Prudhoe Community High School

Newsletter

Summer 1st Edition

2017

Study Club

Contents

Year 11 Awards Evening

World Kickboxing Association English Champion

Study Club and Homework Club

‘Mr Corvan’s Music Hall’ theatre event

Sixth Form Challenge Day

The Year 9 football team celebrate reaching the

final of TSSA Under 14 Cup Final

Girls Cricket team

Druridge Bay fieldwork trip

Health and Social Care Visit to Cseppkő Children's

Home and Kindergarten, Budapest

CURTAIN UP

‘Our Country’s Good’ Performance

‘Psycho’

“ALICE”

‘Art with a Message’ Competition

Free School Meals

Year 11 Awards Evening

On the evening of Thursday 4 May we were delighted to host our Year 11 Awards evening where over half of the year group received recognition for their efforts since September. We also welcomed a hall full of parents and carers to share in this celebration of achievement. Awards were given from subject departments, from form tutors and from the Head of Year, as well as recognising high levels of attendance at school; in the case of Alex three years of 100% attendance since starting Year 9. This was an enjoyable event and it was a pleasure to recognise and celebrate the achievement and effort of the hardworking young people of Prudhoe Community High School. Yet again a HUGE “well-done” on all of your success. Alastair Gray Head of Achievement and Learning for Year 11

World Kickboxing Association English Champion

Congratulations to Callum a Year 9 PCHS student who attended the World Kickboxing Association Competition on Sunday 14 May 2017 at The Dearne Valley Leisure Centre, Rotherham and has won the belt for English Champion.

Well done Callum!

Study club and Homework club

Study club takes place for year 10 students on a Monday and Wednesday from 3pm-4pm in the LRC. Students will have the opportunity to work with staff to develop their study skills and review topics in preparation for their end of year exams.

Homework club also takes place in the LRC from 3pm-4pm on Tuesday and Thursday each week. This is an opportunity to use the IT facilities, get support and help with homework, and begin to develop independent learning skills. This is open to students from all year groups.

M Graham Teacher

‘Mr Corvan’s Musical Trunk’

Year 9 and Year 10 students will enjoy a visit from 'Mr. Corvan's Musical Trunk' on the afternoon of June 7. This shadow troupe touring production has been developed by four young creatives to run alongside the main production of 'Mr. Corvan's Music Hall' and has been directed by ex-pupil Chris Rushmere-York, who will also perform. The troupe are sponsored by the ‘Sunday for Sammy’ charity. Ned Corvan (1827-1865) was a comedian, virtuoso violinist, artist and singer/songwriter of hits such as 'The Cullercoats Fish Lass', 'Fishermen Hung the Monkey' (he started the Hartlepool Monkey legend) and the first popular protest song, 'Toon Improvement Bill'. Year 9 and a selection of Music and Drama students will enjoy up to 11 of these songs during the 40 minute performance. Yvonne Rushmere Teacher English Department

Sixth Form Challenge Day

The Sixth Form on their ‘form group challenge day'. Various challenges from a penalty shoot out to a Mensa quiz were offered by staff. This year’s victorious group were 13TS. Congratulations to you and to all of the students who took part so enthusiastically, you have been a real credit to the school.

A Domingue Teacher

Under 14 football Celebration breakfast

The Year 9 (U14) football team reached the final of the TSSA U14 Cup Competition but unfortunately lost to John Spence High School in a very close game. The boys had done really well to get to this final as it is a competition open to schools from all over the North East, not just from Northumberland. A celebration breakfast was held for the team to recognise their achievement and they all received a copy of the team photo for their scrapbooks!

‘Undefeated’ PCHS Girls’ Cricket Team

The girls’ cricket teams continued their run of fine form at a recent competition held at Ponteland Cricket Club. Two teams went to the competition and the 'A' team were undefeated winning all 6 matches, beating the two teams from Queen Elizabeth High School and Ponteland High School as well as the team from Whitley Bay High School and our own 'B' team. The 'B' team also had a good day winning some games, and in some very close games only losing by a few runs. All of the girls played in the right manner and spirit, showing both their emerging skills their understanding of the finer points of the game. They have been ably supported and coached by Emily Ward, Beth Veal and Jess Davidson. G Marshall PE Teacher

Druridge Bay Fieldwork Trip

The Y12 Geography students recently completed a successful day of fieldwork which will make up part of their A Level course. Students spent a day studying sand dune succession in Druridge Bay and managed to catch some amazing weather. The purpose of the trip was to look at how sand dunes change as they get older, walking away from the high tide line. On their second day of fieldwork the students went to Newcastle's West Road to begin a comparison study between this area and Hexham. As part of their course the Y12's will continue with this fieldwork in July when they will go to Hexham to complete their urban comparison study and will then travel to Morpeth to look at the effectiveness of the new flood defences there.

Health and Social Care Visit to

Cseppkő Children's Home and Kindergarten Budapest

The Cseppkő Children's Home is one of the largest single-location children's homes in the country, providing care to 100–120 children and young adults. Some of these children are refugees who have escaped the Syrian conflict or have been rescued from child trafficking rings. We are going to put together “PCHS Cares” packages, students will give these out during our visit to the home.

If you are able to support us in any way with the items below it would be very much appreciated. A Magical Prize will be available for the tutor group and department who donate the most!

Items we are starting to collect

Pens Pencils (inc Coloured) Rulers Little note books Calculators (solar power) Small cuddly toys and educational games

for the younger children Crayons Erasers Balls & Bubbles Hats, Scarves & Gloves Pencil sharpeners Sweets in little sealed packets (not

chocolate) Socks white and black Plastic Wrapping and Ribbon to wrap the

gifts into hampers Mini Toothpaste Face cloths (Unused)

Bars of soap (Unused)

Children’s Toothbrushes (Unused) Footballs deflated Parachute (for games) Underwear for boys and girls (Unused) PJ’s (including Baby all-in-ones) Bed Socks (with non-slip grip on bottom) Shoes, clothes, football strips and shorts Arts and Crafts Materials which we could

use for projects during our visit

Good condition second-hand items as above will be gratefully received. Many Thanks Miss Buchanan & the Health and Social Care Students

CURTAIN UP

Year 11 Saturday Workshop Session Congratulations to the grafters in Year 11 Drama! We had an excellent Saturday workshop day recently, immediately before the final performance examinations, and to their credit every single one of them came along and worked really hard for the whole day. We had three performance groups developing ideas on the theme of “Tomorrow’s World” and generating some excellent work which was described by the Visiting Examiner as “innovative and challenging” after their examined performance on the following Tuesday. Mrs Clark did a big shop at Aldi so there were plenty of chocolate brioche buns, choccy biscuits, fruit juice and so on to keep everybody cheerful. Students have just completed the written paper so we are all now crossing our fingers for the results in August. As their teacher I would just like to add a special thank you to them all for their hard work, team spirit, positive attitude and great sense of humour throughout the course – I hope lots of them are going to continue into the Sixth Form! Y Clark Subject Leader Drama

CURTAIN UP…..more!

Outreach Work Year 10

On Thursday 4 May, I performed in a piece of theatre entitled

“Open The Door”, as part of the Mortal Fools’ “Unlocking Potential” project. This took place at Josephine Butler Campus in Ashington. The work was the result of the writing and ideas of 55 primary school children in Year 5. The play portrayed what life was like within Poland during the lead-up to the Second World War, from the viewpoint of a Polish family terrified by the invasion of the Germans within their country, and a Jewish-German family fleeing from the persecution of the war. The main idea of the project was to encourage children to become more involved with literacy, enjoying it more as they are filled with pride upon seeing their own words brought to life through Drama. I worked co-operatively alongside two professional actors and two other upcoming youth performers in order to achieve this, with an unforgettable experience being made for both the audience and the actors alike.

By Ben Year 10

‘Our Country’s Good’

The Performing Arts Department were very proud to present ‘Our Country’s Good’ at the start of May, to some very appreciative audiences - the reaction was outstanding and people left saying it was some of the best student performance work they had ever seen. A delegation from Northern Stage attended and were very impressed by the “students’ professionalism” and their ability to “use such a simple stage concept to transport us to another place and

time”. One performance was also attended by Andy Johnson, Director of Education and Skills for Northumberland, who left feeling “uplifted”.

‘Psycho’ The Performing Arts department continues to create more work and is looking forward to presenting a new piece inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic ‘Psycho’. The piece is the final exam performance for the Year 13 students and is completely self-devised, directed and realised - dates and venues will be confirmed soon. We continue to work in close partnership with Northern Stage and look forward to the 4 weeks of intensive Summer workshops they will be running with some of our Year 13s. For further info about any of the above, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. K Boyd Performing Arts

ALICE: ‘Imagination is the only weapon against reality’ Rehearsals for this year’s school show, Alice, have been going on since October and now we’re into single digits counting down the weeks. Every show is special to its cast and crew, but this one will be the first for the company using the new facility, so it’s exciting to be developing new ways of working. Whilst “Alice” is a totally home grown piece, incorporating both of the books. We have included some of Charles Dodgson’s (aka Lewis Carroll) poems set to new music as part of the libretto and score, and please don’t expect a ditzy Disneyesque interpretation, because we’ve stayed true to the dark imagination of the author. We want you to be as immersed in the weirdness of Wonderland as Alice is herself, so prepare for the unexpected. It is quite simply the maddest thing we’ve ever done; as Mr Dodgson himself said, imagination is the the only weapon against reality.

Alice has a talented cast of young performers drawn from Year 10 – Year 13 and whatever daftness we’ve asked of them, they’ve more than risen to the challenge. Props have now started to arrive, costumes are being fitted. The production is suitable for all ages, however please be aware that there will

be scary bits! Tickets go on sale very soon for this performance which will take place in the main hall on the 5th, 6th and 7th of July 2017 (on the last night, as per tradition, we will reveal our plans for the following year) More details will be available on the school website and Facebook pages nearer the time. Y Rushmere English Teacher

Winners of the under 19’s Polli:Nation “Art with a Message” Competition 2016/17

Another fantastic win for our Bee Project students with their amazing music video “to Bee or not to Bee” which aimed at raising awareness of the decline in the bee population. Students and staff had a great time buzzing around recording the madcap video which can be viewed on our web site or by clicking on this link: https://goo.gl/vjwJxO With the invaluable help and support from Miss Earl their Science teacher, the students have really been engrossed in the project and their winning video is proof of the fun they’ve had doing it. Congratulations to all involved.

Further information about the Bee project can be found on the following web site http://www.polli-nation.co.uk

Free School Meals

Your child might be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

o Income Support

o Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

o Income-related Employment and Support

Allowance

o Support under Part VI of the Immigration and

Asylum Act 1999the guaranteed element of

Pension Credit

o Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also

entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an

annual gross income of no more than £16,190)

o Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

o Universal Credit

Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals. To see if you qualify please complete an application either online or through a written application http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/Education/Schools/Meals

Lost Property

There are several coats, hoodies, keys, spectacles, pencil cases lunch boxes and PE kit in Lost Property. Some of the items of clothing are new quality. Please ask your son/daughter to contact Pastoral if they have lost anything alternatively please ring Pastoral to enquire about a particular item.

Contact Information Could we please remind you to keep us informed of any changes to the contact details we hold for your child.

Absent Students If you need to tell us that your child will not be in school please select option 1 and leave a message on the answer line or send a text or email via Schoolcomms.

Students starting in September If you have a child joining us in September and have not yet returned the forms we sent you for completion, please do so now. This will give us a chance to have all of their records up to date in time for their first day on Tuesday 5 September 2017. Duplicate forms will be available on 25 May at the Parents’ evening if you have mislaid the originals.

Prudhoe Community High School Moor Road

Prudhoe Northumberland

NE42 5LJ Tel: 01661 832486

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