A SPECIALIST SCIENCE COLLEGE February 2008 Issue No. 3

NATIONAL AND LOCAL RECOGNITION FOR EXAMINATION RESULTS

In the recently announced Government league tables, Eggar‛s was again recognised as being in the top 25% of schools nationally for the value we add to pupils‛ progress. This year we achieved this in two categories: ‘KS2 to KS3′ and ‘KS2 to KS4′. We are extremely pleased and proud to be nationally recognised for the academic progress by our pupils and believe this reflects the hard work of teachers, pupils and parents over the last academic year. For the last four years Eggar‛s students have achieved approximately 75% 5+ A* to C grades; 10-15% higher than the national average. Eggar‛s pupils have also performed well in the new standard of

5+ A* to C grades, including English and Mathematics, and last year were placed 7th most improved school in the country. This year we have performed equally as well and have been placed in the top 10 of secondary schools in Hampshire. Last term Eggar‛s was identified as a high performing specialist school and, as a result, we have successfully applied for Training School status. This will begin in April this year. Eggar‛s is already working to support and partner several other schools to help them to raise attainment. In December we were notified that we have achieved the Gold Advanced level accreditation for the Specialist Schools & Academies Trust, Consultant School.

Yours sincerely

Felicity Martin Head Teacher

Year 7 have had a fantastic first term and we are now working hard towards our second term at Eggar‛s. Some of the pupils have achieved over 300 Merit points

which will mean an ‘Eggar‛s Award‛. We have also had a very high attendance level in the first term — keep it up Year 7! So far this year all Year 7 tutor groups have taken part in interform, which is a sports competition between year tutor groups. Last term 7CMc won the cone run, with the next event of uni-hock (which is a form of hockey) between finalists 7CMc and 7HW, which came down to a goal difference and resulted in 7HW winning. This will mean 7CMc having 11 points, 7HW having 8 points and 7 KG having 8 points to- wards their final scores at sports day in the summer term. At the end of every half term we have tests to make sure that we are keeping up with our work. The results are in and apparently we are all doing really well — which is great news! The Valentine disco arranged for Years 7 and 8 was sizzling with fun and we all enjoyed dancing the night away (well, until 9pm!), thank you to the teachers for arrang- ing this event, it was great fun. The Year 7s are currently raising money for their chosen charity, the Kware project. This is a very worthwhile cause that helps young children and families living in slums of Kenya, Over the coming months we will be taking part in more fundraising for this charity and hope you will all support us.

By Rebecca Drury, Lettie Buxton and Alissa Kirkwood of 7CMc

By the time this Newsletter has been printed, Year 8 exam week will have been completed and the pupils will know most of their marks. I am sure there will be plenty of smiles from good results and outstanding achievements. Year 8 is a year when students can build the foundations and learning blocks for success in Year 9. It is important for pupils to review their Academic Review Targets and focus on what they need to complete in readiness for the next Academic Review Day on Thursday 20th March. We have plenty of extra­curricular clubs available after school which I know many Year 8 students attend, and there are plenty of budding athletes showing great promise. If you did not attend any last year – have a go this year. You may discover a hidden talent! Andy Murray Watch Out! Alex Gasson (8LL) is an aspiring tennis player. He plays to county and national standard. In fact, there is a chance that Alex will be going to Rome in April to play in an international tournament. 2012 Oliver Davis (8JH) recently won two gold medals in a swimming competition in Cranleigh. Congratulations Oliver! Dancing On Ice Alice Easton (8JH) has achieved a gold level in ice­skating. Well done Alice! Spiderman Ed James (8JH) has just taken part in a rock climbing competition. He is still waiting the results. So fingers crossed for you Ed! Let us know how you got on. Singing Aimee Mackenzie is taking part in the ‘Show­offs’ talent competition. Aimee is a talented performer who has composed and written her own songs. Please let us know how you get on. Good luck! Rounders 8AL will be planning a rounders charity match, boys versus girls. The boys will be anxious to avenge the netball defeat. This will take place once the weather improves.

Have a good half­term break! Mr A Wheeler

Year 8, Year Leader

School Calendar 2008 ­ Dates for your diary February 18 ­22 HALF ­ TERM

25 Return to school following half­term 27 Mock Trial rehearsals until 17:00

March 1 Mock Trial Competition at Aldershot Magistrate’s Court 09:00­13:30 5 Alton College Open Evening from 18:30 6 Y11 AS Students visit to Critical Thinking Conference at Conway Hall,

London 10 Y9 KS3 Mock SATs tests week 11 Science Lecture Enigma – from 19:00 in the hall 18 12 x Y10 Students visit to Conference ‘The Use & Abuse of our Oceans’ at

Southampton University 19 Farnham College Y11 Opening Evening 18:00­21:00 20 Academic Review Day 1:1 reviews with pupils, tutors and parents

Bank Holiday 21 Good Friday ­ school closed Bank Holiday 24 Good Monday ­ school closed

25 Y7 Exam week 26 Y8 Reports to parents 27 Rehearsals all day for Spring Concert

Spring Concert from 19:00 in the hall 28 Musicians workshop at Amery Hill School 13:00­18:00 for performance on

30/03/08 at the Anvil Theatre 29 Musicians workshop at Amery Hill School 14:00­17:00 for performance on

30/03/08 at the Anvil Theatre 30 Musicians performing at the Anvil Theatre, Basingstoke from 12:30­15:15

and 18:40­19:00 31 Y11 Drama exams this week

April 2 Y11 Music Showcase 3 Y8 Parents Evening from 16:00 in the hall

7 ­ 18 Easter Holiday SUMMER TERM 21 INSET DAY— No pupils in school

21 Y10 GCSE Geography trip to Calshot departs 23 Y10 GCSE Geography trip returns from Calshot

Y7 ‘Dr Dolittle’ trip to New Victoria Theatre, Woking from 18:00­23:15

28 Y10 Exam week 29 Y7 X­half Geography/Art trip to Kew Gardens 30 Y7 Y­half Geography/Art trip to Kew Gardens

Farnham College Y10 Opening Evening 18:00­21:00 May 1 Junior Maths Challenge Bank Holiday 5 School closed

6 Y9 KS3 SATs tests begin 12 Y10 Work Experience begins

Y8 depart for residential trip Fairthorne Manor, Botley 14 Y11 GCSEs begin

Richard Robinson lectures for:­ Y7/8 – Sense and sensibility Y10 – Why the one you fancy never fancies you? Community Lecture from 19:00 – Why toast always lands butter side down?

16 Y8 return from Fairthorne Manor, Botley 20 Y5 Wootey Primary pupils visit for the day 21 Y5 Andrews Endowed primary pupils visit for the day

Y7 reports to parents 22 Y5 Bentley primary pupils visit for the day

26 ­30 HALF­TERM

24 GCSE Music students trip to ‘The Lion King’ at the Lyceum Theatre, London 17:00­12:00

June 2 Return to school 5 Y7 Parents Evening from 16:00 in the hall 6 Y10 Drama exams 9 Y9 Field studies all week

Y10 Leisure &Tourism students visit to Guildford Spectrum and Y10 Health & Social Care students visit to Treloars College this week

10 Y7 Art experience 11 Y7 Art experience 16 Y9 Field Studies

Y9 Non core exam week 14 Y10 GCSE Drama Trip to Stratford­Upon­Avon 18 Y10 Reports to parents 19 Y6 Induction Evening 20 Y10 Drama exams 21 Eggar’s School Fete

Y10 Drama students visit to Stratford­upon­Avon ­ depart at 08:30am

24 09:15 Open morning for Ys 3­5 25 09:15 Open morning for Ys 3­5 26 Y10 Parents evening from 16:00 in the hall 27 Evening with the Big Band from 19:30 in the hall 30 Y10 Modular Science exams

July 1 Y11 Repeat module Science exams 2 Sports Day 3 Y11 Leaver’s Dinner at The Grange Hotel 8 Y7 X­half Geography/History trip to Winchester 9 Y7 Y­half Geography/History trip to Winchester 10 Awards Evening from 18:30 in the hall 11 Y9 History trip to Belgium

Y6 Induction Day Reserve Sports Day

16 Music Challenge from 19:00 in the hall 22 Y9 Reports to parents 23 Last Day of Term

22 Y10 Drama students return from Stratford­upon­Avon at 16:00

Some dates are subject to change, please check by visiting out website at

www.eggars.net/calendar or by contacting the school office on 01420 541194

GCSE & KS4 Information Evening Thank you to all Year 9 pupils and parents for attending this event. It was an ideal opportunity for me to introduce myself to you all as your new Year 9 Progress Leader, and I look forward to getting to know you all over the coming months. This event was highly successful and we hope it provided you with the information required to make the best decision regarding Option choices. Year 9 Parents Evening The very high attendance by pupils and parents meant teaching staff were kept very busy right through the evening. All of our parents evenings are a valuable opportunity to discuss your child‛s progress within subjects and, for Year 9 in particular, in having the opportunity to discuss and ask any final questions with regard to the GCSE Options. From the parent feedback we received, it appears you all very much appreciated the quality of the consultations regarding your sons and daughters. One parent wrote, this is an exceptionally well organised and informative event. The planning for the evening was much better than I have experienced at other schools with all the teachers in one room. Moreover I am really impressed at how well the teachers know not just the performance of my child but also his personality and potential. In summary an excellent evening. Thank you. On this note I would personally like to thank all the teachers and well done to our Year 9 pupils who are working really well and making excellent progress towards their SATs and KS3 levels.

Mr J Foley Year 9 Progress Leader

Fourteen dance students (seven from 10AV) represented Eggar’s School in the Hampshire Schools Dance Festival at Thornden Hall, Winchester. They had been practising for the prestigious event for four weeks and had been rehearsing every lunch time, three days after school and for two Sundays. All the hard work paid off as on Wednesday 6 th February they performed a ‘phenomenal’ dance. Miss McCready and Miss Masterman helped with the routines and organisation. Eighteen schools took part overall and Eggar’s was definitely one of the better performances.

So well done to all of the girls who took part especially Zoe Walker, Alice Rhodes, Jess Sheppard, Ella Goldsmith, Jess Nixon, Amy Hide and Bethany Dickinson.

By Catie Davis 10AV

2008 has got off to a great start with Oli Jenner of 10AV and the rest of the

Eggar’s school Rugby team winning the semi-final against Henry Court. It was 5-0 at half time to Eggar’s and they continued to build up the score and when the final whistle blew, the score was 31-0 to Eggar’s! Unfortunately our boys lost the final 19-0 to Hounsdown School. However, they can hold their heads high as apparently the other team were ‘huge’! Well done Oli and the rest of the team for getting through to the final. Our Tutor, Mr Varndell, has also been getting sporty and on Sunday 13th April will be taking part in the London

M a r a t h o n . Apparently this will be marathon number three for Mr Varndell and this time has decided to ‘walk’ the course with a friend (as last time, he told

us he took part when he was in his thirties!) and will be wearing a costume and dying his hair! He is walking the 26.2 miles in aid of the Samaritans, so any sponsors are welcome, and Tutor Group 10AV wishes Mr Varndell the best of luck!

By Catie Davis 10AV

MUSICAL SUCCESS… Back in November, seven pupils, including myself, went to Petersfield to take our music exams. I took my Grade 3 flute

exam and, I have to admit, I was pretty nervous! To start with we were ushered into a small waiting room and after a short wait I was called in first.

With my flute and music in hand I was welcomed by the examiner and I played my pieces which consisted of performing my study, aurals and scales. It took a month for my results to come through. A pass is 100 points and I managed to pass with 117! I am really pleased and relieved I passed. I would like to say thank you to my flute teacher, Mrs Lacey, for helping me learn and play my pieces.

Rebecca Martin 10JO

On Wednesday 6th February, Mrs Hayward took myself and two other Year 10 students to visit the British Museum in London. This was a chance to look at ceramic pots to help with our GCSE Art studies. Due to our work experience at Sparsholt College, we had missed the original trip. We travelled to London on the train and underground and as one of the group didn’t want to use the lift we had to climb 175 steps! At the museum we took time looking at the ancient Turkish and Egyptian section. We also went to view the construction of the glass domed roof. The best part of the day for me was travelling on the underground as I have never been on it before, but I would hate to live in London because there are too many flats and too much graffiti.

Ryan Heighes 10AV

PUPIL ATTENDANCE We are pleased to be able to tell you that our school attendance figure is in the region of 94%. As I am sure you are aware attendance figures are collated by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and are used as an indicator for the performance of a school. We have managed to achieve a relatively high attendance figure by ensuring that we have in place effective systems for recording and monitoring pupil attendance. For those parents who may not be aware of the procedures, should a child be absent from school, we would like to take this opportunity to explain:­

♦ If your child is unable to attend school please telephone the school on the morning of your child’s absence, using the automatic telephone message service

♦ Should a parent not telephone to explain their child’s absence, you may be contacted by the school

♦ On your child’s return to school, following any absence, a letter must be provided to explain the absence

The DCSF deems that should your child arrive after the register is closed, they will be marked as absent. To improve your child’s attendance it is important that any late arrival is accompanied by a letter of explanation. We would appreciate your help and support in this matter in improving the attendance of our students.

PAYMENTS If you are sending in a payment to school for a trip/visit please, where possible, pay by cheque to ‘Eggar’s School’ and write your child’s name and tutor group on the reserve. It would also be appreciated if these could be sent in an envelope marked with the child’s name, tutor group and purpose of the cheque e.g. trip name. Please do not send one cheque for payment of many items such as a trip, music lesson, bus pass etc, please send a separate cheque for each activity. If you do not have a cheque book and need to pay by cash, this must be made known to, and given to, a member of the reception staff and a receipt for payment over £10.00 will be issued. It is important that pupils do not carry sums of money during the school day. Thank you for your support.

We would appreciate your support in ensuring your child brings to school a bottle of water every day. It is very important that all students have plenty to drink through- out the day and following sports activities. Although it

is the winter children can get dehydrated, which can lead to lack of concentration and headaches. Our students have the opportunity to buy drinks bottles for 25p each from the school office which can be filled at break and lunchtimes using the fresh water dispensers in the school hall.

ACADEMIC REVIEW DAY

Thursday 20th March 2008 As you are aware we have two Academic Review days planned per school year. Our second 1:1 reviews with pupils, tutors and parents will take place on Thursday 20th March. These meetings will focus on progress and in particular how effectively your child has worked towards the targets set on the last Review Day. Teachers will gather information which should lead to more useful discussions about your child‛s attainment and their potential progress at school. As on the last occasion, the school timetable will be suspended. Pupils will attend school with their parent or carer for the academic review only at an appointment time convenient to yourselves.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

On Friday 1 st February the Art Department took 47 students on an educational visit to the National Portrait Gallery in London. At first we didn‛t think we would get there on time as we were stuck in traffic due to an accident in Farnham. Eventually we arrived in London and had an al fresco lunch in Trafalgar Square in the glorious spring-like weather. Pupils were fasinated by a Falconer and his bird of prey, which now patrols the

square and has the job of keeping the pigeons at bay. Inside the Gallery pupils had a range of tasks to complete. We began by studying portraits, which included Prince Charles, Richard Branson and Damon Albarn (from Blur).

Pupils also took part in guided tours of the gallery focusing on a range of self portraits and their meanings. They were pleasantly surprised at how many famous faces they recognised in the spectacular gallery. This proved to be a very successful and informative visit with gallery staff and teachers commenting positively on the pupils behaviour throughout the trip.

LAUNCH OF GCSE EXAM ON VIRTUAL LEARNING

ENVIRONMENT A new resource has been added to the Eggar‛s Online Learning Centre (OLC) to assist pupils in their preparation for the GCSE examinations in Art and Design. The resource should be accessed by all pupils completing the exam this year. Along with many helpful links and guidance on how to complete the exam, pupils have the opportunity to contact teachers and peers through the forums. We hope that this will enable pupils to ask questions and continue with their exam more quickly if they encounter problems. The resource is being constantly updated and will grow throughout the exam period. News on the exam is also broadcast via the OLC. We would encourage all pupils to check this resource as often as possible whilst preparing for their exams.

Mr P Colburn-Jackson Art Department

COURSEWORK AND REVISION OPPORTUNITIES

SUBJECT DAY TIME LOCATION Technology Wednesday 3.15 – 4.30 T1

Art (Mrs Kinteh) Sunday 17 th Feb

10.00am – 3.00pm A1

Art (Mr Colburn Jackson)

Easter holiday 14 th – 18 th April Every day after school and lunchtimes

10.00am – 4.00pm A2

PE (RE) Monday 3.15 – 4.30 Lunchtime M1

Music (MF) Monday & Wednesday 3.15. – 4.30 MS1

English (Dept.) After ½ term See list posted in English corridor

12.40 – 1.15 E1

Maths (Dept.) Individual pupils see teacher or Mr Drake for information & appointments

M1

ICT (KP/JF) Wednesday & Thursday

3.15 – 4.30 ICT2 and ICT3

Health & Social Care Leisure & Tourism (SM) Wednesday 3.15 – 4.30 ICT1

Geography (AS) Thursday 3.20 – 4.30 G1

Science (JW) Wednesday 3.15 – 4.15 S6 MFL (REo.&MR) Monday & Thursday 3.15 – 4.15

3.15 – 4.15 F2 History Friday 3.15 – 4.30 H1 Drama Thursday 3.15 – 4.30 Drama studio

RE Start of Summer Term 3.15 – 4.30 R1

As we approach the final months of Year 11 it is very important that our students remain focused and committed to achieving their full potential in their forthcoming examinations. We have put together, as shown below, a timetable of coursework and revision sessions to assist our students with their preparation and revision for their GCSEs.

We would appreciate parents support and encouragement in ensuring their sons and daughters are able to attend these worthwhile sessions.

Miss N Curtis Year 11, Year Leader