Message from the Headteacher

Transcription

1 Term Message from the Headteacher What a busy term! Cornwallis Academy underwent some major changes during the Summer, with two plazas converted into three traditional classrooms each, a new library and Sixth Form Study Centre and brand new floor in the heart space which enabled us to extend the canteen seating area. All students have responded very positively and are looking after their improved environment very well indeed, showing how proud they are of their school. I am hoping to further improve our facilities over the coming years. Watch this space! Our new logo and motto have been well received by the students, parents, staff and our local community. We are all very proud to have reverted back to the Stag. The first term of an academic year is always very busy. We hosted our two Open Evenings for prospective Year 6 and Year 12 students and we were delighted to welcome nearly 600 families into our school. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Cornwallis staff and students for giving up so much of their time to ensure our visitors felt very welcome indeed. I was particularly impressed with our new Year 7 students who took on the role of guides having been with us for two weeks only. I appreciate your support in promoting Cornwallis both at home and in our local community, maximising your son and/or daughter s chances to receive the best education they can. Finally, Cornwallis recently held its first Parent Council. The scheme has been launched by Mr McMahon, Head of Year 7, and is been trialled with our Year 7 parents. If successful, we intend to extend the scheme to every year group in order to improve the way we engage with all our parents. Kind regards, Mrs Linney-Drouet The Stag Bounds Back! As parents may have noticed, Cornwallis Academy has reverted back to the Stag logo, the crest of the Cornwallis Family. Headteacher, Mrs Linney-Drouet said: Our decision to revert back to the stag was actually fuelled by the students, who wanted to see the iconic logo reinstated. The new logo isn t the only upgrade as Cornwallis Academy now has a new and improved website! Click here to visit our website. Dates for your Diary November 9th - Year 11 revision evening 14th - Year 10 academic review evening 17th - Non-Uniform Day ( 1 donation) 23rd - Focus Day 29th - 1st December- School Production: Urban Jungle Book December 4th - Year 7 academic review evening 20th - End of Term 2 January 4th - Beginning of Term 3

2 Year 11 Revision Evening Your children are about to embark on what is a crucial time in their education and we aim to empower both the young people and yourselves with the skills and information to approach both the PPE period and the public examinations with increased confidence. The aim of the evening is to provide the parents with an overview of what the students are about to encounter. Specialist teachers will provide a series of mini presentations where they will take you through the qualification and provide some quick wins to support and guide your child. At the end of the evening, information from each subject area will be ready for collection from the heart space. This evening has received great feedback in previous years and highlights the demands that the students are under. We hope to provide a strong unison between the school and home to provide our current Year 11 with the best preparation and care, moving towards this important time. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday 9th November at 6pm where the evening will be introduced by Miss Harding. Join the Jungle VIPs this term! Pupils have been working extremely hard towards this term s production of The Urban Jungle Book. This is a musical adaptation based on Rudyard Kipling s Jungle Book story and includes songs such as Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Toxic, Fight Song, Wake Me Up When September Ends, as well as The Bare Necessities! School Council News! The School Council would like to thank all Students, Staff and Parents for their donations during the last academic year which raised a total of This money was donated between the six year group charities, two special events charities and the School Council. Macmillan Cancer Support Bake Off Our teachers and staff held a cake sale in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Staff baked and brought in cakes to be donated to the sale where all of the proceeds went to the Macmillan charity. Altogether, we raised over 100. We are very pleased with the number of staff who took part and donated to the cause. A massive thank you to everyone who contributed. We can t wait to see what food is brought in for the next sale! To add to the excitement, during half term our Lecture Theatre undertook a makeover and now houses a permanent lighting and sound system, so shows can now take place more frequently! Performances will take place on Wednesday 29th November 2017, Thursday 30th November 2017 and Friday 1st December 2017, at 7pm. All tickets cost 5 each and are available to purchase from Student Services from Monday 20th November We look forward to seeing you there! Head of House Quotes What did our Heads of Houses have to say this term? Andrew Hollamby - I m excited for the year ahead as joint student Head of House because I love getting involved to make a positive difference in the community. Fiona Gentry - I am looking forward to working with the younger years to create a greater community cohesion and promote competition within the academy as joint Head of House.

3 The Ecuador Experience Our month in Ecuador was one of the most exciting and interesting experiences that we had ever encountered. We spent the four weeks in four different camps and spent five days on the Galapagos Islands. During our time there, we got involved with different types of work, from digging trenches and house foundations for school teachers, to laying pathways for villagers to have access to the river water. We spent a week working on building a Health Centre in a remote village where the Ecuadorian government promised to supply a Doctor and an Ambulance. Whilst we were at this camp, we taught the local schoolchildren English, as well as brushing up on our Spanish. Our time in the Galapagos was a fun-filled week where we visited the Charles Darwin Centre, went to the Tortoise Sanctuary and went snorkelling with the wildlife, as well as working at a coffee farm to help some of the locals with their business. In total 28 students and three members of staff from Cornwallis Academy went on the expedition. We travelled over 15,000 miles by air, coach, car, boat and on foot. We would like to thank the three members of staff (Mr Wilkinson, Mr Smith and Miss Scott) that accompanied us for our expedition and our Expedition Leader Jota. Mr Wilkinson, school expedition leader said; The Ecuador expedition team was a terrific group of students who worked extremely hard on a number of projects, making a huge difference to poorer communities. They had no problem with getting stuck in from Day 1, and maintained a hard-working and positive work ethic until the end. They also had the incredible opportunity of visiting the Galapagos Islands where they saw giant tortoises and marine iguanas, and swam with sharks and sea lions amongst other things. It was a pleasure to be part of the team and I m delighted that they found it a life-changing experience. - Mason Dadson Maja s win is just Tin-Tastic! Maja Pawlik, 14 from Boughton Monchelsea, won third place in a national competition to create a Product in a Tin., after coming up with a crafty creation which caught the eye of a national judging panel. The competition, designed and organised by textiles specialist Julie Boyd, draws dozens of entries from all over the UK, so Maja was thrilled to gain one of the top slots. Maja came up with a children s toy the jackalope using a variety of different materials, including paper, fabric, felt and fur, to create the cute, small doll, which pops out of a small tin. The jackalope is a mythical animal from North American folklore which looks like a rabbit with antlers. Judges were impressed by the complexity of Maja s design and praised the way she used fabrics and plastic beads, with paper wrapped around wire to create the antlers, which they said was one of the most unique ways that paper had been used in any of this year s entries. We were doubly delighted to learn that another Year 9 pupil Megan Killington from Loose, received a merit for her entry in the same competition. Her activity mat, made from textiles, plastic, wood and metal, provides a selection of fun activities for small children. Ms Rawlins, Maja s D&T teacher said We have entered Julie Boyd's National textiles competition for the last three years. Our students have done very well in the competition each year, with at least one student winning a prize. This year the students have had the additional challenge of using a range of materials including metals, paper and wood as well as traditional textiles materials of their choice. I am really proud of all the students that entered and their amazing work! Maja and Megan will be presented with their sewing-related prizes later in the term.

4 CORNWALLIS STUDEN T SOARAWAY SUCCESS A Cornwallis pupil who learned to throw the javelin in PE lessons just over a year ago has scored a hit by being placed third in the UK. Toby Hughes, who is in Year 8, threw an amazing metres when he competed against other U13s in the Kent Championships, making him not only the Kent U13 Champion but third in his age group in the UK. Toby, aged 13, from Loose, only started throwing the javelin in the summer of 2016, as part of his school PE lessons. He went on to join the after-school club and has also joined Medway and Maidstone Athletics Club, where he has notched up a number of throwing successes during the summer but none so remarkable as this last throw, at Erith. Head of PE Mr Smith said: Hearing stories like this makes it worth being a PE teacher! Toby has shown a natural ability for both javelin and shot putt and has made amazing progress during the year. We were all thrilled to hear of his achievement at Erith. It was well deserved and we look forward to supporting him with future training in the sport. Toby also competed in the shott putt where he achieved fifth position with his throw of 8.41 metres. Toby s PE teacher Mr King said: Toby is a fantastic performer in PE lessons, displaying enthusiasm, and giving his all to learn and progress. As a department we are thrilled to see Toby performing at such a high level, considering he only started Javelin at our after-school club! We hope he continues to excel in his Javelin and look forward to hearing about more records being broken! CORNWALLIS TEEN NETS INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS A Downswood teenager has no need to fish for compliments after coming home from an international angling competition sporting a Bronze success. Cornwallis pupil Ryan Kennison was part of the England U15 team, that took part in the FIPS-ed World Youth Championships, held at Inniscarra Lake, near Cork, in Eire. It was the first time in the contest s history that the England had entered a team in the U15 category, so the team still relatively inexperienced at international fishing was doubly thrilled to take one of the top three slots, only narrowly missing out on the Silver. Ryan said: It was a great feeling at the presentation ceremony to receive a medal and to have represented my country. Ryan, who is in Year 10, qualified for the squad soon after Easter, at the England U15 selection in Cornwall. He beat off stiff competition from 32 other young anglers to make the final five. Ryan said: I was a bit nervous at the start but, once we began fishing, I just got on with it and enjoyed catching fish. I couldn t quite believe it at the end when my name was read out as one of the team as my main aim in fishing was always to one day represent England. I was overwhelmed to be given the opportunity this early in my fishing career. Ryan s father Martin Kennison said: We are very grateful to Cornwallis for supporting Ryan and allowing him to compete in the Easter competition which led to his selection for the England team. Mr Spurling, Head of Year 10, said: I m delighted for Ryan, and it s testimony to his skill and dedication over many years that he has been successful in the international angling competition. It s important that youngsters should enjoy interests and hobbies outside of school, and I hope that he continues to thrive in this area in the future. When not fishing, Ryan is studying for his GCSEs including Business Studies. If he can t become a professional angler, Ryan is considering work in fishery management.

5 Holiday dates and term time changes - Your thoughts? Future Schools Trust is considering changing the school term and holiday dates and wants to hear the views of parents, students and staff to ensure everyone most affected by these proposed changes has an opportunity to give their opinion and ensure the best possible educational outcome is achieved. To this end, we have developed a questionnaire and would welcome your input. You can find more details here. Thank you for you assistance. Note: A password is being sent out to parent/carers. If you have not received this, please enquire at Academy Reception. New Phone systems Future Schools Trust has updated its phone systems. We want to deal with your calls as efficiently as possible and we cannot do this if the incorrect department is being reached. In future we ask parents and carers to only call the departments they require. Please do not call departments that have no connection with your enquiry or problem as they will not be able to help you. We hope this clears up any confusion you may be experiencing when trying to reach us. Invitation to become a parent governor A Parent Governor vacancy has arisen at the Academy. Governors play a significant role in the work of the Academy and the role, whilst demanding, is very interesting and rewarding. The Governing Body works in partnership with, and in support of the school. It also sets a high standard of expectation and ambition which helps to drive forward the work of the staff and create a bright future for our students. All those who have parental responsibility of a student at the Academy and are over the age of 18 are eligible to stand for election, including parents who work at the school, provided that they work for less than 500 hours per year when they are elected. Governors do not have to be experts in the field of education, and no special qualifications are required. The most important thing is to have a keen interest in the school and be prepared to play an active part in the governing body s work. Normally, Governors meet in the early evening at least four times a year. In order to fulfil the role of Governor as required, Governors should also be available to visit the Academy during the school day. Governors are encouraged to join at least one of the Sub-Committees which cover areas such as curriculum, finance, human resources, health & safety, and facilities. Training is available for all a Governors and there is an expectation that those new to being a Governor, will attend the free induction training, as a minimum. The Academy welcomes nominations from prospective candidates willing to give up a certain amount of their free time to deliver these responsibilities. If you would like to put your name forward or nominate someone, please visit the Academy website for a nomination form (along with relevant information which must be read in conjunction with the nomination) and return it to the school office for the attention of the Clerk to the Governors, Frances Sharp, or by to: frances.sharp@ futureschoolstrust.com Nominations will close on Wednesday 15th November Contact Information Cornwallis Academy, Hubbards Lane, Linton, Maidstone, Kent, ME17 4HX Click on the icon for the following social media pages Telephone: officecornwallis@ futureschoolstrust.com