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NewsletterNewsletterNewsletterNewsletter April 2011

Issue 2Issue 2Issue 2Issue 2

‘Aiming for Excellence’Aiming for Excellence’Aiming for Excellence’Aiming for Excellence’

Olympic Visitor to Springfield School On 1st March 2011, Olympic medallist Dr Alison Mowbray visited Springfield as part of the school’s drive to improve literacy. Key Stage 3 pupils and partner primary school pupils from Solent Junior School and Highbury Primary School were treated to a talk about the preparations Alison Mowbray had made in order to achieve her silver medal success. The pupils were invited to think about their own “Olympic Medal Moment” when they felt that they had achieved something for which they had worked really hard. Alison Mowbray also spent a session with talented PE pupils to give them an insight into sports psychology. Lead Literacy Teacher, Sarah Burn, commented: “She is such a fascinating woman, having never stepped in a rowing boat until she was eighteen and then going on to win a silver medal in Athens. I think the pupils really enjoyed her visit and were inspired by her determination. It will give them a lot to write about in forthcoming English lessons.” The pupils were equally enthusiastic. Talented young sportswoman Rachel Lewis, age 14, said: “It’s all very exciting and really helpful, given my ambition to be a PE teacher. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to be ‘coached’ by an Olympic medallist.” Dr Mowbray was very upbeat about her day at the school. She said: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed speaking to such a range of pupils, who all entered into the spirit of the day. I hope the sessions helped to stimulate some fascinating and thoughtful writing.” Miss Burn - Literacy Lead Teacher

Pictured with Alison Mowbray—top to bottom, left to right: Clare McConnachie (7S), Eleanor Bramley (7N), Amber Bellord (7N), Tia King (7G), Tom Harris (7G), Sarah Morey (7S), Rebecca Aldridge (7S), Shannon Carruthers (7N), Lucy Glover (7S)

Design Success—Olympics 2012

The 2012 Olympics Committee set a challenge for the children of Great Britain to design an Olympic mascot that represented their local area. 9F took up this challenge with great enthusiasm and began work on their Olympic mascots, known as ‘Wenlock’ and ‘Mandeville’. Designs were thoughtful, colourful and creative, demonstrating an array of artistic skills, in addition to cultural and historical references within Ports-mouth. Lauren Linter (pictured above with Miss Winstanley) was selected to go through to the semi final stage, where she presented her design solution to the GB Sports Council and members of the Olympic Design Committee in London. Lauren’s entry went through to the Final and she won the competition for work to represent the South East of England. In March of this year, Lauren made her way to Iris Design Studio in London to attend a Design Workshop. Iris is a world renowned design company which is responsible for the creation of the 2012 London Olympic design brand. The eleven winning contestants, representing England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, were offered the opportunity of collaborating with professional designers to finalise their mascot designs. The workshop taught the young designers about advertising, team work and the design process, from conception through to the creation of the final product in its varying formats. The 3D digital models of all mascots were revealed during the session. Each worthy winner, including Lauren, had the opportunity to work with two of Iris’s top Creative Design Directors to make final modification decisions relating to design features of their mascots. Regional Mascots will remain top secret until launch day, which will be some time in June 2011, when all designs will be released in pin badge form. The workshop was a truly wonderful occasion for all the young designers, each experiencing a once in a lifetime opportunity to design for the world’s greatest global sporting event. Lauren stated, “I’ve learnt a great deal throughout the competition stages and am very happy that I’ve had this experi-ence.” Many congratulations go to Lauren, who has designed a truly artistic and inspirational Olympic mascot. Well done! Miss Winstanley

The History Department's annual four day visit to the battlefields of Belgium and Northern France began in the early hours of a Wednesday morning in March. Forty-four bleary eyed Year10 students (and five sleepy staff) assembled in the school car park to say 'Au revoir' to parents as they departed for the Flanders Front Line and the unique opportunity to make a comparison between the technology of warfare in WW1 and WW2. Over the next three days students had the chance to explore the trenches of Passchendaele and the tunnels of Vimy, visit the massive cemeteries of the many fallen in the WW1 battles and get a real sense of the atrocious conditions suffered by so many soldiers. This was then compared to the ‘high tech’ warfare of WW2, with a study of the massive concrete blockhouses built by slave labour to launch V1 and V2 rockets at Britain. So much was covered in so little time, but the whole experience made a deep impact on an enthusiastic group of young historians. This trip is a real ‘hands on’ experience and brings home so much that is taught in the classroom. Throughout the trip all the students were a credit to them-selves and to their school. It was as much pleasure to stand quietly and respect-fully with these students as the Last Post was played under Menin Gate, as it was share the ‘banter’ whilst socialising with them in the evenings. Well done Mr Walters for organising another successful educational visit. Mr Wallace—Head of Year 10

Pictured above: Pupils at La Coupole in northern France—a hill which the Nazis hollowed out, using slave labour, to create a V2 launch site. It now houses a museum about World War 2—see article right for more information about the Battlefields Trip

Pictured above: Emma Uden with one of the Rotarians from the Public Speaking event at which she was voted

‘Best Speaker’ - see article below

Springfield Students are

Passionate Speakers

At the recent ‘Public Schools’ Speaking Competition’, Emma Uden (10D) was voted Best Speaker for her fan-tastic speech on the subject: ‘Is love an ageless passion?’ In her address to the audience, Emma raised the question of whether young people are capable of feeling strong emotions and referred to works of literature by Shake-speare and Thomas Hardy to illustrate her answer. The group of three pupils from Springfield, which also included Holly Hayward and Lauren Wood, was voted ‘Runners Up’ in the competition and this was a tremendous achievement as they were competing against sixth formers in their category. We were also very proud of Springfield’s other team, which comprised: Sandi Coombes, Hanieh Majidi and Jessica Allington. Sandi talked about the concept of: ‘Dying to be perfect’ and spoke with emotion and directness. Mrs Courtney—Lead Practitioner, English

The Battlefields Trip

Swimming Gala 2011

At the time of writing, the 2011 annual Swimming Gala is under way. There was an impressive turn out for the Year 7 events on 30th March. All tutor groups were represented with competitors for each race and the relay. The atmosphere was extremely positive with lots of cheering! For the Year 9 swimming gala on 31st March the sense of competition was strong throughout; with each tutor group fighting for the points. The atmosphere was good, everyone cheered on each swimmer. All the results will be announced at Year Group Assemblies. The Year 8 swimming gala is on Thursday 7th April. U14 Girls’ Football On Tuesday 29th March, Springfield’s U14 Girls’ football team welcomed Robert May’s School to compete in the Hampshire Cup Semi Final. The games started with some great football from both teams, Springfield and Robert May’s narrowly missing goals. The centre half from Robert May’s was strong and managed a few shots on target, but some excellent goalkeeping from Georgia Wheatcroft kept the ball out of the net. The score at half time was 0–0. After the team talks, both schools came out “firing on all cylinders”. With some strong work in midfield and excellent passing, the break-through came from Springfield, Emily Windsor finding the top corner of the goal to give Springfield the lead. Springfield were not going to give up their advantage and battled hard. With great work from all of the team, Springfield scored another really good goal. With only three minutes left on the clock Robert May’s pulled a goal back, but strong defensive work from Springfield meant that they held the lead to win the match 2-1. The girls are now in the Finals—hopefully to be played before Easter. Team members are: Georgia Smeed, Georgia Wheatcroft, Kirbie Harman, Ellie Brent, Emily Windsor, Elinor Williams, India Warren, Courtney Thurston, Rhianna Sibley, Sophie Parkins, Alice Wilson, Lucy Emery and Abbie O’Donnell. Well done, girls. Great game! Miss Hunt—PE

Sainsbury’s Active Sainsbury’s Active Sainsbury’s Active Sainsbury’s Active Sports VouchersSports VouchersSports VouchersSports Vouchers We are collecting Sains-bury’s Active Sports Vouch-ers to buy sports equipment for the school. Please bring any vouchers you would like to donate to the main Reception. Thank you. Mr Snook—Subject Leader

Absence Line

023 92381185

A reminder to all parents and carers to call on the above number ONLY to speak to a member

of staff about pupil absence and/or atten-dance issues.

Thank you for your cooperation, which will en-able us to deal effectively and promptly with

absence and attendance issues

Mrs Summers - Deputy Headteacher

Boys' Royal Marines ‘The Psychology of Fear’

Writing Challenge

On a gloriously sunny day (Friday 25th March), a group of Year 8 boys went to the Royal Marines Museum in Southsea. Our challenge was to write a “chiller” story. The winning teams would be taken on a ghost tour, courtesy of the events company ‘Dark Encounters’. During the morning we gathered ideas by watching clips of thrillers and horror stories, trying Victorian food whilst blindfolded and being frightened by actors por-traying characters from the past and present, including victims and prisoners of war. In the afternoon we were set the task of writing a fright-ening story, either individually or in small groups. There were about ninety boys taking part in total. Three winning groups were chosen, two of whom were from Springfield:

⇒ Nathan Barnes, Jak Steel, Fred McClintock, Brandon Burns, Carl Hewitt (all except Nathan pictured above)

⇒ Sam Waterman, Joseph Denton, Giles Estcourt After spending about two hours writing our stories, we were sent outside and commanded by an ex-Marines officer to pick up litter and do exercises such as press ups. While we were outside, the winners were chosen and when we had finished they were announced. We were advised that the stories will be printed in the ‘Portsmouth News’ and the names of the winners an-nounced. Watch this space ... We particularly enjoyed the blindfolded food tasting and the war scenarios. It was a really good day out with a successful result. Joe Denton (8P)

A Royal Occasion On Monday 14th March, we attended Westminster Abbey for the observance of Common-wealth Day. We were in the presence of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. The theme of the day was: ‘Women as agents of change’. At this ceremony, there were many speak-ers, including: Annie Lennox and Carol Ann Duffy, who spoke of how important girls are globally. Every country in the Commonwealth was represented and there were performances from the different cul-tures and a parade of the flags with the flag bearers all wearing traditional clothing. In addition, we were lucky enough to be seated in the second row and had a great view of the Queen. This day was very memorable and we are thankful we were chosen to witness this event. We would like to thank Mr & Mrs Forhead for taking us to London. Zoe Adey, Scarlett Harvey-Whitten and Alice McPherson (Year 8)

Be aware—A Polite Reminder of Uniform Guidelines: Please may I remind parents and pupils of the following items from the school’s uniform code:

• No extreme haircuts or dyed hair colours are acceptable. The Headteacher retains the final judgement regarding ‘extreme’ hair-cuts. Shaved patterns or heads are definitely not acceptable. If pupils wish to have very short hair, they must not have it any shorter than a No. 3 razor cut.

• Skirts: Plain black, reaching the knees or longer. Skirts should be of a plain style. Please avoid layers, frills, embroidery or very flimsy fabric. Culottes may not be worn.

Mrs Summers—Deputy Headteacher

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On Thursday 10th March 2011, a group of Year 10s and Year 8s travelled to the Kings Theatre in Southsea to compete in Portsmouth Street Dance Championships. After ten weeks of solid rehearsal it all came down to the two minutes on stage. After watching all the other schools, we sat nervously waiting for our chance. Other schools competing were: City of Portsmouth Girls’, Admiral Lord Nelson, Miltoncross, Mayfield, St Edmunds and Priory. The competition was really tough and, once everyone had performed the judges had to deliberate and decide which schools they thought had performed with the most enthusiasm. We hope we were in with a chance of winning ‘Portsmouth Street Dance Championships’ as the judges said we performed with brilliant energy, got the crowd involved, had unique formations and appropriate facial expressions. The time finally came to announce the top three schools. When St Edmunds came third, we were hoping that we would at least get placed second. Admiral Lord Nelson took second place and we were then hoping that we would take the trophy for first. For the first time in three years of entering the competition, Springfield School came first. We were all ecstatic and sprinted onto stage to re-ceive our trophy. We hope we can enter next year and do as well as we did in 2011. Ellen McNulty (10R) and Ellie Plane (10F)

The successful team (top to bottom and left to right): Tilly Hill, Alice Brown, Shelby Hill, Millie McIntyre, Molly Pearson, Jemma Gilham, Katherine Kite-Powell, Lauren Wood, Billie Ord, Tom Honour, Amber Emery, Emily Watts, Gemma Alling-ton, Ellie Plane, Rachel Lewis and Josh Ballingall—see article below

BBC SCHOOL REPORT - LIVE FROM SPRINGFIELD

On March 24th ten year 8 pupils created their own news report, in conjunction with BBC News School Report. Eight hundred schools across the UK took part in this fantastic project, which allows 11-14 year olds to experience what a news room is like and to write their own news report. The pupils from our school who were involved were: Ewan Day, Louise Cox, Lauren Clark, Sachin Janagal, Sophie Cooke, Chloe Wadsworth, Adam Boxall, Tom Guy, Hannah Thomas and Luke Perman. The day’s activities were supervised by Miss Johnson, who said:” The students have worked really hard during the last few months and especially so on the day itself. They learned the necessary skills to gather and assemble some inspirational news stories and worked in a mature and responsible manner. I was very impressed”.

Although they worked as a team, each pupil was assigned their own role and often had to make compro-mises in terms of what they could include so as to ensure the news was ready for 4.00pm. The team pro-duced a combination of text based, radio and television reports focusing on the weather, local, national and international news as well as a special interview on ‘Help for Heroes’.

Tom, Adam and Luke, BBC School Reporters, said: “The whole process has been great fun and a valuable experience, providing us with an insight into the complex process of making the news. It was great to broad-cast the work we've been doing; we have a genuine interest in the topic and feel others will be equally interested and inspired.” Lauren and Ewan, BBC School Reporters, added: ”It was a great opportunity to do something different and experience something new, although it was a rush at times to get everything achieved by our deadline.” All the BBC School Reporters found it a great experience and were immediately rewarded for their hard work by seeing the finished version broadcast through the BBC and Springfield School websites. Don’t forg et to log on (www.springfield.uk.net) to see their fantastic work. Miss Johnson – English

PE KIT: A reminder that if your child is not participating actively in a PE lesson they must still ensure that they bring suitable kit to the lesson. This should be: T-shirt, trainers, track-suit bottoms/shorts, a warm jumper or training top (if outside) and T-shirt and shorts (if on poolside). This is so that they can take on additional roles such as that of coach, referee or helper in the lesson. Mr Snook—Subject Leader PE The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

On Tuesday 15th March, Forest Forge Theatre Company and the Nuffield Theatre came to our school to perform the play ‘The Wolves of Willoughby Chase’. I thought that the acting was great! There were twelve parts to be played by five actors who each had a lot of lines to learn and effort to put in. My favourite actor was the man who played Sir Willoughby and Gertrude Brisket. This is because he made me laugh the whole time he was on stage. Nathan Sibley (8D) The production didn’t only fulfil my expectations; it exceeded them. The performance was a brilliant fusion of terror, humour and wit. I hadn’t seen a good play in a while and that perform-ance reminded me of why I love the theatre so much. Matthew Randell (8F)

Healthy Lifestyle Survey Last year, Year 9 and Year 11 pupils carried out a survey on healthy lifestyles, in association with the local authority and a group of analysts from Exeter. The outcomes of this survey revealed some interesting patterns and these have been shared with the pupils in their PSHE lessons. In conjunction with other schools in Portsmouth, we are now asking parents to ‘have their say’ by clicking on the following link and complet-ing a survey themselves: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7HKSFZH Once all responses have been collated and the results produced, we will be pleased to share these with par-ents via parents’ evenings. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this pro-ject, which will be anonymous. Once completed, results from the parents’ survey will be added to those from the pupils’ to provide an overall picture which will form a part of future PSHE lessons. Mr J Lomas—Assistant Headteacher

EAST meets WEST Art work produced by 9L will be on display at the IBM Art Gallery in Havant

The pupils of 9L were chosen to represent Springfield School in a national project which was part of the

‘Connecting Classrooms’ scheme sponsored by the British Council. The scheme links UK schools with

schools in other parts of the world and Springfield is partnered with a secondary school in Hong Kong.

The project had to culminate in a piece of work which communicates the culture, history and identity of

the local community. Four Portsmouth schools took part and 9L were the youngest participants of all

the eighty-three UK schools involved.

After building a mind-map, people of all ages were canvassed to find out which features, landmarks

and historical events were considered most representative of Portsmouth. The pupils then worked in

pairs to produce words and images to depict their city. They decided to use the Millennium Walk chain

motif to unify their individual pieces into the single artwork shown below which includes paintings of the

Spinnaker Tower, the Bandstand, the Canoe Lake, Palmerston’s Forts,

the Mary Rose and the Solent. The pupils have exchanged their work

with the Ching Chung Hau Po Woon School in Hong Kong via Face-

book.

Next, Year 9 will embark on a cross-curriculum project entitled

“Stepping into Someone Else’s Shoes”.

Lesley Gregory—Link Governor for Art

Photos below: Left: the finished article on display. Right: Pupils from 9L concen-trating on their images for the project—see article left

Photo: Students enjoy putting their questions to the cast after the performance—see article above. Pictured left to right: Sandi Coombes (10F), Amber Stone (10F), Natasha Coote (10G), Jessica Manns (10P) and Daisy Jones (10L)

In the Galaxy’s Pocket

In the galaxy s pocket are planets

Scrunched up in a bag.

There are stars and universes

Waiting to be explored

And a magical watch,

Telling the time.

This is a galaxy s pocket.

Alex Worley (7P’Alex Worley (7P’Alex Worley (7P’Alex Worley (7P’

THE BIG BANG The Big Bang Fair ran from 10th – 12th March and was held at the London Excel Centre. A group of Springfield pupils trav-elled to London with Miss Jackson on Wednesday afternoon, together with all the equipment, to set up the stand for the following day. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, different groups of Spring-field students went on day trips. Many organisations such as: The Science Museum, Shell, Institute of Physics, Wallace and Grommit’s World of Invention, Sellafield, McLaren and the UK Space Agency were exhibiting at the fair. The Springfield School Science Club project was about Non-Newtonian fluids. This project began in January and involved walking across a trough of Oobleck (see explanation below) in the TCC. A mixture of cornflour and water is all you need to create Oobleck. This word comes from a Dr Seuss book called ‘Bartholomew and the Oobleck’. When you put stress on the Oobleck it became a solid but if you are gentle with it the Oobleck turns into a liquid and flows. It is known as a Newtonian fluid because of this strange behaviour. The thirteen students involved in the project spent their time on the stand entertaining passers by. They encouraged many people to get ‘hands on’ with Oobleck as they explained the properties and related this to other Non Newtonian fluids and their technological uses. Visitors to the stand ranged from primary school children—who loved the challenge of working out whether the Oobleck was a solid or a liquid—to adults; who were interested in Non Newtonian fluids and their uses in items like iphone cases. Luke Perman (8N) Pupils taking part said: “It was a great opportunity and I liked seeing so many other people interested in Science”. Laura Heathcote (8G) “I really enjoyed this opportunity. I learnt more about other schools’ projects and expanded my scientific knowledge.” Kirsty Edginton (8P) Miss Jackson commented: “I hope this will encourage other pupils to join in with the Science Club and the exciting activities we run. Keep an eye on the notice board for information about some Big Bang inspired challenges”.

The piece of work above by Year 7 pupil Alex Worley links back to the Big Bang theme

and Professor Brian Cox’s presentation at Springfield in November last year

Photos: Top: Elle Brown from the Oobleck team showing Liam Fielding and Sachin Janagal the fun of playing with Oobleck. Above: Chi Zhao (9F) and Megan Mullins (9R) taking part in an energy generating exercise. Left: Ian Castellano (8N), Vicky Lipscombe (8P) and Kirsty Edgin-ton (8P) on duty on their “Oobleck” stand—see article above left

EBP Technology Theme Working Breakfast

In February, a group of Year 8 pupils were chosen to take part in a working breakfast which enabled the children to learn more about possible careers involving Design Technology (DT). The trip called for a very early morning start, so pupils were safely back in school by Period 3 (11.25am). The working breakfast was based at The Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport and many other schools were there too. Upon arrival, the pupils were served a light breakfast. Afterwards, the pupils sat around a table (a “station”) and listened to various workers, who each specialised in different DT related career areas. There were about twelve different stations, each one unique in what they explained to the pupils. At each station, the pupils were given a short talk, with some speakers providing pamphlets and booklets of information. Some stations even gave out freebies! Pupils were given prompt sheets but were encouraged to make up some of their own questions. They were also encouraged to take down contact details for any companies where they thought they might like to request to do their work experience. After the pupils had visited all stations, they had time left to have a tour of the submarine, led by an ex-sub-mariner, before returning to school. All of the students found this trip beneficial and really enjoyed it. Afterwards, Mr Elliot told us that other working breakfasts might be planned for Springfield pupils in the future.

Sachin Janagal (8L)

STUDYING THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM On 10th March, a group of fourteen Year 8 pupils travelled to Southampton University to study the digestive system. We all took part in some mock key-hole (lacrascopic) surgery and learnt more about appendicitis. We carried out several different experiments and found several of the results surprising. An example of an experiment was tasting fizzy drinks without be-ing told what they were. We had to identify the flavour of the orange, red and black drinks. It turned out that they were all the same—lemonade with added food colouring - although we guessed they were all different. We learned a lot about allergies and the things to which people might be aller-gic. We found out what to do if someone has had an allergic reaction and what the symptoms are. Many people who have severe reactions carry an epi pen which injects adrenaline, along with other chemicals, into the blood. Afterwards we were given refreshments and were able to ask the medical students who ran the event any questions we might have. We asked about medicine, qualifications and university. We left with a greater knowledge due to all the “hands-on” activities and had a fun and educational visit. Rebekah LeComte, Emily Saville, Lisa Bruni, Lucy Downer, Becky Stone, Joe Denton, James Brown, Jenny Dallas

Cup Cakes with a difference!

On Saturday 19th

March, twelve pupils, with the help of teacher Miss Newton,

baked the periodic table out of cup cakes, as part of an event to mark the end of

the Science and Engineering Week.

After the cupcakes were baked the icing process took place. Each group of ele-

ments were iced onto the cakes in different colours with their element name

drawn on in black icing. After they’d been iced, the pupils arranged the cakes to

match the order of the actual periodic table. This was a rewarding activity; pupil

Sachin Janagal commented: “I really enjoyed making the periodic table out of cup-

cakes and I think it was a beneficial experience for everyone involved. Periodicakes

rule!”

The students’ hard work is shown in the image below. Pictured are (left to right):

Jenna Wickham (8D), Jess Western (10L), Tiffany Williams (10E), Megan Dodd (10E),

Amber Stone (10F), Carissa Thurston (10F), Miss Newton, Chloe Wadsworth (8E),

Josh Pountney (9L), Sophie Cooke (8L), Saul Barrett (9L), Matthew Randell (8F),

Sachin Janagal (8L).

Miss Newton

Above: a group of students study the organs of digestion (left to right: Rebecca Stone, Rebekah LeComte, James Brown and Joe Denton). See article left. Right: Carrying out simulated key-hole surgery

Left: Jennifer Dallas (8S) takes part in an exercise to count the number of taste buds on the tongue.

Mr K Elliott—Assistant Technology College Manager a nd ESI Co-ordinator

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

LAST DAY OF TERM—FRIDAY 8TH APRIL (PROFESSIONAL CLO SURE DAY) FIRST DAY OF SUMMER TERM—TUESDAY 26TH APRIL

ROYAL WEDDING—FRIDAY 29TH APRIL—SCHOOL CLOSED BANK HOLIDAY—MONDAY 2ND MAY

CALENDAR *

Please mark these dates on your calendar NOW!

APRIL

SUN 10TH—THURS 14TH YEAR 9 DESIGN TECHNOLOGY VISIT TO HARPER ADAMS UNIVER-SITY, ARRANGED VIA THE SMALLPEICE TRUST

MON 11TH—WED 20TH REVISION WORKSHOPS FOR YEAR 11 PUPILS

MON 11TH—THURS 14TH YEAR 9 VISIT DESIGN TECHNOLOGY VISIT TO UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM, ARRANGED VIA THE SMALLPEICE TRUST

THURSDAY 28TH YEAR 9 QINETIC SCHOOL POWERBOAT CHALLENGE

SATURDAY 30TH 9.30AM—12 NOON CYBER CAFÉ: FOCUS—E-SAFETY

MAY

MONDAY 2ND MAY—BANK HOLIDAY

TUESDAY 3RD—FRIDAY 6TH YEAR 9 CORE EXAMS WEEK

WEDNESDAY 4TH 7.30PM YEAR 10 MUSIC TRIP TO KINGS THEATRE, SOUTHSEA TO SEE ‘BLOOD BROTHERS’ (DATE CHANGE FROM SAT 7TH MAY)

THURSDAY 5TH YEAR 8 GIRLS —THIRD DOSE OF HPV VACCINATIONS

MON 9TH—FRI 13TH YEAR 10 EXAM WEEK BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS PRACTICAL EXAM—ALL WEEK (Y10)

FRIDAY 13TH YEAR 11 LEAVERS’ ASSEMBLY

FUTURE TERM DATES SATURDAY CLUB AND SPRINGBOARD CLUB YEAR 10 GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP TO THE BAY OF NAPLES MONDAY 4TH JULY WEDNESDAY 6TH JULY

30TH APRIL, 7TH MAY, 14TH MAY, 21ST MAY FRI 3RD—TUES 7TH JUNE INDUCTION DAY INDUCTION EVENING

*Please note these dates are correct at publication, but could be subject to change. Please check the website, future newsletters and your child’s study planner

TRAILBLAZERS

‘Trailblazers’ takes place every Wednesday after school (3.20pm until

5.00pm). It is a gardening and outdoor adventure club; we plant fruit, vegeta-

bles and flower seeds all year around. Our garden is at the back of the Drama

studio. It has eight planting beds. Examples of some of what we grow are

strawberries, onions, broad beans, garlic, potatoes, beetroot, pumpkin and

carrots. We are all looking forward to harvesting and eating!

It is an excellent place to meet up with others who share our interest in gar-

dening. I enjoy ‘Trailblazers’ because it a chance to learn new things and put

them into practice.

In December as a reward for all our hard work, the group went to Clanfield

Sustainability Centre. Here, we worked in teams to tackle the low ropes

course - and race each other round! We then cooked sausages on a fire we

had made and enjoyed being in the woods. The club is not just about plant-

ing; we also like to get out and enjoy the outdoors.

If you would like to join, come to see Miss Jackson or Miss Graham or

any of the Year 9 Trailblazers.

Pictured hard at work above: Kayleigh Blundell (8G), Shannon Carruthers (7G), Rebecca Aldridge (7S), Miss Graham, Miss Jackson and helpers from Friends of the Earth