dear parents and carers, - crosbyhigh.org easter.pdf · dear parents and carers, ... known para...
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Dear Parents and Carers,
I am very excited about this half term’s newsletter as we have so much to share with
you and all of it is good news!
The first news we have to tell you about is of our Ofsted inspection which took place
on Tuesday 18th and Wednesday 19th March. Inspections now happen with only half a
days notice as inspectors want to see how a school really is and do not allow any time
for pre preparation or “pulling the wool over their eyes” so to speak. You can be very
proud of your children as they were wonderful (as always.) The inspectors spoke highly
of their manners, their appearance and their conduct as well as how well they focused
on their learning in lessons. The staff worked together as a real team during this quite
stressful event and really showed the inspectors how skilled they are in teaching our
children and how they make the lessons interesting and often exciting. I am sure you
have all heard how much the inspection regime has changed and that the criteria by
which we are judged is very demanding. There are only two categories to pass the
inspection, good or outstanding, and outstanding is proving very difficult for any school
to achieve. We are pleased to inform you that we were found to be good overall with
safeguarding being awarded outstanding. The full report is on our website for you to
read and if any of you want a hard copy please contact school and we will provide one
for you.
That brings me to the next bit of exciting news, our new website is now live. It is not
the finished article yet as we are aware there are many things we can add to it so it
will be a work in progress, but at least we now have something that is working and
there is some key information on it. If you have a look at it and have any ideas of what
may be worthwhile having on the website please let us know; we want it to be as useful
as possible to you all.
The final fantastic piece of news from me is that on Wednesday 2nd April we had the
formal opening ceremony of our new sports hall. It is a wonderful new building and the
children are so excited about their PE lessons being in this new, large and airy building,
not to mention Mr Johnston and Mr Gairn! It’s even got under-floor heating so the
children’s feet won’t be cold when doing gymnastics. The sports hall has been named
“The Mike Hanford Sport’s Hall” after our Chair of Governors, who retired last year,
after serving the school on a voluntary basis since 1997. Jamie Burdekin, Bootle’s well
known para Olympian tennis player joined Mike and many other V.I.P’s from the local
education authority to formally cut the ribbon. Jamie spoke to the children about the
power of determination and that with hard work and commitment anything is possible,
as he was paralysed after a car accident but has learned a new sport and is now seeded
4th in the world.
As you will see in the newsletter there have been many more events and stimulating
activities this half term so please enjoy reading it. Have a very happy Easter and we
will see the children back in school on Wednesday 23rd April as we L.E.A.P together
again for the summer term.
Mrs. Oxton-Grant
This term, Year 11 pupils have been looking at advertisements across various
media, at the end of which, as part of their final coursework , they each
produced their own advert based on independent research.
9SB have been studying William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ this half term. They
have really understood the characters of Macbeth and his descent into evil
ways. Here you can see Tyronne Lougue’s ‘Macbeth’s
Mood Graph’. You can also see Jack McCluskie’s idea of
what Macbeth might write in his diary.
On the last day of Spring 1 (14th February), Mr Bellis did an assembly
based on ‘Valentines Day’. At the end of the assembly, he set a challenge in
the form of a poetry competition.
Jack Woods from 7LM won the competition with his poem simply called
‘Love’.
Year 7 have been adding and
subtracting in columns.
Year 8 have been rounding and
ordering numbers.
Year 9 have adding and
subtracting decimals and larger
numbers.
Pupils have been using a new piece of
software called Bitstrips to create comic
strips. It is useful in developing literacy
skills in a fun way. Pupils can access the
software at home on
www.bitstripsforschools.com
8C have been busy testing materials. They tested a range of materials including
plastic, foil wrapped crisps, fabric, sponge and paper towel.
They predicted that the sponge would not be waterproof, but found out that the
water floated on the top of it. They found out that the glossy side of the
wrapping paper is more waterproof than the plain side and that the plastic and
foil wrap was waterproof.
This half term Year 10 pupils have been exploring Science and our Universe,
one of the units in the Entry Level Pathways Qualification. They have learnt
about the structure of galaxies and our solar system, how craters are formed on
the surface of the moon and studied images taken using different telescopes.
To improve understanding of this difficult topic we visited Spaceport in
Seacombe. There we experienced the Explorer Simulator, the planetarium dome
and had great fun with the interactive exhibits including a whole floor dedicated
to Dr Who!
Year 7 while studying the unit ‘Passport to the World’ have looked at tribes in
Africa and why they wear particular masks. Here are a few important tribal leaders
below!
Year 8 have been looking at animals of the Amazon Rainforest – using a range of
questions and key words pupils must guess the animal behind them.
The Year 10 and Year
11 GCSE geography
group have been looking
at the United Nations
Millennium Development
Goals and how far they
have been achieved
through case study
examples . Here are a
few examples.
Year 9 have been studying
World War One. They have
been looking at
DORA—Defence Of The
Realm Act 1914. Binoculars were
banned in case people thought you were a spy.
Quick! There’s an OFSTED Inspector.
Two Year 10 History
groups visited the Imperial
War Museum this half
term. All students enjoyed
the trip and we are
arranging another one very
soon.
Year 7 learned about how Christians like
to confess their sins before Lent
starts. They then came
up with their own
confessions!
Year 8 have been studying Judaism.
Jews celebrate the ‘Passover’ every year
to remember how they escaped from
slavery. Each Year 8 class had their own
special meal.
In the run up to
Easter Year 9 have
been looking at people
who have given up
their lives for others:
Sacrifice. We have
looked at Oscar
Romero, Sean
Devereux and Edith
Cavell.
Our Easter Service was a lovely occasion with Lander Road Primary
School choir joining us once again. Our themes were sacrifice, new life
and giving. It gave us time to reflect on how people help us and how
we can help them.
During PSHE 7LM have been looking at road safety. Mr Jones became the lollipop
man and they learnt how to cross the road safely. They have been looking at
where is a safe place to cross the road and what the key rules are when doing so.
1. Think about where to cross.
2. Stop at the side of the road.
3. Use your eyes and ears.
4. Wait until any cars have passed.
5. Look and listen and check again that all is clear.
6. Cross. Keep looking and listening!
They were awarded with their own road safety certificates.
Year 11 have been working hard over the last couple of months on a textile piece
for their Entry Level Coursework . They researched ‘Art Of Other Cultures’ and
produced a final piece using fabric paints based on the work they had done.
We have been doing Short Tennis in school this half term with KS3. At KS4 we
have been playing the full size game. We have been fortunate to be able to use
the courts at Campion Tennis Club and the new courts at Victoria Park. KS4
have also had the benefit of one of Andy Murray's former coaches Ben
Saunders. We managed to get funding from the Lancashire Tennis Foundation
to enable us to use Ben to give us some top class coaching.
On Thursday the 27th of March, 15 Year 11 pupils from Crosby High
attended the annual Duke of Edinburgh awards ceremony. The pupils received
their bronze award for completing 3 months volunteering, 3 months of a skill
and 6 months physical activity as well as two separate 2 night expeditions. The
pupils where lucky enough to receive their award from the high sheriff of
Merseyside and the mayor of Sefton. The 15 pupils involved were fantastic
ambassadors for the school and should be very proud of their achievements.
Year 7 have been learning all about Gamelan Music, music from Indonesia. They
have all been composing their own pentatonic patterns!
Kane O’Dea, Nathan Melton, Thomas Bebbington and Josh Siddon, all from 7PE,
hard at work!
Year 8 have been learning about Celtic
music. They have had a go on a Tin
Whistle and have all composed their
own jig. All the jigs were inputted in
to the computer using a programme
called Muse Portable. 8LVJ even had a
go at Irish Dancing.
8LVJ having a
go at some Irish
dancing steps!
Year 9 have been performing and researching Britpop!
Bread & Cheese Pudding
Jack Woods
Fruit flapjacks
Ellie Roberts
Sausage rolls
James Mullen
Marmalade Bread &
Butter Pudding
Molly Clarke
Cheese & Onion roll
Laurence Waite
Bread & Cheese Pudding
Chloe Newman
Shortbread biscuit
Kieron Hignett
Sausage rolls
Thomas Bebbington
Garlic Bread
Peter Rogers
Bakery
In this topic Year 7 have been learning to:
recognise foods sold in a bakery and to develop ideas for new products that
could be sold in a bakery.
Year 11 are making
wooden jumping
jacks and they have
carried out research
and produced ideas .
They then produced
templates and can be
seen making a
working mock up in
card. The jumping
jack is then
reproduced in wood.
Year 10 are working on a design and make task. They have been asked to
manufacture a wooden toy with an animal theme.
Year 9 have been making the numbers for
their clocks using a die cutter. They have
also been using pop up mechanisms to make
Easter cards.
Year 8 have been building the circuit
for their light up picture. Natasha can be
seen assembling some of the necessary
components.
Year 7 have been
carrying out research
and using this to
produce ideas for a
birthday card, for a
person of their
choosing.
Spring has arrived in LEAP! We have been very busy planting our vegetables
ready for our new allotment.
We have visited Lady Green garden centre to research what type of vegetables
to grow, there was a lot of choice but we decided to grow salad vegetables and
potatoes. Our cress grew very quickly and we were able to make some lovely egg
and cress sandwiches. Watch this space to see our progress!
Well done to the team and keep up the good work!
As part of Curriculum Enrichment, groups of pupils have been taking
part in All Things Bling. Pupils have been designing and making their
own jewellery, bag charms and brooches, which has helped to improve
fine motor skills, hand and eye co-ordination and creative skills.
Our best sellers have been our hair accessories, which have been made
to order in colours chosen by the children. Samples of the hair
accessories are given below. Should you wish to order any hair
accessories, please complete the order form and return to school to
either Mrs. Harrison or Miss McKeown.
Order Form Please return to Mrs Harrison or Miss McKeown
Name of pupil:
We have school colours or your own choice of coloured
ribbon. We also have - One Direction, The Wanted and
Justin Bieber ribbon (please indicate preference where
it say ribbon choice).
Number of Bobbles
Number of Headbands
Number of clips
Prices
Bobbles £2.00
Headbands £3.00
Hairclips - small 50p large £1.00
Colour Choice
Ribbon Choice
Colour Choice
Ribbon Choice
Small
Large
8LVJ joined in World Book Day by visiting the school library and choosing
a favourite book. We dressed as our favourite characters. We were joined
by Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Tom from Tom Brown's School Days,
Lilo from Disney's Lilo and Stitch. Steve from Minecraft, Wolf from Wolf
Blood, Tracy Beaker from Jaqueline Wilson's popular books, Wally from
Where's Wally a pupils from Mallory Towers and the famous Harry Potter.
Hi my name is Sophie and for all of you who
don’t already know me, I am the Speech and
Language therapist here at Crosby High
School.
It's been another busy half term in Speech and Language Therapy with
lots of group and individual intervention taking place.
Our vocabulary group consisting of Ryan Fenwick, Debra Wilson, Megan
Foster, Joe Park, John Muirhead, Jake Wilson and Chloe Williams was a
great success with all students successfully learning how to use a 'word
wheel' to support their word learning.
I was particularly pleased with Kieron who has been
working hard to develop his listening skills. Keep up
the good work Kieron!
A special mention to Laurie Waite and Holly Woods
who both continue to make great progress with their
speech sounds! Well done!
Over the next half term Sophie Hankin, Megan Wafer and Che Brady are
all attending a social skills workshop whilst Joshua Siddons, Lawrence
Siddons and Callum Bradshaw-Croft will be attending a storytelling club!
Don't forget you can contact the School's Speech and Language Therapist,
Sophie Humphries, via school on Wednesdays and Thursdays to discuss any
queries you may have.
On Wednesday 2nd April we had the formal opening of our new sports hall. The new
building has been named ‘The Mike Hanford Sports Hall’ after our former Chair of
governors, who retired last year after sixteen years of service. Jamie Burdekin,
Liverpool’s own Para Olympian tennis player joined Mike to cut the ribbon.
Come and have an informal chat about any
school issues or concerns which affect
yourself or members of your family. We
are able to guide and support on many
issues including;
Dear Parents and Carers,
This is my first item for the newsletter. For me it is the ideal opportunity to
express my gratitude to all the staff of Crosby High School for achieving
such an excellent result from the Ofsted inspection. This result was only
achieved by hard work from all the staff and excellent leadership from the
leadership team.
The drive to ensure that the school achieved the rating of ‘good’ came from
the Head Teacher, Mrs Oxton-Grant. She has been tireless in her efforts to
ensure that everyone in school achieves their best.
I believe that we can truly say that we act together as a team and that
includes parents/carers, the teaching staff, admin, maintenance, caterers,
cleaners and Governors. We all follow our vision and L.E.A.P. together.
I would encourage all parents and carers to get involved with your young
person’s education and engage with the school as I know many of you do. Our
young people only get one opportunity to make themselves ready for the next
stage in their life so let us all make sure we are part of the team ensuring
that they L.E.A.P. together to a bright future.
We are always keen to welcome any parents and carers to the Governing
body; your views are vital and valued. If you would like more information
please contact the school.
Finally well done Crosby High on being rated ‘Good’.
Yours sincerely
Peter Halls
Peter Halls
Chair of Governors
Attendance Awards As you know the attendance target for Crosby High School is 95%, and any
attendance at this level is excellent. Currently our whole school attendance figure
is 93.71%.We reward 100% attendance with certificates for form groups every
week and for individuals at the end of each term. Below are the high attendance
forms for Spring Term 2.
Well done everyone, keep on “leaping!!!” into school every day.
Congratulations for excellent form attendance of 100% this half term go to;
w/e 28.02.14 7PE, 8PM, w/e 07.03.14 7PE, w/e 14.03.14 11KL w/e 21.03.14 8DG
w/e 28.03.14 7KH, 7PE, 7LM, 8PM, 8DG, 10IB
Every Monday we have our “Celebration of Achievement” assembly where many
certificates are given to the pupils. One member of the form is chosen to receive “Pupil of
the Week.” This means they have been recognized for extra effort, (for
example receiving the top grade of “5” in their work) or they have shown a positive
attribute (for example being kind to someone or showing an improved attitude)
Well done to all those pupils who have been pupil of the week this half term.
They are;
7KH M Wafer, T Parr x 2, E Roberts, S Barrett
7PE P Rogers, J Siddons, L Siddons, K O’Dea, J Mullen, N Melton
7LM L Waite, K Hignett, C Newman, C England, J Woods
8PM K Guildford, J Wright, R Fenwick, C Brady, T Ainscough
8DG J Wilson, L Williams x 2, C Williams,
8LVJ M Clarke, M Hind, L Nelson, D Mayor, H Woods
9SB L Kelly, S Lodders, T Logue x 2, L Cole, J McCluskie
9JJ , J Park, C Larsen, S Hankin, J Muirhead
10IB A Quinn, W Yung, W Green, A Sutcliffe, D Dunn,
10PP C Grange, J Pomford, K Crebbin, P Lloyd,
10BJ N Stafford, A Bloomberg, J Cobham, N Stafford
11JA T Duncan, C Catton, K Rushton
11KL P Brady, B Henderson, T Higham, R Spencer, D Edwards
11JB L Silcock, L Woodward, G Thomas, J Usher, S Tripp
Holiday List for 2014-2015
Autumn Pupils return Wednesday 3 September 2014 Half Term Monday 27 October till 31 October 2014 Pupils return Monday 3 November 2014 Term Ends Friday 19 December 2014 at 1.30pm Spring Pupils return Tuesday 6 January 2015 Half term Monday 16 February 2015 till 20 February 2015 Pupils return Monday 23 February 2015 Term Ends Wednesday 1 April 2015 at 1.30pm Summer Pupils return Monday 20 April 2015 May Day Bank Monday 4 May 2015 Term ends Thursday 21 May 2015 Half Term Monday 25 May till 29 May 2015 Pupils Return Monday 1 June 2015 Term Ends Tuesday 21 July 2015 at 1.30pm
It’s here at last…. Crosby High School Website
If you want to have a look at our website please log onto www. crosbyhigh.org
We know it is not yet the “finished article” and so we would very much welcome your comments and ideas to improve the site as we want to
ensure it has all the information you need on it. Please contact Mrs. S. Redwood at the school if you have some suggestions.
Dates for your diary
School opens after the half term break - Wednesday 23rd April
Tuesday 29th April - Friday 2nd May Y9 residential to Kingswood
May Day holiday - Monday 5th May
School closes for half term - Friday 23rd May
School re-opens after the half term break - Monday 2nd June
To all families and pupils of Crosby High School we wish you a very happy Easter.
Year 11 Examination Information
Dear parents and carers of Y11
As you know the summer term marks the
beginning of the exam season for Y11. Below are
some key dates;
Tuesday 13th May in the afternoon -
Geography GCSE paper 1
Wednesday 14th May in the morning - ICT OCR
Thursday May 15th in the afternoon - RE GCSE
Friday 16th May in the morning - History GCSE
Thursday 22nd May in the morning -
Geography GCSE paper 2
We would encourage all of Y11 to use some of
the Easter holiday for some revision.