New Recruits

The start of term saw 340 new students arrive through our gates. Our new Year 7 and Year 12 students have settled very well and have made lots of new friends. A visiting parent recently asked a Year 7 class “who is happy at Pingle?” Every hand shot up! Having happy and safe students are our two main priorities. Students who feel happy and safe will make good progress and go on to achieve great things.

The summer 2018 examination results were the academy’s bestever and current Year 11 and Year 13 students are set to do wellnext year.

It is particuarly pleasing to see The Pingle Academy at the top of the Derbyshire table as the most improved school/academy in 2018 in terms of the progress the students are making! Everyoneassociated with our academy should feel a real sense of pride in thisoutstanding achievement.

This term has also brought another new recruit:Minnie, our second therapy dog, Winston’ssibling. Minnie is now in training to supportstudents and can be seen with Winston at thefront of the academy on Thursday mornings,where they practise their agility with students.

I hope you enjoy reading about some of our students’ achievements in this newsletter. I can’t believe our students have achieved so much in one half term!

Mrs V Sharples, Principal

Forthcoming Events:Academy closed to students for half term: Monday 29 October - Friday 2 November

SIXTH FORM OPEN EVENING: Thursday 8 November, 6:00pm-8:00pm

Year 13 Parents’/ Carers’ Evening: Thursday 15 November, 4:30-7:00pm

Non-Uniform Day: Friday 16 November

Year 11 Parents’/ Carers’ Evening: Thursday 22 November, 4:30-7:00pm

Year 11 Super Saturday: Saturday 24 November, 10:00am-12:00pm

INSET Day: Academy closed to students: Friday 30 November

PTFA Meeting: Wednesday 5 December, 5:00-6:00pm

Year 7 Parents’/ Carers’ Evening: Thursday 13 December, 4:30-7:00pm

Christmas Show: Wednesday 19 December, 7:00-8:30pm

Christmas Holidays: Monday 24 December - Friday 4 January 2019

INSET Day: Monday 7 January - Academy closed to students

All Students Return: Tuesday 8 January 2019

NewsletterOctober 2018

Annie

Our summer production, Annie Jr, was a hugesuccess!

The audience on both nights were wowed withacting and singing of the highest quality andenjoyed the performance of our students. Oneparent said, “You could see how much effort thechildren had put in to the show. It was great!”Another added, “The casting was spot-on,especially the girl who played the ‘nasty’ Miss Hannigan; she is destined for Hollywood.”

Thank you to everyone who took part including the choir, aswell as those behind the scenes. Drama teacher, Miss Arnoldsaid, “The hard work really paid off with two great shows, weall enjoyed it.”

We must give special thanks to the PTFA and the peopleand companies that donated prizes for our raffle, including Garden King, SwadlincoteSki Centre, Morrisons andthe American 1950s Diner.

We look forward to seeingeveryone again at ourChristmas Show onWednesday 19 December.

Pumpkins in the ARC

Year 7 student, Sam Forrester visited ARC2 to teach the studentsabout growing pumpkins and other interestingpumpkin related facts. His presentation wasawesome, with lots of practical tasks and information,including everyone trying pumpkin seeds andpumpkin flesh. Sam took the fresh seeds and isgoing to keep them for ARC2 students to try to growin April. We are looking forward to seeing him againwhen he will be returning to help us to begin growingour own. A huge thank you to Sam for teaching us all about pumpkins!

Mrs Eyley, Teacher, ARC2

Japanese Visitors

Teaching Assistant Mrs Simpson and volunteer Natalie Toplissaccompanied Year 10 students, Aimee Decamps and Georgia Vowles-Draper to Lea Green Outdoor Activity Centre, near Matlock.They joined staff and students from Belper and Dronfield schoolsand met a group of Japanese staff and students who were visitingEngland as part of a programme set up by Derbyshire CountyCouncil, celebrating 20 years of the relationship with Toyota.

The Japanese students and teachers then visited Pingle. Georgia,Aimee and a small group of Year 10 students greeted and escorted the visitors on a tour of The Pingle Academy. The students talked about theircultural differences, took part in cookery lessons and an origami masterclass. The Japenese students then sang two songs, one in Japanese and one in English,which were fabulous to hear. The day ended with the exchanging of gifts,sweets, hugs and a few tears.

A great experiencefor everyone involved.Special thanks toMrs Simpson, Natalie,Aimee and Georgiafor giving our visitorsspecial memories.

YMCA Sleep Out

On Friday 9 November it is Burton YMCA’s 10th anniversary of the Sleep-Outcampaign, raising awareness of homelessness. It will once again take place atThe Pirelli Stadium in Burton. Mrs Holland, Head of Social Studies will be takingpart and if you would like to join the event, then please do get in touch.

Super Learning Saturday

The main focus of the Saturday morning session was learning howto do independent revision for the Year 11 mock exams. The daysaw 12 teachers, including Mrs Sharples, come in to support thestudents, offering advice and expertise as well as working on pastpapers and model answers. The 90 students who attended werefed with bacon sandwiches and croissants, which wereenthusiastically received!

This next one will be held on Saturday 24 November.

Poppies

LSB and ARC students went to the Emmanuel Church Hall recently to take part in a ‘Poppies Everywhere’ craft day. The students were invited to paint,knit and sew poppies for a display at the World War I art exhibition atSharpe’s Pottery in Swadlincote. Pingle staff are so proud of all thestudents; many of them had never attempted knitting or sewing before!

The display can be seen from Saturday 20 October to 29 November.

STEM Event

Year 7 students took part in a STEM event (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) in October.The event was led by BAE Systems in conjunction with the RAF and The Royal Navy. The event aimedto show students how important good grades in STEM subjects are and their relevance to the outsideworld and careers.

The students watched magic tricks, took part in a bucket challenge and met a 70cm high android robot that showed just how advanced robotics can be. All the students were enthusiastic and thoroughly enjoyed the event.

Cat Rescue

Thank you to everyone who got in touch with us about our lost cat appeal.Students and staff had seen the cat regularly on our site, but became concernedwhen the cat became more and more friendly. Students and staff looked afterthe cat, even taking it home for two nights. Following our appeal, the ownercontacted us and collected her. The cat is called Willow and had been missing since June.

The owner wanted to thank all the staff and students who had given her foodand looked after her. The family are glad to have her home.

Winston

Our Therapy Dog, Winston has had a very busy half term. ‘Walking withWinston’ sessions have continued, along with visits to lessons. He has also been teaching students the art of agility, how to set a successfulcourse and the appropriate tone and level of voice needed to command a dog successfully around the course.

Winston has also introduced his little sister Minnie toacademy life and she has adapted very well. Winstonnoticed that there was a gap in the support he offeredand that he needed an assistant to support him in all hedoes in and around the academy. Minnie has started sessions with students toincrease wellbeing and support them when it is needed. She is only 15 weeks old,so still very new to the academy but she is already having a huge impact.

It was Winston’s birthday in October and we decided that we would like to help some dogs who do not have a home. We asked for donations of dog food, blankets and anything doggy related. Local charity, Harley’s Hounds, was the beneficiary of these generousdonations. Operating in and around the Swadlincote area since2015, Harley’s Hounds is an animal rescue centre who place theirrescued dogs with foster families, not in kennels.

Owner of Winston and Minnie and Head of Parent and StudentServices, Mr Hurst, would like to thank all students, parents/carers who donated items. They will make a massive difference to many dogs’ lives. Thank you!

Primary quiz

The Pingle Academy hosted the popular primary quiz inOctober. A fun filled event with lots of challenging questions.Congratulations to this year’s winners from FairmeadowsFoundation Primary School.

Performing at Oakland Village

Drama students from Pingle were invited to perform at Oakland Village in Swadlincote, as part of The South Derbyshire District Council Homelessness AwarenessConference.

The students created an original piece of drama, designed toteach us how we can change our perception of homelessnessand show our support. The performance was so emotional

that some members of the audience were moved to tears. We look forward to showcasing theirtalents at future events. Well done to all those who took part!

The Artifical Grass Pitch (we call it the Astro)!

With the AGP recently opened to students, Mrs Holland,Head of Social Studies, spoke to the Football Associationabout the process of gaining the funding and to giveencouragement to other schools and clubs accross thecountry.

She told the FA, “This is what our surface looked like lastyear, before the new pitch was installed. Our pitch wasoriginally opened back in 2005 by Sir Trevor Brooking andhas been well used since then, whether during the day asan academy facility or through the evenings and weekendsfor the local community and across South Derbyshire.It had just reached the end of its life and needed replacing.We did it in partnership with South Derbyshire DistrictCouncil, the Derbyshire FA and the Football Foundationand for me, as an enthusiastic amateur with these sortsof things, it was the first time I’ve put in any kind ofapplication on that kind of scale. However, I found thatthe help was always there throughout the process andit never felt at any point like I was asking too manyquestions.”

Mrs Holland added, “It looks amazing and when you step onto it,it’s stunning under your feet; the best carpet I’ve ever walked on.We now have a new state-of-the-art pitch. It will allow us to useit during the academy day and also increase our bookings forevenings and weekends, which improves sporting participation for our wider local community. This is exactly what we want to do. At one point I never thought it would be finished, but it’s allhappened and the pitch is now there and that affects 1000s ofpeople’s lives so it was all completely and utterly worth it.

There will be an official opening ceremony later in the year.

Christmas Show

After the success of last year’s Christmas show - Christmas by Candlelight, the students and staffare already working hard in the Performing Arts faculty to create another fun and festive eveningfor all the family to enjoy.

Over 60 students are involved in the production, which provides opportunities for them to show offtheir skills both on and off the stage. The evening is set to befull of Christmas spirit with performances from the choir, soloistsand instrumentalists and a play ‘The Christmas Panto WhichGoes Wrong’.

On the night we will also have a Christmas Craft Fair organisedby the PTFA. The date for you to remember is Wednesday 19December. Tickets will be on sale next term and we would lovethe students to be supported by as many family and friends aswe can squeeze into the main hall!

Sports Awards

Congratulations to the award winners representing The Pingle Academy at the recent Active SouthDerbyshire Awards.

Young Sportsman of the Year: Joe Bagley (Swimming)

Young Sportswoman of the Year: Skye Adams (Motorsport)

Young Sportswoman of the Year(runner-up): Alice Atkin (Bowls)

Junior Team of the Year (runners-up): Evie Dutton, Ella-Skye Miles, Shannon Newton and Lucy Vernon (Table Tennis)

We would also like to congratulate Miss Bartlam, former Pingle student and now a teacher at Fairmeadows Foundation Primary School on winning the ‘Contribution to Sport’ award.

In the Press

Thanks to Jessica Henrick, a Year 9 student, for sending a letter to the Burton Mail about Mrs Sharples!

Charity Fundraising

Well done to Year 7 student, Hollie Patrick, who hasraised over a £1000 for Rainbows Hospice by makingand selling craft items.

Sixth Form News

Year 12 Biologists have recently been learningabout the detailed structure of the cell membraneand how the cell membrane controls the passageof molecules in and out of the cell. Students usedtheir new knowledge to build and label Plasticinemodels of the cell membrane, they found this activity useful as they could visualise a structure whichis approximately 8 millionths of a millimetre thick.

John Collins, a radio broadcaster and lecturer from Nottingham TrentUniversity, came to speak to our Sixth Form students about the valueof preparing for the next steps in their careers. Thank you to John, whohas been to many events at Pingle supporting our students, giving goodadvice and sharing his life experiences with them.

Camp

The Pingle Academy camp took place during July. Each Year 7 studenthas the opportunity to attend the camp, which includes a 10 mile walkaround the beautiful Derbyshire countryside and a 20 mile bike ride along the Monsal Trail in the Peak District National Park.

The students have fun experiencing outdoorliving and a different way of life. They also haveto face new adventures by sleeping outdoors andbeing away from home. They eat all their mealsinside a large marquee and each group haschores to help the smooth running of the camp.

2019 is nearly here and we will be going oncamp again! This experience is something thatyour Year 7 child will cherish and if you ask aYear 11 student about their time on school camp they always have fond memories.