head s newsletter newslette… · aspiring oxbridge applicants this year as we push students to...

Autumn Term ends 12.35 Friday 20th December Spring Term starts Monday 6th January 2014

HEAD’S NEWSLETTER

Inside this issue:

Head’s Intro

Goodbye Mr Walker

Notices

Charitable events

Disneyland Paris Trip

GCSE Prizegiving

Learn and Live

Anyone for Tea?

Geography news

DT News

Drama News

PE Highlights

Individual Successes

Library News

Art News

Music News

Expressive Arts

The Debating Club

German Market, Koln

Sankt Nikolaus Tag

Crafty Fridays

Christmas Cake Fame

Le Grand Départ

NYCC message

School Website

School Production Ticket

DECEMBER 2013

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been another busy Autumn Term in school with some very high profile events such as GCSE Prize-giving, Sports Presentation Evening, the Post 16 Careers Fair and House Drama. PE fixtures have been coming thick and fast and the sports teams have had a great deal of success. We have also managed to travel far and wide; with visits to the Christmas Markets in Cologne, the exchange trip to Cordoba, an Art trip to Paris, the Disneyland trip and, furthest of all, the visit to Sri Lanka. This is also the term in which we deliver the most teaching; 40% of the academic year takes place between September and December. Along with the dark morn-ings and deteriorating weather it is no wonder that teachers, students and parents are all ready for a break from the routine by Christmas. This term is also a time when many students are beginning to think about choices for their future education. Year 9 students will have an options evening on the 9th of January and Year 11 students will have a chance to consider what King James’s Sixth Form has to offer at a taster event on the 10th January, followed by the Sixth Form Open Evening on 15th January. There has been no better time to join the Sixth Form at King James’s with A Level results at record levels and the development of new courses to meet the needs of a greater range of learners. The record 57% of grades at A* to B in August 2013 led to a very strong entry to university. It will be a pleasure to meet those students who have had their first term at University at our A Level prizegiving on the 16th December. The current Year 13 are going through the university applications process and we have a very strong field of aspiring Oxbridge applicants this year as we push students to aspire to the highest quality Higher Education courses that they are capable of. For those students coming through from Year 9 into GCSE we now have a well-established and robust curriculum and a set of exam results which have been recognised in the 2013 Department for Education performance measures. We scored “significantly above” national performance on a range measures both in terms of raw attainment and the ‘value added’ scores. In summary, it has been a hard working but rewarding term for everyone involved here at School.

May I wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Carl Sugden, Headteacher


IMPORTANT EXAM INFORMATION The exam dates and KJS exam timetables for 2014 can now be found in the exam section in Fronter. Links to official exam board timetables can be found in the information section of the KJS website.

A text message will be sent to inform parents when students receive their individual statement of entry and timetables.

Exam Certificates

Exam certificates are awarded at the annual Senior Prizegiving Ceremonies and are available to collect from the exam officer after that date for students unable to attend. However, uncollected certificates will be destroyed or returned to the exam boards after a reasonable time has elapsed. Currently we hold certificates going back to the 2008/2009 exam season but these will be returned to the exam boards in January.

Mobile Phones Santa’s sack will no doubt be full of mobile phones, i-pods, i-pads and the latest gizmos and gadgets — so a reminder that once on school grounds these objects should be turned off and not taken out unless they are being used as part of a lesson or organised school activity. This includes before and after school, and break and lunchtimes.

If these items are seen being used on the school grounds they will be removed from the student and kept safe at reception until parents come to collect them. This also applies to items of jewellery which do not meet school guidelines. For a full guide of rules on valuable items, jewellery etc. please see your child’s planner.

Goodbye to Mr. Walker

At the end of term we say goodbye to Deputy Head Anthony Walker who is moving on to become Principal of Hillsview Academy, Redcar & Cleveland. Anthony has been Deputy Head at KJS since 2005 and has been instru-mental in developing our curriculum during a time when results have improved markedly.

Anthony’s clear-thinking, strong leadership and credibility with colleagues and parents will be greatly missed but we wish him well in his new role.

Mr. Stuart Giles will be Acting Deputy Headteacher for the remainder of this academic year with Mr Eddie Churchill taking up the role of Acting Director of Sixth Form.

ACCOMMODATION As we head into more demanding financial times it becomes harder to improve the school's accommodation and find projects that will benefit as many as possible. Nevertheless, there's still lots to look forward to. We are delighted to announce that we will have lights for the synthetic pitch in the New Year which will both extend our extra curriculum provision and boost our rental income. Later on in the year we will be extending the dining room so at last we can reduce queuing times, provide a wider choice of meals (from an additional serving point) and offer a light, modern dining space for everyone to enjoy. Meanwhile, in January we will have two new classrooms for Religious Studies (so no more teaching for them in the temporary classrooms - which have been temporary since 1979) and another refurbished science lab to go with the one completed in October. The extended car park (also finished by 1st January) will make parking at school events just a little more tolerable.

PARENTPAY

Thank you to everyone who uses Parentpay. We’ve only been using the software at full capacity for a few months and we’ve had some very positive comments. These have been not just about the ease of making pay-ments but also having the ability to keep a track of trip accounts, information letters and the ability to make direct communication with the finance team if needed. If you require a log in code, do contact the team at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


In the spirit of giving ….

Children in Need We raised a grand total of £2,100 for charity on Children in Need day, when fancy dress Yorkshire-style was the theme.

Costumes ranged from Yorkshire Tea teapots and Betty’s waiters and waitresses to Whitby ghouls, farmers and a sporting line-up including footballers, cricketers and rugby league players.

At lunchtime Year 10 set up fairground-style games and activities, including dousing staff in baked beans! The funds were also boosted with a raffle of tea, coffee and gifts donated by Taylors of Harrogate.

Students donated extra to go to the relief effort in the Philippines, so around £1,400 went to Children in Need and £700 to DEC.

Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal This year we collected a grand total of £346.63 for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal—a big THANK YOU to those who contributed and to the Sixth Formers who sold the poppies.

Cake Bakes Students baked cakes and buns and sold them at break to raise money for a number of local charities, including £76 for the Guides, and £333.50 for annual MacMillan Coffee Morning.

Disney Resort Paris Trip 2013

October 26th 2013 Mr Smith, Mr Hamer, Miss Lee, Miss Mumford and Miss Bowe took a group of 43 year 10 students from a cold, wet and windy Knaresborough to...a cold, wet and windy Disney Resort Paris.

Staying at the Explorers Hotel just 5 minutes from the Disney Theme parks, this was a chance for the year 10 pupils to have fun and enjoy the “Magic” of Disney.

The pupils spent two full days in the parks, giving them a chance to explore the 4 areas of the Disney Land park as well as the Disney

Studio park, most of the pupils used this time riding on all of the big roller-coasters, with favourites being: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Space Mountain: Mission 2, Aerosmith’s Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Big Thunder Mountain. Meanwhile other pupils spent their time looking at the sights and sounds of Disney, tracking down characters to get autographs and photographs as well as exploring the behind the scenes areas of the parks.

Evening entertainment was at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show on the Sunday night with the highlight being Josh Hill’s marksmanship

training with Annie Oakley. Monday evening was spent at Planet Holly-wood, where everyone enjoyed a good burger before one final trip into the park and the amazing 8 trips around the solar system thanks to Space Mountain.


GCSE PRIZEGIVING

Last year´s record-breaking GCSE results were celebrated at a lively prizegiving evening in mid-November, attended by more than 450 students, parents and staff. Current Year 12 students were joined by many of last year´s leavers, who returned to mark their year group´s achievements - and sing the School Song one last time!

Special guest Pete Dwyer, Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Service at NYCC, presented prizes for overall outstanding academic achievement, for performance in subjects and for service, as well as certificates for every student.

Entertainment was provided by Riverside Jazz, as ever showcasing the great musical talent across school.

Mr Sugden, Mr. James (Chair of Governors) and Pete Dwyer (Guest Speaker), with Sixth Form

students who gave the vote of thanks.

LEARN AND LIVE Year 12 students were given a powerful lesson on road safety when the ‘Learn and Live’ programme was re-launched at King James’s in early December. Many road accidents involve young and inexperienced drivers and the presentation brought home the potential consequences of careless or reckless driving on family, friends and the blue light services. A policeman and fireman talked about their harrowing experiences of dealing with crashes, interspersed with video footage of an A&E consultant describing his experiences of treating victims and talking to traumatised families, a father recalling the events surrounding his daughter’s death, crash scenes and safe driving messages. The driving presentation was part of the Sixth Formers’ Enrichment programme, which focuses on issues such as universities, training, employment and volunteering opportunities; and health issues such as drink and drugs, and brings outside speakers into school.

ANYONE FOR TEA? Representatives from Taylors of Harrogate, home of the famous Yorkshire Tea, came in to deliver a marketing talk to the Y12 Applied Business students in November. The company, which was founded over 100 years ago, currently employs over 1300 local people. The students listened intently as the company explained their marketing methods and strategies involving in the sale of tea and coffee which is imported from over 20 countries worldwide.


GEOGRAPHY GCSE GROUPS GO TO SCARBOROUGH

On a lovely day in September, 3 coaches of Geographers set off to Scarborough to collect data for their Controlled Assessment. Each year the focus of the Controlled Assessment changes, so we have to write a new piece of fieldwork and this year we went to a new location – Scarborough!

First we went to Oliver’s Mount, which is an amazing viewpoint above Scarborough, so the students can get a view of the physical and human geography of the town. From here we headed to the North Bay and South Bay to compare the attractions at the 2 sites.

All the students were a real credit to the school and really engaged in the work that had to be done. Even the long walk back along the coast to look at the hard engineering strategies used to protect the cliff, and the steep pull up the cliff was no problem for our hardy geographers – not a single complaint from anyone!

The students are now in the thick of analysing their data and drawing up their conclusions and have really worked hard in order to succeed in their Controlled Assessment. Well done Year 10 and 11!

ICELAND HERE WE COME! As we get closer to the end of term, we know that means we only have a few months until we go to Iceland with our Geography GCSE and A Level students!

This is the first time we have run the trip, and so we are really excited about it. Some of the places we will be visiting are Þingvellir National Park, a remarkable geological site and the most historic site in Iceland, Gullfoss, the Golden Waterfall, one of the most impressive waterfalls in Europe and Great Geysir which has lent its name to hot springs all over the world. If you are interested in going on this trip in 2015, you need to choose Geography as one of your options next year – find out more from your Geography teacher before the end of term. Þingvellir National Park

GEOGRAPHY ACTION GROUP

Congratulations to the Geography Action Group who have worked really hard this term organising the collection of Christmas shoeboxes for the Samaritan’s Purse Appeal. They have delivered leaflets, put up posters, and collected the shoeboxes. A great big thank you to the Year 7 and 8 students who made shoeboxes – they looked amazing! Some tutor groups were really organised and all students contrib-uted towards their boxes by collecting a few items each and then putting them all together, which made them really special.


Dreams of a Low Carbon Future

King James’s students in the Year 9 Graphics group were involved in a project co-ordinated by Leeds University. Along with other schools in Yorkshire, they were asked to design their ideas of environmental issues that may happen in the future. The best ideas would then be published in the form of a graphic cartoon in a book called Dreams of a Low Carbon Future.

The book was published in early December and several KJS students had their work featured. Other students work will also be on display as there will be two exhibitions of artwork from the book: one at the Cartoon Museum in London (near the British Museum) from 3 January – 1st June, and one at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds from 10th Feb – 31st March.

KJS Greenpower Racing Car Project

After the ‘trauma‘ of our accident at Croft and the sudden end to the season this brought for us, we have now decided as a group that we will carry on with the project for at least another season. A big thank you to Mike Craig who welded our new roll bar which is now fitted to our old car. The race format has changed slightly which will allow us to more permanently mount the bodyshell as this no longer needs to be removed during a race and we are currently working on this at the moment. Our new car has had the brakes fitted and again is waiting for the new bodyshell to be moulded which is imminent! The students are currently thinking of fundraising ideas as the Greenpower project can be expensive. If anybody can help us out in any way, please contact Mr. Hutchinson on 01423 866061 or [email protected]. Thanks!

Our pride and joy before that fateful day last July

COOKING UP A TREAT!

KJS took part in the annual Assured Food Standards Beef and Lamb Red Tractor Make It With Mince Challenge (Run by Celebrity Chef James Martin of Saturday Kitchen fame) and Year 9 student Naomi Kitcher was successful in getting through to the Regional Finals receiving a “Highly Commended” award. This is the third year running that we have been successful in getting through to this stage of the competition. Well done Naomi!

Naomi poses for a photo with James

YEAR 9 HOSPITALITY TRIP TO THE MAJESTIC HOTEL, HARROGATE

Year 9 Hospitality students visited The Majestic Hotel to find out about how a hotel runs, the different job roles and to gain an understanding of the career options available in the hospitality industry.



Tickets on sale now for the performances on the 6th, 7th and 8th Feb 2013 priced at £7 for adults and £5 for concessions.

The annual House Drama Festival was a roaring success, with the four KJS houses competing for the prestigious acclamation of “best production”. Airedale produced an adaptation of ‘Oliver’. Nidderdale produced their own version of ‘Cinderella.’ Swaledale presented ‘Happily Never After’ based on ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and Wharfedale ‘Matilda.’

Thanks to Miss Crawford, Mr Mayne and Mr McHugh-Hicks for judg-ing this year’s competition. This was a major event on the school calendar which drew the crowds! Two sell out evenings!

The judges decided on the following prizes: Best rehearsal – Airedale Best performance – Wharfedale Best Actor – Jackson Hobson (Swaledale) Best Actress – Lauren Windsor (Wharfedale)

Well done to all the cast, tech crew and directors – another fantastic event for KJS!

GCSE DRAMA, BTEC PERFORMING ARTS (ACTING)

The Yr 11 BTEC PA students showcased their talents on Thurs 12th and Fri 13th Dec; they performed ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller and ‘Flint Street Nativity’ by Tim Firth. They had the audience both terrified and roaring with laughter in two demanding performances.

Year 10/11 PA students and GCSE Drama groups completed their first controlled assessments culminating in stylised devised pieces and realistic script extracts.

The Yr 12 BTEC PA students also showcased their work in Dec producing ‘Chamber Music’ a dark comedy set in a mental asylum. A professional and sleek production for their first term as A level students.

The Yr 13 BTEC PA students completed their current Unit on Brecht and Artaud performing their piece to an audience in the cellar of the school!

2014 SCHOOL PRODUCTION — WEST SIDE STORY

Rehearsals are rigorous for this year’s school production, the directors and cast are working feverishly in order to complete the ‘blocking’ for this challenging production. Tickets go on sale in December for the perform-ances on the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Feb 2014. This year we use our new school retractable seating and return to a simpler staging form to present this choreographed dramatic journey.

A group of most of the cast, band members and technical crew for the forthcoming production went to the Palace Theatre in Manchester on Saturday 14th December to see a production of West Side Story. This was a fantastic production - really energetic and imaginative. It gave us all the inspiration and a lot of ideas for our own production next February for both the staging, dancing and the way the actors have visualised the production. A highly motivational trip - and thanks to Mr. Crawford for organising this as a way of seeing a professional cast take on this before we run our own version.

SIXTH FORM THEATRE COMPANY

Mr Mayne invites those sixth form students who would be interested in creating a new venture within Drama. You would form the basis of a new company who would focus on devising and creating unique work for performance. You would begin to explore psycho physical training and interpretation of new works and testing theatrical boundaries. Meeting to be advertised early January.

HOUSE DRAMA


Girls’ Football

The Year 7 team have made a fantastic start to the season coming joint first in the Area 6 a side comp-etition.

The Under 14s are still in the National Cup and are one game away from reaching the last 32 schools in the Country.

The Under 16s reached the last 32 in the National Cup, but unfortunately got knocked out by a strong team from Cheshire so missed out on reaching the last 16 schools in the Country. They have also reached the semi-final of the County Cup beating St Aidan’s and Easingwold convincingly. The girls have an excellent attitude and superb team cohesion.

The Under 19s reached the semi finals of the County Cup.

Netball

Attendance, as always, is superb and the girls are really committed and enjoying their matches. The seniors, Year 11s and Year 9s have had their Area tournaments, with others all being played before Easter. So far King James School B teams are perform-ing well and holding their own against most schools.

The A teams are making good progress, but unlike other schools we have a low number of students who play for clubs outside of school, which makes them more experienced, confident and competitive. Both in football and increasingly more often in hockey, students are beginning to attend and develop their skills by playing at Club level. Come on netballers, go for it and see the department if you wish to find out more details about playing the sport for a club outside of school!!

Badminton

KJS have attended 4 school sports partnerships com-petitions, which are part of the centre parks national competition. Boys and Girls across the key stages have matched themselves against many schools delivering good results. The KS3 boys are currently in the best position after the first completion round, as they have won all of their matches. The second rounds will be on after Christmas.

Sports Presentation Evening

On Thursday 3rd October Chaloner Hall was packed with students and their parents for the annual King James’s Sports Presentation Evening - a lively celebration of sporting commitment and success.

Guest of honour was Phil Parkinson, ex-professional footballer, manager of Bradford City FC and a King James’s parent, seen opposite with certificate winners.

Boys’ Football

Year 7, 8 & 9 teams seeing large numbers down to practice and making good progress in the games they are playing. The year 7 team are showing huge prom-ise with a 6+ students already representing the Area team. All 3 teams have the Area Cup to look forward to after Christmas.

The year 10s have made a great start to the season and are through to the quarter finals of the County Cup and are still in the Area Cup.

The Year 11’s have been our must successful team so far this year. They managed to reach the last 32 in the National Cup, where they were beaten 4-2 by a very strong team from Sunderland. They have reached the semi-final of the County Cup after beating St John Fisher’s and are hoping to retain the trophy they won last season.

Hockey

Girls are turning up in abundance to practices and matches are going well. The Area Tournaments are all held before Easter, which the present year 9 managed to win last year (as Year 8) and we were also victori-ous as Seniors in a superb undefeated season; so no pressure girls!

FOOTBALL

Football has been thriving so far this season with huge numbers attending practices and most teams perform-ing well in the prestigious National Cup competition. Some teams are still in the County Cup including the Year 10 and Year 11 boys and the Under 16 girls, so fingers crossed for the New Year. All teams will be playing in the Area Cup after Christmas. Below are the highlights:

Read on as we celebrate another fantastic season of sport with some outstanding results and displays of talent:

Rugby

The year 11 team finished joint 2nd in their tourna-ment in October.


continued

Cross Country

During November the Area cross country championships took place at Giggleswick school. King James’s pupils were out in force and supplied many runners in all age groups from year 7-11.

Finishing in the top 3 and therefore taking home a medal were: Laura Jeal (2nd—Year 8 girls), Millie Howard (1st— Intermediate girls) and James Jeal (1ST— Year 7 boys)

The following pupils came in the top 16 places and therefore qualify for the Harrogate and Craven team for the county cross country Championships in January. Overall a really fabulous effort from all who attended, with all teams finishing the top 3 places in the team competition.

The Year 7 Girls’ and Boys’ Cross Country

Teams

Year 7 girls 3rd

Year 8 girls 3rd

Year 9 girls 2nd

Year 10/11 girls 2nd

Year 7 Boys 2nd

Year 8 Boys 2nd

Year 9 Boys 3rd

Year 10/11 Boys 3rd

Yr 7 girls Jess Head (9th) Hollie Wells (12th) Amy Warrington (16th)

Year 8 girls Laura Jeal (2nd) Olivia Haveron (9th)

Year 9 Girls Rebecca Wood (3rd)

Year 10/11 Girls Millie Howard (1st) Anna Jeal (13th)

Senior Girls Molly Webster (4th)

Year 7 Boys James Jeal (1st)

Ben Brennan (4th) Henry Gardner (9th)

Year 8 Boys Seb Christie (7th)

Year 9 Boys Jack Brennan (5th) Year 10/11 Boys Mark Taylor (7th)

INDIVIDUAL SUCCESSES

We are always delighted to hear of our students successes out of school. If your son/daughter is involved in a sporting activity that they and you are particularly proud of please do let us know.

James Hattersley, Year 10 is in his first year of karting and has had a great start, winning 4 novice trophy's and coming 12th out of 27 junior drivers in a national championship around the UK. James became the highest placed novice making him the EasyKart UK Novice Greenhorn Champion.

Easy Kart is the worldwide karting sensation for entry level into the world of Kart racing. Many of today’s F1 stars Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Di Resta, all started their driving careers in karts.

So watch out for James … another champion in the making?

STOP PRESS...

We have just heard that Alleiya Shazad has been selected as part of the Yorkshire Fencing Team to fence at the Cadet Winton Tournament at Millfield School in Somerset.

This is the first time Alleiya will be representing the County in Fencing and it will be a fantastic opportunity for her to compete as part of the Yorkshire team.

A proud James with his Kart


International Kids’ Lit Quiz The Yorkshire Heat of the 2013 ‘International Kids’ Lit Quiz’ competi-tion took place in Newcastle and this year we entered two teams of four students from Years 7 and 8. They competed against 30 teams from the North East in a bid to be crowned the Regions best young readers and win a place in the UK final in London. Fizzy Hunter, our year 8 library reporter who came along to the event continues:

‘…It was close! Very close! Year 8 student, Emilia Walsh, proved to be an excellent team captain and steered her team members, Jonny Sadler (Y8), Georgia Corrin (Y8) and Luke Balbi (Y7) to a credible third place with 72 points. Year 8 student Ciaran Donegan led his team of Natalie Lines (Y7), Finn Perkins-Hill (Y7) and Kelsey Newman (Y7) to a second place victory with 74 points after being pipped to the post by Durham High School for Girls with 75 points. All in all, it was a great and very worthwhile trip. If you get the chance to take part in this

competition or the Battle of the Books in years 9 and 10, I would highly recommend it!”

Suggested reads for the Christmas holiday: Year 7 and 8 Russian Roulette by Anthony Horowitz - the prequel to the Alex Rider series, great plot and compulsive page-turner. Demon Dentist by David Walliams - the latest jaw-achingly funny book by one of our favourite authors. Year 9 and 10 Split Second by Sophie McKenzie - set in a dystopian future, this suspense novel will appeal to both male and female readers. Noble Conflict by Malorie Blackman - hard hitting novel by the Children's Laureate. Year 11 The Fault in our Stars by John Green - an emotional read The Enemy Series by Charlie Higson - a gripping horror series Sixth Form Before I go to Sleep by SJ Watson - a chilling thriller The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - a moving and thought provoking book set in Nazi Germany. Read the book before you see the film (released January 31st 2014).

Forthcoming Events Fully Booked 2, our week long annual literary festival is scheduled to take place from Thursday, 27th February – Thursday 6th March (World Book Day). The pro-gramme so far includes: 27th February 2014 – Battle of the Books 2014. As the winners of this year’s Battle of the Books inter-school literature competition we have the honour of hosting this event in 2014 and defending our title. If you are a student currently in year 9 or 10, enjoy reading, teamwork and competition then please make your-self known to Mr Birch. The quiz master for the evening is leading author and library campaigner, Alan Gibbons. 28th February 2014 - Year 7 trip to Warner Bros. Studios – The Making of Harry Potter. Monday, 3rd March – Workshops and Interviews with journalists from ‘The Day’ Wednesday, 5th March – The Triwizard Tournament – annual house literary competition. Thursday, 6th March (World Book Day) – An opportunity to meet performance poet, Philip Wells, also known as ‘The Fire Poet’.

is a reading programme from Booktrust, which supports schools to encourage reading for pleasure, independent choice and develop a whole school reading culture. Funded by the library, we gave our year 7 students the opportunity to choose their own free book to keep from a list of 17 titles suitable for 11-year-olds and selected by a panel of experts.


….. continued

ACCELERATED READER In a recent article published in The Times, children’s author, Michael Morpurgo stressed the importance of having the time to read within the school day and how this ‘quiet time’ is often lacking within the school curriculum. He also stated that ‘in an ideal world children should have books of their own they can love and cherish and read over and over again’.

At King James’s we are very proud of our strong ‘book ethos’. All Key Stage 3 students are expected to bring a reading book to school every day. Time is set aside for reading during Form Time and at the beginning of every English lesson. This term, in collaboration with the English Department and Learning Support, we launched our new Accelerated Reader programme. All Year 7 students are enrolled onto the programme which is delivered by English teachers and supported by the librarians once a week in the library.

Mr Birch, Head of English, summarises the first term: ‘The school’s introduction of the Accelerated Reader pro-gramme, in Year 7, has proven to be a great success. One student, who began the year claiming to hate reading, has now read over twenty books in a single term. Many pupils are now reading frequently, for pleasure, and their skills in reading are developing at an exceptional rate.

Students have regularly been spotted reading, all over the school, and have shown a real enthusiasm for the Accelerated Reader programme (perhaps encouraged by the use of iPads as a testing device). Parents are clearly supporting their children by providing opportunities to read and monitoring the reading records in planners.

Last Learning Cycle’s Reading Achievement assembly allowed us to reward four students who had read over one million words in a single Learning Cycle: Luke Balbi, Natalie Lines, Jodie Sayers and Charlotte Knight. Star Reader trophies, for outstanding progress in reading, were awarded to the following students: Oriana Lioi, Faith Claydon-Finnis, Charlotte Knight, Ben Foster, Robbie Martin, Samuel Arditto, Isabella Mayer, Luke Greenwood, Joshua Kessel and Joshua Hull.

Gift vouchers were awarded to a number of students who had achieved 100% in their Accelerated Reader tests. Congratulations must go to all students for their tremendous efforts so far this year.’ Further information about the programme can be found on the King James’s website.

1. Digital Thrush = 2. Not heavy, but spritely = 3. Oh la la, the French are so annoyed! = 4. Old Coins = 5. She splits! = 6. David is such a card! =

7. I could murder a whiskey! = 8. To access the computer= 9. Encourage Oliver’s Viking = 10. Probably wearing “Mr Brigg’s Hat” = 11. This god is a heavyweight = 12. An American citizen’s treat perhaps =

A prize will be awarded to the first parent who can email all of the correct answers to [email protected] . The deadline for entries is 3rd January. Good luck!

We wish you all a magical Christmas.

It’s competition time! Whilst our students are busy writing their 12 word winter stories, staff re pondering over their cryptic brainteaser. This year, we’re inviting all parents to enter the staff competition. All of the answers are words associated with Christmas e.g. Harnessed audio = Reindeer



PARIS TRIP OCTOBER 2013

25 6th form students and 3 staff took a cultural trip to Paris at half term . We travelled by Eurostar and stayed in a very nice Ibis hotel 10 minutes from the Eiffel Tower. On the first evening we walked to the Eiffel Tower and ascended just as the sun was going down – spectacular views all

round. The next day we went to the Lou-vre museum. This was really crowded, but we had to go and see Leonardo’s ‘Mona Lisa’ and some Michelangelo sculptures as well as the ‘Venus de Milo’ the famous armless Greek sculp-ture of classical beauty. After this we went to the ‘Orangerie’ where we saw the famous Monet ‘Waterlily’ paintings amongst others. Then to Montmartre and the Place du Tetre – a hangout for artists and portrait painters. There were some great street performers up here and tons of fake Louis Vuitton bags! That evening we had a boat trip up the Seine, past Notre Dame cathedral which was spectacular. Next day we went to

the Arc de Triomphe and climbed all the stairs to the top with spectacular views of Paris and the crazy traffic, before walking slowly down the Champs Elysees shopping, then past the President’s palace before getting to the Pompidou centre for modern Art. Next day we tried to get to the Musee D’Orsay which was closed suddenly for some mysterious reason – but we took the opportunity to go to the ‘Lock’ bridge and put some locks here to leave our hearts in Paris for another time! It was a great trip.

YEAR 12 ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY RESEARCH DAY AT THE HEPWORTH GALLERY AND YORKSHIRE SCULPTURE PARK

This was a whole days research for our sculpture project and to have a photo shoot in a landscape location to include the sculptures. The Hepworth gallery is a well used location by the art Depart-ment – housing some spectacular sculptures by Barbara Hepworth and there was also an exhibition here of the work of William Scott, the painter.

The research for the Artists enabled them to make connections between their own work and that of

Hepworth, using the same organic forms as her as a source of inspiration.

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY GCSE RESEARCH DAY TO YORK Early October saw 4 groups of eager GCSE photographers researching in York for photo opportunities for the theme of Urban landscapes. We started at the Railway station – a great mix of the monumental architecture and movement of people offering great shots of industry and people moving - then on to the Railway museum. After this we went round York stopping off in photogenic spots such as the Shambles and York Minster to take unusual shots of these places – rather than tourist shots. This was a great way to experience a ‘live’ shoot rather than a studio set up – and slightly unnerving having to ask people if we can take their photos too!

FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY AROUND SCHOOL The AS level students have just embarked on doing some fashion shoots across and around school as well as other, perhaps more exotic, locations such as Fountains Abbey and Brimham rocks – they have to use make up, get into costume and we sometimes use smoke machines too – it can look quite surreal sometimes seeing them going off for a photo shoot around school with their costumes on!

YEAR 8 AND 9 ART CLUB This term in Art Club with Miss Clitheroe we have been looking at Portraiture, focussing on Chuck Close's work and the German Expressionists. We have used lots of different materials and made work in groups and on our own. We have also taken some portraits using the digital SLR cameras. After Christmas we will be lino print-ing and learning how to use the printing press. It is really good to have a time to spend making art with our friends every week.


Riverside Jazz Our first performance of the year was for the GCSE prizegiving. The Jazz band is enjoying a very successful collaboration with one of our very tal-ented singers, Becky Bowe. She sang ‘Summertime’ and ‘How High the Moon’ in addition to the band playing some stand-alone pieces.

Riverside Jazz Band also played at the Knaresborough Christmas Market on Sunday 8th December to a busy audience. Although it was a bit windy it wasn’t as cold as last year so no frozen fingers. Another great opportunity to perform to the community and show what our students can do.

Christmas Concert Last week we showcased our Christmas Concert with school musicians from all our ensembles. Wind ‘n’ Things, Strings Aloud, Riverside Jazz, Baroque group, Senior concert Band, School of Rock and not forgetting Handbells. We attracted a good crowd and had to put out extra chairs for the musicians. All kinds of music were played from film themes to pop and rock through Baroque and Christmas tunes. The night concluded with a sing-a-long of favourite Christmas pieces. Thank you to all musicians, teachers and supporters that made the evening such a success. DVDs are available to students from the IT Technicians at a bargain price of 50p.

Liked that or missed out?: our Summer Concert is in S1 on Monday 12th May 2014 – put it in your diary!

EXPRESSIVE ARTS Once again the Expressive Arts course is running as a twilight GCSE for Yr 9 students. We are now well into this years work having completed our first unit. The examiners will be here before we know it ready to see a live dance performance for unit 2. The 26 students are working very hard and, judging by their faces on the photo, enjoying it, even though it is hard work at the end of a long school day.

The Debating Club

The Debating Club has been busy this term. We have now recruited a Sixth Form team to join the established KS4 members. In October, we had the pleasure of hosting a competition which was well-attended by local schools: Rossett, St Aidan’s, Harrogate Grammar and St John Fisher.

We debated such diverse topics as: high street shops; the badger cull and university places for overseas students. Six matches took place and we gained first places in three of them – a great start to the year! We now look forward to a meeting at St Aidan’s in the New Year.


Stories to get you in the mood for the festive season!

Visit to the German Christmas Market in Köln

On Thursday 28th November, 44 students accompanied by Ms Copperthwaite, Miss Bourré, Mr Snow and Mr Gausden, left for Cologne in Germany to experience first-hand how

Christmas is celebrated in Germany. We travelled overnight and arrived at the German border for break-fast. In Cologne, we walked through the Old Town and along the River Rhine and then made a visit to the Lindt Chocolate Museum where we saw (and tasted!) the massive chocolate fountain. A trip to the famous Cologne Cathedral (which took 632 years to build) meant a climb up the spiral steps to the very top. The view over the city was beautiful and we got to see the largest free-swinging bell in the World. We also

made the most of Cologne’s busy shopping streets and visited several themed Christmas markets, enjoying the wonderful foods on offer. The highlight for many was the ice-skating on the open-air rink, despite a few bumps and bruises! Most students were able to speak some German with the help of a ‘survival guide’, even though they had studied relatively little German. Everyone had a lovely time and returned rather tired after a packed weekend, but feeling very much in the Christmas spirit!

Sankt Nikolaus Tag at KJS On 6th December, German children traditionally put out their shoes in the hope that Sankt Nikolaus will come and fill them with sweets, fruits and nuts. The German Department at KJS celebrated the day by offering Year 7 and 8 students the opportunity to taste German Christmas foods. Wharfedale lockers were transformed with music, decorations and the smell of German rye bread served with Wurst (sausage), Stollen and Lebkuchen (a type of gin-gerbread). Students could also do a quiz and make angels and snowmen!

Fröhliche Weihnachten!

CRAFTY FRIDAYS Every Friday lunchtime we encourage students from all year groups to be crea-tive and get involved in our Crafty Friday Club. Throughout the term our members, under the superb direction of Mrs Marcroft, Mrs Benn, Mrs Holman, Mrs Dunnill (governor) and Mrs Walton (parent volunteer) have been working on this de-lightful Christmas window display based on the Twelve Days of Christmas.

CHRISTMAS CAKE FAME ...

Imagine the surprise when one of our mums opened up “Cake” magazine to find a photograph of a Christmas cake that her daughters, Zara and Kate Quinn, had decorated. The girls had sent the photo to the magazine last year but never expected to have it published. Well done girls … bet the cake tasted great too!


LE GRAND DÉPART 2014

KJS is hoping to join in the fun when the world's greatest cycle race - the Tour de France - travels through Knaresborough on Sunday 6th July 2014. We have been asked to take part in The Great Knaresborough T Shirt Challenge which hopes to see every school child in Knaresborough decorate a t-shirt which will be hung as bunting in the Market Place in time for the annual Bed Race and the Grand Depart. The school is currently exploring how it might become involved and there will be more details available early in the new year. To find out more visit https://www.facebook.com/letourknaresborough

Miss Middleton, IT technician, getting the school off to a good start !

SCHOOL WEBSITE A reminder that the school website www.king-james.co.uk is updated regularly with all our latest news and pictures. It also has details of all our forthcoming events and is well worth a regular visit to keep in touch with everything that is happening at School.

Message from NYCC School Transport Department During periods of bad weather it is necessary for our transport contractors to take extra precautions to ensure that the safety of passengers and drivers is not compromised. It is not possible to provide precise instructions to cover every eventuality however the guidance booklet “Provision of School Transport Services During Severe Weather” reflects “good practice” which should, if followed, ensure everyone’s safety. Our guidance can be found at: http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=18805&p=0 We have written to all our contractors to remind them of this guidance but it is equally as relevant to schools and parents.

In the meantime, the school’s Crafty Fridays Club are going to be busy knitting miniature Tour de France jerseys in the hope of draping the whole school in bunting leading up to the event in July. So please feel free to assist us in our challenge by using the pattern below: http://www.harrogate.gov.uk/PublishingImages/P%20and%20Open%20Spaces/Buntingpattern.bmp

All jerseys can be handed in to Reception.

http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=18805&p=0

http://www.harrogate.gov.uk/PublishingImages/Parks%20and%20Open%20Spaces/Buntingpattern.bmp

http://www.harrogate.gov.uk/PublishingImages/Parks%20and%20Open%20Spaces/Buntingpattern.bmp


SCHOOL PRODUCTION REMINDER

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