The Voice December 2009 - Arthur Mellows Village College

THE VOICEof Arthur Mellows Village CollegeIssue 7 December 2009Message from the Head of CollegeWelcome to this festive edition of The Voice. This actually comes following avery busy term which culminated recently in the ‘Outstanding’ judgement ofour Ofsted inspection. All parents should have received a copy of the inspectionreport; however this can be viewed on the front page of our website for those parentswho have not had the chance to read it.You will also find news in this edition regarding forthcoming events for Parents in the Spring term,together with details of our forthcoming Key Theatre Production, the trips to Barcelona andNormandy, and the recentsuccess in the MathematicsDepartment. Students andcolleagues within the PEDepartment have also been verybusy this term and the backpage contains a lot of sportingsuccess of which we can beproud.Finally, may I express my bestwishes for the season to allparents, students and the localcommunity. I look forward toworking with you all during 2010and I thank you for yourcontinued support.M SandemanKey Dates next term20104 January Term re-starts18 January Year 10 Parents’ Evening2 February Year 11 Revision Evening4 February Intermediate Maths Challenge11 February Cucina Bistro Evening15-19 February Half term22 February Spring Term re-starts22 February Year 11 Parents’ Evening1 March Year 9 Parents’ Information Evening4-6 March School Production8 March Year 9 Parents’ Evening15 March Year 12 Parents’ Evening18 March Cucina Bistro Evening25 March Presentation Evening26 March Spring term endsGoodbye and Good Luck fromMrs Webb in the MathematicsDepartmentI would like to take this opportunity tothank all students past and present,parents, staff and governors that I havehad the privilege to work with.Here is a parting maths problem for you, which is basedon my favourite number 3 (please do NOT send answerson a postcard hoping for a prize!):After 3 3 + 3 -1 years and over 3 decades of teaching it iswith sadness that I leave the school. It has been a placewhere I have always been encouraged and welcomed toparticipate in every aspect of learningfrom Active Learning teams with theChinese New Year to finding z* inFurther Mathematics A2. I will misseach and every one of you.I hope that you all continue to be asinspired by learning as I am.Delivering Learning for Life within an Inspirational Culture

COLLEGE NEWSArthur Mellows Bistro ExperienceDate for your diary: 11 February 2010This will be the night of the next Arthur Mellows BistroExperience, an opportunity for you, your family andfriends to gather together for a fun night out dining onhigh quality food. Whether you want to dine as a coupleor book a larger table, we hope that you will want to joinus in this venture.Our previous Bistro Experience received positivefeedback (the last menu, photos and reviews can befound through the CucinA link on the College website)and we hope to make them a regular feature of theCollege calendar over the coming years if they are wellsupported.The students involved will devise a menu with SteveCollins (the Chef) in January which we will makeavailable to the entire Arthur Mellows community. Only40 seats will be available at each Bistro Experience, soif you want to attend, please respond quickly to ensurethat your place is reserved.Mrs NashTECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE DAYArthur Mellows was the host to theannual Technology Challenge Daywith student teams from 4 of ourfeeder primary schools competing forthe AMTEC trophy, a school prize ofa full size skeleton and other prizesfor individual students. The studentsworked in teams of 6 to completechallenges in Technology, Science,Maths and ICT with a final quiz at theend of the day. Well done to theoverall winners of the day – Barnack Primary School.Mrs WatsonGifted and Talented English VisitorOn Tuesday 1 December, 46 Year 7 Gifted and Talented students wereinvolved in a master class organised by the English department, withBob Lister, a retired lecturer from Cambridge University. The focus forthe day was exploring Classics, the language and heritage of AncientGreece and how these ancient tales have influenced story telling acrossthe centuries.The students were introduced to the Ancient Greek language, thelegendary story of Troy and links between modern and ancient storytelling. Pupils were fascinated to learn about the origins of many wellknown stories and how our own language is influenced by othercultures.The day was a huge success and it was wonderful for so many studentsto have the chance to broaden their horizons in English by exploringhistory, language and the art of telling stories.Mr NorrisAttention all Year 7 Parents!This year the Year 7 Parents’ Evening willbe split over two evenings. Form GroupsGEL, EKA, KLE, GDA and MTU will bemaking appointments for 10 May 2010and SWA, JPO, LMC and IDI will makeappointments on 17 May 2010.Mrs DeasyAttention all Year 10 Parents!Students will be out on work experienceduring Year 10 between 12 July 2010 andthe end of term, 22 July 2010. Furtherdetails will follow next term regardingplacements.Mrs CrickAttention all Year 11 Parents!The date of the Year 11 Parents’ Eveninghas been brought forward. It will now takeplace on Monday 22 February 2010.Year 11 Revision EveningThere is a Revision Evening planned forTuesday 2 February 2010. The eveningwill begin with a session on generalrevision tips and best practice, followed bythe opportunity to visit specific subjectareas to find out how best to revise forthose subjects. This evening will offerboth students and parents an invaluableopportunity to talk to teachers and askquestions which will, I hope, help themrevise more effectively and make the bestuse of their time in preparing for theexams. Further information will follow inthe new year.Mrs Gilligan and Mrs Warrington

COLLEGE NEWSOff to Barcelona!Students in the Sixth Form flew from Stansted Airport onFriday 9 October 2009to Barcelona. The flight withRyanair was their first opportunity of the trip toevaluate standards of customer service. Over the weekendthe students visited a number of tourist attractions andstudied the way different businesses operate in Europe tohelp them with their respective courses.Saturday began with a visit to Parc Guell. Most appreciated the fantasticsculptures and fairy tale buildings, though some were far more interested in thevariety of market stalls. For those with the most energy, there were spectacularviews to be appreciated from the top of the hill!A visit to the soaring steeples of Sagrada Familia was a must where students were again impressed bythe work of the great Catalan Modernist Architect Antoni Gaudit, they were also quite pleased todiscover the wide variety of fast food establishments. The afternoon took them to TorresWinery, where they had a tour of the facility to learn about how the business had been established andhad expanded throughout Europe and the world. Later, there was time to relax at the hotel and explorethe local café's in Lloret. Studentswere especially pleased to find anarcade where they took over thedodgem cars.The Nou Camp Stadium was the firstvisit of the day on Sunday, and thenit was off to Barceloneta to enjoy theglorious sunshine on the beach. Thestudents made their way up theRamblas to the impressive PlacaCatalunya in the heart of the City.Our final evening was a return to theDodgem cars and Dream Café.Stories about Columbus providedinterest on Monday morning during a guided tour of the Gothic Quarter before they enjoyed a final mealof traditional Tapas together in a funky restaurant called MOKA. Then it was time to gather our bagsand head home. Thanks to theenergy and enthusiasm ofMr Pepper, there was still timefor a few laughs on the journeyhome as he raised spirits whilewe waited for our delayed flight.Overall, the trip was a greatsuccess and credit should begiven in particular to the sevenYear 13 Travel and Tourismstudents that organised it aspart of their coursework. Welldone to Matt, Jordan, Georgia,Alex, Andrew, Tom and Josh.Mrs Cruise

COLLEGE NEWSYear 7 take to the airArthur Mellows was the featured School of the Week ofRutland Radio in late November. Ten Year 7 studentswere interviewed for the popular morning slot, talkingabout a range of issues such as settling in, extra-curricular opportunities, giftedand talented work and the recent Mepal team-building work. We’re happy to reportthat the students were all very positive about their early weeks at the College.Interestingly, the early morning feature on Rutland Radio is more widely listened toin Rutland, Stamford, Wittering and Barnack than either BBC Radio 1 or 2.Mr ZaidiCycling safetyYou may have noticed recently that amember of staff and a member of theGoverning Body, Alan Kirkpatrick,recently checked cycle safety beforeschool. Every student wearing a helmetwas entered into a prize draw.Congratulations to Kelda McKnight inYear 8 and who won the £20 voucherkindly donated by the Arthur MellowsAssociation and Mr Zaidi who won abox of chocolates for setting a goodexample.Mrs MissinAdisa visits the English DepartmentAs part of the English Faculty’s Gifted and Talentedprovision, November saw Year 10 visited by aperformance poet, Adisa. A mixture of stand-up comedianand Carribean rapper, Adisa went down a storm. Sharinghis own ‘voice’, Adisa painted a powerful tapestry ofcultural identity, whether it was football, music, love orracial equality. Never pandering to the lowest commondenominator in an attempt to be relevant or ‘cool’, Adisanevertheless elevated himself to this lofty position bybeing himself and challenging stereotypes. Even the mosthardened Year 10 boys found themselves the newestmembers of his fan club.Later, during two workshops with selected students, Adisaencouraged students to explore their own ‘voices’ throughpoetry. Our guest was impressed by the imagination andenthusiasm of the students and by their ability to expresstheir emotional understanding through extended imagery.By the end we had established that Adisa was “a harbour”,visiting many places and carrying a precious cargo -voices, imagination and enlightenment.Mr PuddephattHealth and Social Care NewsOn 30 November 2009 students from Health and Social Care welcomed Michael and Pat Moss totalk to them about blindness. Michael has been blind since his 30s, and introduced Denny his guidedog to the students.During the Health and Social Care coursestudents study all aspects of health needs andhealth care. We are also studying the diversenature of our society, and recently had a visitorfrom the Sikh community to talk to us about herreligion and cultural background.We are always looking for new visitors, so if youwork within the NHS and would be prepared tomeet our students, please contactMrs Blackmore at school.

COLLEGE NEWSNormandy TripOn 5 November, we set off for Portsmouth, spotting fireworksand even getting round the M25 without a single delay. Wehad a very official greeting on the ferry before settling downfor the night. Actually, half a night would be more accurate as we were wokenup at 4.30 am by a musical alarm that made everyone wonder who hadturned their music player on.Amazingly, we were at Pegasus Bridge before sunrise. Whilst some studentshopped up and down to keep warm, others were involved in demonstrating the D-Day story, expertly told byNeil Matthews, a Nottingham History teacher who was our tour guide for the weekend. Pegasus Bridge waswhere it all began and it was the first of several amazing stories of bravery, good luck and imaginative thinkingthat made the D-Day landings possible. We were left in no doubt that the whole picture was made up of amyriad of individual stories including: the first gliders who crept up on the bridge; commandoes who raidedoccupied France; and the parachutist who landed in Normandy with his dog, Glen.In amongst these stories, always told at the location where they took place, were visits to an array of museums.We began with a visit to the Pegasus Bridge cafe, where we were treated to a chat with the daughter of the firstman to be liberated in France and then went on to the official museum, complete with the original PegasusBridge and replicas of the gliders used. We also managed to get to museums about the Airborne Divisions, theMerville Batteries and a 360° cinema taking us through some of the video footage of the landings as if we werethere, behind the camera.Putting oneself in the position of the advancing soldiers is a challenging task but it was made easier by beingtaken to various open-air sites in the area where key battles took place. We stood on Omaha Beach, now evenmore infamous due to its portrayal in the film: “Saving Private Ryan,” and looked up at the steep slopes with noescape routes from the enemy gunfire. It was not difficult to imagine the carnage. We also stood at the top of asheer 30-foot cliff scaled by American commandoes to knock out guns that had actually been moved a fewdays earlier.On the last day we paid our respects to the fallen at Bayeux Cemetery. Over the weekend we also visited theonly German cemetery in Normandy at La Cambe and the huge, immaculate American cemetery at OmahaBeach. Each person on the visit was given a poppy cross and decided where to place this. Some chose thecemeteries, others chose the beaches and headlands. It was heartening to see how much discussion tookplace regarding the best place to pay respect.In fact, it was clear to all the teachers and our guide that the Year 11 students were full of curiosity, thought andenthusiasm about their experiences. Both Mr Matthews and the coach drivers commented on how much theyenjoyed working with Arthur Mellows Village College and how this had been the case for over ten years. Yetagain the Normandy trip was a great success and a truly memorable experience for staff and students alike.Paula Macauley 11BZIAttention all aspiring film-makers!Peterborough City Council has recently announced the categories for the 2010 FilmAwards. Although our media students have a well-deserved reputation nationally fortheir excellent work, we have never entered the local film competition, so we intend toenter Year 10 BTEC Media students this year, as well as Year 12 A Level students.However, if there are any talented film-makers in Years 7, 8 and 9, we would bedelighted to receive more entries. You can enter work individually or as part of a group.The rules state that work must be your own with minimum teacher involvement.The categories are as follows: Years 7 to 9 — an action or adventure film of no more than 5 minutes, withcredits or a documentary about the environment; Years 10 to 11: A mystery or fantasy film or a documentaryabout the environment.We can only enter a maximum of 20 films. There are prizes for the winners. More details can be found onwww.readwriteinspire.co.uk or see Mr Zaidi .

PE NEWSResults of the Cross CountryWell done to all pupils who took part in the cross country, the top 14 will go forward to represent Peterborough in theCounty Championship in January 2010. Thank you to Janice Burke for organising the team and running the event onthe day.Minor Girls Finish Position 3rd7LMC Aisling Ruff 127SWA Claire Hayes-Bowlzer 137KLE Alexandra Snodgrass 167IDI Zoe Fisher 347MTU Philippa Hynes 417KLE Charlotte Martin 427GEL Samantha Booth 437EKA Joanna Newman 637SWA Sophie Robinson 657JPO Abigail Brookbanks 697GEL Hannah Weald 757LMC Daisy Scullion 82Junior Girls Finish Position 1st8SBL Katie Hutchinson 68CCT Megan Parrett 78EJA Megan Haines-Eynon 89CPE Emma Watts 119LHU Grace Clarke 238CCU Poppy Wing 129NTU Ellie Jaggard 249CPE Lucy Moylan 468ABU Kelda McKnight 509LMA Ellen Worship 559MAR Sophie Gwilliam 56Inter Girls Finish Position 2nd10RWA Charlie Wing 211BZA Amy Haines-Eynon 711TMA Jo Longland 1210TBE Charlotte Harris 1610RWA Clarissa Murphy 2810PMC Shauna Beck 3110MSL Sophie Whitton 3211DWA Simeone Compton 4111MNO Bethany Whyte 4210KBR Harriet Reed 4311TMA Emily Beales 4411BZA Hannah Dundas 54Minor Boys Finish Position 1st7KLE Ryan Hunter 27JPO Dylan Moles 47EKA Ashley Brumfield 127GDA Damien Woolner (Rutterford) 147GDA Matthew Lindley 157LMC Declan Parberry 187MTU Isaac Eze 197GDA William Woodard 307KLE Liam Manning 337SWA Matthew McDonald 357JPO Mark Walls 547KLE Peter Stanton 55Junior Boys Finish Position 1st(36 points-Amazing Result)9LHU Daniel Richardson 29LHU Grady Wing 39MAR Matthew Carter 48CCU Steven Dovey 89MAR Jack Yule 98ABU Myles Phillips 109MAR George Atkins 168CPE Alex Whyte 298ABU Ashley Goodliffe 358ABU Kieran Blanchard 489NTU Jack Spires 538AUB Sam Taylor 67Inter Boys Finish Position 2nd10PMC Gregg Dunn 710MNO Sam Linford 1010PCR James Berry 1110ASH Luke Gasson 1810ASH Dustin Edwards 2411DWA Jordan Whitehead 2511KBR Connor Pilbeam 3211BZA Kieran Frederick 3211TMA Alex McNally 5810MSL Lewis Jackson 5910KBR Tom HolyoakeDNFSenior Runners13ABA Charlotte Hinch 112SAH Henry Dunn 512SAH Callum Ramsey 8Congratulationsto the Under 16Netball Team forbeing the ‘runnersup’in the CountyFinals, narrowlybeaten 10-12against Kings Ely. The team havequalified for the Regionaltournament in February 2010 andwe look forward to reporting toyou on their achievement.Mrs GriggsBasketballCongratulations on the Year 11basketball team who reached thePeterborough schools basketball finalfor the 5 th consecutive year. After anexciting group stage, beating ThomasDeacon Academy, Jack Hunt andOrton Longueville convincingly, theboys were finally undone in the finalgame against Thomas Deacons, losing21 – 16. The Year 9 Basketball teamhas also had some success reachingthe final of the Peterborough PlateTrophy.Primary Sport FestivalsWe have also had two primary school sport festivals this term, whichwere a big success and saw many Arthur Mellows pupils help outthrough the junior and community sports leader award. Congratulationsto Barnack Primary school who went on to win the sports hall Year 4athletics championships.Young Silver AmbassadorsThe Peterborough Sports Partnership ispromoting Young Ambassadors of Sport inthe lead up to the 2012 London Olympics.Each school (secondary and primary) haschosen 2 leaders to take on this role withintheir own school. I am pleased tocongratulate Mitch Guest and Emma Haleswho have been selected to represent AMVCwithin the Peterborough area.Emma and Mitch are completing theirCommunity Sports Leaders Award andconsequently are already involved in leadingand coaching sport at AMVC. We arelooking forward to developing their rolefurther as they getinvolved in City-wideevents and begin tofurther promote theOlympic ideals andvalues within Sport atAMVC.EDITORIAL TEAM:Billy Zaidi, Teacher of English/Media, Debbie Sanderson, PA to Head of College and Amanda Palmer, Reprographics