Senior Citizens’ Christmas Party hosted by our Sixth Form

Senior Citizens’ Christmas Party
hosted by our Sixth Form

Welcome
As we come to the end of a very
busy autumn term, I would like
to thank staff and students for
all their positive contributions
and subsequent progress.
We are continuing to build on the
success of our recent Ofsted and
we were especially thrilled when
the Inspection team recognised
the values and ethos of the school:
“The school promotes a ‘can do’
culture that encourages and
celebrates success. Pupils develop
into confident young people and
they enjoy coming to school.’’
Academic excellence is at the
heart of our school, but equally
we recognise that all students are
individuals and we aim to offer
as many opportunities inside
and outside of the classroom
as we can to our students.
Hopefully, you will be as impressed
as I am at the numerous activities
and experiences that our students
have taken part in this term.
Students have participated in trips
and competitions both locally,
nationally and internationally.
In addition, we have raised lots of
money for our three focus charities:
TOMA, Asthma UK and Gambia Trust.
I hope you have a fantastic Christmas
and we look forward to seeing you
all in January for another year of
‘Excellence’ at Walbottle Campus.
Ms K Lord
Headteacher
Hot Chocolate with The Head
by Miss S Parrott
This term we saw the introduction
of our weekly ‘Hot Chocolate with
the Head’ to recognise our students
who have stood out from the crowd.
Each week students are
nominated by staff to spend
their Friday break time receiving
positive recognition for going
above and beyond at school.
Ms Lord and Mr Harrison,
(Deputy Head) take pleasure
in congratulating them on
their individual efforts and
accomplishments whilst all enjoy
a hot chocolate and some biscuits.
The reward system has been a great
success with over 140 students
nominated and recognised so
far. A very well done to all! We
hope to see many new faces
throughout next year and continue
recognising students for their
excellent attitudes to learning.
Check our Twitter for #HotChocFri
posts:@walbottlecampus
First week’s nominees with Ms Lord & Mr Harrison

Progress Teaching.
Year 12 Enterprise
by Mrs V Heslop
As part of the new BTEC National Diploma
in Business, students had to plan, run and
evaluate a charity event. The students
chose to run a Halloween Disco for Year 7
students and in aid of the school charities.
They successfully completed the assessment,
which included lots of fundraising,
planning, finding solutions and forming
LACA Culinary Competition
by Mr L Steel
On 23rd November, Walbottle’s
catering staff, including our
award winning Development
Chef, took part in the LACA’s
Finishing Touches Event.
The competition’s purpose was
to showcase the culinary talent,
skills, and imagination of school
contingency plans to problems along
the way. A great team effort all round.
A huge thank you to Jack Kobasa and
Haydon Brewis for all of their support with
the technical aspects of the disco and to
Mr Steel for organising the movement
of lights and producing a playlist.
catering staff within the region,
all within a Christmas theme.
In the Culinary Craft heat,
Development Chef Abdul Mahdoul
won Silver, with Chef Janella
Heneghan taking home the Bronze.
Abdul was also awarded Best in
Class in the Party Platter heat.
Well done to our catering
staff for their regional
achievements
this term!
Miss Smith is one of our Teaching and Learning Managers. This role
involves developing a programme of support for NQT+1’s, involving learning
walks, work review and sharing good practice during termly breakfast meetings.
In addition to this, Miss Smith coordinates the cover team for the school. Each cover team
member is attached to a department and line managed by a member of that department. The
vision for the NQT+1s and the cover supervisor team is that they have the opportunity to develop as
professionals and are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to become outstanding practitioners.
A key area of development for Walbottle has been homework. As part of the teaching and learning
role, we have developed a new KS3 homework policy. This policy involves two strands of homework:
Literacy and Projects. The Literacy aspect fits in with our whole school focus whilst Project homework allows
students to develop their research, creativity, knowledge and presenting skills, to name but a few. A schedule
was created for faculties to ensure students were not getting projects across all subjects at the same time. The year
has been divided so that students will receive projects from half of their subjects and literacy based homework for the other
half on a half termly basis. This was launched with students in assembly and shared with staff during whole school training.
The role of Teaching and Learning Manager also involves being part of the coaching team across
school as well helping to plan and deliver some whole school training at various points in the year.
I’m A Scientist, Get me out of here!
by Miss T Brown
A group of Year 8 students took part in a
country-wide online event where they got to chat in real time with
scientists and vote on their favourite to receive a £500 prize.
They ‘met’ five scientists who all worked in different
areas. One was working out how we can make
robots predict the future and another was
researching how to detect heart disease
earlier. Another scientist works in
a blood transfusion laboratory,
and one studies particles
so small that billions of
them pass through us every
second without us noticing.
The students prepared questions
to ask and then chatted online
with the scientists in an allocated
time during a lesson. The
students were very excited and
some came up with great science
questions, which they were
then able to receive answers to!

Learner Experience Wellbeing
Charity Football Match
by Mr P Anderson
On Thursday 1st December while everyone
was putting up their Christmas trees, a
group of brave souls endured freezing
temperatures to play a game of football.
The Walbottle Staff would face off
against the Sixth Form team. One set of
players not wanting to be embarrassed
by being beaten by older folk, the other
just hoping to survive with their job
intact and a small piece of pride left.
A big thanks to all the staff and 6th
form that played, Mr Draper for being
referee, volunteers for being lines-people
and Sophie Pringle for being ball girl.
It was a great event and over £200 pounds
was raised for the TOMA fund charity.
Shoebox Appeal 2016
by Mrs E Thorogood
Staff 1-3 Sixth Form
Once again, both students and
staff showed their generosity
towards children through Operation
Christmas Child. We collected 112
shoe boxes and £336 transport
charges helping families in Zambia.
A massive well done to all involved, for
their kind donations and thoughtful
gifts which will make a lot of
children happy during difficult times.
Book Fair Week
First Half
Sixth Form took an early lead when
Owen Patton scored with a mistimed,
ricochet that sneaked in at the near
post. Their only real chance in a first
half dominated by the staff team.
Honors were even at half time when
Mr Ward, with a sublime lob of the
advancing goal keeper equalised.
Second Half
With staff legs starting to tire or leaving
to pick up their children and the constant
introduction of new sixth form players, the
deadlock was broken when Najib Hassan
scuffed a shot into the far post (I think it
was meant to be a cross) but it trickled
into the goal. The staff didn’t get down
hearted and had numerous attempts on
goal saved by the outstanding Calder
Surtees or blocked on the line by a flailing
defender leg. The staff kept on pressing
but paid the price for needing to try to
equalise and were caught short at the
back after a mistake by Harry Atkinson
(on loan from Sixth Form as we were a
few players short). This led to a unknown
lad scoring in the last minute of the
game to make it Sixth Form 3, Staff 1.
The Book Fair arrived in school on Monday
5th December for the week, with lots of
new children’s books to browse and buy.
All books were half price and the Library held
a competition to win £25 worth of vouchers
to spend there, as well as organising a raffle.
by Mrs L Ions
The running of the Book Fair was helped
by students who assisted in planning
and staffing the event across the week.
Thanks to all who attended this
year and please, keep on reading!

Communication
Walbottle Remembers
by Miss C Brown
This year we had a group of students
representing their cadet units with
pride. They performed their drills and
laid poppy wreaths to commemorate
those who fell during the First
World War and conflicts thereafter.
The whole school showed their respect,
completing the 11:00am silence, as well
as completing activities within form
time to think about the reasons why
so many men chose to join up in 1914.
We also made comparisons to
reasons why men and women join
the armed forces today and even
turned the school into a trench by
using the key literacy from the period.
We also raised a total of £353.36
for the Poppy Appeal this year.
Gambia Schools Trust
by Mrs G Nelson
The Gambian Schools Trust is the
international charity for Walbottle
Campus. Due to the hard work of staff
and students we have so far raised
enough money to build two libraries,
one computer room and connected
piped water to a village. We are
very proud of these achievements.
The trust funds a carrier every year so
that donations of school equipment &
supplies can be dispensed to local schools.
This year we sent 100 full boxes, 10
bikes and donated computers. We travel
there each Easter and visit the schools
to see the results of the fundraising.
We are always looking for new ways to raise
money and collect donations of books,
stationery, sports equipment, educational
games, spectacles, wool, knitting
needles, wind up torches or radios and
packs of cheap underwear for children.
Last year we used money donated by staff
and supplied sacks of rice to families in
need. These people literally have nothing,
earning if they are lucky around £10 per
month and a sack of rice will feed their
family during the rainy season. You can
imagine the amazement and gratitude
when we turned up at their mud huts!
What can you do to help?
1. Collect any of the above items and
bring them to Mrs Nelson in A block.
2. Fund raise or think of fundraising
ideas to raise money for sacks
of rice (around £16 per sack).
3. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for your continued support.
Remembrance Parade

KS3
John Buckley Visit
by Miss L Jackson
KS4
Stand Up to Cancer
by Miss J Wighton
On Thursday 17th November a
small group of students performed
to a paying audience. They
aimed to raise money for cancer
awareness by singing and dancing
either solo or as part of a duet.
They came to four scheduled
rehearsals as well as rehearsing
out of school independently
to perfect their work.
The students gained much
confidence and made
the school very proud!
Panto Fever!
by Mrs L Jackson
Thirty-nine students and five members staff
visited the wonderful pantomime “Cinderella” at
the Theatre Royal on Wednesday 23rd November.
Students departed Walbottle en masse ready for
an afternoon of singing, dancing, magic tricks and
even a 3D trek in the forest, as well as all the usual
pantomime antics. It was a wonderful opportunity
for our students to see a professional performance
locally, as well as enjoy some time with new friends.
On Monday 31st October, we were very fortunate to host up and
coming singer/songwriter, John Buckley. John was just about to begin
a three-week tour of schools all over the UK to promote his single
“Festival” and we were lucky he chose Walbottle to kick his tour off.
John performed two packed concerts in the lecture
theatre in the morning for over two-hundred and eighty
students, then did a more intimate concert for Year 10
BTEC Music students and GCSE Drama students, where
they were able to ask questions relevant to their courses.
John had his manager and sound engineer with him
adding to this perfect opportunity for BTEC students
to get a professional insight, also helping them
prepare for their forthcoming exam in January.
Mr Dryden is Progress Manager for KS4.
This role involves raising attainment of students
in KS4 across all subjects, celebrating achievement
and identifying and addressing underperformance.
Through building relationships with students,
identifying and removing any barriers to learning
that may exist, we encourage our students to
meet goals whilst creating opportunities in and
out of school to equip them with the skills to do so.
Priorities this year are to improve student outcomes
for all students at the end of KS4 and increasing the
number of A/A* grades. A key challenge is ensuring that
assessment is robust and data is accurate as the analysis and
use of data is key to improving the progress and outcomes
of our students. This gives a clear overview of student
performance and the analysis of this data directly informs
the students identified for intervention or additional support.
Safety Works
by Mr G Munday
Sixty Year 8 students attended Safety Works in Newcastle where
they took part in workshops around the dangers and implications of:
anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol abuse,
using the Metro, fire dangers and medical
care including learning the recovery position.
The superb staff at the centre were very complementary about
the enthusiasm of the students who took part in the practical
exercises. Students who took part feel they now have a better
understanding of the potential dangers presented as a result of
anti-social behaviour and following the visit would now be
inclined to make different choices. They also feel confident
enough to advise others to make more responsible choices.
We also believe in developing individuals who will thrive beyond
school. This year KS4 students will be offered opportunities to attend
university open days and aspirational visits/courses at university. In the
past we have worked with Newcastle, Durham and Teesside Universities.
We have aspirational speakers arranged to come into school to
deliver assemblies and students participate in learner conferences
focused on developing key academic or life skills. We also work
closely with the KS5 Progress Manager, the CEIAG coordinators
and the KS4 Pastoral team to promote opportunities for students
to work with outside agencies and employers. This academic year
for example, KS4 will have a Post-16 Options evening, Careers
Fairs and Year 10 will complete their work experience placements.
Gliding Trip 2016

KS5
A Day in Court
by Miss S Parrott
Mrs Mosettig is the Progress Manager for
Sixth Form. Together with Mrs E Thompson
(Assistant Head) and Miss Perry our
Senior Year Leader and a newly appointed
Year Leader/Progression Coach we aim
for our Sixth Form to be outstanding.
Our key priorities are to improve the
number of A* to B grades achieved
by students at A level though high
expectations and quality teaching
and CEIAG. The target grades set
for students are aspirational and we
work with individuals to support
them in achieving their potential.
A key challenge for Sixth Form this year
and in the coming year is the introduction
of new A Levels and BTEC programmes.
We are monitoring data from
departments closely and have introduced
a rigorous programme of mock exams.
Recruitment and retention in Year 12
has improved since last year and we
had approximately 30 students more
than targeted join our Sixth Form. Just
this week we held Options Evening
for prospective students and as well
as Year 11 invited Year 10 students to
encourage them to think about the
opportunities available to them Post-16.
As well as academic success we aim to
develop well-rounded individuals who
will thrive at university, in work and in life.
We hold regular 1:1 CEIAG meetings with
students, attend university open days
(including a residential at Lancaster). We
also work within the local community
including our annual Seniors Citizens’
Christmas Party (seen on the front cover),
work with universities on entry schemes,
encourage charity work (leading by
example the team have completed the
Great North Run and have zipwired off
the Baltic), and support the numerous
events and trips led by departments.
This term Miss Harle took her Year 12 Law class on
a visit to the Newcastle Crown Court. This proved to be
greatly beneficial to the students allowing them to gain a greater
understanding of the Criminal Courts as well as the work that occurs
within the Crown Court.
Miss Harle and her class decided to observe a high profile murder trial which immediately
caught their attention. The students learned a lot throughout the visit, and were surprised by
many facts such as: ‘There are 10 different criminal courts located throughout the building, resulting
in numerous trials taking place at the same time’ and ‘The high level of caution taken when selecting jury
members, e.g. a juror is unable to remain on the jury if they live/know anyone who lives in the area that the murder
was committed.’
The entire visit was an interesting experience for Miss Harle’s class and all who attended had an enjoyable day.
Sixth Form Bake Off
Grow a Pound
by Miss K Perry
Throughout November, there has
been a huge competition between two
hard-working Year 12 teams, who have been
working with Deloitte to try and make as much money as
possible for a micro finance initiative. The “Grow a Pound” scheme
Sixth Form Selfie
encourages students to invest £1 and make as much money as possible
throughout the month of November; the money they raise will then be donated to
the Micro Tyco Wild Hearts charity, who invest in small businesses in developing countries.
Our Deloitte representative Cathy has been hugely impressed by the students’ ideas; ranging from
cake sales, film showings, lounge wear non-uniform days and even car washing in November! Between
them, the teams have raised almost £1000 for a really important charity, and we are so proud of the hard work and
commitment shown by everyone involved. The students will now submit a diary log of everything they did to raise money.
The most successful teams will have the opportunity to experience an internship at Deloitte next summer.
Well done and good luck to all of the students who have taken part.
Apprentice Success
by Miss K Walker
After completing her Level 2 and Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship, we say goodbye to Brooke McNally. Brooke
was one of the first students to enrol on the Walbottle Hairdressing Apprenticeship Scheme four years ago.
Her personal and professional development has been outstanding throughout this time. Brooke is an employee
of Wildes Hairdressing where she has an established clientele and continues to excel within the profession.
The Hairdressing Department and Walbottle Campus are so proud of Brooke’s achievements and she has even agreed
to pop back to talk to our students about aspirations and following their dreams. We wish her every success for the future.

Pupils develop into confident young
people. They enjoy coming into school.

Business & ICT
Create.
Business and ICT is led by Miss Payne
who has worked hard to embed and
put in place a range of strategies to
improve department results, including
new curriculum changes and assessment
practices. We offer our students a rich
and balanced variety when it comes to
both our Key Stage 4 and 5 offer. This
year we our offering a new professional
qualification in Finance from the London
Institute of Banking and Finance for KS5.
The team consists of seven members
and all of the team have varying
experiences and positions within the
school. Within the team is our second
in Faculty for Business and ICT, Mr
Cameron, who takes full responsibility
for the ICT side of the department.
In terms of vision, we work hard to
ensure that we develop students’ skill
set so that they leave us with a bank of
transferrable skills that will aid them in
their future career and for later life. We
coach our students so that they have
pride in every aspect of their learning.
We ensure that student engagement and
progress is at the top of our priorities.
We regularly run visits to businesses and
take students to exam workshops. Our
top highlight from this year was the KS4
Visit to London in July 2016. This visit was
geared up to enhance the experience
of the students by bringing business
and ICT to life. Our students were fully
engaged in the Bank of England tour.
This was a great opportunity as many of
our students had never been to London.
It was great for them to experience
this educationally and socially.
Student enjoyment is at the forefront of
our planning and delivery and in both
Business and ICT and in turn we use a
variety of tools to enable our students
to get the most out of their lessons.
We draw on our own life experiences,
technologies and case studies to ensure
our subjects are relevant and current.
We have recently introduced Computer
Science to the department and it
has proven to be very popular. It is a
qualification that is hugely respected by
further education and employers alike.
One of our biggest priorities is closing
the gap between our DA and non-DA
groups. We are working hard to improve
the percentage of HA students gaining
A/A* grades this coming summer 2017.
One way in which this has been tackled
is through our masters programme
that is specifically tailored for the high
attaining students. This programme
allows the students to gain access to
top tips and tricks which will ensure
they are able to access the higher mark
bands. A collaborative working party has
been setup with Cardinal Hume school
to help drive the department forward.
Our students are our reason for coming
into school and we work hard to
challenge, support and educate our
young people to the highest possible
standard so that they leave us at here at
Walbottle ready to take their next steps.
The Create Faculty is currently led by
Miss Jordan, covering maternity for
Mrs Anderson. The Middle Leader team
consists of Miss Jordan and two Seconds
in Faculty: Mrs Rayner, a well experienced
middle leader of many years and Mr
Corkin who has been part of the Middle
Leader team for two years. We also have
a Create Coordinator, Miss Whitfield,
and Miss Walker who leads our Hair and
Beauty courses. Our wider team is made
up of seventeen passionate and highly
skilled teachers and three technicians
that support teaching and learning.
The Creative Industry is the fastest
growing field within our ever-changing
society and our vision is to develop
a 21st Century Curriculum for our
students which enriches cultural
understanding and arms them with the
skills and knowledge that they need to
be innovators and leading practitioners
within the Creative Industries. We have a
varied ‘offer’ within Create, comprising of
Art and Design, Photography, Resistant
Materials, Engineering, Construction,
Catering, Food and Hair and Beauty.
Our key priorities within Create are to
ensure that students have an inspiring
learner experience within all lessons,
through developing all teachers to
be Good and Outstanding. We have
a current drive to develop the stretch
and challenge for our most able and
talented students through individual
accountability plans, to increase
the amount of A and A* grades.
The culture of our Faculty is underpinned
by the experiences that we offer to
develop Social, Moral, Spiritual and
Cultural understanding, allowing them
to question judgements, stereotypes
and the world around them. Students
have taken part in National Projects
where Art is used to develop awareness
of Transgender issues and projects where
the whole of KS3 have investigated
their cultural heritage allowing them
to exhibit alongside an international
Designer. Within Hard Technology
students take part in a worldwide F1
competition. Students work in teams to
design and manufacture a model F1 car
that is powered by a CO2 cartridge. Teams
aim to create the fastest car possible
and have the chance to compete in
regional, national and even world finals.
Food and Catering students work with the
school chef to develop their understanding
of how skills they have gained are put into
practice in the working world. The Hair
and Beauty department host an annual
Hair Show which showcases the talents
of our Apprentices and attracts experts
and local celebs from across the North.
Construction
London Trip 2016
Product Design
Hairdressing

English & Literacy
Health & Social Care
Mrs Moody is Assistant Head and Faculty
Lead for English and Literacy. Currently,
there is a department of twenty staff,
including three Middle Leaders: Mrs
McGagh (KS4 and Literacy); Miss Harle
(KS3 and assessment) and Mrs Sutton-
Flynn (KS5 and T&L). Mrs Mooney has
recently returned from maternity.
The department is hugely successful in
terms of teaching and learning, high quality
book work and department specific CPD;
we are confident this will evidence itself in
student outcomes. Our work over the last
year and a half has been reviewed three
times by North Tyneside LA and, of course,
OFSTED and we are proud of the rapid and
sustained developments we have made.
We also pride ourselves on the successful
relationships we build with our students, as
well as the challenging and creative lessons
we deliver. The vision for the department
is to develop a culture of reading, writing
and oracy, that enables our students to be
effective communicators in any walk of life.
Current key priorities within the
department are to raise the performance
of our More Able students, so they are
achieving a higher percentage of 8/9
grades at the end of the course. There
are challenges and we spent much of
last year improving and developing,
including planning backwards from KS4
and rewriting the KS3 assessment system.
As KS4 and KS5 specifications changed
for English last year. Another key
challenge for Mrs McGagh and Mrs
Sutton-Flynn has been to plan courses,
assessment practices and schemes
from scratch – a mammoth task,
particularly at KS4, where Language and
Literature are interleaved to maximise
opportunities to embed the high order
skills of inference and evaluation, as
well as the higher demands of SPaG. A
significant focus for both Key Stages
is to develop exam craft and memory
skills within our teaching, to ensure
students make more than expected
progress. This is particularly important
at KS4, where students sit four extremely
challenging terminal examinations.
Alongside the work within the
department, we have set a Reading
Matters agenda for whole school literacy
at Walbottle this year, which forms part
of the School Development Plan. Mrs
McGagh has led three whole school CPD
(Continuous Personal Development)
sessions informing staff of the impact of
language paucity and providing practical
ways all staff can support student literacy.
We have retested the entire school,
so that our reading age information
is accurate and this will enable more
bespoke intervention and support to
take place from January, not only in
Inclusion and English but throughout
tutorial time and in other subjects.
Staff have responded very positively to
all of the above, delivering and marking
their tutor group’s reading age tests and
engaging with tutor training around
reading logs and effective use of our
daily electronic newspaper, The Day. We
have also begun a ‘6th Form readers into
school’ project and, while we have a long
journey to shift our school culture to have
literacy at its heart, there is much more
to come in the New Year literacy plan.
Mrs R Thompson is Head of Health &
Social Care. Over the years, the teaching
team has significantly changed due to
staff promotion. Currently within the
department as well Mrs Thompson,
we have six experienced teachers:
Miss Morrison, Mr Gardner, Mrs
Thompson, Miss Hagan and Miss Walker.
The department is hugely successful in
terms of student outcomes. We pride
ourselves on the successful relationships
we build with our students and parents
as well as the fantastic, innovative and
creative lessons we offer our students. The
vision for the department is to develop
students to become successful and
independent individuals, to well equip
our students with a wealth of knowledge
and understanding to take on their next
pathway following their time at Walbottle.
Current key priorities within the
department are to raise the performance
of our middle attaining students so they
are achieving a higher percentage of
A-A* grades at the end of the course.
As the curriculum has changed this year
another key focus is to develop exam craft
within our teaching to ensure students
make more than expected progress in
their externally assessed examinations
and to embed key examination
craft skills with our students.
We continue to develop our students
by giving them the opportunity to
access ‘real life’ experiences in practical
situations, with a number of students on
part-time placements within the local
community. For example, Cooperative
Nursery, local primary schools,
residential care homes and GP practices.
As well as academic success, we aim to
develop out of the classroom learning
experiences for our students and ensure
this forms an important part of our
teaching. Student feedback suggests
that this is an aspect which students
particularly enjoy and look forward to.
We are keen to open up the department
in the 2017 to placement providers
and parents so they can come and see
the excellent work of our students.
This year we are offering a 3-day residential
trip to Disneyland Paris for Key Stage 5.
This is an excellent opportunity for our
students to build independence and
relationships outside of the school context,
also applying their curriculum based
knowledge and understanding to the
outside world. Staff are keen to support our
students and often run trips and learning
experiences outside of school time.
Beamish Trip 2016
NaNoWriMo Winners & Year 10 English
Options Evening

Lake District Trip 2016
Humanities
Inclusion
Miss Harle is Head of Humanities and is
supported in the leadership of the faculty
by Mrs Bartlett and Miss Oxley. Mrs Bartlett
has responsibility for progress in History
and Sociology with emphasis on data
tracking and accuracy of predictions. Miss
Oxley has responsibility for the progress
of Geography and RE across the faculty as
well as leading on behaviour management.
There are sixteen staff who teach in
the faculty and many teach more than
one subject area. We have very skilled
teachers who have undertaken additional
responsibilities in the form of PM’s (Progress
Managers), PAM’s (Pastoral Managers) and
TaLM’s (Teaching and Learning Managers).
Mrs Lam and Miss Urwin have recently
joined the team to teach Psychology and
have already been on a number of CPD
events to enhance the curriculum and
are planning links with local universities.
Staff development is a priority of the
faculty and we train staff to secure further
development roles within school. There
are a number of staff who are taking
on additional roles within the faculty to
enhance their skills and experience base.
Miss Kerr, Miss Endacott and Mr Williams
are mentors to three student teachers.
Mr Knill from Newcastle Local Authority
is coaching them with their teaching of
KS3 Geography. Miss Harper is leading on
student voice, Mr Williams is our Literacy
Coordinator, Miss Kerr is our Homework
Ambassador and also works closely
with the environment rangers focusing
on Throckley Dene. Miss Endacott has
represented the faculty a number of
times in Teachmeets and is currently
on a Middle Leaders development
course along with Miss Brown. Miss
Endacott is also going to lead a
behaviour for learning programme
and mentor key groups of students.
Mrs Bartlett, Mr Williams and Miss
Endacott are being trained as coaches.
In the past couple of years we have
brought in a number of changes to the
assessment process and standardisation
in the faculty. We have developed
a robust assessment schedule that
underpins everything that we do, this
has been developed according to the
new specifications. Our priority this year
is to develop greater knowledge of the
new GCSE and A Level curriculum. Given
the number of different subjects within
the faculty there is a lot of planning,
marking using new descriptors,
standardising and producing guides
and student support tools which the
team are working on. We work closely
with Mr Knill to develop our KS3 and
KS4 Geography curriculums, and with
a number of local schools such as St.
Robert of Newminster, Haydon Bridge,
George Stephenson and Duchess to
ensure our courses are correct for our
students. We have also recently been
fortunate to attend PIXL events focused
on the leadership of Geography and
History. These were invaluable to gain a
deeper insight into the demands of the
new specifications and we have gained a
number of resources from these events that
we can embed into our curriculum plans.
There are a number of planned residentials
and visits to support curriculum content,
for example the Italy Geography trip and
the Berlin History trip. We also regularly
take our students to the Law Courts
(Law and Sociology) and to student
conferences to develop their knowledge
of the exam content and skill. Miss Eagle
coordinated the Holocaust Education
Trust’s trip to Auschwitz for two 6th Form
students. Students regularly go out on
fieldwork for their course to the Lake
District and Seahouses. We are looking to
develop field work in KS3 as this is now
even more emphasis placed on this as
part of the new GCSE and A Level courses.
Miss Baty is our SENCO and alongside
Miss Hutchinson who is the Inclusion
Coordinator, they run the Inclusion
department. The Inclusion department
consists of four teachers, four HLTAs,
fourteen Learning Support Assistants
and an Occupational Therapist.
Within the Inclusion department there
are several provisions that are tailor
made to meet the complex needs of
students who have special educational
needs or disabilities within school.
Inclusion reintegration supports students
across Years 7, 8 and 9. The purpose of
the provision is to provide a positive, safe
and nurturing environment to support the
social, emotional and mental well being of
the students and reduce barriers to learning.
As the name suggests the main goal of this
provision is to reintegrate the students into
mainstream lessons following appropriate
interventions. Students are referred to
the provision via Inclusion Panel. Whilst
in the provision the students undertake
various practical activities to support
their social and emotional development.
The Additionally Resourced Provision
(ARP) provides a positive, safe and
nurturing environment for students with
social communication difficulties and
promotes the student’s academic and
personal progress. Students are supported
and challenged in order to develop the
necessary skills, qualities, knowledge and
understanding needed to be successful
learners and all round independent
citizens. A variety of bespoke
intervention programmes are in place
to facilitate this. The Key Stage 4 ARP
consolidates and builds upon the skills
fostered in students during their time in
our KS3 provision. Our overall aim is to
develop independence and confidence,
enabling students to motivate, organise
and conduct themselves appropriately
both in school and wider society.
The KS3 Nurture classes support students
across Years 7, 8 and 9. The purpose
of the classes is to provide a positive,
safe and nurturing environment for
students who are identified as having
a moderate learning difficulty / below
level 3 on entry. Students are supported
and challenged in order to develop the
necessary skills, qualities, knowledge
and understanding needed to be
successful learners. We aim to embed
basic functional skills and work at a pace
that enables the students to succeed, as
well as providing bespoke differentiation
so that learning outcomes are met.
The KS3 Literacy Intervention room
runs a series of bespoke small group
interventions focused on raising the
reading ages of students who have a
reading age less than 9 years. Students
are withdrawn from lessons once a
week to work on specific literacy skills.
Psychometric testing is carried out in
the department and the results from
these assessments are used to ensure
that students get the necessary exam
access arrangements to ensure the
best possible outcomes for students.
The Occupational Therapist runs a range
of both 1:1 and small group interventions
around various aspects that may cause
a barrier to learning, for example,
fine and gross motor development
programs, life skill development
and sensory profiling of students.
Inclusion Activities

Maths
Modern Foreign Languages
Miss Hindhaugh is Assistant Head and Faculty Head for Mathematics.
There is a team of eighteen in the Maths department, including two HLTA’s (qualified maths
teachers) and an LSA. There are three Middle Leaders who support and lead within the department:
Mrs Ward-Graham is a very experienced teacher and middle leader with experience of
working within the Middle School system. She has responsibility for progress in Year 7 and 8.
Miss Occleshaw is a very experienced teacher and leader. She has responsibility for the progress of our KS5 students,
plus she is the Level 3 lead for Great North Maths Hub and team leader for AQA D1 (A-Level) exam marking.
Mr Savage is also a very experienced teacher and leader. His area of responsibility lies with Year 9 and 10.
A big departmental priority for this year is to rapidly improve the progress that students are making in Maths, especially the most
able. Students must be inspired, motivated and ‘thirsty’ to learn. In order to reach their full potential, they need to be stretched,
challenged and fully engaged throughout school life, and this has been and will continue to be the focus of our departmental CPD.
This year students have experienced a range of activities that have been planned with the aim of inspiring
and motivating our most able Maths students. Some of these activities include: competing at Northumbria
University in the Senior Maths Challenge, Year 10 students taking part in a Maths and Statistics conference at
Newcastle University, ’ Year 8 and 9 “Mathematics of Crime” lunchtime club and many more in the pipeline!
Miss Sweeney is Head of Modern Foreign Languages. The teaching team, including Miss Sweeney
consists of six staff: Miss Shaw, Mrs Beckford, Miss Llanas, Mrs Dodds and Mrs Armstrong.
Our vision in MFL is to enable students to understand and communicate in another language with confidence.
This is a lifelong skill for education, employment and leisure both in our own country and around the world.
Our key priorities are to raise the performance of our most able students so their achievement matches or
exceeds national average. We have a particular focus on boys’ performance and engagement in lessons.
We also expect an increased uptake of languages at Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5, as languages are now an Ebacc
subject at GCSE and a facilitating subject at A Level, as well as being of vital importance in the modern world.
As well as academic success, we aim to develop a love of foreign culture and the cultural aspect
forms an important part of our teaching. This is an aspect which students particularly enjoy.
We have plans for cookery lessons to make French and Hispanic dishes.
There is also a residential trip abroad every year which has good take-up and is an excellent opportunity for our
students to build independence and relationships outside of the school. Last year we visited Barcelona with
thirty-five students plus we will be travelling to the Opal Coast and Disney Land Paris in the summer with fifty students.
Senior Maths Challenge 2016 Barcelona Trip 2016

Performance
Science
Mr Swan is Head of the Performance Faculty and leads a team
of eighteen staff. There are two Seconds in Faculty; Mrs Jackson,
an experienced leader and Mrs Schofield a Drama and Dance
expert and experienced leader. We also have a Performance
Coordinator, Mr Hodgson who is responsible for leading
and developing community and curriculum sport in the PE
department. In addition to the Middle Leader team, several staff
are also involved in a number of whole school initiatives with
three staff involved in the new coaching programme to support
staff. Miss Hagan is responsible for developing whole school
student voice and Mrs Watson, is responsible for supporting NQT
teachers within the school. Teamwork is key to our success and
we are very supportive of each other in the work we do in school.
We have an extensive curriculum and extra curricular offer
within Performance. This comprises of KS4 and KS5 examination
subjects in Physical Education, Music Technology and Drama.
We offer both academic and vocational routes for our students.
It is our aim to give all students the opportunity to achieve.
The culture of our faculty is underpinned by the experiences
that we offer to our students. We are constantly looking
at best fit curriculum opportunities for our students and
will always look for new and exciting ways to engage them
and ensure they are successful. Future developments
include developing Arts Awards in KS3, developing and
introducing the new Technical Awards and GCSE Dance
will be introduced for Year 9 and 10 students next year.
Walbottle with a passion for life in one of our main subject
areas, as well as the confidence to take the next steps
beyond school. Our faculty promotes many different
real-life learning opportunities - working in mixed ability
groups, developing skills with continual practice, making
decisions quickly, developing strategies and tactics for success
and performing in public, in front of peers and colleagues.
We always have the aim of improving our teaching and
we support our teaching staff in making the transition
from good to outstanding. We have a current drive to
improve the outcomes for all Year 11 students, develop
effective use of literacy across the faculty, continue to
develop skills and knowledge at KS3 and to provide a more
extensive range of activities outside of the classroom.
The culture and ethos of our Faculty is underpinned by
the experiences that we offer to our students. We are
constantly looking at new and exciting opportunities for
our students to enjoy. Learning outside the classroom is a
huge priority. There are a number of planned residentials
and out of school visits to support curriculum content:
for example watching professional performers on stage
(Theatre Royal - Pantomime, London trip - Wicked/ Mamma
Mia, Locally - Blood Brothers - Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night), visiting local and national centres for excellence (Kingston
Park, recording studios, Beatles, RNCM), taking part in new
sporting activities (Skiing trip) and develop existing ones (Sixth
Form handball coaching with staff, girls rugby out of school).
Mr Hegarty is Assistant Head and Faculty lead of
Science and STEM. There has been significant changes
to the structure in Science, moving from a largely
vocational offer to a more academic curriculum.
The Science faculty currently has seventeen staff. The team
is supported by three middle leaders who have specific
responsibility for year groups and subject/course areas. They
are Miss Humble, Mrs Clack and Mrs Weaver. We currently
have two newly qualified teachers who are mentored by
more experienced staff. We also welcome initial teacher
training students; two of which are about to complete
their short placements, and two who will join us in January.
In Science we are particularly keen to develop a love of the
subject and an understanding of its importance to everyday
life. We attempt to address this through our Schemes of
Curiosity; resourcing the curriculum to enhance the wonder
of the science whilst ensuring deep progress is made. Our
priorities in science are simple - we are aiming to improve
the progress of all learners at Walbottle. A particular focus
group are those students identified on entry as the most
able. To this end we have put a number of strategies in place
to support Year 11 in the final months of their progress,
as well as embedding effective differentiation from Year 7
through to Year 10. We hope also to further increase the
number of students opting to study science at Walbottle in
the sixth form, continuing the positive trend of recent years.
To promote science and STEM as viable career opportunities
we are increasing the number of activities within school and
outside that open children’s eyes to the possibilities of a
STEM-related further education or career. This year students
from Years 8 and 9 have enjoyed a Lab Live day through the
Cheltenham Science Festival, coordinated by Hartlepool
nuclear facility. KS3 and Year 10 students will be learning
about animal anatomy and try out ice-skating on a Science
day at the Centre for Life in December. Year 12 students from
the Science and Create faculties are engaged in different
engineering projects run by large companies in region.
The science department runs a number of in-school extracurricular
activities including our popular science club, glass
art and even Japanese. Many other external opportunities are
accessed over the year, including medicine and dentistry courses,
women into engineering and the Big Bang Science Show.
Our long term vision for our students is that they all leave
Cheerleading
Guitar
Girls Rugby Tournament 2016
Centre for Life Trip 2016

Still not got our App?
We advertised our school app in
our Summer edition newsletter.
If you still haven’t downloaded it, get it
now from your mobile app store! It has
lots of useful features and allows you to
view information and keep up to date with
what’s going on in Walbottle Campus.
Detailed below are some examples
that we will keep you informed about.
Book Parents Evening Appointments
Our newest feature is now live! Book your parents
evening appointments quickly and effeciently using
the app.
Key Dates
If you are always missing events or just need to check
that you have space in your diary for other events, My
Ed is able to show you all the events that Walbottle
needs you to know about.
News
Keep up to date with any news that Walbottle wants
to share. An example could be the latest school
sporting results, exam success or event the promotion
of an end of term event.
School Information
Easily access school policies on the move allowing you
solve problems or to answer important questions that
you or your child may have.
The school promotes a ‘can do’ culture
that encourages and celebrates success.

Walbottle Campus
Hexham Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE15 9TP
0191 267 8221
admin@walbottlecampus.net
Key Dates:
21st December 16 - Christmas Holiday Begins
5th January 17 - Spring Term Begins
11th January 17 - Year 11 Parent Consultation
25th January 17 - Year 9 Parent Consultation
8th February 17 - Year 8 Parent Consultation
20th February 17 - February Half Term Begins