summer term.qxp - Suffolk New Academy

More documents

Recommendations

Info

English & Library BBC News School Report On Thursday 13 March a group of students from 8OAD took part in the BBC News School Report project and became roving reporters for the day! BBC News School Report gives 12 and 13 year-olds from UK schools the chance to make their own video, audio or textbased news at school and to broadcast it for real, against a real deadline. For weeks leading up to the event the whole class were involved in learning how to develop and create news stories, evaluating ideas to see how “newsworthy” they would be, writing snappy headlines and developing their investigative skills as journalists. The students followed hints and tips from BBC News presenter Huw Edwards on how to create the perfect story. The famous news anchor taught the students about the importance of checking sources and making sure stories were accurate and suitable for a wide audience of listeners and viewers. Our school decided to produce a televised broadcast made up of short news stories which would be filmed and edited on the project day by the students themselves. As a class the students came up with the different ideas for topical news stories that they thought would be relevant to a wide spread audience. As the actual project day approached students had the opportunity to work with a mentor assigned to the school for the project. BBC Radio Suffolk Sports correspondent and Ipswich Town commentator Brenner Woolley came in and worked alongside the group, giving them advice on how to make the best of their stories and what sort of things to consider when making a broadcast. He also gave them a talk about his role on BBC Radio Suffolk and provided them with an insider’s guide to Ipswich Town F.C which the football fans among the group really enjoyed! The students made Brenner feel very welcome, so much so that he came back several times. I did wonder if perhaps I should be afraid for my job! On the 13 March nine of the students came together to research and record their broadcast. They split up into small teams and went out onto the streets of the Chantry Estate, conducting interviews on film with local people, shop owners, community police and local area caretakers, as well as recording their own introductions to the stories which involved recreating the BBC News room in the Sports Centre reception! Once the individual stories were filmed it was back to the “News Room” to upload the footage and edit it together, with the support and hard work of Mrs Andrews. It was at this point when slip ups were noticed and one or two “bloopers” were spotted and giggled over! As the 2 o’clock deadline approached fast the students had a real feel of what it must be like to be a journalist working to a strict schedule and hurrying to complete stories and footage. Our BBC School News Report went live on the school webpage the following day where it was linked to the main BBC homepage meaning it could be viewed by people all over the country. The students felt really pleased with themselves and all their hard work and I was very proud of them and the way they conducted themselves throughout the whole project. Roll on next year! Miss Morrison Horrible Histories- Terrible Tudors On Tuesday 18 March, a group of Year 8 students went to see one of the entertaining ‘Horrible Histories by Terry Deary’ brought to life on stage at The Regent, Ipswich. Once the show began it was clear we were in for humorous retelling of the Tudor period. It was similar to a pantomime with Dr Dee striving to ensure the gory bits were included while Miss Tree wanted to make sure all the facts were correct. Although there were only four members in the cast, the stories were entertaining and made more memorable by the songs especially the retelling of Henry VIII’s wives; ‘divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’! The addition of 3D graphics using ‘Bogglevision’ in the second act increased the entertainment and also caused a few members of staff and students to jump in their seats! Overall the trip was a great success and the student’s behaviour was exceptional which set a great standard for the younger children in the audience. They have all received a School and Community sticker for their Chantry Award. I would like to thank Mr McMann, Mrs Johnson, Mrs Summers and Mr Wilder who accompanied us on the trip. Mrs Lawrence Year 7 Book Mastermind 2007 We have been running the Book Mastermind competition for Year 7 students in the Autumn Term for around 15 years now (not quite as long as the television version!) Students answer 20 questions on a fiction book of their choice. The competition is optional, but we have brave volunteers from most of our English groups, and everyone who takes part gets a sticker for their Chantry Award, a certificate and a small treat. Library and English staff burn the midnight oil writing the questions! Our finalists this year were: Josh Edwards, Sarah Joyner, Aisha Farrell, Ryan Evans, Kieran Wood and Panashe Siwira. These students then chose a second book to answer questions on for the School Final (held in Library Week in November), when they had to answer as many questions as they could in two minutes. All finalists received a prize for their efforts, and our top three (Sarah, Josh and Kieran) went on to an inter-school competition with students from Copleston High School. Sarah had beaten Josh into second place to become our Year 7 Book Mastermind, but then was narrowly pipped herself in a general knowledge decider, so that Josh went on to represent us at the Schools Library Service, countywide competition in early February. Between them, Sarah and Josh read a total of seven books and answered questions on them. Josh also took part in a general knowledge round. Didn’t they do well! Both students helped out again in late February when we hosted our first ever Year 6 Book Mastermind Final. We were very impressed with the Year 6 contestants and we look forward to lots of knowledgeable contestants when they come up next year. Well Done Everyone! Mrs Johnson
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat On Wednesday 12 March, a mixed group of students from Years 8-11 visited The Regent, Ipswich to watch the spectacular show ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’. The musical created by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice retells the biblical story of Jacob and his twelve sons including Joseph and his coat of many colours as the name suggests. It has been a family favourite for decades with its memorable songs such as ‘Close Every Door’ and ‘Any Dream will Do’ along with the brilliant storyline with humour. The students quickly became star struck as they realised ‘Chris Barton’ in the lead role of Joseph and ‘Keith Jack’ in the role of the narrator, were two of the finalists from the BBC series ‘Any Dream Will Do’. The show was brilliant and deserved the standing ovation as the curtains closed. I would like to say a big thank you to Mr Moseley, Miss Hands, Miss Wright and Mrs Fuge who accompanied us on the trip. All of our students were a credit to the school with their behaviour and definitely earnt their School and Community sticker for their Chantry Award. It was lovely to hear the students saying what a great time they had and leave asking repeatedly “when can we go again?” Mrs Lawrence Kate Greenaway On Friday 18 April the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist was announced and Mrs Johnson quickly bought copies of the books. The Library Association established the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1955, for distinguished illustration in a book for children. It is named after the popular nineteenth century artist known for her fine children’s illustrations and designs. This year Miss Wright is going to work with 7AMC to present the short listed books to Year 3 and 4 children in the local Primary Schools during their English lessons. The Year 3 and 4 children then feedback the books they feel should be the winner. They then compare their ideas with other Year 3 and 4 children and with the actual winner that will be announced on Friday 26 June. There have been seven books short-listed this year for the medal: Silly Billy Anthony Browne Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears Emily Gravett The Lost Happy Endings Jane Ray Guided Reading in English lessons Penguin Polly Dunbar Monkey and Me Emily Gravett Ottoline And the Yellow Cat Chris Riddell Banana! Ed Vere You can see the short list at: http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk /2008awards/greenaway_shortlist.php Watch this space for further news on how the workshop goes in the next issue of the magazine. Mrs Lawrence Sponsored Word Search with Year 7 for East Anglian Children’s Hospice (EACH) On Monday 12 May and Tuesday 13 May every Year 7 student will participate in a sponsored Word Search for local charity ‘EACH’ during their English lessons to celebrate National Nurse’s Day. ‘EACH’ supports families throughout their experience of caring for children with lifethreatening or life-limiting illnesses. ‘EACH’ is a registered charity which relies on public support for around 80% of its required income of approximately £4.9 million per year - which is why voluntary income is absolutely vital. The Word Search challenges the students to find as many words as possible in the Charity’s name. They can only use the letters in the name once but can re-use them in every new word. We are hoping to raise some money for this worthwhile local children’s charity. Every student that participates will also receive a School and Community sticker for their Chantry Award card. There will also be a prize for the students with the most words, in every English class. We will let you know how much money is raised along with the names of the winners in a later issue of the magazine! Mrs Lawrence This year in English we have been trying to promote independent reading. Every English lesson in the Lower School, students are expected to read independently for 15 minutes. In order to encourage students to vary the genre of novel that they read, guided reading book boxes have been introduced in some Year 8 and 9 classes. The boxes include six copies of six titles and provide a wide range of reading: Year 8 The Edge- Alan Gibbons, Worse than boys- Catherine Macphail, Raven’s Gate- Anthony Horowitz, Breathe- Cliff McNish, Girl Missing- Sophie McKenzie, Wintersmith- Terry Pratchett Year 9 Roxy’s Baby- Catherine Macphail, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time- Mark Haddon, Blood Pressure- Alan Gibbons, The Crew- Bali Rai, Noughts and Crosses- Malorie Blackman, Fat Boy Swim- Catherine Forde Each class has tackled the project in slightly different ways but the main idea is that a small group of students create a forum for each title and explore various elements of the novel such as key characters, themes, storyline etc… The project has been a positive experience for all students, fostering independent learning skills, increasing social skills and most importantly encouraged reading a wide range of novels. It was great to see students working with different people as they were grouped according to the title rather than with their friends. It has been brilliant for the library too, as a number of students loved their novel so much, that they’ve gone on to read more titles by the same author. The project will be repeated next year; hopefully with the same amount of enthusiasm! Mrs Lawrence
Page 1 and 2: CHM Chantry High School & Sixth For
Page 3 and 4: Fire Break 4-8 February 2008 At the
Page 5 and 6: 7AMC - visit to Colchester Castle I
Page 7: Eco Schools Silver Award We now hav
Page 11 and 12: Visiting Author Malcolm Rose As par
Page 14 and 15: English & Library Begin with the en
Page 16 and 17: Modern Languages Farewell from Judi
Page 18 and 19: Art and Design Joshua Page has desi
Page 20 and 21: Sports & Activities Ski Trip 2008 O
Page 22 and 23: School & Community Chantry Resident
Page 24: Extended Schools Service - Core Off

summer term.qxp - Suffolk New Academy

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?