ACADEMY NEWS10th JANUARY 2014

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Sara DaveyAcademy Principal

Welcome to 2014 and a new set of hopes and aspirations. We wish you well with all your New Year resolutions and hope the festive (but rather wet) season was restful and enjoyable. Mounts Bay Academy has survived the storms and floods this year after some successful construction of flood defences in January last year. In 2013 we returned to school to find that we had lost our Gym floor and had water in the reception, hall and history classrooms.

This year we were able to host the Progress Review Day for parents and students without a problem and it was a successful opportunity to set targets and review the progress from the first few months of the academic year. Thanks to all parents who completed the survey handed out on the day. It is an opportunity to give the staff feedback on their work and we have published the results in the newsletter. It is good to note that we are working successfully in many areas of Academy life. To see the results click here.

This week the students have benefited from some really excellent assemblies. Thanks must go to the Creative Arts and Technology Faculty for organising three superb local professional artists who spoke with inspiration about their careers and working in Cornwall in hugely successful contexts.

Finally, the Academy is extremely proud to learn that Jack Nowell, a recent student who left in 2009, has just been selected for the full England team in the Six Nations after winning the U20 Rugby World Cup last year in France against New Zealand. He has frequently won the Man of the Match and has scored some great tries. The Academy and Sports College is also proud to see the continued success of other ex students. These include some other rugby stars such as the Cowan-Dickie brothers playing for Plymouth Albion on loan from Exeter, Kyle Moyle, Tom Hendrickson and Max Bodilly playing for the Pirates and Charlie Armstrong playing for Nottingham and in Hong Kong.

Former student Deborah Fleming is in the England squad after swapping from athletics. In addition, there are a number of others who have played professional rugby but have recently retired including the two Westren brothers. The list could go on with many more which suggests we must have had more professional Rugby players than any other school in the country and we have a few current students who will join these elite performers in the future.

And this is just rugby! The list would be enormous if we included all the other sports.So the New Year is a reminder to us all that with hard work and plenty of practice the opportunities are many and with passion and focus we could be anything we wanted to be from a globe-trotting artist to a top sports performer. What talent are you nurturing this

Principal’s Report

BEINSPIRED

Cinderella Visit

On Tuesday 7th January 34 students from the Performing Arts group and the Btec Music group went to the Hall for Cornwall to see the pantomime Cinderella performed. The performance began at 10.30am and we were all ready to enjoy the show.

The students were a pleasure to take and got really involved with the audience participation aspect. The highlight would have to be seeing Mr Payne continuously mentioned during the performance and the ugly sisters finally dragging him onto stage to perform. I am sure he will never live down the humiliation of wearing a pink wig and skirt. However he was a very good sport and sang and danced on stage.

“The pantomime Cinderella was great fun to watch and an airborne, moving horse and carriage was a spectacular surprise to add to this performance.” - Katy RobertsReport by Miss Osborne

Mr Payne (in pink skirt) takes a bow

Astronomy Club

Stephen Sangroom from Lands End Astronomers came share his enthusiasm and experience of stargazing with a group of Year 7 students on Thursday 9th January. After setting up a telescope at the back of the room, we were able to see quite clearly the craters and ‘seas’ on the Moon. Matt Thatcher said, “I liked looking through the telescope at the moon and learning about asteroids and stuff.”

Stephen then gave a fascinating insight into what we actually see when we look at the night sky, and how the stars appear to be in set shapes called constellations - the students had fun identifying their own constellations on a sheet of paper full of stars.

We are incredibly lucky to have Stephen, who has been passionate about Astronomy since he was nine years old, coming in to the Academy once a month. Stephen’s specialism is Solar Astronomy, which means we have plenty to look forward to in the summer!

This is just the start of our tour of the skies, and we are looking forward to an amazing partnership with Lands End Astronomers in the coming years. “It’s cool,” said Ritchie Payne.

Report by Miss Weightman

BEINSPIRED

Poem of the Week

The poem of the week is by Luke Jacobs in Year 7. It is a poem inspired by Carl Sandburg's 'The Fog', which we studied in class.

The Night is...

A vampire's dark blood

A bat's pale wing

The core of a dragon's eye

Death in its rawest form

The mist that screams and shouts

The deathly shadows

A second world

The night is a secret waiting to be discovered

By Luke Jacobs

Fog

The fog comeson little cat feet.

It sits lookingover harbor and cityon silent haunchesand then moves on.

By Carl Sandburg

Parents Invited into the Classroom

This week a group of Year 8 students brought their parents into the classroom for the start of a nine-week Family Learning Numeracy course. The course is designed to improve students and parents’ confidence with maths. This week the group started by looking at addition and subtraction and over the coming weeks will work through many core numeracy skills. These skills form the foundations of the maths the students study in school.

BECREATIVE

Art Assemblies

This week there have been House Assemblies and students have been treated to guest speakers from the world of Art and Design. The assemblies focussed on what influenced each guest to develop a career in the art and design sector, how their career has developed and what inspires their work. Following each assembly two students were allowed to interview each artist and recordings of these interviews are on the school website.

On Wednesday Glyn Macey came in to talk to Orange and Red Houses. Glyn, a former student of Mounts Bay, is a painter, writer, gallery owner and television presenter. He was born in Newlyn, and studied at Falmouth School of Art.

Since leaving college he has lived in Penzance, his work developing in response to the unique environment of West Cornwall.

Glyn appeared in the TV series Cornwall with Caroline Quentin. It featured his travels around the UK painting at various locations.

Glyn Macey's paintings can be seen in many collections world-wide and his design work is found in many major high street retailers. 2001 saw the publication worldwide of posters by The Art Group and limited edition silkscreens by CCA Galleries.

To visit Glyn Macey’s website click here.

Maisie-Sky Lumbars and Loren Trevorrow interview Glyn Macey

BECREATIVE

On Thursday morning, Mounts Bay was lucky enough to meet talented artist Dan Pyne, who came to talk about his turnaround in the artistic world and the huge range of opportunities available.

After studying graphic design and illustration at Middlesex Polytechnic, Dan went on to become a Scientific and Medical illustrator. With the sudden increase of digital art, he began to use it as a way of changing the way he was illustrating and his work was used for book covers and other pieces of work. After twenty years of illustrating, he began to grow frustrated over the limitations of the profession as it was always about the customer rather than Dan's own influences and ideas.

He decided to revisit paint as it allowed him to be more free and manipulate it in a way he was never able to with pen and pencil. Taking inspiration from the world around him, he took photos of the things he was drawn to, from lichen to the flowing of water and used photo editing programs to change the way the image looked. He suddenly went from simple illustrations to free graphic art, using board to carve into, changing the texture of the image and creating something completely unique.

He is still inspired by the way that Cornwall influences his work and continues to shed new light on the simple world around us. He said, “The role of the artist is a kind of filter. They take everything around them and filter it through their own experience, knowledge and personality and produce something which makes you look at the world in a new way, or forces you to look in a way you haven’t looked before.”

To find out more listen to the interview with Dan Pyne which is available on the school website.

Report by Jess Henshall

Dan shows his work to Jess Henshaw and Tom who interviewed him.

To visit Dan Pyne’s website click here.

BECREATIVE

On Friday, Blue and Purple Houses were treated to a talk by photographer Phil Nicholls. His career as a freelance photographer spans 30 years. Born in Cornwall, Phil studied at Falmouh School of Art and Bath. After spending years in London he now once again lives in Cornwall.

Most of his work has involved photographing bands, concerts and individuals in the music industry. Phil worked for 12 years with music publication the Melody Maker. However his work also includes corporate and fashion commissions for clients such as Peter Werth, Nokia Music, Eden Project and Jay-Z's Rocawear and he has even worked as a war photographer in Bosnia. Phil feels that his diverse body of work is due to his Cornish background, where we tend to try everything. He said, “In London people specialise in one particular area like food photography or fashion photography. We’re a bit different in Cornwall.” At the moment he is particularly enjoying a commission to photograph the Isles of Scilly.

Phil's biggest piece of advice was to encourage us all to print some of the photographs we take on our digital cameras and phones. He himself has lost pictures on digital storage devices and suggested that we get ourselves scrapbooks to store printed pictures to protect our stunning photographs or special memories.

Click here to visit Phil Nicholls’ website

At the end of last term the New Zealand exchange students from Rotorua Girls High School visited Cornwall. This included a trip to Geevor Mine in Pendeen, where they looked at the links between the Cornish mining industry and New Zealand.

The visit has inspired an article in the Winter edition of the Cornish Mining Newsletter.

BEIN THE NEWS

Comenius Project

Mounts Bay has been featured in an article on the British Council website. The report focusses on the Academy’s involvement in the Comenius Project. The project is run by the British Council to develop knowledge and understanding among students and staff of European cultures and languages, and also to help the acquisition of skills which may aid their future involvement or employment in Europe.

Speaking in the article, Mrs Davey said, “It’s been absolutely brilliant moving the school forward. It has helped us get an outstanding grade from Ofsted.”

The Academy has been involved in three Comenius Projects and this has led to some of the innovations at Mounts Bay, including the introduction of three 100 minute lessons and the introduction of four Vice Principal positions to strengthen the Senior Leadership Team.

Spotlight On

Mounts Bay Academy, Penzance.

With an Outstanding rating from Ofsted to its name, Mounts Bay Academy in Penzance has a lot to be proud of. And according to Principal Sara Davey, the Comenius programme is part of the story of the specialist sports and community college’s success.

‘It’s been absolutely brilliant at moving the school forward,’ she says. ‘It has helped us get an outstanding grade from Ofsted.’

One of the first big boosts to the school came in the shape of Czech language assistant Pavel Bravenec, who joined Mounts Bay Academy for six months from September 2009. A former professional ice hockey player and amateur trainer in floorball (a type of indoor hockey) with university-level Spanish to boot, Pavel fitted perfectly with the school’s adventure-learning philosophy and kept bringing new skills to the table. He even turned out to be a qualified ski instructor, which proved invaluable when Mounts Bay Academy organised its first ski trip to the Czech Republic.

‘Pavel had a huge impact on our students in their enjoyment of the Czech and Spanish languages and cultures as well as that of two new sports,’ says Vice Principal Jennie Hick. ‘Such was the extent of his ability, willingness, dedication and professionalism that, had we a vacancy here, we would have been very pleased to appoint him.’

Over the years the school’s three Comenius partnerships, with schools in Norway, Turkey, Germany, Italy and Bulgaria among other countries, have also seen some striking developments. These include the creation of four deputy head positions to bolster the senior leadership team, and the introduction of a system of three lessons of 100 minutes each day, as well as an ongoing exchange partnership with a special needs school in Germany.

Its latest project, involving five schools, is on the theme of Learning Outside the Classroom. To date, trips have included week-long stays in Spain, France and Germany and activities such as visits to a concentration camp, the Spanish Civil War shelters and the Third Reich tour in Munich. There has even begun to be a competitive streak among the schools as each strives to create the best programme of events for its visitors.

‘We try to outdo each other,’ says Sara. ‘The hosting gets better and better as it goes on. We’re last and we’re really going to struggle to beat what the other schools have done. They’ve been fantastic.’

So far, Mounts Bay Academy’s plans for its Comenius partners include climbing, kayaking and mountainbiking, as well as a performance at the open-air clifftop Minack Theatre. The organisers are working doubly hard to develop an excellent schedule because, unlike some other exchange programmes, they know they will have to report back on what the project achieves.

‘You are held to account,’ says Sara. ‘That means you do it properly. The different national bodies like the British Council want you to have a decent outcome and write a decent report. Instead of spending money on war, it’s Europe spending money on peace, getting future generations to work together for the benefit of understanding between cultures. It’s tremendous really.’

For Sara, the evidence of the success of the programme is plain to see at Mounts Bay Academy, where an ethos has grown up that reflects the qualities of John Amos Comenius, the well-travelled 17th-century Moravian teacher often said to be the father of modern education.

‘We have global citizens in the school and it’s absolutely normal to welcome guests and learn about different cultures,’ she says. ‘It’s been fantastic. It’s made us the school we are today.’

“A trip alone is not enough – everything you learn must involve articulating and integrating back into your own work.”

But the visits have certainly helped cement the relationships, which are certain to extend well beyond the life of the official project.

“It’s been absolutely brilliant at moving the school forward. It has helped us get an outstanding grade from Ofsted.” Sara Davey, Principal at Mounts Bay Academy.

To read the article click here.

Skiing

At lunchtime on Saturday 4th January we departed by coach on our 24 hour journey to Italy. We travelled to Dover to catch the ferry to Calais. How lucky, following all the recent storms, to get a window in the weather and a smooth crossing to France. The party then travelled through the night and by 8am we were having breakfast near Geneva. A burst pipe on the coach’s engine cooling system halted our journey for a few hours but a replacement bus and lunches were rapidly organised and following this long journey we safely arrived in Courmayeur in the Aosta valley on Sunday afternoon.

That adventure over, all students have now fully immersed themselves into their lessons and we are seeing lots of improvement across the ability of the group. There are 29 students skiing and four snowboarding. The snow conditions are ideal and the sun has been shining. A nice contrast to home, as we catch up on news of the continuing stormy weather back in Cornwall.

Skiing on the slopes under Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest mountain, is an amazing experience and the views are truly spectacular. Many of the students are using this week’s activity to gain GCSE practical grades and it is good to see the hard work being done to achieve these marks.

In addition to the skiing we have been sampling the culture of Italy, its cuisine and beautiful surroundings as part of the extra programme planned for us.

Report by Mr Raggett

BEACTIVE

Cross Country

On Sunday 5th January Archie Vingoe represented Cornwall in the Regional Cross Country Competition at Killerton House in Exeter. There were about 70 other high quality athletes in Archie’s race. Archie said, “The race was really tough. I was in the top five until we hit the hill. It was so hard I felt like quitting, but I carried on. I realised how good some of the people in the south west are at running!”

Archie came 11th and is now preparing for the nationals which take place in Birmingham in March.

BECOMPETITIVE

Archie (number 343) looks determined as he takes on other competitors on a muddy hill

BEADVENTUROUS

Old Friends and New

It has been a wonderful surprise to see the return of the famous former Head of Geography, Jonathan Wilcox, and his wife. He was accompanied by Jowan Wilcox who is five months old. Jonathan and Lynsey are expecting another baby Kiwi child in July. Jonathan is currently teaching Agriculture and Horticulture at Francis Douglas Memorial College in New Plymouth, New Zealand. It is a famous rugby school, which takes boys only and a number of former students who are current All Blacks. These include Conrad Smith and Boden Barrett. Jonathan surfs almost every day, goes skiing on the local volcanic mountain and organises Geography and Outdoor Education field trips. Jonathan has agreed to allow us to set up a new New Zealand exchange for the boys in the future.

The only thing Jonathan really misses are Cornish pasties and former colleagues.

BEA WINNER

Translate the word of the week from either French, German, Spanish or Italian and send your answer to ktripp@mountsbay.org to be entered into the weekly competition.

Use the word of the week in your Language lesson and get a credit from your teacher!

Maths Quiz

This Week’s Puzzle:

How many cm in 1km? Extension for Bonus Points:

Which is greater: the number of metres in a km or the number of Sundays in the next ten years?

Closing date for entries: Thursday at 12.00

Last solution: 78 present

Extension: 17:03

Could you write next week’s puzzle?If you would like to set the numeracy puzzle for a future week click here. You will win house points.

For each correct answer throughout this semester we will put your name in the hat for a chance to win an iTunes voucher – the more correct answers, the more chance of winning.

House Competition

Blue: 31 PointsPurple: 31 PointsOrange: 22 PointsYellow: 18 PointsGreen: 17 Points

Red: 9 Points

Click here to submit your answer

The last answer was ‘bauble’.

The winner was Stan Roynon. Well done!

Win an iTunes voucher

MFL Word of the Week!

la mer il mare

el mar das Meer

BEA WINNER

There will be a prize for the most imaginative sentence including the word resolution. Please send your entries via the link below by Wednesday 15th January.

Competition

Congratulations to Eseld O’Neill who won the Christmas competition. Eseld receives her prize from Mrs Turner

This week’s word is: resolution

Definition: noun

• a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group. Compare concurrent resolution, joint resolution.

• a decision or determination; a resolve: to make a firm resolution to do something. Her resolution to clear her parents' name allowed her no other focus in life.

• the act determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.; the act of resolving.

• firmness of purpose; the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute: She showed her resolution by not attending the meeting.

• the act or process of separating into constituent or elementary parts or resolving.

Etymology: Early 15c., "a breaking into parts," from L. resolutionem (nom. resolutio) "process of reducing things into simpler forms," from pp. stem of resolvere "loosen" (see resolve). Originally sense of "solving" (as of mathematical problems) first recorded 1540s, that of "holding”.

Click here to enter Word of the Week.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE

BECHARITABLE

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Meet new people. Make new friends. Join a new young peoples choir.

A new vocal project FREE to 15-18 years in Cornwall. No auditions just join in.

Rudling Voices is a unique vocal project aimed at young people living in Cornwall, Plymouth and Bristol. The programme is a tribute to the late Gilly Rudling who spent much of her career ensuring young people from all backgrounds had access to instrumental and vocal activities across the region. Through the power of singing and song writing, Rudling Voices will support and nuture the southwest’s young vocalists with expert tuition, residential workshops and unique performance opportunities.

Free 9-week Vocal Programme for 15-18yrs in CornwallStarts 1st February 2014, Truro Library from 1pm

For more information contact emma@cymazmusic.org.ukTel: 07803 176416

Free 8-week vocal course begins:

Sat 8th February 2pm to 4pm Truro Library

Learn how to sing in harmony. Learn microphone tenchniques.

Beat boxing Rapping Song writingGroup singing Solo singing& lots of fun

FREE Taster day Sat 1st FebTruro Library 1pm to 4pm