Prudhoe Community High School

Newsletter

Autumn 2017 First Edition

Contents

o Induction Days o English Schools Fell Race o Canoeing o Performing Arts & School Show o Artist in Residence o Live Theatre Newcastle o Biomedical Science – Newcastle University o “Prudhoe Proud Hill Project” o DT Year 9 Transition Project o L3 Health & Social Care Presentations o Open Evening o Jobs Fair Hexham o European Day of Languages o Erasmus+ Visitor o Netball o National Democracy Week o Planned School Trips o Pastoral Support Information o Online Payments

Welcome to Prudhoe Community High School The first day of a new academic year is always an exciting experience and Tuesday 4 September was no exception for us welcoming our brand new Year 9 and Year 12 students into school for their Induction Day. Year 12 were involved in tutor group challenges with the Royal Navy to plan, design and create the best turbine fan to be tested in a Navy device to find out who had the best products and demonstrated effective team-working skills. The winning tutor groups won prizes and the losing teams had to join in a forfeit of a set of press-ups with one of the Navy Fitness Instructors. Year 9 gained their first experience of our PCHS Learning Apps. We provided challenges for them to work on in groups so they could put our five essential apps to the test!

English Schools Fell Running Sunday 24 September saw the running of the Tenth English Schools Fell Running Championships on the hills above Settle North Yorkshire. Elswicks Robyn , representing Prudhoe High School claimed victory in the senior girls Year 12/13 race. At over 8km, the race was a tough test of fell running skills and Robyn led the race pretty much from the off. She received her medal from Fell running super star Victoria Wilkinson. Robyn’s brother Rowan also finished an excellent Eleventh place in the Year 10/11 6km boys race. Just a week earlier, Robyn represented England in the Junior Home International race, incorporating the British Junior Fell Running Champs, in Peebles where she finished Eighth and was part of the gold medal winning U20 women’s team. Congratulations Robyn and Rowan on such a fantastic achievement!

National Canoe Slalom

Cameron in Year 10 competed in his final event of the season with Hexham Canoe Club and is currently ranked in 32nd place in National Canoe Slalom. Cameron performed brilliantly over a very difficult course taking 11th and 5th place in K1 and 2nd place in C1.

Well done Cameron – brilliant achievements in canoeing this year.

School Show 2018

After last year’s hugely successful ‘Alice’, we are delighted to announce that the whole school production this year will be ‘Eternal Flame’ - an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ with a bit of an 80s twist. Over EIGHTY students auditioned and the cast list is now finalised with read-throughs and rehearsals already underway. It was really pleasing to see the new Year 9 students throwing themselves in at the deep end and bagging themselves lead roles alongside representatives from every other year group! So… watch this space as we bring you a show with added bite running from the 25 - 27 April 2018 at 7:15pm nightly.

Performing Arts News

Last year saw our Year 13 leave us with some OUTSTANDING results. Many of them leaving with a Distinction or Distinction* and in several cases, they had upgraded their qualification to the next level thus increasing the amount of UCAS points they were awarded. One student managed to upgrade to the highest level, giving herself the equivalent of 3 A Levels and getting into her chosen university on the strength of this! Many of the students have gone on to further their study in Performing Arts with destinations ranging from Exeter University to Manchester Metropolitan University (both top of leagues for FE Drama). Others have gone straight into the industry either by securing agents or taking up further work based training with Northern Stage.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to the premier of Northern Stage’s ‘A Song for Ella Grey’ at the start of September, as our Performing Arts Students worked closely with Northern Stage’s Artistic Director and Choreographer in the development of this piece over the past year.

Two of our students were actually involved in the final production and it is a fantastic piece of theatre which is now about to embark on a national then subsequent world tour - see it if you can! This year promises to be no less busy with continued links with Northern Stage throughout the year, an Artist in Residence in October working on the development of a new one woman show with our students, and a proposed sustained link with Live Theatre Newcastle (watch this space). The students will also be presenting their realisation of some challenging repertoire work in December and then beginning rehearsals for a full scale production to be performed in February - again, further details to follow. The students started this year with a a piece commissioned for the launch of the Prudhoe Community Alcohol Partnership. The performance looked at effects of alcohol abuse and was performed to an audience made up of representatives from the police, local councillors, community groups, local schools, health care professionals and other interested parties. The piece was created in four hours and was very successful in its portrayal of the destructive effect of alcohol on everyday routines.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and we’re always looking for some interesting challenges/commissions for bespoke performance work that we can develop for a community partner - if you have any suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact The Performing Arts Department here at PCHS.

Artists in Residence

The Performing Arts Department were very pleased to welcome two

professional practitioners - Sian (Performer) and Anna (Director) in conjunction with Mortal Fools Theatre Company for a week long residency in our purpose built Drama Studio. Students from Year 12 and 13 Performing Arts took part in two days of devising and technique workshops and our Year 11 Drama students then participated in a day long workshop looking at the devising process. The rest of the week was devoted to the development of Sian and Anna’s show, ‘Stupid’, which kicks off its national tour, with a public performance in the PCHS Main Hall in early November… watch this space.

Welcome Back Mr Boyd and Mrs Clark were delighted to welcome back ex-student Graeme Thompson, now Creative Producer for Live Theatre Newcastle, to establish exciting links between PCHS and Live Theatre. We look forward to giving our students creative opportunities to meet and work with professional theatre makers including potential work placements in stage management and performance. We also hope Graeme will be able to host informal Q&A with our students, both Lower School and Sixth Formers.

Performing Arts & Drama Team

Biomedical Sciences at Newcastle University

On Thursday 28 September, my fellow Biology students and I attended Newcastle University to take part in some taster sessions. The event was aimed at students interested in a career in science or medicine and was based in the Biomedical Science building. When we arrived we were escorted to one of the main lecture halls where we were given a short presentation about all the Biomedical related courses available in the upcoming year. Shortly after, we were split into four smaller groups mixed with students from other schools. The students from Prudhoe High School were divided into groups C and D, group C accompanied by Miss.Earl and group D accompanied by Miss.Pentland. I was in group D, where we focused on chemical testing in one of the university’s high tech laboratories. For the first half an hour we were given a mini-lecture with all the theory we would need to apply to the practical. This included how a dip-stick urine test works and what kind of results we could expect. We were then given four patients’ urine samples and a case study with a brief medical history for each. Our task was to test each of the patient’s urine samples and come up with a diagnosis. We also learned how to make our own dip-sticks and tested these too. Overall, I found the event very enjoyable and the experience confirmed my decision to study Biochemistry at University.

S Yakoob – Year 13 Student

“Prudhoe Proud Hill Project” Workshop

We are in the process of developing a community garden at the High School, which will provide multiple learning opportunities and enhanced connections with the local community. Artist Claudia Quayle delivered an interactive textile based workshop today, creating a garden banner to inspire and sustain this garden project, engaging the students at the school with opportunities for interaction and communication. This banner will be used at different displays related to this project, promoting the garden project within our community.

The Proud Hill Project garden will be based in the grounds of the school, accessible to both school and community, providing a learning environment for multiple groups and individuals. It will link to the curriculum (for example a dye plant garden (textiles, art), poison garden (history, chemistry, geography) and a “rock garden” (music, technology.) It will also provide an environment for out-of-school hours’ activities and a space for engagement and learning between members of the wider community. Ultimately, we would aim to see improved cultural opportunities for both the school and the wider Prudhoe community with the garden acting as catalyst for engagement with local theatre, music and media centres.A big thank you to all the students involved.

Year 9 DT Transition Project. Well done to the following Year 9 students who have been awarded the prize for this year’s middle school transition project. The project started in the last weeks of middle school to prepare them for DT lessons here at PCHS. Students were set the task of coming up with a new product that somehow helps them in their everyday lives. Students produced ideas that were realistic and innovative.

Congratulations to you all on behalf of the DT department L Steinhouse M McDonald I Lewis J Shutt E Standish T Carr E Gardener H Aitkinhead K Watson S Irons K Waugh-Yates F Grevett H Turner

Year 12 Health & Social Care Year 12 BTEC Health & Social Care students held a drop in session in the main hall to present their project on ‘Infancy’ to students, staff and invited guests. The students had worked on their chosen project title in groups and their work was beautifully presented, the students gave feedback to questions from viewers and their evidence and quality of work was well thought out. Well done, a brilliant start to your course!

R Buchanan – Subject Leader Health & Social Care

Open Evening A warm welcome was extended to all prospective students and parents/carers into all departments of our school for Open Evening on Thursday 5 October. Sixth Form Student Ambassadors conducted tours of the school to see showcased activities and presentations by students and staff in each department. The evening included the opportunity to join a welcome presentation by Mrs Reeman and to sample our food hall menus whilst listening to sets played by students from the Music department. Activities included trampolining, badminton and table tennis in the sports hall. Visitors were also treated to laser cut personalised keyrings, baking, textiles in the DT department, a café in MFL, and the ever popular chances to join in hands on investigations in the Science classrooms and Drama demonstrations in our studios.

Hexham Jobs Fair

Our careers adviser Elaine McStravick accompanied a group of Year 11 students to the Hexham Job Fair held at Wentworth Leisure Centre. Students were given the opportunity to meet and talk to representatives from local businesses and discuss what options they could offer our young people after examinations such as apprenticeships, and employment with training.

European Day of Languages To celebrate the European Day of Languages on 26 September, the MFL department hosted various lunchtime clubs and activities during the week. These activities, included food tasting from around the world, beginner’s Italian and beginner’s German. The students really enjoyed these activities and we look forward to next year's European Day of Languages once again!

Erasmus+ Visitor Through Erasmus+/Etwinning, we have organised a job shadowing exchange with a school in Spain. Mr Olmedo, a PE teacher from a school in Castilla-La Mancha a region in central Spain has visited PCHS to see how we teach PE, MFL and English lessons in the UK. When asked about his experience, Mr Olmedo said "I have really enjoyed my lesson observations at PCHS, the students are very well behaved and they are good independent learners. I have learnt so many new ideas to improve my own teaching practice in Spain and I look forward to sharing these findings with my colleagues in Spain". We hope to visit a school in Spain in the future to gain new ideas for our teaching practice too!

Netball Our Under 16 Netball team finished third in the Northumberland Schools Tournament with wins against Ponteland, Cramlington and Berwick at the Blue Flames Sporting Club. We witnessed some excellent performances from our students and we look forward to them taking this good form into their league fixtures which will start after half term.

G Hudspith – PE Department

Local Democracy Week

On Friday 13 October, eleven PCHS students visited Northumberland County Hall as part of Local Democracy week. The aim of the visit was for students of all schools to participate in a range of activities to develop their knowledge of democracy and what is being done to support our local area. Students had an excellent opportunity to meet with several of the councillors who listened to their concerns and answered their questions in the council chambers. During the visit they also participated in a quiz about their knowledge of the government and made posters/leaflets to raise awareness of local concerns. At the end of the session there was a short presention and our students received a certificate to mark PCHS’s commitment to democracy.

J Marshall – Year 12 Student

Proposed School Trips

Trip Details Date Cost Organiser “Blood Brothers” Sunderland Empire

“Blood Brothers” by Willy Russell at the Sunderland Empire. 20 tickets available for Year 9 on a strictly first come first served basis.

27 November 2017

£24.50

Mrs Clark, Drama

London Theatre trip

Two or three days – to be confirmed Wicked /Phantom of the Opera, Museum trips and workshops further details to be confirmed

February half term 2018 exact dates to be confirmed

£135 - £190

Mr Tate, Music

Andalucia - Spain

The exact cost will be confirmed when details are confirmed and numbers are known.

2 – 5 April 2018

Approx £600

Ms Howliston, MFL

Year 9 Activities Week Students may choose only one of the following:

Paddle boarding at Beadnell and on the Tyne

The cost is approximate as it will depend on transport costs to be confirmed.

16 – 20 July 2018

Approx £150

Ms Pentland, Biology

Disneyland Paris

16 – 20 July 2018

£440

Mrs Rushmere, English

Northern Adventures

Various locations in the North-East

16 – 20 July 2018

£75

Mrs Dillerstone, Maths

European Water sports/Sports trip

1 week away, location to be confirmed based on price and travel time

16 – 20 July 2018

Approx £590

Miss McDonald, PE

Plus

There will also be a wide range of alternative opportunities available further into the academic year to coincide with Activities week and these will range in content and cost. General enquiries about Activities Week to Mr Gray.

16 – 20 July 2018

Mr Gray, Head of Achievement and Learning Year 9

Pastoral Support Update Supporting students is an essential part of our work at Prudhoe Community High School and in the week beginning 30 October we will be holding assemblies to launch two of these support services to students. The first is the school health team drop in session which is every Monday lunchtime. Students can attend for a range of reasons including anxiety, initial health concerns and discuss matters with one of the nurses who run these sessions. This is obviously a confidential service. School health will also be signposting students to a text service which allows students to make an initial approach for support via text message. Secondly the sexual health team will be launching their drop in service which will be every Wednesday lunchtime. These sessions are run by specially trained youth workers who are able to support young people with sexual health matters including providing C Card services. Further information can be found here: https://www.northumbria.nhs.uk/sexual-health-services Finally Monday 30 October is the deadline for students in Years 9 to 13 to apply to be one of our Equality Ambassadors. This group of young people will be charged with working with leaders within the school to champion equality across the school. We will work with students to challenge any behaviour which goes against our school values in order that our young people can “Develop their values and learn to live by them”. Application forms can be collected from Mrs Boyd in the LRC

Why not give Online School Payments a try?

Cash free payments with instant benefits for your child.

Online payments A reminder that Schoolcomms on-line payments facility is now up and running successfully. This means that you can make on-line payments via the School Gateway smartphone app or website for school meals, school trips and music tuition. As well as saving the school time and money, School Gateway also makes it easier for you to pay at any time and reduce the amount of cash being carried by students at school. We have had a great response to this so far and the feedback from parents is very positive so if you haven’t already used this facility please have a go. What you need to do now Activate your School Gateway account. It’s quick and easy to do. All you need is your email address and mobile telephone number that the school holds on record as the prime contact. Download the app: If you have an Apple or Android supported smartphone, please download School Gateway from your app store (Apple App and Google Play). The app enables you to pay for school items PLUS you can view messages sent from school and send app messages to school for FREE. When installing the app, please ensure you say yes to allow push notifications, otherwise you will not receive notification of any new messages. The payments are made by Instant Bank Transfer. To make a payment on the app via Instant Bank Transfer you must first fill in an Instant Bank Transfer mandate on the School Gateway website (www.schoolgateway.com). OR Visit the website. www.schoolgateway.com and click on ‘New User’. You’ll receive a text message with a PIN number. Use this Pin to login to School Gateway. We will notify you by text or email when new items are available for payment. We hope that you have found or will find this facility to be a fast and easy way to pay for school items. If you need any further information or clarification please contact the school Finance Office who will be

happy to help with any queries.

Prudhoe Community High School Moor Road

Prudhoe Northumberland

NE42 5LJ Tel: 01661 832486

Email: enquiries@pchs.org.uk Web: www.pchs.org.uk