The Astley Cooper School Newsletter
Rewards Over the spring and summer term, we have consulted a large number of staff and students regarding potential changes to our systems. These changes are outlined below: Merit system remains in place and Merits are awarded for:
Effort and achievement in classwork Effort and achievement in homework Attendance Punctuality Good conduct Academic progress Contribution to wider school activities (ie sports / drama / arts)
Students will receive certificates at various levels Bronze (100 Merits) Silver (200 Merits) Gold (500 Merits) Platinum (1000 Merits) At the end of each term, merits will be exchanged for raffle tickets and entered into a prize draw
Behaviour Management The consequence system remains with some minor modifications. Informal warning C1 student detained for five minutes at break time C2 student detained for twenty minutes at break / lunchtime C3 parents informed through text message. One hour detention completed the next evening C3b One hour thirty minute Senior Leadership detention on Friday afternoon
Parents will be informed of C3 detentions by text message. The teacher who issues the consequence will also call to discuss the incident. Letters will no longer be automatically sent out.
Summer 2015 Issue 2
Co-operative Schools – a strong ethos for the school’s future Following the General Election in May, the new Government made clear its intention to extend their academies programme and honour their commitment to open 500 new free schools over the coming five years. Astley Cooper is already a Foundation trust school and at the end of its first year in the new East Dacorum Co-operative Learning Trust with Adeyfield and Longdean. This new trust has enabled us to work even more closely with our partner schools in a variety of ways that involved staff, students and parents from the three schools. We are part of a growing network of Co-operative schools working in partnership with likeminded schools to drive school improvement, community engagement, and democratic accountability. Should our school become a Co-operative Academy? It is in this spirit of a strongly values driven cooperative ethos that we have begun discussions with the School Co-operative Society (SCS) this term to consider becoming an Academy with the SCS as our sponsor.
A letter has been sent home with students and is on our website. Mr Daddow, Assistant Headteacher
2015 - 2016 Term Dates Autumn 2015 2 Sept 3 Sept 4 Sept 7 Sept 8 Oct 26 Oct–30 Oct 27 Nov 18 Dec
INSET INSET Y7&Y12 students return All students return INSET Half Term Occasional Day Term Ends
Spring 2016 4 Jan 15 Feb–19 Feb 24 Mar
Term Begins Half Term Term Ends
Summer 2016 11 Apr 2 May 30 May–3 Jun 21 Jul
Term Begins May Day Bank Holiday Half Term Term Ends
If schools such as ours are to become Academies – and it is likely that all schools will be either academies or free schools – it is important that we choose a sponsor and structure that supports our community and the values of self-determination, democracy and fairness. Discussions with the SCS about this possibility are at a very early stage. We will be providing further information about this process and consulting all members of our community in the autumn term. Mr Gaynor Headteacher
Farewells
Headteacher’s Commendations
At the end of term, we say goodbye to Miss Keane, Miss Spence, Miss Morley and Mr Herzberg from the TA team and to Mr Elvin in Science who leaves us to join Adeyfield School. Our Geography teacher Miss Hackett is going to teach in an international school in Qatar. Mrs Robinson in Maths also goes on to another teaching post after three successful years with us.
Forms who attained the highest attendance in their year group for the month of: June
June 2015 Alfie Ash 7OE Kacey Hollister 8CMa
Mr Walker, who has been our Literacy Co-ordinator, leaves us to become the Head of English in a new free school. Mrs Wallace who as Subject Leader for Drama has produced so many outstanding productions for the school over the last six years will be joining a school in St Albans.
Ugar Bicak 9CM Aisha Patel 10EH
We also say goodbye to Mr Hill, the Subject Leader in English, who retires from full time teaching following a long and distinguished career.
Rebecca Ho 12RP Stephanie Okonma-Utuk 13RP
We wish all our departing colleagues well and thank them for their work with us. A number of new staff will be joining us in September and will be introduced in the next newsletter. Thank you for your support during the year. On behalf of the governors and staff, I wish you all an enjoyable and relaxing summer holiday.
Head Girls Attendance
Thank you to Stephanie Okonma-Utuk and Sophie Toms for their work as our Head Girls this year. They have been excellent ambassadors for the school.
Uniform
Year 7
7OE
96.2%
Year 8
8CMa
94.5%
Year 9
9SD
94.7%
Year 10
10CH
96.9%
Mr Gaynor, Headteacher
The Pepper Foundation Funds raised by a variety of initiatives including a fayre held in the school hall were given to The Pepper Foundation. Pat Dalay who is a trustee of the Pepper Foundation received the sum of £350 which will go toward providing nursing care at the hospice that is dedicated to children. Mrs Jacqui van Loen said that, ‘The foundation needs to raise over £400,000 annually and this sum will go towards two days of nursing. We are so glad we could help such a vital service in our community.’ Pictured: Mrs Jacqui van Loen and members of the student council Enya McGrory, Kyle Rydquist and Zoe McQuade and Mrs Pat Dalay, Trustee of The Pepper Foundation Mrs J van Loen Subject Leader, Business
Our aim is to have our students looking smart and dressed appropriately for their age and for school. We are also keen that our students promote a good image within the local community. With this in mind, I thought it would be useful to provide a brief overview of our uniform expectations ahead of the beginning of the new term in September.
Facial piercings are not permitted
Nails must be short and natural (no extensions or coloured varnish)
Shoes must be black and sensible (trainers and boots are not allowed)
Shirts must be able to be buttoned at the neck
The wearing of external wear, for example hats, gloves, hoodies, coats, is not allowed within school buildings.
Hair must be of a natural colour and not cut into an unusual style (for example ‘tramlines’ are not permitted) Discrete make up Jewellery must be limited to one pair of small earrings, one ring, one small chain/ necklace, one watch Blazer, tie and jumper are all issued through the school (with the key stage 4 tie being different to key stage 3) Only black or grey tailored trousers are permitted (no jeans or tight ’skinny trousers’ are allowed.
A letter has been sent home with students and is on our website. Mr Daddow, Assistant Headteacher
Show My Homework (SMHW) and School Planners With the introduction of Show My Homework this year the school planners have a reduced role in the daily life of the student. Taking into account the students’ feelings on planners, we have decided to provide them to Year 7 and 8 students next year. With email and mobile technology there is little need for notes to be written in planners now. Log-ins for SMHW were shared with students and parents earlier in the year, but if you haven’t been able to access it, please let me know and we will resolve the problem immediately. Language Exams We are proud that a number of Year 9 and 10 students have been able to take GCSE exams in their ‘home’ language this year. Building on the successes that we had in Italian, Arabic, and Polish last year, this summer students sat GCSE exams in Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, and Polish. We also entered students for Dutch, Polish, Italian, and Chinese A Levels. If your child can speak another language we may be able to get them a qualification in it, so please let us know. Goodbye to Key Stage 3 Levels As of September, Key Stage 3 students will not be given any levels or grades for any work or assessments. For some years now levels have become a distraction to students, causing them to ask ‘What level am I?’, rather than ‘What do I need to improve to make greater progress’. For this reason the Government has decided that levels will not be reported to students or parents and we have been busy planning how we will measure progress in Years 7 and 8. This is something that every school in the country will need to do by 2016 and we are well ahead of many with our planning. This does not affect Key Stage 4 where students and parents will be told the grades that students are working at and predicted to achieve in their examinations.
Interact
Morpha Bay
On 16 June, our Interact Club was invited to the charter evening for the new Interact Club at St Albans Girls School (STAGS). The event was attended by me the President of ACS Interact - Miss McIntyre and Mr Gaynor. The evening was very enjoyable and it was a great pleasure to welcome another club into the Interact family. We wish them all the best for the future. ACS Interact has had success this year by raising money during the summer fete for Herts Young Homeless.
On 26 June the PE department took 39 students to Morfa Bay, Wales for a long weekend of activities and excitement. During the weekend the students took part in a variety of activities on site such as mountain biking, high ropes and the mud assault course. They also went off site to do sea kayaking, surfing and woodland scramble. They also took part in Coasterering, which involves walking, climbing, swimming
Targeted Summer Project Work and jumping along the coastline. Many students found this to be their favourite activity. For others, it was the most scary.
We are introducing some summer project work to help students ‘catch-up’ if they haven’t made enough progress during the year. We acknowledge that some students, for whatever reason, haven’t made the progress we set with our aspirational targets and are keen to give them an opportunity to do so, rather than slip further behind through six weeks with no work. Students will have been told by their current teacher if they are expected to complete the activities, which will be communicated through Show My Homework. Additionally, we are planning numerous fundraising activities during the next academic year such as shoe boxing, school discos and much more.
Mr Stevens, Deputy Headteacher
School Website Visit our website for the latest news, letters, events and lots more… www.astleycooper.herts.sch.uk
@Astley_Cooper
Stephanie Okonma-Utuk 13RP
The students and staff all had an amazing weekend and look forward to next year’s trip. Mr Gatenby Subject Leader, PE
PSHE Thank you to all the students, families and teachers who supported the Summer Fete, especially the families that donated a prize for the raffle or the tombola. The Career Event took place on Tuesday 30 June for Years 8 and 10 students to attend a thirty minute workshop run by an external company to gain an insight into business and the career opportunities available. During period 5 a stall event took place where students had an opportunity to question the companies, colleges or universities. Students’ feedback from the event: Enjoyed most; ‘I enjoyed the fact we learned new things and what we can do when we leave school.’ Mollie Peterson Year 8 ‘I learned loads in the activities and it has helped me to think about keeping my head down in school and working hard.’ Courtney Ellis Year 11
Summer Fete
Sports Day
On Wednesday 1 July the best athletes from each year group went to Jarman Park to compete in the district sports day. The challenge was made even greater as it was the hottest July day ever at 35 degrees! This failed to deter our athletes, though, as many of them made finals and achieved personal bests. The medalists were:
On Saturday 20 June, Astley Cooper hosted its first summer fete in a few years. Despite the drizzly weather we took the plunge and ran the event outdoors, a decision that didn't disappoint as it turned out to be a great event.
Lucy Bolitho - Long Jump Hannah Bennett - Long Jump Layla Gharbi - Shot Put Grace Hindley - Discus and 100 metres Jack Harvey - Bailey - Triple Jump and 800 metres Charlie Kidd - 200 metres Jack Aldridge - 200 metres Olivia Chrsitodoulou - 200 metres
There was a great turnout from staff, students, parents and members of the community visiting a wide variety of stalls from arts and crafts to science and face painting.
Well done to all who competed. Mr Gatenby Subject Leader, PE
In October a Wellbeing and Mental Health day will be taking place for Year 9, 10 & 11 students focusing on exam stress and mental wellbeing.
On 18 June the school sports day was held in glorious sunny weather. There was a fantastic atmosphere during the whole day which was created by the students, teachers and families watching the various events. The day saw lots of personal bests and some amazing team spirit from all forms. The winners from each year group were:
Miss McIntyre, PSHE Coordinator
7SE, 8MG, 9SD, 10CH
What students learned: ‘To challenge things, take risks, take opportunities and try different things,’ Year 10 student ‘You need at least grade C in your English/ Maths/ Science to get a good job,’ Year 8 student ‘It gave me an insight to the world of work, college and apprenticeships,’ Sam Gaastra Year 10
District Sports Day
England Football Assistant Manager
Girls’ U15 Football
Astley Cooper were privileged to have a visit from the assistant to Roy Hodgson as England Manager, Ray Lewington. He spent an hour giving a talk to Year 7 and a number of BTEC Sport students. During the hour he inspired students with stories from his playing and coaching days. He answered numerous questions from students and staff on a range of topics. The students were particularly interested in hearing about the world cup and their favourite players such as Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane. Mr Gatenby Subject Leader, PE
On a sunny afternoon in June the U15 girls’ football team played Kings Langley in the District Cup final. After a fantastic win against Ashlyns on penalties in the semifinals the girls were determined to get their hands on the trophy this year. Astley Cooper got off to a great start and looked to threaten the other team every time they had the ball. This great play paid off and by half time we were 3-0 up. The first half goals were scored by Aisha Patel, Olivia Christodoulou and Hannah Bennett. The team continued their excellent performance in the second half with some great defending from Karis Lambert-Marranzini and Hazel Barton and maintained their lead up until the final whistle to win the cup. The whole team played fantastically well and kept their excellent team spirit during the game as they have done throughout the whole tournament and league games. I would like to congratulate all the girls on the win and thank all the staff and parents who came to support the girls during their matches. Miss East, PE Teacher
This year we got to view a snippet from the upcoming school production of Annie as well as some wonderful music performances by the students and teachers. With the sack race, bouncy castles, egg and spoon race, crossbar challenge and candy floss stall there was plenty to do for all the family. Money was raised for two different charities: CLIC Sargent and Herts Young Homeless. It was a really enjoyable day and fun was had by all. If you missed it, there’s always next year - Saturday 2 July 2016 12.00-2.30pm By Hazel Barton and Farihah Khan
‘On behalf of everyone at Herts Young Homeless and the young people we support, we would like to say a huge thank you to The ACS Interact Club for their hard work and fantastic efforts in raising an amazing £150 for us at the school fete. The donation will be put towards purchasing starter packs for young people which contain essential items for those people that are moving into accommodation for the first time. We are so grateful for the hard work put in to make these events a success and look forward to the next one’ Thanks again for all of your support. Kind Regards, Emma Wilson Marketing Assistant www.hyh.org.uk
CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, and their families. Fundraising Manager for Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, Catherine Cadman, said: ‘We are absolutely thrilled that The Astley Cooper School has made this wonderful contribution- it sounds as though it was a great day! We really appreciate the hard work and generosity that has gone in to raising the pounds – every penny raised will help provide vital support for children and young people with cancer, and their families. Thank you very much and we look forward to working together again in the future.’ If you would like to make a donation, please use the below email address: www.clicsargent.org.uk/ content/donate
Literacy Links Year 8 and 9 students have been enjoying acting as Reading Buddies for Reception and Year 1 children at Maple Grove. Visiting each week gave us an opportunity to help with their reading and led us into some work looking at what makes an interesting children's story: ‘I realised I had to read with more expression so the children kept interested. This helped me with a Benjamin Zephaniah book in English.’ Finley Manning Year 8
‘Children's books are really interesting. I found that they have different sub plots and a lot of humour. I am writing one soon.’ Ryan Buchet Year 8 This is one of the most enjoyable literacy projects we have done at Astley Cooper. Our students had to persevere and encourage the younger ones, but it helped them appreciate the role of a teacher and how absorbing a good story can be. Mr Walker, Literacy Co-ordinator
Great Big Dance Off National Finals On Monday 22 June the Astley Cooper Dance Company (ACDC) travelled to Birmingham to compete at the Great Big Dance Off National Finals which were held at the New Alexandra Theatre. After a quick rehearsal at the theatre in the morning we had to leave the theatre while the primary competition took place. To pass the time the company enjoyed some team bonding by having lunch at Nandos followed by a game of bowling. Well done to Kelsey King-Smith who gained the highest score and to Sam Coker who still managed to bowl even though he had an arm in a sling due to a broken collar bone. At 6pm we returned to the theatre to take part in the secondary competition. There were thirty secondary schools competing in the final and ACDC gave an excellent performance which really demonstrated their energy, team work and performance skills. Three judges mark each piece awarding up to 100 marks each. ACDC managed to achieve two scores of 98 out of a possible 100 which is an excellent achievement. We managed a very respectable seventh place overall with a score of 282 out of 300. The winning school achieved 290 points so it was very close within the top seven schools. Well done to all students involved and thank you to Mrs Cansick and Mrs Wallace for joining us on the day. If you would like to be involved in ACDC next year, look out for details of audition dates in September. Miss Elkins Subject Leader, Dance
Annie During the summer term, the Performing Arts team have been working on the school musical. This started way back in March with the auditions. It was great to see so many new faces at the auditions, with all year groups represented. We managed to cast all the lead roles and it was fantastic to see a fresh, new and talented cast emerge. This year we put on a production of Annie which took place on 9 and 10 of July to packed audiences. We had a cast of over 60 students from all year groups as well as a technical crew. There were lots of nerves backstage especially as many students had not performed in a musical before. However, the cast handled their nerves well and gave brilliant performances on both nights. Special mention must go to Chelsea Weller in the title role of Annie, Tom King as Oliver Warbucks, Taylor Goodridge as Rooster and Lily Elborn as Miss Hannigan. All gave mature and focussed performances managing to combine the three genres of musical theatre to great effect. The orphans gave energetic and committed performances particularly during their
song Hard Knock Life while Enya McGrory as Grace and Charlotte Webster as Drake led a solid performance by the mansion staff. A special thank you to Charlotte who stepped in to the role during the last few weeks of rehearsals. Other roles included dancers, cabinet members and radio station staff as well as Bundles and LT Ward played by Drew Hall and Reiley Davis. The Year 10 Production Arts students provided the technical support for the show taking responsibility for the set, props and stage management. The whole cast worked together to give a fun and professional performance despite having to wear winter costumes during the heat wave that we have endured this July. A huge thank you to all the cast who worked so hard on the show. Thank you to the technical crew and all the staff who helped make Annie possible. The musical enables students to develop so many skills and allows family, friends and members of staff to see a professional side to all those involved, which is such an achievement. Well done to all involved. Miss Elkins, Mrs Wallace, Miss McIntyre and Mr Egan
