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N E W S L E T T E R
Autumn 2017
What’s Inside
Halloween makeup
Charity Club
Book Fair
Restart A Heart Day
And more…………..
Aldworth School
2
Welcome to our Autumn Newsletter. As always the autumn
term is a long and busy one as we head rapidly towards
the Christmas break. Our Year 7 cohort have settled into
l i fe at Aldworth and we had 208 starting back in
September, which is the largest number of students we
have ever had on roll in a year group!
We welcomed back the Year 11 ‘Class of 2017’ to our
annual Certif icate Presentation Evening back in
November. We were delighted to welcome Paralympic gold
medal winner Graham Edmunds as our Guest of Honour.
Graham also official ly opened the Flexi-Pod (The Aldworth
Learning Centre) which is part of an init iative to provide
bespoke support to students within the school day.
Message from the Headteacher
www.aldworth.hants.sch.uk
3
Staff Changes
We wil l be saying goodbye to a small number of staff at the end of this term. Miss Mbofana
(ICT, Computing and Business Studies) leaves us to take up a new role in Birmingham. Mr
Osborne (PE and Science) leaves us to take up a position in another school. Miss Crocker
(Music and Drama) leaves to take up a posit ion in another Hampshire School. Mr Stafford
( ICT, Computing, Business and Technology), Mrs Weight (Leading Practit ioner: English), Mrs
Mison (English) and Mr Farrar (Mathematics) are also leaving.
Joining the school are; Dr Yorke (Science, joined us after half term) Miss Jones (ICT,
Computing and Business). Mrs King and Mr Maltman are teaching within the Mathematics
Department. Mr Phil l ips, who has been working within PE on a temporary basis, wil l be
remaining for the rest of the academic year and PE are also joined by Miss Harris in
January. We are also welcoming two teachers to the English Department: Mr Watters
(Leading Practit ioner) and Dr Velica. Ms Seaward is joining the Drama Department.
Have a Super Holiday
Congratulations to the 60 students in Years 8-11 who have been awarded 100%
attendance certif icates for 2016-2017!
Thank you to all staff, students and governors who are continuing to work hard and thank
you as parents and carers for supporting the school. On behalf of the staff and governors,
have a happy Christmas and peaceful new year.
Denis McCabe - Headteacher
Through my education, I didn't just develop skil ls, I
didn't just develop the abil ity to learn, I also
developed confidence. Michelle Obama
Aldworth School
4
Messages from the Deputy Headteachers When we return from the Christmas break Year 11 wil l already only be 15 school weeks
away from their GCSE examinations which begin in May 2018. With that thought in mind I
have attached some good tips for Year 11 students to take on board over the holiday. They
begin their f inal GCSE practice papers the week beginning 15 January 2018.
Of course these simple t ips and organisation ideas are not just for Year 11 students. Al l
students can benefit from using simple changes to their daily routine to improve their
overall knowledge and understanding and keep it in their long term memory.
Please take a moment to have a look at the ideas and revision methods and consider
which would be valuable to use but also, perhaps to adopt some of these all the time!
Have a great Christmas break and come back ready and focused.
Mr Bramwell - Deputy Headteacher
Create a revision plan
Little and often is best
Start early – 2-4 months ahead
Work out the best revision methods for you and use them
Remove distractions like T.V, mobiles and loud music
Take planned breaks to keep your engagement. Work for 30-60 mins then change topic or have a short break
Eat properly – junk food means imbalanced blood sugars and poor concentration
Drink lots of water
Plenty of sleep - 8 hours minimum
A balance of social and work life works best over time but be prepared to really put some hard work in as you approach your exams
Keep a positive mind set
Revision Basics - Top Tips ORGANISATION Organised students usually do really well in their exams. It ’s not a coincidence. Simple things can change how effective you are at learning and remembering and lower your daily levels of stress.
Things like; keeping your bedroom tidy, packing your bag the night before school, checking what enhancements you have and making arrangements to attend them will definitely be a start.
Getting up early enough to eat some breakfast will help keep your focus in lessons. Also drinking water will 100% improve your concentration levels.
Don’t miss any school. Statistics are clear that those who attend do better than those who are absent.
And finally, keeping your books, equipment and revision materials in order at home will really help you get started quickly and reduce the stress!
Simple things are the easiest to do.
www.aldworth.hants.sch.uk
5
I have many conversations with parents who want to offer as much academic support to
their children as possible. Sometimes there is a sense of frustration that without having
the subject knowledge it is hard to help. Other parents comment that they could help more
but they do not have enough information concerning the topics that are being studied in
the different subjects.
Parental support makes a massive
difference, but you do not need to be
a subject expert. Your support and
encouragement with organisation is a
massive factor. Making sure your
child keeps a balance between school
work and social l ife and encouraging
them to do some regular studying wil l
make a massive difference.
I have put some resources on the
Aldworth website to help. Firstly
there are PowerPoints I used at the
Parent Information Evening in section
‘Parents/Letters Home’.
Secondly, i f you look under the
‘Learning’ section there is a variety of
new information. For each subject is
a ‘Curriculum Information’ attachment
that allows you to understand what
topics are being studied at a
particular t ime.
Finally under the ‘Students’ section
there are some valuable ‘Study Skil ls’
resources which are a guide to
effective learning.
I hope this helps, have a great
Christmas!
Mr Moores - Deputy Headteacher
The Months Ahead
Thurs 4 Jan INSET Day
Fri 5 Jan INSET Day
Mon 8 Jan First Day of Spring Term
Thurs 18 Jan Review Evening
Wed 31 Jan Yr 9 Options Evening 6.00pm - 8.30pm
Mon 12 Feb - Fri 16 Feb HALF TERM HOLIDAY
Thurs 1 Mar Yr 7 Interim Reviews to Parents
Fri 2 Mar Yr 8 Interim Reviews to Parents
Fri 16 Mar Yr 11 Interim Reviews to Parents
Tues 20 Mar Yr 10 Mock Interview Day
Wed 28 Mar Yr 9 Interim Reviews to Parents
Thurs 29 Mar Yr 10 Interim Reviews to Parents
Fri 30 Mar GOOD FRIDAY
Mon 2 Apr - Fri 13 Apr EASTER HOLIDAY
Messages from the Deputy Headteachers
Aldworth School
6
Over the past two terms the governing body has been organising itself into groups aligned
to the school improvement plan. This enables our monitoring activit ies to be focussed on
the areas where we can be most effective in not only holding leaders to account but
developing strategies that support school improvement.
Governors continue to meet in both committees and ful l Governing Body meetings termly
and engage with staff and pupils through a variety of other opportunit ies. This year we
have attended as many performances and extra curricular activit ies as we have been able
and wil l continue to do this next year and beyond. It is a delight to be able to engage with
our students on the occasions where learning is enriched beyond the classroom, and we
are fortunate that these opportunities continue to be embedded into the curriculum at
Aldworth. We are grateful to our skil led and knowledgeable staff for their commitment to
our varied programme of extra curricular enrichment.
It is also rewarding to be able to meet so many of you at these events, supporting al l our
students, and the school.
We have a busy but productive time ahead of us in the Spring and Summer terms where we
wil l be engaging with school leaders, staff and students as often as possible in our roles
as strategic leaders of the school.
I would l ike to take this opportunity, on behalf of al l of us on the Governing Body, to wish
you and your families a happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
Maureen Bax, Chair of Governors
Aldworth Governing Body
www.aldworth.hants.sch.uk
7
Charity Club Since it was re-launched in November 2017, the new
Charity Club has made a big impression at Aldworth
School raising a lot of money for worthy causes. For
instance Charity Club students planned and put on a
number of different activit ies for Children In Need on
Friday 17 November. These included holding a coin
trai l , bake sale, competit ions, a tutor group sweepstake
and a non- uniform day. Al l of these activit ies raised a very impressive £1058.32 so well
done to those students involved.
Our next fundraising activit ies took place in the run up to Christmas and included holding
a fi lm afternoon and a Christmas art and craft afternoon after school when students got
creative and made a wide range of Christmas inspired cards, decorations and edible
goodies to take home with them. A lot of fun was had by everyone and all the students
enjoyed getting into the festive spirit . Al l profits from these events went to CLIC Sargent
(Children’s Cancer Charity).
Charity Club runs every Tuesday in the Library between 3.00pm and 4.00pm and has many
fun and excit ing plans for 2018 so please keep a look out for further details.
Mr Lewis - Learning Support Assistant
Lego Club Lego Club continues to be a popular addition to the after-
school club t imetable at Aldworth School. We can be found
in Room B1.5 every Monday afternoon between 3.00pm and
4.00 pm. Lego Club students have had lots of fun designing
and creating their own models with many excellent
creations being made. Sam enjoys coming every week and
said ‘I enjoy going to Lego Club because of the fr iendly
people and the amazing models that they make’. Other than
making a wide range of models so far this year, students have also helped create an eye
catching display in Room B1.5 which showcases their models in the best possible way.
Lego Club is open to all students and we hope to see more students there next term.
Mr Lewis - Learning Support Assistant
Aldworth School
8
BTEC Business Studies Year 10 Outing!
Al l Year 10 Business Studies students investigated
two local large businesses, completing a project
survey whilst at Brighton Hil l Retail Park! They had
fun learning about the features of a business
including innovation, USP, environmental trends,
and the target market of both Toys R Us and Currys
PC World, in a real world environment. This
comparison of both businesses wil l be used to
inform their assignment for BTEC Unit 1 –
‘Investigating the Business World’.
Our teachers and the managers of both businesses
were very impressed with every student that
attended in the way they conducted themselves and
their commitment to the task. We are very lucky to
have such dedicated students! In l ight of this, we wil l be asking for our students to review
their upcoming assignment targets and l ink them to their own trip ideas. We look forward
to future department trips with us going further afield!
Mrs Banga
Business Studies
www.aldworth.hants.sch.uk
9
Battle of Hastings
Over the term we have learnt about the
Battle of Hastings and how Will iam, the
Duke of Normandy, won the phenomenal
batt le that would go down in history. We
also learnt about how artefacts give
evidence and add a new piece of the j igsaw
puzzle to historians and create a labyrinth
of different paths of what might have
happened in history. We learnt about using
the evidence in our answers and we were
set homework to make our own swords and
shields for our re-enactment. Everybody
brought in their homework on Friday 10
November and they al l looked impeccable.
After a topic that made us apply hard work
and resil ience we were finally going to
become some of the greatest people in
history ourselves.
On Friday 17 November, the event that took
place on 14 October 1066 became our
reality. We split ourselves into Saxons and
Normans and then, intrigued to feel some
of the emotions they felt in the battle, we
headed out onto the field. From looking at
the Bayeux Tapestry historians state that
the battle took place on a hi l l , so we fought
on a hi l l . The Normans then charged at the
Saxons several t imes, eventually the
Saxons were beaten because Harold
Godwinson (Wil l iam Essery) fel l to the f loor
writhing in pain. Suddenly the Saxons were
beaten and they ran rapidly into the forest
before being hunted and slaughtered one
by one!
By Mason Warwick 7Y1
Aldworth School
10
It’s been another busy term in the Drama department, with lots happening both in and out
of the classroom. Year 7 have settled in well to their drama lessons and have spent this
term learning basic drama skil ls and using the theme of ‘Haunted House’ to create some
spooky drama pieces! Year 8 have explored the topic of bullying through dramatic
techniques and are currently using the stimulus of the Titanic disaster to create some
thought provoking pieces of work. Year 9 have explored the issues of child labour around
the world, creating some emotive pieces of work and are currently devising their own
modernised versions of fairy tales! There have been some fabulous pieces of work created
and we look forward to seeing much more throughout the year.
Year 10 have settled well into their GCSE course and have had a busy half term with a
whistle-stop tour of the course – they have devised pieces of drama from a stimulus,
learnt and performed monologues, researched drama practit ioners and are currently
exploring the play Blood Brothers. I know there wil l be some exciting pieces of work to
come from this year group! Year 11 have completed their devised pieces of work for their
coursework and their performances were fabulous, a real credit to the hard work they have
all put in. We wish them every success as they complete their course this year.
Outside of the classroom the KS3 Drama Club continues to be really popular, with over 20
students attending every week (pictured below). Students have explored many different
drama skil ls this term and it ’s really lovely to see students who may not feel so confident
in the classroom really shine in Drama club. Many thanks to Ryan Gaul and Hayleigh
Pogmore in Year 10 for
running drama club every
week, and to Mr Attr idge for
overseeing it .
Many thanks to you all for
suppor t ing the ac t i v i t i es
w i t h i n t h e D r a m a
department and we look
f o r w a r d t o m a n y m o r e
e x c i t i n g a c t i v i t i e s a n d
opportunities in the New
Year!
Miss Crocker
News from the Drama Dept!
www.aldworth.hants.sch.uk
11
This term Aldworth has kick started Peace Jam. Students
from Year 7 to 11 come to discuss recent news events
and see how they can make a difference.
Currently we are focusing on l itter in the school and the
elderly in Basingstoke. Keep your eyes peeled as we may
be asking for your help very soon.
Daisy Hursey, Deputy Head gir l , comments that “Peace
Jam is a great opportunity to meet new people and share
your views on current affairs. It al lows me to build on fundamental skil ls for the future
and take on board other perspectives. Peace Jam allows individuals to work together as a
team to build awareness of issues that we would l ike to change in our community”.
If students wish to join this group, please feel free to come along every Thursday in S1.15
from 3.00pm to 4.00pm.
Mrs Smyth
Peace Jam
Philosophy at Aldworth Welcome back, and what a start it has been. KS4 have had a busy start to the new
academic year, with end of unit tests and mock exams.
On Wednesday 6 December, many students expanded their
knowledge by attending places of worship in London. This was a
great opportunity for them to ask believers crucial questions that
would help them in their studies. Plus the added bonus of seeing
the beautiful sights of London from the top of Saint Paul’s.
This year, we have set homework projects in KS3 and we have
received some fantastic pieces. Year 9’s have delivered Philosopher presentations in
lessons to achieve a piece of evidence for student leadership, Year 8 students have had
fun videoing alien explanations and Year 7 students have produced some amazing cakes
and models to represent their island.
I just want to take the t ime to thank the parents for their continual support in ensuring
that students are completing and handing in their homework on time.
Mrs Smyth
Aldworth School
12
Library News Hampshire Book Award
Last month Mr Denning and I took a group of Year 9 students who had participated in the
Hampshire Book Award in the summer to Winchester Guildhall for the winning author,
Helen Dennis, to be presented with the award for her book, River of Ink: Genesis. Helen
gave an inspiring talk about her
early interest in writ ing and the
planning and research involved in
writ ing a novel. Students were
able to purchase books at the
event and have them signed by
Helen.
The students concerned: Max
Gatford; Al ice Masters; Rhiann
Gil lman; Briony Merriman; Luke
Chinappen; Onur Ashakhasanov;
Jessica Ludlow and Ben Pope, all
r e p r e s e n t e d t h e S c h o o l
impeccably.
Scholastic Book Fair
At the beginning of December
we held our f irst Scholastic
Book Fair. The event was
extremely successful and well
attended by both students and
s ta f f w i th sa les o f £300.
As all of the books were half
p r i c e i t w a s t h e p e r f e c t
oppor tun i t y t o buy a few
Christmas presents. We wil l
cer ta in ly be repeat ing th is
event in the future.
Mrs Paterson
www.aldworth.hants.sch.uk
13
Restart A Heart Day On Monday 16 October,
180 Year 10 students
had the chance to learn
l i f e - s a v i n g C P R
techniques, taught by
front l ine qualif ied staff
from all our Emergency
Services, as part of the
Europe-wide 'Restart a Heart ' day.
This init iative is organised in the UK by the Brit ish Heart Foundation and aims to train as
many students nationally as possible in CPR. Cardiac arrests can happen anywhere, at
any t ime, and to anyone, regardless of age - so this was a great chance for our Year 10's
to learn to be l ife-savers, practicing on mannequins to consolidate the training.
Al l 180 achieved the required level and were presented with a certif icate. It was a great
day and wonderful to see our Year 10's working closely with the emergency services, to
really get a feel for what a difference this skil l could make in an emergency.
Mrs Strokosz
Aldworth School
14
Hair and Beauty - Halloween For Halloween the Year
11 Hair and Beauty
s t u d e n t s h a d a
competit ion in their
l e s s o n . T h e y w e r e
allowed to work in
pairs and given a brief
of Halloween.
Af ter producing an
inspiring mood board
with their ideas they
had a ful l double
lesson to create their
looks. The standard
w a s f a n t a s t i c a n d
every student showed
enthusiasm and added
passion to their work.
T h e w i n n e r o f t h e
completion was Hope Archer
who worked her magic on
Zoe Davis (pictured here).
Hope worked really hard
throughout the whole lesson
and was well prepared when
she arrived which resulted
in an excellent al l round
result. Hope was a worthy
winner and took home the
1st prize!
Mrs Stratton
Aldworth School
16
Physical Education
Girls’ Football Girls’ football has seen another successful term. The gir ls experienced professional train-
ing from a member of the Reading Ladies FC team and their hard work has paid off , as the
Year 7 girls have made it to the Basingstoke finals. Numbers continue to increase at train-
ing but we would love to see even more girls attending on Tuesday evenings.
Miss Payne
Student of the Month The student of the month is given to the student who has stood out above all others in
their key stage that month. This could be for excellent attitude and behaviour, making
good progress in a specific sport, helping out with the department and being involved in
extra-curricular sports, to name a few. September’s students of the month were Bukola
Ikengboju, Ryan Parry, Jasmine Bull ion and Jake Thomson. October’s students were Betha-
ny Cook, Kean Hamilton-Jones, Katie Pierce and Ben May. The November students were
Arina Gurung, Isaac Haines, Mil ly Bryant and Ashton Cooper.
Congratulations to al l of our winners, please keep up the excellent work.
Miss Payne
Basketball Attendance at basketball club has continued to grow since half term at both U14 and U16
level with numbers averaging 25.
The U16's competed in their f irst cup game 2 weeks ago at Bohunt School. Unfortunately
they did not come out on the winning side but they were up against one of the best teams
in the county and the boys definitely learnt a lot from it. We are currently developing our
skil ls using lessons learnt from that game and I hope to get the boys some local friendlies
in the near future.
The U14's are currently developing quickly and working towards their f irst set of f ixtures
after Christmas.
It has been a joy to coach the boys since half term and I look forward to working with them
after Christmas.
Mr Voce
www.aldworth.hants.sch.uk
17
Netball Year 11 This was the final season for the Year 11 players to represent
Aldworth and Miss Lester and I could not be more proud of
them. The gir ls trained consistently and worked as a unit
within matches, they were up against some very strong
opponents and never gave up. The resil ience and
determination they demonstrate has set a high bar for the
younger teams. The team wil l be greatly missed next year, well
done gir ls.
Team: Isabelle Bone, Jasmine Bull ion, Hannah Cole, Lucie
Poulter, Benedicta Osei Gyamfi, Prabha Rai, Grace
Shackleton, Al ice Bone, Chosen Lamont and Abinay Tyrell -
Bonsu.
(Year 11 gir ls pictured right)
Year 10 The Year 10 girls are the only year group to have managed to fi l l and maintain two teams!
The A and B team have been playing together for many netball seasons and it shows. The
camaraderie amongst the players runs through both teams and the benefit from the
support and encouragement is visible in the amount of fun they have each match. The
gir ls are a joy to watch and they conduct themselves with the highest level of integrity and
sportsmanship. The teams played some fantastic netball and, whilst achieving some great
victories, unfortunately they did not place in the f inals. Great effort gir ls, let’s see what
next year brings.
Team A: Georgia-Mae Roots, Mya Bradford, El l ie
Walker, Maisie Howard, Hannah Powers, Katie
Pierce and Mill ie Hawthorn.
Team B: Amelia Oxlade, Chloe O’Donnell , Mirabelle
Larbi, Melinder Kaur, Yasmin Spratl ing, Sarah
Barbour and Sophie Hughes.
(Year 10 gir ls pictured right)
Physical Education
Aldworth School
18
Year 9 The Year 9 team have been instrumental in
supporting the progress of (the equally successful)
Year 8 girls and the bond they have is inspiring. The
team have been proactive in starting training
sessions and supporting the Year 8 team in both
their training and match fixtures. The new Year 7
gir ls have just started and again it is the Year 9
team that has supported and taken them under
their wing. The gir ls have certainly passed on their
passion for netball and this has supported their own growth within the game! The team are
highly reflective players and plan for each match, this proves to be working as they have
won all their group matches (excluding one draw against Bishop Challenor) and made it to
the semi-f inals during December! Good luck gir ls and well done for being so proactively
supportive of others.
Team: Mea Fleming, Lucy McFee, Maria Peregrino-Brimah, Sophie Ashcroft, Madison
Stranney, Grace Keane, Li ly Hutchinson, El izabeth Webster and Abigail Hugil l
(Year 9 Girls pictured right above)
Year 8 The Year 8 team were extremely keen to start the netball season and the energy they have
is infectious. Despite one loss to The Vyne, the
team have won all their group matches and made
it to the semi-f inals! Well done girls, a great effort
so far, let’s see if the new netball sweaters can
bring us any luck! Either way we are very proud of
you.
Team: Jessica Lawrence, Arina Gurung, Olivia
Mason, Michaela Wells, Kaci-Anne Hayward,
Amelia Jagged, Rosina Pettican, Eloise Durham,
Ella Garnett and Jessica Beacon.
(Year 8 Girls pictured right)
Miss Wijeratne
Physical Education
www.aldworth.hants.sch.uk
19
Physical Education
Boys Badminton KS3 Boys badminton won Basingstoke Schools’ badminton competit ion. Ryan Farr, Sam
Hubbard, Sean Rodgers and Aaron Fount won all their matches in singles and doubles.
They wil l now face Costello in a f inal el iminator. The winner of that wil l go on to compete
in the county competit ion at Westgate Badminton Centre in Winchester in the New Year.
Mr Butcher
Year 7 Boys Football Year 7 Boys football team beat The Vyne 4-0 on Thursday 23 November to finish off our
football f ixtures in 2017. The boys are currently working hard in training and preparing for
the Basingstoke league fixtures which begin in January.
Mr Butcher
Cross Country We have had district cross country events for all year groups this term. We had lots of
runners enter but our main successes came from Kean Hamilton-Jones, Ben May and Ben
White. Ben May finished 5th overall in the KS4 race, Ben White finished a very close
second in the Year 8 race, while an amazing run from Kean saw him comfortably win the
Year 9 race! Well done to all participants.
Mr Osborne
Inter House Netball This term saw the next installment of the House Cup -
House netball! We had a good turnout across most year
groups, particularly Year 7 and 8. Of the teams, Danson
has gained the most from netball, picking up 17 points,
which moves them into second place overall behind
Adams. The next inter-house event is Volleyball , taking
place the week beginning 5th February. The House
points table is displayed opposite
Mr Osborne
Are you looking for the perfect place to hold that special event? Or require a room to hold a meeting?
I f the answer is yes, then look no further! We have the ideal
venues and facil i t ies for any of the fol lowing:
We also hire out our Sports Hall , Main Hall ,
Gym and Drama Studio to regular hirers.
Please contact us if you are looking for a
regular booking and we can advise which
t imes are available.
For more details and hire rates please
contact the Finance Office on
(01256) 322691 or
michelle.f [email protected]
*Sorry but we do not accept teenage Birthday parties.
Please note that the school site is a no smoking zone.
Anniversaries
Birthday Parties*
Children’s Parties
Engagement Parties
Shows
Sports Events
Wedding Receptions
Work Do’s
Room Hire