TOR BRIDGE HIGH NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2016

Featuring... The 2016 Art Show

A message from the Principal...

Whilst the weather outside may not feel like summer, students at Tor Bridge High certainly know they have been through the summer exam experience! They have been working extremely hard to show their skills and knowledge under exam conditions: always a challenge and particularly this year with so many changes. Thanks go to all of you for the amazing support you have provided at home and to all the staff for their efforts this year. Particular thanks to students and staff in school during Easter and May holidays as well as for all the extra after school sessions. Let’s hope their efforts are rewarded with good results again this summer. As we approach the end of our school year it is always a privilege to join in the celebrations of leavers; be it from Year 11 or the 6th Form of 2016. The photos inside speak for themselves! Our new families joined us to meet tutors and our Year 7s have had two days packed full as their induction before September. Many will be with us for a week in August at Summer School too. Year 10 have had a week of Work Experience and Years 8 and 9 Challenge Experience - an amazing array of opportunities to challenge our young people and broaden their skills and experiences. Much fun and excitement and a great way to end the year. Once again our newsletter showcases a range of curriculum activities since Easter. Particularly of note are all the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) events and focus on future careers planning. For those off to university, further training or apprenticeships we wish you every success and hope you now realise what independence really is! We are keen to know how our leavers get on and welcome keeping in touch. Do contact school to let us know how those ex-students you are in contact with are doing. May I take this opportunity to wish you all an enjoyable summer holiday. Liz Dunstan

Farewell, Miss Boase

Year 11 students gave Miss Boase a standing ovation at their Prom on Friday evening at the Elfordleigh Hotel. Sue Boase retires this summer after a teaching career of 40 years... 31 years of which have been at Estover Community College and Tor Bridge High. Reece Bartlett and Georgia Roberts thanked Miss Boase for all she had done, in particular for the students during that time. They presented her with a beautiful piece of ceramics made by Ben Ramsell, a Year 12 student at Tor Bridge High, together with a floral bouquet. For once Miss Boase was almost speechless and totally taken by surprise. She praised the hard working Class of 2016 and wished them all a fabulous future!

Changes in roles for September Following Miss Boase’s retirement, I am able to confirm that Mr Winstone will be Acting Vice Principal next year and that Mr Cox will be Acting Head of Faraday School. Congratulations to them both.

Left: Mr Winstone

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Right: Mr Cox

Life in the four ‘small’ schools... This term has been a busy time for KS4 students many of whom have been preparing for their exams. Students were very well supported in the run up to their exams. They had a week of motivational videos and seminars dealing with topics such as exam preparation and managing stress. Every curriculum area delivered extra-curricular revision sessions on exam content and technique and we had the highest turn out of students attending revision sessions with over 100 students attending sessions during the half term break. We hope all their hard work has paid off and they get the results they are hoping for in August. KS3 students have also been busy, Year 8s have been participating in Peer Assist which is a training programme for student role models to help their peers make healthy choices. In addition we are currently encouraging all students to develop their leadership capabilities in the Small School Student Ambassador programme. Approximately 30 students from each school applied and were successful in becoming Student Ambassadors. They have been superb in the work they have been doing representing Tor Bridge High in a number of events and activities - most notably in the recruitment of high quality staff for the next academic year. Overall attendance this year is 95.1% which whilst good and a slight increase on this time last year, misses the whole school target of 96%. On analysing the attendance Mr Riley

Mr Winstone

data it shows lots of students have taken odd days off throughout the year for minor illnesses such as a sore throat, feeling sick and colds. We encourage parents/carers to teach resilience to their children by not giving in to their requests to stay off school unless absolutely necessary, for example because they have a serious illness and they can’t get out of bed because of it. Currently if a student has an attendance of 90% or below they are classed by the Government as being persistently absent from school. This means their attendance will be closely watched by the Deputy Head of School and Educational Welfare Officer. As the new timetable starts, Heads of School and Deputy Heads of School will be working with tutors to reinforce routines and expectations around uniform and behaviour. When you are purchasing new uniform please do not buy fashion items such as ‘skinny’ trousers or those with adornments such as zips or rivets. Trousers need to be tailored but not skin tight. Skirts also need to be tailored and not made of stretchy fabric. By following this guidance it means that students will avoid confrontation with their teachers and instead they will be able to focus on their progress and learning in lessons. We would like to thank all our families for their support over this last year. Parental support in reinforcing rules, taking an interest in their child’s learning and encouraging resilience is proven to have a major impact on the future success of their children.

Ms Golding

Mrs Norrish

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As a school we have contributed to many charities so far this year. We have helped charities such as Melanoma UK, Centrepoint, Jeremiah’s Journey, Diabetes UK, and the Red Cross. This term’s mufti day, in which students wear what they like instead of uniform, was in aid of Sports Relief, as chosen by sixth form students in Cade. A huge total of £841 was raised, so a big well done and thank you to all who donated!

Supporting St. Luke’s Midnight Walk As it was the 10th Anniversary of St Luke’s Midnight Walk, and Tor Bridge High are one of the refreshment stops’ on the route, St Luke’s organised a ‘Go Pink’ day on 20th May 2016. They were encouraging local businesses and organisations that support them to dress up in pink for the day to promote St Luke’s Midnight Walk. Their events team, St Luke’s staff and volunteers visited Tor Bridge High in a pink party bus spreading a little pink sparkle. Students helped fundraise by collecting donations in buckets and handed out leaflets and then had some fun on the party bus.

Above left: Mrs Jago, with Mrs Rose, sell cakes to students whilst students collect donations (Lauren Carew, Sian Roberts and Megan Shaw pictured with Mrs Sandercock who organised the event). Left: The infamous pink party bus, with St Luke’s staff, their events team, and Tor Bridge High’s Student Leadership team

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TENZING

FARADAY

AUSTEN

This term has been the term of Prom Vivo Concessions - Year 11 students saved over £800 on the cost of their tickets to the Elfordleigh Hotel by using their Vivos. This is a lovely opportunity for them to redeem the points for which they have worked so hard over the last five years. As always we are extremely proud of the effort and conduct of our students and our continued investment in Vivo as part of our rewards policy reflects the importance we place on this recognition.

Joshua Hard (Yr 11)

Declan Beeley-Kerr (Yr 9)

Jessie Veal-Furniss (Yr 11)

It is essential that students are regularly engaging with the system by logging in on at least a weekly basis so they can track the points they receive and read the comments written by their subject teachers. Should they have any issues with their log in details then they can pop into their school office to receive some help.

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Mrs. Spurgeon nominates Mia Sissons (Year 7) for her hard work, enthusiasm, superb progress in French.

Mr Sims nominates Thomas Trace (Year 10) for his fantastic effort and work rate in mathematics this year.

Mr Turner nominates Kaci Hart (Year 10) for her effort and improvement in Maths

Miss Whiting nominates Elliott Benson (Year 8) so his perseverance and “just keep swimming” attitude in Maths.

Miss Allen nominates George Allen (Year 9) for his dedication and hard work enabling him to progress in Mathematics.

Mrs Reynolds nominates Joshua Berry (Year 8) for his enthusiasm and hard work in English 1-2-1

Mrs Hughes nominates Skye Crossman (Year 10) for making great progress in Maths.

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Miss Davey nominates Gabby Crisp (Year 7) for her effort and enthusiasm in Drama lessons and her commitment to Musical Theatre Club.

Miss Warmington nominates Oliver Swabey (Year 7) for his excellent effort and progress in maths this year.

Mrs Davison nominates Summer Stevens (Year 10) for her consistent effort and positive attitude to learning in English as well as her fantastic attainment in the most recent GCSE Language assessment.

Miss Carne nominates Kayleigh Moore (Year 8) for her exceptional work and outstanding progress in Maths during this year.

Miss Outterside nominates Jodi Hewings (Year 8) for her helpful and polite nature and group work skills during English lessons. Miss Outterside nominates Jodi Hewings (year 8) for her helpful and polite nature and group work skills during English lessons.

Mrs Stockdale nominates Liz Horan (Year 10) for her unfailing commitment to her role in the performance production of ‘Tissue’ and her excellent effort and achievement on her written work in Drama. Star student!

Mr Langmead nominates Daniel Farrell (Year 11) for his consistent application and hard-work in preparation for his examination.

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Mrs Parkinson nominates Parris Chapman (Year 7) for her determination in not letting her medical problems get in the way of her education.

Mrs Lawrence nominates Chloe Sowden (Year 11) for her outstanding effort in Biology and her incredible commitment to her revision.

Mr Dennis nominates Adam Bryce (Year 11) for his achievement in completing 2 pieces of science coursework.

Mrs Young nominates Owen Combstock (Year 7) for his fantastic effort in Humanities and building a wonderful Castle for homework.

Mr Stearnes nominates Aiden Lees (Year 11) for his continued effort, positive approach and quality of work produced in Travel & Tourism.

Mrs Platt nominates Tyresse Norville (Year 8) always choosing the more challenging creative 3D options and spending his time planning thoroughly to succeed-a real star this term in Art..

Mrs Sheppard nominates Chloe Trethowan (Year 7) for her progress in reading. She has made superb progress on the Accelerated Reading programme and is very successful when completing the quizzes.

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Rewards Breakfast “On Tuesday the 26th of April the top Year 11 and Year 10 students (based on their effort, behaviour and home learning grades) were treated to a special rewards breakfast laid on by the school. This was to celebrate our achievement and encourage us towards success in our future exams. The eligible students gathered in the restaurant, before tutor time and each received a bacon bap and a cup of tea or coffee as a token of appreciation of our efforts from the school. This was a very positive event and one that is rarely carried out by schools. It gave many students the feeling of recognition for all the hard work they have been doing in and out of school. It has worked very well as an incentive to students to do well in the future, as some left the restaurant wondering when the next one would be. I believe it was a great award and one that should be continued in the future.” Joshua Hard Year 11

School term dates for students 2016/17

Friday 2nd September Term 1 starts for Year 7 and 12 Monday 5th September Term 1 starts for Years 8,9,10,11,13 Friday 21st October - Monday 31st October inclusive Holiday Tuesday 1st November Term 2 starts, all years Monday 19th December - Tuesday 3rd January inclusive Christmas Holiday Wednesday 4th January Term 3 starts, all years Monday 13th February - Friday 17th February inclusive Holiday Monday 20th February Term 4 starts, all years Monday 3rd April - Monday 17th April inclusive Easter Holiday Tuesday 18th April Term 5 starts, all years Monday 29th May - Friday 2nd June inclusive Holiday Monday 5th June Term 6 starts, all years Monday 24th July - 5th September (Yrs 7 & 12) or 6th September (all other years) Summer Holiday Exam Results: A level/Level 3 Thursday 18th August 2016 GCSE/Level 2 Thursday 25th August 2016 Results available from the restaurant between 9am and 11am

Please note Results cannot be handed to a third party unless written authorisation from the student has been handed in giving their permission to release the results. Results cannot be given out over the telephone. Any results not collected on the day will however be posted home.

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INTRODUCING OUR NEW STAFF... Miss Carne - Learning Support Assistant

I am a plant ecologist with previous experience working at Plymouth University and I am very happy to be working here at Tor Bridge High. I have joined the team as a learning support assistant in order to gain valuable experience working in secondary education before applying for teacher training. I love reading, cycling and exploring our beautiful countryside with my family and crazy springer spaniel and am looking forward to being involved with Challenge Experience on the Duke of Edinburgh Challenge.

Mr Jackson - Temp Reprographics Technician

I was born in County Tyrone and grew up in Plymouth. I studied Print and Reprographics at Plymouth College of Art and Design and worked in commercial, financial and newspaper print production in London, Edinburgh, Bahrain and Plymouth. After being made redundant twice on Friday 13th I enrolled at Plymouth University to study fine art and further inform and consolidate a future in Art and design. Outside of work my time is spent painting and creating art at The Alamo Project in Stonehouse.

Cleaning Team

We are pleased to welcome the cleaning team onto the staff at Tor Bridge. We made the decision earlier this year to move away from a cleaning contract with Mitie and since 1 April 2016 the Mitie staff transferred over to us. The team work various shifts both in the morning and the afternoon, often starting work at a time which most of us would describe as ‘the middle of the night’! They are a great team and we welcome them as invaluable colleagues and a vital element of the staff body.

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Stepping up to secondary school It has been wonderful for Mrs Scotting to visit all of our 210 Year 6 students at their 28 different primary schools over the last month. Some of our students have been up to Tor Bridge for some enhanced transition with our Progress Managers, Mrs Hughes, Mrs Nelson and Miss Tuxford to help them feel at their most confident when they start in September. Here they are enjoying all sorts of activities around the school from scrapbooking to planting seeds in the science garden. Our new Year 7s will be here for two induction days on 5th and 7th July where they will experience their first teaching day as Year 7 and take part in lots of art workshops with some sports competitions to boot! We wish them all the best of luck as they start their individual journeys as the newest members of Tor Bridge High!

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A visit from Radio 1! On Friday 6th May, special guests from Radio 1 visited Tor Bridge High Sixth Form to promote their Radio 1 Academy which took place in the county. Our Sixth Formers along with students from one of our partner school, Lipson Co-operative Academy, were offered the opportunity to attend a series of workshops and events along with a range of volunteer schemes, placements and roles. The Radio 1 team have been touring around Devon over the last week and Tor Bridge High was lucky enough to be one of just nine schools visited. These in-school sessions were aimed at any students considering a career in a creative or media based industry and our guests included BBC Introducing presenter James Santer and BBC Radio 1 team assistant Oliver Owens who talked to students about their own journeys into their radio careers. Our students really enjoyed the session and asked lots of questions throughout. They were particularly keen to learn about career pathways and opportunities to meet celebrities. If students/parents would like any more information they should go to www.bbc.co.uk/ radio1/academy or students can talk to their tutors or the Sixth Form team.

Extended Project Exhibition On 5th May our Post 16 Extended Project students completed an exhibition showcasing their work. The Extended Project is a subject where students can complete a piece of coursework on a subject area of their choice. They have written a 6000 word dissertation each, completed a presentation and managed all aspects of their project from start to finish. This year the standard of projects seen were some of the highest that have ever been presented at Tor Bridge High with topics ranging from whether or not prison works, to what the world would be like if CFCs had not been banned. Other projects have looked at areas such as how evolutionary psychology can explain domestic violence, the impact of child protection legislation on children’s health and well being and whether the law on murder should be reformed. We look forward to finding out students’ final grades in the summer. A huge well done to all of our project students! Left: Students, with Mrs Kenny, discussing and presenting their projects in a busy day of showcasing

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Year 11 start to make their next steps into the 6th form! On April 19th 14 year 11 students who have elected to study a range of vocational options with Discovery College, one of our TVC partner providers, had the opportunity to visit the college and find out what their Sixth Form studies would involve. They were able to engage in hands on activities, learning about careers in sport, public services and childcare. The students found out about course content, met their tutors and other class members and are now very excited about making their next steps towards their career goals in September.

NHS careers tour Twelve students from Years 10, 11 and 12 visited Derriford Hospital where they learnt about the various careers offered by the NHS. They toured the Surgical Decontamination Unit, Administration Department and also the Combined Laboratories where we bumped into one of our exstudents Louise Worley! Louise finished Sixth Form at Tor Bridge in 2014 and has since gone on to work within the laboratories at Derriford Hospital. It was lovely that it was one of our ex-students who was able to show us around the laboratories and talk so passionately about what the job involved and how she got to do it.

Above: Louise Warley

Right: Miss Allin, Mrs Scoble and Louise Worley with our Year 10, 11 and 12 students

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Apprenticeship advice from the professionals Our Sixth Formers were able to gain first hand advice about Healthcare apprenticeships when Livewell Southwest provided our students with a bespoke training day. The half day event was attended by Year 13s who were considering careers in a variety of sectors within Healthcare. They were able to gain specific tips in order to be successful at interview and learn about the experiences of apprentices. They all found it really inspiring and it really gave them a good idea about possibilities for the future. Above: Steve Blundon (from Livewell South West), with Dianne Brown, Devon Reed, Ebby Callender, Alisha Davies, Georgia Finnigan and Charlie Lennox

Dragon’s Den workshop A trip was organised to the Dragons Den workshop at the Academy, where students had the fantastic opportunity to ask the Dragons questions about their entrepreneurial skills and learn about how they became so successful. It was a wonderful opportunity to be part of such an exciting event and we even saw some famous Radio 1 DJs!

Right: Kiara Millard, Ebby Callender and Hannah Snook

Ex-student Sam reaches the final and his team come first!

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Former student Sam Castlehouse (President of Plymouth University Law Society) went to the Supreme Court in London as a finalist in a national ‘Moot’ competition. A moot is a mock judicial proceeding set up to examine a hypothetical case. The purpose of a moot is for students of law to practise putting together an effective debate or argument. Lord Neuberger, Head of the Supreme Court, decided that Sam’s team’s moot was the best one and they won the title. Sam has always been a committed person in everything he does. He worked hard to achieve excellent A-Levels and he is continuing to achieve at the highest level at university. Tor Bridge High is so proud of him. We look forward to seeing him in the High Court or Palace of Westminster very soon! Above: Sam Castlehouse and Lord Neuberger

Double Success for Tor Bridge High Student: London and the US! We are extremely proud that one of our Year 12 Aspire students, Nathan Sleet, has been successful in applying for not one, but two, prestigious programmes. Nathan has beaten over 1500 applicants to be selected as a finalist on the Sutton Trust US Programme which aims to give bright, state school students a taste of life at an American university. He will now attend an introductory event in London in April, before embarking on an allexpenses paid one-week US summer school at a leading US university in July. Nathan has also had a longstanding ambition to pursue a career in accountancy and so was equally excited to find out he had also been selected to take part in a week long internship with renowned Nathan Sleet accountancy firm KPMG in London. The residential placement will be fully funded by the Social Mobility Foundation. Two fantastic opportunities which we have no doubt that Nathan will embrace to the full! Credit must also be given to all the Year 12 Aspire students who applied for these programmes, their effort and dedication was exemplary.

Young Enterprise Team winners! Once again this year’s team have been awarded one of the top awards, this year the Quality Award, as recognition for achieving a professional standard of business concept and product quality. The students had to sell their products at trade fairs throughout the year, dedicating weekends as well as attending meetings weekly and working with the production and manufacture team to achieve these marketable products. They have had to pitch their business ideas to the board of adjudicators, present their findings and write reports to be able to achieve this quality award which we are delighted they have won as it is only the seventh time it has been achieved in the 50 years the Young enterprise award scheme has been running. The Young Enterprise is a National entrepreneurial scheme recognised by all universities, apprenticeships and employers nurturing and developing individuals’ skills such as leadership, resilience, financial capability, sales and marketing, managing risk, negotiating and effective communication. A big well done to the team! Team members include: Carys Burnard (Managing Director), Rebecca Sneap, Hannah Snook, Kieran Jessep-Crook, Caitlin Harvey, Abigail Mansell, Phoebe Evans, Rhianne Desmond, Callum Mitchell, Kieran Sullivan, Georgina Speirs, Ebby Callender , Hannah Richards, Amy Knight, Oliver McAuley, Nathan Gee, Leonardo Cupertino, Logan Dixon, Kiara Millard

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Year 12 induction

We have been welcoming the new year 12 students to our 6th form with lots of exciting activities and the opportunity to engage in their chosen lessons. We kicked off induction on the 4th July where students had an introduction to 6th form life and were able to meet their tutors. The students, who were a mix of our old year 11s and students who are joining us from other schools, then had the choice to complete two sessions. The first session was run by Babcock and Livewell SouthWest and was aimed at students who were considering employment and apprenticeships at the end of their 6th form study. This session helped students to understand what they can do to make themselves a desirable employee at the end of their 6th form. The second Above: Sam Castlehouse presenting session was an alumni session where ex-students came in to talk about the careers that they have undertaken. The session opened with a keynote speech from Sam Castlehouse, current Mooting champion, and law students at Plymouth Uni. Other students who supported the session included Kyle Simpson (the highest performing sports rehabilitation in England student, and owner of KS Sports therapy based in Plymouth Performance Gym, pictured), Kirsty Less (transport planner), Janine Cross (Cadiac Nurse), Sam Dunn (Paralegal) and Kelly Phillips (Primary School Teacher) to name but a few! Here students found out about the different career opportunities available to them, and life after post 16 study such as gap years, travel experiences and University. Finally those students who have opted to study at PLE schools went to visit their schools and meet their teachers. Above: Kyle Simpson July 5th was another busy day where level 3 students were able to complete a taster of their post 16 choices and learn what life as a post 16 student would really be like. Vocational students had sessions on finance, work experience and had the opportunity to meet informally with their training providers to find out about expectations and have their questions answered in relation to their chosen preapprenticeship programmes. On July 6th level 3 students, along with our PLE partners, had a fantastic and inspirational session delivered to them by Peter Rawlings regarding how they can get themselves into the top universities. In order to stand above other applicants our post 16 students need Above: Livewell presenting to inductees to show that they have ‘the edge’ and a set of five key skills- resilience, organisation, leadership, team work and communication. Peter discussed with our students how they can develop those skills to make themselves more desirable to top employers and universities. This session was followed by a talk for those students who were interested in medicine, dentistry and veterinary careers about the specialist skills sets that they need to develop. Students then had the opportunity to learn about post 16 enrichment options such as Duke of Edinburgh, Young enterprise and student leadership. Above: Peter Rawlings presenting to inductees

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Sociology Taster Day at Plymouth University

On Tuesday 14th June ten year 12 Sociology students spent the day at Plymouth University experiencing a ‘taste’ of what Sociology could be like at Degree level. They had the opportunities to attend a range of workshops where there was open discussion ranging from “Is it selfish to have more than two children?” to “Families and other animals”. Over a delicious lunch the students were able to discuss their future career plans with University lecturers, in fact, many clarified what they wanted to do after their ‘A’Levels. It was indeed a beneficial day for all.

A visit to Cambridge University Tor Bridge Aspire students visited Cambridge University with Mr Perry and Mrs Smallshaw on 5th and 6th of July. They stayed in Downing College during their trip and experienced life as a Cambridge undergraduate. During this time they were given advice on applying to Cambridge and experienced a ‘supervision’ style lecture on classical art. The students also toured many of the other colleges around Cambridge and came away with a clear ambition to apply to this prestigious university.

Year 9 - First Aid in a Day

On Thursday 30th June 80 year 9 students were given the opportunity to gain a basic First Aid Certificate. Two St John’s Ambulance trainers spent the day covering some essential First Aid skills that all students need to know. The day covered: • The Recovery Position • CPR (Adults and Children) • Choking (Adults and Children) • Bandaging The students really enjoyed the day and were very grateful for being given the experience of learning these essential Life Skills.

Above: Year 9s learning First Aid with St John Ambulance staff

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y ry r a r a LiLbnews ibrnews... ... More from Book Week!...

Last term the school celebrated Book Week with an author visit, book sale and lots of quizzes and competitions. This year our theme was Other Cultures and the library invited our students to travel the world through books! All the students were given boarding passes which they could get stamped by completing the various book week activities. Thirty-seven students completed their boarding passes and were rewarded with prizes including a book of their choice or chocolate and stationary. The most sought-after prize however was the winner’s lunch. Thirteen lucky winners got to experience foods from all around the world in a special multicultural lunch in the library. For some this was the first time they had tasted certain foods. We had Victoria sandwich for England, bhajis from India, pizza from Italy and melon from the Caribbean. The taramasalata wasn’t very popular but everyone was ‘game’ and tried it all!

Tinga Tinga Tales with the Primary School The library regularly works with the other schools in our partnership and we were delighted to be able to involve the Tor Bridge Primary school in our Book Week celebrations. A group of year 7 drama students delivered a wonderful performance to the Reception Class. Their own interpretation of the Tinga Tinga Tales was very well received by the children. The Year 7 students involved were; Alicia Wilmer, Aidee Thompson, Owen McConaghy, Dennes Hunt, Ben Crocker, Jason Francis, Lauren Clarke, George Handley, Riley George, Carys, Gleeson, Finley Southern, Chris Smith.

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Shakespeare Week 2016 is the 400th anniversary of the death of England’s most famous writer. To mark this week the library hosted a week of activities, performances and workshops. The whole of Year 7 attended library workshops focussing on ‘Much Ado about Nothing’, a story about love, reputations and deceit. In addition, the Western College Players Theatre Group kindly joined us again to bring the play to life with a wonderful performance highlighting the stormy relationship between Beatrice and Benedict. Many of the Year 7 students were also able to take part in the workshops which the theatre company ran here at TBH. Students across TBH enjoyed entering the Shakespeare library competition - with over 140 entries it was hard to choose winners from each school. Students were asked to take on the role of Hero from Much Ado About Nothing and produce a worthy response for a woman unfairly dumped at the altar. Our students revelled in using Shakespeare’s very own insults such as “away you three-inch fool” and “thine face is not worth sun-burning.” Our six winners are: Jessi Whittle, year 7, Austen Red Burbage, year 7, Austen Melissa Harkin, year 7, Austen Sammi Wright, year 9, Tenzing Steven Down, year 7, Faraday Lauren Carew, year 9, Faraday

Above: The performances of Much Ado About Nothing by the Western College Players. For more information about this local theatre company visit: http://www.wcptheatrecompany.com

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Carnegie Shadowing Group

A dedicated team of Tor Bridge High students have been meeting weekly to read and discuss the book allocated to us as part of the Plymouth schools Carnegie Medal shadowing event. The CILIP Carnegie Medal is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. Twelve schools across Plymouth are taking part in the shadowing event which involves each school being allocated a book from the national shortlist of amazing books. Alongside the national decision-making process, the Plymouth schools will also decide which book they think should win. Our group meet and read together as well as discussing the book and its key messages. The culmination of all their hard work was on the 20th June when all twelves schools came together to present their books in front of the other participating schools.

Above (left to right): Mrs Bowles (librarian), Amber Staton, Eliza Everritt, Sarah Mussi (guest author/speaker), Lewis Isaacs, Casey Hall, Matthew Rowse, Katie Shaw, Alice Veal-Furniss, Lauren Pemberton, Mrs Sheppard (English teacher)

As well as actually reading and discussing the book our team has worked really hard to put on a performance which includes Makaton signing, singing, a video clip and some amazing acting. The group also produced some brilliant coyote masks as props:

The Carnegie shortlist for 2016 is thick with secrets and lies and includes award-winning authors such as Patrick Ness who could be in line for taking home a third Carnegie Medal! All the books can be found in our school library and are well worth a read. One, Sarah Crossan The Lie Tree, Frances Hardinge There Will Be Lies, Nick Lake (the book the TBH team are reading) The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Patrick Ness Five Children on the Western Front, Kate Saunders The Ghosts of Heaven, Marcus Sedgwick Lies We Tell Ourselves, Robin Talley Five Colour One, Jenny Valentine

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Author visit: Kathryn White To end a really busy year we were delighted to welcome author Kathryn White to TBH. Kathryn ran four workshops for a selection of our gifted and talented students across Years 8, 9, 10 and 12. Students are often intrigued by how authors come up with ideas for their books and Kathryn spent Above: Kathryn White speaking to Year 10 students some time talking about the many things that have inspired her to write. Kathryn uses everything from her own life experiences, to international news and even a word that she particularly loves (flamboyance!). Kathryn said “the biggest source of inspiration for her are the things that impact on her life.” Her forthcoming young adult novel, ‘Balance’, is written from her own experiences teaching at HMP Shepton Mallet and through meeting some of the inmates there. We were lucky enough to have a sneak preview of this new book which tackles the preconceptions about people in prison. Our students fielded some interesting questions to Kathryn who advised that you should make sure you do your research if you are writing about real life and stressed the importance of getting inside your character’s head. Kathryn was keen to find out what we thought of her book and our students gave her feedback on the front cover design too. Look out for her new book in our library in September. Kathryn’s favourite book as a child was Matilda by Roald Dahl. She loves the way Dahl reflects on the dark side of life and the power he gives to children. In September we will be running lots of splendiferous Roald Dahl activities to celebrate 100 years since his birth.

Above: Kathryn White (author) with Year 8s Summer Fisher, Aleisha White and Carmen Hambly

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Class of 2016 Prom The sun eventually came out right on time for the annual Year 11 Prom which was held on 1st July at the Elfordleigh Golf and Country Club in Plympton. As usual the students arrived in all types of fancy cars both old and new from stretch limousines to Hummers, we were even treated to about 20 motorcycle outriders who accompanied one young lady to the ball. Everyone looked amazing, with so many stunning outfits and hairstyles it was so hard for staff to choose the best dressed , eventually after much debate and last minute changes of mind the awards went to Pearce Pettit (Austen) and Jess Royal (Faraday) Awards were also presented to students from each school for consistent hard work, excellent behaviour and for being great representatives of Tor Bridge High. Congratulations to Pearce Pettit (Austen) Georgia Miller (Faraday) and Reece Bartlett (Tenzing) A special award of ‘Best Vice Principal Ever’ was presented to Miss Sue Boase by Rhys Bartlett and Georgia Roberts. We thank all our students for such excellent behaviour on the night, a real credit to Tor Bridge High and wish them all the best in the future in whatever they choose.

Junior Maths Challenge

Congratulations to all the participants of The Junior Mathematics Challenge this year, aimed at pupils in Year 7 and 8 it involves answering 25 multiple choice questions in one hour. Samuel Kitt got our second ever GOLD and is invited to participate in the next stage. Congratulations also go to Keiran Thornton, Toby Richards and Kian Lees who achieved Silver Awards together with Nathan Kellow, Nikita HarrisonMegraw, Harley Adams, Ben Crocker, Joseph Glanville, Oliver Swabey, and Tom Stevens who were awarded Bronze Awards. How would you do? (No calculators are allowed! Answers on the back page)

1. 2.

3.

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Samuel Kitt, Gold winner

Royal Academy Summer Art Show 2016 On the 23rd June, a group of 41 Year 7 students and three Year 9 students visited the annual Royal Academy Summer Show and the National Gallery in London. The trip was led by Miss Ledger and supported by Mr Robinson and Miss Brennan. The Royal Academy Summer Show enables students to see a multitude of works from all disciplines in order to enhance their learning and understanding of the art curriculum.

Plymouth Fashion Show

Primary Art Workshops

During the afternoon of 21st June, Miss Ledger and Mrs Hague took a group of 6th form fashion and textile students to the Plymouth College of Art graduate fashion show held at the Red House Theatre in Millbay.

Ciana Peedicayil and Abi Snell from Bickleigh Down Primary School with Mrs Slater showing their artwork from the textile and sculpture workshop. They were among a group of children in Years 3 to 6 from local primary schools who came to Tor Bridge High after school to Make and Create.

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Summer Art Show 2016 Once again a fantastic exhibition of work created by Foundation and Sixth Form students. The show featured a huge diversity of materials and techniques and this year also included some stunning ceramics, sculptures and paintings from Year 9 and 10 GCSE students.

Shannon Hartill (left) and Flora Nieva (above) with their art work Below: A selection of pieces from this year’s Art Show

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Tor Bridge High Foundation Degree graduates excel this year On the 10th June, Mr Lyon, Miss Ledger, Mrs Hague and Mrs Texidor attended the private views at the art degree graduate shows at Plymouth College of Art and Plymouth University. It was a delight to see the graduate shows of ex-Tor Bridge High Foundation students. Left: Sam Witts has graduated with a degree in printed textiles in surface pattern from PCA

Right: Lizzie Rowley at her graduate show. She has completed her photography degree at Plymouth University. Lizzie has secured a photography job with P&O Cruises

Left: Fi Smart with her Warhorse themed final show. Fi graduated with an illustration degree from Plymouth University. She has been shortlisted for two external awards and is continuing her work as an artist at the Royal William Yard studios

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Performing Arts Drama’s Revolting Rhymes In Year 8 Drama this term we have been studying Comedy and in particular Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes. We started by thinking about what makes a joke funny and why we laugh at different things. We realised that sometimes we laugh at something that isn’t always funny because it is a way of coping with difficult things and that comedy can help us sometimes. We then did some sketches where we used different status levels. It was funny to see a bank robber trying to hold up a bank whilst on their hands and knees! When we started the Revolting Rhymes Miss Davey gave us all different roles. These rhymes are funny twists on fairy tales and we had to act them out. Each group had a narrator who told most of the story while everyone else acted out the actions the narrator described. When we presented out Revolting Rhymes we had the opportunity to raid the Drama department prop cupboard and we all got to wear costumes! This made this term by far the best as everything Above: Joe Purse (The Narrator), Alfie Norris (Prince Charming), Jack Smith about it has been (Ugly Sister), Abi Finlay (Cinderella), Evan Pelling (Ugly Sister), Cara Marsh funny. (The Magic Fairy) Courtney Green and Tom Berry

Music’s Tor Bridge Brass on tour A number of students have peripatetic instrumental teaching, these include electric and bass guitar, drums, acoustic guitar, singing, clarinet, sax, cornet, trumpet; a great list of skills we are proud our students have the opportunity to learn. Our Brass ensemble have been on tour! They have visited many of our local primary schools, some of them returning to their old primary schools to perform. The brass group have visited and performed a short concert in four different schools. It is a great experience for our students to play to different audiences and always lovely to see their old teachers welcome them back and see how far they have progressed in music since being at Tor Bridge High. Their mini concerts were a great success and the primary students received them well, joining in with some of the songs and showing their enthusiasm and appreciation of the music. If you are interested in instrumental lessons please see Mrs Stockdale.

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GCSE Drama - ‘Tissue’ The GCSE Drama class have had a fantastic year performing several plays to different audiences and working hard for their practical examination. Whenever we study Drama at Tor Bridge High there is an importance and responsibility in ensuring not only that we are enjoying it but that we are learning some key life skills and exploring hard hitting issues. Drama has a fantastic way of being able to address challenging situations and issues at a safe distance, where we can learn about these issues and explore them, but as a character. In doing this we learn a great deal about difficult topics but also are provided with an engaging way of getting important messages out to our audience. The GCSE group’s most recent performance was of a play call ‘Tissue’ by Louise Page. The story focused on a lady called Sally Bacon and her diagnosis of breast cancer. Through the play we learn how her family, friends, boyfriend and herself feel about this illness and the impact it has on all their lives. To support us in ensuring this piece of theatre was factual and true to life we were privileged enough to have some breast cancer survivors in to talk to the class about exactly how they coped with their diagnosis, illness, treatment and the emotions and physical effects. The students did themselves proud in this sensitive exploration of the play. They tackled the issue with such maturity and care it was wonderful to see. The piece overall was enjoyed by audiences as an engaging and informative piece of theatre. Well done Year 10! Those who took part were Elizabeth Horan, Sam Reed, Tyler Sidney, Jack Flower, Max Darke, Cameron Baines, Jack James, Tom Moore, Amy Marriott, Amy Humpherson, Above: left to right - Molly Lavers, Livvy Spark, Lauren Stevens and Holly Teagan Crossman and Caitlin Pooley Phillips.

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Duke of Edinburgh

With delight we can announce that three of our students have completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. It is the first time Tor Bridge High has had students complete this prestigious Award. James Goddard, Hannah Trott and Taneath Woodward have all completed the Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. They have shown commitment and dedication throughout the five years they have spent working towards this incredible qualification. They all feel that this qualification represents the amazing hard work that they have shown when they volunteered: in the library, at 12th Mainstone Brownie Pack and with the charity ‘Chicks’. They have developed their drumming, dancing and have experienced memorable expeditions. As well as our Gold students, many other students have achieved either their Bronze or Silver award. Last weekend five more Year 10 students completed their expedition in North Cornwall. Mr Money was impressed at how well the group (Cameron Baines, Jess Killen, Beth Cox, India Hayden and Nathan Foster) worked together at walking, camping and exploring. Over 40 students have completed their practice expeditions and are working towards the other sections of their award. It’s wonderful that so many students are achieving this qualification. Many students agreed with Beth Cox when she said, ‘I will never forget this expedition’.

Above: Jorja Speirs

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Above: Left to right: Nathan Foster, Cameron Bains, Beth Cox, India Hayden and Jess Killen

Below: Left to right: Hannah Trott, Sam Jones, James Goddard, Emma Legg, Chloe Chapman, Jess Owen, Taneath Woodham

Electrics Go4SET Project 2016 – ‘Our School is an Island’

A team of six Year 8 students were involved in the Go4SET project this year and they chose the brief ‘Our School as an Island’. Our students researched key issues such as energy, waste, transport and sustainability and used this information to design and make their own model school island. They also wrote up a report on their project and presented it at the Celebrations and Assessment Day held at Plymouth University on 17th May. The team spent ten weeks Above: (Left to right) Company mentor David Beasley from carrying out their project and with Schneider Electric, Josh Hemmings, Josh Kneebone, Alex Westthe help of their mentor, David Thomas, Kieran O’Donnell, Morgan Manning, Chase McNair Beasley, from local firm Schneider and Miss Hockaday. Electrics, they designed a model that incorporated residential and leisure facilities and sustainable methods of energy. The group also got the opportunity to visit Schneider Electrics at Southway to look at how their products are designed and produced. They toured the factory and had a chance to talk to different employees about their career. To prepare for the presentation, the group visited the Gazelle STEM centre at City College to help them gain the necessary skills to present their report. At the assessment day the students had to display their project and present it to a panel of judges, who asked them lots of questions about what they had done. Feedback from the judges included; ‘Project was well planned and the team worked well together with clearly defined roles. Overall a really good effort and something to be proud of’. This project enabled the team to all graduate as an ‘Industrial cadet Level 1 Bronze’ and each received a certificate and badge. Well done to Students were given a tour of Schneider Electric. Above: the team! (Back) Morgan Manning, Kieren O’Donnell, Josh Kneebone, Alex Thomas-West. (Front) Josh Hemmings, Chase McNair.

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British Science Week – 14th-18th March To celebrate British Science week this year, students at Tor Bridge High had a variety of activities to participate in throughout the week. There were lots of quizzes and competitions carried out in tutorial as well as at lunch and break time, including a ‘Bat hunt’ where students had to collect photos of different bat varieties that had escaped around the school to earn themselves a prize. Students had the opportunity to get involved in a range of lunchtime activities throughout the week. Well done to all involved! Thanks to Miss Hockaday for her support. The Physics department carried out The Great Egg Drop where students had to design and make an egg parachute to help the egg land safely when it was dropped from the top floor in Faraday. Students got really competitive in trying to make the best design.

Left: Matthew Mills and Tom Berry. The Chemistry department did a show about Chemistry with fire. This included a range of teacher demonstrations and experiments carried out by the students. Students learnt about chemical reactions and fire as well as understanding the safety implications. They were also shown how to put out a chip pan fire. Left: Mr Mycock demonstrating a reaction. The Biology department made ‘Pizza cells’. Students had to make a model of a plant or animal cell in the form of a pizza. Students had a lot of fun learning about the different structures in a cell and their functions. They were then able to cook and eat their delicious pizzas. One of the tastiest activities run during the week! Left: Amy Rennie, Matthew Mills, Tom Berry, Courtney Green, Kiara Gammon, Katie Crocker

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Babcock STEM Ambassadors A fantastic team of STEM ambassadors from Babcock joined some of our classes in Year 9 and Year 7 for a taster of work in nuclear fuel. The aim of this activity was to promote the different skills required in a workplace as well as STEM subjects and careers. The ambassadors assisted in the activity ‘defueling a nuclear reactor’ in which students had to design a model to safely defuel a nuclear reactor. A long metal tube had to be taken out through a small hole in the top of a bucket without hitting the metal sides as an electrical buzzer would sound. Students had to design and construct the electrical circuit so that a buzzer would go off when the tube touched the sides. They also had to design and construct a structure or crane to mechanically lift the fuel rod out

Left: Molly Lavers and Livvy Spark



of the bucket. The teams lost points if the circuit didn’t work or if the buzzer sounded. They also lost points if the structure would not hold the tube properly. Students worked brilliantly in their teams, coming up with ideas and testing them out. They really enjoyed the task and were very competitive during the testing of their models. Lots of skills were needed for this activity including problem solving, team work, designing and making electrical circuits and mechanical structures. The STEM ambassadors also highlighted to students the opportunities available in STEM courses and jobs, especially the careers that are available in Plymouth and the local area as well as international opportunities.

Right: Isaac Phillips and Zak Hosking

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2016 Engineering Education Scheme The Engineering Education Scheme is a prestigious national competition run by EDT, whose mandate is to support, encourage and improve careers for young engineers and scientists in the UK, a S.T.E.M equivalent to the Duke of Edinburgh scheme. Tor Bridge High have regularly entered a team over the last few years in the partnership with the Royal Navy, creating an interesting selection of solutions to engineering problems set by the Navy. This year’s team, already introduced previously in this newsletter comprising of Year 12 students from both our Engineering and Physics classes were Kane Mortimore, Josiah Alridge, Ed Maben, Ben Harrison and Tyler Ridgers

Below: Ed Maben, Ben Harrison, Kane Mortimore, Tyler Ridgers & Josiah Alridge

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pictured below. The team’s challenge, set by the Royal Navy, had been to design and build a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to inspect the hulls of Navy ships. This was an extremely challenging task, especially compared to some of the more straightforward projects the team were competing against. As the project progressed throughout the year the team’s engineering solution advanced from initial ideas, into fully formed 3D designs which were followed by ¼ and ½ sized models and prototypes. Finally a full sized and completely operational prototype, HMS Abyss was produced. After completing a limited testing schedule in the school facilities, the team debuted the prototype during the Celebration & Assessment Day in March. A full day event based at Plymouth, the CAD event brought together all teams involved in the South West region of the national EES project for a day of presentation and judging. Every team had to create and present a display stand outlining the details of their project and faced a panel of industry experts who quizzed them on the challenges of the project. As the day drew to a close and final assessments were made the top three teams, which included Tor Bridge, were separated by one point (out of a potential 112). Unfortunately our team lost out on outright victory by that single point, the narrowest winning margin there has ever been in the competition. Although disappointed not to win, the team recognised that second place was still a successful result. We are all extremely proud of what they achieved this year. As a school we would like to congratulate them on that success and we hope that the skills, knowledge and experience that they have gained this year will go on to serve them well in their future careers in Science and Engineering. Well done boys!

‘Britain needs Scientists’ trip to Exeter University On Wednesday 16th March, 15 Year 11 students attended the ‘Britain needs Scientists’ event at Exeter University. The event was a ‘speed dating’ style workshop where they had the opportunity to interview postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers about their work and careers. Students then attended an interactive science fair and had a choice of talks from varying colleges and universities that they could attend. The event tried to get students to think about their choices for A Level subjects and careers.

Primary school visit! Tor Bridge Primary reception class also joined the science department during science week to learn about dinosaurs and fossils. The students had a great time learning about what fossils are and what they can tell us about organisms that are now extinct. Students had to collect pictures of fossils in the garden and then piece together the fossils to make a dinosaur. They also experienced what it would be like to be an archaeologist by hunting for fossils made out of salt dough that had been buried in the earth in the dome. Students then learnt about the environment that dinosaurs lived in and they had a chemical demonstration of a volcano erupting.

Royal Air Force Science Roadshow On 14th June, the RAF science roadshow visited Tor Bridge High to promote career opportunities in the RAF to Year 9 students. The presentation was fun and entertaining for the students, but it also highlighted the importance of engineering and technology in the RAF. Several different types of technology used in the RAF were demonstrated to the students, including a drone, a virtual reality headset and a jet engine. The jet engine was started up outside the assembly hall, creating an immense amount of noise. Students learnt about how each of these technologies are engineered and how they are used in the RAF. They also learnt about the wide range of careers available to them in the RAF. Hopefully this has given them a better insight into RAF careers and helped some of them think about whether a career in the RAF or engineering and technology in general is for them.

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Thank you to our Science Garden helpers! All year, rain or shine we have a wonderful team of students who give up their own time to help us in the science garden. Whether it is collecting the fresh eggs laid by our chickens and ducks, planting or clearing weeds, they are always reliable, happy and enthusiastic. In particular, this year was a chance to say farewell to Harry who has been helping in the garden for the last five years; He will be greatly missed but we wish him well with his apprenticeship with a local landscape garden firm. In July, to say thank you for their hard work over the year, we visited Totnes Rare Breeds Farm. It was a great day; we had a very informative talk about the rescue owls and were able to get hands on feeding the guinea pigs, chipmunks and goats- one of which stole a cheeky bite of Skye’s sandwich out of her bag! The sun was shining, perfect for a picnic and I think the photos speak for themselves – it was a fun way to learn about the extraordinary variety of rare breed animals and conservation work undertaken by the farm. Far left: Matt Mills, Summer Fisher, Skye Hart-Vella and Jorja Speirs. Middle: Skye HartVella and Summer Fisher. Far right: Issy Smith, Katie Shaw, Jorja Speirs, Megan Shaw, Skye HartVella and Summer Fisher.

Making Apple Swans in Catering!

On the 28th June, approximately 125 students at Tor Bridge High were involved in the Food Technology area perfecting their knife skills and learning about good presentation skills with food. With apples kindly donated from Tamar Fresh Food Service, students carefully crafted swans. It was a very successful day with lots of apple decorations made and lots of apples eaten! At least one of their five a day fruit and vegetable intake! Here are some examples of our Swans:

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Greenpower Team storms to podium finish at Newquay Tor Bridge STEM Engineering Team took the chequered flag at the Newquay Greenpower F24 Races with a well earnt podium spot again this year in glorious sunshine at the St Mawgan Airfield venue. Team TBR secured third place in the kit car class to claim their fourth trophy in three years since embarking on their electric racing career. With big ambitions for the future, the team are currently building a full prototype chassis with assistance from members of the Plymouth Motor Club with their unique knowledge of cutting edge electric competition vehicles. Pictured with the team is Rob Selley’s electric MSA sprint race car which attracted a crowd on race day at the circuit. The event attracted a huge entry this year from schools around the country and was supported by some awe inspiring displays from BMW and Tesla electric cars to showcase the future of ‘greener’ motoring technology.

Team TBR from left to right: Back Row: Tom Trace, Abi Thomas, Kieran Harding, Aaron Sargent, Josh Street. Front row: Zack Royal, Jack Corber, Ryan Winnall, Rob Selley, Ryan Tattershall, Max Holder, Ethan Brimacombe

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SEND Football Competition Tor Bridge High and Brooke Green, arrived with 13 highly competitive players to compete against each other in an all-day football competition here on our 3G pitch. Both teams played with immense courage, positive attitudes and discipline throughout the competition even though the players were not in their natural learning environment or comfort zone. The players that made up this amazing event were as follows: Kieran Holman, Katrina Roberts, Declan Beeley-Kerr, Jaden Bauer, Kelsi Cooper, Mason Mills, Declan Browne, Reece Rowe, Logan Eveleigh, Jack James, Aiden Ellis, Sebastian Seth and of course Danny Wotton. There were plenty of goals from both teams including an injury for us, there’s always one!!! Their conduct and professionalism on and off the pitch was a pleasure to witness especially after the matches when both teams were shaking hands and wishing the opposing team the best of luck for future fixtures. Both teams that represented their school at this event especially Tor Bridge High demonstrated the key qualities of making this event successful by proving they understood what was meant by team work, respect for others, maturity as well as having fun.

Year 7 Girls’ Football This football season has seen outstanding moments from all of the team members in Year 7. The girls were committed to training from September through to March in order to cement a good performance in the Plymouth league. After some tense matches played in very inclement weather conditions the girls secured the league title undefeated – CONGRATULATIONS! The team proceeded to the next level of competition and played in a round robin competition in Feniton against other schools from Devon. Each match was strongly contended Above: Back row, left to right - Mrs Loveridge, Mia and the girls played immensely well. Mackenzie, Molly Kerswill, Kaci Kelloway, Ellie Dilley, Although they didn’t win overall, Bethan Crocker, Freya Ashurst, Mr Davies the girls came above Ivybridge, Front row, left to right - Holly Walker, Molly Bryce, Amy Lipson and Paignton Sports College Pedrick in the table which is a wonderful achievement. Mrs Loveridge and Mr Davies are incredibly proud of their efforts and achievement in winning the league and going forward to represent Plymouth and of their resilience in the Devon tournament. Well done and let’s look to building on this next year.

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Plymouth Schools Partnership Friday 22nd April was an afternoon of sport at Tor Bridge High! The annual Y2 Mini Olympics festival was run by young leaders from Tor Bridge High. Twentyfour young leaders were involved in the organisation and running of various multi skill activities for children in Y2 from Bickleigh Down, Leigham, St. Marys, Thornbury, Tor Bridge Primary and Widewell. The activities ranged from tests of skill and accuracy with the Bean Bag Throw; team events such as a Sprint Relay and Ladder Relay; speed and agility with the Speed Bounce and even a test of strength with the Chest Push challenge. I would like to thank all of the leaders involved in the day as they were a credit to the school — they ensured that all of the events ran smoothly and were brilliant with the children. April saw another huge success for the Tor Bridge High Young Leaders! Eight teams from across the city came along to Cann Bridge to take part in our PSSP Primary and Special Schools Archery Festival. Children from Bickleigh Down, Cann Bridge, Dunstone, High Street, Tor Bridge Primary, Widewell and Yealmpstone Farm all came along to learn some new skills and compete against each other. The young leaders from Tor Bridge High received some training beforehand from Kayleigh Bunker (from Plymouth University Archery club) and then passed on their knowledge to the children from the primary schools. It was brilliant to see our young leaders working with the younger children; they were all so enthusiastic and encouraging and helped them to improve with each arrow. In May, six teams came along to Tor Bridge High for the afternoon to compete in our annual Y3/4 Kwik Cricket festival. Children from Bickleigh Down, Leigham, Thornbury, Tor Bridge Primary, Whitleigh and Widewell all came together to take part in what proved to be a highly contested competition. It was fantastic to see so many children taking part and I think that everyone had a great time playing in the sunshine. We run a lot of events here at Tor Bridge High over the course of a school year and in my opinion this was one of our best yet! The standard of cricket was fantastic and we had some incredible young leaders who did a brilliant job of umpiring and scoring. Thank you to Emma Perry, Abigail Thomas, Isaac Phillips, Zac Hosking, Reece Carter and Dylan Marchant for volunteering their time and being so incredible with the children. In May we held our annual Tor Bridge Family Y5/6 Tag Rugby Festival with teams from Leigham, Tor Bridge Primary and Thornbury. I would like to say a huge thank you to the young leaders from Tor Bridge High (Bethan Crocker/Dylan Marchant/Euan Foulkes) who did a fantastic job of refereeing the matches — no easy feat when the action was as quick as it was! Claire Crowther - PE Specialist Teacher Above: Emma Perry (Silver Ambassador) with Amy from Dunstone Primary

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A message from one of our Governors, Helen Cocks I joined the Governing Body at Tor Bridge High in 2014 and in the 18 months that I’ve been a part of the team I have learnt a great deal about our school, the achievements of our students and the work that our staff do to help them achieve their potential. We’ve made lots of developments in how we operate as a Governing Body and are keen to ensure we are doing the best job we can to support our school with the delivery of education. As Governors we are all responsible for making decisions that contribute to the priorities and targets for Tor Bridge High, ensuring that all children have access to a broad and balanced curriculum, holding our senior leaders to account by monitoring our school’s performance and ensuring all school staff have the resources and training they require to do their jobs. We have made focussed efforts to engage with our staff and students by doing things like visiting the school regularly during the day, attending after school events, inviting staff along to our meetings to tell us about their work and also having the Head Students at our meetings to involve them in decision making and hear their views. We would very much like to engage more with families and the local community so we make sure we are available at open evenings, send out surveys to gain your views and communicate with you as much as possible about our work and what is going on at our school. We’ve now got a regular column in the school newsletter and have set up a Twitter account. Our website is also full of interesting information about our school. Governors meet every month, either as a whole group or in smaller groups for separate committees; one which focusses on Achievement and Curriculum and the other which focusses on Finance and Human Resources. You can follow us on Twitter @GovernorsTBH and hear all about what has been discussed and agreed at our meetings. Using the newsletter and social media we can reach a large number of people who care about our school with updates on our work. We make sure we share as much news and information as we can each time we meet so we encourage you, as parents, students and members of the local community, to follow us if you are using Twitter for instant updates. You can read more about the role of Governors on the National Governors’ Association website http://www.nga.org.uk/Home.aspx and if you are interested in becoming a Governor at Tor Bridge High please contact the school reception at [email protected].

The FA Skills Summer Holiday Sessions 09/08/2016 10am-1pm Ivybridge Community College, PL21 0JA, Girls only 7yrs-11yrs 11/08/2016 10am-12pm Tor Bridge High, PL6 8UN, 5yrs-7yrs mixed £2pp 11/08/2016 12pm-2pm Tor Bridge High, PL6 8UN, 8yrs-11yrs mixed £2pp 18/08/2016 10am-12pm Tor Bridge High, PL6 8UN, 5yrs-7yrs, Girls only 18/08/2016 12pm-2pm Tor Bridge High, PL6 8UN, 8yrs-11yrs, Girls only 22/08/2016 10am-3pm, Tor Bridge High, PL6 8UN, Boys 7yrs-11yrs 4v4 Festival, £5pp 30/08/2016 10am-3pm, Tor Bridge High, PL6 8UN, Girls 7yrs-11yrs 4v4 Festival To book onto any of the courses or to find out more information please contact Rebekah Rose: ([email protected]) or Tel: 07943 558666

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Farewells and thank yous...

As the school year comes to an end we send our sincere thanks and very best wishes to those colleagues leaving us. We are delighted that colleagues who have gained valuable school based experience are able to further their careers as a result. Good luck to Miss Bray and Miss Nichols. Mr Davies will now train as a PE teacher through the “Troops to Teachers” scheme and Mr Turner leaves us to work as an Adult Support Worker. From Maths, Science and English we say goodbye to Mr Tucker, Mrs Fuller, Miss Carne (off to travel in Australia), Mr Mycock, Mr Wilson and Mrs Collman. The support with extra-curricular activities such as the Education Engineering School, Ski Trip, Outdoor Challenge and Duke of Edinburgh only happen due to the willingness of staff to give up huge amounts of time after school and at weekends. Particular thanks to Mrs Collman for leading on DofE and to all the many staff that have supported this and other activities for our students. Miss Harris will be sorely missed by all in Faraday where she has been School Administrator. She is emigrating to Australia with her fiancé. Ms Crocker also leaves us in September from the finance team to study for a degree in Business; we wish her every success in her studies. Putting his artistic and entrepreneurial skills into running his own business – we wish Mr Robinson every success with his new venture. Perhaps in the future Tor Bridge High students will get to join him for work experience! RETIREMENTS... I think we have all noticed a particular spring in the step of six very dear staff who retire this year. Collectively they have given 120 years of service at Estover Community College and Tor Bridge High! Definitely time to put their feet up, take their watches off and enjoy pursuing personal interests without our students in tow. Mrs Spurgeon, Ms Knowles, Mrs Hagan, Mrs Faulconbridge, Mr Perrett and Miss Boase. You have each made such an impression on students, their families, staff and our community over many years. Your legacy will live on and on behalf of us all THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING and ENJOY RETIREMENT! RETURNING... It has been lovely to welcome back from their maternity leave Dr Mathieson, Mrs Tomlinson, Mrs Stevens and Mrs Whiteway. We are awaiting news from Mrs Gardner whose baby is due this week! Once again we have been delighted by our recruitment for September and we will be welcoming a number of new colleagues. JOINING... Subject teachers joining us are, in Science - Mr Armstrong and Miss Emberson. In English – Miss Davies, having trained with us this year will be staying. In Maths – Miss Cowley. In Technology – Miss Kingdon, Miss Claxton and Mrs Webster and in Art & Design – Miss Brennan continues permanently and will be joined by Miss Hole. In Humanities – Miss Palmer joins us.

Public Library News ‘The Big friendly Read’ is this year’s Summer Reading Challenge open to children aged 4 and above. The target is to read six books and collect a foldout wallet, a bookmark, a door hanger, a key ring and a medal. Certificates will be presented by library staff at assemblies during the autumn. The fun starts in all Plymouth Libraries on Saturday 16th July and runs until Saturday 13th September and celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Roald Dahl. As well as the reading challenge there will be lots of craft activities and other events in libraries across the city. For the under 4s there is a mini challenge and 6 stickers to collect as well as a certificate at the end. For all Summer Reading Challenge info go to our website: www.plymouth.gov.uk/libraries. With test To get you in the mood, why not try and solve 1. 2. Dear sty bits the following anagrams, just unscramble 3. White Chest to discover the famous Roald Dahl books. 4. Mega tech firing Answers are on the back page! 5. 6.

Monday: 9.30-5.00 Remember that Estover library is open throughout the Tuesday: 9.30-5.00 Wednesday: Closed holidays at these times:

Mad tail Crafts man to fix Thursday: 9.30-5.00 Friday: 9.30-5.00 Saturday: 10.00-1.00

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For those of you who are unaware of ‘SPOT’, we are a group of parents, carers and staff who organise various fundraising events such as quiz nights, raffles, etc. providing the school and students with additional funds to purchase equipment and resources to further enhance their learning. These include Musical Theatre and Knitting Club resources, the purchase of a defibrillator and litter picking packs for our students to use in the community. Our fundraising efforts continue and we are keen to recruit new members to our team. The time commitments are not huge and the more members there are the more ideas we’ll have and the more money we’ll raise! If you would like any further information or would like to join our friendly team, please do contact Ann Anstis at [email protected] or pop in to have a chat with her. One way of easily raising money is to sign up to ‘The Giving Machine’. More details are available on the school’s website www.torbridge.net. Click on Tor Bridge High, Parents and Students, and you’ll see the SPOT logo. The Giving Machine’s logo is also here and if you click on this you’ll be taken to their website. Signing up is easy and will take only a couple of minutes. All you need to do then is remember to sign in before you shop online. Everything is fully explained on the website and the good news is that it doesn’t cost anything and SPOT and our students will benefit.

Latest News from the Youth Service.... The Youth Service has just launched the free range of activities for young people over the summer period. Summer Mix 2016 Going Local! offer many exciting opportunities for young people – a fantastic way to keep them busy and engaged throughout the summer holidays... Please visit: http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/summermix. “Summer Mix - Going local” is • Open to young people living in Plymouth (your home address must receive services from Plymouth City Council) • Completely free (with the exception of Friday youth evenings at the Life Centre where there is a charge of £3.35) • For young people aged 11 to 19 years - some courses are available for those aged up to 25 years if you have a disability • Allocated on a first come, first served basis There are three activity programmes this year: City wide activities, community based activities and community grants, and you can book online via the link above. These activities have proved very successful in the past, so we do recommend you book early, as places do go! Public Library quiz answers:

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1. The Twits 2. Dirty Beasts 3. The Witches

4. The Magic Finger 5. Matilda 6. Fantastic Mr Fox

Junior Maths Challenge answers: 1.B 2.B 3.C