SHENLEY BROOK END SCHOOL

SCHOOL NEWS Vol 20 Issue 2 : 4 October 2018

Diary Dates

4 Oct Year 6 Open Evening

4 & 5 Oct Year 11 VCert Exams

5 Oct Year 11 STEM Festival

8 Oct Year 12 & 13 Art Gallery trip to London

9 Oct Year 8 Girls County Cup Football

10 Oct Year 11 VCert Exams

11 Oct Year 12 & 13 Business & Economics trip to Future Aspirations Conference

11 Oct Year 12 Tutor & Parent’s Evening

12 Oct Year 12 Geography Fieldwork

15 Oct Year 11 Media Studies trip to The Mailbox

16 Oct Year 12 Geography Residential Evening

19 Oct Year 9 - 11 PE Lead The Way Part 1

Welcome

It has continued to be a busy and successful term and this is reflected in the following

pages. Other exciting news and achievements include the fact that the school has been

awarded the status of Sports Leadership Academy of the Year by Sports Leaders UK. To

be selected from over a thousand schools for this award is a tremendous achievement

which is very well deserved for the high quality provision on offer here in PE and Sports

Leadership. I’m also delighted to share that our music team have become the first in

Milton Keynes to be awarded the prestigious Music Mark. Many congratulations to all the

staff, students and parents who ensure that our sports and music provision is so successful.

These awards give us a great opportunity to celebrate.

Finally from me; you may have heard we received an Ofsted inspection on 25 September! I

will share full details when everything is official. In the meantime I will just say that we

were pleased with the experience and I would like to pass on my thanks to all the parents

who contributed so positively to Parent View at short notice. We had a wonderful response

which said that 92% of parents would recommend the school to another parent. I look

forward to sharing that encouraging news at our Year 6 Open Evening tonight!

Mr Holmwood

Headteacher

LIBRARY NEWS

Now that the nights are growing darker and Autumn is approaching,

please visit the Library for some

exciting reading choices.

Whether you enjoy spine-chilling

horror, fast-paced thrillers, real

-life issue-based stories or humorous adventures, we

pride ourselves in having something to please everyone.

One of our displays ties in with recent assemblies and

f o r m t i m e

a c t i v i t i e s ,

promoting the

qualities of

Shenley Brook End students. ‘You have two hands; one to help yourself, the second to help others.’ The

display features a selection of books about helping

others, be it family, friends or people in a wider

community setting.

Student Library Assistants

On the subject of helping, we would like to

congratulate the following students who have been

successful in their application to become Library

Assistants. They will join our existing team, who

regularly give up their own time to help the smooth

running of the Library.

Zoe Littlecott-Prado

Lily Belcher

Eno Bassey

Emma Alexander

Janet Jesuthasan

Paige Mitchell-Doyle

Dasanpelle Owusu

Lucy Myers

Layla Cassidy

Along with Miss Mason, Mrs Malins and Mrs Spurrell, our student Library assistants can

help you locate resources, they will happily recommend books and they can supply

information about events and activities taking place in the Library.

LIBRARY NEWS Cont’d

Lower School Debating

Since the lower school are currently enjoying speed debating, we

have not yet held a formal debate with pre-arranged speakers.

Instead, the audience is divided into 2 teams; they are given a

subject to discuss, as a group, for just 2 minutes, with one group

agreeing with the motion, and the other opposing it. The 2 sides

then present their arguments and have a further 2 minutes

challenging each other’s points.

Debating is a great way to get your opinions heard and to learn to respect the views of

others. It develops confidence in speaking in public and keeps you abreast of what is going

on in the world around you. Lower School Debates take place every week 1 on Thursday at

1pm and you are allowed, on these occasions, to bring a cold lunch with you into the Library.

6th Form Debating

English Speaking Union Centenary Dinner Debate

Head Boy, Robert Welch, was chosen to represent Milton Keynes in a showcase debate,

against a student from The Bedford School, at the

English Speaking Union’s Centenary Dinner, held on Friday

28th September. Mrs Hazell and Ms Spurrell accompanied

Robert to the dinner, at Putteridge Bury Conference

Centre, where they first listened to a speech by a

previous member, and now ESU Chairman, The Rt Hon,

The Lord Paul Boateng. Robert was then asked to propose

the rather controversial motion; This House would

discourage the use of English as a Universal Language’.

As Robert himself pointed out, he was being ‘thrown to

the lions, somewhat’, speaking to an organisation who

promote the use of English across the globe. Robert lost

the debate, taking only a third of the votes, but many of

the audience made a point of speaking to him afterwards,

complimenting him on his humorous, engaging and

intelligent speech. Robert received a trophy and a voucher

for taking part.

Dr Tony Wood, the President of the Ouse Valley Branch of the ESU sent this note, after

the event: “Robert and Enoch were great ambassadors for your two schools, and a huge confirmation of the power of debate and public speaking. Please convey the thanks of all of us to both of them for their outstanding preparation and performance.”

LIBRARY NEWS Cont’d

Congratulations to Robert, and my thanks to a team of 6th form students who supported him

by researching the debate topic. A special mention must also go to Hawraa Hijazie, a valiant

opponent in a practice debate, prior to this prestigious engagement.

Big Purple Bus Book

Striving to reflect, on our library shelves, what students at Shenley Brook End want to

read, we invited over 100 students and staff

to board the Browns Book Bus last week.

They were then able to select at least one

new title from the upper deck. This was

kitted out with book shelves, representing

different genres, both fiction and non-

fiction. Whilst we cannot promise to

purchase everyone’s choice, we will do our

best to invest in a selection of books with a

wide appeal to our current student and staff

body.

The sales coordinator and driver, who accompanied the bus, have travelled to schools up and

down the country over the past 5 months. They wanted to convey their thanks to our site

team and asked me to pass on that they found the students who visited the bus the most

polite and well-behaved they have come across so far.

Forthcoming Events in the Library

Thursday 4th October – Lower School Debate at 1pm

Friday 5th October – Games and Puzzles at 1pm

Friday 5th October – 6th Form Reading Group at 1pm in the 6th Form Library

Tuesday 9th October – 6th Form Debate at 1pm in the 6th Form Library

Friday 12th October- Quiet Reading at 1pm

Thursday 25th October – Halloween/Autumn Craft Event at 1pm

Ms Spurrell

Library Manager

ART NEWS

Year 10 art students were creating a textile cushion last year as part of their bridging year

in conjunction with John Lewis. Students were asked to experiment with a range of textile

techniques as well as creating a mood board and a costings sheet.

ART NEWS Cont’d

Lesley Tanner from the home design team came into Shenley Brook End last term to judge

the cushions and to take photographs back to her team for judging.

Congratulations goes to Dean Wood for being picked from 56 cushion designs. Dean has

been invited to have his cushion on display in John Lewis and has been asked to collect a

prize from Lesley and her team.

“We were all so impressed with all the work, so many stunningly beautiful cushions and mood

boards. Obviously a lot of work and thought went into all of them!!!

Difficult to have to choose one, but Dean's work stood out for a few of us!” Lesley Tanner.

Back Design Front Design

Well done to Dean and all year 10 art students for their skill and hard work.

Mrs Wright

Team Lead for Art and Design

MUSIC NEWS

Year 7 Musical Extravaganza

Dig It! – a musical by Jacobson and Emerson

On the evening of Wednesday 24 October our year 7 students will be showcasing their

musical talents and demonstrating some of the hard work they have completed in music

lessons so far this term.

They will be singing, dancing and playing instrumental solos. All year 7 students will have

received a letter about this containing details of ticket sales and arrangements.

MUSIC NEWS Cont’d

Congratulations to the following students on their exam successes:

Mrs Gray

Music Administrator

Safia Rais cello Grade 3

Scarlet Price clarinet Grade 2

Rhianna Dankwa clarinet Grade 4 Passed with Merit

George Booth cornet Grade 6

Bella Moody jazz trumpet Grade 1

Nicholas Barned jazz trumpet Grade 2

Holly Showler jazz trumpet Grade 2

Luke Marshall jazz trumpet Grade 2 Passed with Merit

Elliott Pugh jazz trumpet Grade 4

Sarah Briggs oboe Grade 5

Olivia West oboe Grade 5 Passed with Merit

Year 7

Performance

ICT NEWS

Year 11 iMedia Deadlines

All work needs to be printed off and handed in to Miss Cotgrove by the deadline day ready

for marking.

Year 10 iMedia Deadlines

All work needs to be printed off and handed in to the teacher by the deadline day ready

for marking.

If there are any questions about the work or deadlines please contact Miss Cotgrove.

Miss Cotgrove

ICT Teacher & KS4 Vocational Lead Teacher

Date Due Task

11th October Visualisation Diagram and Asset List

18th October Test Plan

25th October Folders

15th November Master Page Documentation

29th November Evidence of Tools used

6th December Testing, Saving and Publishing

13th December Evaluation

Date Due Task

5th October Graphic Reviews

12th October File Formats

26th October Graphic Properties

23rd November Client Requirements

30th November Target Audience

14th December Work Plan and Resource List

25th January Visualisation Diagram

1st February Asset List and Legislation

8th February Folders

15th February Preparing Graphics

8th March Evidence of Tools used

15th March Saving Versions

22nd March Evaluation

PARENT AMBASSADOR NEWS

Dear Parent/Carer

Hello, my name is Patrick Golding, and I will be working at the

school, as your newly appointed Parent Ambassador. My role is

quite diverse and unique to Shenley Brook End School in that as

well as becoming a focal point of contact for any parents that

feel they could benefit with additional support, information or

simply a listening ear, I will also be raising cultural awareness

across the school community and promoting its growth within

events and school projects and increasing the ethos and

understanding of British Values.

Working closely with the Local Authority’s Ethnic Minority Achievement Network, I hope to

help in overcoming any barriers and increase confidence in all aspects of my parental

engagement with you, identifying key areas where we can improve to best support you and

your child(ren).

At Shenley Brook End, we welcome all contact from parents and we are eager to develop

this further, so that we can quickly and efficiently address your concerns and that any

ideas or suggestions that you may have can help form a positive action plan for us to build

upon.

My role is to encourage you to feel confident in supporting your child at home and also to be

able to come to us during those times when you may need that extra helping hand; you may

have a skill or hobby or belong to an organisation and may like to offer your to support us

we would be very pleased to discuss this. I can even, quite simply redirect any concerns or

questions you have to the correct member of staff to respond to, if you’re not quite sure

who to ask.

It has been proven that increased home to school links create potential for greater

successes and achievements of the student – let’s put it to the test, get in touch and see

how we can help each other!

Your direct route to Year leaders and House leaders remains open, as and when you need it

and they may also refer me to you, if they feel this would be beneficial. We have many

lines of communication available to support your engagement with the school and I look

forward to working with you.

Yours Faithfully

Mr Golding

(Parent Ambassador)