Transforming LivesThrough EducationIssue 10| Winter 2019

Winter Newsletter 2019As we look

back at the

many events

and activities

that have

taken place

this term, I am

delighted to be able to

share the details of these

with you. It has been an

incredibly busy but

productive four months for

all at the Academy. As

always, we have a few staff

leaving as we break for

Christmas and I would like to

thank Ms Cairns, Ms Walker

and most especially Mr Yaull,

SENCo, for all their hard work

and support during their time

at the Academy and to wish

them all the best for the

future.

I would like to wish you all a

restful break as we close for

the festive season.

NUFFIELD RESEARCH PROJECT – BIG BANG COMPETITION

This summer, one of our sixth from students, Kiera A took part in one of the Nuffi eld research projects based at York University. Students who are studying a STEM subject at A level can spend 4 weeks working alongside PhD students and other A level students on a scientifi c project. Kiera was looking at heating nanoparticles using magnetic hyperthermia as a potential cancer cure. This was a great opportunity to experience university life and develop both her communication and organizational skills. She worked as part of a team alongside people she had never met before. Together with her partner, she presented her

fi ndings to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society where they walked away with fi rst prize. The research project earned Kiera her Gold Crest award too. The project has also been entered into the Big Bang competition which aims to recognise and reward young people’s achievements in all areas of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), whilst providing them with the opportunity to build their skills and confi dence in project-based work. Well done Kiera and we wish you luck and success in the future.

FUNDRAISING FOR ALZHEIMERSIn October, Molly P, a year 13 student completed a sky dive in memory of her grandma. Molly thoroughly enjoyed the experience and raised £605.84 for Alzheimer’s society - a fantastic achievement! Before the event Molly said she liked to challenge herself and push herself out of her comfort zone. Well done!

EMMAUS CHARITY TALKS

On Thursday 24th October, the homelessness charity Emmaus visited the Academy to speak to our Year 8 cohort about the topic of homelessness. The aim of the visit was to draw parallels between the realities of being made homeless and the events which take place in the novel Stone Cold, which they are currently reading in their English lessons. During periods 1 and 2, Year 8 listened to two

visitors from the charity organisation who gave an insight into how the charity works and how they support those who fi nd themselves without a home. One of the visitors also shared some personal experiences of a time before he received the support of Emmaus. The students were given the opportunity to pose questions during a Q&A session in order to develop their understanding of what life might be like for the characters in the novel. The year group will continue to build

a link with the charity Emmaus towards the end of the half term when they will take part in a fundraising activity to support the charity during the festive period.

THE TRAINING ROOMS

We would like to welcome everyone to The Training Rooms at Garforth Academy. We are the Academy’s Hair and Beauty department which relocated back into school in September. The salons have been purpose built and newly refurbished. We are situated opposite the sunken playground and offer all aspects of Level 2 & 3 Hair and Beauty to the public. This means you, parents carers students.

We offer: Cutting, Colouring and Styling in our Hair Salon and Facials, Manicures, Pedicures, Waxing, Lash & Brow Treatments, Aromatherapy, Body Massage, Body and Facial Electrical Treatments in our Beauty Salon.We use all professional products for our treatments:Eve Taylor for beauty which is completely natural and sustainably sourced.

Give us a call 0113 2127141 or pop down and see us.

BRITISH OLYMPIC OLYMPIAD

The BBO challenges and stimulates students with an interest in biology to expand and

extend their talents. It enables students to demonstrate their knowledge and to be suitably rewarded with publicly recognised certificates and medals. The BBO is open to students in post-16 education studying at school or college. The competition consists of two, 45-minute multiple choice papers to be taken online under staff supervised exam conditions. Top scoring students will be offered the opportunity to attend an award ceremony in London. Congratulations to Year 13 student Mariella H who achieved a silver in the British Biology Olympiad. Mariella has got free membership to the Royal Society of Biology for a year.

YORKSHIRE AIR AMBULANCE

Yorkshire Air Ambulance held their second annual Regional Awards Afternoon for West Yorkshire on 14th November, at Farmer Copleys in Pontefract. The event was to recognise the hard work and efforts of volunteers, fundraisers, corporate sponsors and local organisations in the West Yorkshire region, who have helped raise awareness and funds for the Charity. Everyone at Garforth Academy was delighted to hear that our very own Justine Phillips, Pastoral Leader for Year 11, won an award to recognise her incredible support and fundraising efforts for the charity.

This year, Miss Phillips organised for years 7, 8, 9 and 10 to take part in a sponsored silence, raising a staggering £5,000 for the YAA. This isn’t the first year the school have taken part in a sponsored silence, having organised the first one in 2017 after a pupil was airlifted by the YAA after an accident. The money raised this year takes the total raised by the school to over £13,000 – enough to keep both helicopters flying for a whole day.

YEAR 10 RUGBY LEAGUE WINNERS

The Year 10 Rugby League team were joint winners of the Leeds Shield following a tournament in October. They represented the academy with pride and sportsmanship.

The team included: Josh P, Will T, Harrison B, George W, Charlie T, Leo C, Connor G, Kieran L, Harry M, Harry F, Dexter B, Matthew C, Tom W, Dan H, Cole L, David W, Oliver R, Fergal D

PREPARING YOUNG PEOPLE FOR THE WORLD OF WORK CAPITAL EXPERIENCE – THURSDAY 5TH DECEMBER 2019

Career Ready is a UK wide charity linking employers with schools and colleges to open up the world of work to young people. They offer a structured programme of study for 16-19 year olds that sits alongside students’ school or college qualifications. It is delivered by employer volunteers who provide masterclasses, mentoring, workplace visits and internships to help our students compete positively in the new upcoming labour market.A small group of Year 12 students had the fantastic opportunity to visit London as part of the Career Ready Programme. They met with hundreds of other students from around the country and took part in a morning of inspiration at the Dominion Theatre from Action Jackson UK Ambassador for Happiness! Lunch followed at the

Shard and then a Masterclass on Communication and a tour of the Mitie head offices. Being part of this year long programme will have a hugely positive impact upon the lives

of these young people. Thank you to Alison Mattocks and Career Ready for giving our students this opportunity. For more information about this programme visit http://careerready.org.uk

BABY MORNING

On 13th November, the Childcare department welcomed 16 babies and children under 3 years to play and socialise. The children included the students’ brothers and sisters, and some of the staff’s children and grandchildren.Whilst the children played with the cars, trains, playdough, dinosaurs and treasure baskets, the students were given additional opportunities to read stories and observe the children’s development.

SAFER SCHOOLS APP

We are delighted to be launching our Safer Schools Online App this term. We know that many young people will be receiving and accessing new technology over the Christmas break and this is a great resource to help ensure you are up to date with the sites they are accessing. It gives help and advice on how you can adjust their settings to make sure they are keeping themselves safe whilst online, block people they shouldn’t be talking to and provide you with lots of useful information regarding keeping our young people safe.

YEAR 10 PSHCE

On Tuesday the 12th of December, we were fortunate to welcome twenty, third year undergraduate medical students from Leeds University to the Academy. The students delivered an informative and educational session around healthy relationships and sex education. We have been running these sessions for the last 5 years or so and as usual, our students responded well to them.

BRAIN DAY- 26TH NOVEMBER

We were delighted to welcome Dr Guy Sutton from the University of Nottingham back to Garforth Academy to deliver his brain day sessions to our KS5 psychologists and KS5 Biologists.Our students were full of enthusiasm and a great audience for the wonderfully entertaining Dr Sutton. Below is an account from some of our Biologists.The clock struck 12:25 on Tuesday the 26th November and our synapses were on overload. Rushing to the lecture theatre with our cerebellums stimulated to meet the prestigious Dr Guy Sutton, a director of MBI, and an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Nottingham Medical School, where he contributes to teaching medical students at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Upon being told about Brain Day in the week prior, our receptors tingled with electrical impulses as we geared ourselves up for the main event: the brain dissection. However much to Amy B’s disappointment, we weren’t carrying out the dissection ourselves.Moving on, alike to the myelin sheath with electrical impulses, our first session (delayed slightly by technical difficulties!) consisted of an introductory talk from the Guy himself- Dr Sutton. He focused on neurons and synapses to begin with, using his various models to explain the limbic system, which dictates our emotional reactions and memories. The images he showed us instantaneously activated our rods and cones both at periphery and fovea, particularly a picture of a newly developed technique called ‘Brainbow’. This involves genetically engineering an animal to have fluorescent proteins, which show up as 89 different colours in an image to show its neurones. Upon seeing these images, our hypothalamuses were constantly

activating our hunger/thirst for knowledge of the wide topic of neuroscience. We were also fascinated by neurotransmitters, which travel across synapses and bind to post synaptic receptors to excite or inhibit the post synaptic neurone.Next up was a highly anticipated brain dissection. With our medulla’s increasing our heart rate we could not control our obvious excitement. Pulling on our pink latex gloves we prepared to hold in our hands a biological masterpiece – the brain. Some argue the heart is the most important organ in our body’s however Dr Sutton ‘Guyded’ us to the salvation of knowing that the brain is the superior organ in human body. In the theory section of this session, we explored the lobes of the brain and how behavioural changes can stem from damage to areas of the brain. We looked at several fMRI scans to compare healthy brains and the brains of convicted criminals who suffered from brain damage. It has been shown that the aggression of

these felons is sometimes caused by brain damage. For instance, aggressive behaviour stopped completely in one man once his brain tumour was removed and pressure was alleviated from his brain. This session was fascinating as we could clearly see how the smallest amount of excess pressure on a certain area of the brain can cause catastrophic behavioural alterations. In the dissection we were able to observe the significant areas of the brain such as the two hemispheres of the cerebellum and the tree of life. Exposing the tree of life was an example of how Dr Guy gave us an insight into his intriguing work and showed us how his precision was so critical to isolating different sectors of the brain. In conclusion, we enjoyed Dr Guy’s infectious enthusiasm and thoroughly appreciative that he gave us a little ‘Sutton-sutton’ to make sure that brain day will forever be engrained in our hippocampuses/hippocampi.By Lauren H, Calvin J and Amy B

PERFORMING ARTSMUSIC

Over this last term Year 7 students have been experiencing taster sessions in the Saxophone, Trumpet, Drums and Violins. Students have then delighted us in a performance showcasing what they have learnt over the few sessions.

Students have been busily preparing for the Christmas Concert on Wednesday 18th December. To get them in the full festive mood, students stopped by Temple Newsam to treat audiences to some festive favourites including Jingle Bells, Walking in the Air and Happy Xmas (War is Over).

PERFORMING ARTSDRAMA

KS4 and KS5 Drama have been busily devising this term. Firstly with a workshop led by Leeds University, where students developed their ensemble skills and secondly, with a workshop led by Dave Cartwright, a Leeds based Drama practitioner. Dave led students through the fundamentals on devising, culminating in a modern version of Romeo and Juliet.

All this is supporting students in their devising coursework. In January, Year 9 students will be performing their fi rst devised piece. Performances will take place on the evening of Tuesday 14th January. Further information will be provided in the New Year.

Delta Garforth, Lidgett Lane, Garforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS25 1LJ

School Switchboard: 0113 212 7127

Email: info@garforthacademy.org.uk

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D E L T A

EXPRESS YOURSELF!

The Performing Arts summer event is taking on a whole new theme; Express yourself. We are showcasing a variety of skills and are looking for people:• Who have already created work

that they would like to showcase• Who have hidden talents they would

like reveal (e.g. magicians, circus, comedy)

• Who are creative writers (e.g. short stories, poems)

• Who are artists (e.g. drawings, paintings)

• Who are rappers• Who are dancers (e.g. street dance,

tap, ballroom)

• Who are songwriters• Who are musicians

If you are interested in taking part in this event, please see Miss Cowley or Mr Thornton in the Performing Arts department. Further information will be provided in January 2020