Peacock Press July 2012.pdf - Belvoir High School

Summer
SUMMER
Term Issue
TERM
2012
JULY 2010
Achievement Evening 2012
Belvoir High School hosted its annual
Achievement Evening on Tuesday 19 th June
with students receiving recognition for their
effort and achievements across all subject
areas.
Executive Principal, Jon Sherwin welcomed
everyone to the evening and Acting Principal,
Paul Ainsworth recalled the effort, hard work
and determination of students throughout the
year which has brought them to this
celebration of success. He praised both staff
and pupils for making Belvoir High School
such a great place to work and study at and
reminded students that the key to
achievement was to aim high and not to accept second best.
In a change to previous years, former pupil, Beth Birley and a current Year 11, Claire Hopkins, who will
be leaving this summer, each gave an insight into their time at Belvoir, sharing some truly inspirational
thoughts. Both agreed that all the opportunities for success were available at the school and it is up to
the pupils to take advantage of what is on offer.
The evening culminated with Tom Mallender winning the prestigious title of ‘Pupil of the Year 2012’ and
the Duke of Rutland Trophy, whilst Shania-Leigh Kevern won the Credit Cup.

THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR
Dear All
I’m sure many of you will feel the same as me at this point – where has the last
school year gone! It is my pleasure to reflect on a year full of opportunities for
our children and an incredible amount of learning.
Way back in September we welcomed our new Year 7 intake and they settled
in very quickly to school life. More recently, many of those same pupils went
on a successful Design Technology residential to Telford and we were
delighted with the many positive comments we received on pupil behaviour
and enthusiasm.
Our Year 8 students have risen to the challenge this year and have also enjoyed much success
both academically and in their extra-curricular activities. Many of Year 8 battled the elements to
enjoy an outdoor pursuits residential to Aberglaslyn, North Wales. This is one of our most popular
and valued residential visits and tends to produce some of the most spectacular images of our
children stretching themselves both physically and mentally as they face new experiences and
challenges.
In Year 9 our pupils start to make some of the bigger decisions regarding the subject areas they
will study at GCSE and BTEC. I continue to be impressed by the collaborative approach with
pupils, parents and our teaching staff ensuring that the choices they make play to the individual’s
strengths and enjoyment of their learning. Year 9 has also seen pupils enjoy a residential visit to
France and day visits to London to experience live theatre and art galleries.
I know I have said this in a previous correspondence with you but it’s worth reiterating that I do not
believe there has been a more busy exam period for our Year 10 students. Modular examinations
seem to have cropped up in every term and this means our 10’s have had to really organised
themselves and their revision to enable them to cope with this form of assessment. One of the
most memorable assemblies was delivered by group of Year 10’s pupils who visited Poland and
the concentration camp at Auschwitz. The assembly and the children’s recollection of their visit
was delivered with great compassion and dignity, a truly outstanding contribution.
Our Year 11’s Leavers Ball last week celebrated the end of all the hard work and dedication the
pupils have put in to ensure success in their exams. The majority of our 11’s will move up to higher
education in September and some out into the world of work but in the many conversations I’ve
had with them over the last few months, I know how much they have enjoyed their time
here. Belvoir is a genuine community with both pupils and staff working hard make friendships that
last a lifetime.
At the end of every academic year a school will say good bye to a group of staff who are leaving.
All staff leave different memories with individual children and parents and I am sure like me you
wish them best wishes for the future.
Miss Elgey has been working in the English department since October half term when Miss Stark
retired. It is never easy taking over from a long serving experienced member of staff and I am very
grateful for all her efforts. Miss Elgey will be moving to Shepshed High School in September. Mr
Tysoe has been busily working behind the scenes in the Technology Department for the last three
years. In these times of funding tightening, it has been vital to have someone with Mr Tysoe’s skills
who could turn his hand to maintaining and mending the equipment in Design Technology without
paying exorbitant fees.
Miss James will also be taking a year’s sabbatical from Belvoir High School. In addition to being an
inspirational PE teacher, Miss James also plays Netball at super league leave and nationally for
Wales. She has worked her way back to fitness after suffering some serious injuries and we hope
during her sabbatical in New Zealand next year she will have the opportunity to play Netball at the
highest level for another year.

Mrs Bett has been at the school for seven years as our Director of Inclusion. Mrs Bett moved to the school
from Longfield High School at a time when it was not expected that Belvoir would remain as an 10-14 High
School, little did she know of the extent of the changes that would occur and the impact it would have on
her role. Mrs Bett has played such a key part in the lives of many of our pupils to ensure that they felt at
ease at school and supported in the classroom. This has become an ever more complex challenge in ensuring
that the students gain the correct support for the examination provision. Mrs Bett has also taught a
full range of subjects including Mathematics, English, French and Technology.
Finally this year we will say good bye to Mr Collins as a full-time Assistant Principal. The best word I have
heard use to describe Mr Collins was ‘legend’ by last year’s Year 11 pupils. It is so rare to find a member of
staff in this day and age who has spent their whole career in one school and also lived in the school’s
catchment. Mr Collins has a made unique contribution to the school, the pupils and the Vale of Belvoir as a
whole. So many of you will have individual memories of Mr Collins either him teaching you PE, driving your
children to a whole variety of sport fixtures not forgetting Saturday morning cross country and providing a
steady stable influence on the behaviour of the children. Every time I meet new parents to the school so
many have anecdotes to tell me of Mr Collins and when we run our new Year 7 pupils evening there is always
a queue of parents waiting to tell him how they’ve got on in life or to remind him of the impact he
made on their lives. Mr Collins also has the same impact of the staff he works with, we all learn new skills
from working alongside Mr Collins on day to day basis. So I am absolutely delighted that Mr Collins will
continue to teach PE part time at the school next year. We all wish him the very best for the future.
Have a lovely summer break
Mr Ainsworth
ACADEMY STATUS RESOLUTION
We write to you following a decision taken by the Governing Body and Barkestone Education Trust who met
on Tuesday 22nd May 2012. The Governing Body passed a resolution to pursue the intention to formally
apply to become an Academy, which was also fully supported by the Barkestone Education Trust. We are
hopeful this process will be complete by 1 st September 2012; although this will be dependent on factors
outside the schools control.
The Governors and Trustees are in agreement that the ethos of both Belvoir High School and MV16 will
remain unchanged and that the two centres will continue to strive to ensure all our young people have a
sense of belonging and are able to source great educational opportunities to achieve their personal
successes. Furthermore, there is no intention to make any changes to the name of either of the
establishments nor will there be any associated alteration to our catchment areas or entry requirements. We
are sure that for all our community there will be no obvious changes as we move from our current status as a
Foundation and Trust school to an academy.
What academy status will bring is greater flexibility to take advantage of opportunities in the rapidly changing
national and local education world.
We would like to thank those individuals and organisations who responded to our consultation, only one of
which expressed opposition to conversion.
Yours Sincerely
Mr B Lovegrove
Chair of Governors
Dr D Bailey
Chair of the Barkestone Education Trust
Mr J Sherwin
Executive Principal

Year 11 Leavers Ball—29th June
Year 11 students had a
fantastic evening at their Prom
which was held at Scalford Hall
on Friday 29th June. All the
leavers looked amazing with
individuals showing their
personalities through sharp
suits, sensational dresses and
stunning shoes! Mr Ainsworth,
Acting Principal addressed the
students on behalf of all the
staff. He commended them on
their hard work and dedication
saying “ I know you have
worked very hard in this final
year and wish you every success for the future”. The staff band “Mr Bennett’s Mid Life Crisis” made
a surprise appearance, breaking off from their day jobs. They “treated” pupils to their latest
set.......then the Disco kicked in, shoes were kicked off and all present danced the night away!
Our Jubilee Celebrations
Belvoir High School celebrated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with a whole school BBQ
lunch, games on the field and quizzes. Pupils dressed in Commonwealth Sports shirts and
the variety of colour was amazing. Before the last day of term, Mr Barratt and his team
photographed every child against a coloured background to make the Union Flag image. A
copy of the picture is on display in the Winterbeck building so please come and have a look
at it when you next visit the school. We ended the day with a whole school photograph in
the courtyard and this is available to download via the VLE.

Belvoir Sponsored Walk—Bustache
On the 27 th June Belvoir High School students took part in a sponsored walk. The walk took the
students across the village and up through some of the fields around Bottesford. The sun managed
to stay out for us on the day and the afternoon of the walk was warm and dry, unlike the rest of the
summer so far. Students could complete the route more than once for a 10Km walk, and some
even chose to run round. A great afternoon was shared by all those who attended.
The object of the Sponsored walk was to
raise money to replace the schools old
minibus. It is now over 10 years old and
done well over 100K miles. While it remains
road worthy it is costing the school more and
more to keep it on the road, and its
environmental credentials are not exactly
desirable. We would like to replace it with a
new lightweight minibus which would benefit
the school in other ways. It would reduce the
carbon footprint of the bus, and also allow
younger members of our teaching staff who
no longer have a D1 license to drive it. A D1
classification would cost us around £900 per
teacher, so this has a big impact on finances
and running costs. Without this in place it
means a limited number of staff can drive the
minibus and this then can impact upon availability for trips and events when drivers are not always
available.
So why did we call it ‘Bustache’ As many of you are aware Mr. Collins has decided to retire from
fulltime teaching at Belvoir, after nearly 40 years of dedicated hard work and service (Don’t panic he
has agreed to come and teach PE a couple of days a week in September). As the minibus is used
predominantly by the PE department for many of their sports fixtures and events we decided it
would be nice to honor Mr. Collins by dedicating a new bus to him. We have many photos of Mr.
Collins through the years and his one stand out feature has always been his mustache.
The Sponsored walk was the start of our efforts to raise money for a new Minibus, which will cost
around £24,000. We will be continuing to raise funds in the Autumn term in various ways, by
running events, contacting organizations and looking for sponsors. If you know of anyone who
might be able to help in any way, please let us know.
Mr Bennett, Assistant Principal
Year 9 London Trips
On a sunny day in June, the first of the three Year 9 Arts trips to London took place.
Travelling by train to Kings Cross we were quickly at the Tate Britain in order to take
a boat trip up the Thames past the House of Parliament, London Eye and the
National Theatre to Tate Modern where pupils explored the gallery in small groups.
After a lunch stop at Gabriel’s Wharf there was time for a visit to Covent Garden
before settling down for an afternoon of ghostly thrills watching ‘the Woman in Black’
at the Fortune Theatre.

Olympic Torch Trip
On Tuesday 3 rd July we took 27
pupils to see the Olympic Torch in
Melton. Pupils were chosen for
their good work during PE lessons,
as well as their commitment to
extra-curricular clubs.
On the day, pupils not only got to
see the torch bearer run, but also
got the opportunity to get their
hands on one of the torches
themselves.
As well as the excitement of the
torch, pupils took part in some
sports competitions. Year 8’s
played in an outside netball competition, where they battled through cold and wet conditions to
finish second.
Year 8 and 9 boys managed to escape the rain, and take part in a table tennis competition. All
competitors did very well, but special mention must go to our winner Freddie Heathcote. This
victory was clearly a big moment in this young man’s life (see photo).
Finally our Year 10’s took part in a mixed volleyball competition. They
were very nervous before the game, due to lack of experience.
However, thanks to some inspirational coaching from Mr Collins, they
did well and managed to win their last game.
An excellent day was had by all, and it was great to be part of history.
As the t-shirt the pupils received said...’I was there!’
Mr Carter

Primary School Festivals
This Half Term we have hosted 3 Key Stage 1 Multi Skills
Festivals for our local primary schools. Many of our Years
7, 8, and 9’s took on the role of leaders, helping pupils
with skills such as running, throwing, catching, and
balancing. Our pupils did a wonderful job, and there were
quite a few who look like ‘teachers in the making.’
“I really enjoyed helping at the Multi Skills Festival. All
the pupils had a great time. It was great to work with
pupils from my old school, and help them develop their
skills.” Sam Harris – Year 7
Science and Technology Club
This term has seen club members complete the
3 rd and final challenge of the year.
This time they were challenged to design and
build a wheeled vehicle which would travel
down a ramp and then become airborne and
glide for the longest distance and time!
Competitors worked in teams or on their own to
build contraptions to be powered by gravity and
imagination alone! A bit of ‘know-how’ was
added with master classes in aerodynamics and model making techniques provided by Mr. White
and Ms. Forsyth.
The final event was held in the atrium to an enthusiastic crowd of ‘want-to-be’ scientist and
technologists! With contraptions being launched from the first floor balcony!
Congratulations go to Celeste Drouin-Davis in
Year 8, for recording a ‘soaring’ distance of 8m
17cm to take the FLUGTAG title.
Science & Technology Club will return in the
autumn term with a brand new set of wacky
challenges…should you choose to accept!
Miss Forsyth

Rotary Designer of the Year Awards 2012
Success at the ‘Young Designer of the Year Awards’ as Belvoir High School D&T
students sweep up! Amelia Gribby, Edward Chamberlain and Thomas Gilbert were
selected to represent BHS in the competition run by Melton Rotary Club and MV16
Design Department.
Tom designed and made an electronic Reef Indicator to solve the problem inexperienced
sailors may encounter when sailing in windy conditions. His device measures wind speed
and converts this to a simple display which informs the sailor of how many reefs the sail
should be folded into.
Tom was awarded rotary designer of the year 2012 and we wish him luck at the district
finals later this month.
Ed was rotary designer of the year 2012
runner up with his stylish metronome design
which incorporates many electronic features
useful for novice and experienced musicians.
He designed and made three separate circuit
boards and housed them in a laminated plywood
case, all made with the departments CAD/ CAM
equipment.
Amelia received runner up in the Manufacturing Award Category
for her Self Assembly Lamp designed in the IKEA house style.
Particular mention was made of the variety of processes she
incorporated in the manufacture of her lamp ranging between the
use of hand tools, machinery and CAD/ CAM. Amelia worked
extensively with ProDesktop and 2D design CAD software.
Written by Miss Forsyth

Science Summer Highlights
Physics gets Extreme!
Four Triple Science pupils started their
Easter holidays with an Extreme
Physics residential course held at
Rugby School in Warwickshire. Over
the three days the pupils took part in a
number of group and individual
challenges, ranging from a signalling
challenge, building a one minute timer
to working out the mass of an alien in
space. Pupils also attended evening
lectures on topics such as surviving a
nuclear attack and on exploring the universe. All pupils also had the opportunity to participate in
the extreme activities of rock climbing and indoor skydiving! Belvoir High School were competing
along side teams from 10 other schools from across the Midlands. With points awarded
throughout the event for teamwork, knowledge, creativity and achievement, the team from Belvoir
High School could not be faulted for their consistent determination and work ethic. We were
placed highly throughout the events and regularly appeared in the top 5.
Pupil comments: “We attended various lectures over the 3 days and the lecture on “How to
survive a nuclear attack” got lots of us involved. We had various activities throughout, the 60
second timer was great fun. The indoor skydiving was much harder than we thought and it was
phenomenal how a slight change in body shape and you dropped to the floor. Overall, it was a
great trip to go on and my knowledge and interest in Physics has improved. I am now thinking of
studying science further and taking Physics A levels.”
First Aid Club
On the 24 th March 2012, Mrs Smith took a
team of four first aiders to the St John
Ambulance Schools Competition in
Chesterfield. In the competition, they had set
up a campsite with two casualties we had to
treat with the first aid skills we had learnt.
Some of the injuries included bites and stings,
bleeding, asthma and cardiac arrest. We
came third in the competition which was great
as we had only been training for 2 months.
Ella Metcalfe 8SSM

Geography Field Work
May has been a month for fieldwork in the Geography
department. Luckily the weather improved for the end of the
month. On Monday 28 th May we took 50 Year 10 students to the
Holderness coast to investigate coastal processes and landforms
for their GCSE Controlled Assessment. It was a beautiful day, but
unfortunately most of it was spent on the coach travelling to
Yorkshire and back. We didn’t even have time for ice creams!
Year 7 have also been completing fieldwork in the village to
investigate whether Bottesford fits the Urban Land-use Model.
They will be writing up their investigation over the coming weeks
which will be the final teacher assessment of the year.
Finally, farewell to the Year 11 Geographers. I wish them well for the future, especially those
going on to study Geography at AS level. Ms McGrath
Belvoirs Got Talent Competition
Over 50 pupils took part in this year’s Belvoir’s Got Talent held on
Tuesday 26 th June. Once again there were outstanding performances
from singers, dancers, a gymnast and musicians who performed to a
full hall. It was a superb evening which once again demonstrated just
how talented pupils are Belvoir really are. Well done to all who took
part. Miss Jackson

Fantasy Football League
The 2011/12 Fantasy Football season has drawn to a close. We had 100 entrants including pupils,
staff and parents battling for the winner’s trophy.
Entrants selected a team of 11 Premier League players that collected points depending on their performances
in actual Premier League games. The School’s Fantasy League update the points on the
schools own personalised league page, providing the perfect environment for pupils, teachers and
parents to show off their football management skills!
The overall winner was Alex Reason in Year 10 with an astounding 429 points – narrowly beating
the first runner up Peter Mumford who actually had the same number of points.
Unfortunately, the School’s Fantasy League is not running a competition for the 2012/13 season but
they will be back the following year so you have a year to practice your management skills before
you enter the next competition.
Full Winners List:
Winner's trophy Alex Reason
1 st Runner up Peter Mumford
2 nd Runner up Brodie Evans-Snow
Year 7 Winner
Year 8 Winner
Year 9 Winner
Year 10 Winner
Year 11 Winner
Staff Prize
Parent Prize
FA CupPrize
Oliver Warner
William Pigott
Peter Mumford
Alex Reason
Sam Norman
Mrs Brooks
Mr Baker
Callum Sumner
Congratulations to everyone who participated and I look forward to welcoming you all to the 2013/14
season. Mrs S Smith League Chairman.
Mini Olympics
Miss Watson co-ordinated and choreographed the Opening Ceremony with schools
from the Vale and Melton Mowbray. Belvoir High School BTEC Dance students
represented the school as Dance Ambassadors and met the Deputy Mayor and
future British Olympic hopefuls. Over 600 children took part in this exciting event at
MV16

Y10 History Trip to Lincoln Castle
Francovision Winners 2012
Le Chocolat!
World Book Night Comes to Belvoir
Year 10 recently visited Lincoln Castle as part of their
GCSE History course. The purpose of the visit was to
investigate the castle and how it had changed and
developed over the past thousand years.
Areas looked into were the medieval walls, Cobb Hall
and the Victorian prison, where pupils tried out the coffin
like pews for size. Afterwards pupils were free to explore
the old town, though many found the walk back up
Steep Hill a struggle!
The investigation will form the basis for the Controlled
Assessment component of the course, History Around Us.
Each form group in Year 7 learnt a song by heart and performed the song on stage which was
then recorded. The videos were shown in assemblies and the pupils in Year 7 and 8 voted on
their favourite, but of course the Year 7s couldn’t vote for their own video.
The final winner was....... 7DRT with their rendition of Mika’s song: Elle me dit. The runners up
were 7KL.
A huge congratulations to all the tutor groups for their brilliant performances and their hard work to
produce their videos. Miss Allen
Year 8 pupils have been studying a chocolate module in French this half term. They have learnt
about the history of chocolate, the climate of the rainforest where the cocoa beans grow and
issues relating to fair-trade, all in French of course!
Miss Allen’s class have recorded a French radio cookery show for a chocolate smoothie recipe
and then had the opportunity to make the actual smoothie in one of their lessons. Most
smoothies actually turned out to be very tasty if not a little sickly but George and Lyle win the
prize of most inedible recipe.
Twenty four lucky parents received copies of World Book Night title ‘The Vanishing Act of Esme
Lennox’ by Maggie O’Farrell from Mrs Bett this term. Mrs Bett explained that World Book Night
aims to spread the joy of reading to as many people as possible in all corners of the UK. She
put in a bid to give books out to parents as there are no bookshops and only one library in the
Vale of Belvoir. Mrs Bett said her chosen book deals with many issues surrounding attitudes to
mental illness, but has a surprising twist at the end.
Book Fair
A Book Fair was held in the school library in April and was very well supported by the children.
A book title word search competition was held during Book Fair week and the lucky winners
were Courtney Mitchell, Oliver Jacobs, Celeste Drouin-Davis, and Jacob King. They were each
able to choose a book from the Book Fair as their prize. As ever, thank you for your support as
it enabled us to select £162 worth of free books for the school library.