An Outstanding Maths and ICT Specialist School

Choices, responsibilities and consequences were the focus of the thought-provoking Learn 2 Live Roadshow that Year 12 attended at Plymouth Pavilions last Thursday. The event’s aim was simple; to try to reduce the frightening statistics regarding the 17-24 age group when driving or being a passenger in a car driven by an inexperienced driver and the startling facts speak for themselves: in 2012 a quarter of fatal or serious road traffic accidents in Devon involved this age group.

To deliver this safety message a number of local people who have dealt with the consequences of such an accident movingly spoke of their personal experience and the effect it has had on them. To hear real life stories from a Police Family Liaison Officer, a Fire Officer, a Paramedic, a Doctor and parents, in sometimes heart-wrenching detail, had a great impact on those present. They learnt from a parent who, 20 years later, is still caring for his injured son, what the term ‘life changing injuries’ actually means. His son had gone from being a promising trials bike rider to being wheelchair bound and unable to look after himself as the result of driving too fast one night. The message was clear; each incident was the result of the young person involved having made the wrong choice with devastating consequences. It was the hope of those talking of their experiences that none of the students present would be a future statistic. They impressed on the students the need to consider who they got into a car with and when they became drivers themselves to drive carefully, wear a seatbelt and keep within the speed limits. The Fire Officer in his closing address stressed that in the future, when faced with these choices, it was important the students considered the consequences of their actions and to remember the day's strapline:

S Green

On Friday 13th December we have the first of our Applied Learning Days for this year. On this day the usual timetable is collapsed and students study aspects of personal, social and health education. The plan for each Year Group in Key Stage 3 is outlined below. Students are required to wear usual school uniform and catering arrangements are not affected. We look forward to a day of positive and enjoyable learning. If you have any questions regarding the day please do contact Mrs J Spencer. Year 7 Students will participate in a carousel of activities including circus skills, drama, health education with the school nurse, e-safety and learning to navigate with a map and compass. All activities take place in school with external providers coming in to support learning. Year 8 The students will be divided into two populations participating in one activity on this occasion and the other in the Spring term. Tutor groups: 8AJE, 8HLR, 8PRB, 8EC, 8PC, 8MN, 8DB and 8SJW will receive a letter with details of the Faith Trail that involves visiting a selection of places of worship in Plymouth. Letters and consent forms for this visit will be issued by the tutors at the Review day appointment. Tutor Groups: 8LMS, 8NK, 8MHW, 8AWO, 8BD, 8LCS, 8MJ, 8IE and 8LW will be in school following a carousel of activities focusing on an international theme. Training shoes will be required for this activity.

Year 9 All students will be learning about emergency first aid and will be meeting representatives from Exeter University to learn about future opportunities at Key Stage 5 and Higher Education. We will be running a ‘Maths in Motion’ competition in which students work in groups and use their mathematical skills to design and race a virtual Formula 1 car around a Grand Prix circuit. For those students who have chosen to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme there will then be a session in which they will register online and begin to plan the activities for their Bronze Awards. Hopefully they will also be able to learn to pitch a tent and make a hot drink on a camping stove. Students not participating in D of E will be baking festive cupcakes which they will have the opportunity to purchase. £2 will be required to cover the cost of ingredients and packaging for the 4 cakes that they will make. Money should be brought to the session.

J Spencer

Many thanks to all students, parents and carers who attended the annual Learning Review Appointments on Monday 2nd/Tuesday 3rd December. The purpose of the Learning Review was explained in the information letter and on the evaluation form which so many parents/carers were kind enough to complete. Forgive me if I give a third and final reminder (for this academic year at any rate) on what we were able to achieve this week. The Learning Review Meeting takes place between the Tutor, the parent and the student. It is a valuable opportunity to review your child’s progress together, to discuss any issues that may be affecting his or her learning, and together, seek to resolve them. It is an opportunity to find out more about the support processes that are in place at school for those students who are struggling, and for extending those students who are doing well. We feel it is important for us to get to know you and to establish the best working relationship for all concerned. The relationship between teachers, parents and carers is vital in helping to ensure that our students become successful learners. Once again, the feedback on the value of the Learning Review Appointments given by parents and carers was very positive and we were pleased to have been able to meet the aims of the Learning Review and to have been able to establish good relationships with so many parents and carers. My thanks also to our Tutors who not only spent hours preparing for the Learning Reviews but also met with as many as 28 students and their parents over the two days. There are subject specific Parents’ Evenings throughout the year where you can meet with individual subject staff, but if you are concerned over your child’s progress at any time during the academic year, please do not hesitate to make contact with the Tutor or subject teacher.

C Pearson Assistant Headteacher, Student Services

When you read this there will be six windows opened in the advent calendar, and just 13 more sleeps to the end of the first term of the academic year. If you are a Year 7 student can you remember what it felt like when you put on your Coombe Dean uniform for the first time on September 3rd? How time flies! There were 21 teaching days in November and during this time 441 students attended school every day. This has helped to set 14 new Personal Best (PB) attendances, 8 in Key Stage 3 and 6 in Key Stage 4. Interesting to note, 6 of the PBs were for attendances over 97%. How did the PBs affect the league results? Read on and see! Lizard Guild - Mrs Jacks Six Tutor Groups were given an additional point for exceeding their targets and a further two were awarded a bonus point for their new PBs (PRB and AJE) . Once again it was the two Year 7 groups who took the top two places. I am not sure if anyone has noticed how many celebratory chocolates Mrs Wilson has shared with her Tutor Group over the past two months, but she certainly is looking a little plump! Perhaps it is time for another Tutor Group to win the chocolates? The November victory sees ALW overtake JAH on the overall leader’s board by one single point. Close behind them are MN and PRB, and the additional point for a new PB puts PRB one point behind MN. The Lizard League is going to be very interesting!

Godrevy Guild - Miss Collings

Start November Difference Bonus Points ALW 95 97.83 2.83 1+1 10

JAH 95 97.46 2.46 1 8

PRB 93.50 95.85* 2.35 1+1 7

MN 96.37 98.54 2.17 1 6

AJE 94.29 96.44* 2.15 1+1 5

AWO 95.63 96.44 0.81 1 4

LW 95.22 94.30 -0.92 0 2

SJW 92.88 90.49 -2.39 0 1

NK 94.85 97.62 2.77 1+1+1 11

DB 95.28 97.17 1.89 1+1 9

PGG 95 96.76 1.76 1 7

LMS 96.45 97.81 1.36 1+1 7

IE 95.86 96.44 0.58 1 5

EC 95.61 95.71 0.10 1 4

BD 94.60 94.59 -0.01 0 2

SH 95 92.79 -2.21 0 1

Start November Difference Bonus Points

...Godrevy continued. If you are going to win, then win in style. November was certainly a good month for NK and they experienced triple success. NK gained three additional points, one for winning, one for setting a new PB and one for beating their target figure. NK accelerate up the overall league and are now in second place behind 7PGG. But how the mighty can so easily fall! The winners of the October league, 7SH have dropped to the very bottom of the league in November. Hopefully 7SH will recover over December and we will see them return to form next month. Three PBs in Godrevy will make Miss Collings smile, but not as much as knowing that Godrevy were the best attending Key Stage 3 Guild in November! (sorry Mrs Jacks - she beat you again!) Longships Guild - Mr Payne A fine return to previous form as HLR take the November prize and their constant rivals, LCS were only just behind them. MHW managed to separate the two groups and just look how close it was between the second and third place! MHW were next to bottom in October and next to top in November, so which way will they go in December? Hopefully the top of the league and not the bottom! The two Year 7 Tutor Groups in Longships are not finding it as easy as their fellow Year 7 Lizard Tutor Groups and they both only just managed to beat their target score. The three PBs from MHW, LCS and PC give welcome bonus points. If you can remember the September and October results, then you will remember that MJ won on both occasions. Oh dear, yet another top performing Tutor Group has dropped to the bottom end of the league. Fortunately, MJ collected sufficient points over September and October to secure second place in the overall league, but they are being chased hard by VLW, KB and MHW. Come on Mr Jacks, you need to spur your tutees on to maximum attendances in December.

Key Stage 4 November was an important month in the Key Stage 4 calendar as many students sat GCSE exams the week we came back to school after half term. No doubt this accounted for the 95 Year 11 students achieving 100% attendance in November .They are now waiting nervously for their results when we return to school after the Christmas holidays. Which Population were the top attending Population last month? For the third consecutive month, Population B out performed Population A. Perhaps the results in December might put an end to this?

Start November Difference Bonus Points

HLR 95.36 97.7 2.34 1+1 10 MHW 95.83 97.51* 1.68 1+1 9 LCS 95.02 97.49* 1.66 1+1 8

PC 95.07 96.05* 0.98 1+1 7

VLW 95 95.91 0.91 1 5

KB 95.00 95.68 0.68 1 4

MJ 91.70 90.94 -0.76 0 2

SJF 96.40 95.26 -1.14 0 1

Key Stage 4 Population A - Mr Green

After two consecutive monthly wins, MJS finally move down the league to let someone else have the chocolates! Congratulations to JLH on their win, their PB and their bonus point for beating their target. 2.57% added to their starting figure is an excellent result. It is also good to see LJB rise up from the bottom of the league and return to their winning ways. I feel for DC - look at how close they were to gaining the additional point for beating their target! This is probably just one student having half a day out of school which stresses the point frequently made—that every attendance counts! Despite their fall to the bottom end of the league, MJS are still in first place in the overall league competition but JLH, LJB and JC are now very close behind them. Congratulations to JLH, LJB, JC and SB for setting new PBs. Key Stage 4 Population B - Mr Bridge

Congratulations to CG on winning their first prize of the season. Keep the chocolates away from your Tutor though CG! Two new PBs have been set this month in JG and FW. Although FW have a new PB, they are still struggling to gain the other BONUS point for beating their target figure. NT started the year with a win, but have struggled to repeat this result over the last two months and this has seen them fall to the middle of the overall league. JG’s second place places them securely amongst the top four places in the league, and up there with them are CG, RH and SEJ. Keep an eye on SEJ as they are consistently in the upper part of the table each month and are consistently picking up points for beating their target. Their PB is 98.75% which is going to be a very tough nut to crack. Never say never though SEJ!

th Start November Difference Bonus Points

JLH 92.72 95.29 2.57 1+1+1 13 LJB 92.97 94.74 1.77 1+1 10 JC 95.6 96.49 0.89 1+1 9 SB 96.51 96.96 0.45 1+1 8

NB 96.32 96.05 -0.27 0 3

VK 94.17 92.11 -2.06 0 1

DC 93.31 93.3 -0.01 0 5 RMD 94.92 94.88 -0.04 0 4

MJS 94.58 93.71 -0.87 0 2

Start November Difference Bonus Points CG 95.53 97.2 1.67 1+1 11 JG 97.05 97.97* 0.92 1+1 10 RH 96.61 97.2 0.59 1 8 SEJ 95.65 96.2 0.55 1 7 RCM 91.58 91.58 0.00 1 6 FW 96.19 95.61* -0.58 1 5 NJR 93.68 92.9 -0.78 0 3 NT 93.97 92.61 -1.36 0 2 AP 97.06 95.43 -1.63 0 1

I mentioned earlier that Year 11 are waiting for their exam results in January. I wonder if anyone has ever achieved over 90% in an exam or test? Over 90% in an exam or test would make anyone proud of their achievements, but what does 90% mean in attendance terms? Read on and judge for yourself whether or not 90% attendance is good. One school year at 90% attendance = 4 whole weeks of lessons missed This is half a day a week off school. Would a boss like you to be off work this much? That’s practically part time!

90% attendance over 5 years = ½ a school year missed

What Impact Might This Have On Your Life? Research shows that 17 missed school days a year = 1 x GCSE grade DROP in achievement

So 90% is NOT as good as it first seems is it?

For this reason the Government set high attendance targets for all schools and have introduced new rules about taking students out of school for any reason other than genuine illness. As I mentioned in the introduction , 441 students attended school 100% of the time in November. There are only 15 school days in December, please do all your can to increase the number of students in the school to achieve 100% attendance and help to maximise your chances of academic success. C Pearson Assistant Headteacher, Student Services

16th to 19th December 2013  

Two courses for £3.00 Main meal £2.50 

 ‐‐‐‐‐‐  

Main course  

Roast turkey served with a bacon wrapped chipolata & sage & onion stuffing, accompanied with cranberry sauce finished with a natural jus 

Or Vegetable and chestnut roast served with a rich tomato and garlic sauce 

 Accompanied with Roast potatoes 

Braised red cabbage Baton carrots 

Honey roast parsnips  Button sprouts 

 ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐  

To finish  

Christmas pudding served with brandy sauce or cream Or 

Fresh fruit salad with ice cream Or 

Chocolate fudge Yule log with double  cream    

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas , from all the catering team  at  Café Coombe Dean . 

09/12/13 MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

Main Meal Beef lasagne Chicken Tikka with steamed

rice

Roast pork with apple

sauce

Tuna pasta bake

Battered fish served with

lemon

Vegetarian Meal

Vegetable and bean chilli with

rice

Mushroom farfalle pasta

Cauliflower cheese bake

Vegetable pizza

Macaroni cheese

Sub special Chicken temptation

Christmas turkey and cranberry

Spicy Italian Mexican chicken melt

Christmas turkey & stuffing

Hot Wok

Pizza Tomato & basil Chicken tikka Margarita Jalapeño chilli Red pepper

Jacket Potato Choice

Ham carbonara Chicken curry Cheese &

coleslaw Tuna mayo

with spring onion

Beans & cheese

Vegetables Mixed salad Salad garden peas

Fresh carrots broccoli florets

Mixed salad Baked beans

Mushy peas sweet corn

Potatoes Sauté Jacket potato Roast Jacket wedges Chipped

Dessert Apple pie with custard

Rhubarb crumble with

custard

Chocolate sponge served

with chocolate sauce

Creamed rice pudding with

jam Fruit salad

Chinese vegetables with egg noodles seasoned with ginger, garlic & chilli

Well done to James Lang, Year 8, for being an exceptional Student Receptionist. He was incredibly helpful to Mr Frean while assisting with a Headteachers’ meeting last Thursday.

Well done to Sam Waterfield, Year 9,

who raised £26 for the Junior Diabetes Trust.

Thursday 12th December

Christmas Concert - 7pm

Friday 13th December Applied Learning Day

Tuesday 17th December Governors’ Board Meeting - 6.15pm

Friday 20th December Last Day of Term - Early Closure

Thanks to parents of Year 7 and Year 8 students who gave up their time last week to respond to our telephone survey, carried out by Governors on the school’s behalf. Parents’ responses are very helpful to us in our future planning and we are grateful for your support. P Frean Headteacher