Newsletter November 2015

Welcome.
I hope that you and your family managed to enjoy your time
together over the half term break after a very busy start to the
year. In school I have been delighted to see how quickly many of
our new Year 7 students have settled into the routines of school
life. We, of course, now look ahead to the Conwy Trip where I
hope they will continue their personal development and build
friendships beyond their forms and classes.
PTA
On Sunday 20 th September the PTA undertook another gruelling
Twin Peaks Challenge in aid of the school. This was a huge
undertaking with months of careful planning by Mr. O’Donnell and
Miss Weston whose enthusiasm and tenacious zeal drove the
event forward: without their passion, events like this would simply
not go ahead.
In addition, I would like to pass on my thanks to those parents
who supported another wonderful annual event, the PTA Quiz, on
Friday 16 th October 2015. Again, a huge thank you must go to
Mrs. Turner, Mr. O’Donnell, Mr. Connolly, Mrs. Johnson and, in
particular, Mr. Johnson, for his quiz master skills. The event
continues to provide a wonderful opportunity for parents to meet
socially and to provide additional support to the school.
This year the PTA have committed to supporting the school to set
up the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award for students in Year 10.
Miss Weston will be contacting parents shortly about this
wonderful opportunity for which the PTA are fundraising in order
to provide the necessary kit so that all students have the
opportunity of achieving this wonderful award. I would like to
see 128 students in Year 10 complete the award by the summer.
It is a fantastic experience and held in high regard by employers.
In aid of this fundraising project, the PTA will be holding their
Funky Foto Day and PTA Table Top Sale on Saturday 14 th
November. If you can support the event in any small way, it
would be greatly appreciated by the PTA. Finally, a huge thank
you to parents who supported the PTA’s Bag2School. We had a
fantastic response and all £125.60 monies raised through your
kind donations of shoes and clothing will make a significant
contribution to the fundraising efforts of the PTA.
Trips and Visits
The mild start to the Autumn has meant that the Geography field
trips have been blessed with good weather. On 30 th September
Miss Eeles led 128 students through the Castleton countryside
Congratulations
Rio Gold?
Leanne Hall in Year 11 has continued
her prowess on the bicycle and gained
a place on the Olympic Development
Apprenticeship Programme. This was
Leanne’s main aim for the season and
whilst Rio may come too early for her,
we wish her every success for the
future.
Taekwondo
Izzy Brider has maintained her excellent
form. After becoming World Champion
last year, not only is Izzy the ITF
England Junior Ladies Captain, but she
was also competing in the European
Championships over the October half
term in Scotland and was crowned
European Champion for Female Junior
Patterns and was a Silver Medalist in
Junior Female Sparring. Well done
Izzy!
Twin Peaks Challenge
The PTA and I would like to pass on
our thanks to the following parents,
teachers and students for their
camaraderie and support on the day:
Scott, Katie, Josh, Amanda, Ollie, Hal,
Richard, Ruth, Colette, Jack, Dave,
Rory, Tammy, Asher, Cary, Ed, Joanne,
Barbara, Bryan, Alex, Connor, Eoin,
Aoife, Sally, Emily, Bina, Martin, Samir,
Hari, Charles, Tommy, Angela, Adrian,
Benjamin, James, Rebecca, Matthew,
Barbara, Emily, Oliver, Alastair, Miss
Weston, Ms Yeomans, Miss Wood, and
Dr. Quipp. Thank you all for your
efforts walking the Cheshire Twin Peaks
on Sunday! It was superb to see the
smiling faces and share the sense of
satisfaction at the end of the trek.
Please, if you haven't sponsored
anyone yet try to get on Parent Pay and

and caverns as they collated primary data for their assessment on
national parks. I am pleased to report that all returned safely
from the depths of the Blue John mines. In October, the
department also took the Year 12 Geographers to Macclesfield to
study the River Bollin as part of their AS field work.
Business Studies
Miss Platt has once again been involved in the “Make It
Enterprising” challenge at Manchester Airport and the Dragons’
Den competition. Abdala Jalal, Sabrina Sadiq, Sidrah Tariq,
Dawood Rubani, Rheanna Williams, Funanya Okonkwo, Olivia
James and Rebecca Wong all gave a fantastic account of
themselves during their presentation which was commented on
by the audience of the Make It challenge, and involved
manufacturing planes for a low cost flight carrier. Here they had
to cost materials and research the latest manufacturing
techniques. The team also had to calculate the total weight of the
plane and its delivery costs. In completing the task, ‘Team Skylite’
produced a website for their project.
Art
The Art Department have also been busy inspiring the AS Art
students. As part of their coursework, students led by Mr. Lea,
have visited The Lowry and Manchester Art Gallery and the
Liverpool Art Galleries. In addition and in preparation for their
GCSE coursework, Year 10 students also visited the Manchester
Museum.
Drama
Miss Lees has been busy inspiring students with visits to the Royal
Exchange to watch ‘The Crucible’ and to the Blue Box Theatre in
Chorlton to observe how productions are developed and
produced. Thank you to Mr. Nicholson who accompanied her on
both trips.
Key Dates for your diary this term
Tuesday 10 th November
Tuesday 16 th November
Tuesday 17 th November
Wednesday 18 th November
Tuesday 1 st December
Monday 7 th December
Tuesday 8 th December
Thursday 10 th December
Tuesday 14 th December
Tuesday 15 th December
Friday 18 th December
Y 9 Camp Information Evening
Y11 Mock Examinations
Y 13 Parents’ Evening
Y 7 Conway Residential
Christmas Concert
Y 11 MENACWYN injections
Y 11 Awards Evening
Y 13 Awards Evening
Y 12 Parents’ Evening
Y 12 Awards Evening
End of Term
add some money towards our goal.
Great thanks must also go to the
support team of Heidi, Michael,
Rowena, Jo, Fiona and Karen who
helped check walkers in, ferried people
around, encouraged, nourished and
brewed up!
‘Jam Packed Originals’
At present, the Dragons’ Den team are
in the process of marketing their jam
and chutney ranges. They successfully
pitched to the marketing board of
Manchester Airport for £100 to cover
their start-up costs. So successful were
they in their presentation that they
were one of the few teams to be
awarded the full £100. They now have
the challenge of converting the £100
into the largest profit they can make so
if you are entering school for a social
event, you may find yourself being
targeted by the Dragons’ Den team.
Congratulations to Sophie Jaffa-Brown,
Florrie Barton, Sadie Hiorns, Daniel
Rankine, Morgan Ollerton and Gwydion
Smit. All profits from their endeavours
are in support of St. Ann’s Hospice. To
show your support for ‘Jam Packed
Originals’ be sure to purchase any of
their products and follow them on
Facebook and Twitter.
Sixth Form Information
Thank you for supporting our Sixth Form
Information Evening held on Thursday 8 th
October for Year 11 students. I hope the
information gave parents and carers the
opportunity to gather the information
necessary to make informed choices.
After Christmas there will be additional
Information, Advice and Guidance meetings
with members of the Senior Leadership
Team. We are also adding Drama, Media
Studies and PE for September 2015.