REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2007-2008 - Pershore High School

Information and Communication TechnologyReport by Sally Beeton, Head of DepartmentIt has been another busy year in ICT.The new option course, DiDA (Diploma inDigital Applications), is in its second year andthe Year 11 students have been working on thecreation on online storybooks. These includecreating writing and designing the story,producing text, graphics, animation andsoundtracks. The students have worked hardto produce some entertaining products. Thisqualification echoes the move towards onlineassessment as students collate their work intoa multimedia based e-portfolio (website) ratherthan providing paper based evidence. Thistype of study is becoming increasingly popularwith students and new qualifications will includemultimedia as part of the units of study.An IT ClassroomYear 12 students are getting the opportunity to experience the creation of multimedia products byattending a workshop at Birmingham University. They will be looking at the creation of multimediaproducts, including designing and creating a downloadable ringtone, and getting a taste of Universitybased study.The development of the Key Stage 3 National Strategy continues with the students’ capability beingextended through challenging units of work. Students are increasingly accessing their work via theVirtual Learning Environment (My Pershore) and most can access information and guidance duringlunchtime or from home. This has been used extensively to support Year 11 Short and Full Courserevision.LiteracyReport by Andrew Medcalf, Literacy Co-ordinatorAs this year has been designated as the National Year of Reading it was fitting that the Autumn termbegan with a whole school literacy theme. Professor David Wray of Warwick University, who isacknowledged as one of the world's leading authorities on literacy, led a most stimulating morningwhich helped staff to reappraise the vital role of literacy and learning in every subject area .In the Autumn term, Jennie Brumhead, the Librarian at Pershore Library, began a series of visits totalk to Year 8 students about the facilities available to them throughout the County. Jennie and herstaff brought a special display unit which highlighted the wide range of resources which students mayborrow from Worcestershire Public Libraries.On March 6 th we celebrated World Book Day with a Book Fair in association with Arcade Books ofPershore. Over 1000 book tokens were distributed and many students visited the School Library tobuy books and redeem their Book for a Pound vouchers. Many Year 12 and 13 students dressed asbook characters for the day and a competition for all students to choose and illustrate their favouritebook extracts succeeded in attracting a largenumber of entries. Natalie Bray, Daniel Wilcoxand Katie Percival received Book Tokens fortheir winning extracts.The Year of Reading will continue with themedreading months and other events under theaegis of the Literacy Working Group. We arecurrently planning the refurbishment of theSchool Library as building work progresseson the Training School Initiative so that wecan incorporate the latest thinking inliteracy and learning into this exciting newarea.