ASA TODAYwww.asachelt.orgThe All Saints’ Academy NewspaperIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

In the MixChristmas recording for Springbank Academy

Page 10

Children in Need; the perfect fundraiser for students. Not only is it fun to dress up, decorate and sell cakes; but when a child helps another it’s a special kind of ser-vice. ASA was fi lled with excitement and I don’t think it was just the costumes that made us smile. It’s not fair for kids to not have the advantages we have, so when we know we are helping them we are happy. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to fi nd yourself is to lose yourself

By ChelseaCravenStudent Reporter

No Bullies PleaseAnti-Bullying week at All Saints’ Academy Pages 8- 9

Above: Sixth Form students dressed in the ‘Grease’ theme

Ne

All in for Children in Need

‘My child is happy at this school’

More fantastic SRD results! Go to page 7

in the service of others.” Students are always trying to fi nd out who they are, where they fi t in, where their future leads and it’s sometimes very stressful to con-stantly worry about yourself. That’s why I like it when we have the Children in Need Appeal, it’s good to forget my own prob-lems and fi x someone else’s, because, in the end, this is what makes me truly happy. According to Charities Aid Foun-dation (CAF) the total income from the top 1,000 charities was £19,635,169,600. That’s a lot of money, but there are also a lot of children. We can do so much to change the world one step at a time if we all come together and helping chil-dren seems like a good way to start.

Above: Sixth Form students dressed in the ‘Grease’ theme

Above: 6CH were offi cially the Best Dressed Tutor GroupBelow: One of the many runners up, 4WH

A grand total of £1174 was raisedWell Done!

Stop Bullying

EDITORIAL

A message from the Principal

Miss SkeldingPR & CommunicationsManager

Chief Editor for ASA Today

2www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

Address:Blaisdon WayCheltenham

GloucestershireGL51 0WH

Phone: 01242 711200Absences: 01242 711203

Email: admin@asachelt.org

www.asachelt.org

www.facebook.com/asacheltwww.twitter.com/asachelt

www.youtube.com/asachelt

Looking back this term, there have been so many exciting developments at All Saints’ Academy that picking out high-lights is quite a challenge. The Bishops’ Award, launched this term, stands out as something impor-tant and special. It’s a way of bringing together the excellent behaviour, learning and leadership skills that All Saints’ stu-dents are now known for. Year Eight and the Sixth Form have begun working to-wards the award which will involve them building up credits across a range of ar-eas. For instance, students can get credit for good attitude to learning (ATL) that is reported to you four times a year. They can also get credit for doing service in the community, helping others or leading worship in the Academy. Of course, mak-ing good progress in learning counts too. The Bishops’ Award will be presented at the end of the year in a major ceremony, hopefully at Gloucester Cathedral. We believe that this award will offer employ-ers and universities extra proof of how

Another busy term here at All Saints’ Academy. Since the last edition we have held several events such as the Children in Need Talent Show and Sixth Form Open Evening. Also coming up before the end of term is a special Christ-mas evening featuring Christmas Car-ols in the Chapel and a production of Charles Dickins’ A Christmas Carol. All Saints’ Academy has taken over twitter! We now have department pages for DT, Sport, History, RE and the main school account. Lookout for the twitter handles for each department throughout the newspaper. We welcome parents, students and the general public to follow us on twitter to fi nd out more about what current topics are being stud-ied, facts and student achievements. We encourage responses to our articles so if you would like to send in a letter for our letters page please email kskelding@asachelt.org

Editor’s comments

ASA TODAY Editorial TeamChief Editor: Miss Skelding

Editor: Mr Hamilton

Mr PowellInterim Principal

twitter bites

All Saints’ Academy @asachelt Please see our website for our updated Sixth Form Application Form http://www.asachelt.org/Prospectus-and-Application-Form/Springbank Primary @SpringbankPriProfessional cast performing panto at @asachelt All Saints Academy on Thurs-day 12th December - bargain prices! pic.twitter.com/8hmruI5LsK

All Saints’ Academy @asachelt 8 of our fantastic Sixth Form students took part in the Euroscala event yester-day. They did such a great job! #proud pic.twitter.com/9GB6jMnLBfSuzanne Williams @suzLD Pleased to see that School warning signs have gone up by Howell Road @GlosHighways Working on more though @PeterJeffries3 @asacheltASA Sports Dept @ASASportsDeptWell Done to our U16 Girls Football Team - a well worked goal in the last 5 mins secured the win @TewksPEdept Final score 4-3! #undefeated

All Saints’ Academy @asachelt @SpringbankPri & @asachelt working together - @JakeRJSheppard working with pupils from Springbank choir on Friday. pic.twitter.com/sQdq4IRO1B

Keep up to date with ASAKeep up to date with ASA

follow us on twitterfollow us on twitter

our students have something a little extra! Student Review Day in No-vember saw our highest attendance fi g-ures yet, with almost all students repre-sented. We recognise that this day can involve quite major planning on your part and we thank you for your support. We’ve heard a few suggestions about providing some childcare for younger students and we’ll look to help you with this for our next Review Day. The parent survey that you did on this day produce some fantas-tic results. Over 95% of you either agreed or strongly agreed that your child is safe, happy and well-taught at All Saints’. Over 92% would recommend us to other par-ents. This is feedback that most schools and academies would give anything to receive! We’d like 100% in all categories, of course, and if you have suggestions that could make experiences for students better still, please come in to our parent

forums or email the academy directly (details below). Recently, I spoke to future Sixth Former and their parents. When it came to show how many trips and enrich-ment activities had taken place over two terms, I couldn’t fi t them all on a slide. Our students have been to the Houses of Parliament, to universities, lectures, busi-nesses and worked with students in other schools. Other year groups have been just as active. This is an aspect of Academy life of which we’re very proud. As we are of the quality of teaching here. We asked head teachers and senior leaders from other schools to review our Sixth Form and they found all the teaching to be good or outstanding. In fact, they were keen for their own staff to see the excellent class-room practice that they witnessed. Thank, as always, for your support. I wish you and your families a peaceful and happy Christmas.

How do you feel about being the Inter-im Principal?Excited: things are improving fast here and it feels terrifi c to lead this rapid growth.Humble: we have such dedicated and skilled staff here that I feel I can learn something from everyone working at All Saints’.Proud: I’ve worked in many schools and All Saints’ students are the greatest!

What do you like most about life at All Saints’ Academy?The way students care for each other and accept others that may be different from them in some way.

What got you interested in teaching?A brilliant English teacher, Mr Macil-wraith, who made English seem like a key that unlocked what was really being done and said in the world.

What would you like to see changed at ASA?I’d like to see all our real stars, the stu-dents who come in every day and do their best, are always polite and help others take centre stage at All Saints’.

Tell us an interesting fact?My idea of heaven is a ten mile run through snow!

Interview with the new

Principal

Above: Mr Powell with past Year 11 students collecting their exam results

Above: Steve Powell Interim Principal

ASA NEWS

By James McAdamStudent Reporter

CiN Talent Show3www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

Ronan shows us his talent with a diablo

Our first term in Performing Arts has involved planning a creative event and we thought what better thing to do than a talent show? So, along with Mrs Aus-tin’s music class, we planned and put on a Talent Show in the Cotswold Hall. The show took place on 20th November and was a huge success. Jake Sollars and Michael Mitchell were the comperes for the evening and the witty banter was forthcoming. They did a great job of presenting the acts and keeping the audience entertained between acts. Jake Sheppard played gui-tar, as accompaniment to a young singer who volunteered from the audi-ence. It was a very moving moment. Miss Skelding and Miss Smith sang the hit ‘Skinny Love’ and Bryoni Bradshaw in year 13 sang ‘War-rior’: two truly sensational moments. But, the evening was stolen by the remarkable talent of Katherine To in year 11. Her piano recital was truly astounding. Well done, Kather-ine. You had the audience captivated. All in all, it was a great night and we learned a lot of new skills that we will put into practice next time. Make sure you book early!

Above: Winner, Katherine To wows the audience

Above: Kiaya & Elizabeth dance to perfectionLeft: Mrs Austin’s Music Tech-nology group - Austin’s Angels

On the 20th November 2013 the many wonderful talents of All Saints’ Acad-emy came to dazzle the audience. The variety of acts was amazing, from comic presenters to amazing dancers. The night brought laughs, tears and yummy snacks. The first act of the night were two familiar faces Miss Skelding and Miss Smith singing the beautiful Birdy song ‘Skinny Love’. Not only did they harmonise beautifully they had to play the piano that synchronised with their voices. ASA’s Ant and Dec, Michael Mitchell

Student review of the talent show

and Jake Sollars made the crowd laugh, they would jump around the audience asking proud parents and maybe a little bit embarrassed siblings. One of these siblings was Megan Dancey; she couldn’t answer because she was laughing so hard. A beautiful array of vocals were showcased Courtney Simmons sung ‘Rihanna, Stay’. Her husky tones assure her a life on the stage. A rich performance from Rosie Hayes singing ‘Blown Away’. Jose Lumactod made the audience melt with him and his dimples singing ‘When I was your man.’ Rosie Hayes rich tones were a force to be reckoned with. Her performance of ‘Blown away,’ definitely blew everyone way. The last singers of

By Lauren O’Shea Student Reporter

part 1 were a duet singing ‘Lego House,’ Elizabeth Shawcross and Jade Mitchell they were nervous but pulled through. The first part was also bursting with dancers, former winner Bethany Halford moved with the music; it was a beautiful dance to Tom Odell’s ‘Another Love.’ Kiaya Leach did a personalised street dance mix and got the place clapping. Lastly not forgetting Ronan Austin with his diablo, he even got judge Mr Faut-ley to have an attempt; let’s just say he shouldn’t quit being a P.E teacher just yet. After a break the audience were back in the hall ready and waiting.First up were James McAdam and ex-ternal student Dante with their acous-

tic duet of ‘Get Lucky,’ they are both talented musicians. Next an amazing pianist by the name of Katherine To stunned the audience with a, well, just amazing performance. I think everyone felt sorry for the person who had to fol-low Katherine To but we needn’t worry because Alex Beasley smashed his in-strumental performance. Now I’m sure everyone has heard someone say at least once the show must go on, Mary Jane Dancey was a perfect example of this. After a minor mishap Mary Jane braved the stage and smashed her performance. Next was a nervous Biddy Holmes, she wowed us with her flips, twists and bends. She was followed swiftly by Hope Louise

James McAdam is one of the Perform-ing Arts students in Year 12. A former student at Pittville School, James is enjoying his experience of 6th form life at ASA. A talented actor and per-former with lots of experience, James is looking forward to playing Bugsy in the latest Academy production.

Jones with her performance of ‘On My Own,’ from Les Miserables. Afterwards was a fluent dance routine by Laura So-biegraj. Then the return of Michael Mitch-ell this time solo and singing ‘Hurt.’ The fi-nal act was a pop duet singing ‘Price Tag,’ after a mic mishap they sang beautifully.Then the results; the judges had de-liberated and after awarding a spe-cial reward of courage to Mary Jane Dancey, they got down to business. In third place was Biddy Holmes, sec-ond was Rosie Hayes and finally was our female Mozart; Katherine To. Katherine To was so shocked and proud. It was a great night and proved to everyone that came that ASA has bags loads of talent.

Jose singing If I was your man by Bruno Mars

“A big thank you to Mrs Austin’s Music Technology group, Mrs Coleman & Mrs Schilder’s Food Technology group and Miss Smith & Miss Skelding for helping with the production.”

Jake Sollars, Performing Arts student

Hope sang On My Own & Betha-ny danced to Another Love

Above: Biddy exciting the audiences with her energetic gymnastics display

The judges present first prize to Katherine

Jake invites a child to sing Sum-mer of 69 with him

SPIRITUALITYThe season of Advent at All Saints

4www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

By Mrs SpenceRoman Catholic Lay Chaplain

The season of Advent marks the be-ginning of the Church’s year. In the same way people countdown to New Year, during Advent, Christians count-down to the season of Christmas – the time when we remember and celebrate God coming into the world, through the birth of Jesus. Advent, from the Latin, Adventus, means ‘coming’. It is a time of waiting and preparation – a time to prepare our lives for the com-ing of the Christ child, to live with us. To mark Advent the Chap-lains with the assistance of several 6th Form students assembled 6 Interactive Prayer Stations around the Academy. Each RE class was invited to visit the stations in small groups where they listened to reflections which and were adapted from the C of E ‘Experience Christmas’. Music and songs were added and the reflections were re-corded here at the Academy on iPods which the Chaplaincy recently pur-chased. This proved very popular with students and enabled each to progress.

“The advent sta-tions were a

brilliant way for students to engage with the true mean-ing of Christmas.”

@asacheltRE

Station 1 - The Preparation

Each Sunday during the season of Ad-vent, a candle is lit on Advent wreaths in Churches just like the one on dis-play. The candles help us to prepare for the coming celebrations of Christmas. As we prepare our homes with Christmas lights, candles and decorations we know that light shows up those things which need cleaning or putting away. As well as getting our homes ready we can also prepare our hearts, this may mean saying sorry to God for what we have done

that has hurt others. When we say sorry to God he forgives us and gives us a fresh start, a clean heart as it were. So our homes and hearts can be ready for Christmas. Students were invited to take a shiny strip of paper and wrap it around one of the fir cones think-ing about something they wished they hadn’t said or done and if they wished to offer a prayer for that person asking God’s love to surround them like the shiny strip wraps around the fir cone.

Station 2 - The AnnouncementStudents were invited to look at the scene and imagine what sort of per-son might live there, what the person might have been doing before they left? God was ready to send Jesus into the world. He needed to choose a special person to be the mother of his Son. The woman he chose was called Mary. Mary lived 2000 years ago in a town called Nazareth. Soon she was to be married to Joseph who was a carpenter. Mary spent her time clean-ing, sewing and making bread.Students listened to an account of the Angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary, telling her of God’s plan. The Bible tells us that Mary was scared and frightened. Some-times in life we are asked to do some-thing difficult and we can feel anxious

and worried. We might find excuses, but if it is the right thing to do, we need to be confident and strong and do it. The Angel tells Mary that God is with her and so she doesn’t need to be afraid, that with God nothing is impossible.Salt is not nice on its own, but it is very important to add it to flour when making bread. Students were asked to think about something which they may be finding difficult or a chal-lenge. They were then invited to take a pinch of salt and sprinkle it over the flour while asking God to give them courage and strength, remember-ing what the Angel had told Mary, ‘that with God nothing is impossible.’

On arriving at this station students were asked to look closely at the display and to smell the incense which was burning. Two thousand years ago wise men were looking for special signs to tell them about a new king who had been promised before in their sacred books. These wise men searched the skies to see if the stars could give them some answers to their questions. The pattern of the stars helped the wise men to know exactly the right time to set out on their journey to find the promised king. They wanted to take some special presents for the new baby king. The gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh and their relevance were explained. Students were invited to read the promises on the scrolls which are written in the book of Isaiah hundreds of years be-fore Jesus’ birth. Students were then asked to draw a picture of what they would like to give to Jesus this year and place the pic-ture in an envelope and take it with them.

Station 3 - Promises

This station tells the story of the journey, from Nazareth in the north to Bethle-hem in the south. It took many days as Mary and Joseph travelled on foot. Stu-dents were asked to look at the map and imagine what kind of a journey it might have been. They were asked to think of a journey they had been on, where they went, how long it took, what mode of transport was used and how they felt when they arrived at their destination Mary and Joseph’s journey was the equivalent of walking from Chelten-ham to Leicester, Watford, Southampton or Taunton. They had to undertake this because a census had been ordered of all the people with each having to reg-ister in the town where they were born, so Joseph had to return to Bethlehem. When they finally arrived they were very very tired, and couldn’t find a room as the town was so busy, the only space they could find was one they had to share with animals. There in that place, that night the baby Jesus was born. Students were asked to pause and think if there were times they felt left out and to try and imagine how Mary and Joseph felt.

Station 4 The Journey

Station 5 The Message

Students were invited to sit down in front of the log fire and look at the ob-jects and imagine who might have been in this place and why they seem to have left in such a hurry? They then listened to the account of the shepherds being told of the good news of Jesus’ birth.

Shepherds were not considered all that important in those days. They had to work long hours in the open and often had to fight off wild animals to protect their sheep. But amazingly enough it was to the shepherds that the angels were sent from heaven with the news of Jesus’, birth. Part of the angels’ message was peace to all men and women. Students were given the opportunity to write a message on a card angel, wishing peace to someone. They could then either take it home for their own tree or hang it on the tree at the station.

Station 6 The Gifts

On entering the Chapel, students were asked to pause and look at the manger.Mary wrapped the baby Jesus in clothes and placed him in a manger, the place where animals feed from. As more and more people heard about this mys-terious birth, visitors came from far and wide. Jesus is sometimes called God’s gift to the world. Jesus is God’s gift to us, the gift which lasts forever. Students were invited to place their envelopes in the basket at the man-ger and then pause to try and imagine the scene with the people coming one by one placing their gifts at the crib.

DEPARTMENT NEWS

By Miss Metcalfe, Miss Jones & Miss Ayling

5www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

Maths & Science Rewards Trip

‘Presenting… ASA’s hotly anticipated production of Bugsy Malone com-ing to the Cotswold Hall at Easter.Pupils and staff alike are all get-ting involved to ensure this musi-cal properly showcases the excel-lent talent of our budding actors. The musical will be available to the entire community of All Saint’s Academy and we would hope that the audience is packed with family, friends and fans to enjoy what ASA has to offer.Rehearsals have only just begun and already the promise and potential of the pupils involved is encouraging.’ Bryoni Bradshaw is extremely happy to have been cast in the part of Tallulah, “I am pleased with my role. I think it’s going to be great experience as I am going to study musical theatre at University in September. Bugsy Malone gives the school an opportunity for whole school co-operation which is lovely. We like working with the younger pupils.”

Performing Arts

A group of us studying Performing Arts have had the opportunity to take part in the play ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ organised by Info Buzz. The play was written with the intention of educating teenagers about how they have the ability to turn a challenging position around. The play presents real experiences of young people who went through circumstances such as teen pregnancy, drug abuse, phys-ical abuse, the effects of alcoholism and homelessness. Info buzz intend to use this play to raise awareness of the organisa-tions available to help people who are in similar situations. This play is also a type of forum theatre, so those of us participat-

ing are having the opportunity to extend and develop our characterisation as we work. Students from a variety of schools have the chance to fire any questions they may have about our characters’ situations at us. As well as this, there is the poten-tial to suggest ideas about how the charac-ters might have gone about their circum-stances differently. This is what Info Buzz are trying to get at: they want students to think of potential ways around a difficult position so they can understand that just because something starts off badly, that doesn’t mean it has to end in the same way.

By Bryoni BradshawStudent Reporter

Bryoni performing in the talent show this year

Bryoni Bradshaw is a Year 13 student. She studies Performing Arts, among other things. She is a talented actor and singer. As well as this, she is a great supporter of talent at All Saints Academy, nurturing and guiding younger students and help-ing them to find their confidence. For Performing Arts, Bryoni and her class are working on a production of Steel Magnolias in which Bryoni plays the role of M’Lynn Eatonton – famously played by Sally Field in the award-winning movie adaptation. As well as this production, Bryoni is involved in the play Is There An-ybody Out There? organised by Info Buzz.

I suspect all of us can remember star-tlingly awful presents we’ve received. As Christmas looms ever closer, and the gift ideas that seemed so perfect a couple of months ago are either forgotten or, in the cold light of day, revealed to be terrible, it’s easy to see how last-minute punts are taken on esoteric presents. I can well re-member the year I was presented with a pogo-stick. I unwrapped the arrestingly heavy package and gazed, mystified, at what appeared to be a length of scaf-folding with a car suspension-spring on the end. I hurriedly scanned the previous twelve months of my life to see if by word or deed I had given the impression that all I required for spiritual fulfilment was a pogo-stick. There was nothing. I recall thinking to myself, with baffled resigna-tion, but we live on a hill. There are quite literally, no flat bits of land around here. Nevertheless, after only the most fraction-al hesitation, I was able to feign delight. I have a vague memory of bouncing, once, in the living room, hitting my head, and leaning it against the wall. I think that re-mains the only bounce that pogo-stick has ever done. An unfulfilled life one fears. There is a tradition at this time of year that if one eats twelve mince-pies in succession, the following year will be a happy and successful one. Some confu-sion over the date, with some folk as-serting the correct day for the task is Christmas Eve, and some Twelfth Night. Though I have made frequent efforts to fulfil my duties in this regard, I’ve al-ways got stuck around August. One year I made it through to October, but then had to lie down in a darkened room for sev-eral hours. Tradition goes on to say that if you don’t manage your twelve mince pies, you will be plagued by the Lub-ber Fiend. There is no reliable data as to what a Lubber Fiend might be, but I know several people who might accurately be described as one. One year I will bake a specially small batch of pies and then bask in a year of unalloyed joy and ease.

Christmas Traditions at

Marchbanks Towers

By Marchbanks

B u g s y Malone

By Miss WatermanEnglish & Drama Teacher

The Maths and Science Departments rewarded selected Y8 and Y9 students with a trip to The Bacon Theatre to see The Gloucestershire Schools’ Christ-mas Lecture. The students were re-warded for their outstanding attitude to learning in lessons and making out-standing progress in terms 1 and 2. In the first lecture, Dr Matt Pritchard showed us the secrets behind lots of mathematical magic tricks using cards, coins, patterns and numbers. In the second lecture, Matthew Tosh amazed us with some brilliant indoor fireworks and explained the science behind the bangs and the colours of outdoor fireworks. Dy-lan Palmer said “my favourite part of the maths lecture was the pirate Pete problem where all of the sides added up to 9. My favourite part of the science lecture was when he set off the indoor fireworks that made loud noises and had lots of colours.” All the students really enjoyed themselves, Ceri Mavin thought “it was really interesting and we learned a lot from it, I hope to be able to go next year!!!”

In class we have been creating pres-entations that would help us advance in our learning. The class split up into groups of three or four. Over a few les-sons, we planned, created and pre-sented our, “mini lesson”. In my group, our topic was fraction addition. We all had a bit of fun presenting our activi-ties and helped each other to learn. For one activity, we had questions in enve-lopes and we had to race to be the fast-est person to get the answer. In order to get the next question we had to get the first question correct. The first group to finish got a prize! Personally I had loads of fun and would love to do this more.

By Erin BardenStudent Reporter

Whos teach-ing whom?

Year 7 Sindija RudevicaYear 8 Jordan PearceYear 9 Carl CrowtherYear 10 Marcella Rat-cliffe-SmithYear 11 Harriet Spillane“We will inspire, chal-lenge, facilitate and cele-brate everyone’s achieve-ment in mathematics.”

Each week we reward students who have worked really hard. We create a list for each year, names are then cho-sen out of a hat and these students get a prize. For term 1 the follow-ing students were chosen as winners.

By Mrs JacobsTeaching Assistant

Maths Rewards

DEPARTMENT NEWS6www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

By Callum Drew Student Reporter

8I have been doing a topic on WW2 this term. They have been fi nding out about rationing, ‘Dig for Victory’, the Blitz and WW2 aeroplanes. They made Spitfi res and WW2 bombers, coloured them in the camoufl age authentic colours and fl ew them outside. The aerodynamic compe-tition for the best Spitfi re commenced with Billy McRoberts and Vinny Smith winning the competition, throwing their Spitfi res the furthest. A fun time was had by all. ‘Never, never, never give up’ quote by Winston Churchill.

Above: The pilots with their planes. Below: 8I during take-off

This term we decided to take our His-tory lesson to the top of Senlac Hill (well ASA’s version of the historic mound) where we re-enacted the famous battle of Hastings. Y7 have been studying the events leading up to the battle of Hast-ings, as well as the two armies that were about to meet, and were keen to discover its outcome. The Norman Army led by Bob-by Hunt, also known as William Duke of Normandy, met the Saxon Army led by Ronan Austin, better known as Har-old Godwinson, on the slopes of Senlac Hill. William’s professionally trained sol-diers were keen to attack, but struggled as their position at the bottom of the hill

By Miss Cameron History Teacher

By Ellie Stratton Student Reporter

We have been learning about the Battle of Hastings for the past term in Year 7 His-tory. We have enjoyed it very much and last lesson Miss Cameron (our amazing history teacher) thought it would be a good way to show how the Battle of Hast-ings took place, this is so we as students

By Sindija Rudevica Student Reporter

8I explore the Blitz

Year 11 students studied extremely hard for their November entry exams in IGCSE English and GCSE Maths. Stu-dents who already secured a C grade or better in the summer series of exams did not sit the exams during this entry win-dow, but will instead wait until the sum-mer to raise their attainment level in the external examinations. The mathematics depart-ment ran revision sessions on Monday evenings, offered targeted intervention to students, provided students with re-sources and individual revision plans and provided regular progress checks to indi-vidual students. The students should be commended for their extremely positive approach and efforts to raise their perfor-mance. The attendance of students was very good and progress has been excel-lent. The English department had a real focus on the coursework element of the IGCSE, students really applied them-selves to this 60% aspect of the course. Students worked well in their own time and during lessons to create the portfolio of work required and to prepare for the speaking and listening element. The Eng-lish department offered coursework ses-sions every day after school to ensure that students had the support and opportunity to make maximum use of their time. Students sat the exams during the fi rst week back after half term and were actively encouraged to prepare for these over the half term. To help them with this there were several in-school ses-

By Mr Ferguson Assistant Principal

Yr 11 Updatesions organised over the half term:

Monday morning EnglishMonday afternoon MathsTuesday morning EnglishTuesday afternoon MathsWednesday morning Maths

Students were informed which sessions are relevant to them and were provided with internet links to revision programmes and resources to aid them in their revision at home. The year 11 students who have displayed a positive attitude in term one across all subjects, those who have al-ready achieved C+ grades in English or Maths and those who have really put the effort to prepare for the November exams, have been rewarded with a cinema trip to see ‘The Hunger games: Catching Fire’. The students were very well behaved and enjoyed the fi lm. Year 11 students should con-tinue to apply such a positive approach and level of effort to all their subjects and make maximum use of their time in and out of lessons to ensure coursework and knowledge are as detailed and prepared as they can be.

I would like to take this opportunity to actively encourage Year 11 student to complete all their ILTS for both terms 2 and 3

would have a clearer vision on how it all happened. We took roles outside so half of the class were in William’s army and the other half were on Harold’s. In our armys we were split into different types of soldiers such as: archers, foot soldiers, cavalry and many more. This helped us because we understood the battle more clearly by re-enacting it and witnessing how it happened. We learnt that William’s army won because Harold was shot in the eye by a bow and arrow, after falling for a trick William and his army thought of. Overall we learnt a lot and loved every minute of it.

The Battle of Hastings in 2013?left them severely disadvantaged. Ro-nan and his shield wall remained strong for much of the morning. However, by a chance circumstance Bobby and his army were able to trick the Saxons into leav-ing their secure position thus breaking the solid shield wall. Bobby quickly took control of the situation and commanded his archers to aim high, the skilful Joshua Morton-Ellison shot his arrow above Ro-nan’s shield, killing the English King and forcing the rest of the Saxon Army to sur-render. William may now have the crown, but how is he going to consolidate his power? Year 11 History revision will be every Thursday at 3pm in MG03. Speak to Mrs Gooch or Mr Giblin about revision guides; they are a very valuable resource!

Follow the History Department

@ASAHistoryDept

History Revision Sessions

Year 11 are also encouraged to pur-chase a revision book which will help them to prepare for their mock exams in January. They cost £5.80 and can be paid for on ParentPay and then collected from Mrs Gooch.

Thursday Week 1MG03 3-4pm

Monday Week 2MG02 3-4pm

DEPARTMENT NEWS7www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

By Mr Carroll, Mrs Taylor and Mrs Parr

The Higher Education Fair was organised to inform all students and their parents about university course options and pos-sible career links.We have come a long way over the past two years. Many of our students would not have considered further education a couple of years ago. Events like this one are rapidly changing expectations and as-pirations of our students.The atmosphere in the Cotswold Hall was aspirational with lots of positive conver-sations taking place. Students took the opportunity to talk to the representatives, collect information along with the inevi-table “freebies”. We had a very produc-tive day with lots of interest shown by students of all ages.Most of our students got involved on the ASA students at one of the many University and HE displays

•The event is great for exposing young students to their options after school

•All your students look very smart!!

•Satisfi ed with the whole event, students were lovely as well, even better!

•A very successful and well organised event. Thank you. Still busy at the end – a bonus compared to other HE events!!

•A great improvement on last year. Treasure hunt worked very well to en-gage younger students.

•Students and staff were all friendly and delightful to speak to.

•Very good event – thought of asking younger age groups to complete task sheet was inspired!

day, either asking about specifi c courses or simply chatting to the delegates to fi nd out interesting facts about their establish-ments. Older students were challenged to speak to the delegates about what cours-es they could offer that would suit their interests, whilst younger students were given a treasure hunt to identify all the university logos.The delegates were great – they didn’t seem to mind all the younger students bombarding them with questions.Most students were able to tell us which was their favourite University/College and what they would like to study there – I call that a result!We will be doing some follow up with all students to keep the idea of a continuing their learning when they leave school.All our visitors welcomed the opportuni-ty to visit All Saints’ Academy and meet students from Years 7 – 13; before leav-ing we received positive feedback from the day.

Higher Education Fair

This school makes sure that its students are well behaved

I receive valuable information about my child’s progress

My child is happy at this school

My child makes good progress at this school

My child feels safe at this school

My child is well looked after at this school

My child is well taught in this school

SRD 2013 - The results are in!

How much homework does your child receive?

This school deals effectively with bullying

This school is well led and managed

This school responds well to any concerns I raise

Would you recommend ASA to another parent?

We had our best ever attend-ance to a SRD with 90.8% of parents/carers attending!

Anti Bullying Week8www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

By Mrs CummingsVice Principal

ASA targets for Anti-Bullying Fortnight:

• Staff and students understand what forms bullying can take• Everyone is clear that bullying is never tolerated at ASA• All students know how to get help if they need it

Every year there is a national focus on Anti-bullying during November. This year at All Saints’, we decided to have an ‘Anti-bullying Fortnight’ during which we all focused on this important topic and what we can all do to make a difference.

Bully Free ZoneBully Free Zone @@

At All Saints’ we have many staff and students who want to help any student who feels that they are being bullied. We encourage any student who has a problem with bullying, or anything else, to ask for support. The following staff are available to help:

House Tutor and Associate Tutor House Achievement Leader and Pastoral Support ManagerAcademy Leadership TeamSenior Academy Leadership TeamAcademy ChaplainsPCSOsAcademy NurseAcademy Counsellor

Here to Help

In Year 13, we have four Head Students who were appointed because they want to help all the other students. We also have House Cap-tains in every House Tutor Group who take on the responsibility of supporting the group.

When approached, any adult at ASA will treat the concerns of young people seriously and with respect.

Occasionally, a student may prefer to speak to someone outside the Academy to seek help. We have issued all students with a blue sticker produced by Glos LEA which lists key support agencies for young people.

SRD Parents’ Feedback October 2013

‘My child is happy at this school’ 94% Parents agree or strongly agree‘My child feels safe at this school’ 95% Parents agree or strongly agree‘My child is well looked after at this school’

95% Parents agree or strongly agree

Recent feedback from parents during SRD in October, which more than 90% parents attended, showed that parents are very happy with lots of different aspects of life at ASA

You push me over, you hurt me, I don’t know why.It is because you’re scared, or do you just enjoy the suff ering of others?School could be my heaven, but you make it my living hell.Do you need to bully be to be popular? Or can you just leave me alone?I would tell but I’m afraid it will anger you more.Do you need someone to talk to? I can help you if you let me try.I don’t show how sad I am.On the outside I look fi ne and can cope.But on the inside there is a storm where there should be a sunny day.You don’t know what you’re doing to me, you are ruining my life.By Brandon Langsford

Bully

Above: One of the winning poems from ASA’s anit-bully poem competition

Don’t Stay Silent9www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

C Anti-Bullying Poster CompetitionEvery House Tutor Group worked on producing a pow-erful poster which showed what they thought about the topic of bullying and bullies. The fi nished posters were displayed on the wall of the Academy and the winning poster in each House led to a reward of an extended break with a drink and a cake on Friday 6th December.

Canterbury 6CH

York 1YH

Durham 5DH

Westminster 5WH

BullyingyberMr Revell delivered some outstanding assemblies on the subject of cyber bully-ing which had a real impact on students from years 7-13. These presentations built on Students Briefi ngs delivered by PC Jenny Kadodia last year in which she stressed the importance of students keeping themselves safe online and be-having in an appropriate way to others on the internet.

Despite the really positive feedback, staff are very aware that when students fall out with each other it causes dis-tress to young people and their families. In all schools , on the rare occasions where a con-fl ict between students is not addressed quickly, there can

At All Saints’ Academy we are proactive in encouraging stu-dents to be safe online. On Learning 4 Living day 15 Year 10 students were fi lmed for the production company ‘Fixers’ who help young people have their voice heard on TV. Th e programme is about a young person called ‘Carney’ who was cyber bullied as a young person. He is campaign-ing for schools to run a week of

‘cyber bullying awareness’. Carney ran a workshop with students; they watched a cyber bullying video and dis-cussed how social network-ing can have a positive and negative eff ect on your life. Th e students were a credit to All Saints’ Academy. Th e producer of the programme commented how brilliant the students were; articulate, eloquent and very responsive. Th e short programme will be broadcast on Th ursday 6th February on ITV South West News between 6pm - 6.30pm.

Anti Cyber Bullying WorkshopMiss SkeldingPR & CommunicationsManager

be a chance of bullying arising. Students developed their un-derstanding of the different forms of bullying through two very powerful short fi lms that were shared in House Tutor Time and these led to some extremely worthwhile discus-sions on the impact of bullying.

BULLIES

NO

MUSIC

By Jake SheppardStudent Reporter

ASA help Springbank pupils record their Christmas song

10www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

Having been drafted in at last minute to take control of a studio session with a professional producer, you could say I was a little stressed out. However be-ing the all-round good guy that I am I stepped up to the plate and took the helm. I had to begin setting up the necessary equipment to record twelve children singing their newly learned Christmas song. Oh yes, there were to be twelve children that needed to be kept entertained whilst I prepared the ses-sion that they were oh so excited about. Without the help of top Austin’s Angels, Charlotte Randall and Jo Oliver, the project would have sank there and then. Many thanks! So with the children kept busy, Jo and I continued with the setting up of five microphones at various angles and heights attempting to put into prac-tice what had stored away in the dusty side of our recollection but before long we were confronted with a problem. The headphones were not working. My initial reflex was to ask Mrs Austin herself how best to confront this however she was unresponsive. Meaning she wasn’t there. With panic mode about to en-sue, a solution was calmly presented to me in the form of a very complicated explanation of which I will spare you the torment, something about plugging it in right was the gist of it, as the main point to take away was that we were all set to get underway. This was a relief as I was conscious that within the space of half an hour Charlotte seemed to have lost the initial spring in her step after being asked to play One Direction “one more time” by the twelve excitable children. With the choir split into two groups they were recorded at various lev-els, gains and microphone combinations to gain the best possible recreation of their voices in the recording. I definitely did not just press record! Once the core material was recorded it was time to say goodbye to the Springbank kiddie winkles as they were sent away happy with their experience at All Saints’ and Charlotte was left with a strange desire for caffeine. At the end of the day, literally as it was about two hours after the final bell we were actually finished, we were pleased with our efforts and I hear that everybody else involved was satisfied as well. This was all I had hoped for after the initial fear that everything would go pete-tong.

Above: Jake gives pupils a helping hand setting up the equipment for the recording

Above: Millie Winder and Emily Wiliams

Above: Kelis Jarrett, Olivia Regan, Music Producer Dennis Jarrett, McKenzie Williams, Lily Cheal and Laila PerkinBelow: Lottie Farmer and Charaty-Louise Collins

“Being able to work with a real Music Producer, Dennis Jarrett was a real privalege for our A-level Music students. Dennis produced the music for the Christmas track. The Springbank pupils had written the song during their special EPIC learning day. It should now be available on the Springbank Academy website to download.” Miss Skelding

HOUSE ACHIEVEMENT11www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

Nicole Morrissey3CH

Outstanding

Christian

Inclusive

Community

Tutor Comment (Mrs Wilczynska)I would like to nominate Nicole Morrissey - she is Girl’s House Captain for Canterbury House, has an outstanding attendance and punctuality record this term. She takes part in Academy events like open evening or Interhouse. I would like to present a student who, through attitude and actions, has demonstrated supportive leadership skills and acts as a positive role model. She always enjoys participating in con-versations and discussions during form time and Living Well sessions, trying to express her ideas and points of view. I know that Nicole has great potential and works very hard to-wards achieving it. She is always optimistic and has a good sense of humour which we all enjoy.

HAL Comment (Mrs Crawford)I am delighted that Nicole is Canterbury’s Star Student. It has been a real pleasure to watch Nicole mature and flourish over the past two years. The fact that she was asked to be one of Canterbury’s House Captains speaks volumes. She de-serves both to have this role and to be awarded Star Student. I am proud to have her in Canterbury House.

Student CommentI feel privileged to get this award. I believe I can be a good influence on the pupils in the younger years and on the peo-ple in my tutor group. This reward will help me strive to act as a role model and I am glad that my achievements and hard work have been recognised. I will continue to work to the best of my ability and push myself in lessons so I leave with the best grades I can.Thank you for nominating me for this award; it would be an honour to accept.

Term 1

House Star student of the Term

Canterbury

2013

Natalia Gruszkiewicz3DH

Outstanding

Christian

Inclusive

Community

Tutor Comment (Mr Griffin)

Natalia is one of those students whose quiet kindnesses can so easily go unnoticed. I’m delighted for her that she has been chosen as Student of the Term, and I’m sure that she will con-tinue to show the maturity and generosity that has marked her out this year. She is a popular student, both with her peers and with adults; she is a role model for younger students in tutor time and around the Academy. I congratulate her on a terrific achievement.

HAL Comment (Mr Bradley)

Not only has Natalia has made a great start to Year 11, she has been an excellent student since the academy opened. Natalia is an asset to Durham House. She consistently works hard and strives be at her best. Well done and keep up the hard up for the rest of the year!

Student Comment

I feel honoured to be nominated as a student of term. I really enjoy being in Durham House, and like feeling a part of my tutor group. I’m surprised to be nominated as I think that all I do is show up and do my work, but it’s amazing to be recog-nised. I’ve been working so hard in Maths, and coming to the revision sessions; I’m glad that I have been noticed!

Term 1

House Star student of the Term

Durham

2013

Mckenzie Mason2WH

Outstanding

Christian

Inclusive

Community

Tutor Comment (Ms Turner)We are nominating McKenzie Mason for student of the term because she is dedicated and conscientious to all her studies and is a positive influence to the form. Mc-Kenzie also recently completed a Geography ILT to such a high level that the academy Principal commented that he thought it was to sixth form standard. We are proud of her maturity, attitude to learning and perseverance with all her tasks. Well done McKenzie!

HAL Comment (Mrs Mitchell)Mckenzie has really impressed me at the start of such an important year for her. Mckenzie has proven to be a dedicated and motivated student. I am particularly pleased to hear she is producing outstanding work and ILTs.

A very well deserved student of the term. I hope Mcken-zie continues to take such an active part in tutor time and be a role model for her fellow students.

Congratulations Mckenzie!

Student CommentI am really pleased to be nominated for student of the term. I have enjoyed looking after and supporting the new year 7’s in my form this term.

Term 1

House Star student of the Term

Westminster

2013

Tutor Comment (Miss Holland)Georgia is a fantastic role model in 5YH and a delight to have in the group as her fun bubbly character shines through each day. Georgia’s attendance is 100% which is outstanding and she is al-ways dressed to a high standard. She is the new House Captain for 5YH which she is taking seriously and does a great job at ask-ing opinions from the form about general topics. She provides help and guidance to other students and likes to help out where ever possible during each form time. She is working hard across her academic lessons and preparing well for her exams by attending various after school sessions. Georgia takes part in Interhouse competitions and Sports Day with great enthusiasm and charisma in order to support York House. I am sure Georgia will have an-other successful year this year at All Saints’ Academy and I hope she keeps up her motivation in meeting her GCSE target grades. Well done Georgia!

HAL Comment (Mrs Adsett)It is a pleasure to have Georgia in York House. She is always posi-tive and smiling. She participates in House events and encourages others in her tutor group to get involved too. Georgia was the winner of our House logo competition and we now use her eagle on our badge in House briefings and assemblies. Georgia’s attendance is outstanding and she is a role model to younger students in her tutor group. I hope that she will keep up the hard work and positive at-titude throughout this academic year so that she excels in her end of year exams.

Student CommentI am very happy that I have won this award. I would like to thank my 5YH Form Tutor Miss Holland. The role of Year 11 is tough to handle but I know I will get through it in the end. My form is part of my success and I am proud to be in it. I feel my 100% attendance has strongly contributed to me achieving this award so thank you for giving me the opportunity to win it.

Outstanding

Christian

Inclusive

Community

Term 1

York

Georgia Jones5YH

House Star student of the Term

2013

ASA SIXTH FORM12www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

Over the past few weeks we have been working relentlessly on a project sur-rounding the European Union and current issues. As part of this project each team has to research one issue, we chose Im-migration, and give a presentation based on this. The presentation could take any form so we decided to set ours out like a lesson. After we had presented our topic we were questioned by the other teams there. We were presented with a variety of questions covering different areas of our topic and we did our best to answer them as they wanted. Although we didn’t win we enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot from the other schools who participated.

E u r o s c a l aThe Great Debate

This term the Sixth Form Chemistry students were honoured with the op-portunity to attend Bristol University’s prestigious Chemistry department. The majority of the day was spent in the vast, world class labora-tories conducting an experiment to extract pure caffeine from tea; which we all found was very complex and ut-terly fascinating. We used a variety of expensive scientific equipment includ-ing an infrared spectrometer which many of us hadn’t previously used. We were then treated with a variety of interesting lectures. The first of these being taught by Dr Car-men Galen who provided great insights and an unparalleled knowledge on Car-bohydrates and their importance for sustaining life. She also enlightened us with her research on using carbohy-drates to further the fight against cancer. Professor Tim Gallagher then gave a thought-provoking lecture on the importance of the Pharmaceutical industry and the process of develop-ing a new drug. This talk was especially stimulating as our eyes were opened to what a vital role Chemistry play in the economy and the lucrative rewards that await those that follow this path.Finally we were given an explosive dem-onstration of ‘A Chemical Delight’ by Tim

Introducing Young En-terprise team Infinite

By Troy SuttonStudent Reporter

By Mr SimcoxDirector of Sixth Form

Martin Horwood our local MP visited the Sixth Form for Living Well on 15th November. He was asked a wide range of questions by the students. These in-cluded his views on a pay rise for MPs;

Sorry is not the hardest word

he was against this. He was very much against Michael Gove’s reforms of A-levels. Martin was challenged about his reported views on All Saints’ Academy as a faith school. He explained his op-position to faith schools, but also apolo-gised for his comments that the school made some students feel like second class citizens. He stated that the stu-dents when they met him had made it very clear that this was not the case.

Sixth Form students with Martin Horwood after the Q & A

By Lucie Jelfs, Phoenix Maitland-Roberts & Melanie Townsend

Harrison who enthralled us all as he carried out a range of experiments with Hydro-gen balloons, liquid Nitrogen and slime. We all thoroughly enjoyed the trip and were provided with an insight of what university level Chemistry is like; which may lead many of us down the de-lightful and curious path that is Chemis-try. Mr Burger, organiser of the trip, said “Everyone should try to study science at A-level; not only is it really important and fascinating, but you also get to go on cool trips like this and interact with chemi-cals and watch explosions! Thanks go to Bristol University and The Royal Soci-ety of Chemistry for generously provid-ing our students with this opportunity.”

Chemistry Trip to Bristol University

Above: Mr Koller shows Troy how it is done

This year’s Young Enterprise company representing All Saints’ Academy, Infi-nite, have decided to design, make, and sell jewellery as their main product (dis-played in the photos). However, espe-cially for Christmas, we have been selling some nifty Christmas decorations to be hung from Christmas trees. The students involved in the group have been working tirelessly since September to raise money to start their business. The group consists of Tim Morris, Danielle Screen, Christian Bes-sell, Leon Janes, Segolene Geron, Becky Greenway, Paulina Polec, Curtis Mans-field and Jordan Campbell. The group possess many different and unique talents, and together, their hard work and high ca-

pabilities has resulted in the design and production of new and exciting jewellery. The group has experienced a few arrivals and departures in the last few months, but the backbone of the team has been ever present and is looking strong to make a lot of mon-ey with their innovative creations. The skills learnt so far in Young Enterprise have, and will also be in the fu-ture, beneficial and implementable for the future. Design skills, ranging from using computer programmes to traditional pen and paper, have been applied, as well as the business skills learnt and employed. The team have had to fundraise, find selling opportunities, and manage their money in order to become a successful company.

By Curtis MansfieldStudent Reporter

IT for the elderlyBy Nick DaviesStudent Reporter

As part of the Cheltenham Borough homes IT for the elderly scheme, a handful of 6th form students have been given the opportunity to teach the basics of computing to members of the local assisted living community. This scheme is really rewarding as it provides intergenerational benefits. For us, we gain an insight into how the el-derly see the world of tech, And for them, they gain the knowledge they desire. I’m teamed up with a lady called Margaret who has never used a computer before in her life. Her aim is to be able to email her friends and family, much like the rest of the group. It’s really satisfying to be able to make these connec-tions and make a difference. Margaret’s even taught me something, I’ve learnt that the ‘&’ sign, is called an ampersand. It’s a two way street. We’re all learning. I think this is an important duty that the ‘computer-savvy’ gen-erations owe to those who want to learn! And it’s far from burdensome.

Above: Some of the Sixth Form team with the elderly learners

Above: Margaret, 92, learning how to use a mouse with Nick, 16

Year 11 Early applica-tions for All Saints’ Academy Sixth Form

On Wednesday evening 4th December the main corridor was crowded with stu-dents from all over Cheltenham collect-ing information on All Saints’ Academy Sixth Form. Students had heard current students Alistair Potter, Briony Brad-shaw and Emma Powers peak highly of their experience in the Sixth Form. Stu-dents collected a prospectus with details of all the courses on offer next year. This year students have been encouraged to hand in their applica-tion forms as quickly as possible. Ap-plications have already been handed in. A prospectus and application form are available to download from the All Saints’ Academy website.w w w . a s a c h e l t . o r g / P r o s p e c -t u s - a n d - A p p l i c a t i o n - F o r m

DEPARTMENT NEWS13www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

By Miss Holland DT Teacher

The ASA Design technology Department now has its own offi cial Twitter page. The group has interesting facts, depart-ment deadlines/reminders and creative bursts of innovation to treat its followers with. The twitter feed has featured cool products such as the pen that can connect a circuit together just by its ink and the kit where you can build your own games controller. These fun and creative prod-ucts hope to get you inspired within the Design Technology department. As the group is for the whole of the department, the feed also highlights cooking events going on in school such as the recent ‘ASA Talent Show’ where the Hospital-ity and catering teachers cooked a deli-cious selection of nibbles that could be seen via the photos that were uploaded onto the Twitter group. Don’t miss out on any exciting future tweets and follow @ASADesignTech.

The Year 9 Product Design group was featured in the Gloucestershire Echo on 5th November 2013 in ‘The class Act’. The full page spread was titled ‘Design-ing with a range of skills ancient and modern’. Leo Fernandez, Year 9 was asked by the reporter when he thought it was the best time to have grown up in and he responded with “I think it’s better today because we’ve got better technol-ogy like the X-Box computer games and the internet. There’s a lot more going on

Sandro Noguiera and Casey Hall hard at work in one of their practical lessons for the light challenge as featured in The Echo newspaper.

@ASADesignTech is new to Twitter

@ASADesignTech

By Miss Cox Hair and Beauty Teacher

10 girls from year 11 and 12 beauty vis-ited Monu skincare, a national brand who sell their products on websites such as feelunique.com. Lucky for use at ASA, the company’s factory and HQ is based in the Kingsditch trading estate. Robert, the manufacturer gave use a guided tour around the factory where they were mak-ing and packaging the products. We had to wear protective clothing to ensure the factory remained hygienic. We watched the packaging of the men’s face wash. We saw the product in the big tub which

Year 11 and 12 Beauty Trip

By Curtis Mansfi eldStudent Reporter

Privileged AS Geography students had the opportunity to take part in a seminar with Dr Sam Scott, of the University of Gloucestershire. The eye-opening ses-sion focused on population issues and the various potential forecasts regarding the future of our planet, opening up new avenues of thought, giving the students something to think about. One exercise used as a base to discuss the world’s re-sources included the bonus of wine gums. Dr Scott also provided an insight into uni-versity life to complete the highly benefi -cial session, which will aid their study of population after Christmas.

ASA welcomes Dr Sam Scott

these days.” The class has currently been set the challenge to design and make a product that can be assembled by a cus-tomer, better known as ‘Flat pack’. Cal-lum Campbell, Year 9 said “This is an interesting course to do because it means you get to have ideas, but instead of just

writing them down, you get to see them come to life and get to make them real.” It was excellent to see the class in The Echo and well done to all students for working so hard on their practical products. Keep up the hard work!

was put into the top of the packaging ma-chine. “We had a great time and it was really interesting gong behind the scenes to see how products are made”- Charlene Luke . We would like to thank Robert and Lisa from Monu skincare for showing us around. Year 9 are due to visit the factory next year as a reward or a fantastic start their beauty course.

In ASA during advent our chaplains set up some prayer stations for the students to go around. In RE lessons each stu-dent is given an iPod shuffl e and is put into a group of 5 or 6. Each group then go around the 6 stations fi nding out what happened at each one by listening to songs and people talking on the iPods and at some of them you are even set a task to do. For example, at one of the stations you are asked to write down what present you would give to the baby Jesus if you were a wise man. At other stations you can learn about the journey from Naza-

By Erykah CameronStudent Reporter

Advent the All Saints’ way

With 6th form choices looming why not consider Psychology or Sociology? In lessons recently, A2 Psychology students have been re-creating famous psycho-logical experiments in the classroom. This involved role playing both the par-ticipants and the psychologists, and in-vestigating how children develop their

By Miss BrannanHead of Psychology and Sociology

Psychology & Sociologythinking. Whereas AS Sociology students have recently been discussing contempo-rary issues such as changing family pat-terns and how it impacts on modern day society, for example lone parent families. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, see either Miss Brannan, Miss Firth or Miss Bonnici. For those who are already studying Psy-chology or Sociology, make sure you come to catch up on Wednesdays for ex-tra help!

Parent ForumParent ForumThe Academy needs you !

The Parental Forum needs you !

All Saints’ Academy Parental Forum meets once a term, for an hour, to discuss a whole variety of issues related to life at the Academy. These topics have included Enrichment, ILTs, Student Review Days, School Uniform and communication. The next meeting is on Tuesday January 14th 2014 at 6pm The group is open to all parents so if you are interested in attend-ing please email Mrs Crawford (Assistant Principal, House Achieve-ment Leader) on acrawford@asachelt.org

reth to Bethlehem, Jesus’ birth and lots of other things. Each prayer station has been carefully thought out and planned to make it as educational and interactive for the students as possible. This way of learning is very effective because it is more exciting for pupils than just being told about each prayer station in a lesson. Also, using the iPods is a brilliant idea because it gets everyone involved and is a more modern way of learning. Many pupils that maybe wouldn’t go to the prayer stations normally actually seemed to enjoy them because of the iPods and the activities involved in visiting them. I am sure that all the pupils who attended would now be able to tell you in more de-tail what Advent is and what it means in the preparation of the birth of Jesus.

DEPARTMENT NEWS14www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

By Mrs CarrollAssistant Principal

Trips to the Natural History Museum London and the CLIP Carnegie Book Award are a few of the exciting opportunities for the AG group

Academically Gifted at All Saints’ Academy

By ASA Literacy Champions

Here at All Saints’ Academy we know how important it is that every one of our students has a good standard of literacy. To this end, the week of the 18th to 22nd of November was the fi rst of three ‘Lit-eracy Everywhere’ weeks.The theme for writing, through a ‘Drop Everything And Write’ lesson, was anti-bullying and formed part of the Anti-bul-lying awareness month. Students across the Academy from Y7-13 stayed in their house tutor groups and after a short time of discussion spent the lesson carrying out a piece of extended writing.

Wednesday 4th of December saw the launch of our mentoring programme for some of our most able students. Our A/A* students in Y11 have had access to a mentor for the last two years and we were very keen to extend this lower down the Academy.After a rigorous identifi cation process, a number of students from years 7-10 were put forward to be part of the programme. It is our hope that in the long run some of the students will have both the desire and confi dence to apply for some of the U.K.’s top universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, and pursue high-fl ying careers.During the launch event students heard how the mentoring sessions would be run. They also heard about some possible enrichment activities we hope to put on - students will gain leadership, organisa-tion and teambuilding skills through ac-tivities such as trips to museums and their own planning of events. We look forward to including some of their own ideas as well.The event fi nished with the opportunity to mix with, and get to know, students in other year groups, whilst enjoying a buffet. One Y7 student said, “It was awesome to be picked”, while another said, “My mum was really proud when I showed her my invitation”.We are really looking forward to work-ing with the students over the coming months. um London and the CLIP Carnegie

Above and below: The AG group start their fi rst session with some essential introductions and networking

Drop Everything Reading and Writing

In the run up to our Literacy Everywhere week, queues were seen forming at the check-out desk of the Guided Learn-ing Hub as students made sure they had books ready to ‘Drop Everything And Read’. Once a day throughout the week a tannoy announcement invited all staff and students to stop what they were do-ing and spend 15-20 minutes enjoying a good read. feedback from staff and many of the students was very positive, saying that, ‘This was a very relaxing activity in the normal day.’May we take this opportunity to encour-age you all - parents, students and staff, to enjoy a good book over the Christmas break.

The Soapboxby Mrs Millard

Huge thank you to the Youth Support Team for the work they have done with our Y9 & 10 girls over the last two terms. Our students have really benefi tted and enjoyed the course and I know they will be sad that it has come to an end.

Youth Support Team

The Rock have been working hard

with our young ladies in develop-

ing/improving their confi dence

and independence. They have all

enjoyed the program and have

recognised the positive impact it

has had on their resilience and

well-being. We look forward to working with

The Rock again in the new year.

The Rock

Thank you to CYfC for all their support and hard work they bring to ASA. Paul and his team have not only supported our young people through mentoring and sporting activities but have also supported us with our hamper collections. We are very grateful to the team for the extra in-put and guidance they give in our effort to improve our young people’s opportunities and spiritual education/well-being.

Thank you to CYfC

UoG Youth Workers

We are very lucky at ASA to have

such a large number of voluntary

staff, made up with a number of

Youth Workers that come into

school to work our young people.

Every Friday, the Youth Workers run

a club from 3pm – 4pm. The club

has been really successful and very

popular amongst our KS3 students.

We thank Jack and Rosie for their

support, along with their positive

energy and attitude they continually

bring to our young people.

DEPARTMENT NEWS15www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

By Mr RollasonPE Teacher

Last month the Year 8 rugby team lost 4 out of 4 games at the Rugby Engagement Tournament at the Prince of Wales Stadi-um. Since then they have made a massive improvement beating the likes of Chosen Hill and Tewkesbury School.

Year 8 rugby teamend year on a high!

With tough tackler Brad Carroll the team have sharpened up their back line and made it very diffi cult for the op-position to break through in each game. The team have grown together over the last month and shown a real willingness to work for each other and adopt a never say never attitude. Well done lads! We also wish Brad a speedy recovery after taking a bad knock against Tewkesbury.

On Friday 22nd November ASA took a team to St. Edwards to compete in the district X Country competition against other schools around Cheltenham. All participants did themselves proud and fi nished the race which was a

ASA District X Country team fi nds hidden talent!

very demanding undulating course. The pick of the bunch was Tom Chamberlain who fi nished 15th in his cat-egory out of around 200 participants. He will now go on to represent the Academy in the County Championships in Glouces-ter on 7th December.We wish him all the best. Well done to all the X Country team!

Netball has been very popular this year and there has been some great commit-ment from the girls. We’ve had numerous matches including those against Cleeve, Pitville and Winchombe with numerous wins and a few losses (only by a few goals). We are particularly pleased with Shana Kelly from Year 7 who has rep-resented the Year 9 netball team and re-ceived player of the match. Also to Beth Wilshire and Hannah Whelan in Year 10 for their excellent support to the club within their coaching roles. Keep up the good work girls!!! Mrs Williams and Miss Oldham look forward to seeing you at training in the new year!

Netball

ASA 0 – 27 FarmorsThe Year 9 Rugby team demonstrated true resilience and determination in their 2nd round of the EDF cup this term. The team started well and were unlucky in the early stages with the ball being held up on the try line. ASA displayed some of their best rugby of the season with great defensive tackling and outstanding strength in the rucks. ASA where unfortunate with the end result, but persevered to the end and walked away with their heads held high.

EDF Cup Yr9 Boys vs Farmors 2nd Round

Sports Update:

By Mr RollasonPE Teacher

All Saints’ Academy 3 – 2 Farmors School (Fairford)Having beaten St Peters 5 – 2 in the previous round with an excellent perfor-mance in the second half, I was hoping that lessons had been learnt.This game proved to be a well matched affair. Both teams looked to play football and the quality on display was of a high level. Chances were created at both ends but a combination of poor fi nishing and excellent goalkeeping keeping the scores level. The introduction of Hale for Bab-bage after 30 minutes changed the threat to one with more pace but less strength. This had an immediate effect with Hale slotting the ball into the bottom corner. The game seemed to have got away from the visitors as All Saints’ dominated pos-session and looked certain to add to the tally, however almost on the stroke of half time a well timed break saw Rayson isolated and despite the initial save by Hopson the ball fell to the unmarked left winger who took his chance well. The second half proved to be much of the same with both teams keep-ing their performance levels high. Chanc-es were again created by both teams and both teams were thwarted by some excel-lent defending and some poor fi nishing. All Saints’ had the greater share of pos-session and created more but would this game fall away from them? With 30 minutes gone in the second half a free kick ricocheted around in the box. Mason reacted well taking it past the last defender and slotting it home to gain the lead. The fl ag was up! Was it for a handball, shirt pull or dirty tackle that the ref had missed? No, offside was the reason, who could have been offside? Mason, never, he collected the ball on the six yard box and ghosted past the last de-fender – The goal stands 2-1 up with 10 minutes left. This only seemed to buoy the visitors and they crafted a chance within 2 minutes of the restart which they duly converted. With the game looking certain to go into extra time and the third match ball being kicked over the low Astroturf

6th Form National Cupfence into the industrial estate, there was a stoppage in play and a free kick to ASA on the half way line. Rayson played the ball high into the box, Hale controlled this well as he spun and hooked the ball home with only 2 minutes left on the clock. Far-mors pressed forward and looked for an immediate reply, last gasp defending from everyone and Sherman adding himself to the back line saw the game out.Round 5Cleevedon (Somerset) 7 – 1 All Saints’ Academy The sixth form carried the hopes of the Academy into the 5th round of the national cup, being the only ASA side left in the competition after round two, they had got used to the pressure, or at least that is how it seemed! The game against Cleevedon School from North Somerset started well with a strong series of passes created an opportunity for Woodman after 20 min-utes. He showed a great deal of compo-sure in front of goal, calmly curling the ball past the England Youth trialist goal-keeper. This however only seems to raise Cleevedon’s game. Straight from the re-start they tore through the middle of the park and equalised. A second and third soon followed through the same route and when a poorly timed tackle by Hopson gifted them a penalty with only seconds left in the half a 4-1 defi cit looked un-likely to be overturned, unless the team could show the same spirit and level of performance they had in all the previous games. The second half started well but an inability to create any real opportuni-ties saw time tick away. Carbin stabbed wide from three yards out when it looked like he would get his season off with his fi rst goal. Mason, Sherman and Newman looked like they had one eye on their Saracens U18 evening game and were saving something for it. Mr Ferguson ro-tated the bench and this seemed to raise performance levels, but failed to change the result. Cleevedon scored 3 in the sec-ond half and cruised to a 7-1 victory, they were the better team and deserved to win, All Saints’ put in a tired and half hearted performance and did not do themselves justice.

By Mr Ferguson Assistant Principal

Film ReviewPaul Blart: Mall Cop

By Kain PerkinsStudent Reporter

I think this fi lm was good because it was funny and it had some action in it. In the fi lm this mall cop called Paul Blart was in the mall and this new person came and he had to teach him to be a mall cop. When Paul was in the games room singing the new person took over the mall to get all the money because he was actually a bad guy and Paul was trying to stop him. Overall I will mark this fi lm 10 out of 10 because it was really funny

On Tuesday 3rd December Art ‘Fine Art’ and Photography year 12 and 13 students visited Cheltenham Art Gallery to see the Colin Reid Glass exhibition. They listened to a talk about Colin Reid’s background and infl uences and gained an insight into how he created his elaborate and stunning pieces through watching a fi lm. The students then toured his exhibits and had time to observe and comment on his work.Following the tour of the exhibition students attended a workshop. They explored a range of materials and tech-niques that create glass like effects. They explored the use of glass pens on a variety of plastic surface. Their samples of work will be incorporated in to their current units of coursework.

Cheltenham Art Gallery

ASA SPORTSU14 Girls Football Team Success

Scan to acceSS our weSbite.

www.aSachelt.org

16www.asachelt.orgIssue 23, Term 2, 2013

This term a group of 6th form girls and a couple of Year 11 students have been learning to ski during weekly after-school lessons at Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre. The sessions have seen the girls progress from total beginners to emerg-ing skiers, able to turn, stop and use the lifts, as well as the ability to control their speed and direction. The lessons have seen the girls confidence tested, some by the height in which they are now coming down the slope and some by their num-ber of falls… Mr Pierce and myself have witnessed a resilient attitude in a number of the girls, showing their determina-tion to quickly recover from the adver-sity of repeatedly falling over to succeed.

Girls Go S k i i n g

So far this season our team has done very well. We have played 5 matches. Out of these we have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1. Overall currently we are 3rd in the league with 10 points. As our team hasn’t played as many matches as the current team at the top of the league, we still have a chance at winning. Our cur-rent positioning in our league is down to hard work of Shana Kelly, Ebony Hawker, Reziquel Dalogdog, Macy Pat-erson, Molly Taylor, Mia Walker, Natea Harper, Samantha Smith and Chloe Bet-teridge and the coaching from Miss Da-ley. We have two important games left against Barnwood Park and Balcarras.

All Saints’ 4 - 3 Tewkesbury School

On Thursday 29th November, a nail-biting match was played between the All Saints’ U16 Girls Football Team and Tewkesbury School. The match con-tained some great headers from Rosie McRoberts, Alex Borowicz and a shock-ing heading streak from Jess Harper! Not to mention the amazing goals scored by Wiki Oklinska and Lateisha Long! The match was coming to an end and the score was 3-3… Then, in the last 5 minutes, our very own Wiki scored the winning goal, after some great team work which brought the score to 4-3!Another win from the All Saints’ girls… The undefeated girls.

Eloise TaylorStudent Reporter

Triumph over T e w k e s b u r y

By Hannah WhelanStudent Reporter

U16 Girls Football celebrate success

On Thursday 21st November, ASA U14 girls football team played their fifth match of the season against Tewkesbury. The first half was goalless but in the second half Shana Kelly scored the only game of the match giving a 1-0 result to All Saints’. The whole team played good football throughout the match and this led to them having a strong position in the league.

By Miss DaleyPE Technician

Sporting Achievements outside of ASA? Then let us know, we always like to keep tab on talented individuals

By Chloe BetteridgeStudent Reporter

By Reziquel DalogdogStudent Reporter

By Shana KellyStudent Reporter

Match reportASA Vs Tewkesbury

Captain Chloe Bet-teridge has been in outstand-ing form this year

U16 Girls Football

All Saints 3 – 2 BalcarrasOn the 12th November, All Saints’ U16’s had a football match against Balcarras. The game began with All

Saints’ taking the majority of possession, while Balcarras were defending in num-bers and trying to hold back the strong ASA attack. All Saints’ were in control of the game and attempted at any op-portunity they could to shoot but didn’t manage to get a goal. Balcarras tried to get the ball up the other end of the pitch, trying to break down the All Saints’ de-fence. Wiktoria Oklinska and Lateisha Long made some excellent passes be-tween themselves determined to score a goal, which paid off when Lateisha managed to get the ball in the back of the net putting All Saints’ 1-0 up. Then

a few minutes later the girls from Bal-carras managed to get through the All Saints’ defence to get the equaliser, 1-1. In the second half All Saints’ were determined to get another goal and win the match. However, Balcarras were catching ASA on the counter attack but Ola and Nicole made some excellent tackles to keep the ball out of the box. When All Saints’ regained possession, Hannah knocked the ball though to Jess on the wing for her to then cross the ball into Lateisha who then scored ASA’s sec-ond goal, putting All Saints’ in the lead 2-1. However, Balcarras now more deter-

mined than ever came back 10 minutes lat-er with the equaliser after some confusion at the back from ASA, to make the score 2-2. In the final 5 minutes of the game, All Saints’ kept trying to get another goal by working as hard as they could. Lateisha had a goal disallowed due to a hand ball which left ASA still searching for the win-ner. More excellent goalkeeping from So-phie stopped Balcarras snatching the win. Once ASA got the ball into the Balcarras box, Wiktoria passed the ball to Lateisha who went on to score the winning goal, with the final score 3-2 to All Saints’.

Long’s hat-trick secures ASAs win

Charis Winder performing a snowplough and Alydia Gill off-piste skiing