Dear Parents/Guardians

The last term of the academic year is always particularly exciting, whilst writing this I am still looking

forward to our re-arranged Sports day on the morning of Wednesday 18 July and the AS Art

Exhibition on the evening of Monday 16 July.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to all Yr10 students and parents for cancelling the

Work Related Learning Week. This has always been a great event and many staff had worked very

hard to plan for this exciting week. Despite all our best efforts we were unable to cover the additional

staffing required and I hope that we will be able to organise this worthwhile activity again in the future.

I must say a big a thank you to the 70 students, Miss Cloke and Miss Gerrard for performing and

organising our fantastic Dance show ‘Le Cirque De La Danse’. The theatre was packed every night and

I know that many of you enjoyed watching our talented students perform.

The Dover Federation for the Arts continue to organise the National Students’ Arts Exhibition with the

Royal Society of British Artists at the Mall Galleries in London. Congratulations must go to the 9

students who had 10 pieces of work selected: A Greenstreet Yr 13 (2); E Shepherd Yr 13;

R Kember Yr 13; S Saru Yr 13; L Care Yr 13; J Petulla Yr 13; S Cozens Yr 13; B Heath Yr 13 and

W Perfect Yr 13. In addition, two of our artists, Liam Care and Sumam Saru were selected to become

RBA Scholars by the RBA President, Mr J Horton. They will exhibit at the annual RBA exhibition at

the Mall Galleries in March 2013, with some of the countries best artists and will continue to be

encouraged through the RBA mentoring programme.

A reminder that students will be in Year groups with the following Directors of Year, Deputies and

Pastoral Managers next year:

Year 7 Director of Year Mr Clue, Deputy Mrs Chapman and Mrs Castle as Pastoral Manager

Year 8 Director of Year Mr Jones, Deputy Miss Cloke and Miss Biddle as Pastoral Manager

Year 9 Director of Year Mr Harrison, Deputy Ms Shahroodi and Mr Wright as Pastoral Manager

Year 10 Director of Year Mr Gibson, Deputy Mr Davies and Mr Esdale as Pastoral Manager

Year 11 Director of Year Mr Moore, Deputy Miss Withrington and Mr Sadler as Pastoral Manager

6th

Form Director Mrs Walton, with Deputies Mrs Jones and Mrs Butterfield.

I do believe that the students are wearing their uniform with pride and it is having a very positive

impact on behaviour. I would like to remind you and thank you in advance for ensuring full uniform is

purchased and ready to be worn correctly at the start of next term: College blazer, plain black shoes;

white shirt with top button done up; college tie and black trousers or skirt. Uniform can be purchased

from Brigade via our website or Channel uniforms and further information is available inside this

publication.

The College will be open to collect exam results for the 6th

Form on Thursday 16 August from

10:00-12:00 and for Year 11 on Thursday 23 August from 10:00-12:00. Staff will be available to

support you with applications for our 6th

Form or Higher Education on those days.

I hope you all have a lovely summer holiday and students return to Astor on Thursday 6 September.

Very best wishes

Mr E Pallant

Head of College

the LINK

Telephone: 01304 201151

Absence Line: 01304 200155

Fax: 01304 200152

E-mail: admin@astorcollege.org.uk 6

Summer 2012

THE PE ELITE SQUAD

This group comprises of Year 7 students who have shown a combination of sporting prowess, organisation,

sportsmanship, reliability and potential leadership qualities.

As these young people will form the backbone of our gifted and talented register and represent Astor at both

matches and by running sports events around the region and county, they have to be role models in behaviour,

uniform standards and effort in PE, other subjects and around the college generally.

They have done us proud this year with successful rounders, football, netball and athletics teams. They were

Astor’s ambassadors at the ‘Pass the Passion’ sporting festival and had a great day out at Tree Jumpers. In

questionnaires, the students have commented that it has helped them improve their behaviour or effort in other

subjects as well as PE. Well done to them all and good luck to these students who are on the verge of being

invited to join this squad next year.

Students being introduced to Taekwondo

at Pass the Passion.

Safety instruction at Tree Jumpers. No touching the ground between trees was allowed and

students learnt how to protect each other.

Students had to work out how to get through certain parts of a giant

spider’s web without touching it!

The thunder storm!

FRENCH DEPARTMENT

Below is a report which was put together by residents of a small town in the South of France where Miss Le Cor from the French

Department used to teach. It was written by one of the students she used to teach in France.

GEMENOS

Music Department

The Music Department has had an exciting year developing the performance skills of

students in all year groups and also broadening skills in music technology. There have

been many advances made, including the successful completion of the first year running

the BTEC Music Performance course at Level 3 with 100% pass rate.

It was a very enjoyable experience developing the vocal and instrumental skills on the course including experiences at

KETV recording studio, a collaborative ensemble project with Thanet College students and entertaining solo lunchtime

solo recitals at Easter time.

The BTEC students have been learning more about performance and development of popular music for their coursework

by attending a Motown Greatest Hit night at Hawth Theatre in Crawley in June, which was West End quality and was a

very valuable experience for all. A few students also attended the Folk Festival in Crawley at the end of June to enrich

their knowledge of original artists and how to develop your own personal style. The performances by Jim Moray were

particularly impressive to our students with his level of knowledge and instrumental skill on display.

Year 9 students were led using ‘Musical Futures’ teaching tools whereby all students learn

pro-actively in groups or as soloists on a chosen instrument, for example, acoustic guitar, drum

kit or piano. The students enjoyed the independence and also the freedom to learn an instrument

often not accessible to them unless they take private lessons. The scheme worked very well to

develop student self-confidence and positive work ethic as well as practical skill.

All years made advancements in their use of music technology with

the use of the software Steinberg Cubase Essentials inclusive of

African composition in Year 7, film composition in Year 8 and club

dance remix in Year 9. The BTEC level students began to develop their understanding of

the recording studio set-up at KETV and learnt how to use Pro-Tools and record using the

live room, which is an amazing benefit to our students and generally a rare opportunity that

we can offer regularly at the College for the 6th Form students.

The Evening of Music this year was a great success with outstanding performances by all students involved and it was

very well received by the audience who have praised the high standards and talent that is being nurtured in the music

department. There was a range of genres included in the concert showing the broad repertoire presented to our students

to challenge them. The XTRME Harmony group performed their best performance to date with popular Blues

influenced number ‘Feeling Good’ hitting some tremendous jazz harmonies in 4 parts.

The auditions for the XTRME Harmony group have been completed and the new and exciting group are almost double

in size with the new talent that has come through from the Year 9 students as they prepare to enter Year 10 in

September. We are all really looking forward to the planned music tour to Costa Brava in Spain in July 2013 where we

will perform 3 concerts alongside the GCSE and BTEC students.

Gifted and Talented students from the Performing Arts Department took part in a Folk Music Workshop as part of the

Deal Festival on Monday 2 July led by Kerry Andrews; composer and song writer and 3 professional instrumentalists.

It was such a valuable experience for all involved with an exciting warm-up session followed by the group working

together to re-arrange the popular Folk song Wayfaring Stanger and then in smaller groups working on unique

arrangements of a chosen Folk tune. Videos of the event can be found on the College website.

Huge congratulations to two of our students

Michelle Aloe and Sam Mummery, who are

following the music performance course in

September in the 6th Form, for being awarded a

music scholarship by the English Speaking Union

(ESU) in June to support their musical ambitions.

The ESU were impressed with their level of

instrumental skills alongside their vocal

potential and we are very proud of their

achievements to date and excited about their potential over the coming years.

I have been running a Community Choir on Thursdays from

6pm-8pm here at College and it has been a thoroughly

enjoyable experience with enthusiastic singers from the

Dover and Deal district. Members of all ages and ability

levels are welcome to join us in September starting on

6 February. Anyone who enjoys singing and socialising with

other like-minded people will have fun so please come and

join us!

Next year there are more exciting plans with a World War II

Concert in October, performances in the Annual Federation

Carol Service in December, Songs from Musicals Evening in

February, BTEC Solo Recitals in March and the annual big

music event in May so please keep your eyes open for more

information and come and support our progress!

Mrs J Stapley

Director of Music

POWERLIFTING The Astor Powerlifting team were in Woking at the weekend to take part in the Kent, Surrey and Sussex powerlifting competition.

All members of the Astor team came in first in their respective classes, with Chris Simmons getting first place in the Senior 74kg

class and also taking best lifter overall with a squat of 200kg, bench press of 158.5kg (a new British Record) and deadlift of 230kg.

In the under 18 age group first places went to Sam Pile in the 63kg class with a squat of 115kg, bench press of 77.5kg and

deadlift of 150kg, Cameron Keyes in the 83kg class with a squat of 175kg, bench press of 107.5kg and deadlift of 222.5kg and

David "Diddy" Cridland in the 120kg class with a squat of 185kg, bench press of 120kg and deadlift of 207.5kg.

In the under 20 74kg class Andrew Dixon came first squat of 160kg, bench press of 95kg B) and deadlift of 220kg.

Peter Dixon

Uniform can also be purchased from Brigade Schoolwear via

their website:

www.brigadeuniformdirect.uk.com

DFA MAT Company Offices Astor College, Astor Avenue, Dover, Kent, CT17 0AS, Tel: 01304 201151, Fax: 01304 200152, email: admin@astor.dfamat.com

Principal, Mr E Pallant BA(Ed) Hons NPQH

Important Dates For Your Diary

Development Days 4 and 5 September 2012

Term Begins 6 September 2012

UCAS Evening at 7.00pm 19 September 2012

Year 11 Exam Preparation Evening at 7.30pm 20 September 2012

Year 11 Interviews 1 to 5 October 2012

Year 6 Open Evening (College closes 2.40pm) 25 September 2012

Art Exhibition Preview (Town Hall) 6.00pm 8 October 2012

Speech Day (Town Hall) 6.30pm 9 October 2012

Year 13 Interviews 23 October 2012

National Exams 5 November - 16 November 2012

Year 7 Parents’ Evening 4.30-6.30pm 20 November 2012

Development Day 23 November 2012

Academic Review Days (all years) 6 and 7 December 2012

Production Week - ‘We Will Rock You’ 10 to 15 December 2012

Christmas Lunch 18 December 2012

Federation Carol Service at Charlton Church 6pm 19 December 2012

End of Term Early Closure 1.30pm 21 December 2012

National Exams 9 January - 1 February 2013

KS4/5 Parents Evening 4.30pm - 7.00pm 29 January 2013

Year 9 Options Evening at 7.30pm 7 February 2013

Prospective 6th Form Evening 7.30pm 13 February 2013

Development Day 15 February 2013

National Exams 27 February - 2 March 2013

Academic Review Days (all years) 18 and 19 March 2013

Development Day 28 March 2013

Bank Holiday (college closed) 6 May 2013

National Exams 13 May - 26 June 2013

Year 11 Prom 23 May 2013

Year 11/13 Leavers’ Day 24 May 2013

Parents’ Evening (Years 7, 8, 9) 4.30-7.00pm 13 June 2013

Dance Show at 7.30pm 19 to 21 June 2013

Year 5/6 Open Evening (College closes 2.40pm) 25 June 2013

Sports Day 2 July 2013

Academic Review Days and Year 6 Interviews 4 and 5 July 2013

National Students’ Art Exhibition and Gallery Launch 8 to 13 July 2013

AS Art Exhibition 15 July 2013

New Parents Welcome Evening 7.30pm 16 July 2013

End of Term Early Closure 1.00pm 24 July 2013

Term Dates

Students begin Thursday 6 September 2010

(Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 September - Development Days)

Tuesday 4 September to Friday 26 October 2012

Monday 5 November to Friday 21 December 2012

Monday 7 January to Friday 15 February 2013

Monday 25 February to Thursday 28 March 2013

Monday 15 April to Friday 24 May 2013

Monday 3 June to Wednesday 24 July 2013

Holiday Dates

Monday 29 October to Friday 2 November 2012

Monday 24 December 2010 to Friday 4 January 2013

Monday 18 February to Friday 22 February 2013

Friday 29 March to Friday 12 April 2013

May Day Monday 6 May 2013

Monday 27 May to Friday 31 May 2013

Thursday 25 July to Monday 2 September 2013