All SaintsAdvocate Advocate All Saints Vol 3 No 3 February 2012

ALL SAINTS

FROM THE PRINCIPAL School Improvement Last week saw the Government’s publication of Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 examination results for 2011 and I was delighted that our 37% EM shows a significant improvement on the previous year. Comparing All Saints with other academies which opened at the same time, we are doing very well indeed. Visitors to the Academy still remark how calm and friendly the atmosphere is and Governors have reminded me that this calmness comes from a complete belief on behalf of the staff in what we are trying to achieve at All Saints. We know we are not the finished article but we will work tirelessly to become Outstanding. For 2012 we are predicting a 5 A*-C EM figure of 51% and similarly a 5 A*C figure of 82%. These are indeed massive improvements on the 22% and 29% respectively of the Predecessor School. Since opening in September 2009 we have radically changed the curriculum, improved the quality of Teaching and Learning, and provided exciting opportunities for all our students. As you know, some staff have left and we have worked tirelessly to remove barriers to learning in the classroom. In addition to that, intervention has been massive and where necessary we have changed courses completely or indeed introduced new courses. This has not been without its challenges but is proving very successful. Your children, our students, advise me that they feel safe at the Academy, that they enjoy school, and that we tackle bullying where it occurs seriously and without hesitation. I am particularly impressed with Maths results; already 49% of our Year 11s have a grade C in Maths which is a big improvement on last year. I can’t wait to get the results in August!

ACADEMY Sixth Form Open Evening Our Sixth Form Open Evening on 25 January was extremely well attended and we are looking forward to our biggest Sixth Form since becoming an Academy. I was really pleased with the standard of dress that the Sixth Form displayed at the Open Evening. As you know, all our Sixth Form students are required to wear business dress and this is proving to be a positive move. Long may it continue. Thanks to all those who attended the Open Evening and for all those involved in ensuring the event was a success. I also appreciate the feedback several parents have given me so far. We are looking forward to a smooth lead in to a September start. Climate for Learning I have been so impressed with students’ punctuality recently. As you know, warning bells are sounded five minutes before the end of break and before the end of lunch so that students can arrive to lessons in good time. I have been amazed how students arrive at their next class/assembly on time and how calm and purposeful they are in doing so. Attendance is at its highest level since opening and my frequent visits to classrooms show that your children are happy, hard working and engaged. If I had a criticism, it would be that some students are late in the morning which results in time lost sitting a detention. Whilst I am cautious about students leaving and arriving at the Academy at the start and end of the school day, I am very pleased that the vast majority of our children travel to and from the Academy in good order and in a safe fashion. As we head now into half-term, I should like to thank you our parents/carers for your contribution to your children’s education. We are indeed writing history and we are very excited about the future. (Cont’d)

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FROM THE PRINCIPAL (continued from front page) We have now completed tours of the new Academy building for Years 9, 10 and 11 and we are looking forward to taking our Sixth Form for a visit shortly after half-term. Almost without exception, students are amazed at the new facilities. The classrooms are large, there is a huge amount of natural light, and there is a lot of (unbreakable!) glass. No doubt the bills for the window cleaner will be high! A particular feature of the new building, apart from the large classrooms, is the space in the corridors and indeed the high ceilings. As you know, there will be seven ICT labs, a Media Studio with 15 MAC computers, a Music Workshop with 15 MAC computers, and magnificent rooms for Art, Textiles and Food Technology. On entry to the building, the spacious Hub, together with its futuristic, galleried stairway and landing, is a most impressive welcome to the new Academy. Directly opposite on arrival in the Hub is the Chaplaincy and the Garden of Reflection. Quite central to the Hub is a Drama Studio with a retractable wall and in close proximity a huge Dance Studio complete with mirrors and appropriate sound equipment. Students are pleased that the Dance Studio has its own changing facilities! The 8 Science labs are really impressive and the Maths Lecture Theatre is particularly unique. The LRC (Library) together with its 30 computers is in a prominent position and the Sixth Formers are looking forward to their own Common Room. The building whilst not complete already has the Wow factor and Year 11 students in particular are asking what the fees will be to use the fitness suite located on the ground floor. They will be even more amazed when they see the quality of the flood-lit all weather pitch.

11 - 18 Application Our application to become an 11-18 Academy is nearing its final stages and my understanding is that it has just been sent to the Secretary of State. I am confident, as much as I can be, that All Saints will have students from Years 7 and 8 in its building shortly, though I cannot yet suggest what the timescale might be. Having been to five Lower School open meetings concerning a wish to change their age range to Primary, I know there is support for Lower Schools keeping their children for an extra two years until the end of Year 6. In addition, at all of these meetings, it has been proposed that students then feed into All Saints in Year 7 aged 11. How wonderful this would be, to have the continuity of students for five years. In so doing we would completely re-write the curriculum for Years 7 and 8, we would be able to have early intervention across a number of subjects, and we could put even further emphasis on developing students’ literacy skills at an earlier age. More news as soon as I have it.

Tom Waterworth Principal

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NEWS FROM KS4 We have, once again, been very busy doing all we can in order to prepare our young people for the imminent GCSE exams. Our focus has been very much on Literacy and Exam Techniques. As the GCSE papers get harder and it is more difficult for our students to achieve Grade C and above, we have implemented Vocabulary Booklets which explain what an examiner is looking for if, for example, an exam question uses words like “explain” or “describe”. It is important that young people enjoy reading and with this in mind every student in Years 10 and 11 completed a questionnaire telling us what books they would like to read. Mrs Roberts, Curriculum Leader – Communications, then ordered the books they told us they wanted to read. We have introduced a new Reading Test and also have a Learning Mentor working solely on Literacy support. Many of the Year 11 students received their Maths GCSE results from November and we are pleased to say that the results are very encouraging. We are very excited about the August 2012 results and I am sure that this year there will be celebrations all round. All KS4 students continue working and improving on their Controlled Assessments in many subjects. However, as I’ve said before, our students not only work hard, but they play hard as well!! Most nights the Dance and Drama Studios are alive with noise as students prepare for our latest show, and if I look out onto the field or look into the Sports Hall balls are being kicked, thrown and batted as the students compete in a variety of Sports with our neighbouring schools. Finally, preparations for the Year 11 Prom are now in full swing and a record number of students are attending. So, here we are, the final few weeks for our Year 11 students as they prepare to embark on the next stage of their education. We very much look forward to welcoming them back into our Sixth Form in our new building, with all the high tech facilities it will bring.

Alison Spicer Achievement Leader KS4

COACHING FOR SUCCESS Toe by Toe All students studying the Toe by Toe programme have shown measurable improvements on their personal literacy levels. The programme is intense but offers the opportunity for students to improve their literacy levels quickly due to the repetitive nature of the programme, so well done to all of those currently involved. A massive well done and thank you must also be given to the Sixth Form mentor volunteers who have enabled these students to achieve these results. Without their hard work and dedication the programme would not be able to run here at the Academy. Life Coach Mentoring Those Sixth Form students wanting to become mentors to students in lower years are currently undergoing training to become a mentor to those in the Academy who need a brother/sister type role model. The training will hopefully become a rolling programme that will be offered after the exam period in Year 11 for students hoping to return to the Academy’s Sixth Form. Reading Buddies All Sixth Formers are asked to work with a Year 9 tutor group by listening to individuals read aloud. Although the scheme has been slow to start we are now working towards the Academy’s drive to ‘read together’.

Amanda Ward Learning Mentor

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POETRY AT ALL SAINTS ACADEMY On 21 November 2011 the Academy was fortunate to welcome a reading by the Ver Poets in the main hall. The group is a nationally renowned circle of poets based in St Albans. The reading served to celebrate the literacy partnership between Sixth Formers and Year 9 students and it also coincided with the Academy’s own poetry competition, which was open to all year groups. The first reader on the day was John Hussey, winner of many poetry prizes. Daphne Schiller, teacher of creative writing, was next on the podium. She, too, is widely published and has won numerous prizes for poetry. Rik Wilkinson was the third reader. He is a very widely published writer and is much sought after at poetry readings and festivals. The last to read was Anna Avebury, the Chairperson of the Ver Poets, who has been published in a wide variety of magazines and has been shortlisted as well as commended in important poetry competitions. Each reader spent ten minutes sharing a selection of their writings to the joint assembly of Sixth Formers and Year 9 students. Each one also provided some relevant background information about their chosen poems and all gave practical advice to students who may be contemplating poetry as a serious activity. The students at All Saints Academy were later praised by Anna Avebury who wrote: ‘We weren't sure how well our poems would work with an audience encompassing quite an age range but were very impressed by the way the students sat and listened, it seemed attentively, to our poems.’ The reading focussed on developing the art of listening and on the importance of poetry as an oral tradition rather than as required reading for exams. The poets left a signed anthology with the Communications Curriculum marking the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the Ver Poets as well as a booklet containing a selection of prize-winning, published poetry written by members of the group in 2010. The Communications Curriculum Area would like to thank all staff who made the reading possible and particular gratitude is extended to Robert Michael for arranging the excellent acoustics. Many students felt very motivated by the reading with a record number of entries to the All Saints Academy Poetry Competition. Miss Majeed and Miss Di Giampasquale spent ages reading and selecting the winning entries. Congratulations went to the following Year 9 students for their highly commended poems: Stephanie McGrath, Kerry Loughnane, Christopher Cherubin and Hayley Aitkins. Equally, the following Year 10 students submitted outstanding poems: Ellis Dawkins, Elliot Rhys and Mitchell Long. Josh Fuller and Vanessa Ankra, both in Year 11, also wrote thought-provoking poems of the highest quality. All the teachers in the Communications Curriculum Area would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to every student who submitted poetry to the competition.

Ross Brain 2nd in Curriculum Communications

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SALPs TRAINING DAY

Four lucky students from the Students as Learning Partners (SALPs) group attended a training day with Ms Lissaman and myself at King Edward VI Grammar School (KEGS) in Chelmsford on Tuesday 24 January 2012. The Headteacher, Mr Tom Sherrington, and students from KEGS delivered an extremely informative day exploring how students and teachers can work more collaboratively, creatively and effectively in order to improve teaching and learning. We took part in various activities where we: 



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considered strategies which would enable students to develop the skills and confidence to take ownership of their own learning and saw some work the KEGS students had actually developed and delivered. debated the challenges and opportunities presented by breaking down traditional roles that would include students in constructing learning actively and were assigned a KEGS student with vast experience in this area. examined the relationship between formative assessment and successful co-construction. heard from many students at KEGS about the difference being involved in shaping learning has made to them. reflected on how practitioners across the region can continue to support one another to develop this exciting area of pedagogy beyond the event, and Angelina Adams from The Schools Network™ is interested in visiting All Saints to support us in launching the project across the Academy.



In the first instance, we are looking forward to trialling the project with the following teachers who will each be assigned two students from the SALPs team to begin the process and our thanks are extended to them for supporting us: Louise Lissaman AVP Student Achievement

Andrea Callender AST Business & ICT

Amanda Bird 3rd in Curriculum Communications

Joanne Spurling Teacher of Drama

Ellie Stevens 2nd in Curriculum Science

Some responses from the students who attended the course included; “The day was great! We found out about a lot of ways to improve teaching and learning for the academy, and we can’t wait to put them into practice.” Rachel Elmes (11MG) “A brilliant day – well worth the trip!” Jason Lee (9AD) “Very fun ..... it taught us a lot about ‘Project 9’ and we learned about what KEGS has been doing.” Lewis Reid (10LR) “A great experience. It was very interesting to see what other schools are doing with their SALPs.” Ellie Bastian (10LP)

Julie Gray AST Communications

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CHARITY EVENTS Our Academy has been a keen supporter of charities since we opened and our charitable spark has continued into 2012. We have many projects upcoming including national events like Sport Relief and local charities such as the Foodbank launching at Easter. Discussion and planning are still in progress regarding what activities we will hold for Sport Relief with contributions coming from students as well as staff, but as an Academy we are certain this is an important charity we would like to support. The Foodbank is supported by a national charity called the Trussell Trust; it aims to provide those in need with a minimum of 3 days supply of nutritionally balanced food. The food comes from donations of everyday essentials such as UHT milk, pasta, tea and coffee, by schools, churches and the local community to help those in crisis in Dunstable and Houghton Regis. These items are things that can be viewed as cheap to those who are able to afford them but are life savers to Foodbank recipients. Alan Sutton, Pastor at the New Life Church, Houghton Road, is leading the Foodbank set up in our area. Set up costs are high but the benefits in logistics and efficiency pays off later in providing a better service. I think you’ll agree that the positive impact All Saints Academy has on the community is increasing greatly and I hope that you’ll continue to support us with future events we hold. “The importance of Foodbank in the current economic climate is evidenced by the rapid rate at which they are opening across the UK. Individuals and families who find themselves in a sudden financial crisis are turning to Foodbank to feed themselves and their children through the difficult period as they get their lives re-adjusted. But they can only work with the help of volunteers who donate food and money, and most importantly, some of their time to collecting, sorting and distributing food. Students at All Saints Academy can play a major part in these roles and we look forward to working alongside them as Dunstable & Houghton Regis Foodbank begins to serve our local community in the next few months.” Alan Sutton Pastor New Life Church and Chairman of the Dunstable Foodbank Steering Committee

Kira Gorman Student Journalist

SPELLING BEE This term will see the first ever All Saints Academy Spelling Bee. It will offer an opportunity to every student in the Academy to put their spelling skills and knowledge to the test. The competition will run through each tutor group and then the winners from these heats will take place in a year group heat. Finally, the 2 winners from each year group will go on to compete against the winners of other year groups to hopefully become the “Spelling Bee Champion” of All Saints Academy. If anyone would like to be involved in this competition or can offer any prizes for those competing in the Spelling Bee, then please contact me at the Academy.

Amanda Ward Learning Mentor

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CHINA TRIP On Monday 15 November 2011 Mrs Spurling and I flew 5727 miles to Shanghai, China. We had been invited to stay at Datong High School, in Shanghai, as the school was celebrating its 100th birthday with an ‘Innovative Teaching’ Conference. Teachers from all over the world were invited to come and speak at the Conference. Mrs Spurling and I delivered a presentation on a subject that we feel is very important to us as teachers for our students, and that is ‘Making teaching memorable’. We met teachers from many different countries including Australia, France, Japan and Switzerland, all of whom shared their ‘Innovative Teaching’ strategies and ideas during the conference. We stayed in Shanghai for five days and during our stay we were given tours of the school, we were able to observe lessons and we even taught some lessons to the chinese students which was a fantastic opportunity. Datong High School is a huge school which offers its students lots of facilities. The Music Department was a very popular department with students practicing to play a large range of instruments from traditional Chinese, such as a Ruan (a guitar type instrument), to massive orchestral drums. There were many practice rooms and the sound of instruments could always be heard coming from the department. The students are very dedicated to their studies as in China a good education gives people a greater chance to improve their prospects and not live a life in poverty. Many of the students we spoke to were very proud of their country and spoke of China with great enthusiasm and hope, especially for the future. The students had many routines to follow during a school day - one routine which was carried out every morning was exercise. The whole school would line up on the running track and participate in a 15 minute exercise routine. Then at the start of every lesson the whole class would do a routine consisting of exercises to engage the brain ready for learning. It was really impressive to see as every single student participated in the exercises as they were all so keen to learn. As well as experiencing typical school life in Shanghai we were lucky enough to be shown some of the beautiful sights of the City. One of the most noticeable characteristics of the city is it’s high rise buildings and this is due to the fact that Shanghai has a massive population of 23,000,000 - that’s the equivalent of the entire population of Australia in one city! Shanghai is a modern, bright and bustling city but amongst its modern buildings remain the beautiful traditional Chinese architecture and ornate Chinese gardens. On the last evening of the Conference the Principal of Datong High School took us all out for dinner at a local restaurant. This gave us an amazing insight into real Chinese cuisine and was a fantastic, and, at times, quite daunting cultural experience. One of the dishes served to us was a cold tomato prawn dish, however, on closer inspection the prawns were still alive! This particular dish is considered a delicacy in China and one which I’d like to be able to say we fully embraced, however, Mrs Spurling doesn’t like sea food and my excuse? Well, I’m afraid to admit I just wasn’t brave enough. Walking around the city gave us a real feel for life in China and how people carry out and live their everyday lives. The whole experience was absolutely amazing and one that neither Mrs Spurling nor I will ever forget. We both feel incredibly lucky to have been given the opportunity to visit such an amazing city and school. As a result of our visit we’re planning to work closely with some of our students here at All Saints Academy to make them a part of a truly unforgettable student experience… watch this space!

Elizabeth Parry 2nd in Curriculum - Creating & Designing

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9JD VISIT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF BEDFORDSHIRE On 19 January 2012, 9JD went to the University of Bedfordshire. When we arrived we were introduced to some students and staff. We met Gaby, Danny, Roisin, Ali and Lucia. To start the day off, we participated in a millionaire quiz about the University and students. We then went on to do our “Plan of Life” and what we want to do when we’re older. We had break, then went on to play the “student survivor” game which is a game on how to survive at university. We then did our interpretation of what a typical university student looks like, how they act and what they might study. We then went on a tour of the University. We saw a Dance Studio, the student accommodation, a lecture theatre, the student union and some seminar rooms. Afterwards we had lunch with a free £5 voucher. After lunch we designed a tee-shirt about everything we had learnt that day and there was a prize of a University of Bedfordshire key ring and six crème eggs each. Team “cakes” won which consisted of Charlotte Boon, Shannon West, Sophie Locke and Sophie Watkins.

By Sophie Watkins, Eunice Bukebo, Shannon West, Charlotte Boon

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YEAR 9 “AIM4UNI” DAY We were told that it would be a good day and it turned out to a great day. Drawing designs on tee-shirts, discussions with mates, using both netbooks for computer games and interactive handsets similar to those used on the “Would you like to be a millionaire?” game show, drawing on walls, a tour of the place and fantastic food for a fiver! What were we doing? We’d been invited to an Aim Higher “Aim4 Uni” day at the University of Bedfordshire’s Luton campus. Yes, all of the above did take place during the highly structured, organised and packed day for both of the 9JD and the 9SDe tutor groups; the other three tutor groups will have an opportunity to visit the campus later in the term. After arriving at the Park Square campus in the centre of Luton by minibus, the students were ushered into a most unusual “state of the art” teaching classroom. The walls of the semi-circular room were covered from floor to ceiling with whiteboards and later in the morning the students were invited to draw their “ideal student” on the wall as part of their discussion activities. After being led into the room, the students were allowed to sit with their friends in groups of threes and fours and listened to the introductions by Gabi and Roisin, two of the University Partnership personnel. Then, after various warm up activities, the students were invited to use the hand-held interactive answer keypads to answers questions on the interactive white board. Questions such as “Which of these four characters (cartoon characters) is most likely to go to university?”, and “Do you think you need to buy your own books?” and “What is the youngest age you can go to university?”, “What is the oldest age you can go to university?”, “How many courses can you take to degree levels in the UK at university?”, and so on. Of course there were correct answers to each of the questions, but they were thought provoking. This led into the drawing of the ideal student mentioned earlier. After a short break, the students returned to work on the netbooks to play simulation games in which the character had to balance her life at university between work, social time and looking after her health. Later, budgeting was introduced into the role play. One group on 9SDe’s day managed to get their student to reach her graduation. Well done. This led the student groups into looking closely at themselves, their hopes, aspirations and potential barriers to achieving their ambitions. Although the activity was low key, there was a serious purpose and it will prove to be a good reflective tool in the future for those students who kept their booklets and who took the time to carry out the exercises sensibly. Before lunch the students were taken on a whistle stop tour of the University campus and the students saw a very large lecture theatre that could seat at least 400 students in one sitting, the brand new student accommodation comprising of common rooms with large plasma TVs, well equipped study bedrooms and a communal kitchen area. The laundry with washer/driers was on our itinerary, as too was a visit to the Student Union bar complete with its pool table. It was of course closed but university students were able to buy snacks and coffees at the alternative bar! The vast library and computing facilities were shown to our students en route to the large and busy refectory. Here, each ASAD student was given a £5 voucher to spend within reason, on what they wanted for lunch. Before going home, the students worked in their teams on designing a tee-shirt which reflected all that they had learnt during the day. Each group had to show the results of their work whilst describing their thinking. The presentations were judged by the teachers and the winners each received a University of Bedfordshire key ring and a box of crème eggs. The purpose of the day was to introduce the Year 9 students to our partner Sponsor University, to make them aware of what could be possible if they achieved the necessary qualifications whilst still at school and to continue to build up the team work within the tutor group. The students do not often get opportunities to work with others in their tutor group and it was good to see them taking advantage of the chance to work at social activities too.

Allan Grubb KS3 Achievement Leader

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SOUTH AFRICA TRIP 2011 On 09 July 2011 fifteen cadets and 4 Cadet Force adult volunteers embarked on a challenging and arduous expedition to the Kingdom of Lesotho in Southern Africa. The aim of the trip was to support Prince Harry's Charity, Sentebale. This Charity was founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, and I was extremely lucky to be one of the fifteen cadets from across the UK to be selected to be part of this once in a lifetime experience. On Saturday 09 July we all met up at Surrey AFC HQ in Farncombe for preexpedition preparation. This was only the second time the group had met up (the first time was for a training weekend) and was designed mainly to check our kit (and then running to the local shops to buy all the things we had forgotten!). We set off the next day for Heathrow Airport ready for the 11½ hour flight to Johannesburg and another 1½ hour internal flight to Durban. The team eventually arrived at the Simangaliso Wetland Park in Durban on the Monday evening very tired from the 26 hours travelling. We then split into 2 groups, each spending a day on the beach and the next at Mkhuze Game Reserve. The 3 nights we stayed were in 3-bed log cabins right on the beach front. Every night we cooked traditional South African delicacies whilst at the same time trying to keep the monkeys away from our food! We also visited the historical battle grounds of Rorke's Drift and Isandhlwana. At Rorke’s Drift, some 150 British soldiers defended a supply point from over 4000 Zulus - a total of 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded after this battle. Both of the battles were against the Zulu warriors and staff from the Entabeni Education Centre, who were with us for the whole expedition, gave us a historical tour of the battle grounds. One of the tour guides was a Zulu, so it was very interesting to hear about how the Zulus fought the war and the battle traditions that they had employed. The whole group then moved to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, staying at a disabled children's school where one of the groups would be doing support work. Seeing the capital city, the people and the buildings was quite a shock to us all as most of us hadn't visited a less developed country before. Seeing how the people lived and worked was very interesting when comparing it to back home in the UK. The second group moved on to Pulane, Southern Lesotho, where we would be working at a children's orphanage carrying out essential maintenance and repairs including repainting bedrooms and the many wooden framed beds. The orphanage was surrounded by mountains and was some 1700m above sea level. This altitude took our breath on many occasions and only by the last day were we becoming accustomed to it. The 35 children from the orphanage, all ages up to 15 years, seemed really happy to see us. We were the first British group to visit the centre which was very special for them and for the English lady who ran it. Lesotho’s official languages are Sesotho and English so we had the pleasure of helping the children with their English lessons. Their smiles, I'm sure, will stay in everyone's hearts for a very long time to come. We finally left the centre with feelings of gratitude, moving back into South Africa to Johannesburg for the final part of our stay. We visited a lion park where we had the chance to play with lion cubs, giraffes and to see many other wild animals. We also visited a cultural centre where we learned about the different tribes in South Africa such as the Basotho people of Lesotho and the Zulu people of KwaZulu-Natal province. I would wholeheartedly recommend this expedition or something similar to anyone. I learnt so much whilst there, not only about myself but also about the people and the environment around me. The experience will be one I am sure I will never ever forget.

Callum Elder Ex Student

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SPORTS TOUR TO HOLLAND As you are aware from previous articles and updates the Sport, Health and Leisure Curriculum Area are running our first Sports Tour to Valkenburg, Holland on the 02 April 2012. The Sports Tour has received sponsorship from the University of Bedfordshire which provided both our football and basketball teams with new Nike team kits. We recently had photographs of the students in their new kits which the University are now keen to use to for PR purposes. This has strengthened the link between the Academy and the University. We are very grateful for all the sponsorship that the University has provided us. The Sports Tour is now only 8 weeks away and the students are really excited, and teams have been training on a weekly basis. We would like to see this continue and would be grateful for the support of all parents/carers of students going on the Tour in making sure their child is able to attend practices and fixtures.

Mark Gilbert Sports Tour Leader

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SPORTS FIXTURES AND RESULTS All Saints Academy has been involved in lots of fixtures and tournaments over the past few months with some of the South Beds Leagues drawing to a close and some outstanding performances from teams and individual students very much evident . Football All Saints participation in the South Beds football leagues has been excellent this season. The boys and girls have attended training sessions regularly and their effort in competitions and fixtures has been brilliant. There have been some outstanding performances especially in the Year 9 Boys’ team, with special mention going to Jordan Knight who has scored 5 goals in 4 league games as well as scoring 5 goals in 4 games in the 7-a-side tournament recently held at Vandyke. Also to Ben Burgess who has been exceptional in goal making some crucial saves throughout the season. Well done. Special mention in Year 10 goes to Aeilish Wynne, Shanelle Bowyer, Danielle Vickers, Liah Mcrum, Georgia Craig, Courteney Ayre and Kerrie Loughnane for being dedicated to the team by turning up to all practice sessions and fixtures. The team’s highlight of the season was finishing 2nd in the Dunstable and Houghton Regis School Games 7-a-side football tournament held at Beds FA headquarters. The team narrowly lost 1-0 to Manshead. The top scorer for the Season is Shanelle Bowyer, and Aeilish Wynne has been a great role model as captain all season. Basketball The South Beds Basketball leagues are coming to their conclusion and there has been a great deal of success this year for All Saints Academy. The Year 10 Girls and Year 9 Boys basketball teams finished as runners up in their leagues and have shown good determination and progress along the way. The Year 10s are currently locked in battle with Manshead and Cedars to become South Beds Basketball league winners with the final fixtures due to completed at the end of February and the place in the County finals at stake, good luck Year 10!! Also, the Year 10 Boys are South Beds Basketball Festival winners 2011!! Special mention for good performance and team effort in basketball goes to Callum Hearty, Jack Gorgone, Krishan Devshi, Tommy Doilidovas, Scott Lindars, Maxine Griffiths, Stephanie McGrath, Aeilish Wynne and Hayley Fergusson. Badminton The Year 10 boys and girls recently competed in the South Beds Badminton festival, with both teams finishing runners up and just missing out on a place in the County finals. Well done to Aeilish Wynne, Shanelle Bowyer, Shana Hall, Courtney Ayre, Jack Gorgone, Brendan Lynn, Jaiden Charles and Tom Humphries for their effort throughout the festival. The Year 9 boys also finished runners up in the South Beds Badminton festival, again just missing out on a place in the County finals. Congratulations to the Year 9 girls who won the South Beds Badminton festival and will compete in the County Finals on the 06 February. Well done to Callum Burgess, Ben Atkins, Jordan Boulton, Chandler Russell, Hannah Stevens, Darshika Aravinthan, Nikini Jayakody and Diana Ogonyo for their effort throughout the festival. Good luck girls! Table Tennis Congratulations to the Year 9 boys and girls who have reached the County finals of table tennis, which is due to take place on the 09 February at Vandyke, as well as the Year 10/11 boys and girls who have also reached the County finals of table tennis on 06 February at Vandyke. Good luck to all the students involved. Cross Country This year’s cross country took place at Cedars in which Anthony Edwards and Stephen Hammond represented the Academy. Both students ran to the best of their ability but unfortunately just lost out on a place in the County Cross Country event. Well done to both students. Dodgeball Congratulations to the Boys’ Sixth Form Dodgeball team who will be competing in the County Dodgeball finals on Thursday 01 March at Bedford High School. Well done and good luck to all the students involved. Praise Cards/Vivos The Sport, Health and Leisure Curriculum Area is pleased to have posted home 60 praise cards for students who are performing well across the Curriculum Area in Core PE, BTEC sport, GCSE PE and Public Services. Well done to all students who have received a praise postcard- keep up the good work!! Also, Vivos are still being given out to students who are participating in extracurricular clubs. Well done to all those students who are regularly involved in extracurricular activities and representing the Academy in a variety of sports. Core PE - Curriculum After half term students will be moving onto table tennis, boxing, circuits and fitness, golf, gym, badminton and basketball.

MarkGilbert Teacher in PE www.allsaintsacademydunstable.org

LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES The Sports Leaders have now successfully completed their level 1 Sports Leaders UK Award and the Academy has now created links with local community clubs to provide our leaders with opportunities to lead in the local community. Sports Leaders have continued to help with sports festivals which are organised by All Saints Academy and the School Games Organisers. So far sports Leaders have helped and led activities at the SEN Sports Hall Athletics held at Dunstable Leisure Centre and at the SEN Table top Festival held at All Saints Academy. All Leaders have progressed significantly since the start of the last year and we hope all will continue to lead various events organised throughout the year. Selected Leaders have formed an Olympic Committee to create and incorporate Olympic based activities which all Curriculum Areas of the Academy can be involved in. They are due to create monthly quizzes that all tutor groups will complete, help to organise and run the All Saints Academy Olympic Day which will be held on the 20 March 2012 and will try to encourage all students to develop an understanding of the Olympics and why it can be of importance to each individual student.

Stephanie Flynn Technician & Schools Games Co-ordinator

SPORTS LEADERS DEVELOP THEIR SKILLS AT LOWER SCHOOLS The Year 10 Sports Leaders Group recently completed their level 1 Sports Leaders UK Award. To complete the course they had do deliver at least one hours coaching to younger children. The group travelled to Lancot Lower School and Beecroft Lower School where they led activities based on netball, dance, ball skills and gymnastics. The students planned their own sessions and delivered the activities excellently. The lower schools involved commented on how they would like the students to come back in the Spring term to deliver more activities. A special mention goes to the following students who really embraced the opportunity and delivered a range of activities in the lower schools: Nathan Marshall, Matt Sibley, Liam Bond, Staci Phipps, Aelish Wynne, Lily Moon, Mitchell Long, Lewis Reid. Some of the students will now be invited to lead further sports activities at Thornhill and Houghton Regis Lower School in the Spring Term.

Nick Lavin Teacher of PE

LATE FOOTBALL RESULT The Sixth Form/Year 11 team recently played in the 7-a-side South Beds District football tournament, in which the boys finished 4th out of 12 teams, only conceding 2 goals throughout the tournament and losing out in a place in the final on goal difference to Vandyke A, whose only defeat came against All Saints in the group stages! The boys eventually lost 10 to Manshead A in the 3rd/4th playoff. Special mention to Scott Lindars and Jason Foster, but a good team performance and effort from all students involved, well done.

Mark Gilbert

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SCHOOL GAMES Please visit www.allsaintsgames.org

The School Games excitement continues......... Local Competitions and Activities January has seen the completion of all our Middle School Sports Hall Athletics competitions. The winning teams include: Streetfield Boys (Year 8), Caddington Girls (Year 8) Streetfield Girls (Year 7), Ashton Boys (Year 7), Streetfield Girls and Boys (Year 5&6).

These above teams will go on to compete in the School Games County Sports Hall Athletics Finals taking place on 10 February at Cranfield University. Good luck to our teams! Upper School Basketball leagues have continued into the Spring term and the following winning school teams will go on to represent South Beds in the County School Games finals: Queensbury Year 9 Girls, Cedars Year 9 Boys and Manshead Year 10 Girls. Thank you to Mr Gilbert for driving the launch of this new league!

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SCHOOL GAMES

(CONTINUED)

Lower Schools have an opportunity to access a brand new ‘Change for Life Club’ that will run at their schools and include FREE equipment and mentor support. Fifteen local lower schools have signed up!

Finally, Young Leaders have been instrumental in supporting all of the festivals; in particular Kings Houghton Leaders at the Sportshall Athletics, All Saints Young Leaders helping out at the Table Top disability event and Middle School Football fixtures which have just begun, and Manshead Leaders will be officiating at the County Badminton Finals at Cranfield University in February! See below photos of our young leaders in action.

Many thanks to everyone who’s been involved!

Katie Milton School Games Organiser (Houghton Regis and Dunstable Partnership of Schools) Email: [email protected]

Website: www.allsaintsgames.org

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VIVO MILES Below are the top five students in each year group with the highest number to date. Vivo Miles is the Academy’s reward system, awarding students under various categories, which will then enable them to collect virtual money; working in the same way as Tesco Club Card! Each student is given individual login details and can access their account from home. If you would like to know more about Vivo Miles please visit www.vivomiles.co.uk If you would like to look at your child’s Vivo Miles account, please speak to your child and they can give you a separate ‘parent login’. The Top 5 students in each year group with the most amount of Vivos are………….. Year 9 Diana Ogonyo Chandler Russell Susan Mataruse Nicholas Murray Calum Burgess

Year 10 1083 1029 995 952 949

Lewis Reid Courtney Ayre Ellie Bastian Shanelle Bowyer Nathan Marshall

Year 11 764 750 741 710 700

Bethany Pollard Rachael Elmes Paige Wyllie Ben Haddon Shannon Cook

Year 12 838 765 628 586 575

Luke Ankrah Nick Carter Calum Reid Beth Morgan Devan Andrews

Year 13 1571 786 781 529 516

Kira Gorman Stacey Hardacre Megan McMahon Penny Mitchell Daniel Owen

866 768 714 706 653

At the time of printing the student with the most Vivos is Luke Ankrah! Well Done to you Luke! We currently have three, very generous, community supporters for our Vivo Award System. These companies are supplying us with a consistent supply of discount vouchers and game vouchers for listing in the Vivo catalogue, which are proving highly successful with our students. We would like to take this opportunity to say a big ‘Thank You’ to the Sales Team at GoBowling Dunstable, Mr Tim Platter at Albion Driving Centre and Mr Geoff Lambert at Sunshine Riding School, for their continued support in a what is proving to be a highly motivational scheme for our students.

Sunshine Riding School Warden Hill Road Next to South Beds Golf Club Luton Bedfordshire LU2 7AE Tel: 01582 505040 Email: [email protected] Website: www.sunshineriding.co.uk 25 Markham Crescent, DUNSTABLE, Bedfordshire. LU5 4SS Telephone: 01582 475590 Mobile: 07850 878756

Louise Lissaman AVP - Student Achievement

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ATTENDANCE Punctuality, Attendance and Holidays Please ensure that your child arrives on time for school. Students need to be on the Academy premises by 8.25am so that they will not be late to registration at 8.30am. Students arriving late will receive a 20 minute detention after school on the same day. If a student has more than 3 lates in any one week they will also be required to do a 1 hour detention on a Friday afternoon with their Achievement Leader. The Academy attendance target is 93.5%; any students below this will be monitored and if they drop below 85% All Saints Academy will need medical evidence to be able to approve the absence. Medical evidence can be any one of the following: copy of an appointment card/letter, a note from the GP/practice nurse giving reason for absence, a copy of a prescription made out to the student or any other suitable documentary evidence. A decision on whether or not to authorise the absence will be made by the Academy. Holidays will not be approved by the Academy unless they are in exceptional circumstances. Statutory School Attendance I am glad to be able to advise that the Academy attendance levels are the highest that they have ever been, we are

currently 92.4% and would like to thank all students and their parents/carers for their continued support. The Academy target is 93.5% and therefore ask that everyone continues to help improve attendance so we can reach this level. Please be aware that the current percentage for a persistent absentee is now below 85%, therefore any students whose attendance is below this level could receive a fixed penalty notice, be requested to attend a panel meeting or be referred to the Education Welfare Service. Current Academy Year Figures

Academy year Figures to date

Year 9

Year 10

Year 11

SSA

93.1%

93.1%

91%

92.4%

Medical Appointments Please would parents/carers remember, that medical appointments should be made for out of school hours; we do appreciate that this is sometimes impossible and would ask that students only take the necessary time out of school, not the whole day. Medical evidence will be requested for students with attendance concerns.

Absence All Absences should be reported at the earliest possible convenience on the first day of absence, by calling 01582 619707.

Emma Gaskell Attendance Officer

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FIRST AID PROCEDURES A reminder to parents/carers of the procedure which the Academy follows in the event of a first aid incident or in the event that a student wishes to go home due to illness. If a student is ill they will be sent to Main Reception to be assessed; they will only be referred to the Medical Room if absolutely necessary.

The First Aid qualified member of staff dealing with the student will assess the situation and make contact with parent/carer to get permission to send the student home or to make arrangements for the student to be collected. Only once all these steps have been followed can the student sign out at Reception. Students should NOT contact their parents via mobile phone and ask to be collected without the above procedures being followed. The Academy thanks parents/carers for your continued support in this regard.

VISITORS’ CAR PARKING Vehicular access to the site is via Northfields and there is very limited parking for parents and visitors at the rear of the school building. Parents/carers are politely requested to drive onto the site only if absolutely necessary as there is minimal room for movement of vehicles. Please would parents/carers be mindful of the residents in Northfields when dropping children to school in the mornings and collecting them at the end of the day. Thank you for your co-operation and understanding during this period of disruption. *REMINDER: Access gates are closed to vehicles from 3.15 - 3.30 (12.55 - 1.15 on Friday) each afternoon to allow our Students to leave the Academy safely.

EMERGENCY CONTACT DETAILS A reminder for all parents/carers to please advise the Academy of any change of address or telephone numbers. It is important that our records are up-to-date, and the correct telephone numbers are vital in order that we can make contact in the event of any emergency.

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Diary Dates 2011 - 2012 FEBRUARY 2012 Mon 13th - Fri 17th

HALF TERM

Mon 20th

Staff and Students return to school

MARCH 2012 Thur 1st

St David’s Day

Fri 9th - Thur 15th

National Science Week

Thur 15th & Fri 16th

Academy Performing Arts Production

Sat 17th

St Patrick’s Day

Sun 18th

Mothering Sunday

Thur 22nd

Year 12 & 13 Parents’ Consultation Evening 4pm - 7.30pm

Fri 30th - Fri 13th April

Easter Holiday

APRIL 2012 Sunday 8th April

Easter Day

Tues 17th

All Students return to school

Mon 23rd

St George’s Day

Wed 25th

Sports Awards Evening

MAY 2012 Mon 7th

May Bank Holiday

Tues 8th

Summer Examination Season Begins

JUNE 2012 Mon 4th - Fri 9th

Half Term Holiday

Tues 5th

Diamond Jubilee Queen Elizabeth II

Mon 11th

Staff and Students return to school

Tues 19th

University of Bedfordshire Maths Day

Wed 27th

Summer Examination Season Ends

Thur 28th

Sixth Form & Year 11 Leavers Day

JULY 2012 Tue 3rd & Wed 4th

Year 9 Intake Days

Wed 4th

Year 9 Parents’ Intake Evening

Fri 6th

Last Day of Term for Students

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Principal: Tom Waterworth BA MA

ALL SAINTS ACADEMY DUNSTABLE HOUGHTON ROAD DUNSTABLE LU5 5AB

Telephone: 01582 619700

Fax: 01582 619701

Email: [email protected] Web: www.allsaintsacademydunstable.org

Diocese of St Albans

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Business & Enterprise

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