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Activities Week
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Performing Arts Tour
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
The Academy’s Autumn Production
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Borneo Expedition
December 2016
Living Hope Ministries
For the charity, Living Hope Ministries, a Lancing parent has handmade these dolls for Congolese children. 2 SRWA News | December 2016
From the sale of poppies, we raised ÂŁ88.48 for The Royal British Legion, to enable them to continue their vital welfare and benevolent work.
CO N TE NTS A FEW HIGHLIGHTS
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Principal’s Message
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December 2016
Mandela Chapter News
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Activities Week
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22 Lapper News
Performing Arts and Trip to Russia
Performing Arts Tour and SRWA Summer Sounds
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Borneo Expedition
December 2016 | SRWA News
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P RIN C IPAL’S MESSAGE T
he Christmas holidays are fast approaching and I am delighted to be able to share with our whole community, via this newsletter, be it in print or electronically, all the activities and events that we have as an academy been involved in. Of course the reported activities provide a flavour of the diverse opportunities available to our students. Indeed, as we progress towards Christmas there is so much happening involving so many students that it would need an additional supplement to report on them. Needless to say such activities enrich not only the participants but also those sharing in the event.
of January to reflect on the past year and make ‘resolutions’ for the future based upon the past.
Looking past Christmas to the New Year it is traditional in the month
Thankfully, I am heartened to think that within the academy community
There is some debate but many recognise that January is named after a Roman God – Janus. He was perceived as being the God of various places and concepts including beginnings and transitions. If we are to maintain our successes of last summer then we need to ensure we continue to embed the highest of standards in all that we do within the life of the academy. The mantra often quoted by staff and in particular Mr Scanlon, is ‘High expectations, No excuses.’
4 SRWA News | December 2016
there has been over the past year a genuine transition and a positive response to the mantra ensuring all areas are striving to achieve the highest possible standards in all that we do. Personally, one unexpected transition is that due to being diagnosed with an illness I will be away from the academy as I undergo specialised treatment. This is likely to take some months and I am therefore pleased to inform you that the Trust have appointed Kieran Scanlon to the role of Acting Principal for the duration of the Spring Term during my absence. He will be ably supported by the strong management and support structure we have in place.
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High expectations, no excuses.
May I remind you that it is the end of term on Friday 16 December. After a long term we will finish with a whole academy assembly. All students will be dismissed at 12.30pm. Earlier in the day, there will be an extended break to allow students to have their lunch.
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I would stress that Friday 16 December is not a non-uniform day and students should attend in full uniform as normal. Finally, may I wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and successful New Year. Peter Midwinter Principal
December 2016 | SRWA News
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“We Should All Be More Like Malala� ACTIVITIES WEEK REVIEW took their Annual Tour to Italy this year and had a fabulous time. For the second year running a group of year 7 and year 8 students went to Broadstone Warren Scout Campsite, which was enjoyed by all.
Performing Arts Tour
Activities week is our chance to team build as Chapters, experience new events and take time to enjoy education in a broader sense.
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Hever Castle in Kent and locally to the lifeboat station in Shoreham. The Performing Arts Department
Students volunteered in a host of local venues from the Worthing Churches Homeless Project, to St Barnabas House, to clearing up the local beach and nursery school. We also had guest journalists in from The New Internationalist magazine and explored education around the world through inspirational workshops and watching a documentary about the life of Malala Yousafzai. Understanding ourselves and the things we can do is an important
Firstly, we joined together to participate in our annual sponsored walk on the South Downs to Cissbury Ring, which raised money for each Chapter charity. The Academy supports the local community and Activities Week is a time for all students to become involved in this. Part of valuing our society is to be aware of our environment and heritage - both locally and internationally and this is why we included trips to
Ye a r 7 a n d 8 C a m p
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Alison Lapper Art Classes
part of our development. We dedicated a day to exploring new physical skills and learning about the special skill sets of people with disabilities, it was inspirational. The day included a workshop with Academy friend and artist Alison Lapper, where everyone learned how to paint with their feet and their mouths. The Circus Allstars taught everyone a wide range of circus skills. The charity, Enable Me gave sharp insights of life for the disabled in our community, including a hectic game of wheelchair hockey. It was an amazing week. When asked to sum up how the week had affected them, one of our students spoke for all when she said “We should all be more like Malala!� Vo l u n t e e r i n g
Ye a r 7 a n d 8 C a m p December 2016 | SRWA News
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BRUNEL NEWS Your Brunel Chapter Team
Shell ‘Make the Future’ A Festival of Ideas and Innovation
Mr S Davies, Chapter Head
On 1st July a group of year 8 design technology students visited the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London to attend the Shell ‘Make the Future’ a festival of ideas and innovation. The festival is all about bright ideas for tomorrow’s energy
Mr C Anderson, Chapter Leader
Miss V Silverthorne, Pastoral Support Officer 8 SRWA News | December 2016
challenges giving the students the opportunity to see first-hand examples of how these challenges might be tackled. As well as exhibitions from Shell, Ferrari and Formula One, there were science shows going on throughout the day, plus TV’s Rachel Riley was on hand to start the Shell Ecomarathon. The Eco-marathon is a
Energy efficient vehicles
unique competition that challenges university teams around the world to create the ultimate energy efficient vehicle. The distances achieved on the test track were incredible; the best result being 3,771 km per litre. The event was a great day out for the students; they saw some truly inspiring energy innovation, as well as some of the awesome architecture and sculpture around the Olympic Park.
Star Chef Competition
Throughout the past school year, students from year 7 and 8 as part of food preparation and nutrition, have been taking part in a Star Chef Competition. After four rounds over 300 students were reduced to just four - Olivia Fern, Charlie Sharpe, Megan Smith and Elliot Dobbins. Students were given a brief to create a batch of 10 individual sweet or savoury products - knowing the
judges well, they all opted to make something sweet. After a long period of deliberation, the judges came to the decision that Olivia Fern’s Lemon Meringue Cupcakes, with homemade curd, were the winning product.
spoilt by the hospitality and the sound quality they experienced. They enjoyed various tracks and video clips that demonstrated the high end results of the extensive design, testing and manufacturing techniques that are used.
W6 Trip to Bowers & Wilkins
The SRWA 3D design department and W6 would like to extend our thanks to B&W for giving up their valuable time for our students, it was a truly awe-inspiring visit which demonstrated perfectly how products are created and highlighted many potential careers paths available to them.
On 8th November the W6 3D design students attended a visit to the Bowers & Wilkins company in Worthing for a tour of the manufacturing plant and to experience some of the world class acoustic products they create. The tour introduced the students to reallife manufacturing techniques and the rigorous quality assurance that ensures such high standards. The W6 students were welcomed by the B&W staff who went out of their way to answer all our questions and provide a very unique and valuable experience for the students. On completion of the tour the students had the opportunity to talk through design ideas for their current projects. The students have been assigned with creating a working MP3 dock and speaker system so it was an extremely useful opportunity to gain some inside knowledge and design expertise. During the listening session the students were
December 2016 | SRWA News
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LAPPER NEWS Your Lapper Chapter Team
U14 Basketball The U14 Girls’ Basketball team had a fantastic season this year. The girls started their league campaign with a fantastic 32-2 win against Shoreham Academy, this Mr M Fox, Chapter Head
Mrs H Heery, Chapter Leader
Mrs C Smith, Pastoral Support Officer 10 SRWA News | December 2016
was followed by a 28-0 win over a newly formed Bohunt team. The girls all worked well as a team and showed true grit and determination throughout the season. They
continued their winning streak against the very strong Sion and Durrington teams. With two games left the girls were striving for that top spot. A win against Worthing High left the girls only needing a win against Angmering to secure the medals and after a very hard fought game, the girls were defeated 28-34. We are still waiting for all results to be gathered to find out if the girls have taken top spot or second place. Team: Asha, Summer, Rosie, Billie, Saffron, Maisie, Amelia, Millie, and Lola.
U16 Football Tournament The U16 girls’ football team started their year off with the annual football tournament. Although they started their campaign a little rusty and lost 2-1 to The Littlehampton Academy, the girls fought back and beat a strong Worthing High. They finished the tournament with two draws to take 3rd place overall. This was a positive start to the year and we all look forward to the forthcoming league, where I am sure the girls will come back fighting.
Team: Cydney, Lauren, Jade-Ella, Grace, Summer and Tyla.
County Cricket Well done to Millie and Billie who have been selected for the Sussex U13 girls’ cricket squad. The girls have put in a lot of hard work and dedication over the past two years, coming into school at 7.30am to train twice a week and this has really paid off. Good luck to them for their season ahead with Sussex.
County Football Well done to Poppy who has been selected to represent Sussex Girls’ U14 football team. Poppy has worked extremely hard over the past few years, she was selected for Brighton and Hove Albion last year and has now gone on to represent her county. Good luck for the up and coming season Poppy.
activities and had the chance to listen to guest speakers from a variety of sporting industries. The day was very beneficial to all students and we hope it has inspired them to pursue their sports studies.
Sussex Girls’ U14 Football
Under 13 Girls’ Cricket Squad
Careers in Sport Twelve of our W6 PE students attended a ‘Careers in Sport’ day at Brighton University. The students experienced a range of alternative
Under 13 Girls’ Cricket Squad
December 2016 | SRWA News
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Year 7 Football The year 7 football team had an excellent start to their competitions at SRWA. After narrowly losing their first game 3-4 to Steyning, the team have grown in strength and many of the students have regularly attended training sessions. A win against Rydon (5-2) and a draw with Littlehampton (2-2) leaves us just Shoreham to play in the league. A recent 4-3 win against Steyning showed the progress of the team, and moved us through to the 3rd round of the Sussex Cup.
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Man of the Match winners:
I a m ver y o pt i mi stic w i th w hat t h e season h as l eft to h ol d .
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• • • •
Steyning – Luke Fuller Rydon – George Brigden Littlehampton – Kieran Bassett Steyning (Cup) – Louis Redfern
with a tough game against Steyning where the result did not go the way we hoped. However, the season from then on has taken a great turn around with victories against St. Andrews, Shoreham Academy, Angmering and Varndean College. Top scorer Callum Fuller has continued his rich vein of form from last year, already scoring five goals in four games. Theo Likaj, Joshua Brooks, Louie Nightingill and Jordan Gyll continue to demonstrate a fantastic attitude both on the pitch and around the Academy. The team still has a lot to look forward to for the rest of this season, they have reached the semi-finals in the league and the 3rd round of the County Cup. I am very optimistic with what the season has left to hold.
Top goal scorers:
Festival for Peace
Alfie Beck – 5 Luke Fuller – 3 Herbie Evans – 2 Ben Robinson - 2
At the recent Festival for Peace at Brighton University, our students received sports coaching from instructors from a range of nations across the world, and worked with students from schools all across East Sussex. Samuel Andrews even made the Meridian News!
Year 9 Football The boys started off the season
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Young Clean Brasstards Almost 40 musicians from the Academy and Lancing College were on stage at the Pavilion Theatre, Worthing, in an amazing event entitled Young Clean Brasstards and they all performed with Old Dirty Brasstards (Lancing College Associate Artists).
as performance technique, intonation, ensemble playing and sight reading whilst playing alongside the Old Dirty Brasstards line-up and having lots of fun.
This opportunity had been eagerly anticipated and student musicians from as young as 12 years performed with the Old Dirty Brasstards.
The Old Dirty Brasstards, London’s finest drum ‘n’ brass 10-piece band are Associate Artists at Lancing College. In October they presented a day of workshops for students of the Academy and Lancing College, which culminated in a public concert at the Pavilion Theatre, Worthing. The workshop focused on musical skills such December 2016 | SRWA News
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MANDELA NEWS Your Mandela Chapter Team
Amazing Mandelians
Mr E Kington, Chapter Head
In Mandela Chapter we believe that students should be celebrated as much as possible, and so far we have had some amazing students getting postcards for their work across the humanities subjects. If you work hard, life will
Mr S Lowe, Chapter Leader
Mrs Peach, Pastoral Support Officer 14 SRWA News | December 2016
give you benefits, and in Mandela if you get a postcard from each of the History, Geography and RE subjects, you have proven yourself to be an amazing Mandelian and will receive a particularly special prize at the end of the year.
Miss Gill’s year 8 class has also been producing phenomenal work at home including these cracking posters by Natalie Matthews and Connor Godley. Connor’s understanding of the Five Pillars of Islam was so great as a result of his independent study, that he actually taught this to his class the subsequent lesson! What a fantastic achievement! Higher up the school, the year 9 GCSE class has really impressed Ms Highmore with their recent approach and the year 10 and 11 groups continue to go from strength to strength. All Year 11 RPE students have received a revision timetable, so they should be really focussing on that in the build up to their mocks in January.
Year 7 History Trip to Dover Castle October 2016 The year 7 trip to Dover Castle, one of medieval England’s most important castles, was a great success. Students experienced the multiple time periods that are covered at Dover Castle with history stretching from Roman times to World War II. We visited the Great Tower built during the reign of Henry II and many students sat on Henry’s throne and admired the view from the keep roof. We also visited the Admiralty Lookout which was used to spot enemy planes and ships during WWI and where students got to practice Morse code. We experienced the sights, sounds and smells of the authentic underground hospital as we followed the dramatic simulation of a wounded WWII pilot, fighting for his life as he is rushed through to the operating theatre.
Students were enthralled and described the experience as amazing, scary and many said they would want to visit again. The students’ behaviour was overwhelmingly good and we are looking forward to organising another trip to Dover Castle.
The year 12 and 13 students have also been very impressive in their work ethic this term. Many of the students attended a fascinating trip to Chichester Cathedral recently where we debated some crucial aspects of philosophy and ethics, including euthanasia, human rights and the problem of evil.
Religion, Philosophy and Ethics There has been a lot going on in the Religion, Philosophy and Ethics (RPE) department so far this year with a whole host of teachers giving superb RPE lessons in year 7 and 8. Many students have excelled recently with their Reflection Diaries. Two year 8 students, Emily Ward and Rosanna Griffiths, made a superb piece of artwork featuring a Muslim lady in a full veil with the caption “just because you can’t see me it doesn’t mean I can’t see you staring at me” - a very powerful message. December 2016 | SRWA News
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IRONMAN Wales – Cymru 2016 by Louella Ashdown, Year 7 IRONMAN began in 1978 in Waikiki and is a super triathlon “Swim 2.4 miles. Bike 112 miles. Run 26.2 miles. Brag For The rest of your life” – quote from John Collins, IRONMAN Co-founder. It has become a world renowned international event taking place in many countries each year. Wales offers a challenging course that takes in views from stunning beaches to Iron Age forts. The event takes place in Pembrokeshire, around the coastal town of Tenby. Upon arrival on Friday 16th September, it was clear that something exciting was happening over the weekend as it was extremely busy in the town centre with both tourists and athletes, of which many were walking around with their bikes.
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My dad n ow wants to b ecom e a n I ronm an
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Saturday morning I went to register and collect my race gear, a T-shirt, race number 852 and a bag. I was looking forward to running in the IRONKIDS event, so I put it on straightaway. First up was my sister at 15:30 who ran well and came 1st in her group running 1000m! It was soon my turn at 16:45 and I went to the start. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity for my group to take up their position on the starting line, the horn was blown and we were off. I got off to a good start but there was some tough competition from the other boys and girls in the race. Once around the block leading, I realised I had peaked too soon and was unable to maintain my lead. Pushing on hard towards the finish I completed the 1500m in a good time, and I was awarded
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my medal by a Welsh International Rugby player and officially became an IRONKID. This was our day, but the big day was yet to come. On Sunday 18th September we were up at 06:00 to get a good spot to watch the Swim in Tenby’s North Beach. It was already packed and the atmosphere was electric with a big sound-system on the beach. At 07:10 after the Welsh national anthem, the professionals were off, soon followed by nearly 2000 athletes. The 2.4 mile swim was made to look easy and after just 49 minutes the professionals were running through the town to get going on the 112 mile bike ride. We cheered all athletes on and gave high fives, it was really exciting. At lunchtime the cyclists were again passing through the town having ridden half the distance and there were lots of cow bells and cheering, they didn’t even look tired. Before we knew it, the professionals were bearing left to start the final part, the
26.2 mile run. As the bikes returned and running shoes were put on, we cheered again and held up a poster saying “HIGH 5 FOR A POWER BOOST” which seemed to work really well. All this encouragement was tiring, and I couldn’t imagine what the athletes were going through. The first man completed the gruelling course, which is apparently one of the toughest in the world, in just over nine hours. After the pros, all the other participants filtered through until after midnight, IRONMAN after IRONMAN. Wow what a day! It was so inspiring and apparently my Dad now wants to become an IRONMAN. He wishes!
Year 10 Geography Field Trip On 21st and 22nd June, a group of year 10 geography students visited Birling Gap and Eastbourne to carry out their GCSE controlled assessment fieldwork worth
25% of their final grade. Students were able to collect a range of data to help them to answer their enquiry question; “are the coastal management strategies in place along the East Sussex coast appropriate?” Some examples of the data collection
included creating field sketches, mapping the land use of the area and completing longshore drift and groyne surveys. Students worked very well both independently and in groups throughout both days. Overall the field trips were a great success!
December 2016 | SRWA News
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NIGHTINGALE NEWS Your Nightingale Chapter Team
Miss C Urwin, Chapter Head
Miss C EarlNovell Chapter Leader
Mrs K Ramshaw, Pastoral Support Officer
Josh Wakely Hair Cut for Charity Before the summer holidays, Josh who is now a year 11 student, wanted to do something for charity, he said “as many of you know I have been growing my hair for a long time now but I want to do something for a child that can’t grow theirs, so I am going to donate mine.” Therefore on 21st July Josh had his hair cut and donated it to the ‘Little Princess Trust’ a charity that make hair into a wig for a child, be it for a boy or girl, who due to illness has no hair of their own.
Experimenting with ‘Touchable Bubbles’ We can all remember a time that a young child has been mesmerised by bubbles, I have a particular fond memory of this myself. Today a room full of teenagers had that same engagement;
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catching, touching and building touchable bubbles, as can be seen on Ray-Kaan (hand). Liam and Dylan are discussing the properties of the solution.
Key Stage 4 Year 11 have had their second set of Core Science mocks and those under target are working hard for a retake. They have been developing their revision strategies with new revision placemats, their revision guides and using online quizzes on Kerboodle to help them with their independent studies. They have also completed their Additional Science ISA for their coursework and have significantly improved their grades from the summer. Year 10 are also working hard on their assessments and know that if they don’t try their hardest, they will need to retake to improve.
Hair today...
Gone tomorrow.
December 2016 | SRWA News
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Tim Peake Competition Two groups of students from N9 and Science Club created an ‘imaginative and inspired’ video entry of themselves reciting a poem, inviting the first British Astronaut Tim Peake to West Sussex. As a result, two clips from the video were selected and have appeared in the actual film invitation sent to Tim Peake, the European Space Agency and local press! Fingers crossed that he accepts the invitation and that our students are able to attend the ceremony and meet the man himself. See the video for yourself at Youtube.
Key Stage 3 Science – A New Approach This year we have taken a different approach to teaching science at Key Stage 3. Both year 7 and 8 will study chemistry for term 1, biology for term 2 and physics for term 3. This will better prepare our students for year 9 when they fully experience separate teachers and lessons for each science. Year 7 have started the year studying with particles and atoms, elements and compounds and would have taken to summative assessment by the end of the term. They have conducted multiple experiments such as boiling chocolate, making compounds using Bunsen burners and separated many mixtures using a variety of techniques. Year 8 have started the year studying separating techniques, acids and alkalis and metal reactions. They have discovered
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multiple ways to separate compounds and mixtures and made their own indicators from vegetables! We are now looking at some exciting reactions with metals in water and oxygen. This year the year 7 and 8 students have had an extended project homework based on their current topic of study. The students have been given a range of tasks with different point tariffs which increase in difficulty the points value increases. The activities range from making a board game, a mind map and a comic book related to the topic, to making a model or cake or carrying out an investigation at home. The students have really engaged with the project and produced some high quality work. They have been creative and industrious in their work, which will be displayed in a ‘science fair’ type event at the end of term. Science club has also been running every Tuesday after school since the start of term. There are currently around 20 regular attendees from years 7 to 10. Activities so far have included making model volcanoes, methane and water rockets, balloon hovercraft, making bathbombs, DNA extraction, and making slime. Plans for next term are underway with a trip being planned to the University of Sussex outreach.
W6 Sixth Form Science Ricardo have been interviewing a group of our STEM students for the Gold Crest Award. Six of our KS5 students have been chosen to go on to work on a real Ricardo client project. The students will be working with a team at Ricardo to investigate and collect data for the project which will also count
towards their Gold Crest Award. Our new year 12s have settled in to W6 life and are already putting their stamp on what it means to be a W6 student. We have students that have been setting up peer coaching to students on their course to support their studies. We have also had students teaching students in our year 11 lessons. Peter and Jonty also came to our year 11 lessons to give them their advice and tips on how to revise. It has been great to see our sixth formers take an active role in supporting our younger students and build our learning community.
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Students have been c reati ve and i ndustri ous i n thei r work
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December 2016 | SRWA News
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DICKENS NEWS Your Dickens Chapter Team
Pigeon English
Mr H Scantlebury, Chapter Head
A coach full of GCSE English Literature students from both year 10 and 11 set off to the West End on a dark, cold, November evening for a stunning adaptation of their exam set text, Stephen Kelman’s Pigeon English. We drove through the Capital, passing Big Ben, The MI6 building, London Eye and The Houses of Parliament and alighted in the heart of the West End. The National Youth
Miss A Venn Chapter Leader
Mrs V Westgate, Pastoral Support Officer 22 SRWA News | December 2016
Theatre brought our text alive, with music and humour, beat boxing and acrobatics as well as stunning performances from the young cast. Pigeon English is a confronting and challenging novel which tells the story of life on some of South London’s toughest housing estates. Some of us needed a tissue for the ending, even though we knew what to expect. it was well worth the journey! Miss Sale
Careers Barclays LifeSkills Visit to the Houses of Parliament. By Mrs Morley
A
s part of the Barclays LifeSkills programme, we were asked to attend an event at the Houses of Parliament in recognition of the Academy using their programme. We were asked to bring two students and so Leah and Charlie, both in year 12 accompanied Mrs Morley. The aim of the event was to raise awareness of the LifeSkills programme within our own community, hence Tim Loughton MP was also asked to attend. The
students spoke to Mr Loughton regarding the programe and the support they had received from it. Karren Brady from ‘The Apprentice’ is an Ambassador for LifeSkills and was also present at the event and she spoke of her passion and commitment to the project. There were also several MP’s present. We contacted Mr Loughton and asked if we could have a tour of the Houses of Parliament and he was very obliging. He arranged for someone to give us a tour around the whole building, we sat in the House of Commons and House of Lords and witnessed debates in both.
“You’re hired” W6 Sixth Form students with Karren Brady
Tim Loughton MP with W6 students
December 2016 | SRWA News
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Performing Arts Tour 2016 Lake Garda, Italy
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n July this year, 41 performing arts students and five members of staff from the Academy travelled to Lake Garda in Italy for six days.
This year’s tour had a cultural and educational focus which allowed students the chance to not only explore places of interest but also develop their skills as musicians, dancers and actors. Whilst in Italy the students developed their performance abilities, creativity and confidence whilst developing core skills through a series of four tailormade workshops led by specialist tutors. The workshops took place at the Olympia Club, a centre for dance and fitness in the local area. Students worked hard in the weeks leading up to the trip to create and rehearse an hour long collaborative performance piece. The piece entitled ‘Un passo indietro nel tempo’ which translates as ‘Step Back in Time’, was billed as an entertaining and humorous physical theatre performance which explored some important moments in British history. The piece was performed to large audiences in two local towns; Lazise and Pastrengo. In addition to participating in workshops, the students were given the chance to enjoy being tourists and explored the sights of Venice and Verona. We took a water taxi to Venice, wandered the streets of Verona and visited the historic town of Sirmione. Our hosts at the Hotel Gardesano
were very accommodating and our stay was really comfortable. Students particularly enjoyed several opportunities to cool off in the pool! As with tradition on the final night of our trip, the year 13 students organised a ‘Tour Performance’ which allowed students to perform a song, dance, sketch or share a particular talent. We also bid farewell to the leavers from Years 11 and 13. This year’s Performing Arts Tour was a rousing success and the students were enthusiastic and willing to try new things throughout our time away. I am very proud of our students and am looking forward to launching
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‘Performing Arts Tour 2017’ in the near future…watch this space!
SRWA Summer Sounds Concert - 14th July 2016
T
his year’s Summer Sounds Concert was built on the tradition of the past three years. It also took us in an exciting new direction as we welcomed the Sompting Village Primary School Choir to perform with us for the first time. This year the SRWA Music Department arranged the timetable to enable a collaboration with the primary school to produce new music. We witnessed the fruits of this venture as their sweet voices filled the hall with beautiful new sounds. There was also a new emphasis on the young people of the community. Whilst the support of the adult groups was still there in the background, the young were in the foreground and it became a celebration of the energy and talent of our youth.
Throughout the evening, which was run by our talented year 12 performing arts students, the huge audience witnessed the wide range of talent that exists in the community in dance, drama and music. We heard from the winners of Woodard’s Got Talent ‘One Beat Silence’ and the range of musical groups showing the performance skills of our young people. We saw extracts from the wonderful drama production of ‘Going Postal’, new pieces created by our dancers, and a taste of what Italy was about to experience the following week, as a party of 40 students and staff set out on the Annual Performing Arts Tour to Lake Garda.
Petersfield. Amongst our special guests was Tim Loughton MP.
We had special adult guests; the community band, the community steel band and Sam and Rosie from Churcher’s College, December 2016 | SRWA News
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Performing Arts Going Postal by Terry Pratchett - July 2016
I
n the imagination of Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal, the world that we know is twisted and shaped into wonderful patterns. This adaptation of his novel is the tale of a con artist named Moist von Lipwig, who is tricked into taking the job as Postmaster General. This is a tale of treachery and betrayal, of the struggle between the modern and the ancient, of romance, revenge, haunted letters and angels. It is the talents of Miss Venn and her team working alongside the SRWA Youth Theatre Company, that takes the world into another fantastic turn. The beauty of the production stemmed from Pratchett’s adult notion
being placed in the hands of young people who clearly grasped what was being asked of them and rose to the challenge of the performance and its intellectual content. Never has three hours in the theatre flown by so swiftly.
the debuts of the next generation of talent. The set and costumes were all crafted in-house by our highly skilled teams and the paint effects alone were works of art. The costumes were outrageously brilliant The re a re and the music struck just The range of recent the right note – always no l i m i ts to performances tells us supporting the action w ha t t hi s that this is a team that and atmosphere on tea m ca n knows no fear or has stage. This was a delight do, t hey a re any boundaries. Going for all those who love Postal continued the theatre. The pace was a m a z i ng. inexorable rise in quality fast as the set changes and energy. became almost invisible. The ghost letters were an inspired The cast included veterans of many combination of theatrical vision and of our recent shows but also saw choreography.
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The twisted world of Terry Pratchet’s Going Postal
Russia 20th-27th June “You came here as guests – you are leaving as friends.”
O
n 20th June, an intrepid band of students set out on an expedition to build friendships with the students of School 27 in Kursk, Russia. The students, Bethany, Alexander, Lauren and Rosie were accompanied by Ms Barr and Mr Williams on a journey of discovery. The story started in November 2013 when a delegation from Russia visited the Academy. In April the following year, the two schools simultaneously opened art exhibitions of each other’s work linked via Skype. In November that year, a similar event saw a joint exhibition of photographs entitled ‘Home’. In September 2015, Mr Williams was a guest of the city of Kursk and the plan for a visit took shape.
are already talking of when we will return and have been changed by the experience, they have grown in confidence and stature and recognise that this was a very significant moment in their lives. When reflecting on their most important moment, they all referred to the commemoration of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. We were involved in the ceremony at 4.00am, holding lanterns in memory of the 27 million who died.
We were special guests at their Leavers’ Ceremony and it was a great honour to see how significant the part education and teachers play in the lives of young people in Kursk. We took part in an art workshop, at the centre of the banner that we created were the words ‘You came here as guests – you are leaving as friends’. We were all touched by the simplicity and truth of this sentiment. We hope that this is the first of many exchanges.
Our students have a different understanding of life in Russia and have made very firm friends. They SRWA News | December 2016 27
Our Incredi Borneo - Su
T
hroughout our lives we are often busy and don’t get enough time to appreciate all the good things that we have. During the summer holidays I was privileged to take eight brave students to Borneo, the largest island in Asia. This expedition was designed for students to gain an insight into the struggles some communities have to endure, and to help the villages and local people in whatever way we could. The students worked on a range of negotiated volunteer projects to help improve the standard of living in some of the rural communities. Our adventure first began in the village of Tinangol, the students were greeted by the ‘legend’ who was Kenny. Kenny was such an inspirational man who has very little,
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ible Expedition to ummer 2016 but who lives every minute of his life to the full. We worked closely with the local community to help build an outdoor classroom for the primary school, to run a Sports Day for the village and teach the local students. Batu Puteh was the next stop. Here the students really went back to basics, sleeping in the middle of the jungle with only a hammock to sleep in. They took part in a forest regeneration project to protect wildlife and the environment. They were also taken on a boat trip along the Kinabatangan River, where we witnessed some amazing wildlife. Before our stopover in Batu Puteh, we visited Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary, where students were fortunate enough to see numerous Orangutan and Sun Bears.
Bongkud is where we met Eve the Manager. She made our stay so enjoyable and made us feel very welcome within the camp and the community. Students worked extremely hard during their stay here, helping for six days with the concreting of areas of the market square and primary school. During our time here we also climbed Bongkud Hill which was 650 metres above sea level (not so much a hill!). The small isolated community of Mantanani remains one of the poorest in the region with high levels of unemployment. Many families have set up homestay initiatives to generate income for their families. Students helped with this by building new rooms within their homes. Although Mantanani is a beautiful tropical island, it suffers
greatly from rubbish. They have no waste systems, so everything that drifts onto the island has to be upcycled and created into something useful. Our eight students set out to help with this problem by carrying out a beach clean which greatly helped the local community. In the tropical waters off the beautiful Gaya Island, students ended their trip by taking part in a PADI Open Water Course. Over the three days they took part in numerous practical scuba tests, as well as passing a written exam. I was very proud of all of them. No one should have to live in some of the conditions that we witnessed. The students were a tremendous credit to the Academy. Through their determination, hard work, kindness and happiness, they were able to put smiles on everyone’s faces. They made a difference to an incredible country. I can honestly say that they have made this experience one of the best of my life and I thank them all greatly for this! Mr Matanle
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Trip to Au ACCOUNT OF TRIP BY SARAH JAMES-SHORT
W INTRODUCTION BY MS VIVIER
O
n 3rd November, Sarah James-Short, Megan Drake, both Year 12 students and I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, alongside 160 other young people and their educators from different colleges in the South of England. I found visiting Auschwitz grim, but it was important to be able to understand the relevance of
remembering and teaching about the holocaust today. The two most powerful memories from the visit for me, are probably the experience of standing inside a gas chamber. It is even more chilling now as I remember it than it felt at the time. The other, an enormous pile of human hair harvested from the victims of Auschwitz and woven into fabrics.
hen I was asked about my expectations for the Auschwitz visit, the first words that came to mind, like many others on the trip, were “bleak”, “harrowing” and “dark”. Yet we stepped out of the coach to much the opposite; crowds of people casually conversing and joking in front of a bright sky. This difference from my anticipation, immediately made me feel disconnected, but I tried to focus on the goal of rehumanisation that we discussed at the orientation seminar. This is seeing the victims of the holocaust as more than just statistics like the 6 million, or 1.2 million at Auschwitz alone, which is incredibly difficult to actually comprehend. Our time at Auschwitz was narrated by our tour guide providing information and commentary about the rooms, artefacts and photos, as well as asking thought provoking questions alongside our group educator Alex. Many things we had heard of, but seeing them brought a whole new wave of emotion, such as the room containing the shaven hair of 33,000 Jewish women who lost their lives at Auschwitz. Displayed in the room was also a carpet composed of this hair, an example of how the Nazis completely dehumanised Jews and saw them as their property to use. Later we visited a much quieter and less crowded Birkenau, and saw the well-known railway track that ran under the arch and through the camp. This is where my
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uschwitz-Birkenau expectations of “bleak, dark and harrowing” were truly met. Standing at the entrance, you cannot see to the other end of the camp, and the size really makes you face the horrors that took place here in a completely different way. There we saw destroyed gas chambers (blown up by the Nazis in an attempt to eradicate all evidence of their crimes) barracks and store rooms. I could describe them to you, but there is no real way to convey how you feel when you’re there, seeing them and standing in the place where so much happened. In Canada 2, a former store room situated at the end of the camp in the forest, we saw photographs that the Jewish people had brought with them to the camp (amongst their other belongings expecting to be resettled). Besides the thousands of photographs of lovers, families, children and friends were some of the stories of the people in them.
Most of those stories ended at Auschwitz. It’s in this room, that you realise, if you haven’t already, the importance of rehumanising those who lost their lives at the place you’re stood - the victims are not just numbers and statistics, they’re 1.2 million individual people with dreams and lives and stories that were cut so wrongly short, and who need to be remembered as such. To end our visit, we held a short memorial service, reading poetry and diaries written by victims who both died in and survived the holocaust. The memorial was led by Rabbi Garson, who gave insights and shared more stories that will always remain with all of us there. Finally, we each lit a candle and placed it on the railway tracks as a symbol of our remembrance, feeling overwhelmed by emotion but also driven to share our experiences and the importance of rehumanisation.
Megan Drake’s story of Holocuast survivor, Steven Frank, can be viewed on the Acacemy website newsfeed.
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