The Wave

Summer 2016
The Wave
Welcome to The William Allitt School’s termly newsletter
International
Women's
Day 2016
Physical Education
See the latest
sporting success
stories.
Quick links to some important pages
Performing
Arts
Showcase
3
William Allitt Create
the news.
6
Royal Air Force
visit William
Allitt
9
Political Success for
Youngster in South
Derbyshire
Page 1

A message from the headteacher
Parent Working Party
Welcomes and goodbyes
At Easter, we said a sad farewell to Mr Colwell as he retired,
Mr Walker who has changed careers and to Mr Moorhouse
who has moved to the private sector.
We are pleased to welcome some new staff to our team: Mr
Lundman and Mr Patel have already joined the science
department, and for September, we have Ms Collyer joining
the maths team, and Mrs Richardson joining the English
team. We’d also like to congratulate Miss O’Donnell, who
has been promoted to the senior leadership team (with
responsibility for student outcomes) and Mrs Brown who has
become the Lead Practitioner in English (a role to support
high quality teaching and learning in the department and
across the school).
Ms J Cooper – Head teacher
The Parent Working Party
continues to meet every half
term to discuss and share ideas
on how to raise whole school
standards and improve the
profile of The William Allitt
School within the local
community. We value the
positive contribution from
parents/guardians and believe
a shared vision for school
improvement is vital for raising
standards across the school.
We have acted on feedback
during each meeting and are
actively working on areas for
improvement. For further
details on issues discussed,
please look at the ‘You Said,
We did’ summary on our school
website
www.williamallitt.derbyshire.sch
. uk.
If you would like to come along
to the next Parent Working Party
on Monday 13th June 2016,
6pm in the Library, then please
telephone reception on 01283
216404 or email
info@williamallitt.derbyshire.sch
. uk. It would be great to see
more parents/carers in
attendance.
Twitter - @william_allitt
Facebook - William Allitt School
Website - www.williamallitt.derbyshire.sch.uk
Page 2

William Allitt create the News
Thursday 10th March saw the 10th Anniversary of the BBC News School Report and
students at the William Allitt School lived up to the big occasion, creating some fantastic
news articles throughout the day. And one article – a weather report – even made it onto
that evening's BBC East Midland Today programme. It all started at 8:30. Normally the
students would head to their respective form groups for registration, prior to a normal day at
school; but today was different.
One classroom at the William Allitt had been transformed into a newsroom, with laptops,
various cameras and recording devices dotted around the room and a green screen on one
wall. The students were no longer students, but reporters. They were given BBC Reporter
lanyards, which allowed them access, throughout the day, to interview pupils and staff
members.
The students involved had been selected, having made an application of interest to Mrs
Kirk-Stewart. She said: “I wanted to build on the success and interest we’d had last year,
and make this even better for the students involved. “Students were selected based on a
mixture of written and IT literacy skills. The news is not just in written format and I wanted
our day to reflect this, I therefore needed some experience behind the cameras and once
filming had finished.”
Mrs Kirk-Stewart supported the students in creating numerous articles prior to their
1600GMT deadline. Students created a variety of articles before their deadline hit; one of
the first to be uploaded was the weather report, created by two Year 7 students Eve and
Stefan. The pair went out into the field with a notepad and a camera, the aim was to
capture a photograph that illustrated both the school and the weather. They recorded the
temperature and took down some details before returning to the classroom to create their
script.
With everything ready to go the pair sat down at the ‘BBC Newsdesk’ and were counted
down to record by fellow student Jack Rothwell. The pair produced the perfect record on
their first take and now it was down to year 9 student Josh Baldaro to edit the BBC’s
graphics into the recording. The green screen turned into a map of the UK, and the
beginning of the segment now started with the famous beeps of the BBC news theme.
The students all enjoyed their day, with many extras poking their nose into the newsroom
and
wondering how long they had to wait to apply for the next one. It might be another year until
the BBC News School Report, but they certainly won’t have to wait that long to keep
recording the news, as it is the reporting faction of the school that are benefiting from a link
about to start with Derby’s Quad.
Mrs K Kirk-Stewart – Second in Charge of English
Page 3

The Brilliant club visit Nottingham University
A group of 24 of our Year 7s and 12 Year 5s from Belmont Primary School enjoyed their day
as University scholars at The University of Nottingham Sutton Bonington, as part of the Brilliant
Club launch. The Brilliant Club is a charity, focused on ensuring pupils leave school with the
knowledge, skills and ambition to secure places at highly selective universities.
The group experienced tutorials in Humanities and Arts, and STEM, a study skills master class
and a tour of the campus. The launch was very successful and the students had a great time!
The Brilliant Club enjoyed their visit to The University of Warwick on Wednesday 18th May
2016, where they graduated after completing set assignments. The group were particularly
excited as they will be graduating after completing their assignments. One group of Year 7’s
worked on a STEM topic “Ebola, is it the next pandemic?” and the others had a Humanities
project on “ England’s turning points”. The Brilliant Club at the William Allitt School have also
been working with Year 5 students from Newhall Juniors, Belmont, Overseal and Linton
Primary Schools. Their assignment was “what is fairness?” They have attended the William
Allitt School every Wednesday afternoon for their tutorials. All the students have been tutored
by PHD researchers who are all experts in their field. We look forward to updating you on the
students success in our next newsletter.
Mrs S O’Callaghan, Miss A Martin, Miss S Moore – Academic Mentors
Derbyshire School's Book Award
Students from William Allitt joined over 100 students and staff at the Finale Event for the
inaugural Derbyshire Schools’ Book Award. Schools from across Derbyshire came together to
hear one of the shortlisted authors Sally Green, talk about her book “Half Bad” and its sequel
“Half Wild”. Sally answered some very perceptive questions from the audience, before each of
the participating schools championed one of the five shortlisted titles.
The 2016 winner of Derbyshire Schools’ Book Award was “Say Her Name” by Juno Dawson.
Sue Polchow, from Microlibrarian Systems, whose company sponsored the event, announced
the winner at the end of a very busy and exciting afternoon. Juno had been scheduled to
attend the afternoon but had to withdraw at the last minute due to illness. The trophy was
presented to Juno in April when she visited The William Allitt School.
The award was organised by ADLIBS (Association of Derbyshire Librarians in School) to raise
the profile of reading amongst students in Derbyshire Schools and to recognise the more
popular authors’ works which do not appear on other national book award shortlists. Helen
Smith, from Eckington School and Jane Collier from The William Allitt School, who organised
the afternoon were really pleased with the buzz generated about books and reading at the
event and how well the participating students championed their shortlisted book.
Mrs J Collier – School Librarian
Page 4

Drama Success to the City Stage
Key Stage 4 students performed a run of our
Connections 500 play What Are They Like? In
the Drama Studio before Easter – this was
extremely successful and the students really
came into their own. A director from the
National Theatre visited on the Friday evening
and gave some amazing feedback to the
students. The students went onto to take their
production to the Derby Theatre Stage – a really
exciting and amazing opportunity for all the
students involved. Congratulations to all the
cast and crew!
Miss S Padmore – Teacher of Drama & Mr T
Wagg – Teacher of English
GCSE Performing Arts Showcase
Performance
The Year 11 GCSE Performing Arts students
did a fantastic job in their exam showcase
performance and achieved some fantastic
marks with some full marks in both the
performance and written element. The piece
was based around Rights and links to the school
RRSA work in response to their exam brief ‘We
are such stuff as dreams are made on’. The
group created the ideas and developed the
piece from the initial Shakespeare quote,
successfully integrating dance, drama and
singing.
Miss S Cohen – Teacher of Dance
Official Opening of Newhall
Skatepark
Students from the William Allitt School were
excited to see their chosen design of the new
Skate Park in Newhall Park be officially opened
during the Easter Holidays. Our students have
assisted the Friends of Newhall Park group for
many years, by attending the group’s meeting
where they have planned, discussed and
contributed ideas of the proposal of a Skate
Park helping with the group’s Sport England
application, and were happy to assist with
official opening of new Skate Park showing
their skills off to many visitors to the park.
Unite 2016
Dance Company have been very busy over the
last few months, not only having two
performances at Deda, contributing towards the
Primary Dance Showcase but also performing at
the Brewhouse as part of Burton and South
Derbyshire College’s annual Unite Festival.
Page 5

International Women’s Day 2016
The International Women’s Day events held at Oakland's Village, Swadlincote, was a fun and
inspirational day focusing on achieving aspirations and dreams and women uniting and
supporting each other. A group of twelve girls from year 9, 10 and 11 attended the event and
had prepared some inquisitive questions to ask the five guest speakers.
On arrival the girls were given the opportunity to browse an array of stalls; focusing on the
three themes of the event: local health services, sports & recreation and business, education
and training opportunities within South Derbyshire. The girls seems to enjoy looking around
the stools, having the opportunity to make a fruit smoothie by pedaling on an exercise bike
with a blender attached to it! The stalls were very informative and offered freebies such as a
free gym pass to Green Bank Leisure Centre.
After a delicious buffet and an energetic dance performance, the five guest speakers each
shared their own story about their careers and how they achieved success and happiness. All
of the guest speakers spoke about their own personal struggles and the solutions they used to
overcome them. The girls were able to confidently ask the speakers some questions and
share their own thoughts and views. All of the girls said they found the speakers very
motivational and will remember their wise words and advice.
Miss A Martin & Miss S Moore – Academic Mentors
Royal Air Force visit William Allitt
The Science department organised a ‘Fun with Flight’ Roadshow delivered by the RAF for Year
7 and 9 students. The Roadshow involved a jet fuelled presentation exploring the physics of
flying. Students discovered how the physics they study in the classroom is an integral part of
the work that engineers undertake in the RAF and other engineering organisations.
A Year 7 student was keen to share their experience of the day by saying “In this exciting and
interactive show, we first saw a remote control drone .This had a camera on the front which
broadcast live and was projected on screen. The presenters then told us about how the R.A.F
use drones, and how they can be hacked. Then they told us about the 4 forces which were: lift,
thrust, drag and weight. They then showed us about the angle of the wing changes what speed
the plane goes. They demonstrated this by having a very strong fan and two volunteers but
there hand there, one flat and then at an angle. This showed that when your hand / wing is
straight it is better because, when you have it at an angle it gets pushed back. At the end they
showed us two small jet propelled engines, the workers put on ear muffs and on the screen we
watched the power get bigger and bigger until they were equal we then covered our ears, so
they didn’t get damaged. The engines were on a trolley which they took outside so we didn’t
inhale any the fumes”.
Miss M Joshi – Teacher of Science
Page 6

Netball Residential Weekend
A group of Netball enthusiasts from Year
7-11 enjoyed an action packed Netball
Residential Weekend at JCA Condover Hall in
Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The girls participated
in organised Netball fixtures against other
schools and clubs from around the UK and an
extensive range of outdoor adventurous
activities such as abseiling, high/low ropes,
trapeze, archery, tunnelling, lazer maze,
climbing wall, grid of stones, gladiator wall
and team challenge activities and many more.
The weekend was enjoyed by all and we look
forward the next ‘Netball Tour’ next year.
Miss K O’Donnell – Assistant Head teacher,
Miss K Stain – Teacher of Physical Education
& Mrs L Webster – Head of Year 11
Dance Success at County Deda
Platform
12 students from the William Allitt Dance
Company took part in this year’s U.Dance
programme. Initially students performed as
part of a two day Secondary School Dance
Platform and then were successfully
selected to take part in the County
Platform, Interface16. The performances
took place at Deda where students were
able to experience the local Dance house
and perform on a professional stage. The
students performed to one of the
Circularity tracks providing them with
original music to go alongside their
creative choreography that was inspired by
the lyrics and meaning of the song.
Miss S Cohen – Teacher of Dance
Page 7

Sports Leadership at Newhall Infant School
Since February half term a selection of our Sports Committee members have been assisting
with Gymnastics club at Newhall Infants School. Sports Committee students have utilised their
leadership skills and have demonstrated a mature attitude which has displayed their motivation
and dedication to PE and sport. They have coached children aged 3 and above to develop
their fundamental movement skills through Gymnastics.
Ellie Cameron Year 7 Sports Committee said “I really enjoy doing the coaching because it
builds up my confidence. I learn a lot when I go the infants about helping other people to do
things. When I go, all the children get involved and talk to me, they’re never shy. This is a great
opportunity for me because I want to be a P.E. teacher when I am older”.
Alice Robinson Year 7 Sports Committee said “I love coaching the children at Newhall Infants,
I found it an amazing opportunity to help the infants to do something I love. I found it really
constructive and rewarding because at first some of them were really shy however I now know
most their names. I found it fun to go down to see every one and help out”.
We would like to thank Adam Holland from Progressive Sports for the opportunity to coach at
Newhall Infants. Thank you!
Miss K Stain – Teacher of Physical Education
GCSE PE High Adventure
Year 10 GCSE students have had the opportunity to gain grades in alternative sports such as
Climbing and Mountain Biking. Though getting stuck in horrendous traffic which nearly doubled
our journey time, experiencing rain, wind, snow and mud, all students were determined to work
hard and perform to the best of their ability. The itinerary of the weekend consisted of all day
Saturday practically performing in one of the above sports, Saturday evening learning about the
theory of their chosen sport followed by a written test and finishing Sunday with the practical
assessment. All students were fantastic throughout the weekend. It was an amazing
experience that was social, fun, challenging, successful and tiring. This year we had 20
students attend the residential who were all able to achieve great marks that can now be taken
forward to their final GCSE grade.
Miss K Stain & Mr N Holmes – Teachers of Physical Education
Page 8

Political Success for Youngster in South Derbyshire
Saturday 19th March 2016, marked the day where the
2016-2018 Derbyshire Youth Council had their first ever
conference as a newly elected Youth Council. This was
held at Matlock County Hall in Matlock and was run by the
Youth Council lead Ruth Peat. The day consisted of ice
breakers to get to know one another and outlining the
roles and responsibilities that the elected Youth Council
had to fulfil and stick to during their two-year term of office.
The main focus of the day was to elect a new group of
representatives for the UK Youth Parliament, who would
be known as Members of Youth Parliament (MYP’s) and
Deputy Members of Youth Parliament (DMYP’s). In order
to be elected onto the UK Youth Parliament, you were
asked to create a short speech outlining why you would be
the perfect candidate for this role. After an hour or two of
speech writing, around 25 members of the Youth Council
stood for election, hoping to grab one of the eight available
positions to represent Derbyshire on the UK Youth
Parliament. A Year 11 student from the William Allitt
School called Samantha-Rose Beacham and a Year 8
student from John Port School called Luke Harrison stood
for election onto the UK Youth Parliament. After an hour of
delivering speeches and counting votes, the 8 members of
Youth Parliament were decided. The 4 elected MYP’s for
Derbyshire are: Oliver Scheidt, Lawrence Felipe, Rosie
Glossop and Callum Ellis. The 4 elected DMYP’s for
Derbyshire are: Samantha-Rose Beacham, Ivan Zailac,
Regan Till and Thomas Crowbert.
For more news and information on what the Derbyshire
Youth Council does, please visit: http://
derbyshireyouthinc.com/something_to_say/
Maths Mentoring
Our early morning Maths mentoring
continues to take place twice a week
in the Senior Hall. The mentoring
sessions sees our Year 10 and Year
11 students helping our Year 7 and 8
students with their mathematics skills.
Samantha Beecham - Year 11 student, Derbyshire Youth
Council Representative 2014-2018, Deputy Member of
Youth Parliament 2016-2018.
‘‘Waste Watchers’ comes to William Allitt
‘The Waste Watchers’ performed by Gibber and commissioned by Derbyshire County Council came
to The William Allitt in March and worked with all the Year 8 students. ‘The Waste Watchers’ was a
50 minute contemporary performance full of high energy, interactive performance that used humour,
music, multi-media and popular culture to engage, inspire and instil a sense of respect and
responsibility to manage waste more efficiently, as well as consider the wider environmental impact.
This a performance that the students thoroughly enjoyed and found very engaging. The student’s
then participated in an interactive workshop, which included practical hands on activities. The main
focus of this was on the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle message. The students were highly engaged with
the activities and found it most informative. We hope that the students remember apply the Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle in their lives and continue to develop as active citizens.
Miss J Wildey – Teacher of Citizenship & PSHE.
Page 9

Year 7 Open Centre Visit
This term as part of Opening Minds (Dare to be different) the whole of Year 7 went
to Derby (on different days) on a school trip to the Open Centre. It was both
educational and fun. We learnt about two different religions; similar in some ways.
Sikhism
We went to the Sikh Gudwhara and watched people pray using the Guru Granth
Sahib! Even though we couldn't understand there language it was still a great
experience. We had to cover our heads to show respect. Then we tried some curry,
with rice-pudding and chapatti. This is a symbol of hospitality.
Hinduism
We also went to a Hindu temple (Mandir), it was amazingly pretty with many
different gods. Bea and Harrison had a chance to ring the bell for 7.5 to tell the god
you are leaving. When we finished seeing these amazing temples we headed back
to the Open Centre.
Henna
One of the most exciting things was having our hands painted with henna. Thank
you to the open Centre for the amazing henna patterns– they were brilliant!
Everyone loved them and some still have them now!
Marriage
In our class, two students (Libby Smith and Matthew Burton) had there Hindu
marriage. We acknowledged what Hindu weddings were like and the differences
from them and other religious weddings.
Year 7 student Rose Patton said “It was an amazing experience to witness the
different realigns and good education for a day out”.
Written by Chelsea Levitt - Year 7 student, Edited by Eve Taylor - Year 7 student.
Page 10

Author Visits William Allitt
The William Allitt School was proud to host a visit by Derbyshire Schools’ Book Award
2016 winner Juno Dawson this week to collect her trophy. Juno won the award for her
ghostly thriller “Say Her Name” based on the story of “Bloody Mary”. During her visit
Juno gave an inspiring, enthralling talk to an audience of Year 8 students about LGBT
issues, read extracts from her latest books and her writing career so far. She inspired
the audience to write their own stories, read modern poetry and gave tips on how to get
published.
Mrs J Collier – School Librarian
Brewer’s players congratulate pupils on their reading skills
Youngsters from Newhall Community Junior School have been congratulated on their reading
skills by three of Burton Albion’s first team squad.
The pupils visited the Pirelli Stadium to enjoy a tour of the ground and to meet Brewers stars
Hamza Choudhury, Tyler Walker and Marcus Harness after completing the Premier League
Reading Stars scheme – which encourages pupils to develop a passion for literacy. The
reading stars programme aims to narrow the gap between those reading at the required level
for their age and those under-achieving. It has proven particularly successful in transforming
boys’ attitudes to literacy and in engaging youngsters with a passion for football with a love for
reading.
The youngsters received their certificates from the players, who also told the pupils that it was
still important for professional footballers to develop reading and maths skills. The pupils were
joined by William Allitt school librarian Jane Collier. She said: “The children really enjoyed their
visit and were talking about the trip in great detail on the coach back to school. “Thank you for
pushing the reading element of Premier League Reading Stars, which is very important.”
Mrs J Collier – School Librarian
Page 11

Poetry Power!
The English department are proud to announce
the success of twenty-one published poets in
the William Allitt School. Twenty-one of our
students entered The Poetry Trails competition
in the Autumn and 21 of them have been
published in the East Midlands Anthology. The
successful poets were:
Year 8 – Lillie Harvey, Evie Miller, Holly Hart,
Thomas Smithard, Joshua Coupar-Evans, Will
Machell, Robert O’Brien, Heidi Brown, Kayci
Redpath, Ellie-May Wileman, Kyle Lucas, Sam
Starsmore, Ebony Haywood, Ella Hall.
Year 10 – Amelia Harvey, Leah Rushton,
James Connor, Oscar Maloney, Daisy
Chambers.
Even more excitingly, Leah Rushton in Year 10
has been chosen as a finalist for the main
competition to become the Poetry Trails
Champion of the Great Britain. She was
judged to have created the best poem in whole
of the East Midlands.
Mrs A Harrison – Lead Practitioner of English
Finalist Poem “Red Like Roses”
Roses are red, violets covered in tears of dew,
Tricks and traps of voodoo.
My roses have wilted, the violets are dead,
Palms stained with a dastardly red.
I've become colder.
The bright fire left to die, to disappear as it
becomes older.
A void of sensitivity for evermore.
Heart of a tiger, she wished to roar,
‘If that is what is to become of me.
Let me hope it happens silently,
To the final chapter, I have to face the facts,
My last words shall echo when my expression
is one of wax
I bet they never expected, I bet they never
knew,
I am still in love with you…’
Accelerated Reader
Our Accelerated Reader Programme for all Year
7s and 8s (as well as a selection of Year 9s) is
growing from strength to strength with more
students achieving the 100% milestone in their
quizzes and some even reaching the ultimate
goal of reading over a million words! The
programme is designed to improve students'
reading and comprehension (and therefore their
overall literacy) levels, through the use of a
computer-based quizzing system on the books
they read. The quizzes are fun and easy to use
and allow students to get instant feedback and
even prizes! Teachers can monitor students’
progress, set individual targets and provide
book level recommendations.
Poetry Evening
A group of students from the William Allitt School,
Newhall, showcased their poetic talent at a recital
evening in Burton this month.
Eighteen budding bards took to the stage at the
Brewhouse Arts Centre to put on a fantastic
performance of poetry in front of a live, paying audience.
The group formed part of a staggering 23 William Allitt
pupils who have recently had their work published in
young writers' poetry anthologies including Poetry Trials
and Poetry Rivals.
To celebrate this success, parents, teachers and friends
joined the students as they gave outstanding
performances of their poetry.
The performers were: Ella D, Bea F, Lauren F, Emily M,
Noah M, Rose P, Lucy P, Aaliyah W, Beth W, Emily W,
Leah W, Ashleigh T, Amelia T, Heidi B, Ellie-May W,
Ebony H, Ella H and James C.
The English Department at the school put on the evening
as a tribute to the students and to hopefully inspire other
young people to love English.
Leah Ruston – Year 9 student
Page 12

Year 7 Maths Madness
Our Year 7 students were treated to a fun Maths
Problem Solving day called ‘Maths in a
Suitcase’. There were various hands on
activities that catered for all pupils to engage in
the session. Whether it was problem solving or
patterns and sequencing pupils were interested
in, every pupil found something to have a go at.
Selwyn who delivered the sessions was
extremely enthusiastic and provided deeper
thinking questions to those who completed the
tasks. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed the session, as
did the members of staff who supported or
dropped in to have a look. I am sure we will have
Selwyn back with his suitcases full of
mathematical mysteries back to enthuse our
pupils into the fun side of maths.
World Book Day 2016
This year’s World Book Day was celebrated at
William Allitt in numerous ways. A number of
staff dressed up as different book characters,
ranging from Gangsta Granny, My Naughty Little
Sister to the Artful Dodger, the Invisible Man and
an Oompah Loompah. Students entered a
competition to find all the book characters around
school. Our competition winner was Amelia
Topliss from Year 7. She and the runner ups all
received a book and Amelia also won some
chocolates. Students were able to exchange their
£1 World Book Day tokens in the Library at break
and lunch for one of the specially produced
books. Some of the school’s Literacy
Ambassadors also ran a book sale, raising
money for the National Literacy Trust to help
disadvantaged children improve their literacy
levels.
Mrs J Collier – School Librarian
Page 13

Primary Showcase
Newhall Juniors and Linton Primary joined
us again in March for our Primary
Showcase Performance. The evening was
opened by our Junior Dance Company, a
group of Year 6 students from local
schools that rehearse on a Thursday after
school at the William Allitt School. The
evening also included Dance Company,
Lower School Dance and BTEC Dance.
Junior Dance Company is open to any
Year 6 students that attend our local
schools and is on a Thursday 3:45pm –
4:30pm with Miss Cohen in the Dance
Studio.
Year 7 Cultural Derby
On Thursday 17th March, the whole of year 7 ventured
on an educational, yet exciting trip to discover the
Cultural Campus of Derby. We went to Derby Theatre,
Quad, Deda and the Art Gallery and Museum, as well as
listening to a short talk outside the Silk Mill (the first
factory in the world!). At the start of the day, we were
welcomed into Derby Theatre where we were introduced
to thestaff that were guiding us around. Then we split
into groups and visited DEDA, The Quad, Museum and
Derby Theatre. Our main focus was to independently
research and discover artists and practitioners for our
BTEC Arts Award. After we had looked around all of the
fantastic places we all met back at the Silk mill and were
given an inspiring talk by Bill who is in charge of
education at the innovative Silk Mill (museum of
making). We all learned so much about the different
aspects of the Arts and Culture and how we could
access workshops, education and entertainment in the
future.
Eve Taylor and Aaliyah Wall – Year 7 students.
Year 10 visit Cambridge
University
Despite an early start and a wet, windy
and heavy traffic drive down to
Cambridge, nothing could dampen our
students spirits on their University
Experience day. We attended a lecture
about higher education and gained
knowledge on which subjects are useful
for certain degree courses. It was very
informative and definitely provided
students with questions to ask themselves
about their post 16 options. Importantly,
several myths about applying to top
universities with debunked. Cambridge
and Oxford welcome students from all
backgrounds and all schools. We had a
fascinating tour of the Murray Edwards
College. One group of our girls were
lucky to be shown around a real students
bedroom and this was a real pleasant
surprise. Lots of cupboard room, bright
and airy, comfortable bed and superfast
broadband! After lunch we went into
Cambridge city centre to experience what
life as a student could be like. There was
an abundance of cafes’, shops and
bicycles. It truly is a beautiful city to live,
work and play. The day was thoroughly
enjoyed by all students. They were, as
always were fantastic ambassadors for
The William Allitt School. Who knows,
perhaps this opportunity has aspired
some of our students to consider applying
to Cambridge.
Mrs C Copley - Careers
Page 14

Year 9 Parliament Day
On a cold crisp bright spring morning at 7.45am were 9.4, Mrs Cliffen and Mrs Copley ready to
board the coach to London. An uneventful journey down the motorway had us arriving in London
ready to visit Parliament. Students experienced a 360o video detailing the history of British
governance, learning about Kings, Lords, Knights, Barons, suffragettes and Guy Fawkes. History
truly came to life as events unfolded around the room. This was followed by a guided tour of
Parliament. We entered by the monarchs official entrance, walking up the staircase that the Queen
herself does each year on the State Opening of Parliament. The artwork and decoration inside the
Houses of Parliament is magnificent and is a reflection on how Great Britain is. We learnt that
Churchill’s Arch was restored after the Blitz instead of being rebuilt; from original bomb-scarred
stone as a monument to the ordeal of war, and as a reminder to future generations of the fortitude
of those who stood firm through those times. The tour finished in Westminster Hall. This part of the
building is almost 1000 years old. We stood on the steps where Barack Obama and Nelson
Mandela delivered speeches in recent times and where William Wallace (1305) and Sir Thomas
More (1535) were convicted of treason and sentenced to death. We then went on a walking tour of
London’s important sights. Downing Street, Cenotaph, Horseguard’s Parade and Trafalgar Square.
A healthy competition was held to guess the first name of the man on top of the statue. Admiral
Nelson – Well done to those who finally guessed HORATIO. We had a picnic lunch in St James’
park overlooking Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately the Queen wasn’t home, we knew this as the
Royal Standard flag was not flying. A fantastic day was had by all students, as always they were
well behaved and enjoyed experiencing our capital city.
Mrs C Copley – Careers
Year 9 Options Evening
Parents and Year 9 students were invited
to attend a valuable evening of important
information on the different subject choices
available to Year 9 students as they move
to Key Stage 4. The event was extremely
well attended with an overwhelming
amount of parents and students in
attendance. The evening gave students
and parents the opportunity to talk with
subject specialists across a wide range of
subject areas and the time to discuss and
review option choices, whilst being
reassured that the students would be given
continued support by the school.
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William Allitt to Wembley!
PE Department challenged both staff and students to get
active by completing as many miles as possible and rise to
the school’s #HowFarCanYouGo challenge in aid of Sport
Relief 2016. Participants were encouraged to raise funds
for Sport Relief through sponsorship by running, walking,
cycling, swimmming and/or rowing in the hope of covering
120 miles collectively; covering the distance from the
William Allitt School to Wembley Stadium! Participants
recorded their mileage using apps such as Nike Running,
Strava and using pedometers, bringing along evidence to
the PE Department who closely tracked the total mileage.
The event was a great success with both students and staff
completing 550 miles comfortably getting to Wembley and
back a couple of times!
Many congratulations to all but particularly to the following
students who stood out from the crowd: Alice Towers -
completed 100 miles of Cycling, Katie Pruden, Gabby
Higginbottom, Chaniqua Beacham-Atkins and Aimee Baker
- all completed several miles of running and walking and
gained the most sponsor money. Keone Parker who spent
every spare minute on Sports Relief day running around
the school Athletics track.
Mr M Skelham – Teacher of Physical Education
A group of Year 7 Opening Minds
students and their teachers went to
Nottingham Royal Concert Hall to
watch ‘Ten pieces live!’ ‘Ten pieces’ is
performed by BBC philharmonic
orchestra playing 10 well known and
specially selected famous pieces of
music. All of the music was performed
by the original artists who we saw
initially at the cinema at the start of
the academic year. These formed the
basis of our exploration and learning
of the formal elements of music. Ten
well known pieces of music were
played; ‘DJ. Mr. Switch’ recorded
some exciting sounds with a few
members of the audience, lots of
people said he was such an
inspiration and that he strongly stood
out. The effect of a live orchestra on a
huge scale were really exciting to
experience. Everyone came back
saying they had a great time and
would love to go again.
By Libby Brown and Kiera Wheatcroft
– Year 7
William Allitt Alumni
Were you a former student of The William Allitt School? Are you keen to
share your childhood memories of the school and your ongoing success
story? If so we would really love to hear from you! Please sign up on the
Future First website www.networks.futurefirst.org.uk to register your interest.
Alternatively you may wish to telephone The William Allitt School on 01283
216404 or email info@williamallitt.derbyshire.sch.uk . We look forward to
seeing and working with you again.
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