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newsletter-06-26-november-2015
newsletter-06-26-november-2015
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Lord Grey <strong>News</strong><br />
Aspire, Learn, Achieve<br />
26 November 2015, edition 6<br />
“Do It Again”<br />
Campaign<br />
This year we are insisting that students re-do<br />
their classwork, homework or coursework if it is<br />
not done to an acceptable standard or to<br />
Minimum Target Grade (MTG).<br />
Subject teachers will challenge students to DO IT<br />
AGAIN if inferior work is handed in. This is<br />
because the new GCSEs are much harder so our<br />
students must get into the habit of doing good<br />
work to MTG. They must expect to be<br />
challenged by their teacher if the work is not<br />
good enough in the first place.<br />
This Issue<br />
Sixth Form Open Evening<br />
Careers Base<br />
Special Points of Interest<br />
Careers Talks<br />
Revision<br />
Twitter<br />
Road Safety<br />
We ask that parents support us in the campaign<br />
and back the school up when the request or<br />
demand comes for the work to be re-done to a<br />
higher standard.<br />
SIXTH FORM OPEN EVENING TONIGHT. WE<br />
LOOK FORWARD 1 TO MEETING YOU.
EXAMINATION CERTIFICATES will be ready for collection<br />
from Tuesday 1 December 2015. You are able to collect from the<br />
school reception between 9am-3pm, Monday-Friday.<br />
IMPORTANT NOTICE<br />
Please be advised - all examination certificates prior to 2013 which are<br />
currently held in school will be destroyed if they are not<br />
collected before<br />
Easter (24 March 2016).<br />
You are able to collect between Monday-Friday, 9am-3pm.<br />
2
ROAD SAFETY ON RICKLEY LANE AND WHADDON WAY<br />
As both roads are busy and congested in the mornings and after school students need to be sensible and vigilant. Our children can be<br />
safe on the streets if we show them how. What’s the best way to do this?<br />
Set a good example<br />
When you cross the road, don’t take risks.<br />
Remember to find a safe place to cross, then stop, look and listen.<br />
Don’t use your mobile phone while crossing the road.<br />
Wearing bright colours or fluorescent and reflective clothing helps motorists to see you.<br />
Find safest places to cross the road<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
If you can, use traffic islands, zebra crossings, pedestrian crossings.<br />
Cross where you can see clearly in all directions.<br />
Avoid crossing between parked cars if there is a safer place nearby.<br />
Zebra crossings have two yellow beacons and striped markings across the road. Remember to wait for cars to stop in both directions.<br />
STOP, LOOK and LISTEN.<br />
When there is no traffic coming, walk straight across (not diagonally) and keep looking and listening as you go don’t forget to look both<br />
ways before stepping out on to the crossing.<br />
How can you help as a parent<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Explain to your child why they need to stop, look and listen when crossing the road.<br />
Talk about safer places to cross and how it’s harder to see where there are parked cars, junctions, bends or the brow of a hill.<br />
Help your child to learn the names of the different crossings, such as zebras, puffins, pelicans and footbridges.<br />
Crossing between parked cars<br />
<br />
Try not to cross between parked vehicles, but if there is nowhere else to cross:<br />
Choose a place where there is a space between two cars and make sure that it is easy to get to the pavement on the other side<br />
of the road.<br />
Make sure neither car is about to move off - look for drivers in the cars, lights and listen for engines.<br />
Don't cross near large vehicles. You could be standing in a blind spot, where the driver cannot see you.<br />
Walk to the outside edge of the cars and stop. Here you can be seen by drivers and you can look all around for traffic.<br />
Be bright and be seen<br />
As we are now moving into the winter season, it can become difficult for motorists to see pedestrians wearing dark clothes when visibility is<br />
poor. Be bright and be seen, school bags can be a good source of visibility if they are bright colours or have high-visibility strips. If walking<br />
near traffic at night reflective clothing is needed.<br />
Lots of useful and interesting information can be found on the Brake website (the road safety charity).<br />
http://www.brake.org.uk/<br />
3
IMPORTANT ADVANCE NOTICE<br />
FOR PARENTS<br />
STUDENT ROAD SAFETY<br />
MAIN SCHOOL GATE CLOSURE<br />
No Motor Vehicles<br />
To ensure the safety of your children we will be closing the school gates each day<br />
for 20 minutes from 3.10pm - 3.30pm. During this time no one will be allowed<br />
to enter or leave the school by car. I hope that you will support our aim to put<br />
the safety of your children first as they leave the school at the end of the day.<br />
Separate arrangements are being made for students where special circumstances<br />
occur.<br />
Dean Johnson, Director of Business<br />
Lord Grey School held a very successful Spelling<br />
Bee House Competition last week.<br />
Each house had two representatives from each year<br />
group and all the students involved were excellent.<br />
The results were very close!<br />
1st = Lorenz<br />
= 21 points<br />
2nd = Colossus = 19 points<br />
3rd = Enigma<br />
4th = Ultra<br />
= 18 Points<br />
= 16 Points<br />
5th = Mercury = 9 Points<br />
Well done to all the students who entered!!!!<br />
Linda Bowen, Assistant Head of House<br />
4
5
6
Caton House, Remembrance Service.<br />
I had the great pleasure of taking a group of students to Caton House on 11th November to participate in a Remembrance<br />
Service with the residents. The elderly residents all have some form of Alzheimers to varying degrees. The students listened to<br />
the service intently and with great respect. Luke Kinsey volunteered to read out a poem which he did with confidence and<br />
humility. Karri Pender was in charge of giving all the residents their service sheets. Sydney and Danielle served cake. All of the<br />
students made a real effort to talk to the residents and show interest in their lives. I know from experience that elderly people<br />
really enjoy contact with young people. Karri Pender spent quite some time talking to a lady of 100 years old who looked<br />
amazing. We also met a resident who was instrumental in the planning of Milton Keynes many years ago. Luke Kinsey spoke to<br />
a lady who had suffered from Parkinsons disease for the past forty years. I cannot express my pride of these students in their<br />
behaviour and the way they represented Lord Grey School. Rebecca Killman of Caton House was very impressed and has asked<br />
us back for the Christmas Party in December.<br />
Students who attended: Danielle Butcher, Sydney Percy-Larkin, Tyler Cooke, Karri<br />
Pender, Grace Henfrey, Daniel Brown, Daniel Goyen., Luke Kinsey.<br />
“This was an amazing experience. I learned a lot about the residents, they were very<br />
polite. We got to talk about the different wars. We got to sing two hymns one was<br />
'Lord of all Hopefulness'.” Luke Kinsey<br />
“I enjoyed this experience a lot, it was really easy to talk to the residents they were<br />
very kind and lovely and down to earth. Anyone who gets this opportunity I would<br />
honestly take it, it's so fascinating to speak and mingle with people with such<br />
interesting stories.” Grace Henfrey<br />
“I really enjoyed this visit to Caton House. I loved the Remembrance Service,<br />
residents and the lovely staff. We had cake and tea. I would like to say Thank you to<br />
Ms Green for organising this event and for Mrs Cooknell for taking us.” Tyler Cooke<br />
“It was a great trip to Caton House, lovely and kind people. I met a woman who was<br />
100 years old - soon to be 101. She told me that she had her son at 27 years old and<br />
now he is 71. Her husband was in the RAF. She was given a telegram from the Queen<br />
last year when she was 100. Her friend bought her a frame to put it in and she hung<br />
it on the wall. It was a great time and they have invited us back for a Christmas party<br />
on December 11th. I can't wait.” Karri Pender<br />
“I thought that Caton House was a lovely place to visit. All the people were so<br />
friendly and were not afraid to have a chat with us. It was so nice to talk to them<br />
and find out about their past. The service was very good. It was interesting to listen<br />
to the poems and songs related to Remembrance Day. I am glad that I was part of<br />
the service and would love to visit again.” Danielle Butcher<br />
“It was a really good service and I loved speaking to all the residents and hearing<br />
what they get up to.” Sydney Percy-Larkin<br />
Carol Green, Family Intervention & Community Support Manager.<br />
7
Careers Base<br />
Recent Events<br />
This has been a busy few weeks for our Year 9 students as we have had a number of events and activities for them over the last<br />
few weeks, to help them to build upon the careers activities they were involved in last year. On Tuesday 10 and 24 November<br />
our Year 9 students benefitted from our Career Workout sessions, which enabled them to talk to a number of local employed<br />
people about their experiences of work. This invaluable opportunity offered by WorkTree enables young people to gain a wider<br />
knowledge base about the world of work and enables them to develop essential networking skills for their future working life.<br />
If you are a parent/carer and would like to consider getting involved in this scheme, and would consider giving up an hour of<br />
your time to talk to young people about your experience of work, at either Lord Grey or another school in the local area,<br />
please contact Worktree on http://worktree.org/<br />
On Monday 16 November all Year 9 students were involved in a full day<br />
of careers related activities, with a particular focus on the NHS careers<br />
competition. This enabled students to develop a range of skills relating to<br />
researching job roles and developing an understanding of job descriptions,<br />
whether or not, they have an interest in roles within the NHS or not, as the<br />
skills they developed are fully transferable. However, many students were<br />
interested to learn that there were 350+ different roles within the NHS<br />
including gardeners, electricians and management staff. Students<br />
produced some wonderful entries for the competition, some of which can<br />
be seen here. We are very hopeful that some of our students may go on<br />
to become winners in the national competition!<br />
We have also been fortunate to welcome a number of guest speakers into school over the last few weeks including speakers<br />
focusing on careers in construction and the health and social care sectors, as well as the highly popular Ryan Ashmore. Ryan<br />
delighted students with an interest in<br />
music and starting up their own business<br />
alike, as he spoke about producing music<br />
for Little Mix and many other artistes as<br />
well as working with Duncan Bannatyne<br />
and securing investment in Dragon’s Den.<br />
On Thursday 19 November we took a<br />
group of 25 Year 10 Workskills students to<br />
the Skills Show at Birmingham NEC. Here<br />
students had the opportunity to attend the<br />
UK’s biggest careers and skills show, with<br />
over 100 ‘have-a-go activities’ such as mock<br />
house building and fitness testing, to name<br />
just two!<br />
Forthcoming Events<br />
Thursday 3 December<br />
Tutor Time – Lecture Theatre<br />
Careers in the Army – Come and hear<br />
from the army careers office about the<br />
range of roles available in the army and<br />
the recruitment processes they use.<br />
8
Year 8<br />
History Visit<br />
to National<br />
Maritime<br />
Museum<br />
On Tuesday 17 th November, sixty<br />
Year 8 students visited the<br />
National Maritime Museum in<br />
London to partake in the Slavery<br />
Study Day.<br />
They had the opportunity to handle<br />
primary sources of evidence, and<br />
examine historical items associated<br />
with the slave trade. This included<br />
16 th Century African cultural<br />
ornaments and crafts, and<br />
manuscripts detailing the capture<br />
and transportation of black people<br />
from Africa to America. The<br />
afternoon session saw students<br />
using iPads to create their own<br />
piece of work, using the exhibits<br />
in the museum. Working in groups,<br />
they were able to take<br />
photographs of appropriate<br />
displays and produce mind<br />
maps of their findings.<br />
This has improved their<br />
investigative skills, and their<br />
ability to ask historical<br />
questions, which is a key<br />
requirement of the National<br />
Curriculum.<br />
On the way back to the coach, we<br />
walked through Greenwich Park and<br />
past the Royal Observatory, home<br />
of Greenwich Mean Time. The top<br />
of the very steep hill afforded<br />
beautiful views of Greenwich and<br />
the surrounding area.<br />
All our students behaved in an<br />
exemplary manner and made us very<br />
proud of their participation and<br />
attitude. The museum have praised<br />
their approach and thanked us,<br />
commenting that our students were<br />
a credit to Lord Grey.<br />
My thanks go to the students, and<br />
staff who made the day educational<br />
and enjoyable; in particular, to<br />
Mrs Markatos, Mrs Noons,<br />
Miss Hussey, Mr Murray and<br />
Mr Friar.<br />
Miss Cowap, Head of History<br />
9
Up-and-Coming<br />
‘Strictly Come<br />
Dancing’ Star!<br />
Joseph Salomone-Hedges and his partner Heidi took<br />
part in their first Ballroom and Latin Dancing<br />
Competition on Sunday 8 th November and came first in<br />
both categories! Well done and congratulations, we are<br />
all very proud of you!<br />
Joseph’s dance instructor is Accursio Romeo who is an<br />
ex Lord Grey student!<br />
Mr Soper and Mrs Chapman<br />
Head and Assistant Head of Engima House.<br />
studies because it was the ancestral home<br />
of the first President of the United States,<br />
George Washington. They had a guided<br />
tour and were able to ask<br />
questions of a very knowledgeable guide.<br />
Emily Dickinson, Jasmina Matgepour, and<br />
Paige Livingstone attended the<br />
Congress to Campus Event at Sulgrave<br />
Manor on 12th of November, as part of their<br />
studies of American Government and<br />
Politics.<br />
The students heard from two professors<br />
from Cambridge University. Piers<br />
Bursill-Hall lectured them on the impact of<br />
the 18th century scientific discoveries on<br />
the US Constitution which was very<br />
interesting! Adam Casey then spoke to the<br />
students about the impact of the Federalist<br />
papers on the US Constitution. The<br />
students massively enjoyed the lectures<br />
and were able to see what it was like to<br />
sit in on a lecture at such a prestigious<br />
university as Cambridge.<br />
Next, the students were led on a tour of<br />
Sulgrave Manor which connects to their<br />
The students then participated in a<br />
debate moderated by two former US<br />
senators about whether or not the<br />
American presidency is considered<br />
imperial. This was a competitive<br />
atmosphere and the students came<br />
away inspired about how hard they<br />
need to work to compete in the real<br />
world.<br />
In the closing activity there<br />
was a question and answer session<br />
with the senators. Tom Petri (a<br />
Republican from the state of Wisconsin)<br />
and Jim Moran (a Democrat from the<br />
state of Virginia) both fielded some very<br />
tough questions from the students.<br />
Our ladies asked many good questions<br />
and Ms. Markatos was very proud of<br />
them for getting right in and gaining the<br />
most out of this event. Our students were<br />
the first to go and meet the<br />
senators personally. They also took<br />
photographs with them and had some time<br />
10<br />
to chat personally. Overall, it was a<br />
fantastic experience for the students and a<br />
real chance to engage with those right in<br />
the middle of American politics.
Golf Success @ LG<br />
Charlie Coleman went to the British Masters Golf @ Woburn over the weekend<br />
of 10th/11th October to see some of the world's top golfers compete (and get a<br />
few tips himself!). Whilst there he took part in the Sky Sports Putting Challenge<br />
– putting from 15 foot - in an attempt to win tickets to the Ryder Cup 2016,<br />
Minnesota, USA - he really didn't think he would stand a chance. However, this<br />
week we received confirmation that he had only gone and won!<br />
He has won an amazing package for two people consisting of flights to Minnesota,<br />
airport transfers, seven nights accommodation and breakfast in four star<br />
hotel, private transfers on each day of the Ryder Cup, £500 spending money<br />
and most importantly two tickets to the Ryder Cup over the whole weekend! He<br />
does have a little wait though, it doesn't take place until September/October<br />
2016 (and this also means he needs to get good grades if he wants to go…<br />
ha! ha!)<br />
Charlie is a member of the Bletchley Junior Team @ Windmill Hill Golf Club<br />
along with several other Lord Grey students - Oliver Coleman, Daniel Brown,<br />
Zac Nash, Morgan Maxwell and Brandon Sanders. They train every Friday<br />
evening, play most weekends and enter the odd tournament here and there.<br />
They have been quite successful in the short time they have been together -<br />
here's a couple of bits below which will give you a taster of how successful they<br />
are at golf.<br />
Charlie recently won the Alan Turing Cup competition at the Windmill Hill Golf Club - playing 3 rounds, a quarter<br />
final, beating off his dad in the semi final to get to the final. He then went on to beat Daniel Brown’s dad to take the<br />
trophy.<br />
Charlie, Zac and Daniel recently entered the TGB Tour at Abbey Hill. Charlie came away with the Nett Score<br />
runner up with Zac winning Nett Score and also coming runner up in the Gross Score.<br />
Charlie, Zac, Daniel and Brandon also entered a ProAm Tour at Windmill Hill Golf Club playing alongside some<br />
top professionals. All the boys played extremely well beating all of the adult amateur field coming away with the top<br />
spots!<br />
I'm sure you will all agree you have some very talented golfers at Lord Grey and they all deserve a mention!....you<br />
never know, it could be one of them competing in the Ryder Cup one day....<br />
Andy Soper, Head of House and Richard Henry, Head of PE<br />
11
Students putting their new Chinese calligraphy skills to the test!<br />
.<br />
12
13
14
Year 11 Trial Examinations<br />
All students have now received a hard copy of their time which commences on Tuesday 1 December 2015.<br />
15
activities you can access.<br />
Screen shot of the website showing some of the<br />
We are always looking at ways to help you achieve<br />
your full potential. Lord Grey has subscribed to SAM<br />
Learning which is an online learning package which<br />
has materials for SATS, GCSEs and A Levels. The<br />
resources available on the system are very good, and<br />
have the advantage that they can be accessed<br />
anywhere where there is an INTERNET connection, at<br />
home, in the LRC, public libraries as well as in lessons.<br />
Independent research shows that provided students<br />
use the materials for more than 10 hours in total then<br />
it will boost SAT and GCSE grades.<br />
So how do you get started?<br />
The Web address is: www.samlearning.com<br />
Every student has a unique user ID.<br />
To discover yours follow these simple instructions!<br />
CENTRE ID: MK3LG<br />
USER ID: your date of birth followed by your two initials<br />
e.g. the user ID for DAVID JONES, born on the 1 August<br />
1985 would be 010885DJ<br />
PASSWORD: This is the same as your USER ID but you<br />
can change this once you have logged on for the first<br />
time.<br />
The system is not meant to substitute the work that you<br />
do in class with your teacher, or homework that has<br />
been set by your teachers. It is meant to complement<br />
and enhance your learning and revision skills—by<br />
completing exam style questions you will get better at<br />
exams and having to mark your own work will help you<br />
understand exactly what the examiners want in an<br />
answer.<br />
16
Dates for your diary<br />
26 November<br />
Sixth Form Open Evening<br />
27 November<br />
Teacher Training Day<br />
School closed to students<br />
30 November<br />
Teacher Training Day<br />
School closed to students<br />
<strong>News</strong> from the Health Advisor<br />
Two consent forms for injections will be coming<br />
home with Year 10 students this week. Please<br />
sign and return forms to Student Services ASAP.<br />
Injections will take place in January.<br />
Smoke Free Clinic will be starting in January. Any<br />
students that would like an assessment followed<br />
by a care plan and treatment please see the<br />
nurse. This will help you to quit smoking.<br />
1 December<br />
Year 11 Trial Exams Start<br />
7 December<br />
Full Governing Body Meeting<br />
10 December<br />
Year 12 & Year 13<br />
Parents’ Evening<br />
16 December<br />
Christmas Concert<br />
18 December<br />
Last Day of Term<br />
21 December 15 - 2 January 16<br />
Christmas Holidays<br />
4 January 16<br />
Students Return to School<br />
Our<br />
Core Values:<br />
Ambitious<br />
Determined<br />
Independent<br />
Respectful<br />
Successful<br />
The Year 8 football team narrowly missed out on becoming tournament<br />
winners, losing 1-0 in the final to Walton High.<br />
The final was top quality and if it wasn't for Walton High's goalkeeper<br />
making two brilliant saves we would have been champions!<br />
Well done to the team, you were brilliant!<br />
Paige Kavanagh, Coordinator of PSHE and Citizenship<br />
Lord Grey School, Rickley Lane, Bletchley, Milton Keynes 17 MK3 6EW Phone: 01908 626110 www.lordgrey.org.uk