Volume 2, Issue 1

December 2014

Principal’s Report ~ Autumn Term 2014

As we approach the end of another term at Longspee Academy, it is important to reflect upon all that has been

achieved so far this year. The children have been very busy settling into their new

classes and it has been lovely to welcome all our new pupils. It is never easy moving to a new class and get-

ting to know new classmates, however, everyone has settled really well.

The pupils have had many exciting learning opportunities

this term. Through our Creative Curriculum, they have undertaken learning outside of the classroom and partici-

pated in many offsite experiences.

These have included, Power Boat rides to Weymouth as part of a topic about Transport and even dragon hunting

on Portland!

The Willow class participated in a Remembrance Service at the Bovington Army Camp. It made us feel very proud to observe our pupils showing respect for those who had died

fighting for our country’s freedom.

We have also been spending time this term thinking about our British Values. We want our

pupils to have a clear understanding of what it means to be British and what is expected in the wider society. Learning to be tolerant of others is very important and this value was a par-

ticular feature of our first British Values’ Day.

During the day, the usual lessons were suspended and the children worked on their under-standing of what being British meant to them and, in particular, considered the value of toler-

ance. Among other activities, the pupils enjoyed cooking (and eating!) typically British food, such as scones, cream and jam, stood and showed respect for the National Anthem in addition

to writing poetry with a British theme.

We have enriched our curriculum significantly this term working in partnership with Aim Com-munity. The children have participated in a range of activities such as animation, Street

Dance, DJemba ( a form of African drumming) and drama. The children will be rotated across the activities during the year so will all get a turn of each.

We sadly have to say a fond farewell to Mr Nick Payne who has taught at the school for 13

and a half years. In his time at Longspee, Mr Payne has been a classroom teacher and taught Life Skills and Food Technology. We will miss his personality around school and wish him eve-

ry future success.

I would like to say a big thank you to all the staff at Longspee who tirelessly work to try and support all the children at Longspee – academically, socially and emotionally.

We would like to say thank you to all our parents and carers who have supported us this term.

We value our home/school liaison and look forward to continue working with you for the rest of the year.

Mrs Nicki Morton

Principal

From our Principal

Principal’s Report 1

Lime Class 2

Fishing 3

Birch /Beech class 4

Maple Literacy 5-7

Finance News 8

Willow class 9

Enrichment Learning

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Oak class/Assistant Vice-Principal Term Dates and Information

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Inside this issue:

Longspee Leader

‘High expectations on the journey to success’

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LIME CLASS

Dragon hunting on Portland

The intrepid children of Lime class recently visited the Isle of Portland to investigate whether the mythical Sea Dragon exists.

Children found pieces of evidence such as footprints, scales and scratch marks.

After analysis of the data, children concluded that there was not enough evidence to be sure of the existence of a dragon.

From Lime class

3

Fishing at Orchard Lakes

Every Wednesday, Bradley and Jordan go fishing at Fun2Fish, Orchard Lakes. They are working to complete a fishing Asdan Certificate.

Bob is the fisherman who works there. He shows us different ways to fish and makes it fun. We have fished in a variety of different lakes and have caught lots of Common Carp, some Perch and Mirror Carp. We also do lots of work in our folder about habitat, different fishes and fishing technique.

We have been taking part in a fishing competition over the last 4 weeks to win a Fishing Rod.

It is a good fun day and we are hoping others will be able to join us from school soon.

Bradley

From Miss Cutler

4

We have had a great term of learning in Birch Class. Our topic since the summer has been Toys, and

we have been exploring this in many ways:

We have researched and explored Old Toys and New Toys, part of which involved a brilliant trip to the Teddy Bear Museum in Dorchester – here are some photos of our trip.

In Birch we have also completed some experiments and investigations about what different toys are

made of, which toys need batteries, how far different toys roll and how high different bouncy-balls bounce!

We’ve been working hard on our skills for life, which includes our Communication, Reading, Writing,

Maths and Science. All pupils in Birch have engaged strongly and have had a great term, using many skills in lots of different ways.

We have also been exploring different themes, thinking skills and ideas over the term, including Things That Make Me Happy, and How I Can Be A Good Friend. We created an agreed Class Charter,

and have been learning how to play together.

At the end of this term we have been exploring Christmas around the world, and have been preparing for our Festive Time. We wish you all a great 2015, and look forward to another fun year of learning.

Best wishes.

Mr Franzen and the Birch Team.

From Birch Class

In Beech class we have been learning about the Wild West. We have learnt about the history of the Wild

West, climate and the animals and plants that live there.

We have started to look at the Native Americans and how they lived. We are designing our own

Tipis using our own designs. We have been using self discovery to decide how we are going to make them.

Miss Chilcott and The Beech Team

From Beech Class

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Visit to the Motor Museum

We had breakfast at school and then we went to Beaulieu. We went to the museum first. I went with Mrs Payne, Miss

Conroy, Mr Fisher, Jevon, Reece, Thomas and David. We went by minibus, Mr Fisher drove.

The first thing we did was go on the monorail, Thomas and Mrs Payne didn’t go on it. They walked to the museum. We

went straight round on the monorail, I was in a car with David and Miss Conroy.

After the monorail we went to the cars on scene section then we went to find Thomas. Chris our tour guide told us about the cars—past to future. I wanted to drive one. I asked if I could sit in them but she said no, well she said yes

to one.

We looked around the museum. My favourite car was the Bugatti Veyron it was the white one upstairs. We then saw the old motorbikes and a new Ducati 2014 bike. When

we went back down we went on the bus. Chris left us and we went on the old bus but we were not allowed to go up stairs and then we went on wheels’ ride. I sat next to

Reece. We went to have lunch in the café and I saw a dead bird.

After lunch we all got grouped up, I was with Mrs Payne and David, first we saw some top gear stuff and went on the monorail again. We got to choose what we wanted to

see.

Jamie Nov 14

My Wonderful Trip to Beaulieu

First we drove to Beaulieu and we went on a ten metre monorail it wasn’t so bad. Then

we went into a triangular passage where we saw a car that looked like an orange ha ha

ha!

We saw Bluebird one of the fastest cars. Unlike the blackbird that can fly.

In the top gear tent we saw some crazy cars by Richard Hammond and the other bloke

they work well together.

We had lunch and I wandered round with Mr Fisher. In the end we walked to the mini-

bus and went home.

By Jevon

1/12/14

From KS3 Literacy

6

Beaulieu Motor Museum Visit

What is it? school trip

Why: lesson for topic and science

Where: in Beaulieu past Ringwood

When: Tuesday 25th November 2014

Who Me, Mrs Payne, Miss Conroy, David, Tom, Jevon, Jamie and

Mr Fisher.

We went on the monorail which went inside the motor muse-

um, it was slow and shaky. Then I saw the Top Gear tent with

stretched cars, boat, a space shuttle and combine harvester.

We saw old bikes and old cars,

there were some old steam

cars and it was a fun day out

of school.

From KS3 Literacy Continued

MY WONDERFUL TRIP TO BEAULIEU

On Tuesday the 25th of November we went to the Beaulieu Motor museum. We Saw

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mr Bean’s mini, the Trotter’s van, the Trotter’s bubble car

and Ron Wesley’s flying car.

We went on an old mono rail which took us all around the site. I personally enjoyed it, but it was quite bumpy and was ten metres high. James was being annoying in the cart but it was an okay ride. I loved the Bugatti Veyron, it may be the best car that I

have ever seen.

My highlight was the world of Top Gear, I saw lots of cars off of the show and knew

what everything was. The Top gear orang-utan’s ideas were there. The dominator top gear snowbineharvester with the flame thrower on the back of it. I loved it, it may have been the best trip yet. Many of the creations that were there I loved and saw on TV on

show in the top gear studio.

We went to a world speed record room and saw the legendary Bluebird salt flat car.

There was another ride called wheels which was pretty cool, it took you through the age of motoring in a spinning pod for about ten minutes. At lunch we ate in the café

and it was nice and warm, I loved my cheese sandwich.

BY DAVID

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PE & Sports’ Grant 2014/15

The government has allocated additional funding on improving physical education and sport in primary

schools over the 3 academic years 2013/14, 2014/2015 and 2015/16.

This additional funding is being allocated directly to schools. The PE & Sports Grant for Longspee Academy for 2014/15 is £8,145. This additional funding will be used to provide the following: Football Coach

Clive Saunders Football Coaching School will be delivering 1.5hr sessions every

Friday throughout the academic year. Judo Lessons Wathan Judo Coaching will be providing sessions after school every Thursday

throughout the academic year. Fishing Pupils will attend Fun2Fish sessions offsite throughout the academic year.

PE & Sports Equipment

This will be purchased throughout the academic year in

order to support and enhance the delivery of PE lessons.

From the Finance Department

Charitable Donations made this year have been:

Thank you to everybody for your generous support which has enabled Longspee Academy to make the following two charitable donations this term:

Longspee Academy’s Non Uniform Day raised an amazing £64.96 for BBC Children in Need.

The coffee morning held at Longspee Academy raised an incredible £159.96 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

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Jordan D

From Willow Class

What a fantastic term we have had in Willow, our theme of ‘In your Element’ has proved to be extremely successful.

In the first half term we studied Earth & Water which includ-

ed our first exciting trip to Studland Discovery Centre where

we learnt how to build dens as part of our survival theme.

Next, we had a visit from the RNLI learning about Grace

Darling followed by a visit to the RNLI lifeboat station on

Poole Quay. Here we were lucky enough to board the life-

boat and were privy to the HQ and daily routines of the

crew. Willow also visited Poole Museum and had a work-

shop around Harry Paye. Phew….even I feel tired looking

back at our journey so far!

Our Fire & Air theme this term has also been equally suc-cessful. We enjoyed a visit from a Dorset Fire Safety Officer in preparation for Bonfire Night, and also learnt about respecting our past by taking part in the Armistice Remembrance Service at Bovington Tank Museum.

We enjoyed a science week where the children experi-mented with marshmallows and spaghetti to creating elastic boats. We also celebrated being British by hold-ing a Best of British day where they were surprised to learn about how many companies are no longer British

owned, such as Cadbury’s, Scottish Power and Thames Wa-ter!

Luckily we were able to revisit Bovington Tank Museum to take part in a workshop about Christmas in the Trenches where the children had to use this experience to write a for-mal letter to a family member of a wounded solider.

For our final week at Longspee, we will be visiting Brenscombe Farm to test our endurance skills and as a reward for the childrens’ continued hard work. We are also going to be celebrating by having a Christmas Party and Longspee’s Got Talent, where I have heard that

many Teachers will be donning their microphones for a rendition of “Do they know its Christmas time”. I think earplugs could be advisable on that day.

Both Mrs Henderson & I would like to wish you all

a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, we’ll

look forward to seeing your children on

Wednesday 7th January 2015!

Mrs A Walton

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Enrichment learning at

Longspee

This term, pupils and staff have worked very hard across a broad range of rich, relevant and exciting learning opportunities. Birch class have been linking their development of key skills to a topic on Toys, Lime have been exploring mythical creatures and stories based in the local area, Willow have been focusing their learning around a topic called ‘In your element’ (Fire and Air), Maple have been studying transport and journeys, Beech have been finding out about the wild west and Oak have been learning about animals and habits. Our chil-dren have produced a range of well presented work and all pupils are on track to achieve their targets. We are proud of their achievements this term and look forward to sharing this at the parent/ carer consul-tation evening. Mrs S Burt

Problem solv-

ing

Discovery and learn-

ing off site

Scientific Observations in

Beech

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塔拉·奎因在這裡

In my new role as Assistant Vice Principal I have had the privilege of observing outstanding practice across the academy in relation to the teaching and learning and behaviour management. Stu-dents have been challenged at a consistently high level and the engagement has been clearly illustrated in regards to learning in-side and outside of the class room. The passion that the staff have for enabling the learners to progress both academically and socially is admirable. As I walk around the school, the smiles the students and staff carry around the school make me extremely proud to be part of such a successful and supportive setting. I hope all the staff, students, Parents and Carers have a fantastic Christmas and I look for-ward to the start of the spring term and all the exciting opportunities that lay ahead.

Mr G O’Connell

From the Oak Class

This term Oak have been taking part in Judo sessions once a week with Mr Wathan. Judo involves learning about self discipline while taking part in a physical activity.

The group took part in a Judo tournament which was won by Jordan. Jordan

was awarded a gold medal, judo jacket and a book.

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Spring Term 2015

Staff Training Days: Monday 5th & Tuesday 6th January Term begins for pupils: Wednesday 7th January

Half-term holiday: Monday 16th February – Friday 20th February Term ends: Thursday 2nd April

Governors

Chair of Governors Caroline Sard

Vice-Chair of Governors Bryan Sullivan Principal Nicki Morton

Governors Berni Catling

Caroline Macleod Dorothy Ashby

Laura Carrington Katie Harding

Senior Leadership Team

Chief Executive Officer Brian Hooper Principal Nicki Morton

Vice-Principal Sharon Burt Assistant Vice-Principal Gavin O’Connell

Longspee Academy Learoyd Road Canford Heath

Poole BH17 8PJ

Telephone: 01202 380266 Email: reception@longspeeschool.co.uk Website: www.longspeeacademy.co.uk