Newsletter 2014

The Samworth Church Academy

Newsletter July 2014

Content Principal’s Message Round Square Hardwick School Newstead School Rufford School Sherwood School Welbeck School Year 7 Sixth Form Whole Academy Wider Curricular Support Within The Community

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Academy Awarded Regional Round Square Membership On Saturday the 24th of January 2014 it was announced at the Regional Round Square meeting held in Switzerland that The Samworth Church Academy had officially been accepted as a Regional Member.

Round Square is a world-wide association of schools on five continents sharing unique and ambitious goals. Students attending Round Square schools make a strong commitment, beyond academic excellence, to personal development and responsibility.

Blue Peter Visit Student Run ‘Balcony’ Restaurant Student run ‘The Balcony’ restaurant, has attracted the attention of the BBC’s iconic program, Blue Peter, who filmed at the Academy for a programme that was aired in October 2013.

This is the second time that the BBC has filmed the hospitality and catering; earlier in the year they were filmed live for BBC Breakfast.

Joining the students was presenter Radzi Chinyanganya, and he joined Elisha Chell, Head Chef and Year 10 student to prepare a dessert. She said, “It was a great experience and a privilege to be head chef for the day and also to work with Blue Peter. Radzi had great hair and it was fun teaching him how to cook and bake. I’m looking

forward to our next event!”

Callum Williams was in charge of the vegetable soup preparation and said, “We have to make sure that everything is done on time because we don’t want members of the public waiting. There is more pressure than when I cook at home!”

The meal was deemed a success and students were anxious to see the finished article televised. Charlotte Baguley said she enjoyed learning new skills in a professional setting and is pleased that the team at Blue Peter think that what they are doing is something to be proud of. Students were invited to cook live with Radzi at the BBC Studios.

1

. . . being the best we can be

Diary Dates 2014

Principal’s Message

Friday 18th July Last Day of the Summer Term

Wednesday 13th August GCE Results Day

Wednesday 20th August GCSE Results Day

Wednesday 3rd September Start of the Autumn Term 2014

Thursday 25th September Midsummer Night’s Dream Performance

Friday 26th September Midsummer Night’s Dream Performance

Message From Mr Barry Found, Principal Starting in September 2014 I am currently an experienced Principal working within the Outwood Grange Academies Trust, having led two schools, (Ripon College in North Yorkshire and Outwood Academy Adwick in Doncaster) through periods of transformational change and improvement. I have worked in schools predominantly in the South Yorkshire area, particularly Barnsley and Doncaster, beginning my career as a Chemistry teacher and subsequently as a Head of Science and into Senior Leadership.

I am very much looking forward to working with the young people, staff, parents and governors of The Samworth Church Academy. I am looking forward to helping to build upon the significant successes which have been achieved to date. The Academy has a huge potential to become not just an outstanding school as judged by OfSTED in the future, but also a fantastic place to learn, develop and contribute to the community that is The Samworth Church Academy and also the community it serves. I am delighted that I have been given the chance to play a major role in shaping its future.

2

Round Square As I write this message our Year 13 students have almost finished their A Level examinations and are preparing to leave the Academy to move on to a great variety of wonderful experiences.

Although this happens every year, there is a particular poignancy or relevance for this particular year. Our Year 13 students are the last students in the Academy who spent some of their education at our predecessor school Sherwood Hall. When our new timetable starts in July there will be no students who have

known anything else other than The Samworth Church Academy for their secondary education on this site. To paraphrase Winston Churchill for The Samworth Church Academy “this is definitely the end of the beginning”.

Although it is coincidence, I think this is the perfect time for my own career in education to come to an end.

I have been involved in education for almost 40 years and I have been a Head Teacher or Principal for almost 20 years. It is with complete certainty that I am able to say that the last 7 years working at The Samworth Church Academy have been without doubt the most professionally rewarding and enjoyable of my career.

It has been a genuine privilege to work with our community. A community that is very similar in character to where I grew up in the West Yorkshire Coalfield.

I have met our new Principal, Mr Barry Found, on a number of occasions now as we work together planning the transition and handover that is important and necessary. Mr Found will be visiting the Academy this term and starting to get to know staff, students and definitely some parents. I am absolutely confident that The Samworth Church Academy will be in good hands when Mr Found takes over as Principal on 1st September.

I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to our staff, our parental community and our students for all the support they have given our Academy since we opened in September 2008. I would also like to thank the wider Mansfield Community, our Governors, our Sponsors (Sir David Samworth and the Diocese) and our Chair of Governors Mr Nick Linney for the opportunities and experiences that I have gained so much from in my time here. I am confident that our Academy will continue to improve and will have a long and successful future that will be judged by the success of our students and the success of the lives that they will go onto lead.

Thank you and God bless each and every one of you.

Mike Griffiths

Leadership Team From September 2014

Mr B Found Principal

Mrs L McVeigh Vice Principal Hardwick School

Mr I James Vice Principal Newstead School

being the best we can be . . .

Round Square Regional Membership Awarded To The Academy On Saturday the 24th of January 2014 it was announced at the Regional Round Square meeting held in Switzerland that The Samworth Church Academy had officially been accepted as a Regional Member. Our Academy is the first ever State School to hold regional membership in Europe.

Round Square is a world-wide association of schools on five continents sharing unique and ambitious goals. Students attending Round Square schools make a strong commitment, beyond academic excellence, to personal development and responsibility.

The Round Square approach promotes six IDEALS of learning: Internationalism, Democracy, Environment, Adventure, Leadership and Service. These are incorporated into the curriculum throughout all member schools.

Access to the Round Square network affords member schools the opportunity to arrange local and international student and teacher exchanges on a regular basis between their schools.

Newstead student Megan Brown is currently studying at Birklehof School in Hinterzarten, Germany on our first student exchange.

Pupils also have the opportunity to participate in local and international community service projects and conferences. Tasks tackled through the community projects include building schools, classrooms and community centres; building clean water systems for remote hill-tribes or creating and maintaining trails in National Parks. Local materials are used, and teams always work with local people ensuring that they take ownership of the work once it has been completed. Round Square teams currently work in Thailand, Cambodia, Peru, Honduras, India, Kenya, South Africa, Romania, and Canada.

Samworth have been invited to a number of international events this year including the Round Square International Conference at The Sanskaar Valley School India, the International Theatre Festival at El Araki School Marrakesh, the Adventure Conference at Gordonstoun and to regional conferences in Germany, Switzerland and Transylvania to name a few.

Round Square aims to equip school children for the future by combining the 6 IDEALS of international understanding, democracy, environmental stewardship, adventure, leadership and service. Activities organised or facilitated by Round Square and its schools for young people in order to promote these IDEALS include: • Round Square conferences, which are run both internationally and regionally; • Round Square International Service Projects, addressing community issues in remote locations; • Regional Projects, which are smaller scale international projects and conferences presented both nationally and internationally; • Local and international student and teacher exchanges, which are facilitated between member schools within the Round Square network; • Round Square Global Forum

Years 7 and 8 Students Attend The Round Square Conference in South Africa In May this Year two Year 7 and two Year 8 students went on a trip to South Africa to the International Round Square Conference. When we arrived we met up with Tyla Fazey who had been at Camp Discovery for a week already; training to be one of the facilitators for the conference. Our students worked on a range of activities based around the Round Square IDEALS. The main purpose of the conference was to learn about protecting the environment. They came up with the pledges ‘to plant more trees to save the environment’ and ‘to bike or walk to school to save pollution and animals getting killed’.

There were students from all around the world at the conference, speaking a wide range of other languages; our students were fully immersed in the cultural experience, set up in Barazza groups with these other students, making lifelong friends. The students took part in so many different activities; from touring Johannesburg to going on Safari to try and sum them up here would be impossible.

One of our students Costi Nita said ‘The best experience of my life, others should do it. The best bit in Africa was when I did raft building. I learnt to take more of a leadership role and to help others so we can succeed’.

Student ExchangeTo Germany By Megan BrownYear 11

Mr R Wheatcroft Vice Principal Rufford School

Mr C Storey Vice Principal Sherwood School

Mrs V Preece Vice Principal Welbeck School

I would just like to say a few words about my student exchange to Germany earlier this year. As a member of the Round Square Organisation at The Samworth Church Academy I was given the opportunity to go to Birklehof schule in Germany. I flew to Switzerland and was met by a student who escorted me there.

I was expected to attend lessons that the other students took part in including German, Maths, English and Art (which wasn’t my favourite). I stayed in the boarding house with other girls. We had study time in the evening and also some free time to get to know each other better.

During the weekend we had to attend school in the morning but then the rest of the day was free time. Some of the students took me to the local town where I tried various, traditional German food.

I would encourage any student that is offered this opportunity to embrace it with an open mind and make the most of it.

3

. . . being the best we can be

Christian Ethos Week Ends In ‘Incredible’ Show Students at the Academy have taken part in a ‘Christian Ethos’ week, exploring the themes that surround Christianity. Students participated in drama workshops and discussion groups on the credibility of the Christian gospel amongst other themes with ‘Roughshod’, a touring group from Riding Lights Theatre Company.

The week culminated with a performance of ‘Incredible’, a play designed to explore Christian ideas and ethos that had been discussed during the week with the performers.

Students hold mock wedding ceremony St Albans Church in Forest Town was the venue for students to explore the marriage ceremony with Vicar, Reverend Phil Stead.

As part of the diverse principles studied in the religious education department, students organised a mock wedding complete with bride and groom, bridesmaids and best man and a church full of fellow students to watch the demonstration.

Adam Tilley, who role played the part of the groom, said it had given him a new perspective on the ceremony, “It was a very different experience to stand in front of so many people that I know. At the start I was very nervous but once it started the nerves left. I imagine this is what it must be like to get married, though I never thought I would get married so soon! After the service I felt a lot more informed on the topic. I am grateful for the experience.”

Hardwick School

Newstead School

Year 8 students went to the coast to see if the waves were eroding and to see if the sea defences such as groynes were working to prevent this erosion from happening.

The students also wandered around the town to make a decision to see if the town was worth protecting.

Ethan Davis has won a gold medal in his category at the ‘British Moguls Championships’ coming 7th overall in the competition.

Ethan’s busy summer season saw him complete the Kumi Yama competition in Les Deux Alps France coming 3rd, which led to his selection to be a part of the England Freeski Squad where he will train for potential selection to the GB squad representing his country.

Year 8 Students Visit Withernsea

Year 9 students spent a day at the Burbage Brook River in Derbyshire conducting field work on studies for their GCSEs. The students were collecting data such as width, depth, flow and sediment sizes from the Burbage Brook River.

The students discovered that the plateau is the source of Burbage Brook, which is a fairly large area of high flat land formed by heavy rainfall soaking into the peat, which then filters into the brook.

Students identified the upper area of Burbage Brook as a ‘V-shape’ with very steep sides which is caused due to the steep gradient of the riverbed that then leads to a high velocity of the river causing rapid vertical erosion to take place. This combined with weathering creates a ‘V-shape’ valley. Deposition here is very minimal, as it is only the first flowing currents.

Students in Newstead chose King’s Mill Neonatal Unit as the focus for their fundraising efforts in the coming year. Our Newstead prefects chose the Neonatal Unit of the Kings Mill Hospital as their chosen charity as one of them was a premature baby and had spent their early days in the unit. The rest of Newstead school were very impressed with this and readily supported the idea.

On a visit to the specialist care unit students were given a short tour and watched demonstrations on how the Neopuff unit works, a device that aids breathing in babies who are experiencing difficulties. Dr Vibert, Lead Paediatrician at King’s Mill Hospital said ‘The Neopuff T-Piece Infant Resuscitator is useful piece of equipment which allows nursing and medical staff to take over the breathing of a newborn baby in an emergency. Students were able to try it for themselves on a high-fidelity simulation mannequin which is used to train clinical staff for newborn emergencies. We already have a number of these specialist resuscitators and the addition of extra units will further enhance the care of newborn babies who receive treatment on the Neonatal Unit. It is an honour to be the recipient of funds raised by the students at Samworth Church Academy. My Neonatal Unit colleagues and I are truly grateful for their kindness and support.’

The type of weathering that you are likely to find at this area of the valley is ‘freeze-thaw’ weathering which happens when water gets into the cracks in the rock, expands and then puts pressure on the rock eventually causing chunks of the rock to break off leading to a form of mass movement.

Roman Legionnaires Stage Invasion At Our Academy Roman Legionnaires have staged a friendly invasion of Samworth Church Academy history lessons. Roman Tours UK company educate students about all things Roman from daily life and their territorial aspirations, to battle tactics and their arrival on British shores.

Harvey Fletcher, a student at the Academy was asked to demonstrate a typical Roman Soldier’s clothing, with chain mail and helmet, he said, “It was not a normal Tuesday morning ... I went

Ethan Gets Gold

Students Launch Fundraiser For Neonatal Unit Equipment

Year 9 Students Conduct Field Work at Burbage Brook River

Students Participate in ‘Say Two’ Workshops After the success of Say Two's visit last year, we decided to invite them back in again to perform for our Year 9 and 10 students. In the morning they performed Of ‘Mice and Men’ for our Year 10 cohort and then got them to do role play to help them with their creative writing task. In the afternoon they performed a text for our Year 9 students that we have never seen on the stage before, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the

Night-time’, which was a major hit. Year 9 student Thomas Alais commented “Their acting was amazing, they had clearly put a lot of hard work into it and they made it really comical” and said that he really enjoyed it afterwards when they “got everyone involved doing freeze frames.” And it bodes well that they enjoyed it so much as their participation in the workshop will help them to achieve higher grades for their speaking and listening assessments.

Students Visit Houses of Parliament

to school as a Year 7 student and became a Roman Soldier with actual chain mail, armour and a helmet.

It really helped me to understand what it might have been like in those days.”

Classic Students Enjoy A Breathtaking View of The Bay of Naples In April the Year 10 Classics Group (plus Mr Preece and Mrs McVeigh) visited Italy as part of their Classical Civilisations GCSE course. Based in beautiful Sorrento for five days, the group visited the Ancient Roman ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum, both towns destroyed and buried by the powerful volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD. We also visited the National Archaeological Museum in Naples (where many of the treasures discovered after the eruption are now housed) and climbed the volcano itself to enjoy a breath-taking view of the Bay of Naples.

Apart from visiting these fascinating sites we also ate plenty of authentic Italian pizza and LOTS of ice cream; some students were even brave

2 4

being the best we can be . . .

Year 9 students had the exciting opportunity to visit the Houses of Parliament during January 2014.

Students have been studying politics and human rights within the English curriculum, working on persuasive speeches in protest against injustices across the globe and debating within a model EU. It was therefore thrilling to take this group of 26 down to London and to stand in the Grand Chambers where laws are made and where our democratic future is determined. For some students it was their first time in London, and the sight of Big Ben, the River Thames, Westminster Abbey and Marble Arch were a real treat for a Monday morning!

Gallery ‘On Wednesday 6th November 49 GCSE Art and Photography students visited Sheffield’s Millennium & Graves Galleries. In the Millennium Gallery they studied the work of John Ruskin, in particular the bird paintings which relate to what they are currently studying in Art lessons. They were guided through a collection of work in the Graves Gallery from traditional portraits to more

contemporary, discussing developments in art history, style & technique. They were given the opportunity to carefully study a range of work and produced some quality drawings and photographs as a result. The behaviour of the students throughout the day was exemplary and we are very proud of them; this bodes extremely well for the exam class of 2016!’

Jo Is A High Climber

enough to sample a real Italian espresso.

Joe Czubkowski, a student at Samworth, continues to rise in the world of climbing. Joe has just returned from winning the final round of the Peak Region BMC Youth Climbing Series. This means that Joe has now won all three rounds in the Peak Area, qualifying for the National Final and becoming the Peak Area Champion in his age group.

Zak Needham who trains students to use the climbing wall at the Academy says Joe helps other students on the climbing wall and high ropes and remains very modest about his ongoing achievements, “He is always willing to help other students on the climbing wall and coaches them in a positive manner which is great to see. Joe will go from strength to strength in sport climbing and if he keeps going the way he is he’ll be competing at the highest level.”

3 5

. . . being the best we can be

Year 13 Students Spend A Weekend At Ninebanks

In March a group of year 13 students went on a weekend retreat to Ninebanks YHA in Northumberland to do some of their A-level work.

The students got a great deal of work done and even managed to cook dinner, some real surprises in who did the cleaning up!

Rufford School

Sherwood School

Round Square Transylvania College A-Level Science Visit Four students and two teachers visited us from a fellow Round Square school so that we could share good practice with them. This summer will be the first time that Transylvania College students have sat A levels and they wanted to know how to teach A Level Practical Science exam lessons.

Irina Pop (Head of Science) said “For me, visiting your school was a vibrant and multifaceted experience: science, culture, different environment and the most important - meeting you, wonderful people! I’ll be happy to tell about this experience to my students - at all ages.”

One of the students said “We were welcomed in their school and we were helped to improve our practical skills. We had a great time and we made new friends who were really helpful and candid.

We really enjoyed this experience and we were pleasantly surprised by their school’s facilities and the positive attitude of the teachers and students alike.

We enjoyed how passionate the teachers were about their subjects and how open they were to answering any questions we, or their students, asked. The fact that everyone works so hard to ensure perfect learning and experimental conditions for us impressed us immensely and for all of that we are grateful.

In the same time, they gave us the opportunity to become accustomed to the surroundings of Mansfield and the traditional British customs. Our hosts were so welcoming and caring, and they made us feel as if we were at home.”

The Academic Programme involved an investigation of the carbohydrates metabolised by yeast, the effect of wind speed on the rate of transpiration in a leafy shoot, a tour of the Academy and meeting subject heads , Young’s

All year 8 students at the Academy study ‘Enterprise’ in lesson blocks twice a week. Students have completed 2 projects; designing their own brand of smoothie drink and creating an Academy magazine.

During the smoothie project students worked very hard in setting up mini businesses; applying for job roles, conducting market research, learning how to hold a business meeting, deciding on products and working on their product and branding. The project also had a strong focus on numeracy with students using research data, calculating nutritional values and volumes of different packaging.

The magazine project has had a stronger focus on literacy and ICT skills with students developing and editing their own articles to contribute towards the overall magazine. Groups have conducted research into magazines and have gathered information from staff and students in the Academy before writing their articles.

When asked about how they feel about enterprise, students said… “I wasn’t very good at teamwork at the start but now I really like working with my group and I feel more confident in saying my opinion in our meetings.” “I hope my article gets onto the front page of the magazine, I worked really hard getting my information by interviewing the teachers and students.” “I love my enterprise lessons!”

Modulus and Young’s Slits, titration of sulphuric acid with sodium Hydroxide using Phenolphthalein indicator, Enthalpy of Ammonium Chloride (subject to change), Behaviour of a Thermistor, the effect of temperature on membrane permeability in beetroot, Practical 9 - S(e) Producing a model industrial immobilised enzyme column, testing for Cation and Anions and electrophoresis and microscope study.

Students Investigate Heathland Habitat

6

Business and Enterprise students at the Academy have submitted their product ideas to the bosses at Coca-Cola as part of the Real Business Challenge.

The Real Business Challenge is fun, engaging and aims to help learners develop a range of skills that should give them a competitive edge in today’s job market.

The challenge asks students to form teams (or small “companies”) to develop a new healthy fruit juice brand to fit in with Coca Cola’s current product range. The students have presented their ideas on PowerPoint as well as handing in some supporting documents to Coca-Cola Enterprises for judging. These included cost projections, team roles and product ingredients.

The Real Business Challenge is designed to help students develop and demonstrate enterprise skills and in particular to develop teamwork, problem-solving, creative thinking, leadership, financial capability and business acumen. Coca-Cola

Year 8 Entrepreneurs

Y13 Chemistry group visited Nottingham University's School of Chemistry on Monday 19th May. They were shown round the laboratories by Samantha Tang (Public Awareness Scientist) and saw a demonstration of mass spectrometry which help understanding of the AQA specification.

In addition they met Dr David Robinson, a former student of Sherwood Hall, who explained his work involving computer modelling to investigate fluorescent probes in large biological systems.

Finally they were privileged to have a photograph taken with the legendary Professor Poliakoff.

Year 9 Biology students investigating heathland habitat.

Real Business Challenge

Enterprises selected the best 10 entries from each region and invited these student teams to a regional final.

Priviledged students meet Professor Poliakoff

In April a group of Year 9 Biology students went with the A-level Biology students on a field trip to two areas in Mansfield to investigate Biodiversity of Heathland habitat. The trip was run by the Wildlife Trust and Edd Tripp.

The students were told about the rarity of the Heathland habitat and what they can do to help preserve it. They also took part in a variety of new practical techniques.

being the best we can be . . .

Thinking Big For The Future Students from 9 schools from around the East Midlands attended O2 Think Big School events on the 25th and 26th March.

The events hosted by Young Enterprise and supported by Donington Park were held at the Launch Pad at Donington Park Racing Circuit.

Close to 300 students practised creative thinking and business skills with the teams invited to think about everyday challenges or issues they face - coming up with creative products or services to address them. The students were encouraged to assess their ideas and build a business case to demonstrate how they would benefit the community.

The students were introduced to app development software from Appshed and experimented with creating apps, discovering and creating real digital content for their products, bringing their ideas to life. Students were then invited to present their best ideas to their peers and business people.

“Think Big School is an inspiring programme contributing to the development of relevant employability skills and attitudes including teamwork, problem solving, communication, confidence, risk taking, organisation, creativity, self-management, leadership and digital confidence.” said Paul Thompson, Area Manager for Young Enterprise. He added “Holding the events at Donington Park with the links to 2 of the area’s key market sectors

in hospitality/visitor economy and high tech engineering with motorsport and Formula 1 demonstrates to the students where the future employability opportunities are and the dynamism of the East Midlands.”

Young Enterprise Team, Reforme, Go Through To Regional Finals The Academy Young Enterprise team, Reforme, were successful in advancing to the next stage of the Young Enterprise competition and competed along with four other area champions at the Regional Finals at Nottingham University on 30th April 2014.

During the evening at West Nottinghamshire College, the team had to undergo a grilling from a panel of judges in a Dragon’s Den style interview as well as performing a presentation to a room full of other teams, business leaders and invited guests. They had already taken part in competition events such as holding a trade stand at the Four Seasons centre in Mansfield and producing a ten page company report to outline their business performance so far.

Reforme, who sell quirky drinking glasses hand made from recycled bottles, impressed the judges with their innovative approach to recycling as well as their resilience in tackling problems they encountered along the way. They walked away from the awards evening with the Best Company Runners Up Award, The best Trade Fair Award and Best Health and Safety Award. Ryan Taylor was also nominated for a Special Achievement Award for his work within the team.

The team consisted of; Ryan Taylor, Peter Jackson, Callum Payne, Hayley Grainger, Keeley McGarrigle, Lauren Buchanan and Bethany Brecknock. They were also supported by business advisers from our previous YE team; Chloe Patterson, Daniel Walker, Holly Thornton, Tanna Nita and Hope Phillips.

7

. . . being the best we can be

Donation Is Music To Academy’s Ears The Nottinghamshire Community Foundation representing the Dave Hartley Fund presented a cheque for £218.97 to Academy’s music department.

The donation will be used to buy equipment for the Academy’s music and event organising ‘Tech group’ which is made up of students between the ages of 12 and 15, who meet on Fridays after school.

Their teacher, Phil Smith said the cheque will go towards improving equipment and skills of the group.

He said, “It is a great honour to receive the donation from the Dave Hartley Fund for the music department”.

Academy Dancers Perform in London

being the best we can be . . .

Welbeck School

Year 7

Students sang Christmas Carols in Mansfield’s BHS shop for the charity NORSACA . The charity is the largest specialism autism charity in the East Midlands.

Lauren Polimos, student and member of the choir said, “I did enjoy singing carols in Mansfield and I hope we raise a lot of money for NORSACA because it is an inspirational and deserving charity that we should try to help in any way that we can.”

Students have been outward bound to Aberdyfi in Wales. The seaside village on the north side of the Dyfi estuary is a peaceful area with a harbour and sits within Snowdonia National Park.

In total 202 students from the Academy’s Year 7 took part in many teambuilding challenges during their trip and Teacher, Miss Dawes says it was a great success and fun for all. “The aim of the trip was to encourage our students to ‘step out of their comfort zone’ and take on challenges which they would not normally face. This may have been just getting onto a climbing wall – or

Choir Sings Christmas Carols For Charity

Winter Festival A Huge Success This year’s Winter Festival saw a collaboration across the Performing Arts to stage a production of ‘A Christmas Carol’. Year 10 GCSE Drama students took to the stage along with the Dance Academy dance club, school band and the school choir. The event was a sell out with matinee shows for the local Primary schools, who loved singing along to the Christmas Carols.

Upcoming Drama Productions Bouncers and Shakers - a re-mix of John Godber’s hilarious plays about a group of bouncers and a group of waitresses.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream - a magical

Samworth Rugby Team Are Winners

performance of Shakespeare’s tale of love, comedy and magic.

Year 8 girls competed in the Central Venues league against 5 others teams from the West Notts area. The girls played five excellent 7 minute matches and didn’t concede a goal during the tournament. In the end the winners had to be decided on count back and unfortunately, as we drew 3 of our games, Garibaldi ended up taking 1st place, while we had to settle for silver medals.

Although, we didn’t claim gold this time the girls should be proud of their performance and we still have the next round of the county cup to look forward to.

Our Year 7 Girls Rugby Team have had an excellent season, qualifying to represent Mansfield in the Sainsburys School Games during July. Well done and good luck girls!

Year 7 Students Host Christmas Fayre Alisha Gibbs, Oral Nixon, Ellah Chamika, Molly Green and Megan Webster

Year 8 Boys Triumph

Samworth’s Year 8 Boys Rugby team reached the County Cup Finals for the second successive season after winning all of their games in the group stages to represent the Mansfield District at the event.

On the finals afternoon held at Mellish Rugby Club the Samworth Church Academy (TSCA) team was drawn into a difficult pool with last year’s runners up, Rushcliffe School, as well as Minster School and Meden School.

The team topped the pool beating Minster 1 try to 0, Rushcliffe 1-0 and Meden 3-2.

8

The year 8 football team have had a fantastic season, losing just one game in all competitions, culminating in being crowned Town and County Cup champions.

On Tuesday 10th June the tem played against Carlton Le Willows Academy in the County Cup Final. It was a close game at one point, Samworth finding themselves 2-1 down. They showed great character to come back from this to win 6-2.

They have shown tremendous team work, leadership and technique, alongside an abundance of ability, determination and spirit. This recipe for success is something we strive for daily and was encapsulated in the team’s performances

Year 7 students received a visit and a bible each from The Gideons early this year.

Named after an Old Testament leader, the Gideons was founded in 1899 by three American business men wanting to encourage each other and others in their faith. Today 250,000 members work in 190 countries and to date approximately 1.5 million bibles have been presented.

Molly Williams, a student at the Academy, said “The people from the Gideons talked to us about how the book has helped them in their life, when they have problems, it helps to resolve them. I am happy to have received the gift and I have learned that the Harry Potter books sold about 400 million and this little book has reached 1.5 billion.”

James Pell from the Gideons said,” We know from letters we receive, sometimes many years later, that this little red Testament is read and has been a blessing to many students and in many cases life transforming.” A member for 30 years, Mr Pell said that the Gideons place their bibles in many places to be available to anyone wishing to read them. He said, “Gideons place bibles in hotels, guest houses, prisons, schools, doctors’ and dentist surgeries; in fact in any place where people might want to pick it up and read it and benefit from its transforming message.”

Year 7 Rugby Team Qualified To Represent Mansfield In The Sainburys School Games In July

Girls’ Rugby Team Win County Championship The year 9 and 10 girls won the County Championship Thursday 6th March. This is an excellent achievement as this is the first year we have participated in girls’ rugby at the academy!

A massive well done to the following girls: Cerys Gardiner, Beth Leivers, Sophie Brecknock, Heather Bacon, Mariah Bartley, Emily Statham Sydney Pengelly, Lucy Marley, Brianna Leivers

spending a night out in a very basic log cabin, or jumping off the jetty into the River Dyfi! The trip – our sixth to the centre – was again a great success for staff and students.”

Cerys Edwards, year 7 student enjoyed the trip and wrote a letter of thanks, “It was a bit cold, but that didn’t bother me at all. The staff helped me up mountains and over rocks and encouraged me to do the jetty jump”. Ryan Stringfellow another student said the trip was a great opportunity, “I really enjoyed it and I would go again if I got a chance!”

Year 7 Students Receive Gideon Bibles

Year 8 Girls Claim Silver Samworth Church Academy dancers qualified to represent the East Midlands at the National Finals of the ‘Great Big Dance Off’ held at the New Theatre Oxford on 10th June. ‘Destination Dance’ competed with 25 groups from across the country to win one of the top 3 places.

Despite a fabulous performance of their new piece ‘This is War’ they didn’t finish in the top 3 but were delighted with their achievements and pleased to be selected as part of the final 25. Jamie Thomson of ‘Ampersandance’ professional dance company who teaches students at the Academy said ‘“Desination Dance were outstanding in their performance at the finals. Their passion and dedication to the work they do as a young dance company shined through in the competition”.

Year 7 Students Go On Adventure

Pupils in Year 7 at The Samworth Church Academy prepared for the festive season at their Christmas Fayre during December 2013. They had planned and resourced their own stalls during Innovation lessons and then ran the stalls as part of their Business and Enterprise curriculum. Cake stalls, tombolas, raffles and Santa’s Grotto were all part of the evening which was well attended by family, friends and members of the local community.

on the football field.

They have been a pleasure to manage and thoroughly deserve the success they have achieved.

9

. . . being the best we can be

Head Boy

Ryan Taylor

Head Girl

Sixth Form

Gordonstoun Students Build Bridges Students from Gordonstoun School in Scotland were welcomed during October 2013, strengthening the links that the Mansfield Academy has built with the world famous school.

The visitors, along with our students had a full timetable involving leadership workshops, a tour of Nottingham Council and the Sheriff’s house, a visit to Mansfield Civic Centre Council Chambers to learn about the Youth Mayor program and a public speaking workshop, run by Mike Pagan of the ‘Speakers Trust’. The group also took part in team problem solving tasks with Outdoor Pursuits Instructor, Mr Zak Needham.

Mr Needham, who has a background in the Royal Engineers working with Airborne Forces and was RSM of a Bomb Disposal Unit, said the tasks he set the students improve communication and understanding, developing skills to help them overcome obstacles together. He said, “One student is designated as ‘Leader’ and is given a scenario to complete in a set time using a certain amount of equipment. They then have to brief the rest of their team on the task and come up with a workable solution, completing the task in the allotted time.”

The week did however end on a more leisurely note when students from both schools had a meal at Southwell’s Café Piano. Students from both schools will continue to swap expertise and host events that aim to enrich the lives of students from both schools.

Samworth Leadership Conference Part II At the beginning of March Sixth Form students from the Academy went to Gordonstoun to participate in the second part of the Leadership Conference.

They had dinner as soon as they arrived and afterwards went up to the Michael Kirk (the estate chapel) and had a short service to welcome them to the school.

To end the evening they went up to the Sports Hall to re-familiarise themselves with each other.

Saturday began with some public speaking exercises after which each of student gave a minute long speech to the group about a topic of our choice.

Beth Mortiboy

Saturday afternoon was spent beach cleaning around Hopeman and then orienteering which became quite competitive between some of the pairs. The orienteering helped later on in the evening when the group split into three teams and had to navigate their way to the beach where they built campfires and toasted marshmallows.

An action packed day was had on Sunday where they began by planning meals in the same three teams, had a very relaxing yoga session, followed by kayaking, climbing and a session on the obstacle course where they had to work together in teams to encourage each other and overcome various challenges, each of them taking turns to lead the group.

It was a great weekend and they all learnt a lot about teamwork and leadership along the way.

Unstoppable Teens At The Academy

Unstoppable Teens

10

Students at the Academy welcomed Kevin Mincher, of ‘Unstoppable Teen’ fame, whose speciality is to focus and enable students to become more effective at studies and achieving their future goals.

Mr Mincher said his ‘revision conference’ with students at the Academy was about creating a routine and set of goals for students to achieve the next step in their plans.

He said these tried and tested strategies will aid students to improve their chances of reaching their goals, whether that is improving a revision timetable, memory improvement, note taking or interview techniques. Kevin Minchers’ talks are reputed to be among the highest-attended youth motivation seminars in the country and his book ‘No Limits’ has been read by more than 250,000 people.

Covered during the day at Samworth Church Academy were inspirational talks about confidence, strategy and planning, revision timetables and goal setting.

being the best we can be . . .

Whole Academy

Christmas Shoe Boxes Destined For The World’s Most Desitute Children Students and staff managed to produce 41 shoeboxes, each carefully gift-wrapped and crammed full of presents. Many tutor groups did one between them and some individuals and their families produced their own. These were sent to some of the poorest and most destitute children in the world. Many of these children are in war zones, many are orphaned and for all of

them this was the only present they would receive at Christmas; our students’ efforts has made sure these children will have some of the basics they need for an education and for basic healthcare.

Thanks to Miss Wain who organised the boxes and to Mr Mills for delivering them to the collection centre, but most of all to our students, parents and staff who produced the boxes.

Olympic Cyclist Presents Speech Night In front of an audience of 500 people, 80 awards were given to students who have made a special contribution to their school work or Academy life.

Entertainment included music by the Samworth Church Academy Choir and musicians, a performance by ‘Destination Dance’ consisting of students and a special appearance by professional dancers from Nottingham’s ‘Ampersandance’ Company.

Bryan Steel, the guest speaker on the night

regaled the audience with stories how he became an Olympic medallist and had a powerful message for the students, “I am a firm believer that every young person has a talent, maybe not in the Olympic Games, maybe not sport. It’s a prime example tonight with the talent that we have seen this evening.” He went on to say, “Every young person has the talent to be successful. That is what I am passionate about, getting young people to explore that.”

‘IMPROV’ Join Takeover Radio 106.9 Students had a real thirst for learning and developing their radio production skills.

These boys worked on creating a pre-recorded show called ‘Improv’. A comedy show based on debating about debating. The boys worked hard on making it entertaining and unusual. After their enthusiasm and hard work, the group are now attending regular sessions at Takeover Radio to learn all about making live radio shows. They are continuing to work on the show ‘Improv’ and will be turning it from a pre-record to a regular live show.

Keep an ear out for their show on the Takeover airwaves and a big well done to the group!

£1000 Funding From Charles Littlewood Hill Trust Buys Dictionaries and Thesaureses Students from 14N tutor group helped to unload dictionaries and thesauruses bought with the £1000 funding received from the Charles Littlewood Hill Trust. This much appreciated donation will ensure that each classroom in the Academy is equipped with both dictionaries and thesauruses. Spelling and the use of adventurous vocabulary is very important, not only in English, but across the curriculum.

Working together as a whole Academy to build up students’ vocabulary, word banks and accuracy in spelling is vital in helping move forward at GCSE and in turn move the Academy forward.

The Round Square Samworth Cup The Round Square Samworth Challenge Cup is a termly interschool competition encouraging students to participate in a wide range of extra curricular activities, sporting and non sporting relating to the Round Square six IDEALS. School Captains are responsible for and take ownership of the challenges.

The results for the first half of the Summer Term 2014 are as follows: 1st Newstead 2nd Hardwick 3rd Sherwood 4th Rufford 5th Welbeck Congratulations to the Newstead School.

11

Students Enjoying Skiing in Courmayeur

Wider Curricular Success

Mansfield Fencing Club Celebrating After Impressive Medals Haul

Mansfield’s ‘TSCA Swords’ fencing club, based at the Samworth Church Academy, have reaped an impressive number of medals at the ‘East Midlands Youth Championships’, the ‘Cocks Moor Wood’ and ‘Leon Paul Epee League’ competitions this year.

Returning home with two gold, three silver and two bronze medals amongst many other top ten placings, the group who train weekly in Mansfield are fast becoming a team to be reckoned with.

In the recent East Midlands Youth Championships Patryk Sroka won gold in U13 Boys, Amy Walters bronze in U13 Girls, Stanley Alford silver in U17 boys and Liam Deneley won bronze in U15s. Agata Poplawska won gold in U15 Girls and was also selected for ‘East Midlands Region Cadet Winton Cup’ team along with Hannah Boyle and Sam Boyle who are also members of the club. Team member Sam also won silver in the ‘Leon Paul Epee League’ for seniors.

Support Services

School Uniform Collection 8:30 am - 7:30 pm

Monday 18th August

8.30 am - 5:00 pm

Tuesday 19th August

8:30 am - 7:30 pm

Wednesday 20th August

8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Thursday 21st August

8:30 am - 7:30 pm

Friday 22nd August

8:30 am - 7:30 pm

Tuesday 26th August

8:30 am - 7:30 pm

Wednesday 27th August

8:30 am - 7:30 pm

Thursday 28th August

8:30 am - 2:00 pm

Friday 29th August

Only standard issue will be given to Year 7 students initially. However parents will be able to order additional uniform that will be ready for collection from Thursday 28th August 2014.

From Thursday 28th August we will also be open to the whole school for students to purchase items of uniform. If parents are unavailable for any of these dates we are more than happy for parents to ring and make an appointment that is convenient for them.

Uniform Price Increase On 1st July 2014 we will be increasing the price of Blazers and Skirts. Blazers will be £30 skirts £15.

The Academy has substantially subsidised the price of our Blazers having only had one increase in six years.

The Academy will continue to subsidise the finished garment with red lining, trim and badge. Although this is a substantial increase we still provide value for money.

Nicola Boyle, chairman of the TSCA Swords, said, “Our junior members are now competing and achieving not just at local level but nationally”.

Head coach Miroslaw Poplawski said “We have very many young fencers who come to club and enjoy fencing and it is very pleasing to see them competing successfully at these events.

I am also happy to see three of our fencers Sam and Hannah Boyle and Agata Poplawska selected to present the East Midlands Region in the annual ‘Cadet Winton Cup’ in Somerset in December”.

being the best we can be . . .

Soft Drinks Dispenser Station Installed in the Restaurant

With the help of a specially selected group of students, 6 new and exciting flavours were chosen for everybody to enjoy on dispense through the new soft drinks dispense station.

Also commissioned was a sleek new chilled filtered still water and sparkling water fountain.

6 exclusive ‘no added sugar’ flavours have been crafted and developed to give maximum flavour and quality whilst meeting the school compliance standards for ingredients.

The constant use of plastic bottles is really harmful to the environment and the Academy’s decision to go green, go dispense, demonstrates the commitment to reduce the carbon footbrint.

More Apprentices Appointed At The Academy Charlotte Bourne was appointed as the new Administration and Finance Apprentice in March of this year.

Charlotte is a valued member of the Finance and Administrative team and will gain experience in a wide range of skills including reception, finance, administration

Salem Round Square Conference 2013

The annual ski and snowboarding trip took place 1st – 8th February. We were fortunate to enjoy a variety of excellent snow conditions, despite the occasional white-out with the added bonus of some sunshine here and there.

It was such a pleasurable week where memories were made, friendships forged (old and new), new skills mastered and cultural links formed. My thanks and congratulations to everyone who took part in this year’s ski and snowboard trip to Courmayeur, Italy.

12

In the very early hours of 14th November 2013 five students (Mat Cooper, Daniel Leader, Beth Scott, Chloe Taplin and Paige Phillips) and myself (Chris Bury), met at the Academy to start our trip to the school of Schule Schloss, Salem on the Swiss – Germany border for a Round Square Conference on Sustainable Mobility.

After flying from Birmingham to Munich we hired a car for the 3 hour trip to the School. After a pleasant and uneventful drive down (after deciding to ignore the German that kept appearing on the car’s dash board!!!) we arrived at the picturesque upper school situated on the banks of a lake and surrounded by woodland. We were met by the students from the school and it soon became apparent that the students and not the staff had organised the whole event. Our students were whisked away to be shown their dorms and given a tour of the site, followed by each of the schools doing a brief presentation introducing themselves.

The next two days comprised of the students being divided into small groups where they came up with ideas and debated an assigned topic involved with Sustainable Mobility. To help the students with their presentations there were talks given by Mr Becker from the German Government and Mr Moser from Greenpeace. It wasn’t all hard work for the students as there was a trip to the nearby town of Uberligen for them to do a bit of gift shopping, sports activities for them to unwind and a social gathering on the final evening.

While the students were busy debating and preparing for their final presentations, the staff from the visiting school where shown around lower and middle schools and were given a history lesson behind the building. The lower school is situated in the grounds of an old castle and the middle school was on an old monastery.

We set off back to Munich on the Sunday morning, tired but very happy after a productive and interesting few days. The students had learnt a lot about the Round Square organisation as well as Sustainable Mobility and how we can all help to reduce the damage to the environment.

Temporary Lunch Cards As from Monday 23rd June 2014 we will no longer issue temporary lunch cards to students because of the increasing cost in administering the process. Students are strongly encouraged not to forget, lose or damage their lunch cards as this could result in not being allowed through to the restaurant to dine. Students can check the balance of their account throughout the school day and it is the student’s responsibility to ensure that they have sufficient funds.

Any student who chooses a meal and who does not have sufficient money on their lunch card will be unable to take this food. Costs to students for replacement lunch cards: Initial issue in Year 7 - free of charge 3rd and further cards - £5.00 1st replacement card - free of charge This does not affect students on Free School 2nd replacement card - £2.00 Meals

and reprographics.

4th Annual Hanging Basket Competition Caroline Samworth and Claire Price visited the Academy to judge the students’ gardening skills in the 4th annual hanging basket competition.

Ten students’ baskets were displayed on the front elevation of The Samworth Church Academy and Caroline Samworth and Claire Price chose the best three to receive prizes. In first place came Taylor Mills, Chloe Wagstaffe came second and Kevin Lee Casey came third.

Caroline Samworth and Claire Price chatted to the students about their gardening talents, expressing how well all the students had done.

Laura Miles and Kerry Wright, who joined us in September 2013, were both successful in achieving a full time catering apprenticeship at the Academy.

13

charity ‘Duck Race’ was held on Titchfield Park on Sunday organised by Samworth Church Academy. 1000 little yellow ducks ere sponsored and released into the stream in the event which was to raise money for Jigsaw Charity Mansfield and the Acadmy’s Opportunity . . . beingfund thewhich bestsupports we canstudents be

Samworth Students Deliver Home Grown Gifts Students surprised neighbours by delivering gifts

Academy and follows previous surprise gifts for

vegetables. It will teach them that when you buy

of home-grown tomatoes harvested from their

local residents at Easter and Christmas time.

food, you miss that lovely feeling of looking at it

own greenhouse on the school site. The project to

Mrs Richards of Forest Town received some of the

and saying, ‘I’ve grown that!’.”

cultivate vegetables has been a joint undertaking

tomatoes said it was a nice surprise. “I think it’s

between the site team and the students at the

wonderful that the students are growing fruit and

Easter Surprise For Samworth Neighbours Students have surprised their neighbours by delivering Easter presents to their doors.

Lauren Buchanan, a sixth form student at the Academy said that doing this kind of act had become part of her Academy life, “It was great fun to deliver the Easter gifts to our neighbours and is the sort of thing we are accustomed to doing at the Academy. The people were really surprised and pleased with the gifts and we all had a lovely time delivering them.”

Mrs Smedley from Stuart Avenue in Forest Town said that it was nice to see the students and receive a gift from the Academy. “Well how nice, a really lovely thing to do!” Mr Froggatt, also of Stuart Avenue was also delighted to receive the Easter present. “It’s a surprise to me! I am grateful and wish them all Happy Easter!”

Charity Duck Race At Titchfield Park Exceeds Expectations A charity ‘Duck Race’ was held on Titchfield Park on 23rd March 2014 organised by Samworth Church Academy. 1000 little yellow ducks were sponsored and released into the stream in the event which was to raise money for Jigsaw Charity Mansfield and the Academy’s Opportunity fund which supports students.

With donations of prizes from 21 businesses from the Mansfield area and first prize of an iPad Air from CSE IT Company, the day eventually raised £2539.79.

14