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October 2014 DEAR PARENTS/GUARDIANS/CARERS
After a busy first eight weeks there is already so much news to share:
Open day and evening were held in early October and was well attended. Our visitors enjoyed the
variety of activities, speaking to staff and students plus seeing our latest round of premises projects now
fully operational.
Ofsted visited the academy on 16 and 17 September, for a standard, full inspection. The team, led by two
senior inspectors and quality assured by the highest level of inspector in Ofsted, judged the academy to be
Good overall and good in each of the separate categories. They were extremely positive about students,
staff and the academy. A full report is now available on
our website and will soon be published on Ofsted’s
website.
Buckler’s Mead Academy staff and students are celebrating continued excellent GCSE exam results. Students of all abilities have performed extremely well and a wide range of high quality examination results have been achieved. The academy continues to demonstrate a positive trend for GCSE success with all of its students.
Exceptional results at Buckler’s Mead Academy were achieved by many students. Star achievers, to name a few, were:
Tamina Pain with 6 A*s and 7As, Jordan Bastable 2A*s and 11As, Ben Court 1A* and 10 As, Millie Smith 1 A* and 9As
The quality of teaching and learning at the academy continues to be at the forefront of academic success, with staff developing effective new strategies to create the best learning for the students. This year particular subject successes include:
English – 99% of all students achieved a full GCSE. 79*% gained grades A*-C,
Design and Technology – 92% gained A*-C, Art and Design – 85% gained A*-C. Other exceptional level 2 pass rates were achieved through our vocational courses such as BTEC Multi Media 100%, Music 100%, Sport Studies 100%, OCR ICT 100%.
The academy has again built on previous years successes, which last year placed the academy within the Top 2% of the Most Improved state schools in England and identified the academy as the Most Improved in Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Wiltshire for 2011-13. The results this
year demonstrate the ongoing success of the academy.
GOOD NEWS POSTCARD ART COMPETITION This year’s entries for the Good News Postcard competition were once again of an extremely high standard.
Mr Richard Hunt, BMA Chair of Directors, was given the difficult task of choosing the winners. Evie Callaghan - 7JSI,
was chosen as winner from the Year 6 entries from St Michael’s Academy, Birchfield Primary School and Milford Junior
School. The other winners were: Charlotte Keen - Yr 8, Tom Fowler - 9SS, Azabeth Morley - 10SBA,
Tom Underhill - 11SB. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THEM
Headteacher
ENGINEERING TRIP TO THE
ROYAL INSTITUTE, LONDON 14 aspiring engineers recently took part in an engineering enrichment workshop in the prestigious Royal Institute of Science in London. They were t a s k e d w i t h b u i l d i n g a n “Eggsporter” car complete with safety devices to save the egg passenger from a car crash! The car was crashed into a wall, filmed and the force of impact analysed. The science involved was all about
reducing force of impact by slowing down the crash – this meant adding in crumple zones as well as reinforcing the passenger cell. Students thoroughly
enjoyed the day.
ACADEMY UNIFORM
As the dark nights and wet weather comes upon us can
we remind you that hoodies are not considered
acceptable winter coats to protect against the elements
and are not part of school uniform.
DROPPING STUDENTS OFF AT TOWER ROAD
Please could parents, who are dropping students off in
Tower Road, be aware that there is a lot of traffic
around the back gate. If students could be dropped off
before the corner this would decrease congestion and
increase safety.
MACMILLAN COFFEE MORNING
Students and staff at Buckler’s Mead Academy held a cake sale in aid of the MacMillan Cancer Fund. Over the course of a break and lunchtime sale they managed to raise £215. The total was supplemented by the
auction of a Killer Chocolate Cake, made and donated by English teacher Karen Blatch, which raised a further £35 bringing the final figure to £250.
SPORTS AWARDS 2014 Buckler’s Mead held its annual Sports Awards Evening at The
Gateway in Yeovil. It was very well attended with over 500 people, including, students, staff and parents/guardians in attendance. It was a successful evening rewarding all students for their performance, commitment and dedication to sport throughout the year. We invited our partner Primary Schools to this year’s ceremony in order to reward their students for their excellent participation and effort in the variety of festivals that we deliver here at Buckler’s Mead run by our own student leaders. We were lucky to have Serita Shone (GB Bobsledder) to award the students this year and then to close the evening making a truly inspirational speech. We hope that many of our students would have been inspired by the evening and Serita’s words and go on to work hard, be determined and achieve their sporting dreams!
Mrs Fields
Mr Fletcher Mr Fletcher
Mrs Hill
I M P O R T A N T D A T E S
Monday 27 October 2014 to Friday 31 October 2014 - Half term holiday
Monday 17 November 2014 - Yr 11 Trial exams start
Thursday 11 December / Friday 12 December 2014 - Academic Monitoring evening / day
Sunday 14 December 2014 to Tuesday 16 December 2014 - Yr 9 History & MFL trip to France
Thursday 18 December 2014 - Christmas Celebration evening
Monday 22 December 2014 to Friday 2 January 2015 - Christmas holiday
Monday 5 January 2015 - First day of Spring term
ADMINISTERING MEDICATION The academy has sent out forms for permission to
give medication. If you have not done so, could you
please complete, sign and return your form to the
academy’s First Aider, Mrs Davis. Without this
consent we WILL NOT be able to give your child
pain relief if needed. Thank you.
CARRERS VISIT TO
GKN AEROSPACE Five Year 9 students visited GKN Aerospace, at
Yeovil’s Agusta Westland site, on a careers visit, for a
" See INside Manufacturing Day".
The visit started with a welcome talk from the
Managing Director. The Yeovil factory makes the
main airframe for the AgustaWestland A159 Wildcat
as well as parts for: Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier and
other aircraft manufacturers. The structures made
are complex, highly detailed and show the skills
involved in their manufacture. Boeing use GKN to
make the door frames for the 747, Airbus use GKN to
make engine cowlings and flap parts. GKN
manufacture these parts for other aircraft
manufacturers who do not have the skill to make
these themselves. We were given a tour of the factory
where we were able to see some of these parts being
manufactured.
After lunch, provided by GKN, the groups were then
split for a practical exercise of wire bending; a task
given to interviewees to check manual dexterity and
ability to read and understand simple instructions. It
looks easy on paper but not so easy when you have a
go yourself! This was won by Saul Rockett. A quiz
followed with Daniel Newton, Archie Bower
Liam Haines and Callum Withers all getting prizes.
To round off the day the overall Site Director called
in to discuss apprenticeships with the students. A
very informative day out for the students privileged
to be given the opportunity to visit such an
interesting manufacturing facility. I am already
looking forward to next year’s visit.
CITIZENSHIP & POLITICS NEWS
There’s been a lot in the news recently about elections and referendums but the pupils of Buckler’s Mead Academy will go to the polls on Monday 10 November to select the academy’s new Somerset Youth Parliament candidate. Candidates standing for election are from Years 9 and 10 and will have time to campaign for votes.
Good luck to all those participating!
Mr Tofts
Mr Bray
STAND UP TO CANCER
A fundraising day was held Friday 17 October, where
students and staff could wear an item of clothing of either
pink or orange to help raise funds and awareness for
Stand Up To Cancer charity. An amazing total of £411.00
was collected from donations. Thank you to everyone
who participated. Mrs Gorrod
Mrs Davis
BUCKLER’S MEAD EXTRA CURRICULAR DT & SCIENCE CLUBS
Club Teacher Where and when
Details
Animal Care
Students in years 7 and 8
Mrs Hurd Every Friday
2.50-3.30
Room 27
Understanding the care needed to look after a range of animals; maintenance of clubs pets; rota looking after smaller rodents during holidays/ long weekends (parents will need to be available to collect the cage); possible trips to look at other types of larger animal care; hopefully guest speakers to talk to us about more exotic animals.
Biomed
Students in any year
group
Mrs Fields Every second Thursday, beginning 18/9/14
2.50-3.30
Room 29
A challenging club for Gifted Science students interested in medical careers – future doctors, vets, dentists.
We will look at basic anatomy, including some dissection if students are interested in this. We will also look at cutting edge technology in medicine and the wide range of careers in biomedicine.
General Science Club
Students in year 7
Mr Lea Wednesday 2.45 - 3.30pm
Room 29
General mad scientist experiments.
Depending on students’ interests, this club might develop in different ways…
Flight Club (Flying Start Challenge)
Students in years 7,8 and 9
Mr Tofts Thursday 2.45 – 4.00pm
Room 16
This is in conjunction with Agusta Westland and gives good contacts with this major employer in the town. In the summer term, students fly the gliders that they have built. We have a small wind tunnel in storage and I would like to get it sorted for use in the Department to demonstrate the theory of flight to students.
Green Power Car Club Mr Tofts Tuesday 2.45
Construction Hut
This is a competitive club -the main sponsors for the competition are all high profile firms and organisations like Ford, Siemens, IET, Unipro and Newcastle University. Students build a green power car themselves with minimal teacher input. During the year, there may be a trip to Silverstone to watch a race meeting and visit the garages to talk to drivers and engineers.
Lego League
Invitation only, initially to Year 10 students who are taking Systems and Control.
Mr Tofts Please contact Mr Tofts in the first instance.
Past Challenges have been based on topics such as nanotechnology, climate, quality of life for the handicapped population, and transportation. By designing our Challenges around such topics, participants are exposed to potential career paths within a chosen Challenge topic, in addition to solidifying the STEM principles that naturally come from participating in a robotics program. Team members also learn valuable life and employment skills which will benefit them no matter which career path they choose.
Blacksmithing Club
Places are limited for this club. Contact Miss Sturman or Mr Tofts in the Design and Technology Department.
Mr Hill Thursday 2.45pm - 4.30 pm
Room 21
The club uses the Forge to hand make pieces in the traditional art of Blacksmithing. There will also be instruction on welding and brazing and the use of the lathe.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT—EXTRA CURRICULAR CLUBS, AUTUMN TERM 2014 Day Lunch After School
Monday Badminton/Table Tennis Staff Meetings
Tuesday Badminton/Table Tennis Girls Hockey (Years 9 & 10) - CFo / SHi
Wednesday Department Meeting Boys Rugby (All years) - VH / SC / PM Girls Hockey (Years 7, 8 & 9) - LT
Thursday Badminton/Table Tennis Girls Football (Years 7, 8 & 9) - SK
Friday Badminton/Table Tennis Girls Cardio Tennis - 3pm - 4pm Satellite Tennis Club - 4pm - 5pm Yeovil Tennis Club Coach
INFORMATION ABOUT EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
ALL STUDENTS ARE WELCOME TO ANY ACTIVITY, IT IS NOT JUST TEAM TRAINING.
LUNCHTIME ACTIVITIES ONLY REQUIRE TRAINERS, NOT PE KIT.
AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ARE FULL PE KIT.