Prudhoe Community High School

Spring 1 Newsletter

2016-17

“To bee or not to bee” PCHS students model bee suits at the

Pollination Project

Contents

Premiership footballer visits PCHS

Northern Stage workshop

Coaching Academy

Curtain up

Big Bang National Finalists

Pollination Project

Have you got the moves?

Science club is focusing on competitions

British Biology Olympiad

Post 16 Open Evening

Defibrillator comes to PCHS

Theatre Group funding success

Northumberland Youth Parliament Elections

Careers Drop Down Day

PCHS Girls Rugby

Craig Heap – SKY Sports Mentoring

GB Powerchair Football

Christmas Jumper day 2016

RI Masterclass – Great North Maths Hub @ Northumbria

Sports Roundup

Prudhoe Partnership of Schools Term Dates 2017/2018

Our thanks to all contributors of articles and photography

Premiership footballer visits PCHS

Ex student and premiership footballer George Honeyman giving Sunderland fan Mr Blight a signed match worn shirt. George then went to spend some time in our PE department coaching Y10 football.

Northern Stage workshops

Northern Stage Choreographers work With our Year 13 Performing Arts students

Coaching Academy

Sixth form students attending the Coaching Academy at Newcastle Falcons.

Curtain up

Theatre visits continue with a very enjoyable trip in January to see "The Play That Goes Wrong" at the Theatre Royal. We look forward to our trip to see set text "Blood Brothers" in March and are also now launching our summer trip to see "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" and possibly also "The Woman in Black". We are liaising with the Theatre Royal to run a "Blood Brothers" workshop here in school, and exploring opportunities to renew links with Hexham's Queens Hall Arts practitioners.

Big Bang National Finalists

Congratulations to the Big Bang National Finalists who organised a very successful coffee morning with the help of Ann Lee. This took place at Prudhoe Parish Hall and attracted many members of the public, school friends and staff who all enjoyed coffee, cake, a raffle and a tombola. They managed to raise £430 to go towards their transport and accommodation at the National finals in March.

Pollination Project

‘Bee’ students had a Workshop with Anita Foster from the Pollination project and June Hunter from Broomley Grange. Students looked at real hives, tried on the bee suits, sampled honey and provided ideas for a sensory hive.

Have you got the moves?

We are currently casting for a school Music Video production. If you think you have the ‘PCHS’ factor and would love to join in then please see Miss Earl.

Filming is likely to take place after school after half term break.

All year groups welcome to audition – don’t be shy, come and show us what amazing talented students we have!

Science club competitions

There are many competition deadlines coming up in the next few months. Up until now the club has enjoyed the more spectacular practical side of science but will now aim to beat last years success on the competition front. This means war! Any students interested in becoming involved in projects to be entered for competitions, please come along to science club on Wed lunch times.

British Biology Olympiad This year for the first time we entered one of our top students into the challenging British Biology Olympiad. James Doneathy completed two very difficult papers in which he was asked questions across a whole range of Biology not just the syllabus he is studying. James commented that the questions really pushed his knowledge and reasoning ability. We are pleased to say that James gained a Bronze award which put him in the top 25% of all students entering the challenge and has entitled him to collect his award in London at the IET on the 7 July. We are sure now that James has set the standard that we will enter many other students in future years.

Post 16 Open Evening

Many thanks to all who attended the Post 16 Open Evening on Thursday. We were delighted with the turnout. If you were unable to come along or know of anyone who is considering applying to our Sixth Form in September 2017 please call on: 01661 832486 to make an appointment.

Defibrillator comes to PCHS

Every year, whilst attending a Health and Safety conference at Stoke Rochford Hall, I’m struck by stories of avoidable tragedy such as people struck down diseases after years of working in older school buildings when the risks were not recognised, but two years ago, I was touched by a different story. Six years ago, Oliver King was an ordinary twelve year old boy at King David High School in Liverpool. A good swimmer, he was in the throes of winning a race when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Inspired by the loss of his son, devoted father Mark King set up the Oliver King Foundation, which initially had the aim of getting a defibrillator into every Liverpool school. Such a device would have saved Oliver’s life. Hearing the story from Mark King himself was a privilege and it struck me that our new school build provided the perfect opportunity to try and ensure PCHS had the best lifesaving facilities possible. Various funding routes have been investigated, however it was discovered that the British Heart Foundation can be applied to and if successful, will supply a free defibrillator, cabinet and CPR training equipment for up to ten people at a time. Although applications from schools are not usually encouraged, the week the application was made, the BHF announced that they would welcome applications from high schools. Needless to say PCHS was successful. All the equipment is on site and consultations are in progress about where is most accessible and appropriate to situate it. PCHS will have a public access defibrillator on school premises and CPR training will be offered to staff, pupils and nominated persons from community groups who access the grounds or the school facilities. Teaching staff and students are already recognising the valuable opportunities that the training facilities provide for subjects such as Applied Science, Health & Social Care and PHSE.

M York

Theatre Group Funding Success Prudhoe’s Really Youthful Theatre Company and Violet Shock, our senior company, are always looking for opportunities to fundraise, particularly in the run up to Edinburgh Fringe ventures. Last year, Violet Shock performed our home grown show Wychwood very successfully, despite the eye-watering cost of over £12,000. Bag packs, raffles, bake sales, pub quizzes, gigging, hiring ourselves out to entertain or do whatever was required – you name it, we did it, and we were very grateful to Prudhoe Town Council for its grant of £500 and the private donations we received.

Fast forward to this year and we were invited to apply for a further grant, which meant putting some thought into what it would be most helpful to apply for. What always takes a big bite out of our running costs is the dreaded mic bill. We used to have a set of in- house mics, but when the law changed with regard to the radio frequency

equipment had to be broadcast on, they became obsolete and we’ve never been in a position to replace them. Thanks to Prudhoe Town Council, we will be able to purchase some mics in time for this year’s school show, as they have given us a further grant of £500. Hopefully, this will enable us to invest some of the profit from the show into purchasing the rest of the mics we need to make us totally independent. Come and see us flashing the new tech in July when this year’s school show, Alice, is in full swing, and if Parish Clerk Sarah Eden McElvogue is reading this, there’s a front row seat with your name on it in recognition of all your help.

Y Rushmere & K Boyd

Double Success in Northumberland Youth Parliament Elections

On 7 December 2016, students from Prudhoe Community High School across Years 9-13

took part in Northumberland County Council’s Youth Parliament and Youth Cabinet election.

Excitingly for PCHS this year, two of our students, Alex Hughes (Year 11) and Luke Shears

(Year 10) ran as prospective candidates.

UK Youth Parliament provides opportunities for 11-18 year-olds to use their voice in creative ways to bring about social change. The manifestos of some of the candidates from Northumberland this year focused on priorities for young people such as: free school transport for all students, getting young people ready for the workplace and raising the minimum wage.

On Election Day at Prudhoe, students from each tutor group were issued ballot papers and invited to vote in tutor time at a polling station manned by Sixth Form Ambassadors. The following day all the ballot papers were brought together and counted and the results were announced on the County website.

We were delighted to learn that Luke Shears had been elected to form part of the

Northumberland Youth Cabinet and also that Prudhoe Community High School had the

highest turnout of voters in the county at 80% with the Northumberland school average

being approximately 50%.

As a member of Youth Parliament, students get the chance to attend events such as the

annual sitting (a gathering of the youth parliament from across the country) and also the

House of Commons event where you get to sit on the prestigious green benches.

Mrs. Williams, who co-ordinated the vote, said that “We are so proud of both Alex and Luke

and the preparation they did in advance of the election and we wish Luke every success

with his future political career. It is vital that the young people of Prudhoe understand the

current political

climate,

particularly as

many of our

students will be

eligible to vote in

the next General

Election and

play a part in

shaping the

future of our

country”. If any

students are

interested in

running for the

Election next

year, they

should see Mrs.

Williams to

register their

interest.

Shaping Our Futures - Careers Drop Down Day As we move further ahead to achieving Stage 3 Gold Award of the “Inspiring IAG” (Information and Guidance), quality mark for the school, students in Years 9-11 were given a valuable insight into the world of work on our Careers Drop Down Day this half term. Students in Year 9 focused on “Self-Awareness”, in Year 10 the theme was “Understanding the World of Work, and our Year 11s were involved in mock interviews and aptitude tests with a view to preparing for their future careers.

For the first time, Year 11 students were invited to attend school in formal workwear and we were delighted by their attire and complimented them on how smart they looked. We were also joined this year by Accountancy Firm KPMG who delivered workshops on interview skills to Year 11.

A small group of Year 11 students interested in applying for apprenticeships were also able to construct CVs, covering letters and work with Karen Povey of Egger and Keith Perry of CITB (Construction Industry Training Board). We were pleased to see that several of our students chose to apply for apprenticeships with Egger following the event.

Student evaluations were overwhelmingly positive about the day and we look forward to following this event up towards the end of the year with the Year 10 World of Work week. If any parent or carer would like further advice on career progression for their son or daughter, they can contact Mrs. Elaine McStravick our careers advisor by email at e.mcstravick@pchs.org.uk Or, visit our PCHS Futures Google Site where we house up to date labour market information, advice on making choices and any current apprenticeship vacancies in the local area.

PCHS Girls Rugby

On Tuesday 31 January, the Girls’ Rugby team travelled to Novo’s rugby club in Benton for the next round of the North East tournament. The weather was bitterly cold and although the girls enthusiasm helped, they found it tough to warm up ready for a day of fixtures. The girls played schools from all over the North East and were undefeated all day. Highlights included exceptional tries from Robyn Brown and Chloe Miller, unbelievable tackles from Lia Wilson and Emily Longstaff and as always exceptional leadership from the captain Maisie James. The girls have once again qualified for the North East and Cumbria finals which will be held in Ryton at the end of March. PCHS would like to wish Maisie special congratulations on being selected to represent the North of England. This is an outstanding achievement and we look forward to watching her progress within rugby.

Girls’ rugby has started up again on a Monday night after school, all are welcome and it would be great to see some new faces from all year groups.

Olympic Gymnast – Craig Heap

Craig Heap in association with SKY Sports visited PCHS to run a leadership workshop and deliver motivational speaking to our GCSE PE students.

Your Future in Europe Sixth Form MFL Students - Visit to Paris

From 2- 5 February, six of our sixth form students and Ms Howliston were treated to a culture packed few days in the French capital. Travelling by Eurostar we arrived at our hotel in La Défense the modern part of the city. A quick turn around and we got to the Trocadéro just in time to see the Eiffel Tower’s light show; a real ‘wow’ moment to start the trip. From there it was straight onto a cruise along the river Seine to see Paris beautifully lit up before some well-earned rest. Friday saw the group up early for breakfast and on the train for the vast, ornate palace at Versailles, seat of the court of Louis XIV the Sun King. The Hall of mirrors wowed us once again and the gardens were impressive if a little on the chilly side. Back into central Paris at lunchtime and we visited Notre Dame followed by the hidden gem of the medieval Sainte Chapelle with its soaring stained glass, another breath taking sight.

The Orangerie’s immense canvases of waterlilies by Monet which were to bring solace to Parisians after the horrors of the First World War brought a little calm before we headed off for the 1970s Pompidou Centre. Our final destination for the night was the Arc de Triomphe, we climbed to the top for the stunning views of the Champs Elysées and the Eiffel Tower before heading back to the hotel. Saturday was the conference and the first speaker was Shami Chakrabati, Shadow Attorney general and former leader of Liberty; her speech on human rights was fascinating. Newsnight’s Evan Davis then talked us through the history of the EU and the implications of Brexit. More inspiration came from some speakers on opportunities to work and study in Europe and the day culminated in a Question Time style debate where the students put questions to a panel of 3 British MPs.

After the conference we headed to St Michel in the lively student quarter where we had a meal in a traditional French bistrot and yes – snails were on the menu! Our final visit took in the exterior of the Moulin Rouge and then up to Sacré Coeur, the famous white cathedral on the hill.

Sunday and it was time to head home but we made a quick stop off at the Louvre’s glass pyramid. Once back in London we had time for one last culture fix at the British Museum before making our way back home.

GB Powerchair Football World Cup 2017

After a draining three days of trials at the National Performance Centre in Lilleshall, Sam Smith in Year 13 has been named in the Great British eight-man Powerchair Football World Cup squad to compete in Kissimmee, Florida during 5-9 July 2017.

The event involves 10 teams from around the globe over a fortnight. Well done Sam, PCHS is very proud to cheer you and Team GB on!

Image below courtesy of WFA website

Sam competes on a regular basis around the country and has also been short listed for the North East Disability Sportsman of the year which will be decided later this month. We wish him well for the coming months!

Save the Children - Christmas Jumper day!

As promised in the autumn issue a few photos of us in our winter woollies taken on the Christmas Jumper day for Save the Children Charity, we managed to raise £496.84, a great, if a bit hot, last day of term was had by all.

RI Masterclasses – Great North Maths Hub

Over six Saturdays in October and November 2016, two of our Year 9 students attended a series of Royal Institute Mathematics Masterclasses at Northumbria University.

The sessions, which take a fun and active look at the world of maths and its applications, were attended by over thirty extremely engaged and enthusiastic Year 9 students from across the region.

Topics explored ranged from disaster planning using statistics and probability modelling, to cryptography in the 21st Century, to the mathematics of bell ringing – an innovative and tuneful way to demonstrate and apply mathematical formulas. The students learnt that there are 720 permutations with six bells which would take half an hour to ring, but to ring all the changes on 12 bells it would take nearly 38 years!

Harry Boyles and Sam Dudley received their certificates signed by Professor Saiful Islam from the University of Bath and who was the lecturer on RI 2016 Christmas Lecture entitled “Supercharged: Fuelling the Future”

*Group photo & course information courtesy of Great North Maths Hub – Northumbria University

Sports Roundup

Ski Trip to Zell am See

What a trip this was with excellent weather, great skiing and a fantastic hotel with phenomenal facilities. The 25 students made the school proud, with all making superb progress. This was highlighted by the beginners group who from not being able to walk in their ski boots progressed to managing to ski black runs by the end of the week. Phenomenal. Well done to all involved. County Cross Country Championships At the County championships we had sixteen athletes representing Tynedale after winning the Area Championships. On a cold day and a muddy course at Temple Park we had some outstanding performances with six athletes making the county team. The star of the day was Robyn Bennett, who loves the mud, running out a strong winner in the Senior girls category to be crowned County Champion. A fantastic achievement for someone who really only started running seriously last year. In addition to Robyn we also have Sam Jolly, Rowan Bennett, Jack Boaden, Beth Newman and Jaycee Shotton making the County team. Well done to all competitors! Basketball Teams have been competing in the Tyneside Schools' tournaments over the last month with both the year 9 and year 10 team finishing third in their respective groups finishing behind the North's best basketball schools. Football At the moment of writing all teams are still in the County cup and Tyneside Schools' cup. The year 9's have also progressed to the final of Tyneside Schools' Futsal cup. Alumni It has been an impressive month for past students of Prudhoe Community High School:

Chris Paisley hit a hole in one in Abu Dhabi on his way to his third top 20 finish on the European PGA tour.

George Honeyman made his debut for Sunderland in the Premiership helping them to a draw against Tottenham.

Jak Alnwick a goalkeeper signed a three and half year contract with Rangers having starred for Port Vale in the early part of the season.

Scott Hall was selected for Great Britain to compete in the nitro games at Melbourne where he will compete against a Usain Bolt team of World Stars.

Prudhoe Community High School

Term Dates 2017/2018

Holiday or Occasion of closure

School closes at the end of the day

Date on which school will reassemble

Teacher Training Day

Monday 4 September 2017

Summer 2017

Friday 21 July 2017 Tuesday 5 September 2017

October Mid-term 2017

Friday 20 October 2017 Monday 30 October 2017

Teacher Training Day Monday 8 January 2018

Christmas /New Year 2017/2018

Friday 22 December 2017 Tuesday 9 January 2018

Spring Mid-term 2018

Friday 9 February 2018 Monday 19 February 2018

Easter 2018

Wednesday 28 March 2018 Monday 16 April 2018

Teacher Training Day Thursday 29 March 2018

May Day

Monday 7 May 2018

Summer Mid-term 2018

Friday 25 May 2018 Monday 4 June 2018

Summer 2018

Friday 20 July 2018 Tuesday 4 September 2018

Teacher Training Day

Monday 3 September 2018

School Foodzone

We are introducing a new Spring/Summer Menu in the "Food Zone" which will start after February half term. We will have lots of tasty homemade meals and snacks to try, as well as all of the old favourites. New menus will be available to view on the school website.

Prudhoe Community High School Moor Road

Prudhoe Northumberland

NE42 5LJ Tel: 01661 832486

Email: enquiries@pchs.org.uk Web: www.pchs.org.uk