Playground 2 Podium 2012 - John Spence Community High School

John Spence
Newsletter
John Spence
Community
High School
July 2012
Farewell to Some Very Familiar Faces
Mrs Curtis Mr Wafer
Mr Gillespie
Miss Liddane Mr Addyman Mrss Wortley Mr McDonald
A number of valued members of staff are leaving us this Summer, some to retirement, some to new teaching posts
and some to begin new careers.
Three extremely long-serving members of staff are heading for retirement. Mrs Curtis is retiring from her post as
Assistant Headteacher after 40 years at the school; Mr Wafer, having joined the staff of Preston High School in
1980 is also retiring from his post as Assistant Headteacher; Mr Gillespie, after 26 years of teaching Art at John
Spence, is leaving his position as Curriculum Leader for Art and returning to his native Republic of Ireland to begin a
new business venture. Between them, these colleagues have served the students of John Spence for 97 years.
Miss Liddane is leaving the Science Department after 3 years to take up a promoted post in Peterlee; Miss
Wortley is leaving the English Department at the end of a year covering for a colleague on maternity leave and will
be continuing her career at Burnside Business College from September; Mr Addyman is leaving us at the end of a
one-year contract to take up a post at Marden Bridge middle School; Mr McDonald, who left us last summer,
returned to us during this academic year, but is now leaving us again to take up a place on an initial teacher training
course.
All of these staff made their own individual contributions to the life of the school, and a number of them made a
substantial and sustained contribution to the school’s success over a very long period of time indeed All leave with
our best wishes. All will be missed.

Page 2
John Spence
Celebration of Success
On Tuesday 10 th July we held our annual Celebration of Success event. Once again the top twenty-five students in
each Year Group were rewarded with vouchers as a result of being nominated by staff in the following categories:
Excellence & Achievement - Improvement or Progress - Sustained Effort -
Involvement in Extra-Curricular Activities - Service to the School
The top twenty-five students from each year group were as follows:
Year 7
Jack Addy
Simal Altunsoy
Keaton Bailey
Ethan Brown
Phillipa Cairns
Erin Carlson
Rachel Coates
Liam Coxon
Yve Edmunds
Rachel Eglington
Molly Garrett
Emma Gow
Alannah Harding
Bethany Le Brun
Lorna Le Brun
Mathew Longstaff
Jacob Minchella
Libby Moffattt
Rees Monaghan
Fatia Pirbudak
Beth Richardson
Karl Slessor
Bethany Thompson
Chloe Thompson
Nicola Toby
Year 8
Lindsay Atkinson
Andrea Barnes
Liam Best
Chloe Bethell
Thomas Boast
Emily Cairns
Jack Craig
Lewis Dack
Rebecca-Leigh Dack
Christopher Dimopoulos
Allanah Gales
Camille Jambon
Elijah Marshall
Harry Mudditt
Sean Mulligan
Georgia Oram
Ryan Proud
Abbie Reid
Matthew Rice
Matthew Robson
Oliver Scott
Harvey Stewart
Christopher Sword
Holly Watson
Sarah Wind
Year 9
Lindsay Arthur
Mark Bal
Bethany Brice
Hannah Collingwood
Connor Cummings
Peter Dyers
Lara Gow
Emma Harvey
Joseph Harvey
Erin Hollinshead
Kaysha Johnsen
Kenneth Larmour
William Larmour
Hannah Lydall
Emma May
Amy McCarroll
Charlotte McKenna
Jean-Luke Minchella
David Office
Rachael Ratcliff
Amy Tennant
Chloe Wardley
Chloe Watts
Jack Yellop
Lewis Yeomans
Year 10
Lee Clements
Daniel Cooke
Matthew Davidson
Matthew Eiles
Alan Gordon
Lauren Herriott
Ben Hodgson
Sandra Jambon
Brittany Kimber
Ryan Macciocchi
Garrylee McMullen
Lauren Mishner
Kate Mulligan
Luke Myers
Sam Ornsby
Sophie Pattison
Jens Puska
Fahmin Razaq
Kirsty Rudd
Euan Stuart
Emily Taylor
Kelsey Thompson
Dane Watts
Aidan Wilson
Anna Young
JACOB MINCHELLA SEAN MULLIGAN JOSEPH HARVEY LUKE MYERS
The Celebration of Success event ended with one student from each year group being presented with a Student of
the Year Award. The four Students of the Year are pictured above.
Year 11 students will receive their awards in November when they return to collect their GCSE certificates

Sports College Presentation Evening
100% Attendance for the Year
Page 3
On Wednesday 4 th July we held what was our 11 th Sports College Presentation evening. Again there was
an excellent turn out from our students and their parents.
Our guest this year was Katy Storie, the ex England Women’s Rugby Union player. Katy gave a superb
motivational speech about her upbringing and subsequent success in a sport not normally associated with
female participation. Katy has been involved with the Living for Sport programme at John Spence for the
last two years in her role as an Athlete Mentor for the Youth Sports Trust.
The purpose of the evening was to reward students for their participation, volunteering and achievement in
sport.
Sports Personalities of the Year for 2011-12 were:
Year 7 Molly Garrett and Jack Addy
Year 8 Abbie Reid and Sean Mulligan
Year 9 Beth Brice and David Office
Year 10 Bethany Walker and Ryan Macciocchi
The Team of the Year Award for 2011-12 went to the Year 7 Football team who had won the
Northumberland County Cup as well as other honours during their first season at John Spence.
Young Volunteers of the Year for 2011-12 were: Ryan Morton, Zoe Legg, Jacob Shotton and Joe
Harvey.
As well as the presentation of awards there was a dramatic demonstration of martial arts by the Burns
School of Black Belts, a thrilling Gymnastics Display from John Spence students and a staff dance based
on the Olympic Games. Olympic torch bearer Mick Riding was also on hand to lead out the staff dancers
to the theme “Chariots of Fire”.
At John Spence we place great importance on regular attendance. At the most basic level, you`ve got to be at school
and in lessons in order to learn. The better your attendance record is the more you will benefit from your lessons, so
good attendance contributes to success.
We recently rewarded all of our students who had 100% attendance record for the year with a trip to Starbowl. Well
done to all of those students who managed to attend every day. They were:
YEAR 7: Liam Anderson, Alisha Bishop, Ellie Brown, Liam Coxon, Alannah Harding, Reece Hedley, Niamh Mason,
Aleksandar Milakovic, Libby Moffatt, Jairo Simao, Hannah Simpson, Chloe Thompson, Abbie Toner, Talya Walker,
Harry Warne, David Wright.
YEAR 8: Emily Cairns, Sean Mulligan, Georgia Oram, Abbie Reid, Holly Scott, Charles Tigcal, Sarah Wind.
YEAR 9: Owen Altwell, Joe Browell, Peter Dyers, Emma May, Amy McCarroll, Charlotte McKenna, Rachael Ratcliff,
Liam Robson, Elizabeth Sword, Chloe Wardley, Jade Wood.
YEAR 10: Jordan Beauman, Alan Gordon, Brittany Kimber, Whitney King, Jack Lillico, Ryan Macciocchi, Kyle
Middlemass, Kate Mulligan, Luke Myers, Katie Shannon, Reece Thompson, Jordon Williams.

Page 4
Ahoy There!
History gave the pupils the opportunity to learn about famous
pirates and make wanted posters and in RE they covered
types of treasure and developed a flag to symbolise their
personality. After lunch the pupils sang songs and played
musical instruments with a pirate theme before undertaking
an adventure assault course whilst blindfolded and finally
attempted to get their crew across the quicksand in the
shortest time. The pupils enjoyed the day and many positive
comments were received from the parents, pupils and
teachers. We look forward to hosting another day in the
John Spence
On Monday 2 nd July, John Spence hosted a Year 5
primary liaison day. Fifty-eight pupils from King Edwards
Primary school arrived at the Island of John Spence.
They experienced four different subjects before ending the
day with a range of team building nautical tasks. The day
was set around the pirate theme and pupils were given
the opportunity in Science to build boats and investigate
the material and design of the sails that resulted in the
fastest boat. In Art pupils drew vicious pirates to crew the
huge pirate ship Mr Gillespie had made.
Fit to the Core Day
Madame Ward hosted a French Cafe, where pupils
ordered and tasted traditional French cuisine. In food
technology pupils produced a healthy fruit kebab for a
delicious summer snack and in Maths pupils used data to
produce and interpret charts.
The pupils enjoyed the day and are looking forward to
starting John Spence in September.
Thursday 5 th July the Year 6 pupils visited John
Spence for their first transition day as a whole year
group. During the “Fit to the Core Day”, pupils visited
six different subjects and were introduced to the
school ethos.
In Science pupils investigated whether baked crisps
really were less fattening than original Walkers crisps.
In English pupils used the school garden as a stimulus
to produce a piece of imaginative poetry. PE gives
pupils the opportunity to work as a team to complete
an orienteering course around the school grounds.

Page 5
Out and about with the Geography Department
This term has seen the annual field visits get
underway across the region. Durham was host to all of
Year 7 on the 13 th and 14 th of June. Our Geographers
took to the streets of Durham to carry out research into
how well prepared the historic city is for tourists. By
surveying the sorts of tourist management present,
and by interviewing the public to find out their
opinions, the students did a brilliant job of gathering
their evidence. It seems as though tourists and locals
alike felt as though the closure of Durham’s main
tourist
information
centre was a
real loss to
the city.
Nonetheless, the town have attempted to make up for this loss
by employing local guides to help tourists on their way through
the historic streets of the town.
Housesteads Roman Fort played host to our current group of
Year 10 Geographers on Thursday 5 th June. As we motored by
coach through Northumberland, the fog settled on the hills and
it made for a rather atmospheric visit. The newly renovated
visitors centre was an excellent source of information for our
students, who were trying to find out what challenges were
presented by tourism at the fort. By measuring footpath
erosion, surveying the environment for impacts and
interviewing staff, the students were able to gathering a good
range of primary data for their controlled assessment work.
Both of these visits were thoroughly enjoyable and the
students involved represented the school fantastically!
Our Trip to Durham Cathedral
On June 15 th 2012 we went to Durham. There were two
parts to our day. One was for History and the other
Geography. On the History part of the day we went
inside the cathedral and studied three important people
who made Durham cathedral what it is; a World Heritage
site. The three men were St Cuthbert, King Oswald and
Bede. Cuthbert and Oswald helped Christianity spread in
Anglo Saxon England and Bede wrote about their work.
We looked at the Lady’s Chapel and the main section of
the cathedral, as well as Cuthbert’s shrine and the
cloisters, where we had lunch.
On the Geography part of the day we went around the
local area and looked at how well Durham has adapted
to having tourists and how much of Durham is friendly to
pedestrians. Back at school, we combined our
Geography knowledge with our History knowledge and
produced a medieval travel brochure. Overall I thought
Durham was great.
Jayms Stewart 7MB

Page 6 John Spence
Since September, John Spence has been a pilot school for the BIKE IT project run by SUSTRANS. Bike
It works directly with schools, getting thousands of children on their bikes and cycling to school every
day. It does this by helping schools to make the case for cycling in their school travel plans; supporting
cycling champions in schools and demonstrating that cycling is a popular choice amongst children and
their parents. The aim of Bike It is to create a pro-cycling culture in schools that continues long after the
Bike It officer has finished their work.
John Spence is the lead school in North Tyneside for Bike It along with its five main feeder schools;
Preston Grange, King Edwards, Spring Gardens, Whitehouse and Christ Church. Lucy Bemrose is our
Bike It Officer.
“Bike It really is my dream job, not only do I get to help the environment and reduce my carbon footprint
but I also get to use my bike everyday. Plus I have the opportunity to work with some fantastic schools
and really help the pupils and the whole school community understand the benefits of cycling. All the
Bike It projects are unique which is fantastic as it means each school will have a bespoke project which
enables me to go on the journey with them.”
As part of our project so far, we have completed a survey within ICT lessons, collating views and
opinions of all our students in relation to a range of things from mode of transport to personal views on
cycling. This survey has given us the starting point to build upon and change the perception of our
students in order to select cycling as a possible method of travelling to school. In turn, with the massive
support of Lucy different things have been happening around our school:
�� Organised Transition rides from Primary Schools to John Spence.
�� Bike Doctor operating for a week, fixing and diagnosing problems on our student’s bikes
�� Organised National School Bike Raffle (each student travelling by bike received a raffle
ticket). Yr7 & 8 had the chance to win a bike of their choice, whilst Yr9 & 10 could win a
Mountain Bike Trip for two! The winners of this event were Billy Hall (Year 8) and Jordan
Williams and Declan McIntire (both Yr10). 150 tickets had been given out in the five-day
time frame.
�� Early morning breakfasts for cyclists from 8.00am on the Astro
�� Informative assemblies
�� Four members of staff completing a Urban Bike Leaders Course (Mr Pilkington, Mr Fullard,
Mrs Blair and Miss Heath)
�� X2 Days cycling as part of our Activity Week
Lucy has also been heavily involved in our local primary schools working with different
age ranges to promote and support the importance of cycling. Year 5 Preston Grange
pupils have been Mountain Biking at the Rising Sun Country Park, Spring Gardens held
their very own Tour De France in Reception class and a whole host of other events have
been a regular fixture in our primary schools Summer Term.

Next year things will continue to move forward at an increased pace,
turning John Spence into a leading school for the Bike It project. Future
projects include:
�� Turning an old storage shed into a Bike Maintenance Garage
�� Training a selection of KS4 students to become Bike Mechanics
�� Organising rides for our students and families after school and at
weekends
�� Bigger competitions and prizes
So far, we have around 50+ students travelling to school on their bikes
(supported by a further 75+ students on scooters). This is an amazing
number and one we hope to build upon next year.
Key facts to back up Bike It
�� children who exercise before school perform better and are less
depressed
�� adult cyclists are on average as fit as someone 10 years younger
�� the UK's children are second only to those of the US in terms of
obesity levels
�� In Denmark 50% of children cycle to school. In the UK it is 2%
�� Ten bikes can be parked in the space of one car
Cyclops at John Spence
Billy Hall
Page 7
Declan McIntire &
Jordan Williams
The alternative cycling group Cyclops recently visited the school to provide two fun packed days for
students from John Spence, Woodlawn and Southlands and members of the Tuesday Club. Cyclops
provided a wide range of different cycles for students to sample and all students had an excellent time
racing around the school yard. It was possible for the bikes to be hired thanks to the funds raised by the
teachers from the school who completed the Coast to Coast bicycle ride in the Autumn term, so a
massive thank you to those teachers and students and parents who sponsored them.

Page 8 John Spence
The Class of 2012
Say Farewell to
John Spence
Year 11 attended their final event of the year
when they gathered at the Village Hotel on
Thursday 5 th July for the Class of 2012
Prom. The Prom Committee and Mrs
Macleod had worked very hard all year to
organise the Prom and the event was well
attended. All the students looked fantastic in
their gowns and tuxedos.
With all the exams over the Year group were
able to relax and enjoy the evening. The
atmosphere was lovely and all the students
were looking forward to an enjoyable and
successful event.
A number of Awards were presented by Mr
Whittock their Head of Year. The Awards
were presented on the basis of both student
and staff nominations. The Prom King and
Prom Queen were voted for by the students.
Ellie Towns was elected Prom Queen and
Jack Miller was voted Prom King.
Once the Awards had been presented the buffet was served and the dance floor was alive with both
students and staff enjoying the atmosphere. The night was a great success and will be remembered
by all who attended for a long time.
We wish the Class of 2012 every success in the future and hope that the last five years has
prepared them for life after John Spence.
Invitation

Summer Concert
Page 9
An Olympic themed summer concert was hosted at the end of the school year by both the music and
performing arts departments. Weeks of hard work and hours of rehearsals paid off as students from
across the school took to the stage to highlight their talents.
The evening was hosted by Gary Lee McMullin (Year 10) and Kieron Brady (Year 10) who introduced
all of the acts and kept the audience entertained with their light hearted jokes.
The performances covered a wide range of musical styles ranging from a classical piano solo, music
from Africa, and covers of the latest pop songs.
Also, performing arts students staged a number of dances, one of which included all of the sports that
will be in the Olympic Games this summer.
The studio looked fantastic thanks to the hard work of Mr Gillespie and his artwork, not forgetting the
wonderful flags from around the world that were tastefully draped around the room by Mrs Graham, a
big thank you to both.
The evening ended in a fantastic finale that included all of the evenings performers singing to the
backing of the John Spence Band and as they performed The World Cup Anthem ‘Waving Flag’ and
‘Sing’ which was written for the Queens Golden Jubilee.
A BIG thank you goes out to Mrs Lee for helping with refreshments on the evening, and also to all of
the staff involved in the rehearsal process over the previous few weeks.
Music & Drama Take The Show On The Road
Students entertained residents from the McCarthy and Stone Retirement apartments based at Linskill.
Some of the acts appearing in the summer concert were only to pleased to visit the apartments to
entertain the residents and their guests in their day room.
Performances from the Glee Club included songs by Adele, Donna Swan and Chelsea Hardy
performed a wonderful rendition of ‘Ave Maria’. We also had performing arts students singing and
playing guitars, all of which added to a wonderful afternoon’s entertainment that was enjoyed by the
residents and the staff of the retirement home.
Judging by the response that the students gained, I am only too sure that it won’t be long before our
students grace them with their talents once again in the not so distant future.

Page 10 John Spence
‘Race’ Day at Croft Circuit — 4 th July 2012.
A different kind of sport
Thirty-five cars from thirty schools from around the whole of the UK, many of which were well seasoned
racers, having been attending race meetings for up to six years with their hand-built, electrically-powered
cars. We were in awe of their gearboxes, the prestige of their sponsors (Jaguar and Land Rover to name
just two), their aerodynamically-formed carbon fibre/g.r.p. bodywork, their liveried back up vehicles, their
sparkly new toolkits and even their spare sets of fully charged batteries!!
But we had a team, a team that worked for each other, a team who knew their car inside out and could
tweak and adjust, use pit stops frugally and scrape out the last drops of energy (well done Calum) on
those final few laps from our remaining two batteries.
We may have been the youngest team, the least experienced, the least well equipped, and the owners of
the most basic car but we had practiced our driving technique on the school playground doing about 1
mile each. Then, on the day, we got the chance to prove what we could really do.
One practice lap each in the morning to get to know the circuit used up some of our precious battery
energy. But the idea was not to be the fastest and first past the post but to see how far we could get from
what was left in our three pairs of little car batteries, so we had to drive really carefully at about 15 m.p.h.
and take the inside of every curve. Strategy meant that our GPS speedometer (that we borrowed from Mr
Stead’s bike) had to be ‘stuck’ to, or our batteries would suffer.
Mr. Stead would have been happy if we could just manage 40 laps but then he had a change in strategy
….. he said we could do twelve laps each – just over 1twelve miles! It worked and we got 51! Which was
58.7 miles in total.
Out of our category (newcomers who had never entered before) we were actually 2nd best and overall we
were 21 / 35 entries! We were one of only about eight that managed to finish on the four-hour mark, in
torrential rain. This was a fantastic achievement and not bad for our first outing. When we get our superduper
lightweight body made, an extra set of spare batteries and a better gear ratio (or even gearbox) we
hope to do even better next year.
Oh – and a more comfy seat (hint, hint Mr Stead).
A totally ‘wicked’ day.
By Matthew Rice, Sean Mulligan, Alex Anderson, Chris Dimopolous and Calum Stuart – all Year 8.

Page 11
Tuesday Club Leaders Support Beacon Hill Sports Day
Tuesday Club leaders Joseph Harvey, Emma May, Sophie Grice, Bethany Brice, Ellen Fittes, Drew
Powell, Bethany Walker and Kathryn Stuart recently supported the annual Beacon Hill Sports Day were
pupils with various disabilities had the opportunity to experience a wide range of physical activities. The
students delivered and lead all activities on the day and worked extremely hard to help and support all
the pupils from Beacon Hill School. It was a long challenging day for the leaders and they gained some
valuable experience to help them in their role at the Tuesday Club. All leaders were a credit to the
school and were awarded with a medal as a memento of the day. Well done to all leaders and a massive
thank you from Mr.Burnip, Jayne Dixon, staff from Beacon Hill and all the pupils they worked with.
Playground 2 Podium 2012
Jamie Gibson, Owen Atwell, Scott Hamill and Jordan Hays recently attended the annual Playground 2
Podium event were students get the chance to experience a range of sports to identify talent and be
given pathways to follow their interests. The event included Cricket and Athletics events and the
students were fortunate enough to meet Josef Craig. Josef is fifteen years old and attends St. Josephs
School in Gateshead. He is currently in training to represent the Great British Paralympic team in
Freestyle swimming at the 2012 London Paralympics.

Page 12 John Spence
Inter-Team Challenge
Back in September the school was introduced to the INTER TEAM system. This is a system in place to
work in conjunction with the UK School Games and reflect the government’s views on competition in
school. Four teams were created based on the past four Olympics; Atlanta, Sydney, Athens and Beijing.
Members of staff agreed to lead the four teams and suitable team ambassadors were appointed for each
one. Assemblies were held throughout the year sharing results, information and current London 2012
news and topics.
Separate events were held on a termly basis, these are outlined here;
DREAM TIME – Challenge to get the most students involved in any extra curricular club or activity per
team
ART CHALLENGE – Display of four artistic murals in the Boys Gymnasium. These were created by the
Year 7 Art Club and Mr Gillespie to display the four different teams.
ELITE ATHLETICS – Top four male and female athletes from Year 7 -9 took part in a afternoon consisting
of six different athletic events to test their sporting attributes. Medals were awarded for individual and team
events.
Overall throughout the year, over fifty separate competitions have taken place across a wide range of
subjects. From drawing to quizzes, spelling to wood planing and dodgeball to designing, all students have
been encouraged to compete in a range of various tests and challenges. Every event held has resulted in
the students winning either a bronze, silver or gold medal for their team, each carrying a different
weighting in order to produce a medals table similar to the ones used in major games. With only a few
events remaining for this academic year, the current table is outlined below:
Libby Moffatt
Olympic Mascot
ELITE ATHLETICS TOP PERFORMERS
Connor Scott –
Olympic CD Case
On return in September we hope to host a whole school assembly to review the year of our Inter Team
system and present the winning team with their trophy. This will also be a chance to introduce our new
Year 7 students to their teams for the 2012-13 INTER TEAM challenge!

Activity Week
Page 13
This began on the Monday with the Lighthouse Challenge Walk for all students, although those really up
for it ran the whole route. Nine miles there and back, a few blisters, a few red faces and some fancy
dress that was not so fancy when the wearers arrived back at school. The one hour and seven minute
record set by Jordan Bell about four years ago still stands but was closely contested this year by Year
10, Garry Lee McMullen, who completed the challenge in one hour and nine minutes. Fastest girl was
Sarah Wind from Year 8 in one hour and 34 minutes.
On Tuesday and Thursday students took part in a variety of activities ranging from War Games to Rock
Climbing to Ready, Steady Cook to Music Technology. A holiday style brochure was available for
students to choose two activities that they enjoy doing or in some cases they had never tried before.
Some took place on site and others went as far as Flamingo Land and into the hills of Northumberland.
It didn't look like the planned Zone Day would go ahead on Wednesday because of the weather. The
start was delayed to gauge how the Gods would treat us and in the end they were kind and all students
took part in three of the four zones. Various challenges were set up and games were played as form
groups competed against each other in an attempt to become Year Group Champions.
The week ended on Friday with year group assemblies during which the results of the week's
competitive activities were announced.
All in all, a week full of activity, fun and enjoyment with some very tired children (and staff) at the end of it
ready for a hard earned summer break.
.

Page 14 John Spence
TEAM OF THE
YEAR
This year John Spence have been fortunate
enough to have an extremely able, skilful and
committed group of Year 7 boys who have
gelled together to make a formidable football
team. It all started back in July of 2011 when a
number of boys began training together whilst
they were in Year 6. Soon, once they had
entered Year 7, the boys began to show their
abilities both in lunchtimes and after school
practices.
Once a squad had been put together, it was time to start the search for silverware, with four trophies up for grabs
within their first season. The league started off first, with some impressive and dominating displays against local
middle schools and our close rivals Norham and Marden. Many players showed their capabilities of playing in
different roles as well as being sensible, allowing other players to show their talent as well. This was turning into a
friendly squad with very little going wrong and a squad of players who could work hard for each other in order to get
the best possible results. Players came and went, but a hardcore fifteen remained a key focus of the team’s future.
Early December brought the first round of the ESFA National 5 a Side finals, a local affair against other North
Tyneside Schools. The lads were awesome and went through the whole tournament unbeaten, beating Marden 6-2
in the final! After this event, we had to go back to school to play St Thomas More in a regular league fixture. It was a
cold, dark December night on the Astro, and one we needed to forget in a hurry, losing 5-2 in a very lacklustre and
tiring display.
The Christmas break came and went and more league and cup games passed us by, winning handsomely on most
occasions. The Northumberland round of the ESFA 5 a Side were played early January, again local at North Shields
but included teams from the whole of Northumberland. This time we drew a game, but held our nerve within the
knock out stages to again win the competition.
The league had come to an end by this stage and we had won our side of the group outright, with only one defeat
from all seven games. We could now be focussed on the North Tyneside Cup and the County Cup. We breezed
easily through early rounds in both competitions and then had the semi finals to play, one against Marden in the
Tyneside Cup and St Thomas More in the County Cup.
Before we had chance to play these games though, the Northern Round of the ESFA 5 a sides needed to be played,
again at our home ground of DW Stadium, North Shields. After a few nervous touches, the lads settled fast and with
the expectations high, they did not fail. The boys annihilated all teams from Manchester, Cumbria and even Sheffield,
winning the round robin style completion in fine form and advancing through to the National Finals, something no
John Spence Team had ever done before!
With two semi finals ahead in major competitions, the boys had the chance to perform on the National stage, down at
Pride Park Derby. Here they came up against schools from all over England and even though the standard did not
really differ from local rounds, the journey, excitement and occasion seemed to affect the lads. A draw in our first
game against a tough Bradford school seemed a loss after
conceding late on. Our next opponents had just been beaten
heavily and with a victory here, it would cement our place in the
next round, but after having 15+ shots to their 2, it was their 2 that
took the game from us! Anything short of a miracle was needed in
the third game and we had to put 3 against the opposition as well
as relying on other results. A task too much and with a very attack
minded formation, we just could not put the ball into the net and
ended our hunt for National glory in disappointing fashion! A
fabulous day out and an experience the lads will not forget.
Back home we geared ourselves up for the North Tyneside semi
final against Marden, a team we had previously beaten 7-1 at the
start of the season. This was to be a different story, a semi final
story, and a game that tested us all the way. We looked shabby in
defence, and not very clinical in attack, both contributing to poor
passages of play.

North Tyneside Awards
Page 15
We found ourselves behind early, but brought it back, we then
found ourselves behind again, but clawed it back! 2-2 going into
the final minutes and a game which Marden could have easily
have won. It was not their night though and the grit and
determination from our boys turned to jubilation late on, when we
managed to slot the ball home to advance through to the final 3-2!
Revenge smelled sweet in the County Cup semi final with a very
hard earned 2-1 victory on a hot night away at local rival St
Thomas More, the only team that had beat us so far in the
season. It was on grass, we had revenge in our minds and the
boy’s pure enthusiasm and endeavour radiated in this victory to
seal yet another final place!
The first final we played was at the University Grounds on a damp evening in May, it was against Walbottle
Campus, a huge school with a lot more students to choose from than us! This didn’t bother us though as we
looked professional, trained professional and played professional in a demanding 4-2 win. A convincing victory
were we rarely looked in danger, another huge milestone in John Spence history, as they are now the only
second team to ever win it! A huge credit to the school in a Centenary year for the NSFA.
With the league finished sometime ago, we went through to the controversial Champions League Play offs
against the other side of the leagues. Easy victories against Churchill and Burnside meant that we had won all
our games, but the St Thomas More result from the league was carried forward, and although we had only lost
one game all season in the league and cup, we ended as runners up! A disappointment for staff, players and
parents after a long and successful season in the league.
The disappoint of this was short lived because we still had the North Tyneside Cup final against Valley, a team
we had comfortably beaten in the league. However, a cup final is a cup final and the game proved testing for
both sides on a hot evening. Both teams had limited chances and both defences seemed solid for the vast
duration of the match; it would take something special to seal the victory. Fortunately this came in the final ten
minutes for us, with a period of good pressure, resulting in the Valley goal being scored in and our boys hanging
on to a close 1-0 victory!
This has been a remarkable season for the team, picking up only one defeat along the way. A team bonding trip
to McDonalds cemented the team further and we have a real close knit set of talented footballers. We hope to
stick together and build on this impressive start to their Year 7 campaign, hopefully regaining our trophies next
year. We also look to win the league next year and have been entered into the National 11 a Side ESFA Cup,
Wembley here we come!
Honours:
ESFA National 5 a Side Finalists
County Cup Winners
North Tyneside Cup Winners
North Tyneside League Runners Up
16 Man Squad:
Ryan Telford (GK), Kieren Anderson, Kieran Barnes, Ethan
Brown, Lewis Cass (Vice Capt), Jairo Simao, Matthew
Wilson, Matthew Longstaff (Capt), Kieron Aplin, Kieran
Aplin, Callum Young, Jack Waterston, Nathan Pattison,
Liam Gibson, Ewan Fleming
5 a Side Squad:
Ryan Telford (GK), Ethan Brown, Lewis Cass (Vice Capt),
Longstaff (Capt), Kieron Aplin, Kieran Aplin.
Thank you to all the support from parents, family and friends
throughout the last season. Your support both home and
away has been invaluable and we hope to see you all again
in the Year 8 season. We are looking for some sponsors
next year to help with new kit for the lads, especially as we
have entered the National Cup Competition. If you are
interested, please contact Mr Pilkington in school.
County Cup

John Spence
Community High School
Preston Road
North Shields
Tyne and Wear
N29 9PU
Fit for Life...
Phone: 0191 2005220
Fax: 0191 2005225
Email: office@johnspence.org.uk
Website; www.johnspence.org.uk
Dear Parent / Guardian,
At the end of another very successful year at John Spence I would like to thank you once more for your
continued support, particularly in helping us to maintain high standards. By working in partnership with the
school you have helped us to provide an outstanding education for our students. Please continue to give
us that support.
School uniform
I would like to draw your attention to our uniform policy when you are replacing items of clothing in
preparation for the new school year. The uniform is:
�� Plain white shirt or blouse with collar
�� School sweatshirt with school logo
�� If a school sweatshirt is not worn a school tie must be worn
�� Plain grey or black trousers or, plain grey or black skirt
�� Plain black footwear – no piping, no logos.
Please remember the following items are not part of John Spence uniform :
�� Polo shirts , Cardigans, Fashion belts, Leggings or Jeans
Enjoy Your Summer Holiday
School re-opens : Tuesday 4th September
Year 7 students arrive 8.50
All other year groups arrive 11.30
Jewellery and Makeup
The wearing of jewellery and the use of make up are discouraged. The wearing of a single ring, watch
and one pair of simple ear studs is allowed, although all jewellery must be removed for P.E.. No other
piercings or items of jewellery may be worn. Students may be asked to remove make up.
Our aim in this is to ensure that we maintain high standards of dress at John Spence, and a fair approach
to all students.
Mobile phones, MP3 players and headphones
We have always taken a very reasonable and measured approach to these items being brought into
school and although the school recognises that many students have them, it is important that they are
used in the right place at the right time.
Students can only use mobile phones and MP3 players at break time or lunchtime on the school yard.
They cannot be used in the school building at any time.
They must not be used during lessons or in the corridors between lessons. Students who do so will have
them immediately confiscated.
For students who continually flout these rules parents will be asked to contact the Head of Year to
arrange for the return of the item.
If you have any concerns with regard to this please do not hesitate to contact school.