chalk board #16

WELCOME TO THE CHALK HILLS ACADEMY!

THE CHALK BOARD

NEWSLETTER ISSUE #16 DECEMBER 2015

The Chalk Hills Academy, Leagrave High Street, Luton LU4 0NE west.thesharedlearningtrust.org.uk | 01582 884 100 | [email protected] Part of

After many months of meetings, we have now settled on a new name for our Academy.

As you know, the Trust that runs the Academy changed its name in the summer to The Shared Learning Trust and from now on the Academy itself will be known as The Chalk Hills Academy.

The new name, which the staff and pupils were all involved in choosing, reflects the fact that there are chalk hills running through Luton, and these can be seen from the back of the Academy.

At the start of next term, each student will be given a new badge for their blazer pocket: the colours will stay the same, but there will be a new logo and new name. At this point, only new uniform will be available to purchase but students will be able to wear their existing uniform until summer 2017. In other words, when your child has outgrown their current uniform, that’s when we’d like you to replace it with a new one.

At the end of next month we will also launch a new website

(please keep an eye out for that), and this termly newsletter has become ‘The Chalk Board’, keeping you up to date with all the latest news from the Academy.

Whilst there is lots of change going on, our main aim remains the same: to make sure your child has the best possible start in life through great quality teaching and exciting opportunities

‘There is an all-pervading sense of respect for every member of the culturally diverse community at the academy. Students have a good understanding of intolerance and prejudice, but without exception they state that this is not a feature of life at the academy in any form’. OFSTED, September 2014

The Chalk Hills Academy, Leagrave High Street, Luton LU4 0NE west.thesharedlearningtrust.org.uk | 01582 884 100 | [email protected]

PRINCIPAL POINTSIt has been another busy and vibrant term at West Academy/The Chalk Hills Academy.

In August we were once again celebrating our fantastic examination success. The outcomes have supported our ex-Year 11 and Year 13 students in allowing them to move forward. These results also maintain our position as one of the leading schools within Luton.

Activities and events have continued throughout the term including our MacMillan Coffee Morning, Children in Need Non-Uniform day, Golden Keys for Success Achievers, Academic Review Day, Remembrance Service, Teacher Assessment’s of Progress (TAP’s) for Years 7, 10, 11 and post 16, Christmas Fayre, Christmas Show, Christmas Jumper Day and all alongside so many high quality learning experiences.

High expectations of students, excellent teaching, rigorous assessment and student determination underpin our success. Our current progress shows that both our GCSE and A-Level targets are as ambitious as ever and we are looking forward to 2016.

Wishing all parents and families a very Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year.

Andy Hardy & Samia Akram, Principal Deputy Principal

The Chalk Hills Academy


ALAN SMITH VISITS CHALK HILLS!This term, former England footballer and current sports television pundit Alan Smith visited the Academy to speak to our Year 11 students and inspire them to success. Here are some recollections of the events from a couple of our students...

As soon as he introduced himself and discussed his achievements and how he went on to accomplish his ultimate dream, it gave me a realisation that anything is possible. His inspiring visit helped me to be more confident in myself and to have more self-belief. I must focus and try changing certain aspects of my learning. His visit helped give us a guide that teachers, family and friends are the most important people to help you achieve in the future.

As an Arsenal fan myself, I’ve known about him a long time and done thorough research about his major accomplishments. The reputable English footballer was conscientious at school, well-behaved and very focused in his learning.

This significant visit helped me realise this and created a greater thought about my approach to success. Before his visit I was only concentrating on subjects that I would be able to do well at and get great results in. However now I know every subject is equally as important!

Overall, the day was essential to the realisation that I must amend the way I concentrate my learning. I am now striving to take part in lessons, to have more confidence and hopefully this will guide me to tremendous success.

Marvin Onumonu

I was once a perturbed child, lazily I let what could have been pass me by.

No substantial effort in my studies. Why try?

Indulgent I was, naïve I was, lacked motivation as I prolonged an answer - all that changed once I met a man of such great brilliance that his presence alone overwhelmed me.

His words of wisdom and sheer knowledge struck me down and manifested me into a new optimistic person.

His backstory alone made my heart weep as his determination caused an epiphany upon me. ‘Till this day I struggle to forget his words and will always store them as I continue my journey of strife.

“nothing is given to you, you have to work for what you want”. - Many thanks to the man who changed my life.

Patrick Mbonu


GARDENING CLUB UPDATENow it’s getting colder and wet, we haven’t been able to go to the garden during lunch times.

Hopefully in the New Year we will have a new green house, so we can start growing vegetables to fill the beds.

We have everyone’s favourite vegetable growing well in the garden ready for Christmas; the great Brussel sprout!

2015-16 Key Dates 18th December End of Term4th January INSET Day5th January Students Return to the Academy6th January 6th Form Awards Evening19th January 6th Form Open Evening12th February 6th Form Parents’ Consultation Evening12th February Half Term - Break up22nd February Students Return to the Academy25th February Year 9 Parents’ Consultation Evening10th March Year 10 Parents’ Consultation Evening22nd March Year 11 Parents’ Consultation & Achievement Evening24th March End of Term

11th April INSET Day12th April Students Return to the Academy 14th April Year 8 Options Evening21st April Year 7 Parents’ Consultation Evening28th April Year 8 Parents’ Consultation Evening27th May Half Term - Break up6th June Students Return to the Academy21st July End of Academic Year


LUTON BEST AWARDSWe are proud to announce that West Academy were shortlisted for the Environmental Achievement award at the Luton Best Awards 2015 for our VE Day poppy planting.Tammy Hind and Liz Harvey attended the prestigious award ceremony and although we didn’t win we were a very happy runner up and are extremely proud of our students for the dedication and hard work that they put into the project.Our certificate will be going proudly on show at the front of the school.

JUNIOR LEADERSHIP TEAMThis year we will have a Key Stage 3 Extended Junior Leadership Team. The team will be made up of our Junior Head Girl, Head Boy, Two Deputies and a full team of 8 prefects. All students had to apply and interview for the role. Big congratulations to Sophie and Nishorgo our first KS3 Junior Head Girl and Head Boy.


CHARITY NEWSOn 25th September we held another hugely successful Coffee Morning for Macmillan Cancer Research and Stop Sepsis.A variety of cakes were offered for staff and the community, some of which had been baked by our star students in a bake off !We also ran a cake sale for the students and auctioned off our winning cake which attracted a fantastic winning bid of £50 which contributed to a huge total of £330, which is our best total so far for this event!Two hugely successful non-uniform days so far this year for Wear it Pink and Children In Need have raised over £2000 towards our charity total already.We are also running our hugely successful ‘Sleigh Bell Appeal’ again this year and in January the students will be addressed by staff from St Hugh’s Church and see how the donations have been used in the community.


MATHS + ZUMBA = FUN FOR ALL!

CAREERS FAIR 2015West Academy held a Careers Fair on Thursday 22 October and it was an unprecedented success.

All Year 11 students attended along with students from Year 10, Sixth Form and a small group from South Academy. They met with a variety of public and private sector employers and educational institutions to discuss their futures and ambitions.

The companies that attended were very impressed with the student behaviour, questions, enthusiasm and the general hospitality shown by all.

We very much hope this will become an annual event!

On Tuesday 24th November 2015, the Maths department held a revision session for year 11s in a very different approach in preparation for their TAPs exam. After an intense math revision session, all students came down to the main hall where they found Yevette, the Zumba instructor.

As the students were doing Zumba, there was a Mathematical presentation running with key formulas and key terms. This reinforced the math learning

‘I really enjoyed myself and it motivated me to attend Maths revision’ – Patrick Mbonu

‘Can we do Zumba again?’ - Jahmari Opeby-Kawawa

‘This was a great way for everyone to get together to release stress before the exams. I thought I was the only one stressed out.’ – Ashley Katerere

COOKING CLUBWe have made some lovely dishes this year, including last week’s slow cooked beef stew, it was very tasty, but we forgot to make the dumplings.

All our dishes are gluten and dairy free, which is difficult especially pastry as it doesn’t roll out well, but we won’t give up, we keep trialling different recipes.

During this year we have estimated that we have cooked and decorated nearly a thousand cupcakes. Some for charity events, the art display with the Mad Hatter’s tea party and year 6 open evening.


FROG UPDATESFrom January 2015 Frog will be used for tracking student assessment against our curriculum strands. Over time, this will enable us to communicate with you not only your child’s current working at grades but the actual subject content, knowledge and skills that your child is strong or weak in.

We even have plans to provide extension resources to allow you to support your child in meeting elusive targets!

In other news, our Friends of West (name change imminent!) group now have their own Frog site where they can access key documents, keep up to date with notices and even chat in our forum.

If you are a parent and still do not know your login details please complete the form below and pass it to reception staff.

Parent Name:

Child Name: (eldest if more than one)

Parent E-Mail:

UKMT SENIOR RESULTSThe Mathematics department entered students for the UKMT Senior Challenge which is aimed at all 16-19 year olds studying mathematics. Below are the results. Well Done!

Year 13 - Richard Owen – Silver Award in UKMT SeniorYear 13 - Lixson Omoregie – Bronze Award in UKMT SeniorYear 13 – Samantha Gilligan – Bronze Award in UKMT SeniorYear 13 – Jade Mistry – Bronze Award in UKMT SeniorYear 13 – Meagan Mapp – Bronze Award in UKMT SeniorYear 13 – Amel Isaq – Bronze Award in UKMT SeniorYear 12 – Sulaiman Hamzah – Bronze Award in UKMT SeniorYear 12 – Mohammed Naim – Bronze Award in UKMT Senior

Give it a go!Question 1 from the 2015 challenge;

What is 20152 − 2016 × 2014? A −2015 B −1 C 0 D 1 E 2015


GOLDEN KEY AWARDSAt the end of our Autumn Half Term 1 our Key Stage 3 students –(Years 7 and 8) had a very special rewards assembly.

These pictures show our first ‘Gold Key to Success Winners’, our ‘World Education Games Winners’ and our highest achieving personalised learning group.

All Gold Keys to Success winners all received a special Gold Key badge. Wearing this badge opens up a number of privileges at Chalk Hills Academy including going to the front of the lunch queue (and at break), their own personal non-uniform day (they choose the day) and more.

TRUMPET PLAYER EXTRAORDINAIRE!On Sunday 18th October I played the trumpet at the annual Trafalgar Square Parade which is held to celebrate Lord Nelson’s life. There was a very large crowd of spectators and with almost one hundred members playing, we marched down the Mall & past Buckingham Palace. This was very exciting for me and my parents were very proud.

I am part of the Dunstable Sea Cadets and we take part in many parades; most recently the Remembrance Sunday Parade in Dunstable. My next parade is the Birmingham International Tattoo, this is held indoors at the Barclaycard arena. There will be thousands of spectators & I will be playing the trumpet again.

I really enjoy taking part in these events & I hope to be part of the HM Royal Marines School of Music as the Corps of Drums when I leave school.

Joe Eldred


YEAR 11 PROM 2015Here are just some of the fabulous images from last summer’s Year 11 Prom, which were too late to be included in the last issue of this newsletter.


LAST MESSAGEWest Academy opened in 2007, and I arrived as a Vice Principal initially, moving up to the Principal role in 2010. In 8 years we have rapidly moved from the bottom of the education league tables in Luton to one of the highest performing schools, and we have maintained this position. We are now an oversubscribed Academy (we have doubled in size since 2007), we have moved into our £30 million state of the art building, we have received many awards both National and locally, we have an excellent OFSTED report and we have gained Teaching School Status.

At the end of 2012 I had my own personal journey, your thoughts and best wishes during this time were really important to me. I would personally like to say a heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to everyone, and for the support with the subsequent fund-raising for St. Peter’s Rehabilitation Ward, Hemel Hempstead.

I am extremely excited about my new venture, however West Academy will always have a special place in my heart, and I will be following the continued success with great interest.

Finally, I have really enjoyed my time leading West Academy, thank you for your support and most of all I am proud of our students and their many successes.

Wishing you all the best.

Andy Hardy

YEAR 11 STORM TO SUCCESSEvery parent knows the importance of a child’s GCSE examination year and our Year 11 have demonstrated such tenacity, maturity and commitment this Autumn Term. They have been outstanding members of the school community and have made both themselves and the Year 11 team proud.

We have experienced a collapsed timetable, weeks of mock examinations, an external motivational speech from ex-England footballer Alan Smith, as well as engaging study skills sessions led by Elevate. We have increased the number of assemblies with Year 11, doubled the number of rewards we are distributing and are now running fortnightly ten pin bowling trips, alongside our new half termly tablet raffle draw.

Students have attended Lesson 6 classes, weekend revision sessions, late evening themed nights and an achievement evening. Maths ran a special Zumba session which was well attended and we have concluded this term with a Year 11 Parents’ Evening.

Can I take this opportunity to thank everyone who is supporting our Year 11 cohort, especially the students themselves.

Have a wonder Christmas holiday and I’ll see you in 2016!

Mrs C Linehan Associate Vice Principal

A.B.A.T.West Academy’s ABAT (Anti Bullying Action Team) has been re-launched with new members & the introduction of a committee who will attend regular ABAT meetings. We have two year 11 representatives Lewis Witton & Simran Dabb who run the meetings.

A competition was held to design a new logo, congratulations to all who entered. The winner was Mamun Akthar (year 7), there were two runners up Simon Mendoza ( year 8) & Kayleigh Emsley ( year 7 ). They all received a kangaroo pass as their prize & the new logo will be displayed on the ABAT notice board.

One of the questions from our ABAT meetings was how do you find a member of ABAT if a student wishes to report any bullying or conflict. It was decided by the members that they would volunteer to undertake a duty in either the LRC or the Support for Learning room at break times. A big thanks to all members who have performed their duties diligently.

All ABAT members also wear a badge to show that they are part of the team.

The current members are:

Year 10: Abisola, Noah, Lucia, Tia, Millie & Vladimira.

Year 9: Libby Jay, Jake Wynn & Ali Cali.

Year 8: Gabriele, Jordan & Abigail.

Year 7: Taaliyah, Nayan, Abbie, Humaira, Aisha & Benita.


chalk board #16

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