IN THE NEWS@SchoolWeyValley

www.weyvalley.dorset.sch.ukAutumn 2017

It has been a busy start to the Autumn term and I would like to welcome new Year 7 students and their families to the school – this follows an excellent start to the new academic year. Looking back, congratulations are in order for our Year 11 students who received their GCSE results in August and now start their next steps at 6th form and college. I was so pleased to see so many students with their parents celebrating on exam results days and we wish them all well with their future learning and careers. The new school year brings many opportunities for our students with a range of enrichment, academic and after school activities as well as the many school trips on offer. I strongly encourage all students to take up an activity or two as these will complement our students’ studies as well as the opportunity to try new things and make new friends in school. The Autumn term starts quickly for our students; Year 7 having their induction / day and getting to know my team of staff and the great facilities we have on offer, Year 8 continuing with their Key Stage 3 courses, Year 9 starting their Option subjects at GCSE and Years 10 and 11 preparing for their Autumn Mock exams. The Autumn edition provides you with a wide range of activities and student successes at the Wey Valley School over the last few months. The school website and twitter (@SchoolWeyValley) also includes lots of news stories, updates and success stories. The Wey Valley School is a community where only the best is good enough, where we will drive ambition in everyone, working together and not alone, and will value everyone’s differences. May I wish all of our students the very best with their studies this year. Sara Adams - Principal

Welcome to the Autumn edition of W e y V a l l e y i n t h e N e w s

Students from the Wey Valley School spent a weekend trip surfing in Polzeath a small village situated on the North coast of Cornwall, home to a fantastic beach and one of the world’s most renowned surfing destinations. Mark Salmon, PE teacher and Outdoor Education lead at the Wey Valley School said, “The annual surf trip to Cornwall continues to be great success – this year, 16 students from Years 7 to 10, attended the surf weekend. The student group worked together to make camp, prepare equipment and look after each other over the weekend.” Mark added, “Students received surf lessons from qualified instructors, all showed great improvement on the surf board, especially as the weather was challenging at times. Our student group were exhausted by the end of the weekend but will take away from the trip some memorable moments and the thrill of surfing on some of the best waves in the country.” With over 200 students participating in various school surf trips over the last 10 years, this popular surf trip will take place again next summer!

Surf’s up – students take to the waves!

With the country in the midst of Wimbledon tennis fever, The Wey Valley Tennis Centre is pleased to announce that the popular tennis coaching programme, which has been held at the Centre for the last 6 years, continues this September under new management. A variety of coaching sessions will be on offer to all aspiring tennis players in the Weymouth and Portland area with a comprehensive programme throughout each week, Mondays to Fridays between 4pm and 7.30pm by a team of fully qualified, licenced, LTA Level 3+ Tennis Coaches. Ryan Matthews, Tennis Liaison Officer at the Centre said, ‘we have seen over 100 youngsters taking part in the coaching programme over the last year, with some excellent tennis play, progress, fun and friendships across the groups.’ If your child is aged 4+ and would like to get in to tennis, this is a great opportunity. The coaches will work to the LTA recommendation for ages and ability levels offering Mini Red, Orange and Green Tennis and regular yellow ball tennis for the older more advanced player. Ryan added, ‘There is no need to worry about equipment - if you don’t have a racket, these are available to hire at no extra charge during the sessions. We are also guaranteed uninterrupted tennis with coaching taking place indoors throughout the year.’ The Wey Valley Tennis Centre is also pleased to confirm that prices will remain frozen at £6 per 1 hour session for all mini tennis players and £10 per 1.5 hours session for all junior yellow ball players.To book a place on the programme or for more informationplease contact Ryan Matthews: 01305 817069 Email matthewsr@weyvalley.dorset.sch.uk

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The Wey Valley School held its annual Sports Presentation Evening to mark another outstanding year of student sporting success. Stuart Heath, PE teacher and Gifted & Talented Co-ordinator said: “the annual

celebration of the students sporting achievements is now in its 18th year and each year we are seeing more students reaching new highs in their chosen sports”. The evening was held in the school’s Will Mackaness Hall with a full house of over 350 guests, friends and family, with many students taking to the stage to receive their awards. Mr Heath added: “The evening confirmed the fantastic range of activities our students participate in with awards in twenty four different sports. The seven students winning our main awards were worthy

winners and have been excellent role models to others within the school regarding their ambition, dedication and talent”. Individual and team awards were recognised at the presentation including teams and players of the year and certificates of excellence and commitment. The main award winners were Lauren Holder - Will Mackaness Commitment to Sport, Dylan Ellis and Zoe Allan - Commitment to Extra-Curricular Sport, Scott Stallman and Emily Conning - Dedication to Sporting Excellence and Josh Williams and Maggie Ayles for Sports Personality of the Year Award. Marie Claridge, Head of PE at Wey Valley added: “I would like to thank the PE team and the many sports coaches who visit Wey Valley to support and inspire our students. It has been another fantastic year of sport for the school and we are already looking forward to next year with

many talented students expected to do well in their sports”. Ms Sara Adams, Principal at The Wey Valley School congratulated all students on their awards and to the PE team for their support and wide offer of sports in and out of school, including windsurfing, swimming, football, sailing, skiing, mountain biking, cricket, tennis, athletics to name but a few. Ms Adams added, “It was a fantastic evening for our students and their families and friends. We have a dedicated group of students, passionate about sport and the many awards presented confirms an excellent year at Wey Valley”.

CELEBRATIONS FOR ANOTHER GREAT YEAR OF SPORTThe Art Department at the Wey Valley School held its Annual Exhibition in the school conference room to the delight of parents, guests, staff, governors and students with some outstanding art and graphic works on display. Alison Moore, joint Head of Art at The Wey Valley School said, ‘Our team was delighted to welcome so many visitors to the exhibition and to show off the exceptionally

high standard of art work. There was a great buzz in the exhibition, to see such a variety of exhibits on show.’ Mrs Moore added, ‘We had work from students who had created outcomes in art, photography, graphics, resistant materials, textiles and electronics. There were fantastic examples from all areas with particular input from those students who had taken a double option in the arts and had a mountain of work with fabulous outcomes.’ Since the celebration evening, the school has invited students across the school to visit the exhibition as a learning resource, learning more about the requirements and potential of the Art GCSE courses on offer. Ms Sara Adams,

Principal at The Wey Valley School paid tribute to the Year 11 students and the Art Department, ‘It has been a real success and one which we hope to continue for future Year 11 students. The feedback from parents and guests during the evening has been fantastic and a real showcase of our student’s artistic talents.’

Art exhibition celebrates student work

60 Year 10 students spent two days carrying out Geography fieldwork at Lyme Regis and Brockenhurst in the New Forest as part of their GSCE studies. Accompanied by the Humanities team from the Wey Valley School, students visited 4 key beach locations at Lyme Regis to carry our beach profiles, coastal erosion reviews, longshore drift patterns and identifying the impact of coastal management on the local community. Students spent time in groups measuring waves and slope angles of the beach as part of their research. Stephen Richards, trip leader from the Humanities team was pleased with the fieldwork carried out by the students. He said ‘Students remained focussed on the tasks in hand throughout a hot sunny day and I was really pleased to see great team work and the evidence portfolio which will support Year 10 with their studies for next

year’. Day two at Brockenhurst, involved a tourism impact and rural deprivation review including an educational talk from a New Forest official on the history, changes and challenges for the local area. Students took part in traffic surveys, questionnaires with the general public and gathering evidence on the costs and benefits of tourism to the small village in the heart of the New Forest. Steve Adams, Head of Humanities congratulated the student group on an excellent two days of research. Mr Adams added, ‘a lot of ground work has been covered

over the two days and I am really pleased with our student’s endeavour and research techniques – this will bode them well for next year!’

200 miles round trip for Coastal and Tourism research

Students on the Wey Valley Campus were entertained by Daniel Butler, Extreme Mountain Biker as part of the school’s Sustrans Award for student participation in the ‘Big Pedal’ prize for cycling to school. Mark Salmon,

PE teacher and outdoor education lead at the Wey Valley School was delighted with the show and praised the growing number of students who now cycle to school. Mark added, ‘we are seeing a year on year increase in the number of students cycling or using their scooters to come into school with our cycle shelters, part-

funded by Sustrans nearly full with cycles. This is great news for our student’s health as well as seeing fewer vehicles on campus.” Mr Salmon also thanked Mr Butler for the extreme mountain bike show, ‘our students really appreciated the show and the skills on display. We offer after school and weekend mountain bike activities with growing interest from students and staff. The show will only further inspire our students with this popular sport.”

BMX show reward for students following Sustrans Award

Students at the Wey Valley School celebrated the fruits of their hard work with great GCSE results. Principal, Sara Adams said “I am delighted that our students have been rewarded with strong grades which enable

them to move forward to the next stage of their education. There has been a lot of uncertainty about this year’s grades with both new, more challenging, exams and a new grading system being introduced. Schools had been warned that this year’s results were likely to be very volatile and should not be compared with previous examinations so we are really pleased to see 62% in English and 57% in Maths getting good passes in the new, tougher exams. We are thrilled that our students have done so well. We are proud of their achievements across the board. It has been great to see our most academically able students hitting the new top grades, especially the new, extremely challenging, grade 9, in such numbers. Special mention should go to Jemima Hunter, Lucy

Menaldino, Sasha Semjonova and Sam Bowman all of whom scored grade 9s. Multiple A* and A grade equivalents were achieved by a pleasing number of students. Congratulations to Dan Bibby and Jemima Hunter who achieved at least 7 and Ciaran Merrifield and Sapphire Sawyer with at least 6. Equally important are those students who saw themselves exceeding their predictions at all grade levels, well done to them. Today is a really proud day for us at The Wey Valley family. Our students should feel so proud of what they have achieved and these results are a tribute to their hard work. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our parents and carers who have worked so closely with us as well as the amazing staff at Wey Valley who have worked tirelessly, every day, to ensure that our young people achieve their very best.

Day of Celebration for GCSE success

Year 5 pupils from St Nicholas & St Laurence Primary School, Radipole Primary School and St John’s Primary School spent the day at The Wey Valley School taking part in a range of Design & Technology workshops and tennis coaching at the school’s indoor tennis centre. Over 120 pupils honed their tennis skills with coaches from Weymouth Tennis club, followed by a range of textiles, cookery, woodwork skills in the school’s Design Technology Department. Fiona Probert, teacher from Radipole Primary School

thanked the Wey Valley team for a great day, ‘the pupils enjoyed their visit to Wey Valley, had great fun with the tennis and food technology workshops and wished to thank the Wey Valley staff for leading the workshops.’ Sara Adams, Principal at The Wey Valley School commended the Year 5 pupils with their energy and dedication during the busy workshops. ‘It was a pleasure to welcome Year 5 pupils to The Wey

Valley School and to see another successful workshop activity where pupils took away new skills during a fun packed day. I would like to also thank the staff and student leaders who helped out on the day.’

Technology and Tennis all in one day!

Students from Wey Valley spent an incredible day at SW19 - “the home of tennis”, on court 1 and the surrounding courts. On court 1, students watched a variety of singles and doubles matches and the chance to see many players warming up on the practice courts. The day concluded with great views from Henman Hill of the fourth round matches on Centre Court including Raphael Nadal and Roger Federer. Students returned to London to watch the

second day’s play at Lords for the Test match between England and South Africa. An eventful days’ play saw over 300 runs scored, 10 wickets and South Africa trailing by 200 runs at the close of play. Based in the Edrich stand, students were able to visit the museum, watch players in the practice nets and also tour the ground during intervals.

London trips to Wimbledon & Lords

The Wey Valley School celebrated a full house of students, staff, parents and guests for the end of year Awards. The event hailed many student achievements, following a busy and successful year for the Weymouth Secondary School. Students in each year group were recognised and awarded for their endeavours this last academic year with special awards from local businesses reflecting the variety of academic and vocational achievements this year. Year 9 students Lauren Holder and Kayla Staddon received the Easton Memorial Trophy for

Service to the School and the Special Mention Award respectively. In Year 10, Bethany Brain was awarded the Liddell Cup for Visual Arts, Ewan Logan the R&B Trophy – Michael Denton Cup for Graphics, Grace Goodwin received the Salter Cup for English and Kevin Tissera received the Taylor Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics as well as the Langford Cup for Service to the School. Other Year 10 Award winners included Alex Raine for Outstanding Achievement in Science, Laura

Westwood for the Wilson Cup for Perseverance, Phoebe Armstrong for the Roger Holman Cup for Performing Arts, Reece Matthews and Kate Norman for the Weymouth Rotary Club Award for Service to the Community, Holly Knight for the Weymouth Lions Club Award, Dylan Ware for the Cara’s Cup for Performing Arts, Laura Howe for the Karina Glynn Award for Art and Adam Priddice for the Special Mention Award. Ms Sara Adams, Principal at the Wey Valley School congratulated all students on a productive

and successful year with these richly deserved awards. Ms Adams added, ‘well done to all our students – the range of awards shows the depth and breadth of our student body and the many great qualities that they show inside and outside of school.’ Ms Adams also thanked parents and local businesses for their support at this annual event, ‘we are very grateful for the many local businesses that support our Awards event and to the many parents who attended to share in our celebrations.’

Awards for many at end of year celebration