Tuxford academy life issue 4

ACADEMY Life

The official magazine of Tuxford Academy

Issue No. 4

“Loving Languages” “Rewards:

Super League 500”

Autumn Term 2015

Welcome to Academy Life Principal’s introduction Welcome to the autumn issue of Academy Life – our fantastic termly academy’s magazine.

This issue highlights some of the incredible achievements our students have experienced lately, such as our Food Forum’s powerful abattoir trip, which highlights the ‘step out of your comfort zone’, mature attitude our students have at the academy. This reminds me of a couple of inspirational pearls of wisdom motivational speaker Errol Lawson left with our Year 11 students at the beginning of term when he spoke to them about being courageous – “Everything you want to achieve is outside your comfort zone” and “Lift the lid on what you think is possible.”

The magazine also starts a series of helpful communications we will have with parents and students on Government changes which will begin to affect us all over the next few years. The first ‘Life Without Levels’ begins to basically explain the latest Government legislation on how we as an academy (along with the rest of the UK) will assess attainment and progress without using traditional progress levels. The second reform describes the changes to curriculum and grading for GCSEs, AS and A level qualifications. It’s reassuring to know that all of the changes should improve the accuracy of student progress and assessment and therefore support our students, parents, teachers and academy in the continual success of our students’ education.

Mr David Cotton, Executive Principal

Dates for your diary DECEMBER

FEBRUARY

2nd

Year 10 Progress Evening

1st

Y12/Y13 Academic Tutorials Week

3rd

Charity Christmas Market

10th

DALP Quiz

4th

Inset Day

11th

Non uniform day

7th

Inset Day

11th

KS3 Valentines Disco

8th

Year 9 Academic Tutorials Week

15th

Drama Department residential trip to London

9th

CEA Showcase Evening

15th

First day of Half Term Break

10th

Christmas Disco for Years 7-9

22nd

Inset Day

11th

Non-uniform – Christmas Jumper Day

23rd

School re-opens after Half Term

11th

Year 9 ‘Pintsize’ Theatre Production

15th

DALP Creative Arts Festival

17th

Year 7 Panto Trip to Nottingham

17th

Post 16 Celebration of Achievement Evening

21st

First day of Christmas Holiday

Editorial team Lauren Macfie, Post 16 Oliver Pridmore, Post 16

JANUARY

2

Zakkary Crossland Y8

Megan Sheeran, Y10

5th

School re-opens after Christmas Holiday

Stephanie Smith, Post 16

7th

DALP Panto Trip

Catherine Whitfield, Post 16

20th

Year 11 Progress Evening

26th

Y10 Positively Mad (motivational speaker)

Many thanks to all staff who contributed towards articles

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

Exam results 2015

News

History stars Rebecca Davidson, Leah Lam and Rachel Thacker – all achieved 400/400 UMS points across their three History GCSE exams and across their controlled assessments – “which is fantastically rare” says Miss Addison, Head of Humanities.

Stephanie Smith John Rolph, Chair of Governors, highlights September’s Governors’ report. To view the full report please visit www.tuxford-ac.org.uk/The-Governors-on-theAcademy-Board I am extremely proud of all our students’ results in both A level and GCSEs. The A level results were Tuxford Academy Post 16’s best ever, with 52% achieving A*-C in their examinations and nearly all our students being accepted into their first choice at university – very well done.

Youngest in the school’s history to complete AS History Year 10 stars – AS extended project • Ryan Dalby achieved an A* • Niall Holman achieved an A • Luke Pearce achieved a B

The headline GCSE figures are: • 5 A*-C including English and Maths = 68%

New Drama Studio

• Average point score (capped best 8) = 336 • Average point score = 368 Students and staff have worked tremendously hard in preparing for all examinations and we are pleased to say it has certainly paid off. Congratulations to all on their outstanding results.

We are pleased to advise that the building work to create drama studios and classrooms under the Humanities block is going well. Work is likely to continue all this term and we are all looking forward to having additional space next term.

Student wellbeing day The Year 7 students of Tuxford Academy took part in a ‘Student Wellbeing Day’ on Friday 26th June. The day focused on staying healthy, covering all aspects of personal wellbeing whilst having fun.

Self-esteem sessions on the day, discussed the influence magazines have on young people’s perception of body image, with the aim of offering reality checks and looking at how the media edit photographs to show an idealist version.

Guest speakers included St John Ambulance, Road Safety, Nottinghamshire Police, FREED-Beeches (Eating Disorders Service), and the School Nurse team, including sessions on self-esteem, British Values and physical activity.

Interactive activities allowed the students to compare these edited images to reality, and see how even toys and dolls have changed over time, giving young people a different view point of body image.

Academy Life

3

News

Reforming GCSE, AS and A level qualifications New GCSE grading structure New grading structure

Current grading structure

9

A*

8 A

7 6 5 4

In 2013 Michael Gove set out the Government’s vision for reforming existing qualifications and making them more challenging so that students are better prepared for further academic study or work.

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Reformed GCSEs will be introduced gradually over three years from September 2015. They will be graded 9-1, instead of A-G. Students taking GCSEs over this period will therefore receive a mixture of 9 to 1 and A* to G grades.

1

Changes to GCSEs • More demanding – students will take all exams at the end of two years • Non exam assessment will be reduced or removed in majority of GCSEs • New grading system scale 9-1 • Designed for two year period of study • A grade 5 will be considered a good pass rather than a C

GOOD PASS (DfE) 5 and above = top C and above

B

AWARDING C 4 and above = bottom C and above D E

2

U

F G U

Please Note: The above information has been adapted from the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (ofqual).

We will have regular communications about the changes via this magazine and at planned sessions for parents and students.

For further information please visit www.gov.uk/ofqual

Life without levels As part of Government reform assessment using levels has now ceased and schools are now expected to assess without levels. This is a change from the way that parents and students were provided with information on students' attainment and progress. Previously British schools used levels, for example levels 3-7, with each level divided into sections C, B, A, with C being the lowest and A the highest.

The thinking behind the new reform is that assessing a student without using levels is a fairer and more precise

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form of assessment, which will provide a more personalised assessment of each student. Teachers will assess the student based on all the skills required in a subject, which will provide a more accurate assessment of progress.

This provides all schools, including Tuxford Academy, the freedom to formulate their own way of assessing the progress of our students. Further information on how the academy will approach life without levels will be available later this term.

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

News

Tuxford students learn to save lives Tuxford Academy was proud to host their first Cardiac Risk Awareness Day on Friday 12th June for over 180 Year 9 students.

Tuxford Academy is proud to be one of the first schools to take part in this scheme, helping students gain vital life skills to take with them long beyond their academic studies.

Paramedic staff held workshops and taught the students essential lifesaving skills. Students took part in workshops, learning how to administer CPR and resuscitation techniques, practising on CPR dummies, learning about ECGs and the role of paramedics, as well as having a guided tour of an ambulance.

One Tuxford Academy Year 9 student said, “This is helpful information for life. Anyone you know, family or friend, could need this; it’s great to know how to do what is required to help.”

East Midland Ambulance Service (EMAS) are hoping to roll the programme out to a further 106 schools across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in 2015/16.

In 2012 Footballer Fabrice Muamba famously not only survived but made a full recovery thanks to the timely CPR and defibrillator administered at the scene; this was highly significant to his survival.

Post 16 Road Traffic Awareness event Tuxford Academy was proud to work alongside several agencies to provide first-hand insight into road safety for their Post 16 students on Friday 19th June.

Specialist teams from Edwinstowe Fire Station, Tuxford Specialist Rescue Team, Nottinghamshire Police, Nottinghamshire County Council Road Safety Service and Mansfield Magistrates Court attended the academy’s Road Traffic Collision Awareness event to provide reenactments, presentations and information sessions to boost student perception of road traffic incidents, accidents and consequences.

The day began with re-enactment of a two-vehicle collision, signifying a fatal road traffic accident. Students watched as the Fire Service staged a rescue operation and extrication following the incident, including police providing crowd control following the arrival of Fire and Rescue at the scene.

A number of safety presentations were given to the students from NFRS firefighters and representatives from Nottinghamshire Police and Nottinghamshire County Council.

The day focused on the implications of driver distraction and driving whilst under the influence of drugs/alcohol.

Andy Oxnard, firefighter in the NFRS North Community Safety Team said: “National statistics show that those aged 17-25 are at significantly higher risk of being killed or seriously injured as a result of a road traffic collision. We hope this will enable them to make safer decisions when they are behind the wheel.”

‘It was a stark reminder that accidents do happen especially to young drivers’ The afternoon session saw a courtroom scene, with real magistrates, played out as a real case with sentencing and witnesses.

‘The court room scene was very realistic!’

Academy Life

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News

Feedback from Transition Week Each year our academy puts lots of effort into ensuring that our new students find the transition from primary to secondary as smooth as possible. Activities included a range of fun water sports including kayaking and raft building. This year we collected some great feedback to show what some of our new students thought of the exciting week: “I liked going to Walesby because the water activities were fun and I made loads of new friends!”

“The lesson tasters were good because we learnt how to get around school on time and not be late!”

“The water activities were fun and I made loads of new friends!”

Summer School fun

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The first Tuxford Academy Transition Summer School took place from 4th - 7th August 2015. Over 120 of our new Year 7 students attended over the week and participated in a number of fun sporting activities including ultimate frisbee, archery, lacrosse, tchoukball, cricket, rounders and an inflatable football pitch.

Funding was secured to run the summer school through the DofE’s summer school initiative. “The funding allowed me to employ sports leaders and expert coaches from Urban Sports Bassetlaw - the leaders who are all students from Tuxford’s Post 16 Centre did an amazing job… as always!”

“The aim of the summer school was to enable students to build positive relationships with their new peers and most importantly have fun! I feel this was achieved.”

Oli Tatterson, Extended Services Coordinator.

A number of free places were given away through a prize draw at the Year 6 Transition Coffee Evening held at Tuxford Academy - the aim is to go bigger and better next year so watch this space!

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

News

Governor follows clothing container to Zambia Academy Governor, Ingrid Wiggins, recalls her life changing trip to Zambia as a member of the charity ‘National Police Aid Convoys’. The charity fills containers and sends them to schools and hospitals in countries that desperately need support.

“I was lucky to follow the container I helped pack all the way to some of the remotest parts of Zambia. We travelled for days in land rovers using local guides and drivers to get to parts of Zambia where the schools are struggling to teach in the most difficult conditions. Many schools didn’t know we were coming because they had no phones or electricity so it was even more amazing to appear unannounced and discover all the children at school working hard with one teacher, and all he had was a packet of chalk he had bought himself! Some children walk ten miles or more to get to school. Our guide carried a rifle but these children get to school without shoes, in the heat surrounded by lions, elephants and other wild animals.

There had been three fatalities with wild animals a fortnight before we arrived!”

If you would like to learn more about the charity, please visit www.npac.org.uk or, to see more photos of the container arriving go to www.facebook.com/pages/National-Police-Aid

‘‘What you do can make a difference in the world. Clothing banks pay for the containers.’’

Academy Life

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DALP

Warm welcome to new DALP Deputy Chief Executive Officer It’s a pleasure to introduce Debbie Clinton in her new role as Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the Diverse Academies Learning Partnership (DALP). Mrs Clinton will have the lead role in the leadership, management and development of all six of the DALP academies, which includes Tuxford Academy. Prior to joining DALP, Mrs Clinton has worked for Ofsted as one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and also as Principal of a large outstanding academy and trust in the North East of England. She is also a head teacher representative for the Freedom and Autonomy for Schools National Association (FASNA) and, occasionally, for the Department for Education. Debbie is looking forward to meeting parents during her visits to our academy and supporting Tuxford on its continuous road of success.

Ethics Debate The DALP Ethics Debate took place on Friday 10th July and consisted of 10 students from schools across the DALP academies. At the start of the day we spoke about British Values and Mr Simpson, Mr Stephen and Reverend Price spoke about what it meant to them.

We were split into groups and given topics to debate that face our generation such as the harmful effects of the

Internet, euthanasia and compulsory voting. The highlight of the day was the debating, our opinions were free flowing and we had an open, fair discussion.

It was a great day with fantastic company – people who can have a strong debate, but remain friends afterwards!

Rebecca Hinchliffe & Georgia Thornton, Post 16

Mini Bazaar for ‘Battle Batten’ On Friday 20th March, the DALP Student Engagement Committee held a mini bazaar to help raise money for a charity called Battle Batten. At the event, many activities were done to help the charity, such as a tombola stall, guess the number of marbles in the jar and lucky straws.

Successfully, the students, with the help of Mrs Dodd, Associate Leader, managed to raise just over £80 in one break time.

Megan Sheeran, Y10 student

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www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

DALP

Tuxford win DALP Games The annual DALP Games were held on Thursday 7th July at the Lee Westwood Centre, Nottingham Trent University.

Rain was forecast for the day, yet the less than favourable weather report did not dampen the DALP competitors sporting spirit on the day for the third annual DALP Games event. Instead when each academy arrived, the sun came out and was perfect for the opening ceremony. Talented dancers from each academy performed to the competitors, which set up the games for an exciting day. During the morning all schools competed outside on either grass or on the all-weather pitch in activities which included tug of war, obstacle, futsal, table tennis and rounders. As is every year, the tug of war was particularly exciting with the competitors showing fantastic team work and determination. The obstacle this year also saw a real gymnastics box being incorporated into the race, although how Retford Oaks Academy managed to get it on the bus is another matter?!

As soon as the last morning activity arrived the heavens opened and rain began to fall. Luckily all afternoon activities were held in the sports centre where the teams of students from Years 6-10 competed in a variety of sports hall athletics, including relays, hurdles and a couple of distance runs. This year for the first time pupils from Tuxford Primary Academy (TPA) competed in the games, who all thoroughly enjoyed the whole sporting experience.

The pupils competed in every afternoon athletics race, with a time advantage, and when asked if they were excited to be competing against the older students from the DALP academies said, “It was brilliant and really exciting.”

Also for the first time in DALP Games history, the DALP Student Engagement Committee ran fundraising stalls at the event. The group, which have been meeting and raising money all year for ‘Battle Batten', a local charity which raises funds for a genetic disease of the nervous system – ‘Batten Disease’. The students sold cakes, biscuits, drinks and did face painting and raised £124.50 for the charity.

Finally, the entire day was coordinated by young leaders from each academy, along with DALP staff, who did a fantastic job of collecting score sheets, encouraging the competitors and organising the events. Mrs Manning, DALP Student Engagement Coordinator thanked everyone who had helped ensuring the event ran so smoothly on the day.

“The young leaders were brilliant. Their mature attitude at the event was really impressive.”

The games concluded with Mr Chris Pickering, DALP Chief Executive Officer, thanking everyone for taking part and congratulating them on their performances and for such a fantastic event. Every student/pupil that competed in the event took home a well done medal and for Tuxford a shield to display in their trophy cabinet – until DALP Games 2016!

Final scores on the day were: National

ELA

Retford

Tuxford

Holgate

186

204

152

230

132

Well done Tuxford Academy and to all involved.

Academy Life

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Charity

Each year, Tuxford Academy raises thousands of pounds for charity – below is a small selection of money raised in the last few months.

Supporting local charity The last curriculum day in February this year was predominately focused on PE in all aspects of various subjects.

They arranged different trips and activities throughout the day, both out of school and within. This included the Creative Arts Department, who were set the task of designing a new PE shirt for the academy. Over 200 t-shirts were made by small groups of students using fabric pens.

The academy supports CHinK (Children in Kenya) a local charity based in Tuxford. It was suggested to donate the t-shirts to this charity. This charity is dedicated to helping and educating children who live in Kenya – the charity runs an academy with 157 students.

“I was aware that CHinK did a lot of sports and we support CHinK as a school, so I gave them a ring and they were more than grateful to receive the shirts. What was even more lovely was that they sent us photos of the students in Kenya wearing them!” said Mrs Hall, support staff.

Stephanie Smith, Post 16 student

Students win £2065 for academy in Dragons’ Den pitch During the summer term, three groups of Tuxford students took part in a ‘Dragons’ Den’ scenario to pitch for money towards their chosen projects around school. The fantastic presentations included: supporting an event to raise money for a homeless charity, a new student reward/scheme and extra seating and décor to the new cabana social/eating area in the quad. Members of the Retford Rotary Club (or Dragons!) played the part of the Dragons fantastically, really putting our young entrepreneurs to the test with their questions on background information, facts and their research into their projects. After a nail biting few weeks, the Lions came back with the decision to financially support the reward badges, new sports kits, new benches for the remaining cabanas and decorative items which will enhance the use of our new eating area at the academy.

Many thanks to all involved and to the Retford Rotary Club again for their support of our students and academy.

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Kris Scott, Daniel King & Jonathan Stanfield-Warren wearing new sports kits generously donated by Retford Rotary Club

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

Gardening

Gardening tips It’s time to put some compost and well-rotted manure on the vegetable beds following the harvesting of our crops.

It is also time to look at what needs cutting back and moving to a better spot.

We are now well in the autumn season – enjoy the beautiful colours before all the leaves drop and we enter into the winter season!

Alan Hardy, Academy Gardener

If you would like to see a splash of colour in the spring with daffodils, tulips, etc. now is the time to plant your spring bulbs.

Miss Watkins, food technology teacher recommends Mary Berry’s apple dessert cake for a cozy winter treat I’ve been doing this special and remarkably easy recipe for years. The apples can be windfalls or even shrivelled ones left in the fruit bowl. Serve warm with ice cream or crème fraiche as a dessert, or with coffee in the morning as one would a Danish pastry, again warm, dusted with icing sugar.

Mix well until blended then beat for a minute.

Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes

This is an awkward thing to do, but just make sure that the mixture covers the centre well as it will spread out in the oven. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

Ingredients (serves 6): • 225g (8oz) self-raising flour • 1 level teaspoon baking powder • 225g (8oz) caster sugar • 2 eggs

Spread half this mixture into the prepared tin. Thickly slice the apples and lay on top of the mixture in the tin, piling mostly towards the centre. Using 2 dessertspoons, roughly spoon the remaining mixture over the apples.

Bake in the preheated oven for 1¼–1½ hours until golden and coming away from the sides of the tin.

Recipe taken with thanks from Mary Berry cook book.

• ½ teaspoon almond extract • 150g (5oz) butter, melted • 350g (12oz) cooking apples, peeled and cored • 25g (1oz) flaked almonds Method: Preheat the oven to 160ºC/Fan 140ºC/Gas 3.

Lightly grease a deep 20cm (8in) loose-bottomed cake tin.

Measure the flour, baking powder, sugar, eggs, almond extract and melted butter into a bowl.

Academy Life

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Academy Focus

Food Forum visit On Friday 26th June, Tuxford Academy Food Forum group took the mature decision to visit an abattoir to see first-hand where the food on their school menu comes from. Donna Baines, Nottinghamshire County Council Food Development Manager who accompanied the group said “The field to fork visit was a unique opportunity for the students to see the excellent quality of meat used and where the meat in our school originates from.” Student Kathryn Daly, age 13 said, “I’m happy that the animals had a good life before coming to the abattoir.”

Fellow student Jamie Martin said “It was a really interesting visit and it showed me the excellent quality of meat used in our school dinners. After today I will continue to eat meat as it is an excellent source of protein.”

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The students also visited Spittlemoor Farm at Bothamsall, where John Walker, Farm Manager, explained how the pigs were reared. As well as holding new born piglets the students took a trailer ride around the farm and were shown how the animals’ welfare on the farm is of the utmost importance.

Mrs Dodd, Tuxford Academy, said of the visit: “The students saw the whole process from where they are reared to the animals’ arrival at the abattoir to the slaughtering process. It was both enlightening and educational. The students showed a very mature attitude and had the option to leave at any point. I am proud that we have addressed, experienced and learnt from this important trip which has been valuable to the Food Forum’s discussions.”

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

Academy Focus

Studying languages is cool and the career possibilities endless inspiring our younger students and sharing the fantastic experiences and careers that have come about through studying languages at school, Post 16 and university.

We also have many Year 12 and 13 students who love languages. If our students want to find out more about studying languages, please contact, Tuxford MFL faculty or one of the many students who helped out magnificently at our annual Open Evening – they will have the answers!

Former student is flying high!

Part of the reason Alexander Macdonald chose Tuxford Academy was that the Post 16 Centre offered Spanish A level and his previous school did not.

Did you know that students at Tuxford Academy are extremely lucky when it comes to learning modern foreign languages? Not only do our students get the option of choosing from three modern foreign languages (German, Spanish and French) – we are one of only a few schools in the county offering this – they also have the advantage of working with a talented, highly experienced group of teachers and teaching assistants. This includes the latest addition to the faculty, Audrey Desince, our new French Canadian, French Assistant from Quebec, Canada, who promises to put a different cultural perspective on learning the language. “‘The Year 8 trip to Paris is always popular, and provides our students with the real life opportunity of practising French and soaking in the culture of this beautiful, vibrant city” said Mr Creegan, Head of MFL. Could this and the positive role models we have in school be a reason that an increasing number of students are opting to study languages at GCSE and A level at Tuxford?

“I found the best thing during the course were the supportive members of staff making Spanish easily the most enjoyable of my three A levels. I only had two course mates in my second year and so any problems or uncertainties about the course material were quickly dealt with and I would rarely leave a lesson unsure about what we had just covered.”

“My ambition after leaving school was always to pursue my dream of becoming a commercial pilot and I enrolled on an intensive 16 month course the following October after finishing my A levels at a prestigious flying academy in Oxford. I spent six months of last year having the time of my life flying out of Phoenix, Arizona and returned to the UK to finish my studies and graduated in April. A month later I accepted a position as a First Officer with EasyJet and will move to one of their 26 European bases later this year. I also recently learned that the company will be opening a base in Barcelona in 2016 and so I’d definitely hope to be working from there!”

“Learning a language is a skill for life” added Mr Creegan, “It is a very attractive subject to the top universities that our students are applying for.” Two shining examples include Cameron Ridgway, who left Tuxford at the end of July this year, with top grades (B & A) in Spanish & French A levels and was snapped up by Southampton University.

Whilst Rosalind Cooper, has gone on to Russell group university, Durham to study French.

Not only have many of our students gone on to diverse, exciting careers through studying languages, but they have stayed in touch since leaving the academy in the hope of

Academy Life

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Academy Focus

Exciting new reward scheme at the academy Rewarding our students is one of the best things about working at our academy, and watching them respond positively to new incentives is remarkable. In response to the increased levels of effort, behaviour, and attendance we have seen this year, a new ‘Super League 500’ reward level has been put in place.

Of course, not all students will reach 500 PARS points this year, but we are equally proud of all our students who are nearing a reward prize threshold, and we can reassure you that we will continue to encourage, praise and reward everyone for great effort, personal development and achievement at school.

500 club member Megan Sherman, Y10 (featured on our front cover) discusses her experience of the award: “When the 500 point award was made, I didn’t think much of it as it wasn’t very appealing to me personally.

Yet, as the months went on and I had gained more points, it became quite an interesting and unique idea. The concept of a tie clip or a badge gave the chance to be an individual and to have something that stands out in the midst of badges. Actually getting it, was like a challenge because it wasn’t very easy to achieve – however, when I did receive the award, I felt like it was worth it and that I had something to be proud of. As a student it made me feel school was trying to focus on the positive students as much as the negative.”

Students lead e-learning research iLearn is a student led forum which is part of the e-learning research and development team at Tuxford Academy. We have ten students from all year groups in the school whose primary focus is to investigate possible e-learning strategies we may wish to use as part of our teaching and learning at the academy. The group of students have loan of an iPad for the academic year and can take them home to use as well. Tuxford Academy uses software management to carefully control what students have access to on their iPads. The students have been involved in several trials this year including

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SocrativeTM which is a great AfL app. FoldrTM allows students to access their network account and save documents. PadletTM allows students to easily engage in their lessons and share ideas with their peers in lessons.

“I like having an iPad at school because it’s easier to research and find answers for my homework. It’s really useful to have access to learning apps in class and I use it as a planner and can make notes in class,” Luke Hatton, Year 9.

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

Academy Focus

Mr Griffiths’ favourite books I have always been a keen reader of all books, fiction and non-fiction, from an early age. I obviously read lots of history books and have just finished a fantastic book on Anglo-Saxon England in 1000 A.D. which was full of interesting facts such as what they used as toilet paper and their saucy sense of humour.

The book I am currently reading is an autobiography by John Lydon, aka Jonny Rotten, who was the lead singer and writer for the infamous punk band, the Sex Pistols. If I have a favourite reading genre, it is probably modern crime – I have enjoyed reading the Inspector Rebus series, set in Edinburgh by Ian Rankin; the Inspector Grace series by Peter James; the Kurt Wallender series by Henning Mankell and the American crime novels by James Ellroy.

I find reading very relaxing, and look forward to topping up my prehistoric first edition kindle for the summer holiday, where, when I am not being asked to mess about in the pool by my children, I can get down to some quality time reading.

It is too difficult to name a list of my favourite books, but three recent books which made me think were ‘The Kite Runner’

by Khaled Hosseini, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time’

by Mark Haddon and ‘The Wasp Factory’ by Ian Banks.

The last book in the list is original but a little disturbing, so is probably best read when you are in the senior years at school. Reading can be inspirational, educational but most of all fun – and it is also free when using local library facilities, so treat yourself to a new experience today.

Magical book review Year 7 student Rhoanna Murphy gives her thoughts on one of her favourite books: ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’.

The Harry Potter book series is all about a boy whose parents have died. He lives with his auntie, uncle and cousin who treat him like rubbish and he wishes he could be rescued.

The first book in this magical series is ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. In this book, Harry learns about the world of wizarding and witchcraft and the famous school Hogwarts. Harry’s guardians obviously disapprove of him going to Hogwarts but an unlikely friend comes to the rescue.

I recommend this book to anyone up for a good, exciting, dramatic read and I rate it a full five stars. I could read this book over and over again. Nothing beats sitting down on the sofa and reading a good book.

‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ is the first in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series of seven novels, selling in excess of 400 million copies world-wide.

Academy Life

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Achievement & Awards

Challenging Shakespearean play is a

huge success

‘Romeo & Juliet’ marks the first time we have attempted to stage one of Shakespeare’s plays. We knew it would be a challenge, not only the complex language, but also the well-written characters that require a real attention to detail. However, as always our students rose to the challenge.

George Bartlett, Post 16 student explained “Well at first I found it a bit daunting, however, if you can stick with the old English language challenge, in the end it's worth it.”

Our aim was to create an exciting piece of theatre that made Shakespeare’s story relevant and engaging for a modern audience. Setting the piece against the backdrop of the 2011 London riots provided a point of reference and a sense of familiarity for our contemporary audience.

The modern setting also meant some barriers were removed and our own students could relate to the piece.

The opening of the piece involved every single member of our 50+ strong cast, all engaged in a fierce battle between the two families; The Montagues and the Capulets. The cast worked an ensemble and a great deal of time and effort was spent ensuring the movement sequences were powerful and carefully choreographed.

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The focus of the piece is of course the love story and we wanted to put this at the forefront of the piece.

Romeo and Juliet’s story of forbidden love is something everybody can relate to and empathise with therefore we strived to make the relationship as believable and engaging as possible. We were heavily influenced by the theatre company ‘Frantic Assembly’ who make movement a key element of their work. Physical theatre is a style of theatre that puts the body at the forefront of the storytelling, through the body an actor can communicate their inner feelings, thoughts and desires.

Claire Donlan-Harrison, parent & governor, enjoyed the performance, “A wonderful production and well done to all involved, cast, production and staff.”

Miss Smith and I were immensely proud of our students’ achievement. To tackle such a mature and complex piece of work and create something that felt fresh, exciting and highly engaging is a real triumph. We look forward to welcoming you back for our KS3 Production of ‘Our Day Out’ in February 2016 and our summer musical in July 2016.

Mr Nick Cox, Head of Drama

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

Achievement & Awards

Drumming Boogie Earlier in the year, Mr Gary Haynes, the percussion peripatetic at school, asked his students to perform in a concert. On Friday 19th June, the ‘Drum Boogie’ took place in the school hall. It was a spectacular event showcasing the talents of many drummers all showing off what they had learnt during the year. A range of different music styles were played to an appreciative audience. “I get very nervous for my students because I know how hard it is,” Mr Haynes said in an interview. He went on to say “The event went very well and there was an extreme level of performance.” Next year Mr Haynes would like to add comedy to these concerts and also start using some live music instead of using speakers.

Mr Haynes is starting a Thursday lunch club and would love

to start getting the students to do scenes from ‘Stomp’. He has also been ordering new learning equipment so that the students can go further with the learning experience. The tech has been ordered so that the students can start learning to record their own music!

Zakkary Crossland, Y8 student

New steel drum band Tuxford Academy’s Music Department has acquired a set of steel drums! The steel drums are made up of five treble pans, four double seconds, six bass pans and will be used for GCSE. The drums have already been put to good use by our

students, mostly made up of sixth formers. They are going to play at open evenings, sports days and showcases.

Zakkary Crossland, Y8 student

Did you know that steel drums originated in Trinidad and Tobago.

People who play steel drums are called pannists?

Academy Life

17

Achievement & Awards

Changing temperatures don’t dampen spirits Our intrepid Duke of Edinburgh students once again battle the elements, showing incredible spirt and determination.

The weather on the practice expedition was really humid meaning it made the walk hard for us as it slowed us down. We walked from Elkesley to Clumber Park, and then to South Forest Leisure Centre in Edwinstowe. The planning stages for the final expedition were much easier to do because it meant that we could use and adapt the resources we had made in the practice expedition stages.

Fortunately, the weather was much colder on the final expedition making walking conditions easier.

on their expedition in July. They had to walk about 20 miles over the two days, camping overnight and carrying all of their tents and food etc. They had to contend with floods from the thunderstorms, Saharan heat and savage mosquitoes but they all finished the route which was a real achievement.”

“I chose to do the award because I thought it would be fun and it would look good on my CV in the future.”, said Megan Sheeran, Year 10 student.

Tom Atherton, Post 16 Enrichment Leader commented: “We took about 30 Year 9 students and a few Year 10s

Mr Roe recalls life at Tuxford 40 years ago I walked up the drive to Tuxford Comprehensive School (as it was called then) at the beginning of the summer term in 1975 and fell over a couple of chickens running about in front of the main entrance. I looked to my left and saw 3 pigsties, each with a sow and piglets snuffling about inside, and thought “This looks an interesting place to work in.” 40 years later it’s still just as interesting but so different: in 1975 we were teaching in a school that had no computers, no emails, no mobiles, no smart boards; and black boards with chalk instead of white boards with marker pens.

I was officially “Head of Boys’ PE.” which just meant that I was the only male PE teacher in the school. I had a colleague with a similar title who was the girls’ PE teacher: we worked together occasionally, for swimming lessons (at Retford) and on Sports Day, but that was about all: I mean, whoever heard of girls playing football, rugby or cricket: or boys playing rounders?!

After 40 years it’s easy to start boring people with long lists of memoirs and I don’t want to do that, so I’ll try to stick to a few that stand out and which remind me of the incredible changes that happened over the years:

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• Standing on a muddy field in the middle of Nottinghamshire watching our Year 11 football team put six goals past the opposition to win our first County Cup

• Driving a school minibus on our early residential trips to France: round the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs Elysees, and parking, right under the Eiffel Tower! Can’t see that happening again!

•

A team of Teaching Assistants supporting a young man with Muscular Dystrophy, who despite his increasing immobility went on to get his A levels and win a place at Lincoln University. That’s the sort of care and attention students can expect at Tuxford.

Mr Bill Roe, Retired Teacher, (40 years valuable service at Tuxford).

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

Achievement & Awards

A dream is born The Children of Courage Award, which is organised by the Newark Rotary Club, recognised Rebecca’s courage and dedication as a full time carer to her mother.

Becky was honoured to receive the award and saw it as a way of promoting the good work that carers do. “I agreed to be nominated as a way of helping other carers.”

As a reward for being such a remarkable young person, Morgan Tucker, Consultant Engineers who supported the good cause, found ways to help each of the finalists achieve their career aspirations. Rebecca dreams of becoming a midwife and so arrangements were made for her to observe a midwife introductory course at Kingsmill Hospital.

Following on from receiving her Courage Award from the Rotary Club in Sherwood & Bassetlaw District, Rebecca was offered work experience at Kings Mill Hospital in Mansfield on 4th September for one day. Rebecca went into a meeting as there was a staff training day for midwives – they talked about new and upcoming techniques in midwifery and situations that could potentially arise. Over lunch the midwives told her all about what midwifery means to them, giving her information about the good and bad sides of the job. Rebecca was then able to look round the labour ward, post-natal unit and chat to the midwives.

Rebecca is hoping to get further work experience in her own time and hopes to see a baby delivered. She is also hoping to go to Tanzania at Easter. This trip will cost £2,000 – Rebecca is doing lots of fundraising – the school Charity Committee will also help. Good luck Rebecca.

Students receive Courage Awards

Exemplary student raises money for Cystic Fibrosis Year 12 student Isobel Skelton recently raised more than £1000 for charity. With the help of friends, Isobel held an afternoon tea themed event earlier this year and raised a total of £1045 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. She felt that the fundraiser had been a success: “I was so pleased with how it went, I never thought that I would raise that much money.”

is such a fantastic charity that helps so many people and does some great things so I just wanted to give back really.”

The event was held in Isobel’s local village hall with around 80 people attending. Although her friends helped out on the day it was Isobel herself who organised the event and she explained why she wanted to do it: “I actually have cystic fibrosis and I just think the trust

Isobel received a Courage Award in June this year from Bassetlaw District Council for dealing with her illness in such a quiet and unassuming manner.

Isobel was helped out on the day by fellow students: Abbie Small, Amy Hyde, Jess Hogg, Olivia Barratt and Robyn Abel.

Oliver Pridmore, Post 16 student

Academy Life

19

Sport

Student advises others to train hard to succeed Morgan Spink in Year 9 has been involved in athletics since the end of her time in Primary School where she found athletics was something she thoroughly enjoyed. She trains twice a week with a group of people of various ages and Morgan started to compete towards the end of Year 7 after a lot of training in cross country. In June this year Morgan competed for Notts Schools AA in the Midland Schools Combined Events Championships at Nuneaton.

Morgan said “The event was hard to train for and I was extremely nervous.” However, Morgan had no need to be

nervous at all when she came 7th out of 28 athletes, which is a fantastic achievement as she was competing as a Year 8 against Year 8/9 athletes. Not only this, but Morgan achieved new personal bests in three events – the 75m Hurdles, High Jump and Shot Putt as well as bringing her 75m Hurdles time down from 13.9 to an amazing 12.1, which was her time on the day.

Morgan’s goal is to compete in the English Cross Country, which is a huge event for students in Years 9-11.

Furthermore, she would like to make a career in athletics and perhaps become the next Jessica Ennis-Hill! Her advice to anyone getting involved in athletics is to train hard and be committed and enjoy it. We have no doubt we will be hearing more of Morgan’s athletic achievements in the future.

Lauren Macfie, Post 16 student

Love of gymnastics overcomes all At the age of seven, student Georgia Shearman in Year 11, found her love for gymnastics, and even after being diagnosed with Scoliosis a few years later, increasingly inspires people by continuing to do what she loves.

Two years ago, Georgia was admitted to Sheffield Children’s Hospital for a major operation which meant inserting two titanium rods permanently into her back to help cope with the disability. Even after this life changing operation, she was back doing gymnastics only six months later! She stated how her coach also had the same operation, and despite there being some difficulties such as shortness of breath, support and personal determination have kept Georgia going.

Recently Georgia has advanced to the next level of gymnastics, and as of September this year took part in the British Disability Gymnastics Championship at Bolton Arena, coming second in all four categories: bars, beams, floor, and vault, winning her five silver medals. As well as this, Georgia was nominated by the Lord’s Taverners organisation, and won Junior British Disability Champion: an outstanding achievement. She mentioned that despite being small, the organisation has helped to raise a lot of awareness, investing in people and sport no matter what their abilities may be.

Georgia agreed that she is proud of her achievements and despite her disability, she just carries on enjoying what she loves doing most!

Catherine Whitfield, Post 16 student

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www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

Sport

Ella Surguy – Taekwondo Champ Tuxford Academy student Ella Surguy has been doing Taekwondo for 18 months now, after she was inspired by her brothers - one of which is a national Champion.

Ella explained how Taekwondo teaches self-defence, and mentioned that it’s made her more confident in being able to do so. Travelling to competitions in Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley, and Liverpool have resulted in five gold medals and a silver so far. As well as this, Ella now has a bronze medal in The British Taekwondo National Championships!

Attending training four times a week at Kang Han, Mansfield Woodhouse, she stated “I feel at home when I am in the ring”. Ella described her idol Jade Jones (Olympian), to be really inspirational, after participating in a training day with her not so long ago. She described how she feels proud and happy when she wins, and aims to eventually work her way to becoming an Olympian in Taekwondo!

Catherine Whitfield, Post 16 student

Record day at Sports Day Sports Day at Tuxford Academy is a brilliant way of getting all the students to participate and compete in many different sporting competitions. This year six records were broken by our students. It was an exciting day for everyone involved with Beech College triumphantly winning the sports day trophy! Well done Beech College.

Finally congratulations to Jack Gardham and Lauren Miller who were awarded top performers by staff on the day.

New Records: • Y9 girls 300m record was broken by Alyss Hill, was 49.19s now 48.04s • Y10 girls 300m record was broken by Lauren Miller, was 48.77s now 48.05s • Y8 girls 800m record was broken by Morgan Spink, was 2.42.69 now 2.41.57 • Y9 boys 800m record was broken by Ryan Mills, was 2.28.01 now 2.27.07 – this record has been held since 1980!

• Y10 boys Relay record was broken by Beech, was 50.02s now 48.43s (second place Willow also broke the record with a time of 49.56s!)

• Y8 girls High Jump was broken by Morgan Spink, was 1.42m now 1.43m Danielle Hagland, Post 16 student Academy Life

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Sport

Sports Results

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Date

Event

Result

12.10.15

Y11 Boys' Football

v Ridgewood Academy

Lost 4-2

12.10.15

Y9 Boys' Football (County Cup and Town Cup)

v Garibaldi College

Won 7-1

07.10.15

P16 Football (County Cup and Town Cup)

v Garibaldi College

Won 5-1

07.10.15

Y10/11 Girls' Netball

v Outwood Valley

Won 2-0

07.10.15

P16 Boys' Football

v Arnold Hill

Lost 10-1

07.10.15

U13 Girls' Football

v Hayfield Doncaster

Lost 1-0

07.10.15

Awarded ‘silver’ School Games Mark

05.10.15

Y10 Boys' Football

v Sir Thomas Wharton Academy, Doncaster

Lost 4-1

05.10.15

Y9 Boys' Football Nottinghamshire County Cup

v Trinity RC School

Lost 2-1

05.10.15

Y7 Boys' Football

v Bluecoat Academy

Lost

01.10.15

U15 Girls' Football

v Henry Farnshaw

Lost 4-0

01.10.15

U18 Girls' Football

v Henry Farnshaw

Won

01.10.15

Y11/12 Boys' Football (Schools Football Cup)

v Hayfield School

Lost 4-1

29.09.15

Y8 Boys' Football

v Newfield School

Lost 4-1

29.09.15

P16 Boys' Rugby

v Quarry Dale

Won 40-19

23.09.15

Y8 Boys' Football

v Elizabethan

Drew 3-3

23.09.15

Y10 Boys' Football

v Elizabethan

Lost 5-0

23.09.15

Y8 Boys' Football

v Elizabethan

Drew 3-3

23.09.15

Y10 Boys' Football

v Elizabethan

Lost 5-0

22.09.15

Y11 Boys' Football (school's football competition)

v Hungerhill

Lost 4-3

17.09.15

Y8 Boys' Football

v Don Valley Academy

Won 6-5

16.09.15

Y7 Boys' Football

v Elizabethan

Won 9-1

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk

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Facilities

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Opening Times

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Academy Life

23

40 Years

at Tuxford Academy

Happy retirement Mr Roe

Marnham Road, Tuxford, Newark, NG22 0JH

Tel: 01777 870001

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

www.tuxford-ac.org.uk