Issue 9 / Summer Term 2018 ‘Potential into Performance’ · 2018. 7. 19. · ‘Potential into Performance’ Art Amy is an outstanding student in art and photography, mindful

News from Abbey Park School

Issue 9 / Summer Term 2018

‘Potential into Performance’


Message from the Principal

Dear Parent/Carer

The first academic year of Abbey Park School seems to have passed very quickly, but in that time we have been very productive and

there is a lot of good work to reflect on. The academic rewards evening on Thursday 19th July, which I am very much looking forward

to, will certainly be a celebration of pupils’ achievement through the year. Our sports teams have gone from strength to strength,

participating in a wide range of local and regional competitions with great success. The house system has continued to encourage

pupils to earn a tremendous amount of reward points and participate in charity events, where pupils have shown great compassion

for others. Also supporting the school through fund raising, the Friends of Abbey Park have contributed to a number of projects, just

recently supporting a link between the music department and the Janice Thompson Performance Trust. Our continued academic

focus has also meant that KS4 pupils in particular have received an insight into careers and further study opportunities, visiting The

Park Academies Trust 6th Form, universities and other providers. Abbey Park has really felt like a different school this year to both staff

and pupils this year, and we are becoming increasingly popular as a choice for parents and pupils, with over 185 Yr7 pupils joining us in

September.

Being a key member of The Park Academies Trust, has enabled us to move forward at pace with our school development priorities,

due to the educational opportunities that arise and the school to school support which has occurred. It is exciting that Red Oaks

Primary School are joining the Trust; as well as being a neighbour of Abbey Park, this will be an excellent opportunity to research and

develop primary transition practice.

Our focus on teaching and learning has led to the continued professional development of our teachers, with all teachers trained in the

‘Teacher Effectiveness Enhancement programme’ (TEEP), and a cohort are now training to Level 2. This has led to significant

improvement in pupils engaging in lessons and taking ownership of their own learning.

It is usual at this time of year to say farewell to a number of colleagues who are moving on to pastures new and welcome new

members of staff, who are excited to be on the staff body of Abbey Park School. In particular, I would like to thank Mr Leigh, Deputy

Headteacher, for his service to the school for 9 years and we wish him well in his retirement. I am pleased to say we have recruited

well and we are fully staffed for September.

Finally, I would like to thank parents and all members of our community for their support with the changes that have occurred over

the last year. This has enabled the Abbey Park School to move forward at pace and provide the educational experience the young

people of the community deserve. I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer and I look forward to working with you all in the new

academic year.

Best wishes

Mr Young

Principal

Staff Leaving at the end of the academic year Staff appointed

Mr Searle (Humanities) Miss Fowler (Humanities)

Mrs Galvao (Maths) Mrs Laurence (Maths)

Miss Aston (Art) Miss Griffin (Art)

Mr Rendall (Humanities) Miss Bell (Humanities)

Mr Leigh, Deputy Headteacher (Art) Miss Pickles (Art)

Mrs Belkova Teaching Assistant Mr Sharp (Science)

Mr Davies Teaching Assistant Dr Bardar (Science)

Mrs MacDonald (English)

Miss Paterson, Vice Principal


Art

Amy is an outstanding student in art and photography, mindful

empathetic and hard working. We are proud of her passion to do

well, this has been reflected in her award for her photography.

Amy has won a competition run by Milestone Trust during

Dementia Awareness week, brief was to ,"creatively share their

vision of old age."

Mr Sanghera

Aspire Academy

Recently I had the pleasure of taking the year 9 Aspire Academy students to Warneford School in Highworth for a Swindon Schools challenge day. The students took part in a range of activities designed to test their abilities in a variety of ways from problem solving to creating a new product for an 'Apprentice' style challenge. Again, our students were fantastic. They engaged really well in every task and took first place in two of the five challenges. Mr Glassock

On July 6th we travelled to London with year 10 Fine Art students

to visit the Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Saatchi Gallery.

Students were a credit to the school, inquisitive, mystified and

inspired by the modern art on show.

This will impact on their GCSE coursework to create ideas and give

them a worldly cultural appreciation of the ever changing world we

live in.

Mr Sanghera


Design and Technology

On Tuesday 10th July, Abbey Park School held its annual D&T Show. Students and parents were given the opportunity to view an exhibition of both KS3 and KS4 work and it was clear how impressed everyone was with the standard of the products. The room burst with creativity from the quirky storage units made in Resistant Materials to the intricate pop up cards made in Graphic Products. Miss Pegg demonstrated a science experiment that produced ice cream and our 3D printer and laser cutter demonstrations created lots of interest. Miss Parsons and Annabel Johnston organised a fantastic fashion show where Year 8 models strutted their stuff wearing this year's GCSE Textiles garments. Miss Stacey then presented the Designer of the Year Awards and students were presented with their trophies by Mr Young. Miss Stacey would like to thank everyone that came along to support the event and we look forward to seeing you again next year.

D&T Designers of the Year Yr7 - Max Donelly / Grace Ross Yr8 - Alex Biffen / Bethany Meads Yr9 - Jack Hookings / Charlie Hulbert Year 10 - Antonio Causer / Rezon Gurung / Kamila Adamska / Grace O Toole Year 11 - Molly Hughes / Corey Averies / Jorja Gooch / Rowan McGinnes / Phoebe Millard


English

On the 17th May, 10A1 English were fortunate enough to visit Merton College, Oxford, in order to find out more about the benefits of further education, and the types of courses that are available to them, if they chose to attend University. The journey to Oxford was rather short, with minimal traffic for motorway rush hour, and our arrival in the city centre was prompt. We were dropped off a short walk from the College entrance, which did not matter to us, as it was a warm day, and the sky was laden with glorious sunshine. Along the way, many of us chose to take pictures to capture the beautiful scenery.

Once we arrived on the courtyard cobblestones, we waited patiently in the courtyard, until we were greeted by our guide, Andrew, the Liaison Officer for Merton College. We were first taken to Rose Lane Gardens, where a talk was held about the history of the University, as well as the courses that they offer, and the life of the average student. This was then followed by a question and answer session, which helped to address any pre-existing worries that we had about University life on the whole. After this, we took a tour of the campus, starting at the historic T.S. Eliot Theatre, the most recent edition to the College campus. Perhaps the most interesting part of this tour was a thirteenth century chapel, which is at the heart of the College, and is still adorned with its original decorations. Our final stop on this tour was to the student halls, where we were able to see a Common Room for third year students, as well as their communal kitchen, living and game room facilities.

With some time left before lunch, we were allowed to stay in the games room until the lunch hall opened, so the boys challenged each other to a game of pool, whilst the girls partook in a game of air hockey. When lunch time arrived, we were escorted to the lunch hall, where the main meal was roast pork with trimmings, and dessert was doughnuts. Afterwards, we took a tour of the city, to see some of the other colleges that make up the University as a whole, as well as other famous landmarks. The city centre was saturated in historical architecture, and one of the most stunning features was Radcliffe Square, the home of the famous Radcliffe Camera and where the Bodleian Library was originally housed. We ended our tour here, and were allowed about an hour to ourselves to explore the city in depth. Some chose to visit Queen Street and High Street, the home of many well—known shopping chains, and others chose to visit some the many public gardens in the city centre. We regrouped at our starting point, and got back onto the coach, ready for the journey back to Swindon.

Our trip to Oxford was extremely eventful, informative and culture rich. Thank you to Mrs Mapleston and Ms Jones for making the trip possible, as well as Andrew Miller, the Liaison Officer for Merton College, for making the day so informative and interesting.

By Jess Smith, 10A1 English


House News

A busy week for the Abbey Park School house system, week commencing 9th July 2018. It started with the school tackling cancer with this years 'Race for Life'. This was not only well attended, but, well participated by the schools four year groups.

The event which equally impressed the heads of house was the Talent show on the evening of Thursday 12th of July. In many ways this years talent show surpassed the high standards set by the contestants of last year. The students were a credit to the school, their families and themselves. The week ended on a high with Abbey Park School's first sports day. Records were set, expectations were set higher and the students performed well.

Mrs Humphrey and the PE team did an amazing jog organizing what was a very successful sports day.

Finally, the Heads of House team will be changing three of its current members for next year.

Nonetheless, the House system will continue to grow in strength and serve the students of Abbey Park School.

A big thank you to all the pupils who participated in Race

for Life as a school we have raised over £600.


Humanities

This group of students have taken on studying Philosophical Thinking in their own time with an hour a week of teaching time. It has been a fantastic two years teaching them and we wish them all the best in their exams. Mrs Chapman and Mrs Nightingale

On Thursday 12th July the Year 10 GCSE Geographers went to Coleshill to complete their river study.

The students collected a range of data from the meandering river, and show some great sketch mapping skills. They are now writing their findings up during the final week of term and the summer holidays ready to conclude when they come back in year 11.

Well done all who attended.

Mrs Graham

Forty students went to the battlefields from a school of a thousand. They arrived at the Belgium battlefields a century after the end of the Great War to witness the scars left behind by the conflict, the 'War to end all wars', they remembered. First stop Poperinge Cells, where soldiers were executed because their superiors confused post traumatic stress disorder for cowardice, the students remembered them… A trip to museums such as the Passchendaele, allowed the students to witness artifacts from the war that were used in the crucible of conflict, the students remembered... Finally, the visits to the cemeteries like Essex Farm, Tynecot and Langemarck, where the students discovered that the war took the lives of many irrespective of their race, gender or age, the students remembered… Forty students returned to their homes a century after the conflict having witnessed the scars left behind by 'the War to end all wars'." Mr Searle


MFL

On Tuesday 12th June, seven of our GCSE MFL pupils attended the “All things French” open morning at Abbey Meads

Community Primary School to provide support to staff and pupils. The girls were described by Abbey Meads staff as being

“polite, responsible and interacting brilliantly with the children”. Tayla, Gabrielle, Daisy, Bernice, Jessica, Molly and Shannen

all received a certificate and an R3 from Miss Boyles for being excellent role models and ambassadors for language learning.

Bravo les filles.

If you ask any of the Year 7s who went on the Boulogne trip if getting up at 2:30am was worth it, they would tell you that it

was. A long day in France meant that the students enjoyed all types of activities: shopping, a town trail around the chateau

and the old town, adventures on the beach, working out directions in French as well as understanding the French traditional

method of baking bread.

An early start meant that we were able to catch an early ferry and get to Boulogne by 11am local time to start our town trail.

Students from both Lydiard Park and Abbey Park worked together to work out clues in both French and English which took

them round the ramparts, which gave them beautiful views of the marina and beach, along to Boulogne Cathedral and down

the main cobbled street through the street market and street side restaurants. After some negotiations with directions in

French the group then made its way down to the beach where there was a glimpse of the sea life centre and a chance to

explore the beach.

Onto the beautiful village of Escoeilles, where artisan boulanger Bruno gave our students an animated talk about how bread is

made in his boulangerie. The language and maths teachers on the trip were impressed with the students understanding of

the mathematics involved in the recipe and how much students understood without too much translation from the teachers.

This is the first joint trip between LPA and APS: students made news friends and were a credit to their parents and their

schools with their immaculate behaviour and willingness to have a go at French.


MFL

On Monday 25th, Tuesday 26th and Friday 29th June, the MFL department once again welcomed year 5 pupils from across Swindon to our World Languages Days.

Pupils from Abbey Meads, Bridlewood, Haydonleigh, Oakhurst, Orchid Vale, Red Oaks, Tadpole Farm and Wanborough experienced a range of languages as well as gaining an insight into what it is like to be an Abbey Park pupil.

Throughout the day, pupils learnt to work as teams to complete challenges and discover different cultures. They developed their numeracy skills in different languages, discovered just how different some alphabets are and learnt that you do not have to travel far to hear different languages being spoken.

Feedback from pupils and staff was overwhelmingly positive with pupils declaring “I honestly couldn’t have enjoyed the day more!”

Staff commented that “all children were really engaged and enthusiastic” and “thank you for organising such a great day. The children really enjoyed learning some different languages and I took some tips of teaching languages too.”

One parent helper stated “Fantastic variety of languages brilliantly delivered! Made me want to learn a language again.”

We look forward to hosting Year 5 again next academic year.

Dina Yaneva 7MSH homework was to label a town plan in French. She decided to create this 3D model to show off her design skills and label it in French. She also wrote an informative paragraph to describe the town’s facilities and make comment about them. Well done Dina, this show exceptional commitment and you have been the talk of our French class for your effort and skills. Congratulations on your R4


Sports

Abbey Park School were invited to participate at a Sports Event at Swindon College. Selected Year 8s were accompanied by Mrs Bulpitt to represent our school in an inter school competition. The day started off with learning new skills, tricks and tips in a variety of sports including Badminton, Basketball and Hockey. Followed by outdoor games such as Volleyball, Rugby and Football where the students were given advice on their throws, catches and dribbling techniques.

After Lunch, it was time for the inter school competitions where our Year 8s were able to shine and show off their talent. Students had a wonderful time and showed their appreciation by writing ‘Thank you’ letters to the students and staff at Swindon College.

Abbey Park School had the pleasure of taking our year 7 and 8 athletics teams to the county ground for the Swindon championships. The students performed really well and there were some notable individual performances. Jade McKitterick won the year 8 girls discus and reached the final of the 100m Abby Childs won the year 8 hurdles Logan Rees won the boys 100m and produced the performance of the day to overtake three runners on the final leg of the relay to take our year 7 team to victory.


Sports

Twenty four of our Sports Academy students visited Worcester University. The day started with a lecture from Dr Christian Edwards on Sports Psychology where they explored the psychological attributes required to be an Elite performer and the students took part in a ‘self talk’ experiment, where they discovered that speaking positively to yourself during a sports performance had a beneficial effect on their performance.

Next they took part in a wheelchair basketball workshop, where they got some tips on shooting, learnt how to steer a wheelchair, how to pass and how to play. They picked up the rules incredibly quickly and ended the session playing a proper game.

After a quick lunch we joined Chris Hughes in the Biomechanics lab, where the students tested their reactions on the Batak machine. Having discussed which Biomechanical features gave you an advantage , they then related the skills learned to modern day sports.

The day finished with a quick campus tour and chat about University life with our very own ex pupil Shannon Hewes who is now a Worcester University student.

Overall the students had an excellent University experience and are now keen to have another go at wheelchair basketball.

Mrs Russell


Sports

Abbey Park School took the Year 9 & 10

athletics team to the Swindon Championships, they all competed and performed incredibly well and were a real credit to the school. A lot of the pupils who took part in events had only done so before in lessons. The star performers of the day were Year 10 girls relay team, going from 3rd to

1st thanks to Megan running a super 4th leg, meaning the Year 10 girls came 3rd overall.

A big well done to Emily & Jamie who were the

team captains of day.

Abbey Park School had the pleasure of taking our year 7

and 8 athletics teams to the county ground for the Swindon championships.

The students performed really well and there were

some notable individual performances. Jade McKitterick won the year 8 girls discus and reached

the final of the 100m.

Abby Childs won the year 8 hurdles and Logan Rees won the boys 100m and produced the performance of

the day to overtake three runners on the final leg of the relay to take our year 7 team to victory.

I had the pleasure of taking Bobby Parfit, Noah Guthrie, Emily Cuthbert, Sophia Alexander-Brown,

Kiera Hall, Abigail Minter, Jess Harris, Olivia Evans, Josh Rich, Sam Hichcott, Harry Law and Denis Nae to help at the Red Oaks Sports Day.

They were an absolute credit to our school and you could see that the primary pupils looked up to them as

role models

Well done everyone


Sports

Thursday 28th June saw 14 of leaders at David Lloyd tennis centre to umpire and score at the Swindon Primary school tennis championships. Again, they took the responsibility in their stride and showed excellent organisational and leadership skills in order to keep the matches running smoothly.

On Wednesday 13th of June we hosted a Primary School Athletics Festival for around 200 children from Abbey Meads, Bridlewood and Catherine Wayte primary schools. Our team of 25 year 9 students lead the children around each activity giving demonstrations, encouraging the children and keeping scores. Mr Buckley who is Head Teacher at Abbey Meads School, again did a fantastic job of coordinating the event. He has written personal letters of thanks to all the leaders who took part.

Friday 6th of July we took our athletics leaders on the road to Southfield Primary school in Highworth. This was a first time leading an event here and the students did a brilliant job of keeping the event running smoothly on what was an extremely hot afternoon. The staff from Southfield were very complimentary about our young leaders and said what good role models they were for the younger children.

Congratulations to the following pupils who took part in these events: Molly Portlock Aneira Purnell Jacob Minter Olly Endicott Dylan Grimwade Peter Hatfield Joe Wilding Lewis Moran Kevin Prouse Louis Wills Sam Stringer Lucy Drury Eliza Alsopp Emma Crisp Lottie Singleton Darcy Innes Sarah Jones Pheobe Maddison Shakira Esof Tegan Scott Makarita Naceva Amanda Codea Cameron Johnston-Baker

Fancy a different start to your Summer?

Head to the Link Centre on Saturday 28th July and support our neighbours at Brimble Hill

School. This charity ice-hockey match sees some of Swindon's past players join the "Brimble Elite"

team who will take on the Swindon Spitfires.

Tickets are just £2 each and are available by contacting the Swindon Spitfires through their

Facebook page or website.


Careers

The Summer Term has been a busy time for our Y10 students as they are offered opportunities to find out

more about the options available to them when they move on from Abbey Park School.

Abbey Park Students have been working with Fantastic Futures to find out more about Higher Education and

themselves. The students arranged a visit from graduates who were able to explain about how their own

careers had developed and the role of STEM subjects within that.

We were very proud when Jack Jones went on to win the prize for Fantastic Futures Student of the Year

against a very competitive field.

Fifteen of the female students went to the International Women in Engineering Day at Swindon College. The

day was supported by BMW, Honda and the RAF. The girls were set some challenges and found out about

some of the Engineering Careers available locally both through Apprenticeships and more traditional routes.

The whole year group was able to visit either Lydiard Park Sixth Form or Swindon College to get some idea

what studying at that level would be like and begin to think about what type of institution they would like to

go on to in Year 12.

We took a group of students to Bristol University. This trip was a similar to the trip in February to Bath

University which means that we have taken thirty of our best mathematicians to find out why studying

Mathematics and Further Mathematics is helpful to them accessing a wide variety of Undergraduate Courses

and Careers.

Fifteen (it is how many fit in the minibus) students went to a careers presentation at STEAM to meet

apprentices from Microsoft and find out more about Apprenticeships in general.

Later in the term we are hosting a focused careers event for both Abbey Park and Lydiard Park students

which will be focused on careers in Tech and Engineering.

We are very lucky to have a great level of support from the local community to support our events. On the

last Tuesday of term every student in Year 10 has an interview arranged with one of the 50 volunteers who

are coming into school to give the students a very important life skill. One thing is certain, whatever you

choose to do at some point you will have an interview.

September 2018

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Monday 3rd September 2018 Inset Day

Wednesday 5th September Year 7 Photos

Thursday 6th September Year 8—9 Photos

Friday 7th September Year 10—11 Photos

Tuesday 18th September—School closes at 2.05pm

Tuesday 25th September—Year 8 HPV Vaccinations

A full calendar and more information can be found at www.abbeyparkschool.org.uk


Friends of Abbey Park School

2017-2018 has been a solid year for the Friends of Abbey Park. Looking back we have achieved so much. Did you know that this year we have:

Made financial contributions a number of different departments across the school

Helped on school trips

Helped with careers interview practise

Arranged a visit from a world champion athlete

Been involved with the new school dinner menu

Worked with Mr Young on an exciting new project for the coming year We couldn't support the school in the way that we do though without your help. Whether you have bought a cuppa at a consultation evening, donated no longer need uniform for our UNI-cycle campaign, sorted out your cupboards and wardrobes for our Phil the Bag project or given up your time to help us at any event, we'd like to say a huge THANK YOU. In response to your feedback on meetings, we've collaborated with school staff too. From September 2018 we will meet on 2nd Monday of every month at 6pm. Our next meeting is therefore Monday 10th September at 6pm in the Conference Room at Abbey Park School. We look forward to welcoming new members there but by all means get in touch at any time by email [email protected] Hoping you all have a super (and sunny) summer! The Friends of Abbey Park School

Documents

Issue 9 / Summer Term 2018 ‘Potential into Performance’ · 2018. 7. 19. · ‘Potential into Performance’ Art Amy is an outstanding student in art and photography, mindful