Ulverston Victoria High School July 2008
NEWSLETTER
Year 10 Students enjoyed their Work Experience Mr Fay writes... Time really flies! It only seems ten minutes since I joined Ulverston Victoria High School in March and now it is July. I have had a really enjoyable time and I think your children are brilliant! I have also benefited from a dynamic leadership team and very supportive teachers and staff. I hope in this newsletter you will get a flavour of how things are progressing. The pace of our improvement is ever increasing and the Senior Leadership Team have included information on the work that is going on (sometimes behind the scenes) to modernise, improve the school and take it out of Special Measures. This is a very exciting time for the school and the Parents’ Advisory Group advised me that parents would be interested in some of the mechanics of our improvement. It is, of course, equally important to retain the many valuable aspects that are present in a school with such a fine tradition. You would not want to see the ‘baby go out with the bath water’! In conclusion I must return to the excitement and buzz which is being created in the school. Special Measures was a blow to the school but it is a launch pad for real improvement which will be a catalyst in the change needed for it to reach its potential. I hope you can see the signs of that change agenda and that it is permeating into your child’s school life and your awareness of it at home. You will soon all be experts on yellow stickers and next term I will tell you about ‘Victoria Values ....................” Have a lovely summer!
School Council At the beginning of the year the School Council reformed with the aim of setting up a new Council which had more effectiveness and represented the student voice better. Sub groups were created, with each group having an area of speciality. These groups are Publicity, Events and Charities, EcoSchools and Policy. Two dress down days and a terrific band night have been held with proceeds donated to charities such as The World Owl Trust. We have also looked at recycling and changing for the better the school’s environmental routines.
Year 10 students have just completed their This is a daunting Work Experience. prospect for many students and with few exceptions all rose to the challenge. It is refreshing when we receive emails from employers who say that they: “Were not only impressed with the attitude towards learning all that they where shown, but also the way they conducted themselves throughout their time spent working alongside the trades people. They did themselves and ultimately their school proud.” This was one of a large number of positive comments about our students, their positive attitude and how well they conducted themselves. These pictures show the range of tasks our students were involved with. Many thanks to all the local employers who assisted us, without their help we wouldn’t be able to offer this experience to our students.
MFL News This is a really busy half-term with 40 Year 8 students visiting Bollendorf in Germany, and 20 Year 10 students visiting Normandy in France. All Year 7 students will watch a play performed in French in the school hall on 7th July. This is the fifth year we have welcomed the “Courgette Volante” theatre company who always entertain us with their juggling and balancing skills and humour. Some of our Year 7 and 8 students have started a 6 week French and football course sponsored by Arsenal football club. Arsène Wenger is known for his ability to speak 5 languages and he has used his players to produce some motivating video and other materials for the French classes which are followed by a practical football course taught by FA coach Mike Otto from the Lakes school. Students were keen to learn the Ronaldo ’step over’ in the first lesson and look forward to learning more tricks each week.
Study Leave Our hard-working Year 11 and 13 students have now completed all their exams and will be enjoying a well-earned rest. For the first time this year, Year 11 students did not have study leave. Instead they stayed in school and attended a mixture of normal lessons and revision sessions except when they had exams. Research shows that most students do not revise effectively at home and targeted revision sessions in school have more impact on improving academic performance. The new system encountered a few hiccups but we have listened to Year 11 students and their parents and these views will be taken into account in our planning next year. So a big thank you to our Year 11 parents for their support during this transition period and also to the students who expected but didn’t get study leave and accepted the decision maturely and without rancour. We wish all our students well as they await their results and look forward to celebrating with them on 14th (AS and A2) and 21st (GCSE) August.
History Department The last few weeks have been very busy in the department with our KS4 and KS5 pupils working hard to prepare for their exams. We were much relived to see that all the papers were straight forward, and we look forward to the two days in August when our pupils will receive the grades they have worked so hard for. A special mention for the delightful Year 13 History group (shown left with Ms Lomas) who have been a pleasure to teach for two years. As a parting gift they have made Ms Lomas a ‘Lady’ with 0.5 acres of land somewhere near Nottingham. Thank you!
Sporting Success Congratulations to two of our students, Oliver Carr in Year 10 and Jemma Bell in Year 11. Oliver, who plays off a handicap of 5, represented the North West of England team in golf against Yorkshire last month. Jemma, one of our orienteers, won the ladies race in the Keswick to Barrow and in addition to that fantastic achievement managed to knock an hour (yes a whole 60 minutes) off her time from last year. Well done to both these students!
Holidays During Term Time I have been amazed by the number of “holiday forms” I have been asked to sanction since I have been Acting Headteacher. Since last September there have been 247 from the 11-16 section of the school which represents 25.06%. I realise that there are sometimes very special reasons why a period of absence is unavoidable for your child. There may be an extraordinary learning opportunity, such as attending the European Parliament or a very special family celebration like a grandparent’s birthday in another country. However, despite the obvious financial benefit it is not sufficient to quote the saving that can be made on a holiday during term time. I understand the financial and work pressures, but I cannot sanction that type of absence as authorised, I’m afraid, and from next September if you choose to take such a holiday then your child’s absence will be unauthorised.
UVHS Achieves ‘Enquiry School’ Status Following a bid made to Creative Partnerships by Ms Hannam, Subject Leader for Belief Philosophy and Ethics, UVHS has been awarded Enquiry School status. This will involve a year long thematic project with Citizenship (Mrs Tennyson), Art (Ms Hunter) and BPE (Ms Hannam). The project will involve all Year 8 students in their work in the three subject areas. We aim to link the subject areas together more and make the connections between our subjects clearer to the students. This is very much in line with the New National Curriculum which begins in England in September, and which encourages links to be made between and across subject areas. The topic will be 'Identity'. At the end of the project a group of Year 8 students will work together with a creative artist to devise an installation expressing some of the themes explored over the year.
Sixth Form News National Success! Joanna Lawrence currently in Year 13 has been chosen from hundreds of students from all over the country for the Primeministers Global Fellowship award. The award aims to nurture outstanding talent and enterprise through international exposure to different countries and their way of life. She will be spending 6 weeks on a tailor –made programme in China to include:A two week cultural programme - introducing her to life and language in China. Two weeks in a school or college - where she will meet local young people, help as a language assistant with spoken English and pursue an action research project of her choice Two weeks as the guest of a global company where she will get an understanding of how an international business works and how their social responsibility projects impact the community they operate in. Joanna will then be invited to 10 Downing Street to tell the Prime-minister all about her experiences. Joanna (seen to the right with Mr Rastelli holding the signed letter from Gordon Brown) is naturally delighted and hopes, as part of her time in Beijing to watch some of the events at the Olympics. Congratulations also go to Robert Jones in Year 13 who beat off competition from other Business Studies students to win a prize sponsored by the Nat West bank. Robert came up with the best and most realistic Business plan linked to working with the local community. The sixth form has had over 160 applications from Year 11 students this year, of which around 60 have been from external schools. Sixth form taster days were held on June 30th and July 1st in which students got the chance to sample sixth form life and found out more about what individual subjects have to offer at A-level.
Macmillan Sponsored ‘Wonder Walk’ On May 14th some of our Year 10 students helped out with an event being run by Ulverston Day Care Services. UVHS were asked if we could provide help in the form of proactive students who could work on their own initiative. These students needed to be sensitive and mature as they would be working with special needs adults who are cared for by Day Services. As these students were going to be providing refreshments we decided to approach some of our able Catering students. The students conducted themselves very well and had a fantastic day, working on their own and also in teams with students from Dowdales. When requested to carry out tasks they did so without hesitation, giving 100% at all times. Apparently they also provided free entertainment and were generally a real credit to our school! It is a credit to the students at UVHS that they are often invited to take part in community events. We would like to thank Sally Benson of Ulverston Day Care Services for inviting our students to take part in this event. If you are planning a community event and you think UVHS students may be able to provide support please contact Mrs Tennyson at school.
PE News Four UVHS pupils are representing Cumbria, after competing successfully at the Cumbria Athletics Competition in Carlisle on Saturday 14th June. June Kim (pictured on the right) won the Junior javelin with a throw of 27.20m, a personal best and only 1.5m off the national qualifying level. Ellie won the Intermediate 3,000m with a time of 10m 41s.
Biology Field Studies Week These pictures show Biology A level students in Year 12 engaged in a week of outdoor ecological surveying and investigation. From June 19th until June 20th our students surveyed a pond in the Haybridge Nature Reserve and found key indicator species which demonstrated that this particular pond habitat is free from organic pollution. In addition, our students performed belt transects studies of upland acid moor land on Kirkby fell that allowed them to contrast dominant plant cover as we moved from acid soil conditions to more neutral soils; and another through the dune systems at Sandscale Haws, (where we were fortunate enough to find an extremely rare pyramid orchid). At Sandscale Haws students were studying changing plant and animal frequencies as we moved from the very unstable embryo dune to the well established grey dune systems. Finally we conducted a survey of a moving freshwater habitat at Levy Beck.
Laura (pictured on the left) came second in the Junior long jump with a leap of 4.76m, beating her personal best two times in succession. Aaron Webster came second in We are very lucky to the Junior 100m and 200m, have such a wealth and achieving a personal best in variety of ecologically the 200m of 25.03s. important sites so close to hand and students Year 7 pupils competed at Lakes School in the South Lakes thoroughly enjoyed the athletic competition recently. Three were successful in their bid opportunity to take a to get through to the Cumbria trials. They were: closer look at some of places they have known all their lives. Reece 1st in Long Jump nd Peter 2 in Triple Jump Lauren 2nd in Shot Putt
School Uniform
Several Festivals have taken place over the year with our partner primary schools through the Furness School Sport Partnership. Partnership These have been co-ordinated by Mrs Jackson but all run by Yr 8/9/10 students; this experience will go toward Volunteering Awards next year. The festivals included gym competitions, Fun Runs, Tag Rugby, Football, Netball and Multi-sports. North West Girls Easter Camp (Rugby) 2008 During the Easter break, 3 x Yr 11 and 2 x Yr 10 girls attended a weekend’s training at Broughton Park, Manchester. The sessions were coached by Rugby Development officers and included team building, specific position activities and heptathlon with rugby events. Two of the Yr 11 girls were selected for the High Performance Academy for U18 and the Yr 10 girls were on the reserve list; from here they now have the chance to be selected for a nationwide Talent Development Group. This is an excellent achievement for the girls, who have only had 12 months coaching! Dance goes from strength to strength. This year Mrs Jamieson has worked very hard to get Year 11 dancers ready (in one year) for their GCSE, and has run our first ever AS Dance course. Dance proves an increasingly popular choice and PE department thanks go to Mrs Jamieson for all her hard work. If your child grows out of his/her PE kit, please think about donating it to the PE Department. Thank you. you Sports Day will be held on Monday 14th July (the reserve date will be Tuesday 15th July)
Once again, thanks to all parents and students who really respect the school uniform. Visitors have commented on how tidy and well presented most of the students look. Some children have asked me to introduce a formal shirt and tie. Now there’s a thought! Ever since Mary Quant first designed the mini-skirt, however, schools have had to deal with the issue of short skirts. Some mums might even remember issues from their school days. Quite simply a very short, tight skirt is an inappropriate mode of dress in a working environment. So come on girls lets make sure when we come to school we are dressed appropriately. I don’t want to have to take action against anyone who has a “too short” skirt. That would be an unfortunate situation for all concerned.
Safeguarding We have to know which adults are on site in order to safeguard your children. Parents, if you are visiting the school site please make sure you use the main entrance and report to Reception. If you wish to see a particular member of staff it is useful, except in an emergency, to make an appointment so that you are not disappointed if the teacher is unavailable.
Designated Attendance Line I know the Parents’ Advisory Group mentioned a problem getting through to school by telephone to report absences when our lines are extremely busy during the morning period. We do have a designated attendance line, which is listed in our student planner. The number is 01229 483891.
Attendance and Punctuality Matters Attendance and punctuality are on the up at UVHS but improvements still need to be made and attendance and punctuality remain a high priority in school. school Frightening Facts: 80% attendance equates to one day off every week and one year off in five. Students who have 80% attendance or less achieve, on average, a grade lower in their public examinations across the board. The first question employers/colleges ask is “What is his/her attendance like?”. The majority of our students have excellent attendance and punctuality but to improve standards you can help us by: Supporting your child in getting to school on time. The morning session begins at 8.50 am and the afternoon at 1.25 pm. (Students delayed by school transport are not penalised). Not taking holidays during term time. Wherever possible, making dental and other medical appointments outside of the school day. Returning your child to school after any dental/medical appointments. We will encourage and support good attendance and punctuality by: Inviting the parents of poor attenders to an Attendance Panel to discuss the issues and put a plan in place to address the problem. Rewarding good attendance and punctuality. Following up poor punctuality through the school’s system. Giving attendance and punctuality a high profile. Every term a prize draw rewards students with excellent attendance. Fifteen lucky winners (3 in each year group) received vouchers and this will be repeated at the beginning of the Autumn term when the Summer term figures are in.
Monitoring and Assessment The school has developed a number of exciting new initiatives year. to enable us to track your child’s progress throughout the yea The students are set challenging, though achievable, end of year targets in all subjects based on National Curriculum levels. Through a series of assessments, progress will be measured against these targets and students falling behind their target will be supported in school. Once a term parents will receive a Progress Review that will contain the targets and current level the students have achieved. The review will also contain the Attitude to Learning grades with which you will now be familiar. Using this precise method of student tracking we intend to ensure that all our students know exactly what they must do to achieve their potential and that parents have a clear idea of the level that their children are capable of achieving. To complement the tracking system we have introduced a ‘yellow sticker’ system for use in students’ books and files. This will enable teachers to constantly track performance and progress in all subjects, will enable students to have a better understanding of how they are performing and through the learning targets they are set will know what they need to do to improve their standards. It is also a way of rewarding achievement as well as attitude through the merit system. It will also enable you, as parents to see immediately how your children are performing and the standard of work they are producing. Please look out for these stickers in books.
Deficit Repaid! As many of you will know, the school has been in financial deficit for some years. The deficit “peaked” at £887,492 as at 31st March 2004. Since that time the school has been running under a deficit recovery plan, having been given four years by the LA to repay the debt. I am pleased to report that as at 31st March 2008 the deficit has been repaid in full thanks to the excellent work of our Bursar, Richard Waple, and other members of staff. Well done!
Orienteering Cumbria Schools Championships These Championships are held every summer and rotate around Cumbria with the local clubs organising and running them. On Saturday 14th June this year it was the turn of Border Liners based in Carlisle. The area used was Beacon Fell on the out skirts of Penrith. This is the obvious hill north of Penrith visible from the M6. The tall masts on the top of the hill are easily found which was not the case of the controls.
The wood was a mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees, but underneath there was a sea of bracken which had shot up in the last week or so. The courses last year had been very, very easy (more like a cross country race) so this year the planner decided to test the runners. Courses for Years 7 and 8 were set at a good standard and no-one seemed to have many problems. However, Years 9 and above got a shock when they picked up their maps. Controls had been set out to really test the runners and many were set in the middle of the bracken with very few line features near by. Anyone who finished their course did very well. Our results were excellent. Other schools had one or two very good individuals who knocked some of our school off the podium, but we still finished with 5 Cumbria Champions and 10 team winners. We also retained the Large School Trophy. Congratulations to all who took part.
UVHS welcomes 3rd visit from Mexican News from Belief, Philosophy and Ethics link school Expect to see a great welcome at the airport on Sunday 6th July as 16 teachers and students from our linking school arrive into the UK. A great programme of activities has been arranged by the linking team at UVHS trying hard to match the wonderful time we were given in November 2007 by our friends in Mexico City. We will aim to look at the traditions and culture of the Furness Peninsular as well as taking a short trip to London. Students will attend lessons as well as take part in the programme of activities. As usual we are looking to delve deeply together into some Global Concerns such as the Internet technology and oil dependency through philosophical enquiries. The UVHS School Council will give a presentation to the Mexican students and we hope to support the establishing of a School Council in our linking School. We have also planned opportunities to make connections with some of our feeder schools and teachers and students will work with Year 5 students at Croftlands School on their Aztec Project. We are continuing to develop the link with Sandside school and will be performing a theatre piece together for the Mexican group as well as visiting Sandside school for a shared cultural experience in the second week. All in all we hope for a fascinating two weeks. Look out for reports of this visit in future.
Maths News This has been another busy month for students and teachers in the maths department. All of our students have now completed their exams and are to be congratulated on their motivation, enthusiasm and hard work. We were delighted that prior to the GCSE exams over one hundred Year 11 students (pictured above) attended two Sunday revision sessions to ensure they achieved the best possible grade. We await the results with anticipation! We had excellent results in the Junior Mathematical Challenge, with Gold Certificates going to Max, Henry, Sarah, Adam and Iain in Year 8 and Lauren, Harry and Fraser in Year 7. Particular congratulations also to the large number of students gaining Silver and Bronze, showing that we have a depth of talent in problem solving. All the Year 7s who just missed out on a certificate this time will find it easier next year with one more year of maths under their belts! The monthly Maths Competition in April on spatial awareness had a lot of correct entries and from these Mia in Year 7 was drawn as winner. The puzzle in May involving Alice, the Mock Turtle and the March Hare was won by Robin in Year 7. Congratulations to everyone who entered! Miss Dobson has resumed her popular maths and art club. This is held weekly on Wednesdays and students enjoy creating art using different kinds of maths. For further details and ideas please check out maths2art.co.uk/ which has won Miss Dobson’s own website www.maths2art maths2art national recognition.
Between 24th and 26th June, sixteen students from Years 8, 9 and 10 visited our partner school in London : Brondesbury College. This school is a unique Boys Islamic School in West London founded by Yusef Islam. We were following up a visit made to Ulverston Victoria High School by boys from this school last summer. During the visit we were able to go to The Regent's Park Mosque which was built on the outskirts of the Royal Park in 1976. We also took a flight on the London Eye, Wembley Stadium and The Victoria and Albert Museum. We were able to engage in a philosophical conversation with students from the school about arguments for the existence of God. Year 9 and 10 UVHS students were able to show off their knowledge and understanding of various arguments from their BPE GCSE lessons. Year 8 students were also well able to engage with the discussion through their capabilities to discuss philosophically. In addition Year 10 students from UVHS interviewed teachers and students from Brondesbury school about Islamic beliefs regarding concern for the poor. Students were amazed to discover this is an obligation for a Muslim and that all Muslims must give two and a half percent of their remaining income to Charity at the end of every year. This video will be used to develop a resource for teaching a Year 11 unit in September!!! We look forward to future developments between our two schools and a return visit to Ulverston is planned for June 2009.
Stardom Beckons for Students Two students from UVHS are heading for the big time after being accepted into a prestigious performance arts group. Sam, Year 9, and Lewis Bailey, Year 12, (pictured below) have both been accepted in to the National Youth Theatre in London, ahead of thousands of other hopefuls after proving themselves in auditions at the Lanternhouse, in Ulverston, earlier this year. Lewis will spend two weeks at the theatre in August and has been granted £320 by Renaissance Theatre Trust towards accommodation whilst in London. Sam will be at the theatre next Easter. UVHS is the only school in the country to have more than one student accepted by the National Youth Theatre. UVHS’ Head of Drama Colynne Hicks said: “I am immensely proud of them. I think it is an amazing achievement for them both.” Picture courtesy of Westmorland Gazette
Progress Against Ofsted Action Plan Learning and Teaching Since being placed in special measures our continuous professional development (CPD) activities have focused clearly on learning and teaching. Our aim is ‘to support the key priority of
consistently achieving 100% of lessons observed judged to be at least satisfactory with 70% or more judged at least good or better’. As we stated in our first Newsletter our philosophy at UVHS is very much to create a learning environment in which we learn with and from each other. We also updated you on our Autumn Term lesson observation progress. At this time we claimed that we were ’”not content with ‘satisfactory’ and that our aim is to be at least good if not better”. We are very keen for you to know that these were not empty words. To this end we have really concentrated on what makes a good/outstanding lesson. One initiative we have set up is a ‘Buddy System’ where colleagues work together across departments and in each others classrooms to share good learning and teaching practice and to try out new ideas. Another is our English Advanced Skills Teacher (AST), Miss Nicholls, is providing bespoke Learning and Teaching training for individuals and specific subject areas to promote excellent practice in the classroom. Mr Fay has also led a very well received session on the new KS3 National Curriculum which focused very much on the Every Child Matters agenda. We are also being supported in our work by colleagues from our partner school Queen Katherine, also by Steve Houghton the South Lakes Federation Quality Assurance Manager and by colleagues from Barrow Excellence Cluster Partnership. Recently Kevin Bell and Dougie Yarker, Advanced Skills Teachers from Queen Katherine School, worked with a group of UVHS colleagues on taking a more pupil centred approach to learning and developing good questioning skills to help students think about their learning. These colleagues have now been provided with a ‘tool kit’ to enhance learning and teaching in their classrooms. Later in the term we will evaluate the impact of this. We have also gained valuable insight from Kevin Gill, the Deputy Headteacher of Thorncliffe School, who have just come out of special measures. In addition to concentrating on the practice of teaching and the understanding of how we learn, has been the use of data and how it underpins progress. By using data measurements we are able to show the value we have added to each and every child from the point they enter our school, throughout their time with us, to when they leave. We are working hard to ensure that teachers understand how to use this data to ensure each individual student achieves their academic potential. To achieve a positive outcome we all recognise that we must raise our game. To this end we have and continue to concentrate on, as Pat Kime our Lead HMCI advised, a whole school approach to teaching and learning. Our in-house lesson observations indicate the quality of teaching and learning is consistently at least satisfactory moving towards being in the majority of cases consistently good or better. Where a not adequate judgement is made, a short term support plan is put in place and a further observation carried out. We are working hard towards eliminating not adequate teaching. We hope you can see that we are true to our word, that we are committed to ensuring that our learners do receive the quality learning and teaching they deserve and we will continue to work hard together to do so. Lesson Observations We are now in the third cycle of our internal school lesson monitoring programme. The first cycle was used to train the Senior Leadership Team and Subject leaders to undertake observations using OFSTED criteria. Judgements to date are shown in the table below: Outstanding Good Satisfactory Not adequate *Autumn
0 0%
10 62.5%
6 37.5%
0 0%
**Spring
8 15%
25 48.1%
17 32.1%
2 3.8%
***Summer
3 7%
25 58.1%
14 32.6%
1 2.3%
* Pilot of 16 part/full lessons to moderate judgments against Ofsted criteria. ** 50 part/full lessons. Complete. *** 43 part/full lessons. In complete. This round of observations will be finished by the end of term. Work Scrutiny During this term we have piloted a whole school programme of work scrutiny. This involves Subject Leaders monitoring the books, folders and other work produced by students of each teacher in the subject area. Standard whole school criteria are being used for this monitoring pilot. Where necessary, areas for improvement are being set with individual staff. This programme will become an integral part of the whole school assessment and monitoring progress from the start of next academic year.