Ian Ramsey Church of England Academy

Stockton’s Language College

Message from

the Head of School

Message from the

Executive Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers

As we approach the Christmas holidays, I

would like to thank you and our pupils for

your generosity of spirit and kindness

towards others. For some, it is always a

difficult time of year, whether it is through

the loss of a loved one, a change in

circumstances or financial hardship. To this

end, our pupils have been involved in a

variety of activities which are underpinned

by our Gospel values, such as developing a

Prayer Space (focusing on Year 7 transition

and developing mindfulness), raising

money for various charities, and donating

food for the homeless food bank. In

addition, Ian Ramsey pupils have also been

visiting the local community in what is

quickly becoming an annual tradition -

singing carols at the Dementia Centre,

raising voices and spirits at the same time.

Finally, congratulations to all of our Year 7

pupils who took part in our Christmas card

competition, particularly our winner, Max

Howells 9 (see article inside).

I wish you and your family a joyous and

peaceful Christmas and I am looking

forward to working with you in the New

Year.

Best wishes

Mrs Booth Executive Headteacher

Christmas 2016

Ian Ramsey PE Department were delighted to

receive a donation of new netball kit from

Vision for Education. Mr Janes and Mrs

Almack were delighted to be presented with

the kit from Saira Trenholme from Vision, with

pupils Anna Wheeldon and Brooke Arnett.

.

Dear Parents/Carers

It has been another very busy and productive term at Ian Ramsey.

Our Year 11 pupils have just completed their mock GCSE exams and,

I must say, their conduct during the exam period has been exemplary.

Please keep your thoughts and prayers with them as they will return

after the holiday to our mock results day.

I would also like to thank the large number of parents, from all year

groups, who attended our very successful curriculum evenings. Never

have there been so many changes to the education system; it is vital

that we help and support you to understand these. Further support

can be found both on the Ian Ramsey website and the DfE websites.

Following on from the information evenings, we had a number of

requests for support with revision skills. As a result, there will be

workshops for parents and carers to help support your children.

We have a very full newsletter which will give you a flavour of what

our fantastic pupils have been up to. I really hope you enjoy reading it.

I hope you and your family have a joyous and peaceful Christmas and

I am looking forward to continuing our strong partnership in the New

Year.

Best wishes

Mr Janes

Head of School

Christmas Card Design Competition 2016

The Art Department held a competition to design the 2016 Ian

Ramsey Christmas card. The competition was very strong with so

many fantastic, innovative and creative designs.

I am delighted to announce it was won by Max Howells 7S who

receives a gold cross, certificate and Amazon vouchers from

Mr Janes. Well done, Max!

‘I was surprised I won as I didn’t expect it because I thought

some of the others would be better. I enjoyed making my design

and thinking about Christmas as my birthday is also in

December. I am extra pleased to win and I am proud to wear the

gold cross.’

The design will be used by Mr Janes to send official cards to

governors, head teachers of other schools, members of the

clergy and other partners to celebrate this very special time in the

Christian calendar.

Mr Janes said, ‘I am delighted to bestow Ian Ramsey’s

highest accolade on Max as his design is so good.’

The runners up in the competition also did a fabulous

job and are all budding artists and designers. They will

surely all contribute to the future of our creative

industries.

They are Daisy Brown, Katie Jones, Ben Coates,

Lilli Gibbons, Harry Robinson and Yusuf Ali (all pictured

right). They each received a certificate of achievement.

All of the entries to the competition will be on display in

the academy so we may celebrate the gifts of our pupils

together.

GCSEs in England are being reformed and will be graded

with a new scale from 9 to 1, with 9 being the highest

grade. English literature, English language and Maths will

be the first subjects to be graded in this way from August

2017. The subjects with the highest numbers of

candidates (e.g. arts, humanities, languages) will follow in

2018 and most others in 2019. This is happening as

GCSEs are being reformed to make them more

challenging, and to keep pace with employers’ and

universities’ demands.

In the first year, as each new GCSE subject is

introduced, pupils who would have got a grade C or

better will get a grade 4 or better. Students who would

have got a Grade A or better will get a 7 or better in the

first year. Grade 9 will be more difficult to achieve than a

grade A*, with only 2% of the country expected to be

awarded it. The extra top grade will also make it easier

for employers and universities to distinguish between the

most able

students to

see how

the

numbered

grades

compare to

the current

A* to G

system.

For more information click here or Google "Ofqual 9 to 1

postcard".

More information about when subjects will switch

to the new grades is available on the Ofqual website

(click here).

GCSE Grades are Changing

Charity

7I did a magnificent job recently, with

a cake stall and also a bottle flipping

challenge for the charity

“Toilet Twinning”.

So far, they have raised £60. Well

done!

For more information take a look at

their website at

Years 7 and 8 took part in a STEM roadshow

where they explored the world of waves – not

just waves on water, but light and sound waves

too. Pupils examined how engineers and

scientists use their understanding of the

different kinds of waves to create sophisticated

communications systems, optical devices and

ships and submarines that can withstand the

crushing pressures of the waves in the sea.

Divided into 3 parts, the presentation featured

demonstrations and activities that helped pupils

understand the similarities and differences between sound, water and light waves. The final part of the

presentation looked at examples from within BAE Systems, the RAF and the Royal Navy, where

knowledge of different wave types is exploited by engineers to solve problems. Pupils were invited to

participate in some of the experiments: they made some strange sounds using unconventional

instruments and they also discovered how light waves can actually make objects disappear!

STEM Roadshow

Run, Run, as Fast as

You Can Mrs Devenney took part in a 5K race with

pupils (pictured right) to also raise money for

Toilet Twinning.

The group raced around Ropner Park, and,

at the time of press, have raised £405 for

the charity.

Pupils take a trip to the Tate Modern Ian Ramsey Year 9, 10 and 11 art pupils enjoyed their trip to London with CCAD to see their work

exhibited at Somerset House. They also visited the Tate Modern Gallery. A great day!

It was lovely to see our Year 11

summer leavers at our annual

presentation evening in November.

Our student were congratulated on

their achievements by The Archdeacon

of Sunderland and Chairman of the

Board of Directors, The Venerable

Stuart Bain, and The Right Reverand

Mark Bryant, Bishop of Jarrow.

Here is a photograph of some of the

pupils who achieved special awards

(left).

Presentation Evening

All that Jazz Our Drama students enjoyed a trip to

Sunderland Empire this term to see

the fantastic musical, “Chicago”.

A great time was had by all.

Our sincere thanks to Reverend Paul Neville for his

invitation to the local church's celebrations on Friday 2nd

December. It was a wonderful occasion to meet up with

former parish ministers, including Reverend Sue Giles

(former Chaplain at Ian Ramsey until 2008/9). The school

was well represented with Ian Ramsey pupils. Phoebe

Marshall reflected on her part in the amalgamation of Holy

Trinity with St Mark's, Elmtree back in 2009, when, as a

much younger girl, she carried the baby Jesus, from St

Mark's nativity, to his new home at Holy Trinity.

We wish Reverend Paul all the best and look forward to the

close links with the school and church flourishing even more

in the years to come.

Holy Trinity - 25 Years Celebration

Thank you Matthew and Spencer A huge thank you to Matthew Appleby and Spencer Best in

Year 7 (pictured left), for their recent work in coordinating the

school's Poppy Appeal, on behalf of the Royal British Legion.

The boys worked tirelessly in the week up to

Remembrance Sunday and have

helped to raise several hundred

pounds for this very worthwhile

charity.

Their charity work continues

this month as they sell

Christmas Candy Canes

around school.

Well done, and a well deserved Gold Cross presentation before the

end of term. Thank you to all our pupils who took part in our poppy

appeal.

Ian Ramsey Remembers On Armistice Day, members of Year 8 took part

in a remembrance service at Stockton Parish

Church. The service involved representatives

from schools across Stockton as pupils were

given the chance to lay crosses and listen to

stories of the fallen from both world wars. They

also took part in a minute’s silence at 11am,

which commemorated the exact end of the

First World War on 11th November 1918. Our

pupils, who have been studying the Great War in

History, were a credit to the school as they

observed the occasion with the respect it

deserves.

Science pupils take

part in Medical Day

Well done to our students who

took part in Teesside Medical

Day.

Special trophies were awarded

to Jenny Turnbull and Olivia

Webb in Year 10 (left) who are

pictured with Joe Best, Phoebe

Marshall and William

Whybourne.

Well done!

Year 9 Master the Art of Sugar Craft

Our Year 9 food pupils certainly surpassed themselves

with a wonderful array of festive cakes. Our apologies if

your cake is not pictured here; it was a hard job selecting

them for this newsletter. They are all fantastic!

Mr Janes (left) also paid a visit to the group and surprised

us with us icing skills. Well done, Sir!

Physical Education

This term has seen the launch of a new house

system in PE, where every pupil was assigned to

one of four houses. The house names of Parling,

Cattermole, Curbishley and Franks were based

around former pupils of the academy who have

gone on to achieve huge success in their sports.

All pupils, regardless of ability, contributed to

scoring points in cross country, football and netball

for their house. This allowed pupils to feel part of a

team and generated a sustained interest throughout

the competition.

The PE department would like to thank all pupils for

their hard work this term and we look forward to

continuing house sports in the spring term.

The results of this terms competition for Year 7

shows:

1st Team Cattermole 3260 points

2nd Team Franks 3180 points

3rd Team Parling 3065 points

4th Team Curbishley 2455 points

Year 8:

1st Team Parling 3190 points

2nd Team Franks 3160 points

3rd Team Curbishley 2625 points

4th Team Cattermole 1965 points

New Netball Kit Brings Match Good Luck

House Sports - Autumn Term

A special mention goes to Rosie Stonehouse (8R) and Owen Graham (8A) who correctly worked out the

link between the four houses: Geoff PARLING, Lee CATTERMOLE, Alison CURBISHLEY and

Jonathan FRANKS. All of our ex-pupils were all taught by Mr Lewin.

Our Year 9 girls are loving

their new netball kits, kindly

donated by Vision for

Education.

The girls recently

showcased their new kit

and were ecstatic with their

win 9-8 against Redhouse

School.

Well done, girls!

Boys Girls

Netball Team Play Stockton Finals

Cross Country 2016

On Thursday 8th December, the top performing

cross country pupils in year 7 to 11 represented the

academy in the Stockton Schools Cross Country.

All pupils were a credit to the academy with

excellent behaviour throughout, and performed

remarkably well in difficult conditions. Pupils from

Year 7 include Josh Stiff, Lynden Ferguson, Sam

Simpson, Joe Rea, Joe Simpson and Joe Hogarth,

Max Howells, Oliver Rodham, Abbie

Ridge, Abigail Slack, Millie Gayles, Olivia

Paylor, Isobel Harrison, Neve Short, Elissa

Diaz, and Holly Pearce.

Year 8 and 9 pupils included Will Simpson,

Nathan Nicholson, Jacob Elwell, Matthew

Milner, Justin Mitchell, Harvey Porteous,

Morgan Porteous, James Webb, Allana

McDonald, Abbie Mooney, Mia Bingham,

Mollie Miller, Lola-Mae Potts, Lucy Haytack

and Georgia White.

Finally pupils from Years 10 and 11 were

Aarron Frost, Ayden Walker, Jonathan

Wright, Henry Mitson, Xander Warriner,

Lucy Atkins, Megan Dunn, Leonie

Hutchinson, Jess Turner, Ellie Hewitt and

Lucy Simcox.

Well done to all those involved and every

pupil who participated in the school cross

country during your PE lessons.

Physical Education continued

The U16 girls netball team (right ) qualified through to the Stockton League finals held at Thornaby Pavilion recently. This was a great achievement as the standard of netball is high in this league and our combined Year 10 and 11 team went in high spirits!

Ian Ramsey were quick to score twice against Egglescliffe, giving them an early lead thanks to some good use of set plays; however, a well drilled Egglescliffe clawed it back with the final score ending up at 10 - 4 to Egglescliffe.

All the girls played well and they made Mrs Almack very proud!

Player of the match goes to Ellie Hewitt who was outstanding.

Notable Dates

Wednesday 4th January - Pupils return 8.40am

Thursday 12th January - Pupil & Parent Voice - 4pm

Year 11 Parents’ Evening - 4pm

Thursday 2nd February - Year 8 Parents’ Evening - 4pm

Thursday 15th December - Tuesday 31st January - Consultation on Year 7 Admissions 2018 Policy

(see website)

School Office

Opening Hours

Mon to Thurs - 8am to 4.00pm

Fri - 8am to 3.30pm