ABBEY GRANGE CONCERT BAND PERFORM AT THE GRAND DEPART CELEBRATIONS

Transcription

1 Carol Kitson

2 YEAR 8 VISIT NORMANDY TO JOIN THE D-DAY CELEBRATIONS 160 Year 8 students travelled to Normandy for an exciting few days staying in the grand Chateau du Molay. During their stay students visited Ranville Commonwealth War Cemetery where they held a service of remembrance. Students also had the opportunity to meet war veterans who were attending the D-Day celebrations. The coaches drove along the route of the D-Day landings towards the town of Arromanches to give students an opportunity to view these famous beaches. A visit to a German gun battery on the coast at Longue Sur Mer was quite a contrast to their visit to the cathedral in the city of Bayeux and the sight of the impressive Bayeux Tapestry. On return to Chateau du Molay students had great fun participating in swimming, sports activities and team challenges (no one will forget the horrors of the Egg Challenge). Throughout the trip our students behaved impeccably and we were extremely proud to receive so many comments from visitors to the D-Day celebrations, including retired headteachers, war veterans and our coach drivers. on the excellent behaviour and attitude of students. They were excellent ambassadors for Abbey Grange. Our grateful thanks go to staff who organised the trip, accompanied students and to our coach drivers. CC ABBEY GRANGE CONCERT BAND PERFORM AT THE GRAND DEPART CELEBRATIONS All of Yorkshire has been gripped by bicycle fever as we celebrated the Tour De France this month and the Abbey Grange Concert Band were no different as they took part in the festivities on Thursday 3 July entertaining the public gathered at Victoria Gardens with a triumphant set of popular numbers. There were family, friends, Belgian film crews and even a couple of dancers making up a significant crowd of spectators watching our talented band members help kick off (or should it be wheel off?) one of the most exciting sporting events of the year. It was the perfect way to round off (no pun intended) what has been an excellent academic year for the Concert Band. Bravo and félicitations to all of our band members: Anna Cunliffe, Laura Cunliffe, Zoe Cunliffe, Rachel Darling, Ethan Dunn, Gabriel Dixon-Hardy, Eleanor Ford, Matthew Hambling, Sarah Hambling, Euan Holwill, Adam Howley, Natasha Howley, Brandon Johnson, Charlotte Matheson, Hishaam Maqsood-Shah, Abigail Nash, Martin Parker, Donald Ricketts, Dan Riley, Ewan Smith, Alex Stewart, Jake Stirland, Luke Stirland, Ben Tailby, Joshua Taylor, Joy Taylor, Matthew Taylor, Eleanor Welsh, Thomas Whitman, Zoe Wright and of course, our dynamic band leader, Graham Phillips. JL

3 Years 7 and 8 have produced some amazing art sculptures as major homework pieces this year. Year 7 have created Animal sculptures and the Year 8 theme is Day of the Dead!!! The Art Department have photographed all their work and uploaded the images to a flickr page. We certainly have some very artistic and talented students at Abbey Grange. Please take a look at the photographs on the flicker website: EC & PM MUSICAL ACHIEVEMENT Congratulations go to Year 9 student Elizabeth Pang who has passed ACTL of the Trinity College Music Grade Exam on violin, which is at diploma level. Elizabeth also took part in the Rothwell Competitive Music Festival in March 2014 and won two prizes a First with Distinction on Violin Solo - in the 16 years and under group and a First with Distinction on Violin Solo - in the Open competition. Well Done Elizabeth! JB IMPRESSIVE TERM FOR YEAR 9 BASKETBALL TEAM The boys have achieved great things this term. They played in our Sports Partnership League and won through to the Finals evening in January. They beat all the other schools in the Finals to become our School Partnership Champions. They then progressed into the City Finals and again beat all the other teams to become City Champions. They then went onto the West Yorkshire Finals playing schools from Kirklees, North Yorkshire and Humberside. In this competition they won all there games apart from one! We finished in joint 1st place, but lost out on the title because the other school scored more points through the competition. It's been a great journey and a great experience for the boys involved: Asher Simkins, Joel Miriwada, Pierce Clarkson, Eliel Anku, Alfred Ogedengbe, Euan Outram and Efosa Ogunbor. HDW SPORTING SUCCESS Congratulations go to Year 10 student, Connor Wood, who ran an incredible time for 200 metres on Sunday, 1 June 2014, winning the event in 22.8 seconds! This is inside the English Schools qualifying time for the event and incredible achievement. Connor also competed in the Under 20 Relay Team and finished second in the event. Well done Connor! HDW

4 LEEDS SCHOOLS ATHLETICS COMPETITION Year 9/10 Boys Athletics Team beat 32 secondary schools to come first in the intermediate Leeds Schools Athletics Competition and the Girls Athletics Team came second against tough competition - a phenomenal achievement! Students had already successfully competed in three heats on three separate nights to qualify for the final and managed to emerge victorious on the day. The heats and final are very time-consuming and require a lot of organising, thanks go to the PE staff for always going above and beyond to help students fulfil their potential as well as putting Abbey Grange on the map across the city. Congratulations go to: Katie Elton, Georgia Mason, Joanna Tobbell, Zoe Cunliffe, Chloe Ingle, Rachel Loveday Sims, Jess Priest, Lucy Simpson, Abbie Stone, Connor Wood, Sheldon Muzvidziwa, Max Ngonji, Ayo Awonaiya, Alex Pagdin, Subhan Hussain, Callan Jack, Phil Holmberg and Malik Wilks. Who knows, we may even see them at Tokyo 2020! KB FARNEL WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY COMPETITION Three Year 10 Textiles students Charlie Rooney, Heather Smith and Rosie Black represented the school in the Farnel Wearable Technology Competition at the Leeds Trinity Centre. The girls designed and produced a bag which included a safety alarm and lighting as well as pockets for mp3 players and tracking devices. After presenting and being questioned by the judging panel the girls finished runners up in the competition. Well done girls! ES The Summer Art Exhibition is always an important date in the Art Department s diary. However, this year s exhibition was a particularly momentous occasion, as for the first time ever the Art Department included work from the new A-level Photography course. The course began in September and has been a great success. Students have succeeded in developing their technical photography skills whilst also being challenged to consider how the medium can be employed to express artistic ideas that may not be purely aesthetic. The students presented some amazing work, including the eye catching laser cut flyer - impressive! PM Year 12 Coffee & Cake Afternoon Following the success of last year s event, on Tuesday 8 July Year 12 students were invited to a 'Coffee and Cake' afternoon where they had the opportunity to meet former Academy students to chat about life after Abbey Grange and their experience of higher and further education and employment. It was good to see familiar faces returning to Abbey Grange and they enjoyed the opportunity to share their thoughts with current students. RJC

5 SUMMER OFFICE BAKE OFF After the success of the Office Autumn Bake-Off where 200 was raised for victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the Summer Bake-Off, held on Friday 4 July, saw some talented bakers delivering Summer themed cakes and cupcakes. 130 was raised for the Leeds based charity Make a Dream an organisation dedicated to making dreams come true for Yorkshire s sick and terminally ill children. Many thanks to all who baked and all who donated to taste! FW ENTERPRISING ABBEY Over the summer half term our Year 9 Business students completed a 50 challenge. Each GCSE group was given 50 cash to use to start up a business venture to be run in school. The students were allowed to keep the 50 for 8 weeks and use it to generate as much profit as possible using their enterprise skills. The ventures have been varied and some have been more successful than others (Miss Rigby's group making the most profit much to Mrs Jones dismay!). The ventures have included selling hot dogs, cookies & ice pops; cleaning teaching rooms and a Year 7 Water Battle. The two groups have made in total profit that will be donated to Cancer Research and a local charity of their choice. I am sure readers will agree that this is a remarkable achievement and join me in congratulating all the students involved. DR A two day Year 10 Careers Event was held at Abbey Grange on Wednesday 3 July. On Day 1, as part of PSHCE day, students took part in activities and talks which allowed them to prepare to ensure they gained the most out of the following day. On Day 2, the Sports Hall hosted stands from over 20 large companies from a diverse range of employment sectors. Students arrived at the event looking extremely smart having observed the business dress code. With confidence they spoke directly to employers and gathered information about career options. Students and parents commented that they found the day both enjoyable and informative with good contacts being made and some encouraging work experience offers. The amount of feedback received from employers regarding the positive attitude, interest and informed questioning by our students has been unprecedented. The event was a huge success and our students were a credit to the Academy. Our thanks go to Jules Harris who led the organisation of this event supported by Glyn Ellis, Careers Advisor and Michelle Spence. PJC

6 ABBEY GRANGE STUDENTS MARK THE GRAND DEPART Students were invited to bring their own bikes to Abbey Grange on Friday 4 July to participate in cycling activities to mark the Tour de France. 20 Year 7, 8 and 9 students learnt about the importance of cycle maintenance, undertook some technical work and took part in time trials and team races in the Academy sports fields. As this was a cross curricular event students from the English Department visited the sports field to interview staff and students using their ipads to good effect to record responses and prepare written work. Students from the Science Department took the opportunity to use timing equipment to measure individual cyclist s speed which caused great excitement and competitive spirit amongst the students. HDW YEAR 11 PROM

7 NI HAO MINSHAN MIDDLE SCHOOL Year 8 students have had an exciting week looking after 19 students, the Vice Principal and two English teachers from Minshan School in China. The school is based in Beilun Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, a well-developed area about 3 hours drive from Shanghai. Mrs Matheson s Year 9 English class introduced the Minshan students to British culture, festivals, historic monuments and food, including tasting our traditional Yorkshire puddings and gravy! Year 7 students in Mrs Bankowska s language class have been recognising and writing characters in Mandarin, taught by our guest teachers. This visit has brought our school partnership to life, celebrating the similarities and differences between the countries, inspiring students through enjoyable ways of learning. We look forward to working together on joint curriculum projects in RB DUKE OF EDINBURGH BRONZE AWARD EXPEDITION 20 Abbey Grange students successfully completed their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Expedition this weekend having walked over Ilkey Moor and Otley Chevin. The support team led by Mr Burgener, Mrs Albert, Mrs Harding and Miss Booth were impressed with the determination and stamina of the students involved. Congratulations go to: Abigail Smith, Emilia Stoddart, Sarah Hambling, Anna Cunliffe, Amaal Maqsood-Shaw, Emily Thompson, Harley Rodgers, Hannah Champa, Sienna Bahi, Natalie Ferguson, Jordan Hall, Madeliene San-Francis, Rebeckah Marston, Bradley Jordan, Farrah Webster, Sophie Hampshire, Ella Brown, Conor Scholey and Sam Hollick.

8 YEAR 12 METROPOLY DAY On 10 July over 120 students from Year 12 took part in the Abbey Grange Academy Annual 'Metropoly Day' which involves students in small groups navigating around West Yorkshire to have their picture taken with as many famous landmarks as possible. The day was a success with some groups making a great effort with costumes and preparation. All students made it back alive and on the whole, on time! Winners to be announced in September. Message from Mrs Heather Woodhead, Subject Leader for Maths, who is retiring this term: A big thank you to all the students and staff at Abbey Grange for making my 36 years of working at Abbey Grange so enjoyable and rewarding. Please keep in touch. FIFA WORLD CUP CELEBRATIONS 2014 To mark the World Cup Celebrations students at Abbey Grange were invited to decorate their form rooms to support the country and football team allocated to them. There were some innovative displays in form rooms throughout the Academy which included facts and famous faces, team members, themed cakes and foods from the different countries. It was a difficult decision for the judges to select an overall winner. The First Prize went to Miss John s Form F7 (Room 2) who supported the Belgian team closely followed by a joint second prize which was Miss Hirlam s Form S5 (Room 12) and Miss Smith s Form E1 (Room 4) Winners were treated to a special breakfast. Congratulations to the winning forms, thank you and well done to all who participated.

9 C H A P L A I N C Y O R N E R Over Easter 36 students, along with teachers, Rev Jude Smith, our local Parish priest, Joe Williams from LFIS and Ben Jones from Missional Generation, spent a weekend at Marrick Priory in Swaledale. This weekend involved lots of fun activities from zip wire to climbing, high ropes to canoeing, which challenged and tested students whilst also building a community spirit. The theme for the weekend was based around the disciples encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus so discussions and explorations looked at how we recognise God, our part in God s big story and how God inspires and empowers us to go out and make a difference in our communities. Worship was led by students and many comments were made about how much that added to the whole weekend. In fact, in the words of one student I loved the worship. Best we've had for years! It was great to see students grow in faith and in relationships with each other. Again in the words of one of our students: It is great to know that we have a lovely community in our school. I love the chapel. I enjoyed the worship. I couldn t say it better myself! Easter Prayers On the first week of the Summer term, whilst still in the season of Easter, we were pleased to host Prayer Spaces in the Fairbreeze Room. The theme of Christ s journey to the Cross allowed students to explore this as a model for prayer through creative and thought provoking ways. It was very moving to see students express their sorrow at hurting others whilst also offering prayers for those in need. Opportunities to explore this space were given in RS lessons and at lunchtimes. The poppies have been planted at the front of the Academy so will hopefully make a colourful display as we consider how to further mark this significant commemoration. As part of the commemoration of World War I, the newly created Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales sent poppy seeds to all Church Schools and Churches with a request to plant them on Wednesday 30 April. A group of Year 9 Humanities students took on the task for Abbey Grange, marking the occasion with a reading of In Flanders Field by Colonel John McCrae and a prayer specially written for the occasion by the Diocese.

10 C H A P L A I N C Y O R N E R Vision of Mission Day, Harrogate Students from Abbey Grange volunteered to take part in the Diocesan Vision Day in June, going out on the streets to engage passers-by about Fairtrade and spending time at the prayer stations set up inside St Peter s Church. Students have been inspired to create their own mini prayer spaces at Abbey Grange, which is an interactive place for students to explore prayer together. Year 11 and Year 13 Leavers Services In May we held Leavers Services as students prepared for final exams and possible moving on from Abbey Grange. The Year 11 service was a joyful celebration of their five years at Abbey Grange, with contributions from students ranging from readings and prayers to music, dance and lots of photos of how they ve changed. Year 13 had a voluntary communion service in the chaplaincy which was full, with about a quarter of the year group choosing to attend and mark their final day at Abbey Grange in this way. It has been great to see students getting involved in so many activities this year from Rock Solid to Cell Groups plus a whole host of charity events. Our students have raised over 5,000 for more than 30 different charities over the year, a fantastic tribute to their enthusiasm and a real testament to faith in action. They have stepped forward to lead cell groups next year, to help in services and get involved in our Fairtrade work. It is a great privilege to work with them and staff to support and develop our Christian ethos and I hope as parents and carers you can feel part of that too. As we look forward to our last Praying Parents Evening this term please consider if you can be part of that network supporting the Academy and do get in touch. At the end of term we will be holding Abbey Communion Services to celebrate all our community has achieved and experienced this year. We look forward to welcoming Rev Dorothy Stewart from St. Martin s, Potternewton; Rev Carolyn James from St James the Great, Manston and Rev Phil Arnold from St Wilfrid s Church, Calverley to celebrate with us. May I wish you a safe and enjoyable Summer and every blessing as you spend time with your families. I look forward to working with you all again in the new term. Kay Kay Brown, Chaplain, Abbey Grange Church of England Academy Look Back and Thank God, Look Forward and Trust God

11 Farewell from all at Abbey Grange On behalf of the Governing Body, past and present students and staff, I would like to wish the following staff every happiness for the future. Five members of staff who have been employed at Abbey Grange for many years are to take retirement this term. Science Teacher, Mrs Nicola Albert, is retiring and relocating to build her own eco friendly home in the Lake District using her engineering skills in a practical way rather than a teaching sense. Mr Chris Fisher, Head of Fountains Abbey and one of our Science Teachers is retiring and as well as being remembered for his pastoral care and teaching skills, students on this year s Ski Trip are more likely to r remember his ice skating skills! Mrs Julie Kilburn, Subject Leader for Music and Curriculum Leader for EPA/Sport retires this term. Many of you will have attended the wonderful musical concerts that Mrs Kilburn has organised over the years and how her leadership has inspired hundreds of musicians throughout her time at Abbey Grange. Mr Andy Sowerby, our resident caretaker at Abbey Grange, is looking forward to retirement and we wish him well in his new home. Last but by no means least Mrs Heather Woodhead, Subject Leader for Mathematics has been a teacher at Abbey Grange for 36 years and has made a valuable contribution to the Maths Department, she will be missed by her students and colleagues and we wish her every happiness in a well earned retirement. And for those staff who are moving on to new ventures we wish them every success ~ Drama teachers, Mrs Louise Barton and Ms Fiona Bolser have made a valuable contribution to the Drama Department covering for maternity leave and leave to take up permanent posts. We thank them for their commitment over the past year. Miss Elizabeth Booth, Science teacher, is leaving to pursue a new career in Clinical Psychology and her colleague, Science Teacher Mark Fogg, is moving to a school closer to home. Our thanks go to both of them for their hard work and support given to the students. Miss Tamar Hall, Maths Teacher, leaves Abbey Grange to join Leeds West Academy and Mrs Nicky Kelly, Maths Teacher, has accepted promotion to lead the Maths Department at Gateways School. Mrs Sharon Wiltshire, Maths Teacher and Key Stage 3 Co-ordinator for many years has also accepted promotion at Leeds West Academy. We thank them all for their contribution to Abbey Grange and for the encouragement and support given to past and present students. Mr Sam McCroackham, one of our IT Technicians and a former student, is moving to pastures new in the media sector ~ we will keep our eyes open for his name appearing in TV credits on the BBC! We send our best wishes to RS Teacher, Mrs Stephanie Hanbridge and Teaching Assistant, Mrs Kayleigh Ryder as they commence maternity leave to await the arrival of their first babies both due on the same day Sunday 27 July!

12 Reminder Monday 1 September 2014 is Staff Training Day New Term Starts: Tuesday 2 September 2014 ONLY Year 12 students Start time ~ 8.25 am Wednesday 3 September 2014 ONLY Year 13 and Year 7 students Start time ~ Year 13 ~ 8.25 am Start time ~ Year 7 ~ am Thursday 4 September 2014 ALL students Start time ~ 8.25 am Girls if you choose to wear a skirt when you return, please remember it needs to be an Abbey Grange uniform skirt with logo (only available from our suppliers, Rawcliffe s) otherwise trousers must be worn.