Holsworthy Community College

A View from the Bridge 20th May 2016

PTFA Bingo Tonight—Doors open 7pm Eyes down at 8pm Holsworthy Community College Part of the Holsworthy Area Federation Tel: 01409 253430 www.hcc.devon.sch.uk Email: [email protected] PLEASE NOTE UPDATED EMAIL AND WEB ADDRESS

Ten Tors 2016 We arrived at Okehampton Army Camp on Friday 6th May and had a day of sitting in briefings and having our kit scrutinised. After being given the go ahead from the army we got an early night’s sleep. The sirens woke us at five. We just had time for some breakfast before heading off at 7:00am. Holsworthy Moorland Training Group had two teams- one doing the 35 mile route which consisted of Dom Fairbrass, Jack Ensor, Joe Meredith, Tom, James Barriball and Will Bromell. The other team doing the 45 mile route were Emily Shepherd, Chelsea Greenaway, Elliot Pomeroy, Rory O’Neil, TJ Acres and Mitch Acres. The 35 mile team narrowly missed out on going to their next checkpoint to camp at the end of Saturday, but had still made good time and camped at Water Hill. The 45 team also did well and made it to Higher White to camp. The 35 mile team came in on the Sunday at 11:51am, two hours ahead of their scheduled time. The 45 team did incredibly well to persist considering various injuries and made it back at 3:17pm. Overall a very good result which would not have been possible without the constant help of Holsworthy Moorland Training Group! Will Bromell

Principal’s Comments Preparations are well under way for our first ever PTFA Bingo night which is tonight (Friday 20 th May) with doors open at 19:00 and ―Eyes Down‖ at 20:00. Thanks to all involved, but especially the PTFA Committee with Mr and Mrs Vile. GCSE written exams started last Monday morning with GCSE Religious Studies. This course has run every Monday night for the past two years after school and the 17 candidates taking this extra GCSE have shown dedication and commitment ably assisted by Mrs Rowe’s generosity with her baking skills and hot beverages. GCSE French has also been sat this week and this Friday afternoon sees GCSE Sports Studies completed. Samples of controlled assessments have been called for moderation. The external moderation meeting for Art GCSE has been organised at Okehampton CC. Next week most Year 11s will have a written exam every day. On Thursday morning it was pleasing to see Year 11s working well through past papers in Maths, when I had to do a couple of cover lessons. Termly appraisal observations continue and I enjoyed my time in some English lessons this week. Last Friday I was at the DASH Executive meeting and there were various items on the agenda as Sue Clarke, Head of Education and Learning, and Eileen Barnes-Vachell, Head of the Babcock School Improvement team commissioned by Devon County Council joined us for the first hour. Term time holidays have been featured in the news after the High Court ruling. By chance I had a meeting with EWOs on Monday afternoon discussing the year ahead. Whilst the 1944 Education Act requires ―regular‖ attendance I don’t think any school leader in 2016 would see 93% as regular attendance. Once attendance falls below 95% there is a correlation with attendance continuing to drift, plus 95% attendance means missing half a school day every fortnight throughout the school year. I suspect having raised the persistent absence threshold from 85% to 90% there will be a rise in this figure by the government either through law or policy. Our current policy of not authorising absence if attendance is below 95% unless an exceptional circumstance prevails will be maintained. I would emphasise again that the vast majority of school pupils at HCC have strong attendance, but a minority bring down our whole school attendance figure. As this week’s newsletter goes to publication I am in the Department for Education at a meeting of the Schools and Academies Funding Group. We will be receiving the findings from the Phase One consultation on school funding reform. I just wish we would see some definite action on this front. It has been a sad week ending temporary contracts for staff, who have helped contribute to the life of the school, but I have had to balance the budget for financial year 2017-18, which these decisions have enabled. It has been a wet lunchtime today and the meal time assistants again did a super job, as ever.

Art Pics of the Week Here is a selection of Year 9 pencil portraits, including work by Hannah Steadman. The group have worked primarily with tone, avoiding line to create the illusion of 3 dimensional form.

Forthcoming Events Monday 23rd May

GCSE English Literature Modern Drama Exam 8.55am– 45 minutes GCSE English Literature Prose from different cultures exam 9.50am—45 minutes Numeracy Ninjas Club for Year 6 students—3.30pm—4.30pm Spain Trip meeting 5pm

Tuesday 24th May

GCSE Design and Technology Textiles Technology Exam 8.55am—2 hours GCSE Geography Exam 1.30pm—1 hour 30 minutes—early start for some English Literature Assessment for Year 9—1 hour 30 minutes U13 and U14 cricket at Launceston Cricket Club—1pm—4.45pm U14 rounders tournament at Bude—3.10pm—5pm Staff meeting—faculty operational

Wednesday 25th May

GCSE Business Studies 8.55am—1 hour CIEH Food Safety—Year 10 11.10am—1 hour GCSE Science B: Modules B1 C1 P1 exam 1.30pm—1 hour 15 minutes—Year 10 and Year 11 re-sit candidates GCSE Biology B: Modules B1 B2 B3 1.30pm—1 hour 15 minutes All years rounders v Torrington—at home—3.15pm—5pm Year 8 Parents’ Evening 4pm—7pm

Thursday 26th May

GCSE Maths Applications Paper 1 Calculator 8.55am—1 hour 45 minutes GCSE Maths Linear Paper 1 Non calculator —1 hour 45 minutes

Friday 27th May

GCSE English Literature: Literary heritage prose and contemporary poetry 8.55am—1 hour 30 minutes Year 11 Leavers’ Day—11.10 start Last day of Summer Term 1

Why not print this and stick it on your fridge!

HALF TERM Monday 6th June

GCSE History A: Study in Development and American West—8.55am—2 hours GCSE Design Technology Food Technology 1pm—2 hours

Tuesday 7th June

GCSE English Information and Ideas 8.55am—2 hours Staff meeting - operational

Wednesday 8th June

GCSE German Listening and Reading 8.55am GCSE Computing 8.55am—1 hour 30 minutes GCSE Geography—Human Geography 1.30pm—1 hour and 30 minutes Summer 1 reports issued for Year 10 students Year 6 Move on Up Day for small primary schools U12 and U13 rounders v Shebbear at home—3.10pm—4.45pm

Thursday 9th June

GCSE Maths Applications Paper 2 Calculator 8.55am—1 hour 45 minutes GCSE Maths Linear Paper 2 Calculator 10.45am—1 hour 45 minutes Year 8 rounders tournament at Bude—3.15pm—5.30pm

Friday 10th June

GCSE Science Modules B2, C2 and P2 8.55am—1 hour 30 minutes GCSE Chemistry Modules C1, C2 and C3 8.55am—1 hour 15 minutes Business Studies trip for 24 Year 10 students with Mrs Bloxham GCSE Business Studies Unit 2 Growing a Business—1.30pm 1 hour GCSE Music 1.30pm—1 hour

HCC v Okehampton We welcomed Okehampton for a home rounders match on Wednesday 18th May. Unfortunately a number of key players were at the North Devon Schools Athletics competition, but regardless we fielded full teams. There was some excellent play seen across the teams with the Year 7 and 8 team narrowing the gap significantly in the second innings. The Year 9 team had a very competitive game. With some of the play being of a standard expected at GCSE level, they were rewarded with a well-deserved win. Well done to Katie Martin, who was voted player of the match by Okehampton. Results were as follows: Year 7 lost 15½ to 11½ , Year 8 lost 15½ to 11½, Year 9 won 10½ to 9½, Year 10 lost 12 to 4.

Holocaust Survivor to Speak to Community Holsworthy College is soon to receive a very special visit as the school opens its doors once more to Holocaust survivor, Mr Zigi Shipper BEM. As part of a visit organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET), we are offering the local community the rare opportunity to hear from Mr Shipper, a Holocaust survivor, on the evening of Wednesday 29th June 2016. This will then be followed by a question and answer session, as well as refreshments. Zigi has previously spoken to our pupils, and he will be continuing this tradition by talking to our current Year 9s on Thursday 30th June. However, this is the first time that we have arranged for Zigi to speak about his experiences to parents, staff, governors and the local community. Zigi spent time in the Lodz ghetto in Poland, before being removed to Auschwitz-Birkenau and Stutthof concentration camps. During his emotive and moving testimony, Zigi will discuss his experiences of the horror he and many others faced and the events following his liberation. Should you wish to reserve a place on this unique evening to hear Zigi speak, please contact the College directly, as places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. The venue will be the Community College unless demand for tickets is greater than the capacity of the Purple Circle in which case we have reserved Bodmin Street Chapel as a larger venue just in case. Should you have any questions please speak to myself or Mr Scott.

HCC Perform Well at Athletics Championships On Wednesday 18th May, Holsworthy Community College took a group of students in Years 7-10 to the North Devon Athletics Championships at Braunton Athletics Track. The pupils took part in a number of track and field events, including: javelin, shot put, discus, high jump, long jump, triple jump, 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m. All of the pupils performed extremely well, with some outstanding performances coming from Issy Edworthy who won her heat to get through to the 100m finals, finishing in a respectable 5th place. Harvey Lees also got through to finals in the 100m, finishing 6th and in the 200m finals he came 4th. Another stand out performer was Charlotte Prime. Charlotte won her 200m heat race before going on to the final and finishing in second place. Charlotte also competed in the 300 metres and won her heat and possibly the whole race, depending on whether her time bettered those in the second heat. Finally the Intermediate girls relay team got through to the finals (Charlotte, Brooke, Georgie and Holly) and finished in 4th place against some strong teams. Overall a fantastic day, well done to everyone who went! Full athletics teams: Year 7: Theo Funnel, Keiron Shadrick, Jasper Presswell , Harry Grigg, Noah Allen, Charlie Presswell, Callum Johns, Katie Grigg. Year 8: Toby Martyn, Issy Edworthy, Louise Shepherd, Sophie Powell, Hester Presswell. Year 9: Luke Self, Josh Parry, Nat Parry, Richard Orchard, Jamie Hunt, Mark Wilson, Reece Beere, Jake Willetts, Lewis Haxell. Year 10: Sam Quance, Harvey Lees, Will Cooper, Kyle Pennington, Jordan Boundy, Kane Gebala, Georgie Moores, Charlotte Prime, Holly Martin, Beth Grigg, Brooke Rowe, Ellie Martyn, Libby Purl, Andrew Williams Issy Edworthy

Where are they Now? My journey since Holsworthy Community College: After I finished my GCSEs at Holsworthy Community College, I started A-Levels at Petroc College. At the time of choosing A-Levels, I was still a little undecided about my career choices and wasn’t sure about what I wanted to do for a job. I was almost 100% sure I wanted to teach, but I did also love the creative subjects like Art and DT, as well as my sport, and I thought I may want to pursue these subjects at a later date. I decided to keep my options quite open, and chose to do A-Levels in PE, Sociology, English Literature and Photography. By the end of my first year I had decided that I wanted to become a teacher. Once I had decided on my chosen career, I had to think about what I needed to do to become a teacher. Because I was sure that I wanted to teach, and had chosen to teach primary school, I decided that the best option for me would be to complete a Bachelor of Education degree. This would enable me to study Primary Education for three years, have a placement in each year, and leave university as a newly qualified teacher. University was difficult, but I am glad I went and I loved every minute of it. I made the best friends I could ask for, and spent three years developing my understanding of a subject that I loved and was interested in. I was also able to take on other responsibilities while at university, like having a job and organising the university netball club. While I was at university, I studied a full time course, had a part-time job and played and coached netball almost every day. It was very busy, but I think that is what prepared me for life as a teacher! My course was fantastic and we had plenty of interesting modules that taught us about different areas of teaching and learning. We were lucky enough to have placements each year, which meant we were able to put our learning into practise and work in many different schools. I was lucky enough to be placed in different year groups in each of my three years, so by the time I finished my degree, I had teaching experience from year 1- year 6. After finishing my degree, I applied for lots of different jobs in the North Devon area. I chose to stay living at home while teaching so that I could save money to buy a house (I hope!). I was offered a job at a primary school in Barnstaple. I accepted a permanent contract and now have an amazing class of my own! I teach Year 2, and although they are challenging, teaching is so rewarding and I have loved getting to know my children over this year. If I had to give anyone advice about their future, I would say before choosing university, make sure you are certain about what you want to do. I think university can be seen as an expensive option after college, and it is, but it’s worth it if you get to your dream career from it. Otherwise, I think you may as well get into the working world and start saving some money! Rebecca Priest

Another Art Pic of the Week My favourite piece from last week - a really competent and creative piece of collage by Felicity Owen in Year 7. This was a really great effort from Fliss, showing great determination, reworking the collage to ensure maximum detail was recorded from the African mask she was studying. Well done, Felicity! Mrs Tomlin

Year 10 College Taster Days – 29th June 2016 Once again this year, all of Year 10 will be out and about discovering the opportunities that await them when they head off into the world of Post-16 studies. The first of many trips offered begins with the College Taster Day sessions on Wednesday 29th June, where they will be taken to the college of their choice for a full day of sessions at one of the three local colleges: Duchy, Exeter and Petroc. Students decided at their assembly which college they wished to attend, but students who are going to Petroc or Exeter will need to do the on-line application with these colleges before Friday 20th, at the very latest. Although as a school, we can only offer 1 full day of taster sessions, there will be several open days and taster sessions offered by the college over the next year – be sure to keep an eye out for these in the future! Students will be asked to choose an interest area and this will determine which of the taster sessions they attend. This is MOST definitely not a binding choice, but will help us as a college guide the individuals towards the most challenging and aspirational courses available to them. It is always a good idea to visit as many different higher education institutions as possible in order to ensure that this most important of decisions is made with the best information to guide them. On the day, students should expect to be given a college tour of the campus, the facilities and the locations of all the most important things: study rooms, lecture halls, toilets, vending machines and canteens…Be sure to ask as many questions as you can to get the answers to those all important questions that are no doubt brewing in your heads. Later in this academic year, there are plans to instigate a very similar activity, but with the local 6 th form colleges, so that students can get an idea of the comparison between all the available institutions locally. Thus far Okehampton and Launceston have offered to host our Yr10s for a full day of sessions that include: A and AS level lessons, Btec L1-3 insight and where possible, look at local apprenticeship offers and provision. At HCC we are continually trying to offer the students the widest range of opportunities, whilst ensuring that we offer the best possible support for these decisions. It is a very difficult decision in this next step; some students embrace change with open arms, others are more reticent. Whatever happens in the future, we are very fortunate to have such an amazing group of KS4 students. Mike Greig Head of Careers

Numeracy Ninjas It was lovely to see some Year 6 students in school yesterday for the first Numeracy Ninja Club. The after school sessions allow students to get better acquainted with our school and learn, through games and activities, that Maths can be fun! Any parents/carers of Year 6 students who are interested in attending, please see their Year 6 teacher who will then contact HCC.

Inter-House Competitions Quiz Results 1st Poseidon 218 highest group SST 19 2nd Apollo 216 Highest groups NTR 19 3rd Thor 213 Highest group JNS 19 4th Zeus 211 Highest groups KT, NB, SAW 18

Question 13 of 20: Researchers in the US believe they may be a step closer to locating the ship Endeavour. Which famous British explorer used the Endeavour to explore the Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific? a. Captain James Cook b. Sir Francis Drake c. Captain Ross Poldark Answer: a. Captain James Cook - He was an explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. Cook made three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.

Krakow Visit 2017 There is still time to book the History trip to Krakow in 2017. The trip is open to Year 10 History students and Year 9 students who are taking History as an option next year. Full details can be found in the letter on our website: http:// www.hcc.devon.sch.uk/ index.phtml? d=522580&&event=show_li nks:5226063&arg_list=66377 Alternatively please speak to Mr Scott or Miss Sampson.

Work Experience Opportunities On Thursday 13th May two Year 9 Science classes were visited by Gail Richards from North Devon Healthcare. She came to talk to us about work experience opportunities with the NHS next year, which many people found informative and inspiring. Firstly she spoke to us about the type of activities we would do in a week, such as getting to know how the system works, learning about the many different careers in healthcare and even experiencing work in a busy hospital. Gail also explained what she looked for in candidate. To get the opportunity to do work experience with the NHS you need to have a good work ethic, good communication skills and the ability to work as part of a team. Gail also spoke to us about future opportunities such as the Care and Medics Academies at Petroc College. Overall the talk was very informative and there are now many people considering work experience with North Devon Healthcare. Sophie Sleeman HCC will receive the work experience application forms from Northern Devon Healthcare Trust in September and these can be collected from Mrs Healy. All students in Year 10 who are considering this as a work experience placement need to complete and return the form by the 3rd December. During January schools will be contacted regarding interviews, which will be carried out during January, February and March. Students will find out on the day whether they have been successful or not.

News from the Learning Community Bradford Primary School In their topic work Class 1 have been making masks like the ones they have seen in the pictures of the famous Rio Carnival. The children were given templates and a free rein to decorate them however they wanted. They also watched the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Olympic games and looked at a selection of the sports that were included.

PTFA Bingo HCC PTFA would like to say a big thank you to the following businesses and people for their kind prize donations for the PTFA Bingo, which is on tonight, Friday 20th May. : THE BIG SHEEP, MORRISONS, MILKY WAY, CO-OPERATIVE, WOODLANDS, MOLE VALLEY FARMERS, POWEDERHAM CASTLE, COUNTRY KITCHEN, TRETHORNE, TEMPEST PHOTOGRAPHY, NEW MILLS FARM PARK, REFLECTIONS, BUDE SURFING EXPERIENCE, THE BAY OF BENGAL, 1610, CHINA KITCHEN, EXETER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB, FLORAL DESIGNS, WAITROSE, FOOD ON THE GO, TESCO, COUSINS CORNER CAFÉ, THEATRE ROYAL, MITCHELLS/LLEWELLYNS ANGELA PEARCE, MAXINE GREENAWAY, VALERIE RAVENSCROFT, SERENA COLE, KAREN STEVENS, ANN GARLAND, YVONNE DANIEL-ALLCORN, KATH EDWORTHY, TRACEY DOWN, ALAN, SHELLEY BROAD, SAM AND VINCE WONNACOTT, MICHELLE BARNARD, SUSAN MONTAGUE, GARY AND JANE DIXON, NANNY VILE, SUZANNE ALTINSOY, CHARLIE AND BRADLEY VILE, JENNY HEYWOOD, TANIA WONNACOTT, MARG WONNACOTT, AUDREY, HCC RECEPTION STAFF Apologies to anyone we may have missed. We appreciate everyone's donations and support. Hope to see you tonight! HCC PTFA