NEWSLETTER 14th June 2013

Best wishes

The Arts Festival this week has been a resounding success. The Academy has been alive with creative performances from all ages. Our assemblies saw talented performance poets use words with confidence and to great effect. Lunchtimes saw the festival stage of The Cube bursting with musical talent and media crews recording the shows live to the website. We welcomed primary schools to join us for our first Performance Poetry Festival and the Acorn theatre showcased our musical performers for parents led by the Arts Leaders.

A big thank you to all the students who performed and the really respectful audiences who shared their appreciation at all the events. Also praise must go to our exceptional staff who made up the Arts Festival team. It has been really professional and students have learnt from the best.

We have had visits from 20 schools so far this term and we have received praise from them on the ethos and atmosphere and independent engaged learning.

Principal’s Report

Insert Pic of DH presenting plaque

Today we welcome Professor David Hopkins and Steve Howe back into the Academy to work alongside staff, students and other headteachers from Penwith. He is working with the Academy to focus on learning to help us on our journey of making all lessons more adventurous and collaborative. Since being accredited as an Adventure Learning School in March the Academy has been developing exciting plans for the Adventure Learning Week in July and the new Academic year in September. These include using a new language of learning to promote more work across faculties and to improve our collaborative learning and research skills so that independent and inter-dependent learning is a reality for all.

Finally I would like to thank students for using the new planner really well. It is a record of learning for students, staff and most importantly parents. It is praised by many visitors to the Academy as a real improvement on the old fashioned diary to more of a learning journal.

Sara DaveyAcademy Principal

Professor Hopkins at our first Deep Learning Project celebration

BEINSPIRED

Book Review

Delirium by Lauren Oliver - review by Jess Henshall

Imagine a world without love. Not a world where love has never existed, but one that sees love as a disease and has developed a cure.This is what it's like for 17 year old Lena. She cannot wait, counting down the days until her 18th birthday - the day she has her cure. Lena has always been cautious about love after her mother's suicide, caused by the disease, but once she is cured, she won't feel the pain of her mother's death, nor the constant reminder that the disease may thrive in her blood.This world isn't perfect - outside the cities lie the wilds, a land where invalids, the uncured terrorists live, forever waiting for revenge. Even inside the cities, illegal parties are held where uncured boys and girls gather with the sympathisers and invalids. Then one day Lena meets Alex and her whole world is turned upside down.

This book is the first in a trilogy and it really gripped me from beginning to end. It took me into another world. Lauren Oliver's writing made me feel a part of the story, like I was there the whole time, feeling the things that the characters felt, seeing the things they saw- only a powerful writer can make people feel this way, and she certainly did. She managed to portray the personalities of the characters perfectly so that you sympathise with them, understand why they do things, and recognise how they will react to the twist and turns of the plot.

I personally loved her themes as I am very interested in human rights. I find the idea that love, something that society today evolves around, is seen as a disease. One of the lines in the book “The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don’t.” really mesmerised me, not because it’s a really unique line or anything but because it’s so true, and so simply put.

Being a huge book reader myself and a huge fan of dystopian books I really found this trilogy amazing. Her writing style to me was flawless and I found that I couldn't put the book down, not that I tried hard or anything!

One thing I found very interesting in the book is that every chapter started with a verse from The Book of Shhh- the book of which shows the world how the disease is so dangerous and why it needs to be cured. In The Book of Shhh it lists the symptoms of 'amor deliria nervosa' as the disease is known as, and when our heroine Lena experiences these symptoms she knows only too well what means.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a gripping not-so-far-from-the-truth book and anyone who is prepared to spend all day reading.

BEINSPIRED

FlyBe to the moon....

Year 11 student Alistair Gwennap has just been accepted on an aeronautical engineering course in Exeter. Alistair won one of only 30 places on the course which had over 500 applicants from all over the country. For Alistair, who has been fascinated by aeroplanes as long as he can remember, this is a dream come true. He said, “I’m absolutely ecstatic. I’ve always loved being round mechanical things, I’m happy as long as I’ve got a spanner in my hand. On completion I can travel round the world.”Alistair will study at the new £8.3 million Technology Centre at Monkerton in the first year before progressing to the Flybe Training Academy at Exeter International Airport. Alistair will work on live aircraft as well as in the Flybe hangars and workshops. It is a big change for Alistair who will have to leave home at 16 and move to Exeter to pursue his dream. Alistair’s family are extremely supportive. His mum said, “Words cannot express how happy I feel, I’m just so proud. He’s got his dream.”

At the end of his four years Alistair may progress to full time employment with airlines within the aviation sector as a licensed engineer. All of this year’s graduates have already found employment in the aviation industry. Mrs Davey said, “We’re extremely proud of Alistair’s achievements. He has shown the ability to compete against the best local, regional and national talent and come out as a winner”

The ground-breaking four year programme is one of a new framework of industry-recognised qualifications. Alistair will gain theoretical and practical skills in all aspects of aircraft engineering maintenance and repair. He will complete a Level 3 Diploma in Engineering, a Level 2 NVQ in Performing Engineering Operations, a Bachelors Degree in Aircraft Engineering and the academic modules of the EASA Part 66 B1.1 licence.

BECREATIVE

This week saw the Academy produce a week long Arts Festival with contributions from students across all years producing artwork and performances ranging from Giacometti sculptures, through to dance, music, theatre and poetry.

Over 100 students took part and performed on our Festival Stage despite all the challenges thrown at them by the weather. The lunchtime events were supported by a number of student teams providing everything from sound and lighting to recording the event for broadcast on our TV channel.

There were far too many students involved to list in the newsletter so please look at the daily reviews and the TV pages of our website website.

BECREATIVE

BECREATIVE

MixX Jam 2Review by Sancha Chappell, Yr 8

On 11th June a variety of musical performers performed at the Acorn Theatre to an audience of around 80 people. It was an inspirational and enjoyable night.

This was the second MixX Jam night at the Acorn and had even more talent than the last one. It did cost £1 but was well worth the money.

Despite some technical problems the night went well thanks to the help of our tech team.The team backstage played a big part, introducing and calling the performers and setting up the mic stands.

Some of the performers got the audience involved with their song by getting them to sing, clap or cheer. This got the audience smiling and the public audience said that everyone involved was talented and gifted. After a long night, the gig was over and everyone left with smiles on their faces.

Musical Instruments

As we are approaching the end of the year, can I ask that all student instruments be removed from the music department stores by the end of next Friday 21st June.

Thank you.Mr Payne

The Artist of the Week is Drew Mitchell this week. Drew has invested a huge amount of effort into his work this year, and has made excellent progress. He has experimented with new ideas and processes,and has recently worked with drawing and painting into maps.

Fantastic work Drew.

Well done!

Artist of the Week

BECREATIVE

Performance Poetry

We have kicked off our Arts Festival this week with a fantastic assembly on Performance Poetry presented by Mr Yeates.

He was assisted by students performing their own compositions and they presented in assembly throughout the rest of the week.

Then a rainy Wednesday afternoon saw some shining performances from the group in the Cube as part of a poetry event.

Chris Stevens, Loren Trevorrow, Andrew Wynne, Oscar Clive, Horace Halling, Darcy Blewett and Kerry Semmens alongside guest students from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Pensans Community Primary School entertained an intimate gathering with poetry on a variety of topics. Incomparable compering was provided by host Una Taylor making this an enjoyable event that put a smile on everyone’s face despite the dismal weather outside.

The genesis of the performance poetry stage came from Mrs Davey who had seen something similar on an educational trip to Germany.

She then asked Mr Yeates our Assistant Director of English to organise a group of talented performers who were capable of engaging and exciting their peers as part of the Arts Festival week.

Pic: Horace Halling performs his poem in Assembly

“I am so proud of the performers who gave an excellent account of themselves. If I could leave students with one feeing from today it is that everyone could and should write poetry. If they think they can’t then they should at least consider this quote: ‘If you can’t be the poet be the poem.’ ”

Mr Yeates

"We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."

Excerpt from The Dead Poets Society

Easter Football

On 30th and 31st May 2013, Mounts Bay Football Development Centre (MBFDC) once again delivered another action packed two day Soccer Camp over the Easter break welcoming boys and girls of any ability from the community (4-14yrs only).

In total, 45 participants attended and it was yet again another buzzing two days of Football filled with fun activities, skills challenges and tournaments. The main event of the Camp was the Dribbling Challenge and there were of course an array of other prizes that the players could win including:

- Best Corner Flag Design (lunchtime activity)- Best Attitude Award - Best Overal Player- Captain’s Award - Coaches Special Award

For more information on the next Soccer Camp or any other programmes that MBFDC offer, please contact Mounts Bay Academy's very own Football Development Officer Mr. Kevin Lawrence.

BECOMPETITIVE

klawrence@mountsbay.org www.mbfdc.co.uk 01736 363 240 ext: 240

- World Cup Winners - Early Applicant’s Prize- Dribbling Challenge Winner - Penalty Shootout Winner

County Athletics

On Tuesday Mounts Bay attended the county championships at Par. It was an early, wet and cold start at 7:15am for the journey up to Par and there was strong competition from 22 other secondary schools across Cornwall. Luckily the weather cleared and allowed a successful competition for Mounts Bay.The teams performed well in a number of field and track events and in the overall team events.

As a team the year 7 Boys finished 6th, which included excellent displays in the High Jump by Theo Simpson, 800m by Ali Stacey and the team relay. The Year 7 girls also did well finishing 8th overall. The stand out performances were by Renae Caddy winning the 100m and winning their heat in the relay. In the Year 8 competition the girls also finished 8th and the boys’ team finished 5th. These team results included many well placed throws and jumps and a 3rd place in the High Jump for Luke Flack and a 1st place for Ellie Ringwood in the 1500m.

Report By Mr Strong

BECOMPETITIVE

Regional Swimming Success

Renae Caddy and Shannon O'Connell have just competed at the South West Regional Age Group Competition. Shannon qualified for two events this year: 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke, She produced a new personal best backstroke time and it was her 4th year of qualification.

Renae is the South West Regional age group champion (12 years). She has held her title now for 3 years. Renae won gold in 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m free, she also won medals in all of her other events 200m and 400m IM, plus the 100m and 200m backstroke. Renae has qualified for an amazing 8 national events and will be swimming at Sheffield later this summer. She is ranked as one of Britain's fastest 12 year olds and is the number 2 seed for the 100m freestyle for the upcoming Nationals.

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COMPETITION

We will be judging the entries and the students with the best ideas will be invited to work with the media team to produce a large print of your adventure to be displayed around the campus. We will be awarding House Points for every entry, spot prizes for the most creative “mock ups”. The overall winner for each house will receive their very own large format print. Don’t forget to Include your name, form and house with your entry.

An adventure inspired by......

We are still running our adventure inspiration competition. Imagine you are a time traveller and can observe a famous person, adventurer or event to produce a poster like the one shown below. Then let us know who you would like to observe and send us a brief description, sketch or photographic “mock-up” of how you would like your final picture to appear, including a one line quotation.

BEA WINNER

Translate the word of the week from either French, German, Spanish or Italian and send your answer to lshine@mountsbay.org to be entered into the weekly competition.

Use the word of the week in your Language lesson and get a credit from your teacher!

Maths Quiz

This Week’s Puzzle:

How many square cm are there in a square metre? Extension for Bonus Points:

I wish to tile a room that is 100m by 20m, using tiles that are 10cm by 10cm. Each tile costs 35p. How many tiles will I need and how much will they cost?

Closing date for Entries: 12:00 Thursday

Last week’s solution:

100th odd number is 199

Extension:

299 = 633825300114114700748351602688

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 points.

Win an iTunes voucher

For each correct answer throughout this semester we will put your name in the hat for a chance to win an iTunes voucher – the more correct answers, the more chance of winning.

House Competition

Orange: 42 PointsPurple: 23 PointsGreen: 16 PointsBlue: 13 PointsYellow: 7 PointsRed: 4 Points

Click here to submit your answer

Last week's answer was summer.

The winner was Tia-Jayne Waring. Well done!

MFL Word of the Week!

Le château de sable

il castello di sabbia

el castillo de arena

die Sandburg

BEA WINNER

Can you write a sentence correctly using the word of the week?

To enter simply send your sentence containing the word anthology using the link below.

CompetitionCongratulations to Alice Richards who wins a WH Smith Voucher.

Click Here to enter the competition

Alice Richards receives her prize from Miss Hick

This week’s word is: Anthology

Definition: anthology – (noun) : An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen and compiled into a collection. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts. In fictions anthology is used to categorize collections of shorter works such as short stories and short novels, usually collected into a single volume for publication. You could say that your own playlist on an i-pod or computer is an anthology and you witnessed an anthology of performance poetry in assembly this week.

Etymology: The word, from the Greek, ανθολογία (anthologia : “a collection of flowers”), is a reference to one of the earliest known anthologies, the Garland (Στέφανος). In the introduction to the anthology, each of the poets concerned are compared to a flower. Many artists bring out anthologies of their work. In the case of recording artists, it would be like bringing out an album of their greatest hits. Here are some anthologies from a number of artists some of whom you may know!

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BECHARITABLE

A heart-warming story continues

You may remember a story from the last newsletter before half-term concerning how a donated laptop had helped save the life of a young woman in Gambia. Our newsletter is always sent to "The Cornishman" who were very interested in the story and subsequently covered it in last week's edition.

Draw for Poverty

Michael Mules and Liam Cooper have spent every day this week fundraising in the Deep Learning Zone undertaking a 'Draw for Poverty' in aid of Oxfam.

Students were asked to donate 50p and be given the opportunity to draw a masterpiece or a doodle.

They will be continuing the fundraising every lunchtime next week so why not come to the DLZ and make a difference!

This week, we received a phone call from a Mr and Mrs Almond who were holidaying in Penzance from West Yorkshire. The couple had spotted the story in the paper and so admired the work Ali Calvert has been doing in the Gambia that they wished to contribute to the charity.

Within the hour an envelope had arrived at reception with a delightful covering letter and a crisp £20 note! Michael and Irene Almond are co-workers for another charity named Mary's Meals and their charity provides meals and education for children in Malawi.

What a kind gesture! If you are out there and read this Michael and Irene, thank you very much and have a lovely holiday!

Knitting Club

We are always looking out for knitting needles, crocheting hooks, yarn or buttons. If you have some you can donate, please can you drop them into the Deep Learning Zone