Enjoying Achieving Succeeding The Fernhill Post. 26 th May 2017

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1 Dear Parents/Carers From the Headteacher As I write I am delighted that the sun has started to shine and students are on track for lovely weather over their half term holiday. It s been a short but busy half term and the Year 11s are now half way through their GCSE exams. The Maths and English exams are new this summer and so we will wait with interest to see how the results come out. So far the papers have all been well received by students who have felt well prepared for them. Parents of Year 11 students are reminded that their children should be revising for several hours every day over the holiday. I am especially grateful to Mrs McMahon and the PE department for their work on the memorial garden which we officially open today. This is a wonderful testament to a fantastic young lady and a wounded but supportive local community. I hope you will enjoy seeing the garden next time you visit the school. We took the time this week to mark the sad events in Manchester and to help students to know about what was happening. The minute s silence was marked in school yesterday and we will continue to play our part in educating your children about these events and helping them to make sense of what has happened. Thank you, as always, for your support and have a wonderful holiday with your children. Peter Collins Headteacher Memorial garden and renaming of the Sports Hall Due to generous funding from Kebur, Community Matters Partnership Project, staff and family we have been able to create a memorial garden to honour the life of Stacey Burrows. The garden is outside the Sports Hall which is extremely fitting as Stacey was an outstanding athlete and has been re-named 'The Stacey Burrows Sports Hall'. We hope that people are able to use the garden as a special space for reflection. Mrs McMahon

2 MFL DEPARTMENT Saint Joseph Following last year s successful visit of students from Collège Saint Joseph, Ernée, France, the MFL department organised an afternoon of international games for a number of Year 9 students. On Thursday 18 th May, 70 students from Collège Saint-Joseph joined 60 of our students. French students were introduced to rounders and netball whereas Fernhill students were shown how to play the traditional French game of pétanque. There was a lot of friendly competition and it was lovely to see how the students supported each other. Students had an opportunity to get to know each other better and practised their foreign language while sharing some refreshments after the games.

3 On Wednesday 17 th May, 23 Year 9 pupils went exploring at Farnborough College of Technology when they attended their Interactive Skills Fair. The students were treated to a Performing Arts extravaganza including dance, drama and singing. We then toured part of the college and met representatives from the different subjects. The students asked questions and gathered information about what they may like to study when they leave Fernhill. We were also able to take part in different challenges along the way, particularly enjoying the food and beverage tasting which was put on by the Catering course! Students also took part in a test about product branding. It was a great experience and I hope the students are now looking forward to attending a post 16 college. Miss Griffiths Upper School Transition Co-ordinator

4 The Drama Department The end of last term saw the timeless musical OLIVER! hit the Fernhill stage. Our largest cast to date brought the musical alive for three sell-out audiences as well as two matinee performances to local primary schools performing classic songs such as Oom Pah Pah, I d Do Anything and Food, Glorious Food. The cast worked hard in rehearsals for 5 months, beginning in November which also included some weekend rehearsals and even some evenings of painting and set building which just shows the dedication of the cast to making this show a success. If you were one of the nearly 600 people who came to see the production of OLIVER! then we are sure you would agree that the hard work and effort that our students and production team put into this production showed in 5 outstanding performances. We are proud of each and every student that took part in OLIVER! 2017 and look forward to seeing them at the auditions for next year s school production. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the parents that were so supportive throughout the process for your continued support. We look forward to working with another fantastic cast to raise the bar next year and hope to see you in the audience supporting our talented students!

5 The next Performing Arts event at Fernhill will be the yearly Talent Show. Auditions for this were on Wednesday 24 th May and rehearsals will begin after the half term break. Tickets will soon be available to purchase from Student Reception. The Fernhill s Got Talent final will be on Tuesday 27 th June 2017, we look forward to welcoming you then to see some of the talented Fernhill students perform for your vote and the chance to win 1 st prize. Mr Clements A small group of year 9 and 10 students took part in The Brilliant Club Scholars Programme this year. Throughout the term they have been working hard to attend university-style seminars and complete a university level assignment. They all rose to the challenge and on Wednesday 17 th May they all attended their graduation event at Oxford University! Congratulations to all involved for graduating from the programme and doing such an excellent job of representing Fernhill School. Miss Pegg

6 Hampshire Book Award Year 8 Miss Ryman's Year 8 class is taking on the challenge to read six shortlisted books before 30th June. This is a great way to discover new authors, read a range of genres and build reading stamina - all required for GCSEs. At the same time students are keeping reading journals and our Poet in Residence, Becci Hudson, is guiding students to discover the deeper meanings held within the stories. Good stories build empathy with other people in different places and situations and it is true to say that we can travel the world, or other worlds, within the pages of a book! At the end of June, the students will vote for the book they consider to be the most worthy winner and in July these books will be available in the library for everyone to enjoy. The six shortlisted titles are: River of Ink by Helen Dennis On a cold London day, a teenage boy washes up on the banks of the River Thames. He remembers nothing. Not who he is. Nor where he's from... The Bubble Boy by Stewart Foster Joe must live in a sterile world, never allowed out, until a visitor brings the outside world into his view and shows him a way out... Island by Nicky Singer Cameron is reluctant, to say the least, to visit an uninhabited Arctic island with his research scientist mum, until an Inuit girl reaches out to him to warn him and teach him to respect the land before it's too late. Railhead by Philip Reeve Another world. An android world. Petty thief Zen has been employed to steal from the Emperor's galactic train and meets Flex a Motorik android - how real is she? Does she have personality and feelings? Fans of the Channel 4 series 'Humans' will enjoy this book My Name's Not Friday by Jon Walter (A timely book for Year 8 History this term) Set during the American Civil War, Samuel is sold into the slave trade to work in a cotton plantation, but he has a secret. If his owner discovers what this is, his life could be in danger. A journey from freedom to captivity and back again? Night Vision by Ella WestSunlight is deadly for Viola, so living in the safety of rural New Zealand she ventures out every night wearing night vision goggles. The illusion of safety is shattered when she witnesses a murder.

7 Overdue & Missing Books Thank you to everyone who has returned books to the library. Please continue to check at home for books belonging to the school and return them on Monday 5 th June. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated and means that we can continue to buy new books for the library. Thank you Rotary Club Young Writers Competition We are delighted to inform you that two Fernhill students have achieved recognition for the stories they entered into the Young Writers competition. Congratulations go to Lucy Oliver who was runner up in her age group category and Delisa Limbu whose work was highly commended. Well done ladies! This year s Prom will be held on Thursday 22 nd June 2017 at Highfield Park, Heckfield. Tickets are 30; students may use their Vivo Miles points to purchase money-off vouchers until May half-term. Tickets include a drink on arrival, buffet and disco. Tickets can be paid for at the Student Reception until Friday 16 th June Masterchef s Gregg Wallace & award winning greengrocer Chris Bavin are on a mission to prove that it is possible for families to save money on their food budget without scrimping on taste and nutrition. They hope that by analysing the shopping habits of UK families, they can help to show where we can source the best and cheapest quality food. The BBC are currently on the lookout for fun and lively families who would like to save some money on their weekly shop and eat more healthily. If you are interested in appearing on The programme please or call to apply.

8 Global Learning Update! Collaborative Recycling Project with Henry Tyndale School On 17 th May, five Year 7 students visited Henry Tyndale School to learn about how we could implement recycling here at Fernhill. Students there showed us how to sort different waste items into categories depending on whether it can be recycled composted or has to go in the bin. We were also given a tour of their fantastic school. At the end we all sang a song together which was great fun as we learnt some sign language. On Wednesday, 25 th May the Henry Tyndale students and staff paid us a return visit which was very enjoyable for all of us. Together with a group of Year 7 students they produced an eye-catching display about why it is so important to recycle, which you can see in the library. We also made recycled musical instruments which we used in the music session at the end! Mrs Cayless

9 Forthcoming Events Monday 5 th June School 8.40am Monday 5 th June Year 10 Mock Exam fortnight begins Tuesday 13 th June Year 11 Leavers Day Thursday 22 nd June Year 11 School Prom Highfield Park Tuesday 27 th June Fernhill s Got Talent 3 rd July Year 8 Tile Barn residential trip We return to school on Monday 5 th 8.40am In Week 1 Attachments to the Fernhill Post are details from: Rushmoor & Hart - Parent and Carer Event Hampshire Futures- Breakthrough event Phil the bag Fundraising collection