christmas cookery & crafts

Helsby High School Autumn Newsletter

www.helsbyhigh.org.uk 1

December

2012

Dates for your Diary:

Fri 14 December - Year 9 Enterprise Day

Mon 17 December - Awards Evening

Wed 19 December - Non-uniform day

School closes early - 2.30pm (20/12/12 - 6/1/13 incl. Christmas Holiday)

Mon 7 January - School opens (Students return)

Tues 8 January - Year 11 Consultation Evening

Tues 5 February - Year 9 Consultation Evening

CHRISTMAS COOKERY

& CRAFTS

On Tuesday

11th December

between 6pm

and 8pm we

w e n t t o

F r o d s h a m

Y o u t h

Foundation to

try out a

number of

Christmas crafts & some Christmas

confectionery. Mrs Neal had arranged for

one of the patisserie chefs, Sarah Ireland,

from The Old Hall Hotel in Frodsham to

come and show us how to create

beautifully iced and decorated biscuits

and 3 different types of truffles. After a

short demonstration, we were desperate

to have a go ourselves. First of all, we

chose a snowman or a tree shape,

covered it with a layer of icing and then

decorated it with an amazing range of

edible glitter, baubles and sprinkles after

carefully piping on some detail. We

moved on next to the truffles. Sarah

showed us how to roll the truffles into a

perfect shape before coating them with

cocoa powder, chocolate sprinkles or

white chocolate. Our truffles were a bit

less rounded than Sarah’s but once we

had coated them, they looked great!

Some of us had more chocolate on our

hands and faces than on our truffles, but

it all tasted nice.

Gill, the Youth Worker who normally runs

the session at Frodsham Youth

Foundation on a Tuesday evening had

organised a variety of Christmas crafts for

us to do whilst our biscuits and truffles

were drying out & setting. We coloured in

some glass Christmas light catchers and

made some tree decorations. We couldn’t

believe it was already time to go when

Mrs Neal gave us some bags to take our

biscuits & truffles home in. The evening

was great fun and we would like to thank

Mrs Neal for organising the evening,

Sarah for showing us what the biscuits

and truffles

w e r e

supposed to

look like! and

G i l l f o r

providing the

o t h e r

C h r i s t m a s

crafts.

Year 7 Students



Gold Medallist visits Helsby High School

Helsby High School was proud to welcome Ann Packer,

winner of the 800m gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo

Olympics on Monday 15 October. Ann came to talk to

the students about her achievements in athletics and

also to encourage the youngsters who were participating

in the World Marathon Challenge on Tuesday 16 October

2012.

The World Marathon Challenge actually started 5 years

ago here at Helsby High School and was the brainchild

of Frodsham resident George Bunner MBE, founder of

Sportshall Athletics. The idea is that teams run the 26.2

mile marathon in 200 metre stage relays and aims to

beat the marathon world record time of 2hours 3 minutes and 38 seconds. When children take part

in the Marathon Challenge, they compete with thousands of their peers from countries across the

world – all running in solidarity with children who face a daily struggle to survive. Some of the

original 2008 team who ran this are now in our Sixth Form. Last year nearly 2000 children took part

from more than a dozen countries across the globe.

Save the Children joined forces with Sportshall in 2011 to take the event further around the world

and link it to a world wide campaign for child survival.

The 2012 event coincided with the United Nations World Food Day and members of Save the Children

also attended the school. Some year 8 students had a lesson about world hunger and took part in a

SKYPE session with a school in Nairobi, Kenya.

Assistant Headteacher, Karen Neal said “ We were delighted to welcome Ann Packer and George

Bunner today into Helsby High School and are very proud that this large and international event

started here at our school. We are keen to raise the awareness of the work of Save the Children and

the Legacy of the Olympics through team work and feel it raises our students’ global awareness.”



HELSBY RUGBY CLUB Helsby Junior Rugby Club season has just started and the club welcomes new players from 6yrs to 16yrs. Training and matches are held on the Rugby pitches behind Tesco in Helsby at 10:30-12:00 every Sunday. Call in to meet the coaches, learn more about the

sport and have a go at some taster sessions.

Our U7 to U8 teams play "Tag Rugby", which is a safe, non-contact, fast-moving game that is suitable for boys and girls to play together.

Our U9 to U17 teams play contact but at gradual levels with various team and pitch sizes, to introduce players in a controlled manner to all aspects of the game.

Helsby RUFC and all Coaches are RFU accredited, holding the RFU seal of approval.

For further information visit www.helsbyrugby.com, or email [email protected] or call

Rob Allerston 07983526392.

YEAR 8 TALENTED DRAMA STUDENTS

Drama students in Year 8 have been showing their talent and enthusiasm for their latest Drama

project using Mask. Students have been learning about the rules of Mask Work and how they can

use masks to create tension and to symbolise a meaning on stage.

These pieces were based on a monologue about a character who felt alone and singled out in a new

school. These year 8 pupils used the masks to symbolise how the character felt.

The pupils said that they enjoyed thinking more

deeply about what they can communicate on stage

and that considering symbolism was a challenge.

They also said that the masks looked scary and that

they made their faces very hot!

Mrs V Cross - Head of Drama

http://www.helsbyrugby.com/

mailto:[email protected]

tel:07983526392



WEST OF ENGLAND REGIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP

SATURDAY 10 NOVEMBER AT WALTON GARDENS, WARRINGTON

The school’s PE department once again organised the regional heats of the English School’s Cross

Country championship. Teams from nineteen schools travelled from as far away as Newport , Stroud

and Cheltenham to compete. The school had teams in three of the four categories and an outstanding

performance from the intermediate girls’ team resulted in them qualifying for the national

championships next month by the narrowest of margins.

Special mention should be made of Georgia Aston-Massey who, despite being a year young , finished

second in her race just three seconds behind the winner. The other members of the Intermediate

girls’ team were Amy Renton, Megan McEveley and Paula Gormley-Flores who all contributed

magnificently to pip Thomas Telford School by one point to secure third place.

The Junior Boys and Junior Girls teams also deserve recognition finishing 6th and 5th respectively and

showing great potential for the future. Representing the school in the Junior Boys were Tom Wilson,

Ben Jones, Luke Southerton, Mitchil Collins, Nathan Bentley and Harri Britton and in the Junior Girls

Emily Howard, Natasha Treharne, Charlotte King, Esther Wilson, Emily Heatley and Zoe Kimber.

Congratulations to all the runners who represented their school so well and all the parents and friends

who turned up to support the school teams in such a well organised and well received event.

Intermediate girls team with Miss Wilkes Georgia celebrates after her run

Miss Clarke starts the Intermediate boys’ race



Digital day @ Helsby

Students from Year 8 and Year 9 took part in this year’s Digital Day @ Helsby organised by Head

of Year 8, Mr Cooney.

Digital day is a national initiative to highlight the skills shortage in IT across the world. Students

were introduced to a range of career opportunities in IT and were given a chance to try out some of

these skills during the digital session. This included; programming with Raspberry Pi, website

design, computer animation, gaming as well as creating mobile apps for the digital age! Once the

students got started there was certainly no shortage of skills at Helsby!

Year 9

Visit the International Slavery

Museum, Liverpool Our annual visit to the highly acclaimed International Slavery

Museum in Liverpool took place this November. Our Year 9

students were able to see the exhibits ranging from models of

West African homes, to displays of African Caribbean culture in the

modern world. The centrepiece of the exhibition, however, enabled

our students to develop a deeper understanding of experiences

that the millions of enslaved Africans may have had when

captured, and transported into slavery in the Americas. As ever,

our students represented the school commendably, and we

returned with lots of new findings to support a key piece of work

on the topic.

Mrs N Llewellyn

Head of History



Mrs Malllinson delivered a practical art workshop for Primary Teachers as part of an INSET program.

The course objectives were to:

Explore ways to bring 3D Art into Primary School Classrooms

Introduce a project which has been successfully used at both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 4

Gain practical experience of casting and sculptural processes

Explore ways to develop and extend the activity to become a whole project, including decoration

and drawing exercises

Reflect as a group on how to implement in the classroom

The day was a great success, examples of feedback received:-

Thank you for an inspiring day. To be shown the possibilities of a technique is a great way to

enthuse teachers.

A really useful workshop – so lovely to spend the day being creative but really valuable ideas

to take back into the primary classroom. Thank you!

We have had a fabulous day! The results were amazing even though we have limited artistic

skills. Great to learn a practical activity that we can actually use.

Informative, enjoyable day – made us think about new art experiences for the children.

Simple ideas with such effective results. Can be adapted/modified for different age

groups/ability. Transferable – could be used in various areas of curriculum. Brilliant workshop –

loved it. More please!

So refreshing to have something we can actually use in the classroom!!

Every child gets a result. Really positive experience.

ART AND DESIGN PRIMARY WORKSHOP



PARENTAL FORUM

Thursday 15 November 2012

We held our first Parental Forum of the academic year on Thursday 15th November 2012. In

response to parental requests, we began with a presentation by SENCO Mrs Okell on Special

Educational Needs & Disability provision at Helsby. This was followed by a presentation by Miss

Simmonds, Head of Year 9 on the new “My Child at School” (MCAS) facility which has been

introduced recently and which allows parents to log on and monitor their son/daughter’s progress,

homework, attendance and punctuality. There was then a chance for parents to chat to other

parents and staff in an informal way over a cup of tea or coffee. Parents were very appreciative of

the information given out and made some suggestions about future discussion topics. If you would

like to request or suggest an item for future discussion at our next Parental Forum on Thursday 18th

April 2013, please e-mail me at the following address [email protected]

Mrs K Neal

Assistant Headteacher

IMPRESSIVE START FOR U19 FOOTBALL TEAM

Helsby’s U19’s football team has made an impressive start to the Merseyside U19’s league which

involves nineteen school and college teams. After four league games they remain undefeated and

are top of this highly competitive league.

Results: Cheshire Cup – Upton (away) 2-3 (win)

Friendly: Birkenhead (home) 4-2 (win)

Merseyside League:Archbishop Beck (away) (waterlogged)

Cardinal Heenan (Home) 2-2 (draw)

Knowsley Community College (Home) 2-0 (win)

Childwall (away) 1-3 (win)

Oakmere (home) 2-0 (win)



A- Level Theatre Studies Trip to see 'Forced

Entertainment' November 2012

'Forced Entertainment' are a renowned experimental theatre company who are not afraid to break

the boundaries of what audiences expect Theatre to be. The play was about people trying to out do

each other with bigger and better stories. They started to include the names of Hollywood stars and

elaborate music to try and make them sound more interesting. The play reminded us all to

appreciate people and their stories for what they are; simple and honest. The play reminded us of

the evils of the media obsessed culture, bigger, better and with a car chase and an explosion is not

always better.

Helsby's A-Level Theatre Studies students will use the experience to help them in the creation of

their own pieces of Experimental Theatre. They are set to perform these pieces for their exam in

April. The students had mixed feelings about the performance but all agreed that the experience of

seeing such an avant-garde theatre was important in their theatrical growth.



Philosophy & Ethics

Conference

On Thursday 15 November, 18 Year 12 and

13 students attended a Philosophy Conference

in Manchester, hosted by Peter and Charlotte

Vardy of UCL London. The lectures were both

informative and relevant to the AQA course

followed in school, and provided excellent

resources and revision materials for all of the

students.

Winds Fest On Sunday 18th November,

members of the Senior Band

took part in a windband festival

at Liverpool Hope University.

Everyone met outside the school

early in the cold morning and

travelled to Liverpool in the

minibus, kindly driven by Mrs Llewellyn.

On arrival at the University’s Creative Campus,

we quickly set up in preparation for our short

performance before our masterclass. Joined by

members of Liverpool Hope University Band and

Mrs Keating, the school’s brass teacher, we

played several pieces we have been working on

recently during rehearsals, before Dr Craig

Hamilton took over the conducting role to begin

our masterclass, in which we concentrated on

‘Disney Movie Magic’. Dr Hamilton, from Ouachita

Baptist University in the USA, gave us all small

tips and advice that added up to making the

whole band’s performance of the piece sound

even better than before!

Following our masterclass, we separated up into

our instrument groups and each attended a

workshop session tailored for each instrumental

family. I took part in the ‘Buzzing for Brilliance’

workshop lead by Sean Chandler, which focussed

on improving our brass performance. I was able

to learn several different techniques that will

help me both when I play independently and also

as part of the school’s ensembles. Other

members of the band attended ‘Dr Watson’s

Rhythm and Sax Workshop’ and ‘One Reed or

Two? (Or maybe none at all)’, a woodwind

workshop lead by Emma Haughton. Everybody

said that they had learnt something valuable and

really enjoyed the workshops.

After a quick lunch break it was back to it with

the whole band taking part in an improvising

workshop. The session was lead by three Music

students from the USA; Christopher on the

piano, Michael on the electric bass and Zack on

the drums. We were treated to a great rendition

of ‘Take the A Train’, which featured two

amazing improvised solos. Next, we each took a

turn improvising a short solo only using two

notes at first, then five and finally the whole

scale, while the trio played the backing. Then,

members of the band improvised short ‘question

and answer’ solos in pairs, following

Christopher’s advice by adapting what the other

person had just played, to give exciting results.

All band members benefited greatly from our

short time with the jazz trio; each person learnt

how to better their improvised playing and that

soloing isn’t so hard!

To end a great day, the Senior Band joined

together with the other ensembles who attended

the festival to give a massed performance of

Holst's ‘Second Suite in F Major - March’, again

conducted by Dr Craig Hamilton. After a short

rehearsal, and some final tweaks from Dr

Hamilton, the entire grouped ensemble

performed the piece to an audience. It was a

great feeling being able to play in such a large

group of around 100 talented musicians of a

range of ages. It was in fact the largest

ensemble I’ve ever played in and the sheer

volume of the ensemble was amazing! On

finishing the piece, we all stood and bowed as

the audience congratulated us on our

performance.

I immensely enjoyed my time at Winds Fest and

certainly learnt a huge deal which I can apply to

my playing to improve in the future. I would

recommend this event to any interested wind-

instrument players and I

hope that I will be able to

be part of something as

large and as helpful as

Winds Fest again.

Tom Townsend

Year 12



Helsby's Christmas

Drama Showcase 11th and 12th December

6:45 - 9:00pm



The Actors: from years 7 - 13

A thoughtful punch!

The showcase included work created in lessons and in extra curricular activities. The

pieces ranged from 3 to 10 minutes in length and covered a variety of styles, genres and structures. The work produced has given a range of students from the avid drama club

attenders, to those from the Drama gifted and talented list, to the sixth form actors/ directors and musical theatre experts planning on a career in the industry, a chance to produce a short scene which ‘showcased’ their particular talent.

The showcase included a light-hearted example of musical theatre directed by a member

of the 6th form Drama Committee, sections from the A-Level set texts, two GCSE skills club performances, a Christmas themed performance from the 6th form Drama Committee, a lower school Gifted and Talented project directed by a member of the 6th

form Drama Committee and a selection of monologues that students are using for audition pieces for Drama schools and universities.

Drama Christmas Showcase 11th, 12th December



Business Game - Themed around the castle,

the fields or the woods at the centre, there was

something for everybody in the Business Game;

whether it was a challenge of balance, logic or

strength. Each task earned a certain number of

points (for raft building, see below) and had a

cost, penalties and a time limit.

“Rooms are comfortable, food is deli-

cious, activities are appropriate for

Sixth Formers”

Even though it sounded like a deadly serious and

hard challenge at first, the Business Game was

actually a great experience, where communica-

tion and teamwork were key factors in getting

anything done.

My favourite challenge was the nightline – where

all team members were blindfolded and had to

stay touching the person in front of them; whilst

being guided through wooded obstacles by only

a rope and the directions of the people in front

of them. This was definitely the main task for

getting muddy, as we slid under a net, moved

through tyres and pulled ourselves through a

pipe – all in the name of gaining points for raft

building later that day.

The students were superb I was

proud to be associated with them

Raft Building - After gaining points in the Busi-

ness Game, we were able to participate in the

raft building activity, but not before we bid at an

auction using our points as the currency in order

to obtain items which would be used to build our

raft. Along with the ordinary poles and barrels,

there were a few mystery items up for grabs,

too. These included a surf board, a life ring, a

box and a bucket, and a little bit of encourage-

ment from one of the instructors. It’s fair to say,

the winning teams of these items never showed

any disappointment.

“A real sense of teamwork”

After bidding for our items, we began to build

our rafts in a relatively short time limit, which

mean that teamwork was essential. Teams came

together to tie wooden poles to large plastic bar-

rels with various ropes, in the hope that nothing

would fall apart whilst floating in the water with

all team members sitting on top. After the rafts

were built, we were dressed in safety equipment

and tested out the rafts, before preparing our-

selves for a race. The race involved rowing out

to a buoy to collect a ring, then placing this on a

platform nearby. After this, team members must

row back to shore and carry their rafts to their

original starting point and begin to dissemble it.

Many people found this easy, as the majority of

their rafts had already began to fall apart…

Not only was the raft building activity extreme

fun, but it showed every reason as to why team-

work is important in any situation, and that in

some situations, working alone is not an option.

When people come together, so do great ideas

by Marissa & Jenny, Year 12 @ HHS

YEAR 11

PREPARING FOR EXAMS EVENT

This event was very well attended by both

parents and students. Everyone learned more

about how to revise, top tips etc and how to

manage the stress too. The lead speaker was

Andrew Newton.

http://www.helsbyhigh.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/menai_1923_Raft_1296x968.jpg



French exchange 2012

On Thursday 8 November the exchange

students arrived and we all waited in

the breakout space to meet our

partners. We were all very excited but

also nervous. When they arrived we all found our

partners and took a seat whilst Mr Dowler said a

few words of welcome to our partners. After this

we walked to the bus park to get picked up.

When I got home I helped my partner settle in

and then went to walk the dog and showed her

round the neighbourhood. I also showed her

where her friends would be staying. When we got

home my partner was very tired after her long

day of travelling, so when we had eaten she went

to bed.

On the Friday we were very excited to be visiting

Liverpool, we got to school and waited for the

coach that would take us to the Albert dock.

When we got to Liverpool we went for an explore

around the docks, we then proceeded to the

Beatles museum where we each got a headset

and wandered round, examining all of the

interesting exhibits. We then made our way

round the docks to the Tate gallery, which was

very abstract and interesting. We then had a little

time to look round the shops and for our partners

to buy souvenirs. It was a really fun trip. When

we got home we had invited a few of our friends

and their partners for a traditional English

afternoon tea with scones and cucumber finger

sandwiches. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

On Saturday we went for a cooked breakfast at

Olivia’s house, before heading to ballet and then

getting the train to Chester. A large group of us

all met up and everyone really enjoyed

themselves. The French students especially liked

Primark and Jack Wills.

On Sunday Liv, Jen and I all met up and took our

partners for a walk in Delamere forest and then

stopped for a drink at the visitor centre. After this

we went to Llandudno so that the French partners

could say that they had been to another country,

they were all really excited. When we got there

we took them to the dry ski-slope and did tubing

and tobogganing which everyone really enjoyed.

We then went for fish and chips and walked along

the beach. It was fun and everyone enjoyed it.

On Monday we went

to Manchester, to the

Old Trafford Stadium

for a tour around the

grounds, it was very

interesting to find out

about the history of

the team. After this

we went to MOSI and

had a look round the

museum before watching a 4D film which was

very fun, everyone was screaming but it was very

exciting.

On Tuesday we

went to Chester zoo

which everyone

was really excited

about. When we

got there we were

allowed to go off

and look around at

t h e d i f f e r e n t

animals. There

were lots of animals

and all the French partners really enjoyed it. We

then had lunch and went off again, before we left

we got to look round the shop and everyone was

trying on hats and buying sweets, it was great

fun. All the French people thought that the tiger

hat I bought was hilarious and were all taking

pictures and laughing, it was a really fun trip.

After school because it was Jenna’s partner’s

birthday, we all went to her house for a small

party which was really nice.

On Wednesday we

had a day in school

so they could see

what our lessons

were like, we were

off timetable for

the day and had

some exc i t i ng

classes planned.

First lesson we had

a quiz, we had to try and explain the questions in

French which was quite hard but really fun at the

same time. Second lesson we had food tech

where we made chocolate chip muffins and

everyone thought they were delicious, it was

really fun. Then we had break where we

introduced our partners to our friends, after this

we had rowing and the gym and then proceeded

to a drama lesson where we played fun drama

games which everyone enjoyed. After lunch our

final lesson was to write a review about the week

in French and English so we helped each other

with the language. That evening my partner, my

mum, my brother and I all went for dinner at the

Goshawk, to show my partner what an English

pub/restaurant is like.

My friends and I all really enjoyed the French

exchange and we are looking forward to visiting

France in April. I would recommend this

experience to anyone who enjoys speaking

French and likes meeting new people, the trips

are really exciting and everyone really enjoyed it.

The week seemed to fly by and was really fun. I

know that a lot of my friends and I would love to

participate in this exchange again.

Isobel Foley - Year 9

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Christmas Craft Fayre

Sunday 25 November 2012

Many thanks to all those whose contributions made the school’s annual Craft Fayre such a

success. The people who came to support the Fayre had the chance to start their Christmas preparations by viewing a fantastic range of products on offer; from speciality jams,

preserves and chutney to handmade jewellery, the opportunities to find that personal present were plentiful.

The committee of the Friends of Helsby High School and parental volunteers ran a raffle;

various competitions and provided refreshments to raise as much as they could to support those extras that help every pupil in the school have an enriched education. There was a

tombola based on prizes donated by parents; a raffle of gifts largely donated by local businesses and teas, coffees, cakes and jacket potatoes for those who needed a midday energy boost.

All this activity was accompanied by a programme of music designed to create that

Christmas feeling. The school’s guitar group, under the supervision of Miss Wells, played throughout the event and their talents were much appreciated by the Fayre

goers. They even took requests and accompanied Mrs Chambers’ unique rendering of “Rudolph the Red Nose

Reindeer” in the afternoon. Thanks are due to everyone involved but particularly the

Friends of Helsby High School who gave of their time freely to organise another successful Fayre.



Quarry Bank Mill, Styal

On Friday 21 September, 2012, sixty two of our

historians visited one of the North-West of

England’s treasures – Quarry Bank Mill at Styal.

The mill gives us a valuable insight into how a

cotton mill worked and grew at different stages of

the industrial revolution, as well as into the lives

of everyday workers – many of whom were

children who would nowadays be too young to

come to Helsby High School!

Students visited the mill itself, the apprentice

house, where orphan children who worked in the

mill would live, and the village that the mill owner

built for his workers. They gathered lots of

valuable evidence that will form a central part of

their controlled assessment work in History this

autumn. They had a highly productive day and as

usual, they represented the school commendably.

Many thanks to all of the staff and students who

helped to make the day a success.

Year 8

CELEBRATION LUNCH

Sixteen Year 8 pupils were invited to attend a special

celebration lunch on Thursday 15th November, as a

reward for their excellent progress during the first term.

Two pupils were nominated from each form and were

invited to eat sandwiches, pizza and cake. The pupils

were congratulated by Mr Cooney, Miss Roberts, Mrs

Foulder, Mrs Robinson and Mr Shelton for their hard work.

The next Rewards Lunch will be at Christmas, where

students who have contributed positively to school life will

be rewarded.

Mr J A Cooney

Head of Year 8



THE GREENWOOD CLUB

We were all very excited at the forthcoming visit to the Greenwood Club as well

as a little anxious as to what expect. We volunteered to assist the Senior Citizens

in an Art project that would help them to make Christmas decorations and

Christmas cards. Although nervous, we were instantly welcomed to the club, as

the residents and staff were very cheerful and made us feel at ease instantly.

We all bonded over a cup of tea and then it was time for work. Each one of us

helped a senior citizen with their creation and we instantly became friends. The

needs of the residents varied a lot but we were on hand to support them. By the

end of the session we had all bonded with the residents. We shared stories, jokes

and laughter throughout the afternoon and it felt very difficult to say goodbye as

we had made a true connection. The residents really appreciated the time that

we had spent there that afternoon. This was a fantastic experience for us to be a

part of the group as well as working with people from a different generation. We

would welcome the opportunity to do this again.

Zoe Pearce/Amy Jackson/Ben Tomlinson/Steph Jones/Holly Pomfret/Kate Williams



Recent Visits to Primary Schools from Helsby High

School Business Studies Department

Students at Frodsham Manor and Kingsley CP primary schools were delighted to have a recent visit

from the Business Studies department at Helsby High School.

Mrs Turner from Helsby High introduced business and enterprise to Year 6 classes and found them

to be very enthusiastic and full of enterprising ideas. Students completed several tasks including

‘Dragon’s Den Winners and Losers’ and then went on to create a futuristic mobile phone.

Students had to include a unique selling point which would guarantee the product’s future success

and they didn’t disappoint!

We certainly look forward to encouraging these budding entrepreneurs when they move to high

school next year.

THE 6TH FORM DRAMA COMMITTEE

On Wednesday 12th December the 6th form Drama Committee performed at Helsby's annual

OAP's Christmas party. The performance was a satire about the stress and worry of organising

Christmas. Our OAP friends, our student helpers and our hard working teachers all enjoyed the

production and the now 20 strong members of the Drama Committee were proud of their

contribution to the support of their local community.



HELSBY HIGH SCHOOL

SENIOR CITIZENS’ PARTY

2012 After many months

of planning, the

day of the party

had arrived.

Parking spaces had

been reserved, the

urn had been

switched on and

minibuses

despatched to pick up local residents. Meanwhile

in the school hall with the Christmas CD playing

in the background, year 11 prefects were busy

decorating all the tables to perfection and

receiving all the hampers, made by all the tutor

groups in the school, which the senior citizens

would take home with them at the end of the

party. Our year 10 & 11 car park attendants were

ready and waiting in their pink hi-viz jackets to

welcome and direct the cars and minibuses.

The first guests

arrived after 10 and

were warmly

greeted by students

in years 10 & 11,

suitably dressed in

Santa hats and

festive aprons. They

ensured everyone had a hot drink before helping

them with a picture quiz and then escorting them

to the Christmas tree to have their photograph

taken by year 12 & 13 Photography students. The

Food students in years 10 & 11 had been

preparing home-made mince pies which were a

welcome arrival in the hall.

Once all the guests had arrived, it was time for a

few games of Bingo before they were entertained

excellently by the Junior Choir & Band leading a

sing a long of Christmas carols and then the

Drama group who performed a very funny and

lively Christmas sketch. All the performers

received rapturous applause from the audience

but one 86 year old was worried that the boy who

had jumped off the stage with the girl over his

shoulder must have hurt his feet! We reassured

her that he was fine!

At Midday, the Food students served lunch

with military precision – a splendid array of

sandwiches, pizza, scotch eggs, sausage rolls

and crisps followed by home-made Victoria

sponge cake, home-made strawberry and

cream topped shortbread and more delicious

mince pies. The comments from the guests

ranged from “absolutely beautiful” to “it just

melts in your mouth”.

After lunch, there was more entertainment from

the Dance group, who performed one of their

routines fantastically and a few more games of

Bingo. Finally it was time for the Raffle and

Hamper distribution before the return home in

the minibuses.

This is always the saddest part of the party when

we have to say Goodbye. The senior citizens were

full of praise: “It has been a wonderful morning,

as always”, “We are off to another party now, but

this is the best one by far- we look forward to it

every year!”, “ Your students are a credit to you!”

and one gentleman remarked “ It has been good

for us Oldies but good for the Youngies too”. He is

absolutely right. Young people today sometimes

do not get the recognition they deserve and are

often feared by the older generation. One year

10 student said “It has been the best day I’ve

ever had in school!” The party breaks down any

barriers between old and young and

demonstrates the excellent community spirit

within our school.

For our annual party to be successful and enjoyed

by our guests, it takes a huge amount of thought,

planning, commitment and effort from so many

people in school - teaching and support staff,

and our students. It is a real team effort and one

I am proud to be a part of. We look forward to

doing it all over again in 2013!

Mrs Neal



6TH FORM DRAMA COMMITTEE

On Wednesday 12th December the 6th form Drama Committee performed at Helsby's annual

OAP's Christmas party. The performance was a satire about the stress and worry of organising

Christmas. Our OAP friends, our student helpers and our hard working teachers all enjoyed the

production and the now 20 strong members of the Drama Committee were proud of their

contribution to the support of their local community.



Top of the ‘A’ level tree.

It has just been confirmed that our ‘A’level

students outperformed all other Cheshire West

and Chester institutions. The average points per

entry score achieved in 2012 was 226 points well

above the national figure of 211, the CWaC figure

of 214 and the next highest in the local authority

of 216. An exceptional 60% of all grades

achieved were either A*, A or B. The DfE recently

produced a value added indicator for post 16

courses and this indicates that our 6th formers

make significantly better progress than those

nationally. We are delighted that these confirm

the high standards achieved by our students and

we are confident that we can improve further in

future years.

World Marathon Challenge.

Everyone associated with Helsby High School

should be rightfully proud that the school started

the International World Marathon Challenge. An

event in which teams run 200m in relay stints to

compete with other schools around the world to

attempt to beat the world marathon record held

by Kenya’s Patrick Makau. The event started in

2008 with Helsby High School students and was

organised by George Bunner. In 2012, 300 teams

took part from around the world. Our Year 8 team

ran in Manchester in a superb time of 01:59:49,

beating the world record of 2:03:38 and finishing

10th. Our Year 7 also ran superbly in difficult wet

and windy conditions on the school field.

Successful events.

During November and December Helsby High

Students have been involved in a wide range of

activities and visits, many of which are featured in

this newsletter and on our website

www.helsbyhigh.org.uk

We are proud of the successes and hard work of

all our young people. Particular mentions go to all

those involved in the recent superb Carol Concert,

Drama Showcase, Street Dance show, French

exchange visit, Netball and Cross-county team

successes and the recent Senior Citizens party.

Best Wishes

We say thank you and good luck to two members

of staff who are leaving us at the end of term:

Sheila Edwards is retiring after 15 years at the

school. Her skills and hard work in the

reprographics office will be greatly missed. Ian

Magill has been promoted to Head of Maths at

Argoed High School in Flintshire. His hard work,

knowledge and teaching skills will be missed. We

wish him well in his new school.

Finally, I would like to thank the

whole school community for the

support given to the school. I wish

you a happy Christmas and a

successful 2013.

A FOND FAREWELL

Mr Magill will sadly be leaving Helsby High

at Christmas to take up a post at a new

school. We asked him about his time at

Helsby and what he will remember most

fondly about us!

How long have you been at Helsby High

School?

I have been at Helsby 8 and a half years - not

as long as some but it's one quarter of my life

so far!!! I'll let you do the maths to work out

how old I am. Not as old as I look but I've had

a hard life!

What are your happiest memories?

I do have lots of good memories and I've made

some good friends on the staff. I've particularly

enjoyed teaching in the 6th Form - something

I'll miss at my new school as it is only an 11-16

school. The teachers in the Maths department

are excellent and work so hard to achieve super

results at all key stages. I've learnt to ski on

the school ski trips and now go every year so I'll

be grateful to Dennis for inviting me on my first

ski holiday. I have enjoyed playing football for

the staff team (I'm not sure who'll score all the

goals now I won't be there!) and playing in the

5-a-sides on a Friday.

Where are you moving to?

I will be sad to leave but I'm looking forward to

starting my new job as Head of Maths at a

school near to where I live (longer in bed in the

morning and saving money on fuel!). It'll be

hard work settling into a new school with the

added responsibility but there'll be little bonuses

each month that will make up for it, I'm sure! I

would also like to wish everybody at Helsby

continued success in the future.

christmas cookery & crafts

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