3rd March 2017

20th April 2018

THE MAGAZINE FOR MOUNTS BAY ACADEMY

STANDING OUT

Cover: Football Tour to Spain

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

We are Leading Edge...

Best wishes

Les HallAcademy Principal

It has been great to see the Academy bustling with life again after the Easter break for one of the busiest times of the academic year as we begin the run up to “exam season”. As such we have been working hard to keep our Year 11 students on track with a combination of classroom and home study programmes to give them the best outcomes they deserve. Following on from the success of our popular “Masterclass” sessions we have also arranged a spectacular number of our new “Upgrade” sessions over the last few months and I would like to thank staff, students and parents for the support they have given them. They have been really beneficial for everyone who has taken part and I am confident we will see the results of that hard work on many smiling faces when we get the results on 23rd August!

Of course we all know that realising our potential is a marathon not a sprint, so it was also great to see so many of you on Tuesday evening for our Years 9 and 10 Revision Skills event, where we shared some of the strategies that will help everyone plan their own individual revision strategies.

Many of you then stayed on to take part in our Parents Forum to discuss the proposals for some changes to the uniform. The meeting was lively, engaging and most importantly we had a good discussion of views to add to the staff and student opinions we have canvassed already. We even had some good suggestions for other uniform items that we might consider, although some were a step too far even for the most “dedicated follower of fashion”!

What pleases me most however is that we have opened up the debate about uniform in general and some of the perennial issues that we have to deal with as our students attempt to explore the boundaries of how it should be worn. We recognise that this is a natural thing for them to do and I’m sure that we all have photos of ourselves wearing things in a way that we wouldn’t consider either appropriate or fashionable now, however we are proud of the fact that our students have always worn their uniform in a way that reflects the values of the school and that is at the heart of any proposal that we make or rules we enforce.

We are still collating the responses gained from the forum and will be adding that to those from the staff and student discussion which we will present to the governors to allow us to make a final decision in the next few weeks.

Finally, you will have noticed a few changes on your return, firstly our staff are wearing a new identification lanyard as part of our progression as a lead member of the Leading Edge Academies Partnership. To signify this change I have also decided to move the Principal’s office into the heart of the school and is accessed directly from Reception. This will give me the opportunity to remain close to the life of the school whilst I engage in the everyday activities that are involved in not just keeping us at the leading edge but doing what we do best - finding talent, blazing new trails and giving our students the skills and attributes to achieve their dreams.

This week’s Teach Wow was props and costumes.  The aim of this is to teach a lesson where everything is a little bit different and unexpected. An immersive learning experience, if you like. These are the lessons where fun and learning intertwine and the students forget they are in a lesson at all. 

Props and Costumes

Year 10 Triple Scientists sampled daisy populations for one of their AQA GCSE required practicals. They compared daisy numbers on a trampled field with those at an 'untrampled' field. They recorded the number of daisies at 5 metre intervals along a 30 metre transect at both sites and calculated and compared the average number of daisies in each field from their results. Picture shows daisies being counted by their namesake Daisy Sawbridge!

This week as part of the TEACH WOW, Mrs Dale brought in a painting by the artist Dorothy Searle.   Her work is subtle and the colours are blended together when describing the tones in the sea and the 'barely there' impessions of the quaint buildings in the background. Skillfully, 'Dot' Searle has cleverly created an impression of St. Ives Harbour with expressive brushmarks which look strangely more detailed as you view the painting at a distance. On closer inspection it is easy to see how a limited colour palette has created such a calming and beautiful painting, capturing the iconic sunlight of the Harbour. 

Marcus Hughes in Year 8 brought in a civil war musket ball. We have been studying a unit on the 17th Century Civil War and this rare artefact was brought in so the class could see what went into both the flintlock and matchlock musket. The class had the opportunity to study the ball and what surprised them was the weight, it is very heavy. Thank you to Marcus and family for allowing this to be brought in.

In Science, Year 7 were set the challenge of making a model of either a plant or animal cell, and to be as creative, yet scientifically accurate as they could. The quality of submitted models was simply stunning. The students showed imagination and originality when it came to displaying cells and organelles. The submissions included pizza-based animal cells, homemade sponge cytoplasm, 3-D displays of the organelle such as the nucleus, ribosomes and even endoplasmic reticulum! The students were so excited and proud to bring in their creations, it was clear how engaged and enthusiastic they were.

Outstanding Science

BE INSPIRED

Well done to: Mabel Woodhouse, Maria Whitelock, Tallulah Kirkman, Laila Burford, Grace Ellis, Molly Bartholemew, Kelsey Adams, Romilly Ginnever, Emily

Jasse, Oakley Reynolds, Sienna Harvey, Josh Mann, Layla Clemens and Levan Murley.

BE INSPIRED

Well done Year 7 - you have done an incredible job in showcasing Science as Art!

Report by: Mrs Weightman

Year 8 Drama classes are devising a piece of drama based on WW2 during the Blitz, where the children get evacuated to the countryside. I wanted the students to understand what it would be like to be a land girl, so I dressed up specifically for their lesson, so I could bring some authenticity into it.

Firstly the students watched a short clip about the land girls and how they joined, their uniform and the jobs they had to do. I wanted the students to understand how important it was for women to volunteer, as most men had signed up to fight for their country, apart from the ones that were turned down because they had to work the land.

I brought in a photograph of my granny in her uniform on a great horse. She was very proud to do her bit and looked it.

I hope I have inspired the students to add this element into their final scene for their assessment next week.

WW2 Costume Drama

BE INSPIRED

Report by: Miss Osborne

Over the Easter holidays Zac Nicholas volunteered for 18 hours at East Pool Mine, helping with their STEM activity days ‘Trevithick Tuesdays’. He demonstrated great responsibility looking after his own experiment station which involved explaining and

demonstrating to the visitors. His confidence while talking to the public and answering questions was brilliant.

I just wanted to say that Zac is very much part of the team here at East Pool Mine and we are looking forward to working with him again in the May half-term as well as the summer holidays. Zac is a signed up volunteer for the National Trust. Any MBA students working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Awards may be interested to know that East Pool Mine are happy to accommodate them and currently

have two DofE students volunteering with them for part of their Bronze and Gold awards at the moment.

BE ADVENTUROUS

National Trust Volunteer

Year 7 who are studying the module 'Can we Colonise Mars'  have been making fruit batteries this week.  They found out that you cannot charge an iPad just by putting the charger in straight into the fruit (although there are lots of YouTube videos that show you can). A dozen lemons will provide a weak 5 volts of charge for your smartphone. At this rate, it would take a little over 5,000 hours – or 209 days – to charge the smartphone.

To make matters worse, the lemons would run out of juice after about 30 minutes charging the device. That means you would need 120,000 lemons to recharge your handset using only fruit juice.Probably best to stick with the old faithful plug socket.

Report by: Mrs Halls

When Life Gives You Lemons...

BE CURIOUS

Every Wednesday lunchtime a select group of Year 7 French students participate in the French Cooking Club; last week we made crème pâtissière et tartelettes aux framboises' (custard tarts with a raspberry on top) and this week we made French crepes (pancakes) and both of them were trés magnifique!

French Cookery Club

BE INSPIRED

Report by: Layla Clemens

No matter what we are making, it  is always really fun because you get to learn new French vocabulary and you also get to sharpen up your baking and cooking skills. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes to try new things!

I have five copies of Kenneth Oppel's ‘The Boundless’ in the library. Come in and have a look. Here is what BookBuzz have to say about it:

Will is on the journey of a lifetime as he accompanies his father on an epic journey across the vast, 19th-century Canadian countryside. Travelling on a gigantic and

stunning train, The Boundless, Will soon learns that, as well as hundreds of passengers and treasures beyond belief, the train has ever-more exciting and sometimes dangerous things to discover. When he witnesses a brutal murder, it is up to Will to save the train. Racing through the endless carriages and aided by his escape artist friend Maren and the amazing circus ringmaster Mr Dorian, Will experiences the adventure of a lifetime. Though, with dastardly murderers not far behind, that lifetime might not last long. This is a rollercoaster of a read, with thrilling

turns, dazzling characters and non-stop action. The Boundless will leave you breathless.

“

”

Book Review

We are excited to have author and presenter Katie Thistleton coming to the Academy on Friday 27th

April to talk to Year 7 students.

Katie is best known for her work on CBBC, BBC Radio 1 and for her role as ambassador for the mental health charity Young Minds. She will be sharing her own story and answering questions about the challenges of adapting to secondary school and teenage life. We hope it will be a really inspiring event for all the Year 7s.

Her new book Dear Katie is packed full of advice for teenagers, on every topic from falling out with your friends to handling schoolwork, with lots of common sense ways to help manage boredom, stress and worrying. After the talk Katie will be signing copies of her book. Katie will be around to chat afterwards and if you would like to have a signed copy of her book please bring in £7.99 on the day (or a cheque made payable to ‘The Edge of the World Bookshop Ltd’) or bring along your copy of her book from home.

BE ENTERTAINED

Author Visit For Year 7

Report by: Mrs Marsden

BE YOUR BEST

Dance Star

Theo Dowker dances with the Big Dance Company in Penzance and has competed across the UK and Europe. He was selected to be part of Lukas Mcfarlane’s Dance Group ‘SEEDS’. Lukas Mcfarlane is a famous choreographer in the dance industry ever since he won Got To Dance in 2013. He travelled to London every week for ten weeks to take part in an intensive training program and performed in a show at the end. Only a small amount of male dancers were chosen from across the country and Theo was proud to be chosen. In July he has also been selected to go to San Diego and perform at a huge show with some of the World’s best dancers. He will perform a duet with Alainey (in 7 Green) before Lukas and Julia Spiesser go on stage.

DA VINCI PROGRAMME

EXCELLENCE REWARD

There are ten places available for MBA's Surf Club running on a Tuesday afternoon with Global Boarders. No previous experience is necessary and while the lessons arenot free they are discounted for MBA students. Transport to and from school, boards

and wetsuits (although you can bring your own) are provided.

BE INVOLVED

Let's go surfing now,Everyone at MBA could be learning how,Come on a ‘surfari’ with me... (Well, with Global Boarders.)

Tuesday’s Drama Club have made a great start this week on their devised performance ‘Mind the Gap’. It is a collaborative production with

dance and music groups that will be performed late in the summer term.

‘Mind the Gap’ explores characters dealing with loss of connection and renewing connections and will use drama, dance and song to present their stories.

Drama Group

Come along next Tuesday to the Cube from 3:15 - 4:30 if you want to get involved or contact sclaxton@mountsbay.org for more details.

Surf Club

For more information and an application drop into Student Services. If you have any questions about the club see Mrs Rylett - Learning Support Mentor who will do her best to answer your questions. Email: brylett@mountsbay.org

BECREATIVEBE CREATIVE

The Mounts Bay

This year the Mounts Bay Jazz and Funk band have been busy! The group now includes over 20 students from all Year groups every week. We have been working on learning new songs, developing our skills generally, and looking at improvising. The band have also been busy performing, starting the year with five performances during the 24 Hour Gig back in October, entertaining last year’s students at the GCSE Awards evening and an amazing gig at the Music for Youth event in Truro.

We also try to get input from professional musicians as much as possible, and last month attended a great workshop from touring jazz band ‘Draw By Four’. Our musicians received individual input and training from this amazing band which was super challenging but really developed their skills.

All musicians and singers are welcome to come along and join the Jazz Band. Just head over to the Music Block on Thursday after school. Or pop into the Cube and speak to Luke if you are interested.

bandJazz / funk

PiXL Maths App

BE INSPIRED

The PiXL Maths App is a great revision app and website we are using with Year 11 during registration time each week.

It has proven results with students across the country

and includes a combination of questions, videos and help sheets.

All students have the app on their iPad automatically. They can obtain their login details and more information from:

Report by Mr Kent

Well done to:

MURTON B

BILLINGER O

EDDY H

OSBORNE T

MARTIN A

PEARSON B

ONEILL E

TOU C

JACKSON R

SUMMERS M

RICHARDS J

EMPSON Z

NICHOLLS T

JAGO J

BRITTON T

COMPTON C

PILCHER A

LEIGH S

BYRNE M

POLYBLANK A

This week the top form using the PiXL Maths App was 11 Yellow.  

Each week we will publish a list of the top 20 students in the Academy as well as the top registration group. This is not a list of students who have achieved the highest scores,

it is an engagement score, as we want students to be challenging themselves. The top 20 students are listed below. Keep up the great work Year 11.

maths

https://mountsbay.fireflycloud.net/mathematics/revision/pixl-app

Tassomai Top 20

The Tassomai App is being used by all Year 11s at the moment.

It is a great revision tool: easy to use, and readily available for the students to use at home or in the Academy.

Each week students taking part will be entered into a prize draw to win a £15 Amazon voucher.

Congratulations to these Year 11 students, the top 20 for the number of questions attempted on Tassomai last week. Completing 80% of the Tassomia course will raise your science grade to one above your target grade, so is a great way to guarantee exam success!

Report by Mr Troup

Beth Powell

Molly Pitt

Erin Neal

Theresa Greagsby

Jaden Robbins

Felix Bellamy

Dylan Tilley

Levan Siney

Isaac Baker

Phoebe Richards

Eloise Irvine

Jenny Dash

Ebony Maddock

Harry Hocking

Tyler Kearey

Steffi Fashokun

Tom Hendy

Ben Murton

Bryony Podger

Beth Hefford

The winners of this week’s Amazon voucher draw are Ben Murton and Beth Powell. Well done, keep up the good work.

While most of us have been busy relaxing and recharging our batteries over the Easter holiday Abigail Birch has been busy pursuing her athletic

dreams.

On the 1st April Abi was competing in Plymouth at the start of the season. She came away with a new PB and a season best. Not a bad start! On 7th April we packed up the car again and headed to London (Kingston upon Thames) for the first Parallel Success meeting where again she managed another big PB. The

highlight for Abi, however, was meeting Cpt Dave Henson who lost his legs in Afghanistan and is now a Paralympian Gold medalist. To finish the holidays Abigail attended the Pirate FM Local Hero Awards at Tregenna Castle Hotel where she was awarded the Sports Achievement Award and met another Olympian in

Ed Coode (Coodes Solictors) who won Gold at Athens 2004 along with Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pincent and James Cracknell in the coxless 4. Abigail has just been awarded GLL supported athlete for 2018/19 which will give her access to sports training, well being etc. 

Athletics Star

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This weekend sees her heading to Yeovil on Saturday and then on Sunday she is competing in a local competition at Carn Brea.

Abigail now has an easyfundraising page:  www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/paraabi. All donations will be very welcome and will help to support this very talented young athlete.

Over the Easter holidays 30 students and four members of staff went to Spain for a Football Development Tour. We took two boys teams (U13s and U14s) and one girls team (U14s). This trip was inspiring, fun and an experience of a

lifetime. Our tour consisted of the following…

Day 1 – Thursday 12th AprilOur journey began leaving school at 10:30am making our way to Bristol Airport. We then caught our flight to Madrid and checked in to our hotel after a full day of travelling. We then enjoyed one of the many fantastic meals provided at the hotel throughout our stay. A good nights sleep was vital in preparation for a busy day which followed so lights were out and everyone enjoyed a solid nights sleep.

Day 2 – Friday 13th AprilThe excitement was evident at breakfast amongst the students as we had an inspiring day ahead. We had two training sessions at the Real Madrid training complex – Valdebebas, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The training sessions were delivered by two Real Madrid football coaches, who both delivered engaging sessions. The facilities were outstanding and what a privilege to be training on such superb facilities. In the

evening, our two boys teams and girls team had a friendly against local Spanish opposition. The games were competitive and it was evident to see that the Spanish players enjoy passing and keeping the ball, a playing culture that is ingrained in the players from a young age.

Football Tour to Spain

BE COMPETITIVE

Day 3 – Saturday 14th April After a busy day on Friday we had a more chilled day on

the Saturday. In the morning we had a mini football tournament amongst ourselves with the ‘orange bin bags’ team winning the overall tournament. We then went to the Madrid Retiro Park and enjoyed walking around the Park and taking in some of the scenery, this was followed by some ice cream in the glorious Spanish weather. In the evening, we went to the Ten Pin Bowling with the view to crown the Madrid 2018 Bowling Champion, this turned out to be Tyler Dayus who was a joint point scorer with our very own Mr M Westren. Tyler was presented with a

trophy by Mr Westren and was announced as the winner.

Day 4 – Sunday 15th AprilThis was the best day of the trip! In the morning we went for our stadium tour at Real Madrid, the Bernabeau Stadium. This stadium was an experience the players will never forget as some of the best footballers in the World have played here, some of which include…Zinedine Zidane, Raul, Ronaldo, Christiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Sergio Ramos and many more. We got to see the history of the club and all their success in the many trophy rooms available, we went pitch side and sat in the dug out seats, we also got to see the home and away dressing rooms followed by a

walk down the players tunnel. The tour finished with a visit to the official club shop. A truly amazing experience and a brief flavour of what it feels like to be a professional footballer.

BE COMPETITIVE

BE COMPETITIVE

In the afternoon we watched a La Liga league game – Athletico Madrid vs Levante. Athletico Madrid are pushing

Barcelona for the title and Levante are fighting to avoid relegation so this game was expected to be a competitive game. The stadium blew us all away as it is a brand new state of the art stadium, the ‘Wanda Metropolitano’. Not only did we get to see the game but we also had VIP and box seats which was an enjoyable experience to say the least. The students had an

unlimited supply of soft drinks, pop corn and all the hot food available they could wish for, all totally free of

charge. To say this was taken advantage of is an understatement! The game finished 3-0 to Athletico Madrid with goals coming from Correa, Griezmann, Torres. The atmosphere was electric and an experience the group will never forget. To view highlights of this game visit – www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_4qEqdsCjU&feature=onebox

Day 5 – Monday 16th AprilOn our final day of the trip we went back to the Real Madrid training complex,

Valdebebas, for our final morning and afternoon training sessions. The day finished with a brief visit to the Madrid City Centre for a bite to eat before heading to the Madrid Airport for our flight home to Bristol. We all arrived safely back at school at 03:15am in the early hours on Tuesday morning.

The trip was an exceptional experience, not just the football which was of course brilliant, but all the other cultural and social benefits of going to another country was strongly felt by the whole group. The students were a credit to themselves and fully

embraced the Spanish language and were encouraged to speak Spanish whilst in Spain, this was really appreciated by the local people. Thanks to Miss Tripp for running some Spanish lessons before we departed which really helped. Also, a huge thank you to Mr Westren and Mr N Eddy for their contribution on the tour.

We have been to Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid…NOT MANY CAN SAY THAT!

Report by: Kevin Lawrence

Visit our website for more pictures: http://mountsbay.org/football-tour-spain/

Thursday's game was Mounts Bay vs Richard Lander in the semi-finals of the County Cup. Both teams were evenly matched for most of the first half until Mounts Bay took the lead with a great goal from Mefin Slade. At half time it was 1-0. In the second half it

was still evenly matched until Richard Lander pushed and were rewarded with a long range goal to equalise to 1-1. The rest of the second half went on with good opportunities for both sides but neither managed to score. The game had to go into extra time and Richard Lander started to get more possession and eventually managed to get the winning goal and won the match 2-1. It was a great performance by everyone.

Year 7 Football Match

Report by: Pablo Volant

BE COMPETITIVE

This Week’s Puzzle:

   

Could you write next week’s puzzle?If you would like to set the numeracy puzzle for

a future week click here. You will win House

Click here to submit your answer

Closing date for Entries: Thursday 12:00

This Week’s House Totals

BE A WINNER

Maths Quiz

Win an Amazon voucher

Each entry (maximum 1 per week) will get your name into the prize draw at the end of the semester - the more times you enter the greater your chance of winning!

POINTS MEAN PRIZES!

Previous puzzle

Which of the figures does not belong with the others?

House Competition

Blue: 202 PointsGreen: 120 PointsYellow: 105 Points

Red: 92 PointsPurple: 88 PointsOrange: 75 Points

To enter, simply write an original sentence correctly using the word microbeads. Send in your sentence using the link below.

Competition

Congratulations to Sienna Thomas who wins 10 VIVO points.

Click here to enter the competition

This week’s word is: Microbeads

Definition: extremely small pieces of plastic, used especially in cleansing products as exfoliating agents

Etymology: micro from Greek mikros ‘small‘ beads  from Old English gebed ‘prayer’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch bede and German Gebet.

BE A WINNER

MONDAY 23RD APRIL

TUESDAY 24TH APRILYear 7 Girls ESFA National Football FinalBirmingham 09:00 Departure

Regional HockeyMillfield School, 06:30 - 17:00

WEDNESDAY 25TH APRIL

Kernow Youth Book AwardEden Project 09:00 - 15:00

THURSDAY 26TH APRILYr 10 County Rugby 7sRedruth School 11:00 - 16:00

Year 8 Parents’ Evening

FRIDAY 27TH APRILAuthor Visit - Katie ThistletonYear 7 MBA 09:00 - 10:45

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