ARK William Parker AcademynewsletterFEBRUARY 2015 : ISSUE 8

Aspire . Achieve . Succeed

Dear Parent / CarerAt the end of a very busy half term I would like to thank you for yourcontinued support of the academy. Our students have continued to work hardand make a positive contribution to the development of their school and youwill see from this newsletter how much our students do beyond the normaltimetable of the day.You may have seen, or heard from your children, how well they are respondingto our new praise and reward system. Students are being awarded ‘community’and ‘BRIDGE’ points in lessons, and around the academy, to recognise the

contribution they make to the school community and to reward their hard work and progress in theclassroom. You can monitor how well your son is doing, as points awarded are logged in his new planner.Our new homework programme ‘Show My Homework’ has been launched this half term and I hope youare finding it a useful way to stay in touch with home learning tasks and deadlines. If you have notreceived login details, or need more information, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Morris.This term, Year 9 students have been involved in individual meetings to discuss their personal pathwaysfor key stage 4. It has been a real pleasure to see how seriously they are addressing this importantdecision and what high aspirations they have for themselves. Thank you to all the families that have beenable to join us for the interviews. I would like to thank the many teachers who will be working over the holiday, delivering revision classesfor Year 11. The timetable is available on the website.Yours sincerely, Mark Phillips, Principal

WelcomeCall Push RescueAs part of theacademyPSHEE

provision, students learnbasic first aid. Thanks to theefforts of the site managerwe have successfully bid fora full Call Push RescueTraining Kit from theBritish Heart Foundation.This means that whenteachers are instructing thestudents, a whole class canparticipate in the CPRactivity at once - previouslythis could be done in asmall group only.This year all Year 8 studentshave been trained in CPRand this will continuethroughout the academy.

Year 9 and 10 students were given theexciting opportunity to film an episode ofMastermind, and work with industry trainedprofessionals, such as Jo MacDonnell. Jo,who is Principal Lecturer in TelevisionBroadcast, Media and Journalism at theUniversity of Brighton has previouslyworked for the BBC on programmes suchas EastEnders, Tracy Beaker and RobotWars. The media team, which includedstudent ambassadors from BrightonUniversity, visited the Academy as part ofthe Compact Plus programme. Theybrought an outdoor broadcast kit withcameras, booms, monitors and everythingneeded to record an episode of ‘RevisionMastermind’. The students were shown how to use allthe broadcast equipment, as their task was

to create an episode of the quiz. They weregiven responsibility for every aspect of theprogramme’s production; they wroterevision based questions; selected specialistsubjects; played the part of the host,contestants and even the audience, whowere instructed when to clap! They took onthe roles of the broadcast media team;controlled equipment as sound engineers;zoomed in and out, alternating betweencameras as film crew; managed the crewand audience as director and floor manager. Year 9 student, Afzol Tanvir, said “It was reallygreat!” and Harry Bennett commented, “Itwas such a fantastic experience.”The boys had a great time, presenting,directing and filming their ‘RevisionMastermind’ episode, whilst developingtheir individual skills, with the broadcast

media team. They are very grateful for thisopportunity that was co-ordinated bycareers adviser Marie Byas, and provided bythe Compact Plus programme team whogenerously shared their expertise andknowledge with them.

Students film Mastermind

Dodgeball - Keystage 41st place Becket 20 points2nd place Saunders 15 points3rd place Saxon 10 points4th place Parker 5 points

Connect 4 - Year 81st place Saxon 20 points2nd place Becket 15 points3rd place Saunders 10 points4th place Parker 5 points

Connect 4 - Year 71st place Saunders 20 points2nd place Saxon 15 points3rd place Parker 10 points4th place Becket 5 points

Spelling Bee - Keystage 31st place Saxon 20 points2nd place Becket 15 points3rd place Saunders 10 points4th place Parker 5 points

Spanish Spelling Bee 1st place Saunders 20 points2nd place Becket 15 points3rd place Saxon 10 points4th place Parker 5 points

HouseResults

2nd place Parker 755 points

Overall House Summary1st place Saunders 770 points

2nd place Parker 755 points

3rd place Becket 710 points

4th place Saxon 695 points

On the evenings of Tuesday 27th andThursday 29th January total carnage tookplace at ARK William Parker Academyalthough the official title of the event wasHouse Dodgeball. All participants were veryenthusiastic, particularly when it was madeclear that a handful of staff would also beparticipating; it was terrifying - we becamecannon fodder!Mr Sully and Mr Keigher representedSaunders; Mr Kola, Becket; Mr Lyons, Parker;and finally, but by no means least, Mr Payne,Saxon. It soon became apparent that MrPayne had not been fed for a number ofdays; he was like a man possessed, knockingMr Lyons clean off his feet. Finally, althoughbattered and bruised, and that was just thestaff, a great time was had by all.On a more sedate and cerebral note,Connect 4 and Draughts have been takingplace during lunch breaks for the past term.Although both are non-contact activities,the boys who participated were still very“active”.The Community points system has alsobeen rolled out, whereby the students canearn points for their houses for acts ofkindness, effort and generally going thatextra distance to make a difference.The most up to date league table showshow tight the contest is, with all to play for.

Boys of all abilities and interests canparticipate in a variety of future houseevents; these include house musiccompetition, with the winners earning a freesession in a fully equipped, professionalrecording studio; rugby; story writing; Xbox challenge; ready, steady, cook and many more.

House events - terrifying but great fun!

Dodgeball - Keystage 31st place Parker 20 points2nd place Becket 15 points3rd place Saunders 10 points4th place Saxon 5 points

DraughtsYear 11

Spelling Bee

1st Place Becket 20 points2nd Place Parker 15 points3rd Place Saunders 10 points4th Place Saxon 5 points

Aspire . Achieve . Succeed

Indoor Street Cricket Over the last three weeks, Key Stage 3 hasbeen lucky enough to be coached byHamish Russell, a Sussex County CricketCoach.They have been introduced to anexciting format of the game - Indoor StreetCricket; it is fast paced, quick and exciting.Everyone is involved, constantly, and gamesdo not last too long! The boys have made

real progress over the sessions. Bowlershave been getting many wickets; batsmenhave been scoring many runs and fieldershave been claiming lots of run outs!Hopefully, this will put them in a goodposition for the upcoming tournaments! Cricket will continue in the new term andall abilities are welcome; come and try itout; cricket doesn’t have to be boring!!!!!!

My Story by Toby SalmonYear 8As the lovely summer breeze rockedthe lush green grass to sleep, ourboisterous class lined up for science.Everybody was talking; the noise wasas deafening as a little girl’s scream.Miss Smith came out of the darkmysterious room called the preproom. No students were allowed inthere; it’s the room where they keepthe chemicals and Bunsen burners -where they are kept un-touched. MissSmith is the technician from U27; sheis a quiet person and keeps herself toherself. If she was ever to make eyecontact, she would, all of a sudden,stare at the bubble gum printedconcrete floor. Left alone, she alwayssmelt like iron.It was Monday period five; we hadscience for our last lesson. Theprehistoric Miss Smith faintly calledthe class in for exhilarating science.As I strolled past the ample doorframe, Miss Smith shouted in a robotlike voice “SIT DOWN!” The shrillingclass entered the nippy room andwere seated, within a click. Miss Smithleisurely moved to the front of theclassroom. “Here, do this for today.”she said and wrote “READ QUIETLY”and left the room quickly. The noiseof clanging metal echoed through theindistinct classroom. A sly boy with asubstantial nose nudged me andmumbled, “What do you think she isdoing?” I replied “I’m not sure, but if shecarries on making this racket I willhave to have a quick peek.” Shecarried on. It was almost the end of class and shehadn’t stopped or come in to checkon us, so I crept up to the prep roomto see what she was doing and she… was building a tele-porter. Herhead twisted towards me, away fromthe metal object, and spotted mewith her beady eyes. I ran as fast asmy strong lanky legs would carry me,back to my uncomfortable plasticchair. As I slouched into the chair, sheentered the now muffled classroom.She turned, left and carried onbuilding. I got a bucket of ice coldwater and attracted her attention.Again, she walked over with an angryface. When she got to the door Ithrew the water over her.“AAAAHHHHH!” she screamed.“Oh” I replied. No sparks or smokecame from the teacher …But what was she building?

Aspire . Achieve . Succeed

Create a better internet ARK William Parker Academy joinedhundreds of other organisations across theUK by supporting Safer Internet Day (SID)2015 to promote the safe and responsibleuse of technology. The day gave staff andstudents the opportunity to focus uponboth the creative and positive things thatchildren and young people are doing online,as well as the role that we all play in helpingto create a better internet. In celebration of SID, students and staff atthe Academy have been making pledges to“make the internet a better place”. Pledgesranged from helping someone with theirprivacy settings, writing a friendly email,setting up anti-virus software to reportingcyberbullying. All pledges have been put ondisplay, this week, following last week’s E-Safety training and PSHE lessons. Year 7 students made their pledges onTuesday. Seth Brookes pledged to help afriend who is getting cyberbullied on hisXbox; when asked how he was going to dothis, Seth said “I’m going to report thecyberbully through Xbox and I now knowhow to do this.” Riyadh Ul-Hoque haspledged to “…be kind and nice and alwayshave a positive attitude online.” and CraigBrett has pledged to “…never send negativemessages online; set his privacy settings onsocial networking and make sure that heknows who he is talking to online at alltimes.” Also, William Cramp has pledged toreport cyberbullies using the CEOP “clickand report” link, at the top of our website,if he needs to.The academy has also pledged to help thelocal business community to make a betterinternet. Ms Welch has pledged to help D’sCreative Cakes (Wendy Steadman picturedbelow) to access her new website,

www.deescreativecakes.co.uk. The site hasbeen created by a professional web designcompany, but Dee Harrison and her staffwant some help to change images andcontent, themselves, in the future. Ms Welchhas also pledged to help Fleur De’Lynn,owned by Lynn Carter, (Donna Witcombpictured below) by helping her to makebetter use of her iPad to help their weddingclients when selecting flower arrangements.Ms Welch, E-Safety Officer of Ark WilliamParker Academy, said “The internet receivesso much negative press, yet delivers somany fantastic opportunities. It is not thetechnology, but the people who use it, thatwill make a difference. Being involved inSafer Internet Day 2015 gives us theopportunity, as a whole school community,to come together and get involved inplaying our part to create a betterinternet.” Students and staff continued to make theirpledges for the remainder of the week toraise awareness and help to “make theinternet a better place”.

SAFER INTERNET DAY 2015

On the 15th January, Year 10 Villiers ParkScholars, from ARK William ParkerAcademy, joined students from three otherschools for a lively workshop focusing uponquestions and philosophy. Through a varietyof activities, students were encouraged toquestion their assumptions; formulatephilosophical questions; consider ethicalviewpoints and discuss in pairs and groups. The last activity of the day focused upon apicture. Students worked in groups,formulating a question about the picture,then voted for which question to debate inthe wider group. Throughout the day

contributions were thoughtful and articulate; the accompanying teachers and learningmentors were extremely impressed withthe quality of debate and questioning.

www.arkwilliamparkeracademy.orgARK William Parker Academy . Parkstone Road . Hastings . East Sussex . TN34 2NT . Tel. 01424 439888 . Fax. 01424 448292

Aspire . Achieve . Succeed

Artist of the month. Arturs Ivbuls, Year 10 Arturs Ivbuls, created this series of lino-cut reduction prints.They show a clearinfluence from theartist and printmaker‘Angie Lewin’. Theprocess is complex;each colour isapplied separatelyafter the lino is cutinto. These prints aresuccessful, as eachimage is printedsolidly; the shapesare refined and thecolours arethoughtfully balanced. Fantastic work!

Food at ARK William Parker Dining isprovided by Accent Catering, who have a‘freshly cooked from top quality rawingredients’ approach, and is freshly made,every day, by the onsite catering team. Our menus offer a wide variety of choices:a daily “theme” dish from around the world,including Chinese inspired pork stir fry withnoodles; classic Italian lasagne and the everpopular traditional British baked fish andchips on Fridays. There are plenty of healthy

choices, like our homemade yoghurt andfruit pots, salad boxes and cut fruit bags. Wealso offer filled jacket potatoes and a rangeof filled sandwiches, baguettes and rolls thatare made fresh every day, plus a range ofhomemade flapjacks, brownies and cookies.The three week menu cycle is ever evolving,and can be found on our website atwww.arkwilliamparkeracademy.orgFood is also available at break timefor our free school meal students.

Give your views on Parent ViewParent View gives you thechance to say what you thinkabout your son’s school. Bysharing your views, you’ll behelping us to improve. You willalso be able to see what otherparents have said about ARKWilliam Parker Academy. Visithttps://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk

Construction updateTwo groups of Year 10 BTECconstruction students visited abuilding site managed by longestablished local company, Hills &Pollington, on a fact finding mission.Whilst there, they learned about anecological survey that had to beconducted and signed off beforebuilding work could commence. Thismeant that a specialist search had tobe undertaken to remove any reptiles,namely, slow worms and lizards. Thisprocess took nearly 12 months, asthere had to be a clear run of fiveconsecutive days where no reptileswere discovered.The environment agency also had toconduct a survey to investigate thepossibility of flooding, as the groundis below sea level, and the measuresthat have had to be taken to reducethe threat to the development. Thestudents also learned about the needto pile the foundations as the site ison old reclaimed beach. The boys also had the opportunity toview detailed plans of the site, bothcompleted houses and those that arestill to be constructed.When the next phase begins therewill be further visits to see the newhouses built, from footings through tocompletion.

Delicious pizzas!Cheerful Year 7 students make minipizzas during a food technology lesson.

AWP Dining

Villiers Park