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Summer 2009 Newsletter

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ARNOLD MIDDLE SCHOOL PAGE 11

ARNOLD MIDDLE SCHOOL PAGE 2

DON’T FORGET!

Return to school Thursday

3rd September

2009

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Dear Parents/ Carers

It was a delight, as usual, to see our Year Eight pupils waiting for the buses to Harlington Upper School and our partner lower school children arriving at Arnold on the Transfer Day! The Year Eights looked very smart and looking forward with anticipation to their new school experiences, although I was pleased to get feedback ranging from “We loved Harlington” to “We missed Arnold”. There were certainly a lot of happy children visiting Arnold on the Friday.

It is a great time to review our progress and achievements, of which there are many! Arnold School became part of the Harlington Area Schools Trust, working with four other local schools to provide 3 to 19 ‘seamless education’ for young people in our area. We, of course still work extremely closely with all our partner schools (we have children starting at Arnold from over ten

schools) but our Trust work has offered additional opportunities to access extra funding for projects very close to our hearts: one for helping children across the Trust with preparing for life skills linked to skills and another for supporting Trust families (our focus being on ensuring that all families have access to the support services they need to give all children the very best learning opportunities.) Our application for specialist status in science and mathematics was submitted at the end of November 2008 and we were thrilled to find that the application was not only successful but backdated to September 2008, allowing us sufficient time to plan for additional staff for the next academic year. We have already begun planning support resources and materials to help some of our partner lower schools, appointed a teacher to work in the science department and advertised for a specialist Teaching Assistant to help the science and mathematics departments. Further developments in staffing to support the teaching and learning have now reached their optimum. We have assistants putting up high-quality displays around the school; administrative support for the Key Stage Leaders; an admissions assistant (since we are responsible for admissions as a Foundation School); an administrator to help the Co-ordinator for Gifted and Talented children; two joint Teaching Assistants (TA) responsible for children with additional needs and a TA to provide administrative support for the three Core (English, mathematics and science) Subject Leaders. We were one of the first schools to employ Cover Supervisors and we now have two permanent members

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of staff who are here to provide cover for planned absence. This means that our teaching staff have time to focus on their core task of developing high-quality teaching and learning! The drive in the direction of appointing extra support staff arose from the ‘Workforce Reform’ review (started in 2004) that gave a timetable of milestones that would culminate in teachers ‘rarely covering’

and support staff providing the help for them from photocopying to ‘data crunching’. All our partner schools are Values Education Schools and we are proud to be involved in the development of Values in other schools as well as our own. Do read about our Values further in this Newsletter issue. One of the great high lights this year was the Values Conference when over 20 local schools were represented by members of their School Councils. They had a fantastic day of dance, drama, drumming and philosophy for children, concluding with a performance to their head teachers. It was yet another ‘tingle factor’ occasion (one where it makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck because it is a real focus on what children can do well).

I often tell staff about the ‘tingle factor’ when I see children at our school achieving their best and this occurs in so many different ways: representing the school in sports; performing in the Lion King; producing outstanding pieces of art work to adorn our school corridors; performing in our Show Band at the East of

England Show (this was the eighth year that we had been invited) to mention but a few. The School Council representatives have continued to go from strength to strength providing all the children with a platform to improve our school. Some of them have been carrying out Learning Walks around the school considering ways that we could improve our learning environment and teaching styles. The children then reported their findings at a full Staff Meeting (not our findings – their report and I think they were very brave to do this)! ‘Pupil Voice’ as it is known, has been an integral part of our school for a number of years but this year it developed even further when the Governing Body (GB) decided to include representatives at a full GB Meeting in June. It was an exciting move that had been planned a long time in advance to ensure that as many governors as possible could commit to the whole afternoon meeting. See the separate report on the inaugural combined meeting further in the Newsletter. The theme for the development was ‘sustainability’, which is an essential part of all that we are doing to support learning opportunities as well

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as making the most of our school facilities and encouraging our community to recycle and consider renewable energy and other issues. In addition the children have started their own school ‘blog’ that they use to communicate with other School Councils around the world! What an

amazing opportunity! Miss Truscott is the Senior Leadership Team representative that gives guidance and support to the School Council and she has now become a British Council Ambassador for Global Learning, having visited Belfast, in Northern Ireland and Prague in the Czech Republic to develop this further for Arnold children. The School Council have their own report later in this issue and I would like to thank Josh Shanley and Joe Goss in particular for their commitment to the Council’s work and the enthusiasm they have shown in leadership and supporting the learning at our school. I know they have already elected the Executive Leaders for next year. With any end of school year there will be some staff changes with our school having nearly 90 people! As we had an exceptionally successful recruitment drive, in February and March, we were able to announce the appointments for

September in our May half term Newsletter. Most importantly we are celebrating the teaching career of Mrs Steph Madden, who is retiring after a significant number of years committed to making music in schools and specifically over thirteen years at Arnold. In addition, she has juggled the role of Year Leader and, more recently, Key Stage Three Leader. Many children will remember the encouragement and positivity that Steph has given them in both academic

and pastoral roles but in particular the help in preparing for performances. It can be an isolating experience learning to play a musical instrument and the practice at home, when the noise may not be as tuneful as parents might wish, is a challenge for the whole family! The opportunities for performance at Arnold are outstanding and the very fact that over a quarter of our children have peripatetic music lessons at our school is testament to the successful leadership of Steph Madden.

I can also now report that Mrs Lori Khan has decided to leave Arnold and we wish her the very best for her future as she has continued to be unwell for a long time.

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ARNOLD MIDDLE SCHOOL PAGE 6

I would also like to thank our younger members of our Cleaning Team who are leaving to go to university this summer. They have been a reliable and helpful group and we sincerely wish them well on their exciting future paths – most are ex-pupils of Arnold. New ones are already taking up the reigns for September.

Mr Chris Payne, Teaching Assistant, will be working at Lincroft School from September but fortunately this is the only change to our exceptionally committed learning support staff this summer. The staff are now in place for September and I have produced a ‘check list’ to help you assimilate who is

where and when! I did not have the result of our interviews for Leader of our Autistic Spectrum Disorder Unit (Chiltern Class) in May but I can now announce that Mrs Susan Wilson will be joining us in September from her role with ASD children at a school in Luton. Mrs Becca Chesters-Lewis, our Learning Mentor, will be off on maternity leave (good luck with the new little one) and so Mr William Sides and Mrs Sarah Yates (who are also qualified in learning mentoring and already offer some support in the Pastoral and Learning Mentor Centre (PALM) will be taking

up the fantastic support work whilst she is away. We hope to see Becca back in the Summer Term. There will be several members of FASA leaving the fantastic group of supporters who have helped raise money for the school and whose children will be moving to Upper School at the end of term. Adele and Martin Godin, who have been so helpful with the arrangements for the Barton 10K Run over a number of years (and Adele in helping with the Uniform Sales this academic year); Linda Benjamin and Sarah Large (Sarah and her husband have matched funded over £2000 for the school). Other parents who have helped FASA enormously and will still have children at the school next year include Claire Short, Karen Cook and ‘Ischelle and Ady Wadsworth (who, again, have been brilliant in making sure the Barton Run goes without a hitch. Theresa Cusack has also decided to stand down from Committee duties but remains a parent of a child at Arnold. We will be looking for several new volunteers next year! The commitment made could be

small e.g. helping at a school function such as the Christmas Concerts or slightly greater work around arranging the Summer Ball, for adults who enjoy a good evening out. Please do get in touch when the information goes out about the FASA Annual General Meeting.

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In our previous Newsletter I told you about the exciting Enrichment Week activities and I know that the Newsletter this time will be a bumper edition of reports about the events that went on. From my point of view, this was an exceptionally well-organised week of events that had been months in the planning. Very special thanks to the ‘back room team’ who helped Mrs Lyn Lyman to keep the show on the road so effectively. Mrs Lynne Baker’s organisation for the arts events was very helpful in developing our activities with support for the additional artists in residence; the trips to the National Gallery and the

art work to liven up the corridors. I must add too, that the commitment of Miss Jess Cooke and Mr Karim Tfifha to the numerous after school activities and fixtures that have led to so many phenomenal successes for our teams (see their newsletter article) has continued to take our P.E. department from strength to strength.

I have to thank so many parents for their commitment to helping with some of the visits, including residential ones such as PGL in Year Six (to Devon) and Year Seven (to Normandy) and in particular Mr Greg Forder, a governor at our school, for enthusiastically taking part in a week of cycling, climbing and water activities which he claims he would be willing to repeat next year! Mr Jake Baker, Mrs Baker’s husband, has given up his time to go on the residential trip to London for gifted and talented scientists (thanks to Mrs Sides and Mrs Gunter for the organisation) and Mrs Lucy Gorick for supporting the G&T mathematics weekend with other partner middle and upper schools.

The Year Five Team worked seamlessly to ensure that our Key Stage Two children had a brilliant Pirates’ Week and thanks to the parents who took the time to thank the staff – it does mean a lot to them too. I’m sure to have missed out something or someone important who has made a significant contribution to our school this year but this letter could go on a bit if I don’t stop soon… but I will say that our calendar of events, set in place for

next academic year, already include Global Citizenship days (November); Science Week (March) and Enrichment Week (May) when the timetable will be significantly altered to make certain that the PLTS (personalised learning and thinking skills) part of the new curriculum are covered. My thanks to all staff who contribute so much to the planning of these days (on top of their usual teaching commitments) and the extra curricular activities and residential trips at Arnold

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that make such a difference to our children’s learning. As well as enjoying learning, we want our children to succeed academically and I am pleased to report that our results at Key Stage Two (KS2) were seen to be improving yet again in Mathematics and English and remained high in Science. Our partnership work with our lower schools (who have our children for the first two years at KS2), have helped contribute significantly to our success. We continue to work closely with them on our developing mathematics at KS2 with paired teaching at both the lower school and at Arnold. A continued focus on writing across the curriculum (in all subject areas) will further support our aims to do our best. At Key Stage Three the children in Year Eight excelled in the ‘Key Stage Three Tests’ which helped inform the teacher assessments and were forwarded to our colleagues at Harlington Upper School. See our results analysis further in this newsletter.

Finally, in Central Bedfordshire, we are busy consulting on Transformational Learning to make certain that all our young people have the very best possible learning opportunities. We are fortunate to be in an authority who wants to make the twenty-first learning fit for the future of all our

children. Please spare a thought for the Bedford Borough schools who are currently deciding on the Building Schools for the Future debate which could mean a change to the school system. I wrote about this issue before (find our past newsletters on our school website in a very readable format where the pages turn on the screen) and the final page of our newsletter is about the debate in Bedford Borough Schools so that you can read the issues for yourself. Remember that this does not affect Arnold School but it could mean fewer middle schools in the Bedford, Kempston and Sharnbrook areas. I am keeping you informed of the developments as it is important that we provide the very best for all children in Bedfordshire. Have a great holiday, if you are having time off with your children; relaxing at home or abroad – make the most of the time together. I am looking forward to a few days away with our two grand children in Norfolk in the sand! Best Wishes Ann Payne Head teacher

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NEWS FROM THE CHAIR OF GOVERNORS As the calendar turns to July and our Year 8 students prepare to leave us and a new set of Year 5 students prepare to join us you could be forgiven for thinking that 2009 is much like any other year. However you would be wrong. Like many previous years we continue to go from strength to strength. The

awarding of Specialist Science and Maths Status recognised the high standard of teaching in those subjects, while anyone who has seen the output from the Curriculum enrichment week in May cannot doubt the huge amount of talent and creativity we have across our year groups. Next year hopefully the high standard of our Arts curriculum will be recognised through the Arts Mark accreditation and there are many others I could list.

Yet the historic change that has happened this year started back in September with the creation of the Harlington Area Schools Trust. This change was about acknowledging the limitations of what we can achieve alone. Helping all the students that pass through Arnold achieve the best they can requires a shared sense of direction, sustained partnership and genuine collaboration both in terms of resources and ideas. Students, teachers, Governors, parents and the Community have yet to see the full potential of the benefits being part the Trust can bring. Although hopefully by this time next year our plans for supporting students and their families better throughout their education journey will have progressed and some of the other ideas and projects will have started to get off the ground. Through developing a shared understanding of our collective potential we can contribute to the wider debate that Central Bedfordshire will need to have about its strategic vision for education and learning. All of which is for the future. In the present I would like to take a moment to praise what each and every student at Arnold has achieved over the last year and to thank the efforts of teachers, staff and parents that have helped those students achieve as much as they have. Rhys Chesters-Lewis Chair of Arnold Middle School Governing Body

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Year 7 Drama Assembly

Well Done to our talented Year 7 on their assembly

in which The Apprentice came to Arnold! Different

groups of students battled it out to win the

formidable prize of a years supply of merits and an

HTPA (Head Teacher PA!)…Thoroughly

entertaining and yes you guessed it, the Drama

students won the competition, beating the PE and

French students!

Summer Concert—July 09 What’s Mrs Madden going to do once she retires?

What does a Mrs Madden lesson look like? The

answers were revealed at this years Summer concert! Well done and thank you to Year 5, 7 and

8 students who created some wonderful pieces of

drama, celebrating our beloved Mrs Madden - we

were all thoroughly entertained and educated!

Year 8 Drama Club Performance Evening

What a fantastic evening, show casing our gifted

students at Arnold. 6 groups, 6 very different takes

on life at Arnold over the last 4 years. You had us

roaring with laughter and marvelling at your

creative performance skills.

Thank you to friends, family and our acclaimed

judges for making it a really enjoyable evening.

Year 8 you will be missed but we look forward to

coming to see you perform at Harlington!

Drama Department - Highlights

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School Governors and School Council – Working Together

Pupil Voice is a vital part of our work at Arnold Middle School and the Governing Body wanted to make certain that they were engaging with our young people. Their solution was to combine one of their visits to the school during our ‘working day’ with a school lunch and a Full Governing Body Meeting with some of our School Council attending! Our meeting in June was carefully planned: the children came for a chat with me before the meeting so that they knew about the role of governors at the school; the different parts of a governors’ meeting and why the governors wanted them to attend. They all seemed very calm about it and looked forward to the event.

On the day, the governors arrived for lunch and queued up with the children; choosing from the vast selection of meals available and spread themselves out amongst the groups to chat to the children. After their meal, some disappeared onto the playground; a few got a quick cuppa and chatted to teachers whilst others caught up

with administration tasks. At the start of the afternoon, all governors took a tour with members of the School Council, who proudly shared information about our school. Finally, the meeting itself! The children listened to our Chair of Governors and introduced themselves. It was interesting to watch the concentration of the children as the meeting unfolded and I gave a presentation about sustainability at Arnold. Then it was off to the task – working with pairs of children and governors about developing sustainability. The children were fantastic: the governors were incredulous about the children’s knowledge of our school; what they thought were impor-tant issues surrounding sustainability and how the children fed back their group’s decisions at the end. They not only identified areas for us to focus on but made some brilliant suggestions about the high priorities (having consid-ered those that would have greatest impact as well as the best value – their ideas and not led by the governors). The outcomes from the meeting included the following action points:

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Raise more awareness of local and national charities through:

• Charity fair • Active involvement Competition to promote chosen charity. Start Energy Monitoring Group:

• Install lighting controls and sensors

• Replace fluorescent light fittings with energy efficient ones

• Install water butts

• Make sure water efficient taps are fitted in all areas

• Recycle plastic bottles (all types of recycling bins – hall and outside) • Switch off unnecessary lights and computer monitors. • ECO Club – Fun for children: • Start a wormery

• Develop a wildlife garden/environment trail/vegetable garden. • Where do we get school food from?

• Fair Trade

• Community lunches. These outcomes will form part of the School Council’s Development Plan for next academic year. Mrs Ann Payne Headteacher

TEMPEST PHOTOGRAPHY

will be in school on Wednesday 9th September 2009

to take your annual school photograph.

Don’t forget!

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SCIENCE DEPARTMENT enrichment opportunities 1. HMS Belfast

Forty students from year 8 supported by four adults set off for a one night residential trip to London in May. The adventure started at Harlington train station, armed with kit bags, sleeping bags and packed lunches. After experiencing the underground with 40 pupils, we arrived safely at our first stop “HMS Belfast”, moored on the Thames, with a fabulous view of Tower Bridge.

The accommodation for the sleep over was not exactly 4 star quality but it was much more spacious and plush than any one had expected (a vast improvement on what the sailors would have had!). We dropped off our load and had a quick route march to the Tower of London’s Royal Armouries where we learned about the use of materials for protection from the distant past to

the present day; from chain mail to Kevlar. We were then challenged with a task; we were to design a protective suit for an egg! Maybe this area was not our strength as only one group out of eight successfully protected their egg from a 2 meter drop. We then had an opportunity to tour the Tower of London and spend time looking at the amazing crown jewels and the armouries, horses in armour! We were now ready for a good rest and some dinner, but not just yet. We were not to know there was a further challenge, a very long walk along the embankment; no one said it was a holiday! Finally we arrived hungry and very tired at Pizza Express. After dinner we had a fantastic Flight on the London Eye and as it was a beautiful evening we saw far and wide followed by what seemed an even longer walk back to the Belfast.

After a good night sleep (for some of us) we had an introduction to the history of the HMS Belfast. Some of our group modelled examples of the outer protective clothing that would have been worn in the freezing temperature of the Arctic Circle. It certainly gave us an insight into how difficult life must have been when the ship was in action. Although very tired a great time was had by all.

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2. SIR ISAAC NEWTON We have had an opportunity to have a peep back in time at the work of ‘Isaac Newton’ with Rob Farr.

3. THE BP CHALLENGE

The BP Challenge Roadshow came to Arnold on July 9th to work with the year 8 pupils. The Carbon Challenge Roadshow is a part of BP’s ‘ENTERPRISING SCIENCE’ programme designed to inspire students in the disciplines of Science, Maths and Enterprise. During the roadshow pupils examined carbon emissions in schools and evaluated effective methods of carbon emission reduction in their two hour session. We hope to share more news on this our next newsletter.

SPECIALIST STATUS – update

As a specialist school we value the importance of science for the children in providing a sound base for their future economic well being. The withdrawal of the KS3 SATs from this year and the removal of science from the KS2 SATs programme effective 2010 will not affect the approach we take in this subject. We are determined to continue to provide full access to the science curriculum and are

maintaining the 3 hours allocation of curriculum time to enable us to complete the accelerated curriculum and aim to continually raise the high standards we already achieve.

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MEET THE GOVERNORS

Sally Anfilogoff

I am a mum to Rosie, Year 5, and stepmum to Michael, Year 8 at Parkfields and Katya, Year 11 at Harlington. I have worked in the public sector for over 25 years. Currently I work freelance generally in health and social care, helping organisations to do what they do but even better and to evaluate what the public need out of the services they provide. I sit on the East of England Committee for the Heritage Lottery Fund and really enjoy the opportunity this gives me to visit the many parts of East Anglia. I became a governor as I feel it's important to offer support in the community where my family has made our home. I have a particular interest in the gifted and talented but am fascinated by all aspects of the school.

SCHOOL TRANSPORT The Health and Safety of all pupils who travel on the school transport is our utmost priority, pupils who affect this face immediate sanction from the transport department. To reassure all our new pupils starting in September we have invited a member of the County transport team to meet with all our Year 5 pupils and share with them the importance of keeping safe. This special assembly will take place in the first week of term. Please remind your children that they must carry a valid bus pass. It is most important that you ensure they carry this daily, failure to show the pass could result in them being asked to pay for the journey. The school can only issue a temporary pass for a limited fixed duration.

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PALM CENTRE

In the two years since the PALM Centre has been open, countless children have benefited from the additional support provided by Mrs Chesters-Lewis, our Learning mentor. Many parents will be aware that she is soon to take a short break to increase her family; we know she will be missed by our children. Mrs Chesters-Lewis plans to return to us later in 2010 to continue doing what she

does so well. We are mindful of the needs of all our children and are determined to continue to provide full support for any child who requires it and as such have secured full time temporary qualified learning mentors to fill the gap. Mr Sides will take on the role of Lead learning mentor with Mrs Yates completing the team. Both are current members of staff. Mr Sides has been a science technician for 3 years and a mentor for 2 years supporting Mrs Chesters-Lewis, he has also very successfully taught in years 6 and 7. Mrs Yates has been our valued Reprographics technician for many years, a qualified first aider and a mentor for a year. We have every confidence that the PALM centre will continue to develop and flourish under their care, Mrs Sides will continue to oversee the work of the PALM centre.

We would like to take this opportunity on behalf of all the children and staff at Arnold to wish Mrs Chesters-Lewis the very best for the forthcoming event. Linda Sides

PALM CENTRE UPDATE

In April we sent out a short questionnaire to parents of those pupils who have already been engaged with the PALM centre to help us identify the strengths and areas for development. Many parents already tell us verbally how much the PALM centre has benefited their child; we really do appreciate your kind words.

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Boxing for fun!

On Thursday June 25th a group of 20 year 7 pupils took part in an opportunity to explore the art of boxing. No one said it would be easy! But I don’t think anyone expected it to be so tough. The group were put through their paces by Dan Sullivan our school’s liaison Police Officer; a familiar face in school as he supports our PSHCE programme of study. Dan started the session with some general points about self defence and protection then did not hold back, the children donned boxing gloves and learnt moves they never thought they would ever use, let alone on a police officer, it must have been the highlight of a very strenuous day. It was a joy to watch the faces on the children as they demonstrated determination and perseverance to complete every activity to their best. These are a few of their comments:

Sarah T said “Jab to the left, jab to the right, hook. One day of boxing raised my self confidence and self defence skills. We had a massive work out of 100 exercises and when we weren’t doing exercises we had to run and punch the air.”

Aaron S and Miles J told us “It was a great day and they would love to do it again, they learnt techniques that could help them.”

Aaron B also would like to do it again.

Kimberley M said “she learnt a lot of new stuff like bobbing and different punches, it was great and she really enjoyed the day.”

Taylor C, Danielle and Ryan S said ‘’Thank you for giving me the opportu-nity to box and improve my confidence.”

Rachael said “I would love to do it again and again even though it was very tiring; it made me feel very proud of myself and confident.”

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Even the staff have expressed an interest in Dan returning to do some work with them.

Community Cohesion – linking with schools across the globe At Arnold we are passionate about building links with schools from across the globe. Last year I was lucky enough to take part in an e-twinning workshop run by the British Council in Belfast. This was a fantastic opportunity and as a result we have now established links with schools in the UK and Ireland. Our Year 8 pupils worked on a project entitled ‘What does it mean to be British?’ and received feedback on their powerpoint presentations from our link schools. Over the next 12 months we aim to develop these links and also to establish new ones. As a result of the Belfast conference, I recently went to Prague in the Czech Republic to share our work with teachers from both there and the UK. They were all impressed with the work of our pupils, in particular, many delegates commented on our school council blog. From this conference, we hope to develop links with a school within the Czech Republic and enable our pupils to learn more about different cultures within Europe. We are always eager for Arnold to strengthen it’s links with the wider community. If you think you may have a link that may be of benefit to our community, please get in touch – we’d love to hear from you! Miss R Truscott Leader of Values and Life Skills

Kane T said “it was very interesting and I enjoyed every minute of it. It made me feel good about myself. I would recom-mend it to anyone, it was brilliant and fun.”

Kimberley G said “I was a bit nervous at first but when we were halfway through it was fine. It really was fun and built up my confidence.”

Annalise P and Josephine L send a big thanks to Dan.

Sam J said “it was great and he felt a lot fitter after the session, Sam loved the boxing and would do it again if he had the chance.”

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REWARDS AND RECOGNITION VALUES AWARDS

T The latest lucky winners of our Values awards this term are:

Congratulations to everyone who have received a values token this year, without your approach to Values we would not be the school we are today.

100% ATTENDANCE

BRUCE CONQUEST GREY St JOHN

Aaron Attard Anna Beckett John Gray Charlotte Cox

Debbie Boland Aimee Dimmock Luke Horvat Alice Double

Jordan Clifton Howard Ivey Robbie Large Jessica Loyal

Ceylon Hickman Bradley Jones James Moxon John Perkins

Jack Keenan Jasmine Khan Kara Scott Layne Perkins

Ruby Wadsworth Rebecca Shipley Brad Wishart Lucy Steele

Millie Anstee Olivia Barton Miran Chauhan Bethany Creed

Aimee Dimmock Emma Dolling Matthew Dolling Lydia Flack

Jake Gallagher Darian Graham Travis Graham Theo McLaren

Fred McMenamy Faye Moxon Adam Neill Kieran Norman

Adam Osborn Jessica Pitts Jake Short Rebekah Smith

James Wildey Natasha Wolfe

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HOUSE MERITS

The following record show the merits totals that have been handed in by July 8th 2009

50 MERIT AWARDS

75 MERIT AWARDS

100 MERIT AWARDS

The number of pupils who have received merit certificates are numerous, it is a delight to see so many of you receiving merits. For exceptional effort several pupils have now received 75 and even100 merits, what a fantastic achievement.

William Hart Debbie Boland Sara Marshall

Sonny Foulkes Tony Miller Ria Pachnanda

Jade Dashwood Oliver Almassy-Wade Eloise Pickard

Chloe Comb Mark Miller Danielle Yates

Leanne Waterson Hannah Underwood Niall Abraham

Peter Shrive Jessica Jones Sophia Fox

Chetan Rayat Jessica Pitts Rebekah Smith

Alex Puddiphatt Conor Naylor Kasey Fury

Bethany Rowe Lucy Steele David Harley

Amy Gillard Amy Craig Howard Ivey

Aiden Waite Amy Cross Sam McClelland

Luke Hutchings Joshua Ferguson Liam Abrahams

Jamie Lousvet Matthew Vale Emma Freeman

Lauren Jarvis Tony Miller Luca Testa

Charlotte Cox Jasmine Khan James Wildey

Amy Cross Tony Miller Alex Puddiphatt

Liam Abrahams Charlotte Cox Chloe Comb

Daniele Yates James Wildey

Conor Naylor Chetan Rayat

James Wildey

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SCHOOL UNIFORM

Mrs Adele Godin has worked hard this year managing the ordering and sales of school uniform. As from September she will no longer be involved in this aspect of school as it is a huge time commitment. There will be a change in the procedures from Sept 09 as follows:

• Specific items of school uniform will be available to buy direct from the

school shop.

• The shop will be open once a fortnight after school, any items we do not

have in will be placed on order.

• The current procedure of placing an order and the children receiving the

items will no longer be in place.

• The times of the opening of the school shop will be issued immediately

after the summer break.

• The specific items on sale include:

• Rugby tops for boys, logo embroidered yellow polo shirts (summer uniform

only) ties, school logo embroidered cardigans, jumpers and fleeces.

Also available will be school logo embroidered white polo shirts for PE and

sports teams.

General items other than those above will no longer be on sale in school once

stock has been sold; there are still some items available, please check with

school office.

Thank you

L Sides

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OUT of SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENTS

Our first parental report sharing the achievements of our pupils in their personal interest comes from Mr & Mrs Phillips. Please keep those success stories coming in.

Bethan Phillips (8PS) and Carys Phillips (6CB) both passed their National Ice Skating Association Gold medals at the start of the summer term, enabling them to compete at national level in figure skating competitions.

They took part in the Lee Valley Open in London in April competing in sepa-rate classes, both coming fifth, a fan-tastic result. Bethan also competed in the Milton Keynes Open and managed sixth place against very strong compe-tition.

Bethan

Carys

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BP Carbon Challenge The challenge was a great success and I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the quiz with the remote control things. I learnt what a carbon footprint is in detail and the board

displays helped me understand things more . By Grace Maitland The BP challenge was a great success . Everyone learnt something and had a great time. We all learnt in different ways what global warming is and how we can prevent it. The school should do it again. By Charlotte Heley & Jordan Tully. Our group did a drama piece about some of the people in the school ( teachers, pupils, PTA and other staff). We also did a quiz with interactive keypads and it gave us the chance to think about things that are happening in the world not just what celebs have split up etc. We had been doing the effect of pollution in geography the BP challenge just made us go into more depth. By Beth Creed. We thought the BP challenge was very entertaining and enjoyable. We learnt how we can reduce or prevent green house effect and global warming. The quiz really helped because at the end we all answered the right questions to how we think we could prevent this. We think this was a success because every person learnt at least one thing.

In June Year 4 pupils from the Lower Schools

came up to Arnold for an afternoon of D&T.

Pupils were split into groups with some Year 8

pupils given some scrap materials. All

groups then set about building a bridge to

take as much weight as possible. All groups

worked fantastically. It culminated in the testing

of each bridge, with high tension to see who

had won. A great afternoon for all that took part.

Page 24: Summer 2009 Newsletter

ARNOLD MIDDLE SCHOOL PAGE 24

Summer Learning in

Bedfordshire

Short Workshops and Taster Sessions

FREE *

Why not ‘Get a Taste’ of what we can offer you

with our short sessions, usually 2 hours, or a longer workshop

Including:

Car Maintenance * Plumbing * Electrical safety in the home * Childcare * Basic Computing* spreadsheets*

Internet* Golf* Floristry* Digital Photography* Watercol-ours,* and Pottery

Your local Adult & Community Learning centres are:

Bedford John Bunyan Community College

Mile Road Bedford

MK42 9TR TEL: 01234 244970

Biggleswade/Clifton/Shefford

Samuel Whitbread Community College Shefford Road

Clifton SG17 5QS

Tel: 01462 629906

Taster cost is

deducted when you book

a full course (Sept – Dec 09)

£10.00

Page 25: Summer 2009 Newsletter

Arnold Middle School Staff

Senior Leadership Team

Mrs Ann Payne

Mrs Linda Sides

Mrs Lyn Lyman

Miss Rachel Truscott*

Pastoral Leaders

Miss Caroline Reeve

[Key Stage Two]

Mrs Rachel Moss

[Key Stage Three]

Subject Leaders

Mrs Kelly Boreham [English]

Mrs Jane Hawkins [Maths]

Mrs Linda Sides [Science]

Mrs Lynne Baker[Art]

Mrs Gail Gunter [Assistant Leader of Science – Specialist Status]

Mrs Victoria Wright [Assistant Leader of English – Literacy Across the Curriculum]

Mr Peter Salamon [Design Technology]

Miss Clare McCrow [Drama]

Mr Mark Williams [Modern Foreign Languages]

Mr Greg Davis [Geography]

Miss Rachel Truscott [History]

Mrs Sue Dye [Information Technology]

Mr Chris Cadd [Music]

Miss Rachel Truscott* [Personal, Social, Health, Citizenship Education & Religious Education]

Miss Jessica Cooke [Physical Education]

* Leader of Values and Life Skills

Page 26: Summer 2009 Newsletter

Year Teams

Year Five Mr Nigel Pollard

Mr John Shaw

Mrs Sue Tredwell

Mrs Alison Wood

Mrs Victoria Wright

Year Six Mrs Denise Douglas [D.T.]

Mrs Callie Hewitt [English]

Mrs Kate Middleton [Science]

Miss Dana Paranihi

Mr Spencer Rudkin

Year Seven

Miss Jessica Cooke

Mrs Lucy Gorick [Maths]

Miss Clare McCrow

Mr Peter Salamon

Mr Karim Tfifha [P.E.]

Year Eight

Mrs Lynne

Baker

Mr Greg Davis

Mrs Sue Dye

Mrs Jane Hawkins/ Mrs Donna Conquest [Modern Foreign Languages]

Mr Chris Cadd/ Mrs Gail Gunter

Mr Mark Williams

Chiltern Class

Mrs Susan Wilson Mrs Wendy Baldwin Mrs Linda Stamp

Subject Teachers/ Form Tutor link

Mrs Anne Pibworth [P.E.] [KS3]

Miss Caitlin Boarder [English, Drama and History] [KS2]

Mrs Doreen Thakoordin [English and drama] [KS3]

Cover Super visor

Mrs Elinor Brown Miss Nicola McMahon

Page 27: Summer 2009 Newsletter

Administrative and Technical Support Team

Mrs Wendy Simpson [Office Manager]

Mrs Beverley Jones* [Admissions and Lead First Aider]

Mrs Dawn Peacock [Attendance Administrator]

Mrs Linda Pritchard [Assessment Manager and Learning Support Administration]

Mrs Linda Bassill [Librarian] Mrs Sarah Yates* [Reprographics technician]

Name not known at publication [Teaching Assistant for Science and Mathematics Specialist Status]

Ms Julia Chippendale* [Resistant Materials Technology Technician]

Mrs Jenny Plain [Food & Fabric Technology Technician]

Mrs Sue Roberts* [Art Technician]

Mr William Sides [Science Technician]

Mrs Alison Creed [Clerical Assistant to Key Stage Leaders & Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator + Display support]

Mrs Tracy Tait [Clerical Assistant to Core Subject Leaders]

Mrs Karen Wildey [Business Manager] Mrs Mandy Lucock [Finance Assistant]

Mr Ian Lisle [Information Technology Manager]

Mr Eric Peppiatt [ICT technician]

Page 28: Summer 2009 Newsletter

Learning Support Team

Mrs Tracy Jones [Lead Teaching Assistant – special responsibility for Key Stage Three pupils with Special Needs]

Annalisa McKenna [Lead Teaching Assistant – special responsibility for Key Stage Two pupils with Special Needs]

Mr William Sides and Mrs Sarah Yates* [Pastoral and Learning Mentors – covering maternity leave]

Mrs June Buckingham

Mrs Susan Buttigieg

Mrs Pam Hazel

Miss Lucy Hubble

Mrs Emma Jackson

Mrs Lisa Nolan

Mrs Wendy Riedel

Mrs Linda Rooke

Mrs Jacqui Vaughan

Miss Sarah Young

Cleaning and Catering Team

Mrs Kathy Moroney [Kitchen Manager]

Mrs Mandy Vincent [Cook]

Mrs Judy Dodd Peggy Stevens Mrs Leigh Horvat Mrs Mandy White

Mrs Sue Roberts* Mrs Pat Porter Mrs Belinda Rogers

Ms Alison Creed

Mr Dale Childs [Site Manager] Mr Clive Littler [Assistant Site Agent]

Mrs Gloria Billington

Mr Derrick Bunker

Mrs Susan Buttigieg

Mrs Tracey Childs

Miss Melissa Cole

Miss Imogen Fieldsend

Mrs June Rees Mrs Sue Roberts

*first aiders

Page 29: Summer 2009 Newsletter

ARNOLD MIDDLE SCHOOL PAGE 29

With the start of the new school year, I would like to take the opportunity to

welcome our new Year 5’s to “Arnies”.

This is the name chosen by Arnold School for the catering department.

We have a varied range of healthy and nutritious dishes for you to choose from

including sandwiches, baguettes and salads. Not forgetting our normal menu

(including burgers and sausages) and a new option called Pasta King, which is

proving very popular. This consists of pasta with a choice of toppings ranging

from delicious tomato and basil to chicken korma.

We also have filled potato jackets. All this for only £1.90.

School lunches can be paid for either daily, weekly or termly.

At break time you can now buy fruit juice for 40p and

a ham or cheese roll also for 40p.

We hope you will come in and try and we look forward to seeing you.

K Moroney

Kitchen Manager

Page 30: Summer 2009 Newsletter

PAGE 30

COMPETITION@ARNIESCOMPETITION@ARNIESCOMPETITION

+ Are you a budding artist with a talent for creating amazing posters? + Can you think ‘outside the box’ when it comes to new ideas? + Do you want to see your winning design all around school? + Are you worried that you might get a bit bored during the six weeks off?! If the answer was ‘yes’ to any of these questions then this is the competition for you! We are looking for a poster to help inform all pupils about the benefits of hav-ing a school meal. We want everyone to know how tasty, healthy and excellent value for money our lunches at Arnies are!

Rules: + Your poster must be no bigger than A3 and be able to be photocopied. + On your poster you need to include a variety of reasons for choosing a school dinner, including the price (only £1.90) + Competition open to all Arnold pupils and current Year 4 pupils at our lower schools. + The winning design will be displayed around school and the winner will re-ceive a fantastic ‘Arnies’ prize! • Closing date is FRIDAY 11th SEPTEMBER 2009. All entries must be handed to Miss Truscott.

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PAGE 31

School Council News Phew! What a busy year it’s been for our school council. It really doesn’t seem possible that we’ve managed to be involved in so much this year and I must extend a massive thank you to all the form representatives who have made such a valuable contribution to the smooth running of the school. In particular I would like to wish the best of luck to our Year 8 School Council as they move on to Harlington. Josh, our fantastic chairperson has proved himself as a mature and eager member of the school community. Below is a selection of events and activities school council has been involved in this year:

Christmas Fancy Dress (Panto & 12 Days of Christmas) in aid of Keech Cottage Children’s Hospice. ‘Super Heroes’ Day in support of Julian Dennis, a school governor who ran the London Marathon to raise money for Childline & the NSPCC. Pupil led learning walks identify key areas of development around the school. Attending governors meetings to share and contribute ideas. A variety of assemblies. Running our FAIRTRADE stall, linking with community cohesion. Liaising with the Parish Council relating to the Village Plan. Setting up and maintaining our very own blog! (http://amsschoolcouncil.blogspot.com) This blog allows us to communicate with the school and wider community, including our e-twinning schools across the UK & Ireland.

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PAGE 32

Lunch surveys to identify what our pupils are eating and what they would like to have as part of our school dinner service. ‘Pink’ non-school uniform day in aid of Breast Cancer

awareness. This day was masterminded by Jordan Tully who has worked hard to ensure its success.

As you can see, ‘Pupil voice’ at Arnold is strong and growing. We look forward to next year where we hope to become further involved in sustainability by setting up a working party looking at fuel consumption around the school, and raising money for recycling bins to be in place throughout the school community.

Many thanks to all parents who have supported our efforts throughout this year; it has been very much appreciated.

Miss Truscott Leader of Values & Life Skills

Back to front, left to right:

Howard Ivey, Joe Goss, Josh Shanley, Melissa Bailey, Georgina Clipston, Abbie Nye.

Jack Dimery, Charlotte Cruise, Emily Swain, Faye Moxon, Victoria Vale Fred McMenamy, Nasar Khan, Izzie Sims, Katie Hall, Mia Holder,

Bradley Jones. Kelsie Cummins, Alex Puddiphatt, Lucy Wolfe, Chloe Comb.

Page 33: Summer 2009 Newsletter

PAGE 33

A Message from School Council:

This year Joe Goss and I, who are part of the school council, have helped organised events and money raising ideas like non-school uniform days with the

money going to charities and school funds.

This year we have been involved with pupil voice which enables school pupils to say what they think and what

they want to happen to the school. They give their ideas to a school council member and that member will

mention the ideas to the rest of the council in the next meeting (every Wednesday).

Also this year we have had meetings with Mrs Payne

and the governors discussing our ideas so in the future we will have a better learning environment. We’ve tried to assure that children work to the best of their ability so they can improve their levels. In five years time we are aiming to create a state of the art new building which

will be energy efficient with a wind turbine located at the top of the building.

We have enjoyed school council this year because we have shown good ideas and great understanding. We look forward to going to Harlington and good luck to all

the school council representatives from all years. Especially, good luck to the newly appointed school

council chairperson, Jack Dimmery.

Thank you from Josh Shanley (Chairman) and Joe Goss (Vice Chairman),

Year 8 school council representatives.

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PAGE 34

Meet our New Year 8 School Council Representatives!

As I’m sure you are aware, each year we have a small group of Year

8 pupils who hold key positions within our dynamic School Council.

These pupils are key to the smooth running and continued success

of our council and ensure that all pupils at AMS have the opportunity

to have their voices heard.

Each of these individuals has shown a real commitment to our school

council and we look forward to building on the excellent work by this

years Year 8 chairperson (Josh

Shan ley) and h is team o f

representatives.

Chairperson.

Jack Dimmery

It is my job to chair our

meetings and make sure they

run smoothly. I am the link

between school council and

Mrs Payne.

Page 35: Summer 2009 Newsletter

PAGE 35

Treasurer.

Charlotte Cruise

I am responsible for the

collection of money when we

do fundraising events.

I also liaise with the Chair in

thinking of fundraising ideas to

raise money for the school

and different charities

Secretary.

James Andrews

I come to each meeting

and keep a record

(minutes) of what has

happened.

We can then refer back

to them at a later date

if need be.

Page 36: Summer 2009 Newsletter

PAGE 36

Sustainability – FAIRTRADE

On roll over day our form created a presentation about FAIRTRADE. In the presentation we had a storyboard about Justino (a local farmer) explaining how the food he grows gets from Africa to the supermarket shelves using FAIRTRADE. We also looked at the following areas:

what FAIRTRADE does who it helps how it supports farmers the history of FAIRTRADE why it helps

Finally, we made a leaflet telling consumers about what FAIRTRADE sells; how it has developed over the years and what we hoped it would achieve in the future. It was a brilliant day and we learnt a lot more about the world around us! Ryan Le-vien 7LB

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ARNOLD MIDDLE SCHOOL PAGE 37

Values Conference @ HUS

At the end of June, 8 of our Year 5 School Council representatives were lucky enough to be invited to Harlington Upper School to take part in the first ever Values Conference alongside other middle schools and lower schools. The theme of the day was UNITY and our pupils enjoyed exploring this theme in a variety of ways. Read on below to find out what happened on this exciting day!

On Thursday 25th June, Year 5 school council went to Harlington Upper School for a Values Conference. We got to do a mixture of activities like dance; drumming; philosophy and drama. It was really good fun! The value we focused on was UNITY and how Unity means working together instead of apart. In the philosophy session we wrote down our names and something we like – Miss Truscott put down giant African snails! In the drumming workshop we worked together and made up a tune and played in front of everyone. Jessica Pitts

I really enjoyed the Values Conference at Harlington. I really enjoyed the Dancing and Drumming although the room we did the Philosophy in was really hot! I was in a group with Joanna Saunders. In the drama workshop we had to act out what happens if you are bullied- I played a bully! It was a brilliant day and I really enjoyed it. Emily Goss

Page 38: Summer 2009 Newsletter

ARNOLD MIDDLE SCHOOL PAGE 38

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PAGE 39

Values Education @ AMS Values Education continues to be an important part of our pupil’s lives at Arnold. Through form and Key Stage assemblies all pupils are given the opportunity to reflect on specific values and how they influence our lives. Recently our Year 5 School Council representatives were lucky enough to attend the first ever Values conference held at Harlington Upper School. They had a fantastic day and I hope you take the time to read about their experiences. We have applied for recognition of all this hard work in the form of the ‘Values Mark’- an award given to schools where values underpin the ethos of the school. The evaluation visit for this accreditation takes place early in the autumn term and we hope for official accreditation by October half term.

HONESTY TRUST RESPECT

CARING

PATIENCE

SELF-ESTEEM

COMMITMENT MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR OPPOR-TUNITIES

FAIRNESS

COURTESY

LOVE COMPASSION

UNDERSTANDING

KINDNESS

LOYALTY PATIENCE

CONSIDERATION

PEACE CO-OPERATION

FRIENDLINESS

Page 40: Summer 2009 Newsletter

PAGE 40

FASA NEWS As we complete another successful year of

fund raising we are delighted to report that

you have helped FASA raise

over £5,500 this year.

The money has been spent

on a pro jec tor and

camcorder. We also helped purchase the

display furniture in the entrance hall. Money will also go

towards a flower/butterfly garden near to the Palm Centre.

Thank you to all parents who have supported FASA’s fund

raising efforts this year. Your help will be needed again next

year not only supporting FASA but a new team is needed to

organise events and form a committee.

If you can spare some of your time to

help raise money for the school, from

which all our children benefit, please

contact the school off ice in

September.

Janette Murphy

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PAGE 41

SATs RESULTS 2009

KEY STAGE 2

Our Year 6 children and their teachers have worked very hard this year and our Key Stage 2 results are given below. We are particularly pleased with our results as they show substantial improvements in a number of areas.

KEY STAGE 3

In line with the announcement made by the government earlier in the year, we are reporting Key Stage 3 Teacher Assessments. The assessments have been made using continual assessment throughout the year and the Key Stage 3 Optional Tests taken by the pupils in June.

Level 3+ Level 4+ Level 5

English Reading 97 92 64

English Writing 98 73 11

English 98 89 31

Maths 97 82 29

Science 99 96 39

Level English Maths TA

Actual

End of

Year 8

Science

4+ 100 100 100

5+ 76 93 87

6+ 38 68 46

7+ 0 38 5

8+ 0 13 0

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Year 4 Maths and Rounders Day The Maths Department has had a hugely successful day with the Year 4 pupils. They spent the day doing following a Maths trail and completing activities created by some of the Year 8’s. In the afternoon the pupils took part in a circus of PE events. A big thank you to all the wonderful Year 4 children and an even bigger thank you to the enthusiastic Year 8’s who made the children feel extremely welcome and overall a very enjoyable day.

Year 8 Gifted and Talented Maths weekend

In July, six G&T Maths pupils were chosen from AMS to attend the Maths weekend held at the impressive Grendon Hall in Northampton. The children were joined by pupils from feeder middle schools and Harlington Upper along with Samuel Whitbread School. Activities ranged from making 3D histograms and Human Bingo to ‘Cracking the Code’ using Algebra. Each child received a personalized certificate and award for completing the challenges.

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PAGE 43

But it wasn’t all calculators and Pi. There was a popular general knowledge quiz and a game of rounders to end the weekend. The children were amazingly well behaved and the staff thoroughly enjoyed their company. We look forward to attending the event next year.

“The rounders and Quiz were fab. The rest of the weekend wasn’t bad either. Cool people, lots of free time, free vending machine hot chocolate…” Chloe Smith- Most integrated pupil. 8LGK “A good weekend but very tiring” Joe Goss 8CMC “You get loads of free time, good food and the Maths is fairly fun” Ed Hughes 8PS “The Maths trip was really fun and we made some new friends” Millie Martin 8LGK “Loved it” Harry Nicholls 8JCK A special thank you to Harry Nicholls, Joe Goss, Charlotte Hopkinson, Chloe Smith, Millie Martin and Ed Hughes for such an enjoyable time and representing AMS to its full potential. Mrs Gorick

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PE News

It has been a hectic and highly eventful summer term within the PE Department. During this term the children have thoroughly enjoyed the many competitive summer sports on offer. This term has seen three very different focuses, with our rounders, cricket, and athletics teams participating in their league fixtures.

We’ll start by discussing our very impressive cricket season. The cricket league in Year 8 went extremely well with the boys maintaining an unbeaten record. Having been awarded a victory by Etonbury who could not make a fixture, the boys’ went on to beat Parkfields away and Holywell at home. The team played to a very good standard in both games, demonstrating good teamwork and communication skills.

Meanwhile our Year 7 season has also seen great progress. Despite having many inexperienced cricketers, the boys adjusted well to the league, and despite losing 2 and drawing 1 of our three fixtures, the boys were fantastic in their efforts and attitude, and made great progress. We finish our summary of the cricket season by congratulating the Year 6 cricket team for their exceptional commitment and performance during the cricket festival held at Parkfields. The boys had trained hard for this competition, attending regular practices with great enthusiasm. Playing 3 fixtures, and having been given a fourth game win by Robert Bloomfield, the boys were unbeaten and were especially impressive in overcoming Parkfields Middle School in a very close match. Unfortunately, despite being unbeaten, we went on to lose the 10-team tournament on run difference to Etonbury. Well done for all your efforts to all those involved and achieving 2nd place. The team was as follows:

Luke Jeffrey (Captain) Alex Evans Reece Smith Oliver Malcyk Josh Wilson Aaron Yates Jamie Pepper Daniel Holland

Page 46: Summer 2009 Newsletter

ARNOLD MIDDLE SCHOOL PAGE 46

Our Athletics season, meanwhile, was just as impressive. With our Year 5/6 and 7/8 squads competing in the league and District competitions, we saw some fantastic individual performances, including some really good year 5/6 girls performances which saw them qualify for the league finals. Evie Newton in the Shot Putt and 75m, Jessica Pitts in the 600m, Jessica Jones in the sprints, Lucy Wolfe in the High Jump, Becky James in the Shot, were just a few of our major successes. The girls finished in 4th place in the finals. Well done to all the girls who competed. There were also great performances from the boys with Josh Wilson among many others, including many Year 5’s, having a very successful season. Our Year 7/8 Athletics squad has also performed well this season. With our boys qualifying for the league finals, there were many impressive perform-ances, including the performances of: Matt Watson, Adam Brown, Joe Goss & Kane McKenna in the 4x100 metre relay, Sam Jarmin in the Shot Putt, Seb Newton in the 800m. Charlotte Moore in the girls sprinting & Beth Creed in the long jump also had exceptional performances for the girls. Following impressive athletics displays, the following pupils qualified for the district athletics finals after impressing during the qualifying heats: Eleanor Keep – High Jump Beth Creed – Long Jump Sam Jarmin – Shot Put Adam Brown - Relay Kane McKenna – Relay Joe Goss – Relay Matt Watson – Triple Jump & Relay Ceylon Hickman – Javelin

James Yates – 100m Charlotte Moore – 100m Lucy Wolfe - High Jump Daniel Holland – Shot Put Kelsey Bassett - Discus Tom Ayres- High Jump Henny Horsler – Long Jump

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PAGE 47

A special mention must go out to Lucy Wolfe for her spectacular performance in the High Jump in which she finished in 1st place. She is now the District high jump champion so, well done Lucy.

This term has been exceptionally busy with all year groups competing in league fixtures and also the district rounders tournaments. The Year 5’s have practiced hard and are now familiar with the rules and tactics of the game. Their new found knowledge and understanding lead them to finish 2nd in their league with only one defeat to Robert Bloomfield. It also saw them reaching the semi-finals in the district tournament. Unfortunately, the girls were narrowly beaten by Bedford High School so didn’t make it to the finals, again there were impressive performances by all of the team. The Year 6’s have also seen some successes in their league fixtures, beating Robert Bloomfield. The Year 7’s finished 2nd in their league only losing to Robert Bloomfield all season. Both teams’ attitudes, dedication to practices and performances are a true credit to the school and PE department.

This Years Year 8 have had an extremely successful season. The girls have shown a true team spirit when playing and a desire to win and perform to the best of their ability throughout all games. They competed to a high standard in the league and won all their games

but narrowly lost one of their fixtures to Holywell, resulting in them finishing in 2nd place in the league. Their finest moment came at the district tournament in which they easily won all their round matches against Woodside, Dame Alice B squad and Bedford Modern. The girls then went on to play Lincroft in the semi-finals and beat them by 10+ rounders. The semi-finals saw them play against Bedford High School. The squad fielded amazingly tight and won the game by half a rounder. Having made it through to the finals versus Dame Alice A squad the girl’s unfortunately lost out to becoming the district champions but finished in 2nd place. Huge congratulations to the squad: Chloe Payne Kayleigh Eaton Chloe Graves Kirsty Foster Ceylon Hickman Louisa Laviola Chloe O’Neill Jacqueline Benjamin Rachel Bowtell

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PAGE 48

Finally the term finished on a high with a successful sports day in which the day gave the opportunity for all our talented young people to perform competi-tively for their houses. Well done to all those who took part in track or field events. The results are as follows: 1st place – St John = 721 2nd place – Conquest = 717 3rd place – Grey = 716 4th place – Bruce = 641 We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all the parents who have supported the PE department over the year. We wish you a happy and relaxing summer and look forward to the coming academic year. Lastly we would like to thank our Year 8 pupils for the dedication, time and commitment they have shown during PE and within our sports teams over their years at Arnold. We wish them all the best at Harlington and hope that they continue to play and compete in social and competitive sports. Miss J Cooke Mr K Tfifha

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PAGE 49

Bug-hunting for all the family Saturday 22nd August, 11.00 am to 1.00 pm Guided bug-hunt at Cooper’s Hill wildlife reserve, Ampthill Please book a half hour session. A contribution of £2.50 per individual or £5.00 per family is requested. Join Ed Turner, an expert on bugs at the Cooper's Hill Reserve, to see what you can catch. Can you spot the beautiful green tiger beetle in search of prey or find a magnificent stag beetle (we did last year)? Sweep nets and magnifying pots will be provided as well as a wildlife quiz and colouring sheets. Some rough ground, so wear appropriate footwear and waterproofs if it’s wet. For more information or to book a session contact either Julia Burkett on 01525 721630 [email protected] or leave a message for Kathy on 07890 347327 Wildlife Trust BCNP, Flit Vale Local Group [email protected] www.wildlifebcnp.org Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough Registered charity number: 1000412

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PAGE 50

HAS YOUR LITTLE ONE LOST ‘UPSY DAISY?’

FOUND IN THE YEAR 5

BLOCK

PLEASE CALL MRS YATES

ON 01582 616400 TO ARRANGE COLLECTION OR CALL INTO

THE SCHOOL OFFICE.

Page 51: Summer 2009 Newsletter

ARNOLD SCHOOL DIARY 2009-2010 Tuesday 1st September Staff Training Day Wednesday 2nd September Staff Training Day Thursday 3rd September Autumn Term Commences Wednesday 9th September School Photographs Wednesday 16th September Parents’ Forum Evening (1) Thursday 24th September FASA AGM - 19.30 Friday 2nd October Fun Run AMS Friday 2nd / Saturday 3rd October G&T Grafham Water Sports Wednesday 7th October Harlington Upper School Intake Evening Thursday 8th October Parents’ Awareness Raising Evening (1) Tuesday 20th October Parent Meetings with Form Tutors Monday 26th October Half Term Week – return Tuesday 3rd November Monday 2nd November Staff Training Day Wednesday 11th November New Intake Evening Thursday 19th November Fair Trade Stalls Friday 20th November Fair Trade Stalls Wednesday 2nd December Christmas Concert Thursday 3rd December Christmas Concert December Year 7 National Gallery Visit (one day) Tuesday 8th December Year 5 Pantomime Performance Wednesday 9th December Year 6 Pantomime Performance Thursday 17th December Christmas Dinner Friday 18th December Autumn Term Ends Tuesday 5th January Spring Term Commences Monday 4th January Staff Training Day Wednesday 13th January Year 6 Parents’ SATs Preparation Evening Monday 25th January Mock SATs – Key Stage 2 Tuesday 9th February Harlington Upper School Year 8 Options Evening Monday 15th February Half term week – return Monday 22nd February Tuesday 23rd February Parents’ Awareness Raising Evening (2) Monday 8th – Friday 12th March Year 7 French PGL visit Thursday 11th March Parents’ Forum Evening (2) Monday 15th – Friday 19th March National Science Week Wednesday 24th March Arts Performances Thursday 25th March Arts Performances Tuesday 30th March Year 8 group and individual photos + music groups Tuesday 30th March FASA Disco Wednesday 31st March Music Recital Evening Thursday 1st April Spring Term Ends Friday 2nd – Saturday 10th April Ski Trip Monday 19th April Training Day/Reports Day } Pupils not in school – appointment times will be Tuesday 20th April Reports Day } issued to meet with Form Tutors on both days Wednesday 21st April Summer Term Commences Wednesday 28th April Yr 3 / 4 Parents of Children with Additional Needs Meeting Thursday 29th April Junior Maths Challenge Day Monday 3rd May May Day Bank Holiday – school closed Monday 10th – Friday 14th May Key Stage 2 SATs Week Monday 17th – Friday 21st May Year 6 PGL Activity Week Monday 17th – Friday 21st May Enrichment Week Tuesday 25th May Parents’ Forum Evening (3) Monday 31st May – Friday 4th June Half Term Week – return Monday 7th June Tuesday 8th June Parents’ Awareness Raising Evening (3) Tuesday 15th June Year 4 Maths & Rounders Day Wednesday 23rd June DT G&T Afternoon for Year 4 pupils Wednesday 7th July Summer Concert Thursday 8th July Year 8 Curriculum Induction Day Friday 9th July All Pupils Induction Day Friday 9th July Leavers’ Disco Friday 16th July Sports Day for all Years (parents welcome) Monday 19th July Year 5 Intake Evening Monday 19th July Years 5 and 6 Swimming Gala (am) – sorry, no parent spectators Tuesday 20th July Years 7 and 8 Swimming Gala (am) – sorry, no parent spectators Tuesday 20th July Leavers’ Assembly Wednesday 21st July Year 8 Day Trip Wednesday 21st July Summer Term Ends

Page 52: Summer 2009 Newsletter

Newsletter

Issue No. 2

June 2009

Bedford Borough Middle School Action Team

SAVE

SCHOOLS

OUR

THE BETTER OPTION . . . . . RETAIN AND ENHANCE THE 3-TIER SYSTEM

http://saveourmiddleschools.tripod.com/ www.savemiddleschools.wordpress.com

���� 3333----tier is better!tier is better!tier is better!tier is better!

Improving 3-tiers — A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity

We have a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to transform learning and teaching from the age

of 9 by investing BSF funding in Middle Schools as well as Upper Schools.

Use BSF funding to refurbish Middle Schools as well as

Upper Schools

Incorporate ‘state of the art’ facilities and technology into

Middle Schools as well as Upper Schools

Drama Studios Sports Hall

Music Technology suites Media Centres

Independent Learning Centres Digital Technology Centres

Work to make transition even better and smoother than it is now

End KS3 in Year 8, giving Upper Schools an extra year to

prepare students for GCSE

Focus on what really matters—improving learning and teaching

to raise standards

� Raise

Standards

FULL BSF FUNDING IS AVAILABLE FOR 3-TIER SYSTEMS

RETAINING AND ENHANCING THE CURRENT 3-TIER SYSTEM OF LOWER/MIDDLE/UPPER SCHOOLS IS THE BETTER OPTION

Improve

Practice