Tux topics spring 2014

Better to be different?

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TuxfordTopics The official termly newsletter of Tuxford Academy

Issue No. 76

Spring Term 2014

PARS Points – A Case Study Every student at Tuxford knows what a PARS point is - and a sanction too. It matters because our PARS Reward Scheme has been running successfully at the Academy for over two years. In a nut shell, points are good and red sanctions (which deduct points from the total) are not! The scheme operates a little like loyalty cards at supermarkets.

Every time a student is noticed – whether for positive accomplishment or for negative reasons – points are awarded or deducted.

For the individual student the system can lead to rewards; for the school it provides a way of measuring the attitude, conscientiousness and achievement of all students.

PARS points are an innovative updating of the traditional pastoral work of the school.

It is a method of raising self-esteem, motivating hard work and setting targets.

To some extent it is also a useful self-review aide to our teachers. They wish to encourage students in their classes and now they can check to see that they are rewarding far more than they are sanctioning – which is the ideal classroom management model.

The beauty of the PARS system is that it can be tailored to every student – whatever ability and behaviour. Points can be allocated for all sorts of positive behaviour such as good manners, leadership skills or volunteering to help other students. All teachers and support staff are encouraged to allocate PARS points, so there is plenty of opportunity for a student to gain points even if some teachers are less generous than others!

So far we have outlined how the system works in theory, but we believe that readers would also be interested in how it works in practice. We have chosen to focus on one week’s recording to see what it reveals. The week – in January - was chosen at random and the level of recording was found to be lower than normal.

The top achievers for the week were Tamzin Aldridge, Eden Pearcey, and Joe Bowes – all of Year 8. They all achieved 12 PARS points.

Joe Bowes, Tamzin Aldridge and Eden Pearcey They were told of their high totals by their form tutors and letters were sent home to tell their parents of their achievement that week. This meant that they received congratulations and praise a minimum of two times.

“My mum said that it was brilliant,” said Tamzin. “She encouraged me to keep going so that I could get a Gold Award at the end of the year.”

Eden is also aiming for a Gold Award at the end of the year; after missing out by just 10 points last year when she achieved a Silver certificate. She was awarded 5 of her PARS points during the week for Maths alone and she believes that gaining PARS points for effort has helped her raise her Maths level this year.

Miss Barlow, the girls’ Maths teacher said of their achievement: “Tamzin and Eden are both lovely, hardworking students. They get many points through hard work in lessons.

They collect stamps in their book for good work and when they get five stamps they get a faculty reward which is worth 5 PARS points. Good behaviour too will add points.”

girls are excellent role models for other students – hardworking, always polite and focused.”

Joe Bowes has already received a Bronze certificate - mostly for his excellent behaviour and sporting ability. Joe feels that working hard to get PARS points has really helped to motivate him in class: “It makes me feel better when I get points, which helps my confidence. It’s also nice when your teacher tells you in class.”

Miss Leathem-Pugh, Head of Beech College, feels that the reaction of the three students interviewed is typical. “Students respond extremely well to positive words and actions.

Every term Beech College rewards students able to cross PARS points thresholds in three categories. They receive certificates and monetary rewards for their efforts. We also reward those who have received no sanctions. At the end of the year if enough points are achieved the students receive Bronze, Silver, Gold or Diamond Awards.”

Mr Marsh, their ICT teacher, agreed that “Both

Mrs Ashley, the school’s Student Welfare Officer, believes that most parents are keen to see how well their child has worked or behaved. “Points can be a good talking point over the dinner table,” she explained.

from students. From this has emerged a clear need for establishing social areas and more lunchtime activities. In response to the feedback suggestions, Post 16 students

have been recruited to run new ‘Lunch & Learn’ clubs - and the first of these was launched earlier this month. We will watch their progress with interest.

Lunchtime pilot study Following the trial of splitting Friday lunch times for younger and older students (see last edition) our Principal Designate Mr Dave Cotton received extensive feedback

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George Medal winner presents GCSE Awards 2013 Renowned classroom heroine, Lisa Potts, survivor of an horrific machete attack in 1996, was guest of honour at this year’s Celebration of Achievement Evening on Thursday 28 November. She told the assembled students, parents and staff of the day a man with severe paranoid schizophrenia entered her classroom at St Luke’s Primary School in Wolverhampton.

Her arm was almost severed in the attack and she also suffered severe cuts to her head, back, and other arm, but she would not desert her pupils. Four of the young people were injured, but many more would have been without Lisa’s bravery. She was aged just 21 at the time.

In 1997, the Queen presented Lisa with the George Medal for saving the children’s lives despite being badly injured. Her attacker was sent to a secure mental hospital indefinitely, and remains there more than a decade after the crimes. Lisa is now training to be a nurse, but still makes time to speak about the events to audiences throughout the country. It is a motivational story of determination because it took years for Lisa to recover from severe scarring, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Many of the audience members at Tuxford were really touched by her story and she seemed genuinely pleased to be back in a school with young people all around. She listened intently as Mr Geoff Lloyd, Tuxford

Lisa Potts, third from left, with (l-r) Georgia Spring, Jade Rushby and Matthew Tazzyman Principal, addressed the assembled students: “Some of you have made my hair go greyer, but it has been a pleasure to work with you in my role as headteacher. You are a remarkable group of young people who should take pride in your achievements and go forward with the determination to utilise fully your many talents.“ Mr Lloyd was pleased to see so many parents at the event. He praised the students for their success because in 2013 96% of candidates achieved 5 or more A* to C grades and 74.5 % achieved 5 or more A* to C grades including English and

maths. He also revealed another statistic that gave him immense satisfaction: “At the beginning of November only one student of your Year wasn’t in education, training or employment and hopefully by now he too has moved forward.”

He invited the young people to remember their school motto ‘ExcelIence through Teamwork’. He refers to it daily because it conveys a truth. He believed that each of them had been crucial members of a number of high performing teams whilst in the school – whether forms, colleges, sporting endeavours or exam classes.

Coming your way: Thunks!

The latest classroom learning aid to be promoted across the school is the thunk.

We anticipate that parents will hear the term used in conversation by their offspring so an explanation will probably be appreciated.

Thunks are the invention of author Ian Gilbert, but they have now taken on a life of their own with several other people promoting their use to develop students’ abstract thinking and vocabulary.

A thunk is described as “a beguiling

question about everyday things that stops you in your tracks and helps you to look at the world in a whole new light.” We

reproduce two examples on this page.

There are no right or wrong answers, but we are looking for well-considered responses.

Students need to engage with the abstract idea behind each rather than dismiss it.

They need to justify their points of view and to express their views clearly.

The resulting discussions should be good fun.

Parents might like to try out the examples at home. Thunks could be useful distractions on long car journeys.

They could also become the biggest brain teasing idea since Sudoku and we might all be doing them soon!

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Diversity theme for Creative Arts event Tuxford students prepared and performed a thoughtful and eye-catching contribution to the 2013 DALP Creative Arts Festival last term. The company donned masks at one point to hide their individuality and to lose their identity as part of distinct ethnic groups. It could almost have been the story of the end of apartheid told through the conventions of ancient Greek theatre. The effect was certainly stunning so it just had to be our cover photo this term.

Performers, parents and staff watched a varied programme of drama, music, cheerleading and singing at the Majestic Theatre, Retford on 10 December. All six academies in the DALP group offered interpretations of ‘Diversity’ so the full age range of students (from age 7 to 18) was represented. A group of drummers also represented our school and some of our singers performed as part of a multi school choir.

year – if that’s possible!” he commented.

Mr Pickering, Executive Head of DALP closed the performance by thanking everyone. “I think this afternoon’s performance was even better than last

As a reward arranged for academies to watch ‘Peter

for those involved, DALP all performers from the 6 travel in to Nottingham to Pan’ at the Theatre Royal

starring ex-Baywatch actor David Hasselhoff and comedian Sue Pollard.

A Year 6 pupil from Tuxford Primary told us how much she enjoyed the opportunity to see a panto: “It was brilliant – I loved it!”

Creative Arts Showcase: a governor’s experience Tuxford Academy’s dedicated team of governors has an important monitoring role. Collectively they inform, question, advise and encourage managers and staff, but individually they willingly share their time and expertise to attend many meetings and events every term. One of the team, Margaret Blore, shared with us her impressions of the Arts Faculty’s annual show on 11th December: This indeed was an evening full of creativity and expression! The audience experienced humour, extreme drama, really pleasurable vocals and instrumental pieces as well as having an opportunity to “sing along” with Year 8 for ‘I wish it could be Christmas every day’.

Whilst waiting to go into the hall, visitors were invited to view displays of artwork.

For me it was particularly fascinating to see the range of interpretations and responses to a given brief - based on the work of recognised war artists. Some exceptional artistic talent gave us a remarkable insight into all aspects of war and diverse styles.

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War and conflict have been used as a stimulus for work in drama too, which led to some students’ powerful presentations on the impact of war. There were equally intense presentations by Year 10 drama students based on the Hillsborough Disaster.

These themes might seem to some to be very heavy but I know that it is necessary to use really extreme situations and issues in order for young people to present strong emotional drama. They certainly did that.

In contrast we experienced a really original presentation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by a cast which included several potential stars of the future. The same was true of the extracts from ‘Grease’ which were full of movement.

The songs we all know were delivered with real skill and obvious enthusiasm.

Musical pieces included a brother duo (guitar and voice) with a twist on ‘Amazing Grace’. Another group gave their rendition of Rod Stewart’s ‘Handbags & Glad Rags’.

We heard the beautiful guitar and voice piece which had been part of the recent Remembrance Day Services at Tuxford

Academy. Two Year 11 performances – a vocal composition and a drums and percussion piece - were being prepared for examination. The same was true for a dance which was actually being assessed on the evening. (I recognised the moves as being currently popular, but I will not venture to give the name!!).

A most pleasing aspect of the entire programme was the inclusiveness of the items. The students involved were not just the most talented but they represented the work that all students are doing as part of their normal curriculum. The occasion gave them the opportunity to go that little bit further and present something for families and friends – a chance to give such pleasure to the audience and from which the students gain satisfaction, pride and enjoyment too.

Sincere thanks to the Creative Arts Faculty staff for their huge investment of time and effort in the work with their students throughout the year. This was excellent and thank you for a most enjoyable evening.

“I would regret not trying,” says Beth It takes a huge amount of self belief to inspire sixth formers to compete for places at medical school. There are about 8,000 university places for aspiring doctors, but there will be 82,000 applicants this year. (This is an indicative approximation, not the actual figures). Academic excellence is the shared characteristic of all these hopeful young people so on its own it is not sufficient to secure a place. Admissions tutors are looking for the other qualities in candidates that make them stand out from the rest.

Beth Platford is one of the Tuxford students who will be applying this year. If places were awarded for personality, she would gain one easily because she is bright, well-informed, enthusiastic and determined. However, she knows it is not as simple as that, so she has been trying to gain some relevant experience. She has already had a work placement with a vascular surgeon and been in the operating theatre with him to watch stomach surgery. She is keen to work as a volunteer in a hospital, but can’t do so until she is 17. “This is a disadvantage of a March birthday,” she told us. “Other candidates will

be able to log more months of volunteering.”

Beth would like to start a Medical Society in school to give students the opportunity to prepare applications, practise interviews, share latest research news and to discuss ethical issues. Local doctors could be invited to work with the group. In some schools, P16 tutor groupings are career related – so all potential doctors, nurses, radiographers, dentists, midwives, etc are placed in the same form. “Every tutor period would be a meeting of the Medical Society then!” she suggested.

In early December, Beth was one of the Tuxford students who attended the Medlink Conference at Nottingham University. For five days she mixed with over a thousand other young people wishing to become doctors.

“Most were from private schools or grammar schools,” she observed. “They all had impressive exam grades, but were all friendly and ‘switched on’. One girl, attending from Hong Kong with 14 A* GCSEs, was very nice.

None of them was socially awkward or geekish as you might expect.” Speakers included Lord Robert Winston and Sir Bruce Keogh.

Tuxford delegates found the conference very useful. It provided many excellent insights into medicine, the choice of courses offered by different universities and how to succeed in applying. It is a well-established annual event so younger students might like to look at the organisers’ website: www.medlink-uk. net. There is much useful information there of other events and opportunities as well as the sharing of undergraduates’ experiences on degree courses throughout the country. An alternative organisation offering similar help is: www.getintomedicalschool.org.

All the staff at Tuxford are very impressed by Beth’s ambition and determination. We all hope that she succeeds in her bid to work in medicine. We will be following her progress with interest.

The student most likely to…

At the Celebration of Achievement Evening in November the Head of Ash College, Mr Rick Macpherson, told the audience that one of his students receiving an award had the qualities and skills to change the world. The student he praised so memorably that night is Yasmin Odabashy, now in Y12. She agreed to be interviewed.

Yasmin is quietly spoken yet articulate and strongly motivated. She may have moments of self doubt, but generally is very confident, composed and ready to face any challenge. She came to Tuxford Academy at the end of Y10, midway through her GCSE courses, which is not a good time to move schools as each will offer different syllabuses from different exam boards.

Faced with the prospect of working really hard to adapt to her new courses Yasmin didn’t complain, she simply got on with it.

She took extra lessons and worked with the learning mentors to prepare for a series of missed controlled tests and modular exams in the sciences, maths and history at the same time that she and her classmates were covering new topics. Yasmin’s ability, energy and determination can be judged by her results: seven A* and 4 A grades.

Not content with her exam tally so far, Yasmin hopes to take GCSE Chinese Mandarin next year. She became interested in the language because she had a Chinese friend at her previous school in north London. Having moved, she now attends Nottingham Chinese School on Saturdays. She loves languages anyway and enjoys them in the way that other people enjoy playing music.

She is fluent in Arabic as well as English as both languages are spoken at home and she is currently putting her knowledge of Arabic to good use by helping to prepare another Tuxford student to take GCSE in the subject.

As she eventually wants to become a doctor Yasmin is trying to gain as much relevant experience as possible to assist her application. She hasn’t decided which branch of medicine to pursue but finds both psychiatry and oncology interesting.

Typically well-organised and proactive, she is speaking to doctors to arrange her own programme of observations and placements. In the summer she hopes to spend two weeks in the Czech Republic on a Gap Medics Placement that should prepare her for university application. (See www.gapmedics.co.uk for more details).

Beth (left) and Yasmin Yasmin has spent time researching eating disorders as part of her Extended Project coursework. She has also started a blog and works in Newark’s Save the Children charity shop once a week. All of these could be valuable experience in support of her university place. However she still has enough energy left for piano lessons which she started last year and she plays badminton too when she has the opportunity.

By now our more imaginative readers are probably feeling exhausted by thinking of Yasmin’s commitments. However she appears to be tireless - and is thriving on the many challenges she has set herself. Anyone showing half of Yasmin’s enthusiasm, drive and commitment deserves to do well in the future.

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Celebrity vocal coach delivers Tuxford master class Tuxford Head of Music Jeff Evason was pleased with Anna’s visit: “She managed to get a level of performance from them that even they were not aware they had in them. The look on these students’ faces told you everything you needed to know about how privileged they felt to be part of something so special.”

In November, voice coach and choir director Anna Flannagan visited school to work with selected students. She has directed choirs at the BBC proms but her larger than life personality was well received and the students learned much. In the morning she worked with younger students to improve their singing in harmony. They worked on a song by Coldplay and one from the musical Matilda. In the afternoon she worked individually with Y10 students Amy Chambers, Loucas Georgiou and Abi Ragsdale.

Amy told us that Anna had spent an hour with her and they had worked on vocal warm

ups, improving Amy’s ability to reach high notes and to increase volume without hurting her voice. Amy’s chosen song was from Les Miserables and she told us, “When I sang it after the help it definitely sounded much better.” She still uses the warm up exercises to help sustain notes.

Loucas sang an Adele song. He worked with Anna on getting more sincerity and expression into his voice. The guidance was clearly effective because Amy admitted that when Loucas sang his song through for the final time at the end of the session it was so powerful that it made her cry!

For Amy music is more than an academic subject because she would like to work in the West End one day. She has sung since primary school and has performed in four shows in Retford at the Majestic Theatre.

She is now gaining more experience through LATA (Lincoln Academy of Theatre Arts) and she used to perform as a backing singer for a Take That tribute band.

Out of school Loucas is a member of MOB – the operatic society in Retford. At the time of writing he was appearing in Grease as Eugene, one of the students.

He would like to make music his career – either as performer or music teacher.

He agreed that the coaching session had been useful: “Anna boosted my confidence and showed me that I could achieve something with my voice.”

Frank Harris lived on the Marnham Road side. All three of them took proprietorial pride in the school.

In January long-serving staff were saddened by the news that former Tuxford School caretaker Frank Harris had died at the age of 81. He had held the position from April 1982 until September 1997 when he retired and for most of that time he lived on site in the caretaker’s bungalow at the top of the drive.

Frank was Scottish, fond of a chat with anyone who would listen and highly opinionated. He had been a lorry driver for several years and he approached life in the same way that he drove a truck: steadily and unhurriedly. He was scornful of drivers who have always got to speed and overtake but who gain little distance advantage for all their effort and fretting. Frank also had a keen sense of humour and a ready chuckle.

He liked to play innocent practical jokes on people and his happy squad of cleaning ladies would frequently fill the air with raucous laughter when in conversation with him. They could be heard to exclaim, “You should have heard what he said to me!”

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Frank’s faithful companion was Harvey, his alsatian dog. At night they would patrol the school field on the lookout for intruders. If they encountered someone taking a shortcut Frank was not frightened of confronting the interloper even if county council managers disapproved of him doing so. The school was very well protected in those days before cctv, a 24 hour control centre and infra-red sensors: Frank lived on the Landa Grove side of the site, whilst Dave and Mollie Whitehead

The caretaker’s bungalow became famous for its floral display during Frank’s years there. In September 1990 the local papers carried a news item about Frank’s latest blooms and he told the Newark Advertiser that several people visited the Landa Grove entrance each year to view his flowers. During the previous year someone had brought his grandmother from Sheffield to enjoy the colourful display. The Advertiser story focused on how Frank used many unlikely objects as improvised flower pots – including discarded utensils from the two school kitchens.

The school has lost another of its characters in the passing of Frank Harris. Just like headteacher Keith Atkinson he was a presence in the school throughout the day – joking with colleagues and students alike. He wasn’t a teacher, but he contributed to the Tuxford culture that lives on today. His place in the school’s history is assured.

LH&A Club demonstrates the meaning of ‘extra-curricular’ School clubs can be social, interest or sport focused. They can be competitive, skill-based or talk-centred. The main point of them is that they exist outside the taught curriculum, but the best of them don’t lose sight of the fact they are for young people and in a school.

They can be educational without being yet another reminder of exams and testing.

The school’s Local Heritage and Archaeology Club is proving to be very successful because it offers a varied programme of activities, it achieves what it sets out to achieve and it is fun.

Below is a round-up of club events this year.

Trip - to Creswell Crags The club visited Robin Hood’s Cave at Creswell Crags on Wednesday 20th November. The cave was occupied by humans during the last ice age. Members had a chance to handle some replica artefacts as well as an actual flint hand axe.

They discovered that creating a Palaeolithic leather bag would begin with chewing on the leather and soaking it in urine. The students enjoyed learning about this lovely method!

The genuine Stone Age flint hand axe was the students’ favourite artefact - along with a large lump of flint that could be used to create several tools.

The group learnt several amazing facts whilst on the tour. Their favourites were: that there used to be a land bridge between Britain and France before sea levels rose, that in the right conditions, with constant temperature and humidity, bodies can be mummified (two ancient rats having been found at Creswell); that cave dwellers spent a lot of time in the dark and experienced short days in winter months.

Illustrated Talk and Demonstration by visiting speaker - WWII weapons Glyn Hopkins, an expert on WWII and regular re-enactor of battles, came to talk to the club on Monday 25th November. He brought a selection of mostly Russian, German and American equipment. including several weapons.

Members were amazed that Russian children, similar in age to them would have been recruited to fight in the Soviet Army. They enjoyed learning about women snipers in the Russian army, the range of a Russian sniper rifle (up to 800m) and how the periscope was used by snipers in urban locations such as

Stalingrad. They were surprised that tank tracks actually damage road surfaces.

Research activity Everyone has been very busy over the last year creating leaflets on local history. A total of 26 are in the series now. Two of the leaflets were researched independently by Rebecca Hinchcliffe of Year 11 and staff members Dr Graham Curry, Dr Carl Phillips and Mr Matt Hollingworth have researched and written their own leaflets too. The leaflets cover a range of subjects within the local catchment area and beyond. Some of the leaflets are available to read on the Tuxford Academy website and hard copies can be found at Main Reception.

Our aim is to collect the leaflets into a book to be published later in the year. We are grateful to Mrs Nicola Manning of the school’s marketing team for raising funding from sponsorship.

Writing and publishing activities – leaflets Current titles in the leaflet series are: 1. Education Through Time: Read’s Grammar School by Rebecca Hinchcliffe, Year 11.

2. The Lock Up by Daisy Stringfellow and Elizabeth Szarelis, Year 8.

3. The Rebel Stone by Rebecca Hinchcliffe, Year 11 and Hannah Barnett, Year 8.

4. Funny Stories from Tuxford by Michael

Hopkins, Year 10 and Alice Hopkins, Year 8.

5. Welbeck Abbey and the Duke of Portland

by Georgia Smithson, Year 7 Daisy Stringfellow and Elizabeth Szarelis, Year 8.

6. Clumber House and the Duke of Newcastle by Billy Green, Year 8.

7. The Local Civilian Population at War

by Ethan Cooper, Wilfred Wright and Billy Green, Year 8.

8. Local Air Crashes by Wilfred Wright and Ethan Cooper, Year 8.

9. Local Warfare: The Military by Louise Berry, Year 7, Daisy Stringfellow and Alice Hopkins, Year 8.

10. St. Nicholas Tuxford by Georgia Smithson, Year 7 and Rebecca Hinchcliffe, Year 11.

11. Local Railways: Tuxford by Daisy Stringfellow and Elizabeth Szarelis, Year 8.

12. Local Heroes: Major Harry Dunstan by Billy Green, Year 8.

13. Thoresby Hall, the Duke of Kingston and Earl Manvers by Rebecca Hinchcliffe, Year 11.

14. All Saints Church: West Markham by Elizabeth Szarelis and Daisy Stringfellow, Year 8.

15. Local Windmills by Billy Green, Year 8 and Louise Berry, Year 7.

16. All Saints Church, Collingham by Wilfred Wright and Billy Green, Year 8.

17. Local Heroes: Archibald Colton by Beth Platford Year 12.

18. Lady White Charity and the White Family in Tuxford by Ethan Cooper and Ashleigh Tomlinson, Year 8.

19. St. Michael’s Church: Laxton by Louise Berry, Year 7 Ashleigh Tomlinson and Billy Green, Year 8 (being proof read currently).

20. Tuxford Tunnels by Tommy Barker and Ben Galbraith, Year 7 (being proof read currently).

21. Worksop Manor and The Duke of Norfolk written by Rebecca Hinchcliffe, Year 11 (being proof read currently).

22. The Trent by Wilfred Wright, Year 8, Tommy Barker and Ben Galbraith, Year 7 (being proof read currently).

23. Retford Oddities by Elizabeth Szarelis and Daisy Stringfellow, Year 8 (being written at the moment).

24. Local Railways: Newark-on-Trent by Dr Carl Phillips (being written at the moment).

25. Local Railways: Retford by Matt Hollingworth (being written at the moment).

26. Local Heroes: Fred Curry by Dr Graham Curry (being proof read at the moment).

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Independent Careers Advice

Historic panoramic view

The way that careers advice is given in schools has changed in recent years.

In place of centrally f u n d e d agency staff visiting (from Connexions) schools must now employ someone to be based in school.

However, they have to ensure that the advice is impartial – and not favouring courses offered on site.

Tuxford Academy’s Impartial Careers Adviser is Ms Maggi Pugh (pictured here). She works in school on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week from her office in Trent Garden. Students don’t have to wait to be invited for a chat; they can self-refer for appointments.

It is essential that students think about their futures. They need to consider all their options and taking advantage of expert assistance can only help. Maggi will make the task of finding information much easier.

Help can also be sought directly from the National Careers Service on 0800 100 900. (This number is free from BT network but may not be free from a mobile).

On 14 November 2013 an historic photograph was taken of all staff and students present. In fact a series of high resolution photos was taken and these have been stitched together by the photographer to create an image that is eight feet in length! Pictured with a copy of the finished panorama are Tuxford Principal Geoff Lloyd (whose idea it was) and School Archivist Terry White (who arranged the photo session and the printing).

Other schools can view images of their assembled students down the decades, but until now no photo of the whole school population has been commissioned at Tuxford in the fifty five years since the foundation.

“I am tremendously proud of the school we have at Tuxford today,” Mr Lloyd told us. “I felt that we should record this moment in time and this group of staff and students because together we have built something remarkable.”

Mrs Brown establishes French connection Salut! from French pen pals

At the beginning of the academic year teaching assistant Mrs M. Brown created a valuable (and ongoing) opportunity for her Year 8 students to practise their French. She approached a lower school in the south of France to see whether their students could exchange written work with ours. Her French contact thought it was a brilliant idea – and if all goes to plan they hope the students will also speak to each other in the near future via Skype. Collège Jean Vilar in Saint-Gilles is a short distance from Nîmes and Arles in the Camargue region.

Year numbering in French schools counts down, rather than up as in this country, so our Year 8 are making friends with Year 5. Students across the Channel attend colleges until they

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Supervisors like new uniform

Team members pictured seem very pleased with the new uniform that they helped to choose. It is boldly patterned and more eye-catching than its rather dull predecessor.

The supervisors have a very important role in school to ensure that students are fed and looked after at lunchtime so that they can return to lessons refreshed. They maintain a calm ‘climate for learning’ throughout the lunch break to enable students to focus on their work in the afternoons.

These are no empty words from the Principal because he paid for the photo session out of his own pocket and he presented each of his colleagues with a copy of the print.

London photographer Edward Richard Miller was commissioned to record the event. His previous commissions have included covering the London Olympics and Sheffield University graduations. “I was

very impressed by his specialist camera equipment and by his wizardry with photo editing software,” commented Mr White.

“He was clearly the right man for the job.”

The school has a few copies of the photo available to purchase if any parents are interested. It would be provided unframed as a rolled up print. It costs £15 and cheques should be made payable to Tuxford Academy.

are 15 and then they move on to lycées – at the end of their Year 3 – so there should be opportunity to make some lasting friendships before the school link is broken.

The first joint project was coordinated in October when the students had to design and

The current supervisor team is small but members are helped by a large number of paid sixth form assistants. However the team has a vacancy at present if any readers are interested. We are looking for someone who is conscientious and reliable with some time available in the middle of the day. It is an ideal way to earn a little pocket money and to maintain an employment record whilst your children and home are your main focus. You will need to be patient and calm and to enjoy working with young people. DBS clearance will be required.

Contact Mrs Sandy Dodd at the school if you are interested.

write a leaflet introducing themselves – a little like a profile for a pen pal application. Some of the resulting work from both sets of students is displayed in the modern languages corridor.

It reveals that our French friends are already very fond of British and American culture. One of the Saint-Gilles boys, Jules, revealed that his favourite books are the Harry Potter series and his favourite film is ‘The Hunger Games’.

One of the girls, Lisa, listens to Ellie Goulding, loves using her iPod and watches the Disney Channel.

Well done to Mrs Brown for setting up the contact – and let’s hope that some real friendships grow from the contact (not to mention better international understanding too!)

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Student

Viewpoint

Sixth form reflections For his second exploration of current student opinion Tuxford Topics editor Terry White interviewed three Year 13 students to hear their thoughts on the school as they approach the end of their time here. Discussion was wide-ranging, but the views expressed were necessarily selective and brief. Nevertheless, Josh Gillott, Matthew Reynolds and Charlotte Strawson offer some interesting insights.

Looking back to when it all started, their transition from primary school, they now feel that they were more anxious than they would have admitted at the time. Matthew was terrified of being put in a form with people he didn’t know. Josh had to carry a school plan with him at all times as he didn’t want to get lost or look foolish. For Charlotte the whole experience was simply “so scary.”

The structured timetable and lessons at set times with specialist teachers seemed very professional and grown up compared to primary school. First impressions of the teachers were that they were clearly experts and knew their subjects well.

When asked their opinion of the headteacher they were all complimentary, but they focused on character rather than management.

“Mr Lloyd is always so happy,” Charlotte remarked. Matthew agreed, “He is such a nice guy.” Even Josh – the only one to mention education in his assessment – concentrated on a relatively trivial memory: “He took one of my Maths lessons once. That was fun!” They knew their reactions would be quoted, so perhaps they could be on their guard, but the respect seemed to be genuine. They gave the impression that they weren’t critical because they felt that the school is well run at the top.

Josh singled out another senior staff member for praise: “Mr Simpson is a brilliant leader – he listens.” However there could be a hidden criticism here. If Mr Simpson’s listening skills are so remarkable does this mean that other staff don’t listen? Josh can certainly cite one occasion when his opinion didn’t seem to count: “I wrote a letter objecting to

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Students (l-r): Josh, Matthew and Charlotte the change to vertical tutor groups. I don’t remember to whom I wrote. I didn’t get a reply.” Fortunately this early experience of his views apparently being disregarded has not put him off exercising his right to speak out; he has recently written another letter, this time outlining his objections to the introduction of a dress code in the sixth form. He is confident that he will receive a reply this time.

The reason that Josh has some reservations about organising tutor groups vertically is that he fears that having just three other people from the same year to raise issues in tutorials could lead to greater isolation. “My best friendships now were established in Year 7,” he remembered. Charlotte didn’t agree. She felt that tutor groups were not that important in finding kindred spirits. “My friendships were formed in lessons – and I found the Spanish / German option having a bigger impact.”

Josh agreed that the second language option choice decided who they mixed with.

The trio’s view of student voice was that in the past it had not been as effective as it could be. Josh put it more forcefully: “Student Forum was useless in lower school because Y7 come up with loads of ideas that can never happen.” He contrasted that to his experience now: “Sixth form requests are taken seriously because they are realistic.”

Asked what made the difference in spurring them on to exam success they found target grades useful. However Josh didn’t feel that competitiveness helped: “I was not motivated by a desire to beat competitors,” he recalled.

Charlotte suggested that giving up leisure isn’t the answer either: “Some people work every minute, but I feel it is important to take time for yourself.” They agreed that now, in hindsight, they found homework helpful. The levels were manageable and doing the work

helped with learning.

Matthew was not very impressed by his limited personal experience of the help offered to students who struggle with academic targets: “A friend of mine couldn’t cope with school and I feel that he didn’t receive much support or sympathy.” It was a single example, but it made an impact on him. On the related subject of seeking support Josh said he always found the inclusion corridor intimidating. Accessing services such as counselling would be impossible because of the location.

Two of the three Y13 students had thought of teaching as a career – but both Matthew and Charlotte are grateful that work experience revealed the reality of the job. They would have liked more careers advice – and information on how courses link to careers.

Of course this concern has been addressed whilst they have been in the sixth form by the employment of an independent adviser.

Josh would like more mentoring advice from former students who have gone to university.

He suggested that one of the curriculum days for sixth formers could be devoted to higher education.

The interview couldn’t be concluded without asking about school meals – a traditional cause of controversy. Charlotte was frankly annoyed that sixth form catering offered little encouragement to eat healthily. “It’s chips and chicken nuggets every day!” she exclaimed. Matthew was more impressed: “The new sandwiches are good quality – but expensive.”

Apart from a few gripes the three seemed content with what Tuxford had offered them.

All three hope to progress to university and they are grateful for their time in the school.

Francesca’s dance talent recognised The Northern Ballet’s Academy, based in Leeds, aims to identify and train the ballet company’s next generation of dancers. Unlike the Royal Ballet School in London that does similar work, it offers training to part time students during evenings and weekends so competition for entry is fierce. Tuxford student Francesca Brioschi (aged 13) did extremely well to be accepted on the four year course after she impressed NBA assessors during a series of auditions in Leeds last Easter. In fact she was so impressive that she emerged with a full scholarship to cover the cost of her tuition fees.

Francesca was admitted to NBA a year later than most girls so she had some catching up to do.

Her training began with a three week intensive course in the summer and since September she has received fifteen hours of tuition in Leeds each week – on Mondays Thursdays and Saturdays. The teachers are very demanding as a high standard is expected. From this month she will also go for training on Sundays. She is learning about music, costume and the human body as well as dance.

Dance has been a big part of Francesca’s life since she started dancing at the age of 3. She learned modern dance, tap, jazz as well as ballet then at the age of 9 she joined a dance school in York that specialises in ballet.

No-one else in the family dances, but her sister is studying musical theatre and music at university.

Francesca says her interest in ballet is based on enjoyment of the art form – the physical skill, the movement to music, the story. She too is developing the suppleness, strength and stamina of an athlete, whilst gaining an increasingly deep understanding of performance. Her teachers have recognised her potential and encouraged her. She has won competitions and a bursary in the past.

She would like to become a professional dancer and her aim is to audition for the Royal Ballet School at the age of 16. If that doesn’t work out, she is interested in working behind the scenes in a dance company or putting her knowledge of the human body to good use as a chiropractor.

Good response to coffee morning from Year 7 parents For the third year running, an invitation to a Year 7 coffee morning proved a big hit with parents of our new students. Over forty mums, dads, carers and grandparents turned up for coffee and cake laid out in the winter garden. This was impressive!

Starting at a new school is often not just daunting for young students, but also their parents as well! A large secondary school is very different from a village primary. Dealing

with several subject teachers and many specialist staff instead of the class teacher is a big change. Similarly arriving in the academy’s carpark is very different from meeting a son or daughter at the school gates in a rural setting.

A coffee morning helps parents to bridge the mental gap between junior and secondary school, but also enables them to meet other new parents from across a much wider area.

Principal Designate Dave Cotton hosted the

event. He welcomed those who attended and explained: “Support from home really helps in the success of children’s education and well being so we are really pleased to see so many of you here today.”

After the event one of the parents told us her reaction: “Thanks for a super coffee morning today. I really found value in attending and it was great to meet other parents and to hear the sort of questions that they were asking.”

Undercover consumer spies Laurie’s quality Many of our sixth formers have part time jobs in the evening or at weekends. It gives them some spending money and a little independence so it is a useful experience.

We like to think, wherever they work, that their confidence, fluency of expression, helpfulness and good manners will mark them out as Tuxford students. In the case of Laurie Smith, Y12, they clearly did because he has received a staff bonus following assessment of his customer skills.

Laurie has worked part time at Asda, Retford for 3 months. His main tasks include helping customers and stacking shelves. During a recent shift he was unaware that he was being unobtrusively

tested by a ‘secret shopper’ – presumably wearing dark sunglasses and a headscarf: “Customers ask me questions all the time, which I really enjoy as I know a lot of people that come into the shop. It’s good to work hard and help people.” He was informed later that he had scored 100% - and that ASDA would pay for him to have a meal out as a reward.

Laurie had been thinking of applying for an engineering apprenticeship after completing his A levels in ICT, Engineering and Business Studies, but now he is wondering whether there are any managerial opportunities the supermarket might be able to offer him in the future.

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Trucking with the Crew Regular readers will know that our students, collectively, have amazing skills and life experiences. They have travelled farther and done more than any previous generation passing through the school. Often they could teach adults a thing or two about standing out from the crowd, making something of their lives and seizing every opportunity.

John Vaughan is a good example. John is a quiet mild mannered lad in Year 8 who, we might assume, lives a happy yet unexciting life in rural Nottinghamshire. It is strange how assumptions turn out to be wrong!

We discovered that John knows a lot about trucks and that he travels all over this country and abroad with daredevil entertainers, Slingshot MT. His uncle and father started to customise pick-up trucks before John was born and by adding large wheels to them they were able to drive over anything and to perform stunning leaps and wheelies.

John’s brother Alan (pictured with John) is very actively involved in the team today. He is a former Tuxford student. Now the family has a custom-built “monster truck” made from many source vehicles including an American school bus, an army forklift, 66” tyres from agricultural tractors and a fibre glass Chevrolet pick-up body. It runs on methanol. In fact it consumes an enormous amount of methanol because the 1,800 brake horsepower engine does only 56 yards to the gallon! With 26 gallons on board and performing potentially dangerous stunts at up to 70 mph the driver is reassured that a remote emergency ignition cut-off is held by a team member at all times in case of engine fire. Efficient gas and oil shock absorbers dampen the movement but the driver still has a very bumpy ride so the steering wheel is small. His seat is custom built to keep him rigid and secure whatever happens.

John has had a go at driving the truck on a farm away from any other people. He explained that it was quite an experience: “I was surprised by how very responsive the controls are – and the enormous power brings a rush of adrenalin. You are so high and so absorbed that you almost don’t hear

John and Alan Vaughan the engine.” Most of the time he is content to drive his go kart on the farm, but one day he hopes to take the wheel of the truck in front of paying customers.

etc. When we move to the next venue it’s like the Circus coming to town and everyone feels a buzz of anticipation.”

Truckfest in Peterborough is one of 12 UK events throughout the year attended by John and The Crew. It showcases trucks and haulage vehicles of all kinds and sizes and is a UK version of one of the big entertainment shows in America, ‘Monster Jam’. There are many vehicles to view up close, exhibitions and static displays, celebrity visitors, food outlets and retail stalls. In the arena trucks compete to jump cars, etc. There are also dragster races in the petrol and methanol classes.

In December John was lucky enough to go to the Bahrain International Motor Show with the Crew. He enjoyed Christmas dinner there – with an outside temperature of 29 degrees. The event is held at the Formula 1 circuit so the Crew had a base in the pits where Show visitors could view the truck and talk to the team. They did their Show routine in front of a grandstand holding one thousand people. It was an experience John will never forget – the heat, the palm trees, the interested local people in arab dress who could speak impeccable English.

John loves the competition, colour, noise and excitement of Truckfest and the similar events happening every two months or so.

Other competitors appearing alongside Slingshot MT at all the events are like family.

“They all help each other with break-downs,

Readers can find more about the Crew on Facebook and there are older pictures on the web at: slingshotmt.co.uk. John is interested in becoming a photographer as a career so the family’s trucking trips should provide plenty of practise.

Holiday dates next year Most parents should know already that we are exercising an ‘academy freedom’ to adopt a holiday pattern for 2014/15 that is slightly different from Nottinghamshire local authority’s.

You will need to ensure that you are referring to

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the academy’s pattern when arranging family holidays.

In September students start back a day earlier at Tuxford – but it is a staggered start to the

year so most students won’t be affected. There are two inset days in December and school breaks up three days earlier in July. The latter could be good news for booking a holiday. The holiday pattern can be found on our website.

Charity at Tuxford Academy Charity at Tuxford is different this year because there are now four college charity days and each college in turn chooses the charity to receive non-uniform money. This is a brilliant way to get more people involved in this valuable service, but it means that there are very limited funds to support some of our ‘old friends’ such as Marica, Hyderabad and CHinK. Past students who write to request help to boost their charitable projects (like climbing mountains and tackling long bike rides) would also be disappointed as our reserve fund dwindled away.

gift boxes for Samaritan’s Purse as usual.

However, some comments on websites made the committee unsure whether they should be supporting them. Later, they did send 50 boxes to Operation Christmas Child when they were assured by their outlet in Chesterfield that all the boxes were always distributed impartially, irrespective of religion or sect. In the meantime alternative recipients were investigated and the Well Baptist Church in Retford was signalled up by Claire Hallam who has links with it. Tuxford sent 150 boxes, mainly collected by a few people.

A few Year 12s turned up in September when the new charity committee was being set up - Olivia T, Courtney, Alice Walker, Olivia Rigby… and maybe a couple of others. At that stage they regarded it as an enforced commitment because it was one of the recreation choices, but when the team started to meet on a Wednesday lunch time the energy and dedication of the girls became apparent. (Three boys showed some initial interest, but decided that they did not have time and disappeared!)

On 10th December all staff received an email from colleague Maggi Pugh telling them about a family in Retford who suffered a great loss of all of their belongings when their house caught fire and rendered it uninhabitable. The staff responded generously but the Charity Committee voted to support the family too. They brought in items of food, made a collection and added what we had from the fund so the family received £100 to help them over Christmas.

The first request for funds came from within the group when Courtney Waring told the others of her little baby sister, born at 28 weeks in Sheffield Jessop’s hospital. Her sister was now 5 months and ready to go home and Courtney wanted to show her appreciation to the hospital for their care so she decided to organise a bake sale on September 16th. The Committee lent their full support and they helped Courtney raise £118 for the Sheffield hospital - which the Committee doubled from saved funds.

On 28th November, the Paul Andrews Charity Fair was held. The girls organised cake and sweet stalls and manned the stall all day to collect another £300, £200 of which they donated to Tuxford Manor care home’s minibus fund. Twelve of the committee have enrolled as helpers at the care home.

Josie Baugh, whose main interest is in the Alzheimer’s charity, encouraged others to enrol when she decided to apply for the Young Ambassador award at Retford this year. She is keen to use any money she secures to ‘buy in’ training for Post 16 students in care for the elderly and in dementia awareness.

By this time the committee’s funds were diminishing as the list of good causes to support was growing so Mr Lloyd agreed that the committee could organise its own non-uniform day on January 15th. The committee decided to link the day to a ‘bid in for funds’ process. £500 of the nonuniform money would be allocated to five charities selected after evaluation of the bids. Around thirty letters were received and the five charities selected (with nominees in brackets) were:- Alzheimer’s (Alara Cobb); Teenage Cancer (Charlie Ferris); Billy’s House (Lewis Gault); Lupus (Megan Hill); Sane (Shannon Ward and Louise Taylor).

On 8th February, nine of the girls on the committee helped at the first Friends of Tuxford Academy quiz evening (continuing the good work of the PTA). They worked tirelessly from 4pm on a Saturday. Before the event began one team had to move heavy tables and chairs and set them up for the quiz teams then chop and slice salads and coleslaw. When the quiz began another team managed the collecting and reporting of scores. They were quite concerned at the responsibility… but they ‘came good’!! Some of the profits from the quiz night were given to charity committee funds in appreciation for their hard work.

On February 13th a bake sale was organised in school to help support victims of the civil war in Syria. One of the more recent recruits to the committee, Yasmin Odabashy, has relatives in Syria whom she visited at Christmas and she is horrified by what is happening.

A charity that is currently being nominated for committee support is Time to Talk, the mental health awareness campaign. Ryan Footitt WCH has been the driving force behind the bid for funding. He writes: ‘I am hoping to make more people aware of Mental Health and in time to help remove the stigma. I strongly favour teaching people what mental health is and what kinds of mental health issues are out there. One in four of us know someone with a mental health problem. Basically I’d like to get involved with this campaign and maybe do assemblies in the near future and also e-mail all forms to ask them to do a myths and facts quiz. I believe this would be a very good chance to get people to open up and know that they are not on their own.’ We will report how he gets on at a later date.

During the evening of the 28th members took part in The Big Sleep Out in Nottingham. See the separate report on page 15 for details.

Christmas came with the plan to collect

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Archdeacon of Newark visits

Pictured during his visit to the academy on 31 October is Archdeacon of Newark, David Picken. He was accompanied by Vicar of St Nicholas Church, Tuxford, Rev. Colin Wall (pictured far right) and Mrs Carol Dunk, Curate of St Nicholas Church.

They visited a number of lessons and

commented later how impressed they were by the community feeling that pervades the school.

Although the academy is nondenominational and welcoming to all faiths it has chosen to be affiliated to the Church

of England. This allows the school to call on the services of Colin Wall as honorary school chaplain. It also serves as a quality mark because the affiliation agreement requires the school to develop the contribution of faith to school life and to promote high standards in Religious Education.

Poppy’s Progress In July 2013 former Tuxford student Poppy Richards was lucky enough to be invited by Bishop Paul to be a member of the diocesan team who visited the African state of Burundi.

The object of the visit was both Christian Mission and also to explore the possibility of forging a link between the diocese of Southwell & Nottingham and the Anglican province of Burundi. The trip was very successful and she had a wonderful time. The trip made her keen to travel more to learn how different people around the world live.

Off the back of this trip she has been invited

to return to Burundi, and Rwanda, with a team that John Mann MP is leading in August of this year. The trip will take place between 31st July and 17th August. Poppy has been asked to go on the trip to hold a secretarial position as John Mann, Bishop Paul and three other Members of Parliament, Lilian Greenwood, Graham Jones and Jeremy Lefroy, travel around the countries looking at peace and reconciliation projects and meeting with political and church leaders. The ongoing process of peace and reconciliation following Burundi’s recent history of civil war means that there will be many opportunities

to learn about the ways that both Christianity and the Government are working to improve the lives of the people of the country. The party expects to visit various projects helping people following the end of the very recent troubles and to hear about the experiences of returning refugees.

We hear from Poppy’s sister that she is moving towards a career in the ministry. She will certainly be an asset to the Church. The school has sent £100 to help the work in Africa and.we look forward to hearing of Poppy’s experiences when she has time to visit us.

Students launch Christian Union The latest extra-curricular club for students has been established through their own initiative. It is a non-denominational Christian group that aims to promote a better understanding of the Bible and to offer support to Tuxford students who are already established in the Christian faith.

The group is adopting the title of Christian Union - although it is not affiliated to any

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national group such as the Scripture Union or the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship. Three of the group’s founders are members of Everyday Champions Pentecostal Church, Newark but Annie O’Connell, Patrick Surguy and Aaron Allison say that membership is open to all Christians.

Learning mentor Isabel Rennison has agreed

to be the staff contact for the group. She has arranged a room for meetings and is seeking a noticeboard to promote the group’s activities. The three founders hope that they will be able to show thought-provoking videos as stimulus for lively follow-up discussion.

Meetings are held at lunchtime on Mondays.

If you want to know more speak to any of the four people named.

Sleeping rough in Sneinton only a cardboard box (if you’re lucky) for shelter. ”After seeing the problem from first hand experience we can verify that it’s not ideal sleeping on hard concrete in winter temperatures. Fortunately there was no rain until the morning but the night was very cold, uncomfortable and noisy.”

Nine 15-16 year olds and three sixth form students from our academy, paid £20 each to sleep rough in Sneinton Market in Nottingham on Thursday 28th November.

They were taking part in ‘The Big Sleep Out’ in aid of Framework, the Nottingham homeless and vulnerable people charity.

They were supervised and assisted by five teachers from the academy: Danielle Addison, Mark Barr, Rose Hawcroft, Joseph Kinnaird and Jenny Taylor.

Philosophy and Ethics teacher Miss Hawley told the school’s Charity Committee of her plans to support Framework. Committee members were very eager to get started on this and in the following three weeks conducted bake sales raising almost £400.

The Oak College non-uniform day on the 15th November raised more funds and then

pledges to a Justgiving brought the total to £2130. The school arranged for an outsize cheque to be provided for a presentation to Framework on the evening of the ‘Big Sleep’.

Post 16 student Isabelle Richards was one of the students taking part to raise awareness of the issue. After the event she told us, “I’m glad I did it. It wasn’t a 100% authentic experience, of course, but it was an eye opener.” She took two sleeping bags, roll mats and a plastic sheet - and cardboard was provided – but still felt cold and managed only four hours sleep. “We were all able to go home and have a shower after one night, but for the homeless it would be much more serious.”

Teacher Jenny Taylor felt that it was “a humbling experience” to sleep outside with

Another student who took part, Ryan Thompson of Year 11, was motivated by an interest in politics and a desire to discover more about one of the big social issues of today, homelessness. He slept quite well thanks to having a top quality sleeping bag provided by an uncle who was in the RAF. “Others weren’t as lucky as they couldn’t sleep – they were talking to friends or cold and it was very noisy,” he explained. “We had a competition to see who could use the provided cardboard most creatively. I made a Toblerone shape that was quite good shelter, but others created mini castles, domes, etc. It was a fun experience as well as having a point.”

The event was well organised by Framework.

There were marshalls in high vis jackets and everyone was provided with a butty breakfast and cup of tea. All the Tuxford party returned to school the following day to work – and some felt more awake than others! Isabelle is maintaining her interest in the issue by working as part of Retford Young People’s Housing Scheme. Ryan intends to study Philosophy and Ethics even though he is not religious because it offers interesting discussions on moral issues.

An eventful weekend Sam Roberts of Year 7 experienced a busier than normal weekend at the start of February because he took part in two prestigious athletics events – and did rather well. On Saturday 1st February, he took part in the Nottinghamshire Schools Cross Country Championship – representing Bassetlaw in the U13 age

group – and came second. The next day, Sunday, he took part in the Northern Indoor Championships (for clubs) and came third.

The Nottinghamshire event was held at Sutton in Ashfield and the going was difficult after heavy rain. Sam described it as “3000 metres of deep mud, waterlogged grass and tight slippery bends.” As the race was at county level, the competition was intense so Sam was very pleased with his finishing position.

The Sunday event was held in Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport. Sam had to race for four laps of the 200m track. On his penultimate lap he was seventh, but he picked up the pace and moved rapidly through the field. “There was a large crowd

cheering us on and I wanted to give them a good show,” Sam told us.

Sam began training at the age of 7 and started racing at 9. In the last year he has enjoyed some notable successes. He came first in the U13 1500m race at the County Athletics Championship in the summer. (He is pictured on the podium at Harvey Hadden Stadium). At the end of January he came second in the Welsh Indoor Championships.

This summer Sam will compete in the Welsh Championships again – and he hopes to win this year. He plans to continue competing at as high a level as possible into the foreseeable future. “I enjoy running and I seem to be good at it so I want to continue.

I also enjoy winning.”

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Tel: 01777 870001 Fax: 01777 872155 Email: office@tuxford-ac.org.uk www.tuxford-ac.org.uk Marnham Road, Tuxford, Newark, Nottinghamshire NG22 0JH

Special Award Principal Geoff Lloyd presented the prizes at the annual awards evening for support staff.

There was an additional category of award this year to mark Mrs Cathie Town’s forty years’ employment with the school.

From September 1973 until August 2007 Mrs Town served as a teacher here – originally teaching art but latterly being responsible for the school’s Citizenship programme. Then

from September 2007 until the present she has worked as an administration assistant responsible for ensuring that school trips are well organised and safely managed. She has worked for all four of the school’s headteachers and she has been an eye-witness to all but fifteen years of the school’s unfolding story.

Mrs Town has always thrown herself into the wider life of the school. She has helped to

supervise countless trips and has appeared in school shows - she has a beautiful singing voice. She has served as a sixth form tutor and at one stage was acting Assistant Head of Sixth Form.

Having notched up forty years’ service Mrs Town has recently announced her retirement.

She will leave at Easter with the school’s best wishes and gratitude.

Email: office@tuxford-ac.org.uk www.tuxford-ac.org.uk Marnham Road, Tuxford, Newark, NG22 0JH Tel: 01777 870001 Fax: 01777 872155

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