Headlines by Andy Hodgkinson

Emma (7CCa) reporting…

In February I attended the Aquatic Centre at Queen Elizabeth Park, Stratford. I arrived at 7.45am as my warm up began at 9.00am. My first race was the 50m front crawl and I achieved a personal best of 32 seconds. My second race was the 50m breast stroke which I did in 45 seconds. We then had lunch and watched the diving which was very interesting. Warm up in the afternoon began at 3.00pm and my last race was the 50m backstroke where I achieved another new personal best time of 39 seconds. After the event I felt very pleased with myself as it was my dream to swim in this particular pool! Once we left, we went for dinner to celebrate and we arrived home at 9.30pm. My future plans might involve moving to a new club and attending more galas. I also have another two county races

at Basildon coming up which I am looking forward to.

27th April 2018 812

Duty Pupils

Thank you for all your help:

Sidney, Amy, Millie-Mae, Alfie,

Lydia, Coby, Kirsty & Jay (7CFr)

Alice, Charlotte, Louise & Jason

(7KCo)

Pupil Services

and excellent progress. A lovely start to the term! Good Luck Good luck to pupils in Year 7 who are doing their exams later next week, and, of course, to pupils in Year 11 whose first practical exams are also now underway. As ever, if you have any worries or concerns as a parent/carer during exam season, please do not hesitate to pick up the phone and contact your child’s Head of Year. Bank Holiday Weekend As I am sure you are aware, Monday 7th May is a Bank Holiday, so school will begin that week, on Tuesday 8th May at the normal time of 8.40am.

A member of the Leadership Team will be available to see parents

without appointment:

9:00am-9:45am Monday - Friday

5:00pm-5:45pm Thursdays

ParentPay for Catering

Please remember to top-up your child’s account on

ParentPay at least a couple of hours before lunchtime. If possible, please top-up the

day before.

School Uniform

Please remember to

clearly label school

uniform with your child’s

name. If it is lost we can

then return the items.

Please feel free to come

and look at our lost

property before we

dispose of it again.

Thank you.

Pupil Services

Congratulations

Congratulations to all our pupils who were nominated for, and to those pupils who won, prestigious awards at the annual Rayleigh Town Council ceremony on Wednesday evening.

Billy - High Achievement Disabled Person

Elie-Mai - Citizen of the Year

Zoe - Disabled Sports Person of the Year

Year 7 & Sixth Form’s Charity Groups - Special Certificate of Recognition for raising over £25,000 since 1997

Year 10 Rugby Team - Under 14’s Essex Cup & District Rugby Champions

Congratulations also to pupils in Year 7 & 8 who have won awards for 100% attendance

Article 19: Protection from all

forms of violence Governments must do all they can to ensure that children are

protected from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and mistreatment by their parents or anyone else who looks after

them. How can governments protect children?

What about parents and the wider community?

School Netball Dresses

The PE Department would like all school netball dresses returned as soon as possible please.

Only the netball teams have them but about 20 have not been returned.

Thank you.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (YA)

16 year old Starr goes to a posh school in a posh suburb, where she is one of only two black students. She lives in the run down, poor area of Garden Heights. Her life is forever

changed when she is the sole witness to her friend, Khalil’s, death after the local police flag down his car one night. A current and very powerful story, told through Starr’s

unique voice about prejudice, racism and justice.

Winner of the Waterstones's Book Award 2018.

Short-Listed for

The Carnegie Medal 2018

Will it win?

Emily Nicholls & Debbie Hemmings reporting...

From Gods to Kings and a Race to Space!

History Hunters

Within the History Department, there have been lots of exciting events, opportunities and achievements by our students. In particular, The History Hunters have been busy over the last few months, being engaged in various creative, academic and fun historical pursuits. For those not familiar with it, History Hunters is our after school club for avid historians in the school. The club is well attended by enthusiastic students from Key Stages 3 and 4, who have an

eclectic range of historical interests and passion for all things historical! The sessions enable pupils to immerse themselves in a wide range of key historical periods and events spanning hundreds of years. Recent activity has included a project of researching the British Monarchy and creating a display to demonstrate the royal line of succession. Students worked independently on a particular part of the royal family and created a detailed biography of fun facts, pictures and essential information for all the rulers of Britain. This colourful research will grace the Humanity corridors for the new academic year as an attractive and educational display for students to enjoy. Other projects

that the Hunters have been working on are a 1066 shield commemoration display, with beautifully decorated and authentic replicas of Norman and Saxon shields to celebrate the Battle of Hastings and the Norman invasion. Moving on from the Normans, the students next delved into the Ancient World by designing and building models relating to Greek mythology, including gods, goddesses and mythical creatures. Currently, the Hunters are creating a timeline of the key events of the space race between the USSR and the USA. Having been inspired by the Apollo 13 story we also hope to create rockets to race

against each other outdoors this summer term.

Hampton Court Palace

Our current Year 12 and 13 students recently visited Hampton Court Palace as part of their A-Level History studies. Students had the opportunity to take part in an interactive workshop looking at the rise and fall of Cardinal Wolsey and fully immersed themselves

in all things Tudor, (with a little help of some fancy dress!). Following the workshop pupils had the chance to explore the palace and the maze, as well as taste the ice

cream and famous pies (all in the name of research!). A lucky few were also able to take part in a re-enactment of Catherine Parr’s attempted arrest and even got a glimpse of King Henry himself! A great time was had by all and the workshop proved an invaluable experience

and an opportunity to bring the topic to life.

Within The Curriculum

Within lessons, Year 9 have been enjoying the academic rigour and discussions that topics like the causes of the Russian Revolution can offer. For example, Leanne stated, ‘I am a Year 9 student and I am currently studying the causes of the Russian Revolution, a wonderful and interesting topic - a time when there were many strikes and outbreaks of violence/anger, resulting in Nicholas Tsar II being forced to abdicate. I have always enjoyed writing extended answers and essays, which is ideal for history. It is such an amazing subject that allows you to express your opinion and learn fascinating things about the past. By learning about the past, you can make better judgements and also see how far we have come.”

We are very lucky that students take their curiosity of historical topics above and beyond the classroom environment. This term, Molly in Year 9 has written an EPQ project about Women’s Suffrage. This is an impressive achievement, involving lots of independent work and dedication to create a detailed essay on a chosen topic. In her words, this is Molly’s summary of her research project:

‘In February of 1918 the Representation Act was passed. An act of electoral reform, it is often referred to as ‘the Fourth Reform Act’. It allowed all men over the age of 21 to vote and, exclusively, women who were over thirty, owners of land and married to have their say.