paws and tails - tmbss.files.wordpress.com · i’m not able to have a dog of my own at ......
TRANSCRIPT
T M B S S
A Word From the Head of Service
Newsletter Date S h r o p s h i r e C o u n c i l
Newsletter Title
A Word From the Acting Head of Service...
It’s been a short but very busy term at TMBSS as you can see from the articles in the latest edition
of our newsletter. I’m delighted to see the continued hard work from our Year 11 students as the
GCSE exams loom ever closer. I’m pleased to report that TMBSS was judged as ‘Good’ in our re-
cent Ofsted inspection and would like to thank you for your ongoing support.
Have a good Easter! Greg Portman
T M B S S
March, 2018
Issue 8
Paws and Tails...
Each Tuesday between 9:45 and 2:00 I go to my work experience
placement with a dog sitter based in Chirk, a short drive from my
home in Oswestry. Fiona runs this business and I started going
about four weeks ago.
Usually, Fiona and Max, the German Shepherd, collect me from my
home and we go to collect Patrick, a French Bulldog and Dolly the
Spaniel. We drive to Whittington where Fiona has arranged to take a
Yorkshire Terrier for a walk. Patrick and Dolly stay in the car but
Max comes with us on a walk around the castle. After half an hour we take Floss back to her owner, an el-
derly lady with mobility problems, before driving to Chirk, where Fiona’s business is based.
Yesterday, Fiona was running a bit late and after picking me up we went to buy Max a coat because it was
raining heavily. We went back to Fiona’s, where six dogs were waiting for us. Between three of us, we took
these seven dogs for a two hour walk around Chirk. Then it was back to Fiona’s for a tea break before I went
home.
I really enjoy my work experience because I love working with dogs. I’m not able to have a dog of my own at
the moment although I’d really like one. In the future I would definitely like to work with dogs.
S Williams (Year 11)
KS4 students have the opportunity to com-plete regular work experience placements as part of their individual programmes
Branching Out at Hook-A-Gate
The pupils at Hook-A-Gate centre recently had the opportunity to get
a little green-fingered when they planted a selection of trees at the
Shrewsbury site.
The trees were donated to us by Charles Woodford (Chair
of Governors) and the tree-planting took place in the area to the
side of Hook A Gate Centre in February.
Hook-A-Gate pupil , J Edwards (Year 11) who worked alongside
Mrs Rudge to carefully plant the saplings in their new home said
"On the Tree-Planting Day, we planted 10 trees. We named
each tree after a pupil. After that we all went inside and enjoyed
some lovely hotdogs"
This term, students at Bridgnorth Centre
were lucky enough to work with Mr Redknap
before he left TMBSS at February half term.
Even though it was a cold few weeks, the
students were regularly able to get out and
about to explore some of the lesser known
spots of stunning Shropshire on mountain-
bike.
Some students were particularly brave and willing to give a few
jumps a shot, and when the wintery weather really got the best of
us, they were able to get to grips with some bike maintenance too.
Off the Beaten Track...
Year 11 pupils at Ludlow Centre have been working towards the final stages of
their GCSE Food Technology practical controlled assessment. The new GCSEs
require students to investigate recipe development and so their assessment has
involved them asking staff and other pupils to taste test their products and ana-
lyse the dishes’ sensory appeal.
M McNinch developed a tricky choux pastry recipe to create a batch of
delicious profiteroles for her assessment. She refined her design, using
orange juice and zest to flavour the whipped cream and chocolate top-
ping. Very YUMMYYY.
M Giles also worked hard to develop a version of a Margherita pizza
making the dough from scratch and using fresh basil to enhance the
flavours. He hasn’t been short of volunteers to help out with his analy-
sis either. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t like eating pizza?
Cooking Up A Storm in GCSE Food Technology
Perfect, Perfect Pancakes Students at Bridgnorth teamed up to create a pancake feast on
Shrove Tuesday earlier this term which fell on 13th February this year.
Most students had the opportunity to make batter and fillings before
honing their pancake flipping skills. A few
turned out a little ‘wonky’ and a few ended up
on the floor, but
we discovered
that some stu-
dents had a real
talent for it.
Shame it’s only
once a year!
Students throughout KS4 have been developing their creative writing skills in preparation for their GCSE English Language exam.
A piece of writing inspired by an image in a school encouraging students to read...
The corridor was filled with books. Navigating it was like a slalom,
with pages on every side. The corridor was dimly lit, with grey walls that were hardly visible between
walls of bookshelves, all filled to the brim. Books that were not contained in the shelves lay haphaz-
ardly along the floor, in towering stacks. At the end of that corridor was an intersection, leading to
corridor upon corridor of the same scenario. Floorboards lay brown and bare, only covered by the
books and a singular mangy, brown rug that lay at the door.
From the outside, the building was deceiving. It appeared stately, with a large driveway and an an-
gelic fountain that stoically stood outside. Ornate railing and stairs twisted around the house, but
disappeared from view soon after. From the outside, it certainly wasn’t as dilapidated as the interior
would suggest. It stood eerily on its own, not
even disturbed by the wind and the weather, as if
they too chose to give it a wide berth.
However, the figure didn’t care about the house.
He didn’t pause at the fountain, and simply
pushed his way through the large oak door as if
he had known it’d be open. He didn’t stop to
close the door behind him, just continued to
stride purposely into the residence. He didn’t flinch as the door slammed shut behind him, the noise
reverberating around the house. He didn’t acknowledge the flickering lights. Most of all, he didn’t
notice the light footsteps on the floorboards behind him, and how the door had slammed shut when
there was no wind.
He was looking for a book. Yet as he strode past tower after tower of them, he didn’t break his
stride. He knew exactly what he was looking for, and exactly where in the annals of time it was lost,
because nothing was ever lost in this house, only forgotten. That was the same for people too.
A Little Imagination...
Forgotten M Hinton (Y11)
The sapphire sea stood still and silent in the dark night
sky.
The man’s eyes painted a portrait and wrote a thousand words, tattooing the sky with his desper-
ation. He stared blankly into the abyss listening to the faint drip, drip coming from his teardrops
landing in the sea. He sat in a brown, handmade boat; its reflection littered the water. A blue tur-
tle’s shell covered his hair, that seemed to be hiding from the world, and it sloped down to just
above his thick, caterpillar like eyebrows. He was a man of many years and this truth was dis-
played across his worn and weathered face. His face was an art exhibition but no one had looked
at it for a long time, there was never any company in the middle of the sea.
For most of his numbered days he would stare
blankly ahead as if he was watching his own
thoughts, motionless and then he would spin
back into reality and stretch out his long, spindly
arms to row further into the nothingness ahead.
The oars danced in the sea, as the hull of the
boat ran across the vast waters. Below, a group
of fish had gathered to watch; and with every
stroke that the tired man took they jumped for
joy, leaping out of the water in a flurry of excite-
ment. As the man rested, the fish rested too.
The man’s diamond stare reached down to the water and he focused on the underwater kingdom
below the sea; he had large, round, knowledgeable eyes that held the key to a long and disturbed
past.
The fish began to bob above the tranquil, cold sea and they lit up, illuminating the water like a set
of multi-coloured glow sticks. As the temperature dropped his nose snuffled like a canon explod-
ing into the sky like a flare calling for help.
A Fisherman’s Choice
J Barton (Y11)
On the 13/02/2018 as part of our outdoor education, some students and members
of staff and Dora the Dog, took a trip to Sycharth, the remains of Owain Glyndwr’s home outside Oswestry.
When we got there it was very muddy which should have been a fore-
warning of what was about to happen. As Dora the dog bounced
around the cars we prepared to brave the mud. There was a ladder
leading over into the field where the Motte and Bailey was, but on the
other side of the ladder there was a pit of mud this would only be the
beginning.
It was beautiful as the sun slowly went behind the clouds. We were
left with a hill and a moat with historical value. Walking up it was very
interesting as the dog had more speed and energy then all of us put
together, but getting down would prove to be more of a problem.
As I was taking a lovely stroll down the hill I could feel a slight push of
gravity edging me forward and the adrenaline junkie I am, I went with
the flow.
However this would be my downfall. As I neared the bottom, I felt my foot go down about 30cm into the ground. I
screamed being not only an adrenaline junkie but a drama queen apparently. I pulled my foot out to reveal a muddy
hell. My leg was covered from my shoes to just below the knee. My trainers were ruined and my mum was going to kill
me.
Although it was an amazing trip the mud was awful and if I ever go back I will be sure to wear appropriate footwear.
Thank you to all the staff who organized the trip and thank you Mr. Parkinson for the face wipes for my shoes.
By M Chetah
Stories from Sycharth Oswestry pupils took a trip to Sycharth Castle in February - home of Owain Glyndwr
"Building earthquake proof tow-ers and water dams was good fun. We won the earthquake challenge!" TC
"The waterfall at Pystll Rhaeader was really im-pressive and the natural arch was incredible" TC
Getting Out of the Classroom A number of students from Sundorne
Centre have also been out and about
completing fieldwork to help bring the
theory from the classroom to life as part
of the requirements for the ne GCSE Ge-
ography specification.
They completed some work on Ironbridge
for the human geography elements of
the course and waterfalls and rivers as
part of physical geography.
A Day in the Life... Jake is a Worcester Warriors Academy player who is hoping to go to study at Hartpury Col-
lege after his GCSEs before becoming a professional Rugby player. On Tuesday 14th of
February he went for a taster day. This is his account of the experience.
I woke up at six. I’d got all of my stuff out the night before. Got dressed and went downstairs
where I ate a big bowl of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.
My dad and I left the house at half six. It was still dark outside and very cold. We drove for two
and a half hours to Hartpury in Gloucester and got there just after nine.
After brief introductions, I joined the over a hundred budding rugby players for the training session. I
was surprised to find out that many of the others were also Academy Level players. My dad joined the
other parents for a talk about the rugby program at Hartpury College.
We did a twenty minute warm up session and then an hour of fitness work. This included fifty metre
sprints, laps of the pitch, bear crawls and broncos (where you have to run forwards to the five metre
line and then backwards before running forwards again to a fifteen metre line and repeat to ever in-
creasing distances). I found this quite hard.
After this we did an hour and a half of skills: basic handling drills, tackle techniques, scrummaging and
line-outs. This was followed by an hour for lunch; I’d had to take my own pasta.
After lunch we did an hour of “conditioned games”. For example after a tackle the tackler
has to drop to the floor and do three press ups before he can re-join the game. We fin-
ished at one.
Tuesday is also my Worcester Warriors Academy training day, so I was due to be there at
half five. My dad decided that we should probably go home and feed the dog. This meant
a further drive of two and a half hours. But first a second lunch of a Grand Big Mac!
After sorting out the dog it was back into the car for an hour and forty minute drive to
Worcester and my two hour training session. That finished at half seven just in time for
another hour and forty minute drive back home. Traffic was bad so we didn’t get home
until ten o’clock. Time to eat. I had a shower while dad made a massive heap of pancakes, it was Pancake Day after all.
J Entwistle (Y11)
Having a Heart to Heart
Y10 students from Bridgnorth Centre have been learning about organ donation and some of
the issues surrounding
this emotive topic.
They have explored some of the reasons
that people choose to become organ do-
nors and the ethics relating to medical
treatment.
Most recently they have analysed language
in a variety of texts written about organ
donation and have experimented with writ-
ing some persuasive and powerful exam-
ples of their own.
Useful Websites
http://www.getmyfirstjob.co.uk
https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
Every year, more and more students are choosing to complete apprenticeships as their post-16 option. Offering a bridge between employment and further education, apprenticeships are often seen as the ‘best of both worlds’ and the range of ap-prenticeships available is growing all the time.
This year The Apprenticeship Show returned to The International
Centre in Telford for the 3rd year. Last year, more than 3500 del-
egates visited the show , meeting 75 exhibitors, including employ-
ers and training providers from across Telford, Shropshire and the
rest of the West Midlands.
Our students had the opportunity to find out about the different
careers available through apprenticeships as well as the local
companies that are offering them. There was even the chance to
get stuck in with some hands-on activities too. A group of our year 11 students
took part in a successful trip to
the show this month. Students
learned about apprentice oppor-
tunities and gained a valuable
insight into different types of
jobs/careers. All students came
back with information packs and
ideas that will give them food for
thought when thinking about their
future careers. Students really
valued this visit and were en-
thused when talking about it.