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Ekumfi Atakwa update Milkhope 2010 Year 10 Practice Interviews Project Ghana Year 11 Prom Year 13 Leavers Dinner Seaton Delaval Hall Art Exhibition YEAR 10 Anne Frank Exhibition Federated Strawberry Tea 2010 Intake Week Youth Intelligence Campaign Geography Alive Apple Mac British Heart Foundation Golf Championship Under 14 Football Heatlhy Cooking with the Nuture Group Ekumfi Atakwa Update Business Studies trip to Paris! Year 6 Visit Year 10 ICT visit to ST James' Park History Trip to Housesteads Roman Fort Humanities Trip to Durham Astley goes Outward Bound Biology trip to Centre for Life Museum Hairdressing Taster session! Students Awarded PARTNERS Achievement Bursary Students praised for their care in the community Maths and Computing Update West Side Story Performance Youth Cabinet & UK Parliamentary Elections Time to start applying! Art students visit the Laing Gallery and the Hatton Gallery MP Visits School Intermediate Maths Challenge North East Teenage Book Award
Ekumfi Atakwa update
Hello everyone from Ekumfi Atakwa. As you will see from the pictures, we have arrived safely and settled into village life. This time it was Mrs Walmsley’s suitcase which was missing when we arrived in Accra, but it arrived on the next flight and the girls rallied round with emergency supplies.
Once we arrived in the village, we were given a rapturous reception from the children, and the elders, who were delighted that we had kept our promise to come back. There was much singing and dancing, and Lauren has been told that she has to stay for a year.
We also had a welcoming ceremony at the school, where we presented the stationery we were able to carry in our luggage. The head teacher was thrilled to hear of the support we have been given by pupils and friends. All the school was assembled to meet us and we were called their “dear brothers and sisters”.
After a rather anxious wait, the goods that we sent by air on 5th July arrived at 9.30 on Friday evening. We knew that they had arrived in Accra before we did and hoped that they would be waiting for us here, but Ghanaian officialdom prevailed and we had to wait for customs to produce a certificate to allow them to be released. After many phone calls, we heard they were underway, but it took what seemed like an eternity to reach us. We all marched down to the library to meet the lorry, accompanied by various children who proceeded to unload the lorry and carry the heavy boxes on their heads. After a quick check to make sure everything was still there, we left the boxes to be unpacked in daylight. As you can imagine, there were many volunteers to help unpack the toys and inspect them to ensure they were in working order. The wooden lorry and the train set were quickly surrounded and the sewing machine attracted a great deal of attention. There were many offers of homes for the soft toys, but we persuaded them to wait until Monday, so that we can present them to the school. John Mensah, the librarian is absolutely thrilled with the books and toys you have sent and we plan to use the wooden letters made by y9 in our lessons.
It is rainy season here at the moment, so temperatures are lower than they were last year, but this has meant that we have had very few problems with the water supply. We still have to use a bucket of cold water for our “shower”, but we do have water in the kitchen this time. Because it is damp, we have had to cope with the mosquitoes whenever we venture into grassy areas, but we have plenty of repellent.
We hope that you all have a great summer holiday, and we would like to thank you all for your everlasting support, generosity and kindness, as we continue on our adventure deep in the jungle of Africa.
Robin Love
Click on the thumb nails to change the larger image.
Milkhope 2010
Once again, Astley pupils have been visiting our farmhouse in the Cheviot hills, near Alwinton, for a residential experience involving walking, camping, problem solving and team building.
This year, Milkhope was supposed to run from 23 June until 14 July. Largely organised by Miss Robinson and Mr Lamb, over 120 students and 16 staff spent 3 days at a time in teaching groups learning more about the environment, Milkhope, each other and themselves. The weather was generally very kind to us all and pupils will have many memories to look back on.
Milkhope is a special place for Astley students and staff, as many parents/ carers will remember from their days at the school! However, not everything went to plan! Read on to find out more!!
Milkhope Excitement!
Although many year 9s are very disappointed because police activity around Rothbury meant that they can not enjoy their long planned trip to Milkhope this year others, ie 9S were already there!
The first news we heard on reaching the peak of the highest hill CUSHAT LAW, where the longed for mobile phone signals to give news of home were available for the first time, was surprising to say the least!
Staff suddenly heard pupils talking about fish and chip shop happenings in SEATON DELAVAL and police searches around ROTHBURY. At that moment we saw a police helicopter in the valley below. Next came the staff messages to phone school immediately!
Our group was told to wait at the hilltop for phone signal while school decisions were taken about what to do with us! Although pupils were wondering if we'd have to stay on the safety(!) of the hilltop all night, the message eventually came that a bus would be sent to get us home.
How disappointed were 9S when we had to descend from the hill, pack up the farmhouse, repack our uneaten BBQs and walk the 4 miles to the waiting coach. A double long walk!!! 10 miles !! All wanted to stay - but on arrival back - the long way round - when we saw the media coverage, I suspect that all were grateful that the school had acted promptly and in an organised way to get us back safely.
9S were fabulous in our shortened Milkhope experience and Mr Brown, Mr McDuff and I all hope we can join them again. All are hoping we can manage to have our missed BBQ in the Autumn (with fresh meat of course!).
Mrs Rayner
Year 10 Practice Interviews on Enterprise Days 15th & 16th July
As part of the school careers/transition programme, in partnership with Connexions Northumberland, we invited local employers into school to “interview” students. This was to give them a “real life” experience and help prepare them for work/training in the future. Students were given information/ advice on what to wear as well as what types of questions they were to be asked, the clothing “dilemma” was widely discussed!
Employers included the Army Careers, Police, Training Providers, local government, Extended Services, V for Volunteers and Positive Futures as well as the school Librarian and Connexions.
The next step for Year 10 Students will be to complete work experience, CV’s and application forms!
Lindsey Taggart
Connexions
Project Ghana
By the time you read this, we should be in the village of Ekumfi Atakwa, working in the school and the library and meeting up with the friends we made last year. It hardly seems possible that the time has arrived again.
If all goes according to plan, you will have seen pictures of the village and of us unloading some of the many things which have been donated to help improve the facilities in the village.
Robbie, Maddy, Lauren, Chelsey and I would like to thank you all for your support, which has meant a great deal to us and made it possible for us to return for this year’s visit. Many of you bought tickets for “Astley’s Got Talent” or sponsored us for our 10 mile walk. Lots of people donated items such as pens, pencils, toys and books, which we could not possibly have bought. Mrs Scott’s Year 9 classes have made wooden letters for the children to enjoy, Mr Cooke made us a wonderful lorry, complete with load of wood and we have been given enough football strips for about 6 villages. My classes have put up with being surrounded by boxes for most of the summer term, but everyone has encouraged us by their enthusiasm. We just can’t wait to see the children’s faces when all of this arrives- not to mention the teachers! As I write this, I am waiting impatiently for a phone call to say that we can get the first shipment into Ghana.
While we are in Ekumfi Atakwa, we will be teaching English, mainly in the Kindergarten and early primary classes, having story time in the library, teaching recorder- earplugs required!- organising dance sessions, sharing information about our two countries and attempting to negotiate our way through Ghanaian red tape to allow John Mensah, the librarian to get a passport to allow him to visit us here. We will also be working with John and Kwesi to plan our next steps and help the village to move forward. We will also have to meet with the village elders to get their approval and listen to what they would like us to be doing in the future. When we have a few moments to spare, we will be involved in choosing the winner of the shield presented to the village by Astley last year, which is to be awarded to the person who has done most for the village.
We will have a hectic few weeks, but we can’t wait and you can be sure that we will have lots of pictures to show and stories to tell on our return.
Thank you all again and have a good holiday.
The Project Ghana Team: Robbie Love, Maddy Lynn, Lauren Towers, Chelsey Fulthorpe, Mrs Walmsley
Year 11 Prom
Yet another exciting and enjoyable evening took place on Friday 18th June. 168 pupils and Astley staff danced the night away at the annual Year 11 prom at the Gosforth Park racecourse.
Guests were treated to a 4 course meal, followed by the “Astley Oscars”, prize draw and a superb disco.
This years prom king and queen were Brent Towers and Leanne Stanners, The disco king and diva awards went to the “Travolta-like Derek Fairbairn and Georgia Bowman.
The evening was made even more special by the presence of Sky TV cameras, who were filming the event, with a view to producing a programme in September to be televised on Sky 1 called “Promzillas”.
Wow! To say that time has flown by would truly be an understatement. It became indubitably apparent that my sentiment was mutually felt across the entirety of Year Eleven throughout the eagerly anticipated prom.
From exam stresses to selecting dresses, our inevitable angst was well rewarded with the phenomenal success of the traditional event held at Gosforth Park Racecourse. Kaleidoscopic gowns contrasted dramatically against the suave black tuxes, creating an ensemble boasting immeasurable glitz and glamour!
Nevertheless, despite growing success year after year, this year's prom posed a deviating addition which could prove difficult to outdo for our successors! For the first time ever, we were delighted to welcome the presence of the snipsnapping cameras from Sky television. Astley, along with five other schools across the U.K, are to be featured in a new Sky 1 series called 'Promzillas'.
Students from our year group were invited to audition to be 'followed' by the crew. Not only would the cameras act as a shadow during the select evening, but throughout the remainder of the week in order to develop each auditionee as a character... whether it be dress-obsessed diva or charming lothario. In addition to those brave few, opportunities were feasible for others with perhaps a slight disinclination towards the camera. In the upcoming week leading up to prom, Astley acquainted itself with the extravagant pink 'Promzilla' bus, where lucky lads and ladies could experience the taste of make-up and hair trials, as well as experimentation with outfits. I spoke to a few students who had first hand experience of these fortuities, all of which possessed a variety of opinions with regard to Sky's unexpected invite:
One girl in particular who relished their presence was prospective prom queen, Alysia Todd. While admitting the fact that the prospect of being filmed made her nervous, she felt determined to 'make the most of it' and take advantage of the 'once in a lifetime opportunity'; in fact, her hopes of receiving a princess-style dress were thwarted to begin with. Refusing to take no for an answer, Alysia persevered and persuaded the producers at Sky to give her a helping hand in the wardrobe department.
Sharing a similar problem to Alysia, the angst of dressing to impress spurred Helen Wilson's motive to audition. Her apprehension evidently had an effect on the producers, as Helen was one of the select few to be followed throughout the duration of the week. The idea of appearing on television for her failed to raise alarm, sharing the opinion that it really does pay to look good. In spite of this, her main concern seemed to be with regard to her portrayal by the producers. Would she be portrayed in a contrasting demeanour? Would she embarrass herself? Would she be able to challenge the public view of our proms resembling the 'sweet sixteen' style balls which are fed to viewers with a side order of spoilt?
Fortunately for our damsels in distress, surprise celebrity additions were onset to offer makeovers: Gary Cockerill, notoriously famed as personal makeup artist to Katie Price; Stephen Glendinning, sought-after hairstylist of Cheryl Cole, and Brix Smith-Start, leading fashion stylist on the TV programme 'Gok's Fashion Fix'.
The authentic vicinity was greeted by a gathering throng of limos not unlike the hype surrounding extravagant film premieres witnessed from our TV screens.
Mixed feelings were present towards the supposed glamourisation and replication of the stereotypical American style prom; diverse attitudes regarding the media intrusion were clearly inevitable as it is nigh impossible to please everybody. This was solely one of the vital aspects which Graham Scott, Head of Year 11, had to consider before obliging to the invitation. Recognising that a minority of students would perhaps condemn slightly, Mr Scott insisted upon the importance of 'giving it a go' in order to create limitless opportunities for the future - not only to boost the credentials of a C.V, but to endorse our self-esteem and provide us with a treasurable morsel of fame to reminisce fondly. In spite of acknowledging the wealth of publicity newly available for Astley and Seaton Valley, Mr Scott's prime emphasis lay within the true meaning of prom and what it stands for - the dexterity to enjoy ourselves and seal the cessation of an unforgettable three years!
Ayla Tabaksert
Year 13 Leavers Dinner
The annual year 13 leavers dinner took place in the Gallowgate Suite at St. James’ Park on Friday 2nd July. About 45 students and 20 members of staff met to say farewell to a fantastic group of hard working students. Gone was the usual attire of jeans, tee-shirts and hoodies and out came the posh frocks, dinner jackets and suits. An evening of good food, entertainment, music and awards was enjoyed by all.
Robbie Love and Jenny Fish presented awards to many of the students for activities and successes that are not formally acknowledged by the exam boards. These included the student most likely to become Prime Minister (David Knight), most likely to become famous (Luke Warwick Soden) the Alan Carr lookalike (Jamie Marshall), the student most likely to be late (Charlotte Chicken) and most likely to be absent (Sarah Laird).
Miss Birtley was a welcome guest at the evening and presented the Prom King and Queen Awards to Luke Warwick Soden and Rachel Brown who were the first to take the dance floor at the start of the disco. Despite their best efforts, teaching staff were unable to match the dancing skills of the students - their movements reminding me of the song entitled “The Oldest Swinger in Town”. Despite this, I have heard from several students that they were particularly impressed with Mr. Gilhooly’s nimble and athletic dance moves.
We wish the students success and happiness in the future. Mr. R. J. Stent
Seaton Delaval Hall
Astley Community High School students have been praised for helping support the current Seaton Delaval Hall project.
The students, a mixture of lower school and sixth formers, gave tours for visitors at the hall in May this year and it’s safe to say visitors lapped up their imaginative and creative tours and even the National Trust Representatives and Funders described the efforts of the pupils as a “highlight” of the Delaval Hall experience. In particular, the ‘Morph Tour’ went down a treat and Ross Hall, a member of that team, has been credited for his dedication to the cause and his levels of maturity. Members of the public commented throughout on how well the young people handled themselves and the care and consideration they put in throughout.
Robyn Guthery, a sixth form student, used the ‘Ghost Tour’ to flaunt her range of talents including singing and public speaking which captivated the audience and certainly held their attention. Gregg Robinson and Chantelle Henderson, who were part of the ‘Ghost Tour’ and ‘Love Letters Tour’ also shared their own personal interests and again showed a great level of creativity to ensure visitors to Delaval Hall had a fantastic time.
The ‘Morph Tour’ especially proved to be such a hit with the National Trust, that there have been talks of taking the project ‘on the road’ at other venues across the country, to hopefully captivate other audiences the way they did the visitors at Delaval Hall! All of the students involved did a brilliant job and helped raise awareness about the Seaton Delaval Hall project.
Annie Karatzenis
Art Exhibition
On JULY 1st the ART DEPARTMENT hosted the Annual Art Exhibition. As usual proud parents had the opportunity to see the wonderful work produced by their talented offspring.
This year saw the usual exciting array of talent covering a range of levels - AS, A2, GCSE and BTEC, as well as the introduction of AS level Photography.
We hope next year to see a huge amount of digital art as pupils will be able to access the new CREATIVITY SUITE with its exciting Applemac computers and up to the minute software programs.
Take a look at a small sample of what was on offer.
Mrs Rayner
YEAR 10 Anne Frank Exhibition
In May, six year 10 students: Amy Burns, Melissa Banks, Dionne-Blue Horridge, Alexandra Lazenby, Jamie Wilkinson and Ryan Knight were selected by Miss Gannon and invited to join both herself and Miss Sword, a trainee teacher working in the humanities department, to take part in a 2 day workshop held at Woodhorn Museum.
The workshops were being run by the Anne Frank Trust and the themes explored were diversity, community cohesion and equality. Students and staff were given a history of who Anne Frank was, as well as exploring the political and cultural background of the country that Anne lived in. In addition to this we all took part in group workshops. The purpose of this visit was not just to train the six students in the knowledge of Anne Frank, but also what it means to live in a diverse society and to celebrate everyone’s individuality, and to challenge racism so that they could then peer mentor students in our federation schools – Astley Community High, Whytrig Middle School and Seaton Sluice Middle School.
The following week Miss Gannon, Miss Sword and the six peer mentors went back to Woodhorn Museum along with a coach full of Astley year 10 students. The afternoon was split into two sessions. The first session was led by our trained up six peer mentors. They led their year 10 peers around the Anne Frank exhibition and delivered an amazing session on Anne Frank. The second session saw the students get involved in a diversity workshop which was led by members of the Anne Frank Trust.
Two weeks later and Miss Gannon, Miss Sword and the six peer mentors went to both of our federation schools, beginning with Seaton Sluice Middle school. The students delivered a whole lesson to year 7 and year 8 students. Although Miss Sword planned the lesson for the students it was the peer mentors who delivered it to the students, and they did a fantastic job of it too. The year 7 and 8 students were engaged and interested in what the peer mentors had to say. The lesson had aspects of who Anne Frank was and what it would have been like for her to experience racism, but it also focused on celebrating diversity in society.
The whole experience of participating in this Anne Frank workshop was enjoyable from start to finish. The 6 peer mentors achieved so much through participating and mentoring their peers and grew so much in confidence. They did a fabulous job and have made very valuable contributions to promoting community cohesion throughout our federation schools.
Miss Gannon
Federated
What is a Federation? It’s a word we now throw around since Astley Community High School, Whytrig Middle School and Seaton Sluice Middle School became ‘federated’ recently, but its importance is truly underrated as the three schools work together to create a better school life for all of the students involved and maximize their potential and opportunities.
Being federated means the three schools share their policies, facts, figures and most importantly their expertise to guarantee the students are given the best possible education and feel comfortable making the transition from middle school to high school. Although the Head Teachers from all three schools (and the first schools, too) have been working together closely for many years this new title of being ‘federated’ allows a stronger link to be formed between the schools and creates an all together more formal and unified image. The main aim of becoming federated, is to of course benefit the students at the schools and, as pupils from the middle schools enjoy more days at Astley, allow pupils to familiarize themselves with a new school and so many new faces!
With a new status comes a lot of change, but right from the start students have been involved with the process as much as possible. The most exciting, so far, seems to be the new logo all students will have on their school jumper! A new badge was thought to be needed to unify the schools without changing the uniforms completely, as it is important for all of the schools involved to stay unique and individual too. A competition was opened for students to design the new logo and then a vote commenced to pick the favorite badge – there was some tough competition, too! Even the first schools got involved, and Seghill First School especially took the choosing of a new badge very seriously and, thanks to all of the ideas of the students, a brilliant new badge has been chosen!
One of the first perks of becoming ‘Federated’ is the new ‘Creative Suite’ at Astley Community High School, which is open for pupils from all of the schools to come and test their ICT skills on the new Apple Mac computers! These were made available to Astley after the federation applied for specialist school status and, as a team, succeeded- a great example of how working closely together sees excellent results!
The federation aims to continue to work closely, sharing experiences and specialism between the schools with emphasis on Gifted and Talented classes and Special Needs students. Mr Knight, head of Astley Community High School, is excited about the future of the federation: “Our main aim is providing the best quality of education Seaton Valley and we really believe the federation will allow that.” We can’t wait to start working with students from other schools!
Annie Karatzenis
Strawberry Tea 2010
Forget the five-a-day, forget healthy eating, forget the waistline, there are occasions when you are allowed to indulge yourself and Friday 9th July was one of them - especially when money is being raised for charity.
On Thursday 8th July, Ashleigh Brodie, Ashleigh Richardson, Michelle Grieves, Mary Blackford and Siobhan Dixon assisted by Mrs Dawson got together to create cakes and tarts topped with strawberries and cream. The next day these, supplemented by some chocolate covered strawberries and strawberry scones created by Astley’s own Delia Smith (otherwise known as Mrs Rowley) were sold in the sixth form common room and the staffroom. At the same time as the strawberry delights disappeared from the trays, money was filling the collection tins in aid of Breast Cancer Care. The staff and students gained several pounds (in weight) and an impressive £133.70 was raised for the charity.
Mr. Stent
Intake Week
Week beginning the 5th July Astley Community High School got invaded by approximately 150 Year 8 pupils from a number of different schools to work in their new form classes getting a taste for what Astley life is like. Each class was assigned 6th Form Tutors who guided the group around school. We were all excited and felt very important in our posh teacher-y clothes and looking forward to a week off timetable, little did we know it was going to be the most tiring week any of us had ever experienced. At first there was an obvious clear divide in colours of school jumpers and many scared, make-up less faces, which brought back memories from when we were in their position only a few years back. Nevertheless at the end of day 1 we could see that a few friendships had been formed within form classes and jumpers were starting to mix.
The Library was the talk of the week, not only with the 6th Form Tutors, but with the Year 8 pupils too, yes the Library. The mystery puzzled all of us for the whole week when Mr Hemmer eventually revealed who killed Seymour Skinner on Friday morning.
Throughout the week the Year 8 pupils were involved in a number of different activities put together by teachers to ensure they had the best experience possible. But throughout the week the pupils mainly worked on producing the best posters, pizza boxes, and presentations in their groups. It was very competitive within the classes and also against the other form classes, even the 6th Form were getting excited. There were a lot of pizzas produced and eaten within seconds, there were also some excellent designs for pizza boxes and posters, followed by presentations to find the winning groups which contained some interesting hats and comical catchphrases.
After Year 8 spent 4 days trawling the school with their tutors and being introduced to members of staff and new lessons, Friday was filled with Mr Knight and his Sri Lankan committee, where pupils were asked to do a number of tasks to aid with his project.
The week was then over, we had lots of mixed jumpers and tired but happy and excited faces for September and there were also a dozen exhausted but proud 6th Form students, who then realised they had an awful lot of work to catch up on!!
Emma Burchell & Clare Hancock
Youth Intelligence Campaign
June saw the completion of the ACHS Youth Intelligence Campaign Project where students from Years 9 - 12 took part in campaigning activities with regard to issues such as local amenities and EMA payments. The students, led by Year 12 historians, worked in conjunction with Woodhorn Archive in Northumberland and the British museum in London.
The culmination of the project was a display at Woodhorn archive and a celebration lunch. The project has opened the way for Independent Learning Projects with these partners in the future and has really developed the skills and confidence of the students involved.
Mr Thomas
Geography Alive
On Wednesday 7th July 2010, myself and 6 other Year 12 Geography students had the opportunity to visit Northumbria University’s School of Applied Sciences to take part in a number of Geography related workshops under the title ‘Geography Alive.’
We all met up in the reception area waiting to be taken to our first workshop, ‘Ladybird, Ladybird.’ This was a particularly interesting workshop, for many different reasons. The idea of the workshop was to get a feel for how a ladybird has to look for and catch its prey, something that none of the group really understood the point of at first. Nevertheless, we still took part and it did prove to be quite funny. It involved working in groups of 2 or 3, a paper ‘arena’, beans and a ladybird mask. Somebody was appointed ‘ladybird’ and had to wear the highly attractive mask that covered their whole face, not allowing them to see anything. Somebody else had to place various numbers of beans into the paper arena and the ladybird, using only their first two fingers, had to find the bean; something that is a lot harder than it sounds! We left that particular workshop, and headed to an empty classroom for some lunch. While everybody else enjoyed the break, Geography student Sammy Collins couldn’t get over how small the desks were!
Lunch out of the way, the group headed to the next workshop, ‘How to count trees in an Indonesian Rainforest.’ This consisted of a man talking to us for quite some time about different rainforests and the types of trees that are found there. He explained that he actually visits Indonesian rainforests and does a lot of work out there, looking at all different species of tree. There was one particularly interesting feature to his lecture which included him telling us all about the various types of diseases and insects that are lurking about in the depths of the rainforest. He showed us pictures of his foot rot, told us how his son ended up with hundreds of ticks on his body and how he stepped on an ants nest and subsequently ended up with hundreds of ants in places that ants should not be!
With that, we left the second workshop and made our way home after getting a feel for what studying Environmental Management or Ecology at Northumbria University might be like. Dale Irvine was particularly pleased with the second workshop, ‘That is the kind of thing I actually want to do!’ he said afterwards. We all enjoyed the day and will continue to visit various other University Open Days and subject events in the hope that we will eventually find the perfect subject for us to study come next year.
Gemma Corner
Apple Mac
All of the Federation’s hard work has finally paid off! After countless bids and lots of hard work to gain our specialist status in Maths and ICT we have finally started to see the fruits of our labour! 31 iMac computers have helped with the transformation of room A3 at Astley from humble media classroom to a top of the range Apple creative suite. The new equipment will help subject teachers explore new areas that have not been accessible to them before. Mr Hearty, ICT teacher at Astley was particularly excited: “It’s great that we can offer such cutting edge technology for teachers, students and even the wider community!”
Art and Design will now have access to programs that before could only be dreamed of and ICT will now be able to complete their web design unit using the latest incredibly powerful technology available to them. To help teachers familiarize themselves with the iMacs the school ran an ‘adopt a mac’ scheme. This will allow the teachers to take an iMac home and plan their lessons around the capabilities of the iMac.
Adam Trousdale
British Heart Foundation Golf Championship
Astley is delighted to have 3 teams (nine players) entered for this years British Heart Foundation Golf Championship. Each player will be raising sponsorship which will be used in the fight against heart and circulatory diseases, still the UK`s biggest killer.
Teams of three from all over the North-East will compete over Newcastle United Golf Course on Wed 7th April with the aim of reaching the National Final, held this year at Alwoodly G.C. near Leeds on the 9th of July.
We wish Michael Bailey, Andy Raper, Calvin Burn, Jack Maddison, Johnny Eastlake, Vinny Haliburton, Scott Feerguson, Sam Dixon and Jonathon Taylor every success and encourage you to be generous in your sponsorship of this extremely worthwhile cause.
Under 14 Football
With only three games left of the season our U14 (Year 9) football team are making a bold bid to win the league. After a defeat to Bedlington in the first match and a disappointing draw against Morpeth, drastic changes were required. “Cruncher” Connor Craggs was moved to the right side of defence, “Deano” Logan shuffled back from his attacking left wing role to full back and “Gazza” Ainsley was given a midfield creative role. The impact was immediate.
Undefeated in the last four matches we faced one of our biggest remaining challenges -Cramlington, on Thursday night. Built around four Academy players, they have a formidable team and had already beaten Morpeth 17-0.
However, with a full strength squad, including the recent signing Lewis Banks, we were clearly up for the challenge.
The first 15 minutes were evenly balanced until a terrific move involving the little maestro, Corey French, and Gazza Ainsley, tore the Cramlington defence to pieces creating a chance that team captain Jack Maughan hammered into the top corner.
Cramlington were rattled and another defence splitting ball from Bailey forced the goalkeeper into a rash clearance that fell kindly to Gazza 30yards out. Showing remarkable composure he lobbed the ball back over the goalkeepers head into the empty net.
A 2-0 half-time lead was thoroughly deserved as the powerful Cramlington front players did not get a sniff against the calm, confident defending of Nathan Allan and George Hedley.
The Cramlington side came out with renewed effort at the start of the second half and it required Gary Hays to be on his toes in the home goal. However, Astley refused to be ruffled and continued to create chances of their own. The third goal was reflection on the whole game, Jack Maughan latching on to yet another pinpoint through ball to outmuscle the defence and lash a left foot effort into the roof of the net. The match was all over. Time only for a cameo appearance by Lewis Banks and much cheering from the home crowd.
Ashington still to come. A win could give us the league.
WELL DONE BOYS!!
Healthy Cooking with the Nurture Group
Over the last couple of months the Nurture group have been very busy with a new challenge. The aim of the course was to raise the self esteem and confidence of the young people. Whilst cooking and handling the food lots of conversations were made related to the healthy eating course and also to other aspects of their lives. Due to the positive environment in which we hold the sessions the young people tend to feel very relaxed and comfortable and this helps them to achieve targets more freely without the added pressures they sometimes feel in the classroom. Small group work in bite size chunks is a great tool to use; ensuring attention is paid to each individual.
The challenge was to plan a late healthy lunch for parents and carers which ran over a period of 6 weeks. The young people shared their skills with one another and built up new skills to produce various recipes to take home. Some of the foods made were soup, rolls, spaghetti bolognese and stripy pudding. The course came to an end with a well presented meal, tables neatly set and the service by the young people being exemplary. The guests enjoyed the meal and spent time afterwards socialising with one another.
Ekumfi Atakwa Update
Most of you will be aware that Robbie Love, Cameron Doyle and I visited the village of Ekumfi Atakwa last summer. During our visit we worked in the Kindergarten and observed lessons in the main school, as well as talking to children and teachers. We discovered that very few children had pens and notebooks and that text books were generally old (where they existed). The Kindergarten catering for about 65 children aged 2-6, did not have the funds to provide toys. There were no posters on the walls and pupils learned by repeating what the teachers read out. Pupils learn ICT, but there are no computers so they learn from a book and practise when they have a chance to go to the library.
We asked the teachers what they needed and were given a very long list which we could not possibly supply (tools, baking equipment, a sewing machine, posters, maths equipment etc….) but began planning to apply for funding to buy as much as possible, as well as the cost of transporting the goods to Ghana, as we would not be able to take it on the plane.
Robbie, Cameron and Tegan were planning to apply to Key Fund for £2000 which we had decided to spend on improving the school’s supply of essential materials, but we were all too aware that £2000 would not go very far. The children had also asked if we could get them some more modern fiction books for the library. After discussion with John Mensaw, the local librarian, we thought we could save money by asking people to donate books which were still in good condition, but hah no idea how we would get them to Ghana.
While we were puzzling over the transport problem, we had a call from a gentleman who is helping to establish a school in Kumasi, a couple of hours drive away from our village, He wondered if we would like to share a container and send the goods by sea. We decided to extend the book appeal to tools, toys and other equipment. To say we were overwhelmed would be an understatement! A2 is packed with boxes of toys, books, stationary and we even have a sewing machine and a tool box. We have once again been astonished by people’s generosity. These items will make a real difference and we will be able to use much of it when we are there in the summer.
A second team will travel out on 12th July to continue the work. Robbie and I will be joined by Lauren Sutherland, Maddy Lynn and Chelsey Fulthorpe. We will stay in the village for almost three weeks and will be working mainly with the Kindergarten and early primary years. We also plan to teach recorder and develop a “story time” in the library. Last year, we bought a DVD player for the library and we are collecting suitable DVD’s to use there.
To help raise money for the trip, we shall be engaged in various fund- raising events. The long-awaited “Astley’s Got Talent” will take place on 30th March and we will be holding another sponsored walk in early summer, and we are hoping to do a bag pack.
Mrs Walmsey
Business Studies trip to Paris!
16th March – 19th March
Tuesday
The coach trip could possibly be the longest time I have sat in the same place for 15 hours ever. We left Astley Community High School at exactly 12 midnight and prepared ourselves for many laughs and giggles. I was one of the lucky ones to have the back seats, along with Robyn, on the bus, so we got to relax most of the journey where as others had their legs in the air hanging onto the walkway and in all strange positions. We stopped at around 3am in the morning at the normal service station where we always stop at on trips- MOTO. Most people felt like death so didn’t get off, along with me and Robyn who just stayed on the bus.
Travelling to the ferry took ages ... we watched around 3 films, talked, played eye spy, tried to sleep and used the traditional “Are we There Yet?” Shaun our bus driver must have been getting annoyed. Anyway, when we arrived, I was one of the last to leave England –with me sitting at the backJ! The ferry was quite exciting as I hadn’t been on one that big before, apart from South Shields of course, but this one was slightly different with cars and coaches also being allowed on. Most of the journey we sat outside to help calm the sea sickness and also took many photos of us going away, as what could be called, a large family.
We arrived at the hotel at around 3:30pm and were all hyper and dying to get off the coach. Later that night we got the shuttle into Disneyland Village for tea. Abbey, Laura, Robyn and me went to a place called New York Diner which sold more or less English food. Thankfully- as none of us are adventurous at eating snails or frogs legs! There were many Disney shops at the village so we couldn’t help but try all the characters ears and hats on.
Wednesday
We all got up rather early compared to home - at 7am for breakfast as we soon realised that we weren’t in England anymore. No sausages, no bacon, no eggs just fruit and croissants which wasn’t really my idea (or anyone else’s) idea of food but we had to eat something.
Off to Disneyland Park we went, going on every ride we spotted even if the queue was around 40 minutes long. However, there was one ride which we didn’t want to go on, but Sam insisted “It’s a Small World” was good. Off we went sitting in a carriage floating on water listening to little children singing small world over and over again. We ended up meeting everyone at “Honey I Shrunk the Audience” so took over a whole row of the cinema with our school. Later after munching on a traditional McDonalds which is actually nicer than in England we went to the Studios. The first ride which Abbey and Robyn saw was the “Tower of Terror” which is a large lift. Personally this ride was the only one I did not want to go on, but of course I was convinced it would be fine. Laura and I weren’t too keen and Sam and Emma just didn’t even bother queuing- lucky them! It turned out to be awful and I would never ever go on that again!!
We finished the night by going in the swimming pool and the girls were determined not to soak their hair! However, that didn’t go to plan, when a giant bucket of water plummeted onto our head within 10 minutes of being in!!!
Thursday
This was the day where we got to see Paris and of course, the Eiffel Tower. We left at half 9 after waiting 15 minutes for a hair dryer. Shaun the bus driver was less impressed by this so included the odd sarcastic comment all throughout the day. Arriving at Paris we went on a riverboat which was interesting if you could hold the large telephone to your ear for an hour but most of us got bored of that after five minutes, so just looked at the scenery. We went on a bus tour of Paris to see all of the attractions and monuments which Paris is famous for. Everyone keeping look out for famous people who may be out shopping- however there were none! We finished the trip with a spot of shopping at a mall where many people went mad buying clothes.
Arriving back at Disneyland we were all back on the rides to end our trip. We went straight to the studios to a ride called the “Rockin Rollercoaster” which we went on 4 times to get a good photo. However on the fifth attempt it broke down and ended up shooting us off at 70mph without any warning and no sound throughout the whole ride which was rather scary. You should have seen that photo!
Friday
Getting up to leave for 8am was a nightmare meaning everyone had to be up and ready for 7am to eat breakfast. However there still was a hyper buzz going on from the days before. We packed our things and handed in the keys for the rooms and got ready to say goodbye to Paris and the Explorers Hotel.
Movies were played one after the other, and if anybody hadn’t seen Gavin and Stacey they sure had now, as we watched the full series along with another 3 films! We only stopped once on the way back, at a warehouse, which was a great place for everyone to stock up on those amazing BNBN biscuits. The aisle was nearly empty by the time we left for the ferry.
The ferry wait was quite long as we had made it before the crossing time, but our boredom was soon solved by a bus of Essex students who pulled up beside us. Trying to talk to them on small pieces of paper was a chore also with them not understanding our “mint” Geordie words! The crossing was much bumpier than on the way there so we stayed indoors doing a last bit of tax free shopping.
Finally 6 hours later we were back in England and on our way home to Seaton Delaval. It was one of the best holidays we had all been on, and many memories were made together never to be forgotten Thank you!!!
Written by Kelly O’Neill
Year 6 Visit
Thursday 11th March was the day Astley hosted a year 6 visit. Around 140 students from Seaton Sluice and Whytrig enjoyed a variety of mathematics and ICT activities.
In Maths, the students polished their estimating skills and worked in teams to win a Guesstimate certificate. Do you know the average weight of a Sumo wrestler or the wingspan of the angel of the north? Just ask a y6 student!
The students also used their problem solving skills to complete paper folding challenges, tarsia puzzles and paper folding challenges.
Throughout the day there was a huge emphasis on teamwork and communication. We would like to thank the year 6 students for their enthusiasm and cooperation.
The day ran smoothly thanks to our year 11 helpers. Some excellent peer mentoring from them. Thank you.
Mrs Ward
Maths Dept
Year 10 ICT visit to ST James' Park
In March, Year 10 ICT Diploma students went on a stadium tour of St James’ Park. As part of their coursework, students are required to design a logo, ticket and promotional material for an event being held at St. James’ Park.
While on the tour students got to sit in some famous peoples seats such as, Ant & Dec, Mike Ashley and Sir Bobby Robson’s, as well as seeing the home and away changing rooms and walking up through the tunnel to the dugout for a pitch side view of the stadium.
A great and rewarding day was had by all!
History Trip to Housesteads Roman Fort
Housesteads Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland stands proud on a dramatic escarpment. Nowhere else will you find a sense of what life was like high up on the famous Roman frontier. On the edge of Hadrian’s Empire and commanding breathtaking views, it is one of the most complete Roman forts in Britain.
Discover almost 2,000 years of history in the museum and imagine how 800 soldiers would have lived on this hill top fort. Explore the commandant’s house and barrack blocks, which once were garrisoned by 800 soldiers and see if you can find the well-preserved latrines – probably the oldest toilets you’ll ever see! Housesteads Roman Fort is the perfect base for a walk along the spectacular Hadrian’s Wall.
What we did...
First we geared up wearing loads of clothing to keep us warm from the nippy wind. The History group and Geography group split up and we both started our day...We all got into pairs or fours and were given a map of the Roman fort. Unluckily my group were reading it upside down! When we were going through the grounds we started to think more like a historian and admired the hard work of the revolutionary Romans.
Although it was cold, we all carried on and met at the latrines where Mrs Bingham talked to us about what kind of work the Romans did. The cold and warm baths captivated us, as we could not seem to see why Roman soldiers would want to put themselves through a gruelling freezing bath at -10c.
In The End
In the end we all really enjoyed the trip despite the cold and the extortionate prices of the cafe... Although one person could not help himself from buying a sword!
Written by Lewis Stratford
Humanities Trip to Durham
On Tuesday 9th March the Humanities Faculty took a group of Year 9 students to Durham for the day. Students were taught about the Christian heritage of the Cathedral, as well as using their map skills to find certain historic facts about Durham. Here, two of our students who went on the trip have written an article to tell you what they discovered on the day.
Durham walk
On Tuesday 9th March we visited Durham on a Humanities trip. We went on a walk and saw lots of boat housesalong the river edge. To get down to this part of Durham we walked down the steps on the Elvet Bridge. As we walked further along we found the Counts house. It was a memorial to Count Josef Borruwlaski. He was a Polish midget who was only 39 inches tall. The house was built in the 1920’s. The Count was a musician and raconteur who was exiled from Poland and came here to find a better life. He was 98 years old when he died and is buried in Durham Cathedral. We were told to find a tall tree stump that supposedly was a hiding place to King David of Scotland, who escaped his death by hiding in the tree after the battle of Neville’s Cross. The remains of the tree were transported to Durham. We then walked up the hill to Prebends Bridge, which was rebuilt after the great flood in 1771. We could tell by looking at it, that there were different bricks. We walked further along to find a stone chair with gargoyles’ faces in the back of it. It was a work of art that had been placed there for the people of Durham to enjoy.
We enjoyed our day out and hope to visit Durham again some day.
Written by Leya Hall.
Durham Cathedral
On Tuesday 9th March, we went to Durham on a humanities trip. When we arrived in Durham we walked around the city and learned about some historical features. In the afternoon we went to Durham Cathedral. We met a lady inside called Maureen and she was our guide for the afternoon. We learned a lot about the history of the Cathedral. One of the things that surprised me was that if you were being chased by the police, you could knock on the Cathedral door knocker and the monks would let you in to hide from the police. The monks gave you sanctuary for 37 days, on the last day you had two choices. The first choice, was you could be released and try to prove your innocence, which would have been very hard in those days; or the second choice was that you could leave the Cathedral and go to the nearest port, which in those days was Hartlepool. You had to get on the first ship that was sailing out of there, board it and leave for another country to live your life. If you missed the ship you had to roll up your trouser legs and wait in the sea until the next one came in. The door knocker is called the Sanctuary Knocker. We walked around the Cathedral and learned a lot about the beautiful objects inside it. We learnt that if you had a bird’s eye view of the Cathedral, the shape of it would be in the shape of the Jesus cross. We were introduced to the Galilee Chapel, sometimes known as The Lady Chapel. This room was for ladies only because they were not allowed in the main body of the Cathedral years ago. Inside the Chapel is the tomb of St. Bede. Maureen showed us St. Cuthbert’s tomb, another important figure in Christian heritage and I was lucky enough to light a candle and put it on his tomb. We didn’t say anything in there because it was a time of quiet reflection. Maureen did tell us that King Oswald’s head and St. Aidan’s arm were buried with the body of Cuthbert, so he wasn’t alone. There was also a small prayer room which was dedicated to all servicemen who had lost their lives whilst serving in the forces. As we left the Cathedral, Maureen showed us the font, where people have their children baptised. We found out that the font was the second biggest in Britain. All in all, I really enjoyed the whole day in Durham and found out information which I am not going to forget.
Written by Ryan Wood.
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Two groups of pupils took part in the Outward Bound Trust’s Adventure and Challenge week at their Ullswater Centre. The visits arranged jointly between the school and the Youth Association took place for year 10 pupils at the start of January and the year 9 pupils in March.
Both groups took part in a variety of activities which were designed to challenge them as individuals and develop their skill in working as part of a team. The activities included rock climbing, underground exploration, canoeing and a number of problem solving activities.
The high point of the week was the expedition which involved canoeing, rowing, travel on a speed boat and the lake steamer and an overnight camp. To add to the challenge all activities were carried out in extremely low temperature, the lake was frozen in places but the pupils were still expected to jump in as part of their ‘jog and dip’ activity. The year 10 pupils camped in the snow and canoed on the lake in pitch dark with snow falling around them.
Every one enjoyed the evening spent sitting around the campfire and all pupils were proud to receive their Outward Bound Certificates.
Biology trip to The Centre for Life Museum
On Tuesday the 23rd March Mrs Owen, Mr McDuff and Miss Nicholson took 36, 3rd Science Biology students to the Centre for Life, for a tour of the museum and to carry out some real life genetic engineering.
The trip had two purposes to recap and extend upon the genetic engineering module in unit 1(b) of the core Biology syllabus, and to introduce more complex genetic engineering concepts to aid with the microbes’ topic, covered as part of the 3rd Science course.
The tour included a section called The Dome to learn about constellations of stars, and the planet Mars, and a ride on ‘the simulator’ which was really exciting!
We ended our day with our labs where pupils used bacteria (plasmids) to harvest a gene that can turn anything ‘blue’!
It was a fun day, and the pupils enjoyed enhancing their skills and knowledge with practical experiments.
Hairdressing Taster session!
Wow! What a day, nothing I expected it to be like that’s for sure. I thought we were just going to a salon to watch hairdressers cut their clients hair, but no! That’s not what happened! This day was eventful.
Travelling to Newcastle was the easy part; we all met at the front of the main reception and made our way to the bus stop. Once on the bus it began to get a bit crowded, everybody going for their daily trips into town. We finally arrived at the Haymarket where the crowded bus soon turned into a crowded street. Walking along towards Clayton Street seemed to take approximately ten to fifteen minutes, which didn’t seem that long.
On arrival at the hair salon, we were all greeted politely; I think a few people were scared of what the day held. When we entered the salon we were also greeted by two current students at both sixth form and the hair salon, Emma and Anneliesa who both seem to enjoy doing the course and would be spending the day helping around the salon.
Although we were all unsure about what was going to happen and what we were going to be doing, but we were all bubbling with excitement. Sarah the hair tutor asked us all to collect around the wash basin where clients would get their hair washed. She then asked Anneliesa and Emma who would be her first model for her to show us how to was a clients hair, Anneliesa went first. After this, Sarah said to get into pairs and asked who would be going first, I drew the short straw!
It was fun to watch around the salon the girls washing their friends’ hair it was a matter of trusting each other. After a while we all began to trust each other, one of us in our pairs got our hair done in the morning and the other in the afternoon after lunch.
On our trip out to the salon we were taught how to wash hair properly, to blow dry, straighten and style each others hair. Whether or not your ‘Client’ liked the style you had given them was a different story.
We went off for our lunch at 12 and returned for 1, we then got settled back in and started the whole process of washing, drying, straightening and styling our friends hairs. It was fun to do each others hair, and experiment but we also got to have a giggle here and there. Throughout the whole day I think everybody learned how to wash hair properly, how to give better volume when blow drying their ‘Clients’ hair.
All together the hairdressing taster session, was a great success, everyone who attended, enjoyed the day, and came away with a lot of new ideas and feelings about studying hairdressing as a part of sixth form. This day has definitely helped a lot of people decide if they would like to carry on to sixth form to study hairdressing, and also for those going to college. It has been a fantastic experience for everyone, getting a first hand view of a hard day on your feet dealing with clients all day long.
Laura Dowling
Students Awarded PARTNERS Achievement Bursary
Astley has just received notification that Laura Thompson and Maxine White have awarded a Newcastle University PARTNERS Achievement Bursary, worth £1000!
Astley works with regional universities within the PARTNERS scheme, to encourage students with academic potential and determination to consider studying at university.
The bursaries are awarded to first year students that are considered to have performed the "best overall on entry", and passed all elements of the PARTNERS Programme Assessed Summer School. This is an outstanding achievement and one that the former students have thoroughly deserved.
Mr Thomas, director of sixth form and Mrs Rhodes, Aim Higher coordinator will be attending the PARTNERS Celebration Event, along with the students and their families on Thursday 22nd April at Hancock Museum.
Astley continually works in close collaboration with regional universities in their partners’ schemes. We encourage any sixth form student who has not already done so, to register their interest with Mr Stent, Assistant director of sixth form as soon as possible.
Students praised for their care in the community
Two Sixth Form students from Astley Community High School have been praised for their care in the community, as they helped an elderly woman in Delaval earlier this month- a true testament to their strong morality.
Katie Simpson, 16 and Cassy Park, 17, both in year 12 at Astley, were on their way back to school from Astley Park when they spotted Mrs. Jean Hall wandering around the park, looking confused and in need of some help. After approaching her, they learnt she had fallen over a number of times and suffered cuts to her face and hands. Noting her distress, they started to help take Mrs Hall, in her 80s, home safely.
Disorientated, hurt and continuing to fall despite the girls holding her up, Cassie ran to alert Mrs. Hall’s son Nigel of the incident while Katie stayed and tried to comfort the worried elderly woman. After her son arrived, Mrs. Hall was taken to Rake Lane hospital where she has been receiving treatment for a broken hip over the past 2 weeks.
Extremely grateful for the girls help, Mrs. Hall believes that “the school must be so proud of these two girls” and Mr. Thomas, head of Sixth form at Astley, has indeed expressed his pride in Katie and Cassy, both of whom see what they did as nothing more than the right thing to do.
Cassie, who is extremely relieved that Mrs. Hall is on the road to recovery, said: “I’m just glad we were there at the time- otherwise, she would have been alone.” Close to her own Grandma, Katie too was happy to help and commented, “If it was my Grandma, I hope somebody would do the same.”
Katie and Cassie now wish Mrs Hall a quick recovery and have called upon more people in the community to help anybody who they see in distress. Because, as Mr. Hall put it, “there is nothing worse than feeling alone.”
Anne-Marie Karatzenis
Maths and Computing Update
On Monday 1st March, 50 gifted and talented mathematicians from Astley High, Whytrig Middle and Seaton Sluice Middle enjoyed a day out at the Centre for Life. The students followed a specially designed Mathstastic trail in the morning. All students were asked to use their problem solving skills to crack some challenging mathematical puzzles.
This is the first of many activities for the gifted and talented mathematicians across the federation. Watch out for an inter school challenge in the Summer term.
West Side Story Performance
On 1st March 20 of our year nine and ten students along with pupils from 12 other schools, took part in a narrated performance of West Side Story.
Last year the musical celebrated its 50th anniversary, and some of our students participated in a project organised by Northumbria University. The aim of the project was to draw on the themes in the story to raise awareness of issues facing young people today.
This year the musical was larger and involved more schools with the Sage as the venue for the final performance. Our rehearsals took place in school and at Northumberland University, with assistance from singers and musicians from the university’s performing arts course to tutor our students.
After a gruelling final day of rehearsals, the evening performance took place before a packed and enthusiastic audience. ITV’s Philippa Thompson narrated the musical, which was discreetly directed by Professor Graeme Danby (also well known as the singer of Blaydon Races at St. James Park!) In addition to participating in the main songs from Bernstein’s musical, each school had a small group item to perform. Pupils from Astley took centre stage for “Officer Krupke”, and did their best to explain in a gently humorous way, why they end up as misunderstood “delinquents”!
It was a fantastic night Astley got a great welcome from the audience as they were announced and a huge cheer at the end of their song.
Well done to everyone who took part!
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Youth Cabinet & UK Parliamentary Elections
Young People at Astley had the opportunity to take part in the democratic process when election time came round for the Northumberland Youth Cabinet and UK Parliament. Seaton Valley Youth Service and Doxford Young People's Project joined forces to ensure students at Astley had a polling station available to them over the lunch period on Wednesday 10th February. Both organisations felt it was important that students from Astley had the opportunity to vote for candidates that could represent them at county and national level.
The candidates in the running were all supporting issues that were important to young people including addressing transport issues, more money for local youth projects, more youth centres and clubs, cheaper activities and entry fees for young people, more sports facilities, better advice about courses and careers, more school outings and lots more. Posters explaining each candidate manifesto points were displayed all over school to help pupils make a decision about who they would wanted in office.
The result was that over 140 young people across all year groups from Astley voted, which means they helped to get the people they wanted in to office. The results of the election were as follows...
Youth Cabinet and Youth Parliament Election Results
Thank You to all those who voted in the elections before half term.
The results are as follows...
The Following candidates were elected for the YOUTH PARLIAMENT of Northumberland
Nathan Van Doorn
Tom Brooks
The deputy(s) for the YOUTH PARLIAMENT are
Charlie Trotter
Bridget Donaldson
The following candidates were elected for the YOUTH CABINET in Northumberland
Bridget Donaldson
Sean Saville
Finola Fitzpatrick
Luke Robson
Bryony Porter-Collard
Calvin Willis
From February onwards Training Providers and employers begin the search for potential Apprentices to begin working with them in either summer or September. Connexions have been holding workshops on Wednesdays from 2pm until 3:15 (advertised through the bulletin and on their notice board outside the Connexions and Health Room) to support young people in applying for advertised apprenticeships as well as to complete CV’s to send out to prospective employers.
It’s important to begin your pursuit for an apprenticeship early as closing dates soon creep up, with some employers only opening a vacancy for 4 weeks as there is so much competition! You should also have a “back up” plan in case you are not successful this year.
Ensure you have a good CV as this will be useful for apprenticeships and both full time and part time jobs.
Remember to check out the bulletin for information on forthcoming workshops held by Connexions as well as checking out their notice board for new apprenticeships. This list is not exhaustive, you need to research yourself, use the internet and check the local jobs pages (Evening Chronicle-Thursdays)
Start applying now, before it’s too late!
Lindsey Taggart
Connexions
Art students visit the Laing Gallery and the Hatton Gallery
On 9 February, a group of Year 11 Art students went to Newcastle to the Laing Gallery and the Hatton Gallery. They were hoping to boost their grades in their final examination preparation by accessing primary sources, looking at original artworks. They studied symbolism and the composition of paintings. They saw a variety of types of art - from the very traditional to the very contemporary and gained many creative ideas for making their own art.
As usual on trips out, Astley pupils were a credit to the school and hopefully they will see the rewards of their learning when they receive their Art GCSE certificates in August.
Mrs Rayner
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MP Visits School
On February 8th 2010 Ronnie Campbell, MP for Blyth Valley, met with the Youth Intelligence Campaign Team at Astley Community High School. The MP visited the school to give support to the Campaign Team and to help them to address local issues.
Mr Campbell discussed his life as an MP and his background in local and national campaigning. The students took the opportunity to ask searching questions and found the afternoon and an extremely positive event.
Intermediate Maths Challenge
The 2010 Intermediate Maths Challenge took place on 4th February this year. We had 20 entries from Astley students in years 9 and 10. As always, the competition is guaranteed to be tough for this national challenge. Nevertheless we had 13 students who shone and were awarded a prestigious certificate.
Well done to Courtney Black (best in school), Jade Stephenson, Alex Lazenby, Laura Dawson, George Snowdon and Robert Moscrop who all won silver awards. Also to Neil Stafford, Zana Martin, Frances Hickson, Ryan Kerrigan, Ben Wackett, Liam Evans and Lauren Brown who secured a bronze award. These are our mathematicians of the future!
North East Teenage Book Award
Reading for this year’s North East Teenage Book Award took place between September and January. The six short-listed books were Guantanamo Boy (Anna Perera); Life Interrupted (Damian Kelleher); Blood Ties (Sophie McKenzie); Newes from the Dead (Mary Hopkins); Bang, Bang, You’re Dead (Narinder Dhami); and The Carbon Diaries 2015 (Saci Lloyd)
Students from Astley took part and met every Thursday to discuss the novels on the shortlist: Hayden Brown, Ashleigh Woolf , Matthew Dean, Nigel Douglass, Maddy Dalziel, Derie Harkins, Brooke Sheret from Year Nine and James Railston, Neil Stafford, Courtney Black and John Paul Dickie from Year Ten. Mr Knight was an honorary member of the judging panel.
The group were rewarded with book vouchers and, joining over 300 students from other schools, invited to the prize-giving ceremony at the Centre for Life on 29th January.
By the way, the winning book was Blood Ties.