ixchangeThe newsletter for Ixworth Free School | “Providing a foundation for life”
> Mary Poppins
> Victoria & Albert Museum
> Imperial War Museum
> Book Mastermind
> Energy Quest
> Swimathon
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“Providing a foundation for life”
Ixworth Free School is a proud member of the Seckford Education Trust
April 2019
ixchangeIxworth
This Ixchange celebrates the efforts and achievements of many different Ixworth students but I’d like to pay particular tribute to two groups. To anyone who witnessed the production of Mary Poppins, there will be no surprise that it features on the front page - it was a superb endeavour which will live long in the memory. We have also celebrated a significant sporting activity: students who took part in the recent Rotary Club ‘Swimathon’; under 13 athletics competitions; Year 9 students organising a fancy dress football tournament as part of our Red Nose Day activities; Theo who won the 2018 League in Norfolk for Go Karting and Joe winning a Bronze medal in the World IBBJF Pan Ams. Both boys were emphatic winners of their titles, succeeding in style but also being congratulated on their conduct and the manner of their victory.
In between, a range of activities is brought to your attention, including write ups for various trips and an introduction to our new Senior Students.
As no doubt everyone is aware, this term has seen the erection of our brand new all-weather pitch. I am extremely grateful to all those who helped with the bid-writing process / project management.
My second thank you is to all those students who have served the School in any way this term. At our final Success Assembly of the term, we gave out a number of Ixworth Pins to students who have committed themselves in a sustained manner to our 6Cs. I hope that those winning these awards will have enjoyed their involvement in school life – but they will have given their time voluntarily – and this act of service is what is being recognised. Finally, and on a similar theme, I would like to record my thanks to our outgoing Head Students – Lucas and Anna Rose – and the House Captains, as well as all the prefect team. I am very grateful for all that they have done for Ixworth.
Mr Barrow, Headteacher
Headteacher’s Welcome___________________
“Providing a foundation for life”
www.ixworthfreeschool.org.ukIxworth Free School,
Walsham Road, Ixworth, IP31 2HS
Mr BarrowHeadteacher
Important Date!
Wednesday 24 April 2019
Students Begin Term
SafeguardingShould you have any safeguarding concerns, pleasecontact Mrs Bell, Designated Safeguarding Lead on01359 234050 or for more information please visit
www.ixworthfreeschool.org.uk/safeguardingIxworth Free School’s named safeguarding
governor is Mrs Chenery-Morris.
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SwimathonOn Sunday 17 March 2019, a group of 16 people, including myself, Miss Cahillane and Mrs Hale, participated in an annual 40 minute long sponsored swim at Abbeycroft Leisure Centre in Bury St Edmunds. The three Ixworth Swimming Teams swam over 200 lengths, raising money for two charities, Dementia Hub and Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue.
This amazing achievement began with a single announcement and a few posters around the School, asking for people to put their names forward to participate in this event. In total 14 students came together with the two teachers to take the challenge on. Once the Ixworth Swimming Team had been formed, Miss Cahillane had the brilliant idea of hiring the pool at Culford School for a practice session. There were a great deal of benefits to the session. It allowed Miss Cahillane to coach those who needed help, whilst others who were more confident were set a drill to complete. Once these tasks had been completed, the three teams were formed based on what Miss Cahillane had seen.
After this session, the group decided which of the charities provided by the Rotary Club we wanted to sponsor. After some discussion, we came to the conclusion that we were going to sponsor Dementia Hub and Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue. From then on, everyone started collecting sponsors, trying to raise
as much money as possible in the three weeks we had before the event.
Soon enough, it was time to swim. Family and friends gathered to watch as the three Ixworth Swimming Teams did their part. At the end of the 40 minutes, we were all congratulated by the amazing and supportive crowd, as well as the Head of the Rotary Club. We all received a medal, along with a certificate, to congratulate us all on how hard we worked. I thank all of those who swam, and those who supported us, for an enjoyable experience, and how well you performed at this event.
Sam - Year 10
Energy QuestBack in January all of Year 7 took part in an externally led Energy Quest challenge. Using skills from Science, Maths and Technology, students had to build their own car and then see how far they could race it. Here’s what some Year 7s had to say about the experience........
“I have really enjoyed participating in this project as it combined a mixture of skills, such as planning and working as a team. It was probably the best timed challenge I have ever done, including primary school. The best part, by far, was the actual racing of the car. I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t win but it was still great to watch others and to see who could get the furthest.”Ursula
“I really enjoyed the day as I have never really done anything like it. It needed imagination and creativity. Seeing the cars being raced was good because you thought to yourself ‘I made that!’ All in all, very good.”Alex
Mr Ryan Pitcock; Senior Tutor
Mary PoppinsWhat They Said...“Went to the school to see Mary Poppins on Thursday. What a magnificent performance by the students, and the crew... fantastic a really good evening; thank you to all the students and teachers involved.”
“Once again I have spent an evening at Ixworth with tears over the talent of other people’s kids. Mary Poppins. Absolutely amazing.”
“A superb show displaying such talent, both in front and behind the scenes! Well done everyone involved and thank you for giving me such a great evening!”
“My first time watching an Ixworth performance. Watched both nights and didn’t want it to end! What an amazing team each and every one of you! So proud and privileged to have been a part of it! Memories to treasure!”
Mary Poppins“Practically perfect” students from Ixworth Free School presented a stunning production of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins JR on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 March.
The cast and crew featured almost 45 students with approximately an additional 30 involved in scenery and prop making.
Headteacher Mark Barrow said: “I’m really proud of our students and staff at Ixworth who have given so freely of their own time and who have put in so much hard work to make this fantastic production.”
The production was rehearsed during the Wednesday afternoon enrichment periods at the School. Enrichment activities are part of the school day where all students have the opportunity to extend their range of educational experiences, helping them to discover talents by trying new things.
On Wednesday 20 March local primary schools came to a special matinee performance where the Bury Free Press came along to take some pictures. The results were spectacular and can be purchased from https://www.photos.iliffemedia.co.uk/
WW
Book MastermindOn Wednesday 13 March, four students (Charley, Alex, Lucas, and Kadie) along with Mrs Campbell, had the privilege of attending the 25th Annual Book Mastermind Semi-Final to support Joe - our school’s winner. It was again hosted by Sybil Andrews Academy, and this year 10 schools attended the competition. The schools competing were: Ixworth Free School, Thurston Community College, King Edward VI School, Sybil Andrews Academy, Culford School, Debenham High School, Stowupland High School, County Upper School, Ormiston Sudbury Academy, and Thomas Gainsborough School. Tension was in the air. However, all contestants were equally excited and (I imagine) slightly nervous.
The nail-biting event followed the same format as last year’s competition. There were two rounds; in the first round, the students were asked a set of 20 questions based on the book of their choice, whilst the second round was a general knowledge quiz. The contestants had two minutes to answer as many questions as they could in the Round One, whereas Round Two had no time limit. This year, the general knowledge questions were based on: spelling, nursery rhymes, history, famous duos, star signs, and European capitals. The order of which the students were called was decided by alphabetical school name order (the arrangement changes every year). This meant that Joe was fourth to compete. The competition was tough, but Joe put up a good fight. In Round One, he managed to score 14 ½ points (out of 20), and in Round Two, six more (out of 10) points was added to his total, bringing his final score to 20 ½ out of 30.
At the end of the competition, Joe stated: “I am quite proud of the amount of points that I managed to achieve, though I still could have done better.” We also got a chance to speak to the event coordinators - Matt and Crystal. Matt - who was in charge of asking the questions - said: “I like how students have a chance to compete in something like this. I also like my job as the person who gets to ask the questions; I get to read a lot more books and see a great variety of genres. It’s amazing to see children engaged in something that’s not as “normal” - like sport.” Crystal then added: “We love this job! It’s incredible that young people are reading books, and that they have the courage to enter a competition like this!”
The top five contestants from all three day’s events are put forward to the County Final. Unfortunately, Joe narrowly missed out on this, coming sixth overall, but he will be allowed to attend the final and support the other schools on Friday 3 May. We are excited to see what the event will have in store, and hopefully, our school will be able to compete next year! Well done Joe, we are immensely proud of you!
Kadie and Charley - Year 8
Imperial War MuseumOn the Wednesday 27 February 2019, Year 9 ventured out to the Imperial War Museum in the Borough of Lambeth North in South London. The trip consisted of visiting The Holocaust Exhibition and the First World War Galleries. The building was incredibly palatial and very easy to follow. The trip disembarked and the group were split into two; one observing the enthralling museum first and one examining and experiencing the anguishing Holocaust exhibition. I experienced The Holocaust Exhibition first. Models and personal belongings were present and the exhibition caught everyone’s soft spot.
It was all so factual and I learnt so many new things. The Holocaust Exhibition reminded so many people what actually happened to the Jewish society during the Second World War. There were many screens dispersed around with many different people that survived the Holocaust.
Head StudentsnHello, my name is George and I am the new Head Student at Ixworth Free School. This year the Head Student positions have been changed from the original Head Boy and Head Girl to a more modern adaptation.There will be one Head Student and three deputy Head Students; Sam, Molly and Daisy, who will assist in the running of different areas of responsibility. Each of the deputies have a different role in the School so they work on the following areas: Sam will work on community engagement in the local community such as organising events and fundraising for the School. Daisy will be taking charge of the School council and will run it to give the student body a voice. Molly will be in charge of student support giving a friendly face for students to talk to. Finally, I will take charge of all areas in the School and will be available to discuss all items in the School community.
Between the four of us we are all doing the nationally assigned GCSE’s which are: English Literature and Language, Maths, and Triple Science. Then as our options most of us have done German, History, Photography, P.E and Drama. We are all really enjoying our options, especially the creative options where for the first time the School is running Photography GCSE. This has allowed our talented photographers to expand their interest in the subject.
Our recent performance of Mary Poppins included many of us. As you know Daisy took on the opportunity to explore her drama skills as the title role in the production. Sam also played the role of Mr Northbrook, a businessman who convinces George Banks that there is more to life than money, and family is very important. Finally, I took part in the technical side of the production working alongside other student’s getting the sound for the production fully working so that the actors can show their amazing ability. This is sometimes a stressful job as you have to adapt mid performance for an array of scenarios that may happen. To help with this we did two fundraising events. Our first event was a sponsored silence by Daisy, for this she endeavoured to complete a day of silence and raised an amazing £157. To follow this we conducted a bake sale during break time, this raised over £200 with the assistance of students who brought cakes in. This gave us the money to buy new microphones and other technical items for the school.
George - Year 10
The Nazis created the T4 euthanasia programme which was a post-war name for mass murder through involuntary euthanasia in Nazi Germany. This played a crucial role that developed into the Holocaust. There were so many eye openers and pieces of information that shocked people. This is a definite must see when going to visit London.
The rest of the museum held lots of exhibitions, displays and activities to observe or do, including The Lord Ashcroft Gallery that told many different stories of the people that received a Victoria or George Cross and other medals for courageousness. There were also countless vehicles and large objects that had been retrieved from many different places, including a boat that had been used thoroughly in Dunkirk or a Japanese bomber plane that was found on a deserted island, 50 years after it crashed.
Another main attraction was the First World War Galleries. This excited many of the students with its simulative interactive games, dress up sections and areas of voices that talked about past experiences. This was a definite highlight for people to learn about the early 20th century with quotes, films and timelines, and also the First World War running between years 1914-1918.
It was a very good trip and has been highly recommended by our Year 9 students. Hopefully there will be many more school trips like this for us in the future!
Daniel - Year 9.
Contact us... We welcome your feedback, news and comments.
Email us: [email protected]
01359 234 050Ixworth Free School, Walsham Road,
Ixworth, IP31 2HS“Providing a foundation for life”
www.ixworthfreeschool.org.uk
Star of the MonthEvery month, Mr Rearden decides on a “Star” piece from one of the many wonderful artworks made by students at Ixworth Free School.
Louisa Y8Louisa’s superb butterfly created
for our project looking at symmetry in nature.
Caitlin Y10Caitlin’s excellent painting inspired by the work of
Kandinsky.
Katie Y10Continuing with her excellent
ability to capture an image, Katie has photographed this
terrific portrait.
Eddie Y11Eddie’s work has developed its own unique style and has been the centre piece of the
art rooms.
Will Y8Will has created a highly
original sculpture using found materials.
Flynn Y8A superb copy of Roy
Lichtenstein’s Pop Art piece.
Victoria & Albert MuseumBack in January I had the pleasure of taking Year 10 to the V&A. Even though it took just under 4 hours to get there, it was fantastic to hear the students’ gasps when seeing the work.
As part of the GCSE it is vital that students are exposed to other peoples’ thinking and I have been impressed by the manner in which students have taken ideas from this visit and put them into their portfolios. Deeply impressed!
