NewsletterSpring 2 Newsletter

Boys football game  update:

Interform Basketball and Dodgeball: Year 7s took part in their first interform competition on Tuesday 26th March. Each form entered a team with a great turnout of over 30 year 7s.

Mr Odedra's form came first place! Well done to all that participated in the spirit of friendly competition.

Boys’ Football Team:

The Year 8 boys’ football team put out an admirable performance and scored twice in a hard-fought game against Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy (we lost 5-2 but played well.) The boys showed great character during the game. This team continues to improve, and we look forward to the next match.

Interform Basketball:

This was a high energy event with over 45 students taking part. Students and their tutor threw themselves into the planning and organising of the event and there was certainly a friendly but competitive atmosphere. I am always impressed with the commitment of the students at this type of event. Year 8 has the best attendance at extra-curricular PE events across all the year groups!

The results are in...

• 1st place: 8LBA Miss Barnett
• 2nd place: 8LAT Mr Atkins
• 3rd place: 8JBE+8GCR Mr Bedford and Miss Crouch
• 4th place: 8BRE Miss Reinten
• 5th place: 8CCO Mr Cooper

Pictured below – Year 8 students - Ano and Scarlett

 

 

Pi Day: 14th March

Students celebrated Pi Day by looking at the different applications of pi in the real world. Freddie Royston was the winner of the Pi Day competition by memorising pi to 60 decimal places. The canteen also supplied pie for lunch!

Spotlight on Geography: Mr Nelson

Year 8 Geographers have been exploring the continent of Africa  - and tackling some of the misconceptions around the 2nd largest landmass and 54 diverse and fascinating countries that make up the continent. We have watched the TED talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who explores the danger of the single story and then pushed ourselves to be the best geographers when studying new places - students came up with some wonderful responses around being 'open-minded' 'curious' and 'critical thinkers'

For home learning students produced some excellent research on a country in Africa of their choice.

This is has been a very short term but one that has been packed with events, evenings and sport. Below are just some of the key highlights Yr. 9 have been involved with over the last term.

Options

The options process has been in full swing this term as the Yr. 9’s attention begins to look to GCSEs. Over the course of this term there have been a number of events linked to options. The process began for the students in early March with an assembly led by Mr Still to introduce all students to the process and this was followed by a parent’s information evening. The students then had an assembly each day to give them more information around key subjects. The first was led by the Tech department, followed by PE, Enterprise and Marketing, the Art department and finally Humanities. The process then concluded with all students choosing their options by the 28th March in time for the Easter break.

Parents' Evening

In keeping with the busy term, we have also had Yr. 9 parents evening. This saw students and families attend to ask questions around teaching, learning and options. The event was a great success and there were lots of fantastic discussions around school and how the Yr.9’s are focusing on their options and careers.

Sport

This term has seen a return to the football pitch for the Yr.9 team. The team played a strong Ilkeston team. The team played with lots of courage and tenacity but ultimately fell to a 4-1 defeat. The team continue to train and build towards the next fixture.

DofE

This term has seen the 2024 Duke of Edinburgh team start their training. They have so far undertaken training in putting up their tents and cooking with pasta and pesto. The team are continuing to train on a Thursday after school and are looking towards their expeditions later in the year.

A short but busy half term! I continue to be extremely impressed with the tenacity and hard work of Year 10 students. Many have been choosing to attend extra intervention classes in their own time keep on track with coursework deadlines or simply to improve in lessons. Thank you and keep up the hard work in the final term of Year 10!

Personal Development

The theme for Personal Development this half term has been ‘Careers’. Students have been learning about different career paths open to them, CV writing and how to get the most out of their upcoming work experience placements. Discussions around skills and attributes needed for the workplace were handled maturely. Please thank your children for their continued hard work.

Careers Fair – Tuesday 5th March

As many of you know, the school held our annual careers fair in the Lakeside Hall earlier this month. Year 10 students were able to visit several stalls, represented by a variety of workplaces and educational settings, including, Derby College and University, the Army, and the Emergency Services. It was wonderful to see our students asking questions and getting the most out of the afternoon.

"Students in year 11 will strive to be the best versions of themselves in relation to their academic achievement, character and future ambitions. Our Year 11's are ambassadors for the rest of our school community and will take on this responsibility with kindness and maturity.”

This half term has been a short half term, but one that has been extremely busy for our Year 11 cohort.

We have seen our students sit a second set of mock examinations which will provide them with invaluable experience for the actual examination series in the summer and many of the students have seen real progress in their attainment over the course the last few months as we have looked to embed key revision and exam strategies like flashcards, the Leitner system and park the bus with our students.

Many students have been involved in drop down days for subjects including Technology, Food Technology, PE and Animal Care so that they can finalise and maximise scores for coursework.

We have been able to reward many students with Easter eggs, lunch passes, and canteen passes over the course of the term for showing real effort and drive to succeed during what can be a stressful time for Year 11 students.

With focus now firmly on exam season, we also look towards celebrating the Year 11 students time a Kirk Hallam Community Academy. Students have had the opportunity to order personalised hoodies, sign up for the end of year staff v Year 11 football match and to purchase tickets for prom.

Reminder - This years’ Year 11 Prom will be held at Morley Hayes Golf Club, Main Road, Morley, Ilkeston DE7 6QA on Thursday 4th July 2024. Arrival will be from 7.30pm. There will be a hot buffet and our traditional prizes to celebrate students’ friendships and accomplishments. The finish time of the event is 10.30pm and all students must be collected by parents by this time. Tickets to Prom will be £36 and are available to purchase on ParentPay, until May half term. Tickets can be purchased by ParentPay- available now!

 

It has been a short, but intense, term filled with many activities in addition to our regular academic studies. Our Year 13 students are beginning to feel the pressure now having completed their last round of mocks and are well and truly into the preparations for the terminal A-Level exams beginning in May. If anyone needs some extra support through this period please get in touch with Dr Bennison.

Cooking on a Budget Sessions

As part of our Personal Development programme which is integral to the wider development of our students into rounded citizens all students have had the opportunity to take part in some practical cooking sessions having previously explored healthy eating and cooking on a budget. Students enjoyed these sessions and some learnt a lot. Thank you to our food technology team for their support in planning and facilitating these.

UK University & Apprenticeship Search Fair – University of Sheffield

To formally launch our Post 18 options process with our current Year 12 students we took all of them to the UK University & Apprenticeship Search Fair hosted at the University of Sheffield on March 14th . Here they got to explore stalls from a range of universities and apprenticeship providers where they could discuss their future options.

When we return after Easter our Year 12s will begin writing their personal statements and thinking about starting their UCAS applications. Students who are intending on submitting for the early application deadline in October have had meetings with Dr Bennison and parents.

Year 12 – Talk the Talk
We had our annual visit from the Talk the Talk trainers a little earlier this year. All Year 12 students took part, developing their interviewing skills and thinking about the skills they have for potential employers and how to evidence them.

Year 12/13 Performance Showcase

Our three Sixth Form music students took part in their assessed performance showcase on Monday 11th March. I was blown away by the talent they displayed – well done to them.

Year 12 EMR Project Management Workshop

Maintaining the events till the end of term, on Thursday the 28th March 24 of our Year 12 students took part in the first of four days of workshops delivered by East Midlands Railway and the Talent Foundary. This is a career skills based programme where students work as part of a project management team to explore the planing and delivery of a new sustainable railway scheme. While doing this they will learn about the careers available to them within the railway industry and the current strategic and sustainability priorities of the industry. This is a fantastic opportunity for our students and we have been lucky to secure participation.
The first day was incredibly well received by the students taking part and they are now looking forward to the next session at the headquarters of East Midlands Railway in Derby.

Brain Dissection

Our Psychology teacher, and one of our great Sixth Form Learning Mentors Miss Collins performed a dissection of a sheep’s brain for her Sixth Form and Year 11 Psychology students. This was a great learning opportunity and something a little different for our students instead of just learning out of a book. Thanks to Miss Collins, Mr Hall and Mr Monk for helping this happen.

 

This term we were pleased to welcome back one of our previous Head Students, Alex Hartshorn, who came to talk to our current Year 12s about his time at the University of Nottingham. It was a real pleasure to see that his interest in rocketry (whilst in the Sixth Form he designed and built a rocket as part of his EPQ) has continued and also to learn about his adventures in Formula Student.

Another of our former Head Students, Miles McCarthy has also recently returned to play in American Football from injury winning the university national championships with his UWE Bullets team. He has also been selected to represent Great Britain in their Under 20s game against Padderborn. Fantastic achievements Miles.