REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2007-2008 - Pershore High School

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• Cross CountryEight students finished in the top eight in their respective age categories to represent SouthWorcestershire in the County Championships at Hereford Racecourse; Hannah Train finishedsecond in this event and was selected to the represent the County in the Nationals.• CheerleadingA team of 20 girls formed to take part in a nationwide festival. The girls embraced this newactivity with enthusiasm and went on to win the regional competition.• BadmintonLuke and Adam Gordon won the Under 16 district competition.• CricketThe present Year 9 boys reached the semi-final of the Under 13 County 6 a-side tournamentlast July. A superb 70 not out from Sam Cross unfortunately was not enough as the team lostnarrowly to the eventual winners.A girl's team, made up predominantly of Pershore High students, won a county competitionand went on to represent the county in the Lady Taverners tournament at Edgbaston.PsychologyReport by Zoe Starkey, Head of DepartmentStalking, Serial Murder and Eyewitness testimony were just some of the interesting, if a little macabre,topics that our budding psychologists had the pleasure of listening to this year.At 9am on Monday 25 th of February, we set off eagerly pen and paper inhand to the sunny delights of Walsall Football Club. The lectures were ledby Professor David Canter a world renowned Criminal psychologist, I amnot sure who was more excited about meeting Professor David Canter, butMrs Starkey made sure that she was at the front of the queue for the booksigning! Students particularly enjoyed hearing first hand accounts ofcriminal behaviour from an American police officer and were asked to usetheir detective skills to solve a case after listening to a real 911 call.This year students have written some very interesting and imaginativepieces of coursework and had produced some first class pieces of work.Topics this year have ranged from, 'Are we influenced by peoples'appearance when forming impressions of them?' to 'Are we influencedby majority influence?' Once again all these investigations have beenbeautifully conducted and written to a high standard.Professor David Canter,Criminal PsychologistPsychology continues to be one of the most popular A Level choices for students and numbers lookset to rise once again, with over 100 students opting to take the subject in 2008. In Years 12 and 13,68 students sat an examination in January. The results were outstanding, especially in light of anextremely challenging paper. There were 24 grade A's and 58 students achieved a grade C or above.This year has also seen the return of the legendary Mr Pitt. We have been thrilled to have him backand we owe much of these fantastic results to him. He has once again managed to make statisticsinteresting and the students are now first rate statisticians.What next for the Psychology Department? In 2008 we are very much looking forward to introducingthe new specification for the examination board AQA. After careful consideration this specificationwas selected as it provides the students with some fantastic opportunities to study areas such as;Offender Behaviour, Substance Abuse and Mood Disorders. We are also excited to welcome MrsHelen Forrester to the department. She joins us from Prince Henry's High school with a first classreputation and a wealth of knowledge and experience, having worked as a clinical psychologist prior toembarking on an impressive teaching career.Finally it has been another fantastic year and it had been a privilege to work with some wonderful andinspiring students. I very much look forward to leading the department through to many moresuccesses.
Religious StudiesReport by Jon Knight, Head of DepartmentThe outcomes of studying religion often come under criticism. What is the practical outcome? Howwill this help one's child go out into the big wide world and get a job?In answer to this question, it could be pointed out that one has already hit upon the answer… that bigwide world, so full of common yet diverse expectations; surely your child needs to know of theirexistence, how does it all fit together, why does it work and not work, and possibly the most importantpoint, where do they (one's child) fit into the whole scheme of things?We may not teach people how to put up shelves or conjugate verbs or even work out the sum of thehypotenuse, yet we are able to provide the environment, materials, guidance and feedback, to allowpeople to discover the complexities of the world and the people in it (including themselves). We haveattempted to equip them with the skills, to start formulating the opinions that will give them their adultidentities and impact upon future society.Religious Studies is a discipline that necessarily seeks the empowerment of students.With empowerment comes responsibility and to act responsibly one has to be informed.At Key Stage 3 the students are asked toresearch, describe, explain and evaluate themajor beliefs and practices of Judaism,Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam.Although the knowledge of alternative systems ofthought and practical existence are vital tounderstanding and choice in one's own existence;the essential purpose of lessons is to allow a richand varied environment within which students canpractice their skills of enquiry, explanation,evaluation and advocacy. Key Stage 4 has seena steady rise over the past three years in our Cand above pass rate, which will hopefully continuethis year. The Sixth Form have also engaged in anumber of creative tasks ranging from devisingplatonic dialogues to producing a philosophicalfilm about religious experience.In addition to the creative and skills based lessons offered this year by the Religious StudiesDepartment, we have also been fortunate enough to welcome guest speakers from the Islamic faith.We are also taking Year 8 to Coventry Cathedral to further develop student awareness of globalconflict and Coventry Cathedral's International Ministry for Peace and Reconciliation. The departmenthas also invited members of differing denominations to come and talk to students regarding variouscontemporary moral issues, ranging from abortion to sexual discrimination.I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff who have helped to create the department'sunique learning environment, Mr Linck for his continued contribution across all key stages,in particular his work with A Level Ethics, Mrs Witherick for her lessons with Year 8 that have focusedespecially upon developing thinking skills and also the brilliant support and guidance given by theteaching assistants, essential for the communication of ideas both ways.
Page 5 and 6: Selection of Individual and Group P
Page 7 and 8: Nathan Jones represented Aston Vill
Page 9 and 10: Art and DesignReport by David Reid,
Page 15 and 16: This year, the Young Writers' Away
Page 18 and 19: Information and Communication Techn
Page 20 and 21: MathematicsReport by Debbie Morgan,
Page 22 and 23: MusicReport by Laura Brookes, Head
Page 24 and 25: Physical Education and School Sport
Page 28 and 29: ScienceReport by Stuart Arch, Head
Page 30 and 31: TechnologyReport by Neil Harding, H
Page 32 and 33: Vocational Courses: Higher National
Page 34: Pershore Interact ClubMembers of Pe
Page 37 and 38: The Sixth FormReport by Jason Howel
Page 39 and 40: The House AwardReport by Ian James,
Page 41 and 42: Hughes, John Staying for Year 14Hun
Page 43 and 44: SW Stephen Wilding Resistant Materi

REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2007-2008 - Pershore High School

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