ACADEMY NEWS18th December 2015

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BE YOURBEST

Best wishes

Despite it being the last week before Christmas it has been another extremely busy week here at the Academy. The newsletter this week is again packed with reports from around the campus and some learning that was out of this world!

Principal’s Report

Sara Davey - Academy Principal

YOU SAID...

...WE DID

We have also been listening to students and parent/carers as we shape our policies for the future. Just some of the decisions we have consulted on recently include our SEN provision, homework timetables and mobile phone use.

We are proud to be a listening institution and welcome your views. As such, we will be launching a new area on the website in the New Year that will give you the opportunity to contact us with any suggestions that you have, and if they will benefit the Academy we will implement them.The New Year will be one of the most important years our Year 11 cohort will have in their lives as they take their exams and eventually leave us for either further education or employment. We are already preparing for this and every Year 11 student has just received their personalised revision programme in a morning of activities to focus their minds on the opportunities ahead. They were also treated to an inspirational lecture from our guest for the day, Mike Brearley, who is renowned for his belief that students are ‘heroes’ of their own learning and that school leadership is a creative and collaborative process involving students, staff and parents.

Our annual Carol Service last night was a lovely reminder of the true meaning of Christmas with which to remember 2015. 2016 will be another busy and exciting year for us all, so I hope you all take advantage of the Christmas break and I look forward to seeing everyone on 4th January.

This week new Parents Corner page in the newsletter is a great example of this collaboration as we publish the results of our recent Homework consultation that lets everyone know how important home learning is on the journey to ensuring our students achieve everything we all want them to.

Miss Hick and Mr Davies help with Christmas Dinner

BEINSPIRED

Madron Church rang with festive music and readings on Thursday evening at the annual Mounts Bay Carol Service. The service was conducted by the Reverend Tim Hawkins, who warmly welcomed the congregation to the church.

The Academy choir, staff choir, flute group and concert band performed beautifully in the picturesque setting, which complemented their repertoire perfectly. The Concert Band, Tia Murray-Lambrou, Horace Halling, Jenny Dash, Eleanor Dash, Annbelle Jones, Ritchie Payne, Charlie Hornby and Benjy Clahalane, performed ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ and ‘Winter Wonderland’, while the Staff Choir once more rose to the occasion singing ‘Silver Bells’.

The readings in between the musical numbers were delivered engagingly by the student readers, who all performed with great confidence and poise. Nina Micciche, Renae Caddy and Oscar Clive (Year 10) read ‘Christmas’ by John Betjeman. The Birth of Jesus was read by Jacob Trudgeon, Tean Manser and Olivia Egan (Year 11). Caitlin Rendle, Grace Twsei, Logan Aspden and Lois Willett-Green (Year 7) read ‘Wise Men Still Seek Him’ by Julie Carro. ‘While Shepherds Slept’ by Chris Pearson was read by Luke Stoten, Mia Finch and Amber Sanders (Year 8). Kim Shail, Isaac Thompson,and Amber Symons (Year 9) read ‘A Christmas Lesson’ by Tom Krause.

A collection held during the service raised funds for both Madron Church and the RNLI, which is Mounts Bay’s chosen charity. Afterwards the performers and congregation enjoyed mince pies and hot drinks at Landithy Hall.

Carol Service

BEINSPIRED

Tim Peake Makes History

Report by Miss Weightman

The Hall seemed set for a truly historic moment as the Year 7s and other students filed in at 10.30am on Tuesday. As the countdown came closer to the launch time of 11.03 GMT, the excitement and tension amongst the audience was palpable. Finally, everyone joined in the countdown for the last 20 seconds and we were all transfixed as we watched British astronaut, Tim Peake, US astronaut, Tim Kopra, and Russian astronaut, Yuri Malenchenko, lift off in the Russian Soyuz rocket to their final destination, the International Space Station. We watched as the Soyuz travelled about 200km in less than 5 minutes, before entering space and the effect of zero gravity was seen on camera when a pen started to float in the capsule.

Many thanks to Mr Elliott and Mr Bird, who ensured the live feed from Stargazing Live was glitch free.

After the launch it took the capsule a further six hours to reach the ISS where they encountered a problem docking. They had to resort to 'parking' the Soyuz manually.

The ISS orbits the Earth from a height of 400km and at a speed of 248 mph.

Tim Peake's main role aboard the ISS is to run dozens of experiments, including monitoring the effects of zero gravity on the human body over the course of six months. If you want to be an astronaut click here.

BEINSPIRED

“It was quite an amazing experience.” - Ariana Caddy 7 Yellow

“I thought it was really good to watch.” - Tilly Stephens 7 Yellow

“I thought it was exciting and interesting.” Tehya Eddy-Smitham 7 Yellow

“I thought it was a really good experience to see the first British man launch.” - Bryony Hefford 7 Yellow

“When I watched Neil Armstrong land on the moon I was sitting with my gran, she told me that she was 25 years old before they had even ever flown. If all that happened in her life, just imagine what will happen in yours.” - Nigel Walker, Governor

“I thought it was very interesting to watch and very exciting to see.” - Mrs Richards

“I was quite excited to watch as I got to see the first British man launch up in to space, and it will definitely be a big memorable moment to remember especially as we got to watch it live.” - Charlotte George 10 Green

“I think it was brilliant and it was a good memorial moment to tell family about.” - Callum Smith 10 Orange

“It was very interesting in my eyes, I love seeing rockets launch and I like watching the rockets pick up speed.” - Sian Birch 10 Green

Students, staff and governors were completely engrossed in the historic event. Student reporters, Charlotte George and Sian Birch, talked to people afterwards to find out what they thought of the launch.

“

”Chloe Severn from Falmouth University visited Year 11 students to inform them of opportunities in Higher Education and answer their questions. The main concern was the affordability of University but students were re-assured that they didn't have to pay anything back until they were earning £22,000 and then it was only a small amount each month. Students expressed a keen interest in taking advantage of Higher Education to offer them greater employment prospects. Falmouth University offers a wide range of courses from Arts and Digital Games to Journalism. Incorporated within the Penryn campus are courses from Exeter University enabling students to access the latest academic research and facilities including a £5.5 million Science and Engineering Research support facility.

University Visit

Report by Mrs Masters

COMPASS

BECURIOUS

Report by Miss McKenzie

Maths Workshop

The classic Frog Leap was explored to establish patterns between hops and slides and boys or girls moving. Using the exploration of patterns, they were able to predict what would happen if the number of frogs increased. The day proved to be very useful and thought provoking. Well worth the 6:30am start!

A group of Year 8 students were given the opportunity to attend Plymouth University to participate in a Maths workshop. The workshop was entitled "Patterns and Predictions" and the students explored various patterns from numerical patterns to patterns in shapes that generated a sequence

A massive well done to Mia Finch, Zoe George and Jacob Kerslake-Bevan for attending the event, and their hard work.

BECREATIVE

This week’s Artist of the Week is awarded to Mia Herbert in Year 11. Mia has spent much of her GCSE course developing her use of ink when creating enigmatic and illustrative portraits, yet has recently branched out to experiment with using acrylics on a much larger scale.

Artist of the Week

Report by Miss Green

Despite working out of her comfort zone, Mia has shown drive and resilience as she has created a range of beautifully executed acrylic paintings. I'm very proud of her dedication and willingness to try new things; accepting and embracing that taking risks creatively is both the most scary and rewarding act when making an artwork.

Well done Mia, you have made great progress!

BECREATIVE

Thirteen Arts Award students spent their evening walking through woods lit by fairy lights and fire jugglers, supping hot chocolate while lounging on cushions in a festively exotic tent, all the while being entertained by Old Father Winter and his mischievous monsters. We were there at the request of Rogue Theatre, to enjoy their warm Christmas hospitality in their ‘Winter Wood’ in Tehidy Woods. Don’t miss out on this heartwarming event.

Rogue Theatre Trip

Report by Ms Claxton

Arts Award students commented:

‘It was really welcoming and enticing.’‘It was funny and really involved the audience well.’‘It was great for little ones but worked for grown ups too.’‘Highly recommended.’

Our Year 7s really got into the spirit of the Humphry Davy Lantern Parade by creating the most beautiful lanterns at school, which they paraded through town with other local schools to commemorate Sir Humphry Davy's Birthday and the 200 year anniversary of the invention of the Miners Lamp.

They were true ambassadors for Mounts Bay Academy in what has been a really busy week. Even the weather, which had been unpleasant all week, cleared for the parade. Report by Miss Weightman

Humphry Davy Lantern Parade

BECOMPETITIVE

Staff vs student mixed netball 2015 ended in a 8-8 draw. A huge thank you to all who played, we had lots of students supporting both teams and although it was highly competitive, there was a lovely atmosphere.Technically, the staff netball team are still undefeated! !

Staff Vs Student Netball

Report by Mrs Trevail

Inter-House Football

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the Inter-House Football competition. The results are as follows:

Year 7:

1 Purple2 Yellow3 Blue4 Red5 Green6 Orange

Year 8:

1 Yellow2 Blue3 Red4 Purple5 Green6 Orange

BECOMPETITIVE

Year 7 Girls’ Football

Report by Mr Lawrence

Well done to the Year 7 girls’ Football team who finished second place overall in the ESFA U12 Indoor 5-a-side tournament. This was a district/area event and the girls played extremely well and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Indoor Football is a fast and exhilarating version of Football, our girls were very successful and extremely close to winning the overall event. I am pleased to say they finished second out of all the schools in West Cornwall.

We have made huge progress in recent years with the girls Football, any girls wishing to give it a go then please come along to the girls Football club which is on offer every Tuesday after school with Mr Lawrence - klawrence@mountsbay.org

Well done girls.

Squad: Mollie MaycockTommi Leigh LobbAsha SykesLia Byrne Izzy Graham Beau Cowan-DickieKatie Fear Kelci Prowse

Goal Scorers:

Tommi-Leigh Lobb x7

Beau Cowan-Dickie x1

Kelci Prowse x1

Izzy Graham x1

Statistics:

Played: 7 Won: 5Draw: 0Lost: 2GD: +7Scored: 10 goalsConceded: 3 goals

BEA WINNER

To enter, simply write an original sentence correctly using the word celebrate. Send in your sentence using the link below.

Competition

Congratulations to Tia Murray-Lambrou who wins an Edge of the World Voucher.

Click Here to enter the competition

Tia receives her prize

This week’s word is: Celebrate

Definition:

• To observe a day or commemorate an event with ceremonies or festivities. • To perform a religious ceremony, especially Mass or the Lord's Supper. • To have or participate in a party, drinking

Etymology:

Late Middle English: from Latin celebrat- ‘celebrated’, from the verb celebrare, from celeber, celebr- ‘frequented or honoured’.

BEA WINNER

Maths Quiz

This Week’s Puzzle:

Santa and five helpers can make six deliveries in six minutes.

How many more helpers does he need to make 100 deliveries in 100 minutes?

Last week’s solution: 3

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

Blue: 94 PointsGreen: 78 PointsYellow: 63 PointsRed: 53 Points

Purple: 48 PointsOrange: 32 Points

Click here to submit your answer

Closing date for Entries: Thursday 7th January 2015

This Week’s House Totals

BEINSPIRED

We are looking forward to a great year in 2016. There are some amazing plans for students both at the Academy in lessons, and in many external opportunities like the Cornwall School Games - hosted by ourselves - and numerous international visits.

As we continue to provide such an array of great opportunities, we also need to ensure that life at the Academy continues in a disciplined yet fun way. To do this we provide access to a variety of student services. Student services consists of a number of areas of Mounts Bay Academy that help students to access a successful future. There are three main places that students may need to visit for different things:

Firstly there is Reception, which is where students go for attendance and absence issues. Secondly there is Student Services, where students can go to get help with most areas of Academy life in general. Thirdly there is Compass, which provides a variety of workshops to help students with various things such as future planning and emotional welfare.

In my new role in charge of Student Services I thought it timely to ensure that we begin the year with some clarification about uniform and protocols mainly for students, but also for parents to ensure that students are arriving each day with the correct equipment and looking like a proud member of our school community.

Firstly, we have been reviewing student opinion about the rules regarding phones. There have been discussions taking place very successfully in Crew meetings, where students have voiced their opinions, and shared their experiences and fears. Although many schools and academies across the country have put in place a total ban on phones in school, students at Mounts Bay did not think that this should be the case, especially in a rural community like ours. We have listened to this, and as a result students will be able to continue to bring their phones into the Academy. Students have, however, identified a number of fears such as unwanted videos being made, texts and the potential for bullying, along with unfiltered access to the internet through 3G and 4G connections, and we have listened to this too. As a result of the feedback that we have received, students will not be able to use their phones unless they are being supervised. In effect, they will need to ask permission to use them in a case of emergency - this way their use can be monitored and supervised effectively. We felt that a total ban was not appropriate at the moment and we will continue to monitor the situation.

Secondly, a reminder that the uniform requirements are on the Academy website. We have a strict uniform policy, as is the preference of our Governors and parents, and this is to ensure that fashion is not, wherever possible, brought into the Academy. This improves relationships across the Academy, and ensures that we maintain a focus on learning. A couple of things that have been creeping in are the “skate” shoe masquerading as the

“school shoe” on websites, along with the “jeans cut” trouser that are sold as school uniform. Please can I remind you that neither of these are acceptable, and we do stock both shoes and trousers should students arrive in “the Wrong Trousers” .

BEINFORMED

Report by Mr Hall

Student Services

May I take this opportunity to invite you to join us in looking forward to an uplifting and successful 2016 thoroughly prepared for an exciting year.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE

Quick Guide to Homework 2015-2016

WHY do homework?

• To prepare for some new learning for the next lesson• To prepare for an assessment or examination• To consolidate learning undertaken in lessons• To create some new learning products such as essays, research or artefacts • To involve parents in the learning undertaken• To encourage students to go beyond their current understanding as independent learners.

WHAT does homework look like?

• Flipped learning consists of a preparatory film or podcast to watch or listen to with accompanying questions/answers.• Revision notes based on the learning about to be tested.• A set of tasks to support or extend the learning from the lesson.• A section of an essay, research task or object(s) produced within the time limit.• Website interactive homework with a written activity to check new knowledge and understanding• Teachers can set personalised activities on Firefly and offer a degree of choice in the tasks.

WHEN is homework expected to be set and completed?

• Every subject has a set homework time and the timetable is displayed in the student planner.• Key Stage Three students (Years 7 and 8) take 2/3 sets of homework a night that should last twenty minutes each to a maximum of 1 hour per night.• Key Stage Four students (Years 9, 10 and 11) take 2/3 sets of homework that last up to three quarters of an hour each to a maximum of 1 and a half hours a night. However, in the run up to the exams, this time input may increase.• The homework is set with a clear deadline for completion on Firefly so that parents and students can see tasks but the homework is also written in the student planner and needs to be signed once a week.• Homework should not normally be set to be completed for the next school day.

Parents’Corner

CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE

WHERE is the homework expected to be done?

• To ensure that there is consistency across the Academy, all homework needs to include evidence of visible written or printed work that can be marked and placed in the subject exercise book with a heading that says Homework, a title and the date.• The iPad can be used to complete part of the homework but there must be evidence of what was learned and what needs further development so that staff can follow up misconceptions.• The homework can be completed at school between 3.30 to 4.30pm with internet access if required or at home.

HOW do the parents know about the homework set?

• The homework is recorded by the student in their planner, including the deadline. • The homework is recorded by staff on Firefly for the parents to see and to check that their child has the full details.• In time it may be possible to just use Firefly to record homework but not until the new homework habits are fully embedded by all.

WHAT happens if students do not complete the homework?

• The students will be given a Study Support Detention after school that will be set by the subject teacher who will attend, to check that work is being completed to a high standard.• The SSD notification is given to students and parents at least 24 hours in advance.• The SSD is completed in the hall under supervision and is compulsory. • The school late bus is available to book if an SSD is set. • If a homework task simply needs finalising, teachers may use a Callback as a raising standards intervention and should note this in the student’s planner to inform parents.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE

Mounts Bay, Boscathnoe Lane, Heamoor Penzance, Cornwall TR18 3JT

Principal Mrs S Davey B.Sc. M.Ed

T 01736 363240 | F 01736 352326 E enquiries@mountsbay.org

www.mounts-bay.cornwall.sch.uk

MBS-LH2011-Grey-AW.indd 1 08/06/2011 21:24

www.mountsbay.org

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