in the kitchen! Teachers have started preparations for GCSE and getting them ready by beginning some of the courses.
Year 11 finished their year by celebrating at Goldstone Hall Hotel with staff. Parents were invited to take photographs and join in on the celebrations. It was a wonderful evening with food and music to match the prestigious occasion.
CHARTER NIGHT
Pictured are Bob Thompson, Whitchurch Rotary Club President, John Sayers, District Governor, Mike Valentine, Interact Rotarian, David O’Toole, Headteacher with Year 8 and 10 students at the Charter night. These students are the founding members of SJT Rotary Interact Club. Interact is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young people between the ages of 12 to 18. It gives young people an opportunity to participate in fun and meaningful service projects in the community. Interact Club is self-supporting and self-governing, thus encouraging the development of leadership skills.
Pictured are some of the many Year 10 students who have graduated into their Year 11 uniform. Students graduate if they demonstrate excellent attendance, behaviour and attitude to learning.
Sir John Talbot’s School is proud to have been identified as providing a ‘good’ school provision in its latest Ofsted inspection. The Ofsted report recognises the high standards that have been achieved at the secondary comprehensive school and sixth form centre in Whitchurch. Sir John Talbot’s School, which became an academy sponsored by the Marches Academy Trust in 2014, has witnessed rapid improvements through its collaboration and continues to raise the bar attracting high-quality teaching staff and specialist teachers to deliver an enriched curriculum that is flexible enough to meet the needs of all its students. The report which identifies all aspects of the school as ‘good’ including pupils making strong progress in a range of subject areas, observed attainment is continually improving year on year in line with pupils' behaviour and strong teaching.
TERM DATES Summer Term 2017 Monday 24th April – Friday 21st July PD Days: Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th July Autumn Term 2017 Tuesday 5th September to Thursday 21st December 2017 Please note – Tuesday 5th September is for Years 7 and 12 ONLY. Students in Years 8-11 and Year 13 will return on Wednesday 6th September Half term: Monday 23rd to Friday 27th October 2017 PD day: Monday 4th September Spring Term 2018 Monday 8th January to Thursday 29th March 2018 Half term: Monday 19th to Friday 23rd February 2018 Summer Term 2018 Monday 16th April to Friday 20th July 2018 Half term: Monday 28th May to Friday 1st June 2018 PD days: Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th July
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More News GEOGRAPHY FIELDWORK
On Monday 19th June Year 10 Geographers travelled to Felin Pulston, which is on the National Trust Erddig estate near Wrexham, to complete some physical geography fieldwork. It was one of the hottest days of the year, so they enjoyed spending the day along the River Clywedog carrying out a river study. This involved measuring water velocity, water depth and river gradient, and completing some field sketches of four different sites along the river.
CAMBRIDGE LATIN COURSE A number of Year 8 girls have recently passed the Cambridge Latin course graded test for the end of book 1 in the Cambridge Latin course. Pictured with their certificates are: Amelia Benbow, Lucy Craig, Emma Craig, Chloe Lloyd, Zara Leary, Betsy Holmes and Oliwia Michalowicz.
YEAR 11 LEAVERS ASSEMBLY
WORK EXPERIENCE The Year 11 Leavers Assembly took place on Thursday 15th June and students took the opportunity to sign shirts and leaver's books and Mrs Apperley spoke about 2012 being a very special year not just because they joined SJT. Mrs Apperley went on to talk about the London Olympics and the GB successes, about the number 1 Music and films. It was a lovely event with tears and laughter. Mr O'Toole spoke about how proud he was of them and how lovely it was to see how well they had developed as young adults. The assembly finished with a lovely montage of photos from the students beginning in Year 7 to present. Good luck to all our Year 11 students and we wish them every success in the future. We are glad that so many are returning into our Sixth Form so it was not really a “good bye” for some. 24 Year 9 students took part in the National ‘Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day'. Pictured is Hannah who joined Head Chef at Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel who put her to work on the pastry section with the Sous Chef. They gave her recipes to follow and she baked many things all by herself, no help was needed at all. The chefs said she had a natural talent. Well done Hannah.
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TEXTILES COMPETITION Miss Lloyd entered her Art Club students into a Young Textiles design competition at St Mary’s Church in Shrewsbury. Students spent a term producing felt pieces for the show. Over sixty entrants applied and Year 7 student Shaz Zaman achieved a commended certificate for her work which was fantastic. Lilly White-Culf had her photograph taken with the Whitchurch Mayor for the Shropshire Magazine.
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School Trips and Visits
SHREWSBURY COLLEGE TASTERS
Year 10 students took part in taster sessions at Shrewsbury College which included plumbing, engineering, welding and hair and beauty.
GREENFIELDS CARE HOME On Friday 30th June a selection of students from Year 7 and 9 went to Greenfields Care Home in Whitchurch to provide drama and music entertainment for the residents. Acts included "SJT Hasn't Got Talent!", a mini play called "Gallstones" featuring Jack Hammer, "The Wink Winkerman Show" featuring Big Foot as well as a beautiful flute and clarinet performance, with solo and duet singers. The students, as always, were a pleasure to take out and both the residents and our students gained a lot from the experience.
GCSE Food students attended The Good Food Show at the NEC. This was a good opportunity for them to see chefs in action, sample unusual ingredients and gain inspiration from presentations. GCSE art students also attended and used it as a photography opportunity, gathering source materials for future projects. On Thursday 29th June 2017, The Marches Academy Trust held its second Festival of Education at The Marches School. SJT students attended the festival, taking part in many different workshops and were given the opportunity to look around the Futures Zone, which offered invaluable information about different career opportunities.
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Sport SAILING SESSIONS
A group of students from Sir John Talbot’s and The Marches School recently took to the water for four weeks of sailing sessions with Shropshire Sailing Club in association with Energize Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin. After spending two sessions on dry land, learning all about rigging the boats and being taken through capsizing drills, they were fitted for their equipment ready to head out on the water. Then, over the course of a further four sessions, the students were given the chance to set sail for real. At the end of the four weeks, John Ridgers of Shropshire Sailing Club, who ran the course for the students, invited parents along to watch the final session and to enjoy a presentation ceremony during which the proud students received their certificates, having qualified for their RYA Youth Sailing Scheme Stage 1.
GIRLS’ FOOTBALL CRICKET SUCCESS
The U13 Girls Super 8's cricket team enjoyed a successful afternoon at the Shropshire School Games Finals at Ellesmere College. The team represented North Shropshire competing against the best from Telford Langley, Shrewsbury, the South and the East of the county. The girls missed out on winning their group by only two runs which saw them play in a 3rd and 4th play-off final. The girls bowled and fielded extremely well and played with respect and honesty throughout.
The U13 Girls’ football team beat Thomas Adams 4-0 at the North Shropshire Final at Wem Town FC. They are picture with their new kit. Barlows Electrical retail division, Chris Walley, Ringway Minibus hire and Sony are happy to announce that they are the new sponsors of the SJT girls’ football team shirts.
FESTIVAL OF SPORT A Year 7 Festival of Sport took place on Thursday 29th June where 350 students from The Marches School joined our 96 students from SJT. This is one of the many fun activities which they took part in. It was a fantastic event and one of many we hope.
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Duke of Edinburgh’s Award BRONZE PRESENTATIONS To complete the expedition section of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Year 9 students gave presentations to parents about their expedition and their expedition aim. The three teams were involved in different activities for their 'aim' which were making a calendar, creating an expedition mood board and a tree classification booklet. Mr Sanders then presented our annual "Rucksack Awards" which saw some fun certificates handed out to participants. These included awards for the 'Best Expedition Hat', 'The Best Expedition Quotation' 'The Best Dressed' and 'The Best Muddy Face award". Team awards were also given for best teamwork, best navigation and the most hardworking team.
SILVER EXPEDITION
In May, Year 10 students took part in a Silver Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition. The groups walked over three days and camped at Cynwyd and Carrog. The "finish line" was at the Horseshoe Falls, Llangollen, North Wales.
GOLD AWARDS Pictured are Will Stokes and Charlotte Lawder receiving their Gold The Duke of Edinburgh's Award from TV celebrity Steff McGovan at Buckingham Palace.
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| 6 Summer 2017
Textiles Competition
Sporting Success
Sir John Talbot’s School T. 01948 660600
Tilstock Road, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 2BY
E. admin@sirjohntalbots.co.uk
W. www.sirjohntalbots.co.uk