Tuxford Academy Life Magazine Issue 12

ACADEMY Life The official magazine of Tuxford Academy

Issue No. 12

Summer Term 2018

Despite the weather being against them, our engineering team reached the finals of the Tomorrow’s Engineers Robotics Challenge

‘A firm favourite of all students, and indeed still a champion for me, is the food.’ Hannah Roe interviews Year 7 about how they’ve found transitioning to Tuxford Academy

Follow us on Twitter: @TuxfordAcademy or Facebook: /TuxfordAcademy

Welcome to Academy Life Academy Principal’s Introduction As we come to the end of this academic year, I am once again filled with pride. Working at Tuxford Academy is a privilege. There is no doubt that our staff, both teaching and support, are second to none in quality: their passion, dedication and expertise leaves me completely confident that every student here is in the very best of hands.

Our students, however, are the true stars of the show.

From helping younger peers to navigate the building back in September to the grit and determination shown in preparing for exams, the kindness, commitment and focus of these students humbles me on a daily basis.

I have really enjoyed reading and hearing about everything they have been up to over the past term. All who attended have only spoken about the ski trip to Andorra in the most glowing of terms; our singers have continued to shine when working with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain; colleges battled it out in the annual inter-college quiz; mindfulness has been

introduced to the academy; one of our own was signed

by Manchester United; the Discover Your Future Fair was a success for the second year running and students this summer have sat the greatest range of exams yet…the list is endless!

I cannot believe how quickly this has come around from last year, but it’s once again time to wish all our Year 11 and Post 16 students the very best in whatever you choose to do next and I look forward to seeing you all again on your results days.

Mr Dave Vernon, Principal

Dates for your diary AUGUST

JULY 10th

DALP Games (at Grantham Meres Leisure Centre)

15th

Uniform sales (school hall, 10am-2pm)

16th

A Level results day

10th

Les Misérables (evening)

23rd

GCSE results day

11th

Les Misérables (evening)

12th

Les Misérables (evening)

13th

Sports Day

13th

Les Misérables (evening)

3rd

School closed - Inset day

14th

Les Misérables (matinee & evening)

4th

First day in school for Years 7, 11 & 12

16th

Year 7 Camp 1 departs

5th

First day in school for Years 8, 9, 10, 13 &14

16th

Post 16 university residential trip departs

16th

Year 9 London residential departs

18th

Year 7 Camp 2 departs

23rd

School closed – Inset day

24th

School closed – Inset day

25th

Summer Holiday begins

30th

Year 6 Summer School (until 3rd August)

SEPTEMBER

Many thanks to all students and staff who contributed towards articles.

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www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

NCS award recognises the extent of Tuxford Academy participants

News

National Citizenship Service is a programme which takes place outside of term time and is open for all 15-17 year olds to participate in. It involves a week of adventure where participants have a chance to bond whilst experiencing thrills such as zip lining, kayaking and generally having as much fun as they can fit into five days and nights! Following this, they work in small groups to design and implement a social action project in their local area for a couple of weeks before coming back together as a whole group for an awards evening.

age had come together and actually worked pretty darn hard for nothing but the “charity spirit”.We’ve finished today, unfortunately I might add. I would happily do another week at least.These four weeks have given me the confidence to do amazing things…

The skills I’ve gained organising and talking to all sorts of people throughout the project I’m confident will stay with me.

George Makrakis, Post 16, has written up a detailed article about his experience (please see our website for the full version). Below is a snippet about how he found it last year:

This is something we are proud of, not because it reflects anything that we have done as staff, but that it highlights the compassionate nature of our students who are also keen to broaden their own horizons and embark on new adventures!

It was fantastic. Really…It was amazing; again, I can’t seem to do justice to how surprised I was that all these other teens my

Tuxford Academy is now an NCS champion school and received a Bronze Award due to the high number of students who have participated in the scheme.

The Red Devils recruit one of our students Just before Easter, Manni Norkett,Year 9, left Tuxford Academy in order to pursue his dream of playing football professionally. He has been signed by none other than Manchester United, becoming one of the youngest signings for the team at just 13 years old.

We at Tuxford realised he was a star in the making when he joined the Year 7 football team and went on to score goal after goal in every match he played. Manni began playing football when he was four years old and from day one his mum says he was ‘100% serious and always wanted to win.’ Since then he has played for Lincoln United and RHP Newark before being scouted by Manchester City. Just six months into his time training with them, his mum recalls how it ‘all went crazy’ with clubs such as Lincoln City, Grimsby United, Sheffield United and Everton ringing up to ask about him and to offer contracts. At the point where he was offered a six week trial with Manchester United, Everton had also offered a contract, but Manni felt that the style of play he most enjoys made him more suited to the Red Devil’s academy. Upon completing the trial, Manni was offered a full three year contract with the team. Within a week of moving, Manni went to Los Angeles for the LA Galaxy Tournament, where he managed to score in every match he played.

Taking up such a position has had a huge impact on Manni’s life as it meant moving to Manchester, starting a new school and having to live with a host family.

Alongside this, he has also taken on a high impact training regime six days a week but he is loving it and is coping very well.

Manni and Ronnie Cussick, a scout for Manchester United.

There is no denying that Manni is ‘living the dream’ and we know without a doubt that he will not let such an opportunity go by without putting everything he has into it – that’s certainly the attitude he displayed when he was here and is why he has achieved the success he has already. His next ambition is to be selected for one of England’s youth teams later in the year.

We wish Manni the very best of luck and only wish we’d all had photos signed before he headed off!

Academy Life

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Achievements & Awards

Tomorrow’s Engineers Throughout this academic year, some of our keen young engineers have been taking part in a robotics challenge which saw them make it through the regional heat into the final.

In order to qualify, they had to put together a robot using Lego. Due to the wonderful weather of England, snow meant the regional heats were cancelled so students were assessed at school, but that didn’t put them off. They went on to win across our region, showing: “Excellent teamwork and outstanding effort.” (Mr Williams, Design and Technology Technician).

Unfortunately, they were not able to attend the finals but we still want to congratulate the team on the amount of time they put into the project and the dedication they have shown throughout.Very well done, boys!

Tuxford students rose to the maths Challenge Annually, students with a particular proclivity for maths enter the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge and this year our students shone, yet again. During the test, participants had 60 minutes to answer 25 varied multiple-choice mathematical problems.These questions aim to stimulate mathematical thinking and enhance problem-solving skills.

Joshua White not only performed incredibly well in the initial challenge, but he got through to the next round. Unfortunately, he narrowly missed out on passing, but we congratulate him

on getting through and having a good go anyway.When asked how he found it, Josh said: “It was challenging but enjoyable beacause it was different to maths lessons.We had to use the stuff we learn there and apply it to solve problems.”

There are a further 30 Year 7 and 8 students also currently waiting on results, having just sat the Junior Challenge, so we shall keep our fingers crossed for them too.

These are the students who achieved an award:

Bronze Award Oliver Brown (Year 9) Isobel Cobb (Year 9) Lily Gregory (Year 10) Katie McLean (Year 10) Ella Ness (Year 10)

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Silver Award

Mackenzie PIckersgill (Year 10) Henry Trotter (Year 9) Phillippa Walsh (Year 10) Daniel Ware (Year 9)

Jimmy Hancock (Year 9) Kenya Longden (Year 10 and best in the year) Peter Preissner (Year 10) Joshua White (Year 9 and best in the academy) Jay-Jay Young (Year 9)

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

Academy Focus

Post 16’s bid to reduce stress There has been a lot of talk about stress in schools in the media recently, with one in four students suffering from mental health issues. As Post 16 Vice President, it’s part of my job to look at the wellbeing of sixth form students, so when a number of students came to tell me how overwhelmed they were feeling I knew that something had to be done.

from this experience with sixth form, I have two top tips that can help you now…

• Exercise. Whether it’s at the weekends or after school (homework permitting), whatever interests you, just make sure that you are doing some form of exercise.

• Planned Fun. As strange as this sounds, if you know that In October of last year I asked around to see how big the you get easily stressed, plan when you are going to work problem was. It soon became apparent that many students and when you are going to relax. That way, you know that were suffering from mental health and medical issues that they when you’ve finished work, you’ve finished, and you don’t hadn’t experienced lower down the school, and I discovered need to feel guilty. that over 70% of the students were under strain. Through no fault of the school, Post 16 students felt unable to relax. I Those may sound like simple ideas, but I know they work.The devised a programme of activities for students to do in their Post 16 activity programme has been a great success.The gym free periods, basing the activities on things that Post 16 used is full most days with sixth form students, and there has been a to do lower down the school that seemed to stop them from huge up take for the art classes.The next outing has yet to be getting as stressed. The new ideas included: opening the gym confirmed but we expect a mini-bus full of much calmer students. in frees, beginning art sessions, and going out on small trips One student commented that ‘now the gym is open I won’t to Clumber Park. With the consent of Miss Murphy and Mr lose the fitness I had when we did weekly PE, and the outings Atherton, I delivered an assembly to Year 12 and 13 outlining are great fun and a good opportunity to relax off campus with my proposals, which was very well received. friends.’ Hopefully, with the continued support of teachers, and sixth form students,Tuxford Academy’s Post 16 will be a happier, So how will this affect you if you’re lower down the school? calmer and stress free place.

For anybody thinking of entering Post 16 at Tuxford Academy, Hannah Roe it is important for you to know about all of the different Post 16 Vice President opportunities and activities that you can get involved with. But

Some students enjoying the fitness suite

Students set off to the slopes of Andorra Over the Easter holidays, 105 students and 13 members of staff set off on a long coach journey to the glorious slopes of Andorra. The journey itself wasn’t without its hiccups, with the wipers breaking on one coach, leaving half of the party stranded in pouring rain until repairs could be made. This resulted in them missing the ferry and an extra hour and a half cramped into their seats but it didn’t put anybody off!

of all ages were mixing and helping one another which was wonderful to see.”

“It truly was an amazing trip and I must say a huge thank you to all staff and students that attended to make memories that will last a lifetime.”

Pulling into Grandvalira, they were all greeted by beautiful snowy scenes as a fresh layer of snow fell that very evening – it was certainly a welcome site for the keen skiers.

Everyone skied for five hours a day and then enjoyed a range of evening activities too: from bowling to relaxing at a thermal spa and an awards presentation evening, the whole trip was jam packed with fun. Mr Tatterson, School Sport & Extra-Curricular Co-ordinator, who organised the trip, said “The cohesion of the group really made the holiday. Students

Academy Life

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Academy Focus

How are Year 7 finding life at the academy?

The first year of school can be a little daunting for everyone.

A new building, new people and the different lessons are all challenges that must be overcome. Here at Tuxford however, these challenges are much more like ‘exciting adventures’ according to the current Year 7, who joined me to have a chat about their first year and what moving up to ‘big school’ has meant for them.

‘There’s so much to do’ remarked Eryn James. Eryn informed me that she enjoys lots of clubs at lunch and after school that you ‘couldn’t do at primary’ and that she’s enjoyed a number of different trips, from university to the zoo. Eryn and her friend,Ava Morrell, are also taking part in the school show this year; both say that this has been a ‘fantastic experience’ and ‘a really good way to meet new people from across the school’. In other areas of the school, Freddie Maitland and Ava love playing football and explained how the school sports teams are completely different from their experiences at primary. On representing the school: ‘it makes me feel really proud, like I’m part of something bigger,’ said Freddie. From the state of the art sport and drama facilities, to the computer labs, the current Year 7 say their first year of secondary school has been wonderful, but they weren’t always so confident that this year would be a success.

‘I was worried that I wouldn’t make any friends’, mused Thomas Haywood,‘I was even worried that I was going to get lost or shouted at and told off’ laughed Ava. Happily,Year 7 can report that these common fears were unfounded.‘Transition week really helped me to make friends; some of the people I met there are still my friends now,’ commented Eryn.All of the students enjoyed the Walesby trip and the ‘taster lessons’ they attended on transition week.‘That week meant that when I arrived I had an idea of where everything was’ said Thomas, and all of them agreed that they found their way round the school with ease after the first week or so.The disciplines are always ‘fair’ I was told and never ‘scary, like we thought they were going to be with detentions all the time’. All of the students said that they know where to go if they have any problems within school and that every teacher is approachable and willing to help with any problems.

A firm favourite of all students, and indeed still a champion for me, is the food.‘It’s not like primary’ Freddie told me,‘there’s so much choice’.The different lessons are also a big part of the students’ enjoyment: from science experiments to practical geography and re-enacted battles in history, all of the lessons are new, exciting and different and the students each have different favourites that they are enthusiastic and engaged with. Global awareness was a particular talking point, with the students remarking that learning about the world around them makes a fantastic addition to the rest of their curriculum.The assemblies also cover ‘different global issues’ which help Year 7 to discover the problems and solutions in society today.Although all of the students have different opinions on what they like best and what their favourite lessons are, they all agreed on one thing: that they are excited to continue to have fun and learn in the coming years at Tuxford Academy.

Hannah Roe Post 16 President

UCAS Fair 45 Year 12 students visited the UCAS Fair at the University of Lincoln. The fair was attended by over 3000 students from schools in the local area who had access to over 100 universities on the day. “It was really useful to get to talk to the staff from each uni, they really helped us to start making

our minds up about where we want to apply to and there was so much information available for us to take away” said Megan Wright, a Year 12 student. The students will be starting to get their university applications ready in the coming months.

Chris Wray Head of Year 13

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www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

Academy Focus

Mindfulness within the academy Mindfulness has become one of the newest ‘buzzwords’ in society. Completing mindfulness practices is becoming increasingly integral to the daily lives of many: the Home Office has completed them with MPs; many famous celebrities (Jennifer Anniston, Emma Watson, and Russell Brand to name a few) advocate it as part of their diurnal routines; and many large corporations have now launched mindfulness programmes in their workplaces (eBay, Superdry, Google and the NHS are just a few examples).

Many of you may be wondering: what is mindfulness and why is it becoming such an essential part of life for many?

Mindfulness is all about learning to direct our attention to our experience as it unfolds, moment by moment, with openminded curiosity and acceptance. Rather than worrying about what has happened or might happen, it trains us to respond skilfully to whatever is happening right now, be that good or bad.

Thousands of research studies have evaluated the effects of mindfulness training in many contexts, and they identify consistent potential benefits to people’s psychological health and wellbeing, including: • More patience • Heightened body awareness • Less stress and anxiety • Better focus and productivity • Increased compassion • Feeling calmer and more positive

MORE PATIENCE

BETTER FOCUS & PRODUCTIVITY

INCREASED COMPASSION

HEIGHTENED BODY AWARENESS

LESS STRESS & ANXIETY

‘I do mindfulness practices before a big pile of marking sometimes. It really helps to focus me and means I can actually sit and concentrate better; it means I get my work done more quickly without the need to break so often.’ Will Smith, teacher of science.

Mr Neil Mosley, Head of Beech College, began research into how testing/exams made our students feel last year, and found that a huge proportion were struggling with feelings of anxiety and were keen to have help with how to deal with these emotions.

90% of our students responded to a questionnaire, and 35.9% requested that interventions be put in place to help them with their mental health.

It became clear that we as an academy needed to do something, especially given that this survey didn’t take into account any

Mrs Fretwell leading a mindfulness practice of the day to day anxieties that many students speak about in relation to peer pressure, the negative influences of social media and the fact that we live in a hectic, fast paced world.

Our students are not alone.

Nationally, 25% of people will experience a mental health problem in any given year. A huge 75% of these issues will begin before people even turn 18 and 50% before turning 15.

This seems astronomical when compared to 30 years ago (according to Dr Sydney Zisook, MD), when 49 was the most common age to develop difficulties.

Currently, Mrs Fretwell is .b trained and delivers practices during lunches for any students who wish to attend; it has been incorporated into global awareness lessons for Year 7 and Year 9; and sessions are also due to begin for staff. Assemblies were delivered to the whole school in order to introduce mindfulness, to try to break the stigma around mental health and to encourage students to take as much care of their emotional health as their physical health.

‘I have to admit to being rather cynical about mindfulness initially, but after researching it, visiting other schools who promote it and seeing it begin to take shape here, I wholly believe that implementing it at Tuxford Academy can only be a positive step. I have complete faith that mindfulness is going to help so many of our students.’

Neil Mosley, Head of Beech College.

This is just the start and plans are afoot to increase the accessibility of mindfulness practices to all students in order to help everyone better tackle the demands of daily life.

For further information about mindfulness, Mrs Fretwell recommends the following books: The Little Book of Mindfulness and Journey into Mindfulness by Dr Patricia Collard and Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World by Mark Williams and Danny Penman.

Headspace and Insight Timer are also two apps which are particularly effective.

Academy Life

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Careers Why do some students go on university trips whilst others don’t?

The benefits of young people being exposed to the mysteries of university whilst still at school have long been known. Firstly, visits help to inform pathway decisions. For some, it will inspire them to realise their true potential and encourage them to study hard for the grades they will need to meet the entry requirements of their chosen course. Others will be the first generation in their family to have an opportunity to study at degree level. So, if it’s so beneficial, why don’t all students get to go on university trips?

Some of the opportunities for visits are funded solely by the universities and have very specific selection criteria. For example, the Widening Participation Initiative is aimed at increasing the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds who apply to university.The selection criteria includes, amongst other things, first generation students, those on free school meals, and certain home post codes. Other visits are aimed solely at those students who are identified as More Able.These students are identified based on their KS2 SATs scores, peer comparison and criteria established by subjects and teachers.Additional visits are arranged by faculties to complement the curriculum teaching.

So, what is Tuxford Academy doing to ensure as many students as possible get opportunities to visit universities? Firstly, we are working together to ensure we maximise the number of students who go on the visits.We are also actively seeking university visit opportunities and target students who haven’t met the selection criteria for other trips. Finally, we are incorporating year group trips to University, starting this June with the Year 8 CEIAG visit to Lincoln university, Lincoln College and Riseholme College, a Year 11 trip to Sheffield University and a Year 10 trip to Nottingham University.These opportunities have been opened up to all students in the relevant year group.

Year 10 have the opportunity to visit Nottingham University this summer We endeavour to offer our students the opportunity to visit a variety of universities including Russell Group Universities and Oxford and Cambridge throughout their time at Tuxford Academy.

In addition to our trips, we also offer advice through a variety of afterschool information evenings such as the Discover Your Futures Fair. In March 2019, Peterhouse College from Cambridge University will also be visiting us after school to offer advice to any Year 11 and 12 students who may be considering applying to either Oxford or Cambridge.

What are the different career pathways available?

Find out in the next issue about the different career pathways available to young people and how we support them in making informed decisions about their future.

Sue Johnson MCDI & Maxine Tivey Leader of Cross Curricular Skills/More Able Work Related Learning Leader

Students surprised at plethora of opportunities in the army At the start of March, Corporal Adam Evans from the Rifles Battalion delivered assemblies to every college about the range of jobs there are within the army. He surprised many students with the fact that there are currently over 150 career paths and job roles available. From becoming an infantry soldier to training as a biomedical scientist, he explained that many roles students wouldn’t even expect to be part of the army, are in fact potential career options.“I now have more qualifications than many of

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my friends thanks to the opportunities provided by the army,” told Corporal Adams. He then remained behind to speak to students who were interested at lunch.

Overall, it was informative for both those who had already considered the army as a potential career option and also opened the eyes of those who hadn’t regarding the potential roles they may wish to consider in the future.

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

Charity

LIONS ambassadors in our midst Jess Newton,Year 12, is this year’s Nottingham ambassador for the LIONS club.

Although initially apprehensive about applying for the role, after her Lifesaving Club nominated her she was honoured and felt it was her duty to move forward with the application. Her aim was to secure funding to help develop the club.

Making her way through multiple rounds, Jess was successful in securing £500 to put towards the Rookie Programme so that new members could benefit from new technology.The Retford LIONS described Jess as ‘a very impressive young lady’ and part of her reward was to choose a youth camp from a selection around the world to visit alongside other young ambassadors.

Unfortunately, with new EU restrictions preventing Jess from going to many camps before turning 17, and the others filling up extremely quickly, Jess has had to defer attending until next year but hopes to go to Finland.

together they enjoyed a huge range of sporting/leisure activities.

The most memorable included: rock climbing, competing in a ‘Finnish Olympics’, welly wanging, going to an aqua park, visiting a zoo, jumping into a lake every evening after going in the sauna, and scream running (which involves running and screaming with participants stopping once they’ve lost their breath)!

Freda Lightfoot, from Retford LIONS, commented,“It was clear that Will gained enormously from taking part in this adventure, meeting up with young people from all over the world, broadening his outlook and expanding his knowledge.Will was a credit to his family and his school - a truly charming and well-rounded young person who has used this chance to real advantage.”

Will also spent his £500 bursary on the academy rugby club he set up for Year 7-10. He did it as part of his Last year’s young ambassador was also a Tuxford Academy student, School Leaders qualification and used his award to Will Ellison. He was fortunate enough to be able to go to Finland update the rugby supplies over the summer (2017) as part of his award and recounted here at Tuxford for his team. the experience with fondness. Initially,Will found the thought We are very proud of both of both flying and attending the camp alone daunting, but once Will and Jess and hope that there everybody bonded quickly through mutual appreciation Jess enjoys her trip next of sports, fashion and music and there was a real ‘family feel’ summer as much as Will did to it.There were ambassadors in attendance from all around last year. the world, including Turkey, Portugal, Croatia and Finland, and

Science teacher tackles the three peaks in sub 24 hours In May, Will Smith (teacher of science) and a group of friends not only decided to embark on the challenge of climbing the three peaks, but they insisted on aiming to complete it within 24 hours, including the driving time between each. The three peaks consist of the highest mountains of England (Scafell Pike), Scotland (Ben Nevis) and Wales (Snowdon).

They were raising money for Parkinson’s UK, a charity that aims to drive for better care, treatments and quality of life for Parkinson’s disease sufferers and their families. They decided to raise money for this charity in memory of a friend’s grandad who sadly passed away earlier this year.

Not only did they manage to complete it in less than 24 hours, but they actually had an hour and seven minutes to spare at the end!

On recalling the experience, Will commented on the fact that he could merely ‘hobble’ around afterwards but said that the weather was ‘amazing, except for the snowstorm at the top of Ben Nevis.’ The group have exceeded their target and raised over £2300 so far.

“There were some really tough moments where my legs felt like they wouldn’t keep going but we got there in the end. There were also some really amazing moments like seeing the sunset on Scafell Pike and sunrise on Mount Snowdon.”

When asked if he would ever consider doing it again, Mr Smith responded with: “Maybe one at a time, but to enjoy them next time!”

Academy Life

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Sport

Sam’s success

Sam Roberts has previously been featured in Academy Life for his running achievements.

Not only do his peers sigh at the thought of coming up against him on sports day at the academy, but he is also hugely successful outside of school.

His most recent win happened over the May Bank Holiday weekend, when he competed in the Welsh 5k Road Championships.

A modest young man, Sam has managed to navigate the difficulties surrounding juggling GCSE exams alongside his training regime with maturity and determination.We congratulate him and look forward to seeing where his running takes him next!

Dr Curry represents England Dr Graham Curry, who used to be head of PE at Tuxford and now works in the Learning Resource Centre, was selected for the England over 60s walking football team in May. The team went on to victory in a match against Italy at the Amex Stadium. The final result was 3-0 with Dr Curry playing in defence.

Being chosen for the team is something he is rightly very proud of: “Because football means so much to me, it was very satisfying that someone recognised my ability, proving that it’s never too late to achieve such things.”

Dr Curry has been inspiring young football players for many years and still coaches the Year 7 football team on a weekly basis.

Women in sport Women’s sport has been undervalued and almost ridiculed over the years, ever since the first women’s golf tournament in 1811 or when the Football Association introduced new rules so it was more acceptable for women to play in 1863.

Yet with these examples happening over 100 years ago, women’s sport is still under-funded and under-appreciated; it only receives 7% of all sports media coverage in the UK. This statistic can seem scary on its own but when paired with the findings of the Women’s Sport Foundation, suggesting that by the age of 14 girls are twice as likely to drop out of sports when compared to boys, it makes it even more worrying.

This all seems very positive and like we are moving in the right direction but will the gender gap ever change? We’ll have to wait and see.

Grace Daily, Year 10

It is sometimes assumed that people drop out of sports teams due to cost, lack of transportation or even lack of access and while that is the case for both girls and boys, girls are seen as more likely to drop out due to the lack of role models. Sports have been proven to improve physical and emotional well-being, so why are companies still not targeting sports to the entire audience? Part of the problem is the deep rooted traditional value expecting girls not to play sports due to stigma. However, Tuxford offer a wide variety of sports for girls to take part in including, but not limited to: football, handball, rugby, gymnastics, trampolining and badminton. Clubs are run after school and occasionally during lunch and information can be sought out from either

Our Year 7 girls’ football team

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the PE teachers or the information board outside their office. Outside of the academy, foundations and associations such as ‘This Girl Can’ and the ‘Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation’ attempt to combat and bring equality across the board. They aim to inspire women to start up a sport or re-take up playing one they had previously dropped out of.

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

Teaching School

Professional development opportunities The Trent Valley Teaching School Alliance team have had a very busy and successful year so far supporting our colleagues across the alliance, academy trust and nationwide.We pride ourselves on the quality of our work and the professionalism of our team. But we are most proud of the impact we are able to create through the programmes we offer- on colleagues and their students.

As a designated Olevi Centre of Excellence, the TVTSA team have continued to facilitate our very popular programmes this year (a selection below): • Primary CPD programmes including subject specific networks.

• Olevi OTP (Outstanding Teacher Programme) - For outstanding teachers who have the drive and capacity to develop themselves and others through coaching.

• Olevi ITP (Improving Teacher Programme) - For teachers who want to focus on improving their own classroom practice.

• Olevi POC (Power of Coaching) - For teachers and support staff who want to understand what coaching is/ isn’t, coaching models and gain practical experience of this powerful technique.

• Olevi OTAP (Outstanding Teaching Assistant Programme) - For teaching assistants who are, or who have the potential to be, outstanding in their roles.

• Olevi OFP (Outstanding Facilitator Programme) - prepares a school based team of accredited facilitators, who can facilitate the OTP and ITP. • The ECDP (Early Years Careers Development Programme) - For NQTs (Newly Qualified Teachers) and RQTs (Recently Qualified Teachers) In addition to the programmes we run at Tuxford Academy, we have again been working with our colleagues at Rotherham School Improvement Service.This was to set up the Olevi OTAP (Outstanding Teaching Assistant Programme), training two new facilitators on our OFP and coaching two new facilitators as they embark on their first secondary Olevi OTP (Outstanding Teacher Programme) in Rotherham Primary and Secondary Schools.

Our facilitation team includes the following experienced and highly respected Tuxford Academy teachers: Stacey Aisthorpe (lead practitioner/teacher of PE); Ashleigh Barlow (lead practitioner/maths SLE); Delia Higgins (associate principal/ AST); Liz Rew (vice principal/director of TVTSA); Rosie Smith (teacher of Philosophy and ethics/AST); Jamie Tegerdine (assistant principal/Olevi professional coach/AST); Lydia Webb Marnham Road,Tuxford, Newark, Nottingham, NG22 0JH

email: bookings@tvtsa.co.uk web: www.tvtsa.co.uk

(lead practitioner/teacher of art). Marianne Atkins and Clare Grimes also both provide invaluable support.

We are delighted to welcome three new Olevi accredited facilitators to the team this year: Caroline Cresswell (teacher of English); Hannah Freeman (teacher of maths); and Hanna Morley (teacher of history).

Mrs Morley, Ms Cresswell and Mrs Freeman are the newest members of the Teaching School team.

The impact of the TVTSA programmes on our teams at Tuxford Academy has been significant: • Our teachers have had access to a wide range of in house Olevi accredited CPD programmes, enabling them to deepen their thinking about their practice.

• Our teachers and support staff have benefited from the coaching expertise of OTP and POC delegates.

• Each programme includes at least one ‘ward round’ where delegates visit our classrooms.Teachers always receive positive feedback in the form of postcards from these visits, boosting their confidence and morale.

• Our students are very used to having a wide range of teachers visit them during ‘ward rounds’ providing them with the opportunity to discuss their work and show off their strengths.

Like our students, we are always eager to learn so we are going to be spending some of the summer term training to facilitate the ‘OTP Plus’ programme- more on this next year.

If you would like any further information about our TVTSA CPD programmes, please contact matkins@tuxford-ac.org.uk

Twitter: @tvtsa

Academy Life

Jamie Tegerdine Assistant Principal /Olevi Professional Coach Excellence

through Partnership

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We hope you have a wonderful summer break and look forward to welcoming you all back in September!

Marnham Road, Tuxford, Newark, NG22 0JH

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Tel: 01777 870001

Fax: 01777 872155 Email: office@tuxford-ac.org.uk

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk