Remembering Her Majesty, flying and a very busy week
Remembering Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II
We gathered on Friday morning in remembrance of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. I spoke about her life and how she came to the throne, having been born never expecting to be Queen. I also shared some video clips of her coronation, speeches where she vowed to commit her life to public service and COVID and when she met James Bond and Paddington.
CCF Flying
For the first time since COVID restrictions stopped all cadet flying activities at the start of the pandemic, 9 cadets from the RAF Section of the CCF travelled to RAF St Mawgan to take their first air experience flights.
It proved to be an awesome day for the cadets. The weather was superb for every flight with good visibility, light winds, and some nice cumulus clouds for flying in between. The views across Cornwall from 6,000 feet were stunning and everyone managed some aerobatics, including loops and stall turns, and had hands-on control of the RAF training aircraft, the Grob Tutor.
Now that all cadet activity restrictions have been removed, we’re expecting to see much more in the way of flying – air experience with the Tutors, gliding and organised flights in RAF and Royal Navy aircraft.
Work on the Astro turf…
We were hoping to have returned after the summer holidays to our brand new astro. Unfortunately, when removing the old astro they found some minor differences in height of the surface beneath. Rather than laying the new astro on this, we made the decision to give ourselves the perfect base. Hundreds of tonnes of base material has been delivered this week and the levelling process has begun. We are hoping the astro will be ready for the dark evenings in mid-October.
Assembly
Due to COVID, it has been almost three years since we have been able to gather as a whole-school community. We started the week with an assembly in the Sports Hall. It is important to remind us all of what we are part of and to think about preparing ourselves for the year ahead.
Year 7 homework preparation
The Year 7s had a period 5 each night this week to support them with their first week’s homework. They worked with their Heads of House who were all very impressed with our new students.
Year 9 Options
The Year 9s have started lots of new subjects this week as they begin their GCSEs. There are many new practical subjects that they can take alongside the core academic curriculum they follow.
CCF
The CCF are back on parade in school this week. There are many exciting opportunities ahead for the students this year.
Maths with Miss Aplin
We use Do Nows in the maths department as not only a settling activity to start every lesson but as a tool to recap previous learning and ensure students feel confident and successful in applying this learning to exam style questions.
Our Do Nows take the form of 2 sides of A4, set out side-by-side. One side of the Do Now has pre-populated questions, already printed. These questions cover cornerstone concepts from last lesson, from last week, from last month and from previous cycles. We use the second page to be reactive and responsive. We tailor our questions to our individual students and their individual needs.
The 100 minute lesson allows teachers to model their answers to the class as seen in the photo. Students use a purple pen to mark their Do Now and improve answers if appropriate.
As you can see here, 9Q4 have started their lesson this week with their Do Now, recapping some of our cornerstone concepts from Year 8. These concepts will also form the basis for our Sparx planner to ensure students feel successful and continue to practice and revise these areas of maths.
Year 7 food
Coming soon to a crag near you…..
We are proud to announce the introduction of Adventure Academy! The initial plan is to take students from TA to the local crag (Chapel Woods) and attach them to a rope and carefully abseil them down the cliff face. If there is time left at the end of the session we might even let them climb back up!
Religious Studies with Miss Brzozowski
Work by Callie Hardy, 9Q4
Week 1 of the new academic year and year 9 have arrived ready to learn and produce an excellent quality of work. Year 9 has just started the GCSE unit of learning on Christian beliefs; it is important that all students understand other people’s beliefs and viewpoints too. The lesson this week explored new vocabulary that can be used by Christians to describe God and we have matched these terms with different Bible quotes which act as evidence to support the beliefs. Miss Brzozowski has been telling students that if they complete the work along the way, then a grade 9 can be achieved. This was perfectly demonstrated in 9Q4 today, who all wrote a grade 9 level GCSE answer, as they completed all of the tasks in the lesson. With lesson 1 completed and students achieving success, now they just need to attack the rest of the year with the same fervour and vigour! Keep completing the work along the way (Tassomai and lessons) and success is open for everyone to achieve.
Congratulations to Mrs Silvey!
Mrs Silvey recently completed a Level 6 Diploma in Careers Guidance and Development with the Careers Development Institute – the professional body for practitioners working in careers education, information, advice, guidance. She completed the Level 4 qualification many years ago, so this was a great opportunity for her to brush up her practitioner skills and knowledge in order to support our students with their post-16 and career decision making. Careers education brings benefits to society and the economy, but most importantly to our students, as it helps build their self-awareness, confidence and self efficacy in order to aspire and achieve their educational and career goals. Every year 11 student will have a personal guidance session with her during the academic year and she can also meet other students on request.
Science Labs
We warmly welcomed back TA students to our science labs this week. Here, we see a group of conscientious year 9 students carefully and safely following practical instructions in their chemistry workbooks to measure the rate of a chemical reaction!
The PE and Sport Department are extremely excited to offer a diverse range of sporting (both competitive and non-competitive) opportunities to our students this year.
Our SuperCurricular timetable has now been sent to all parents/carers, but you can also find all of the details below. We cannot wait to see students attending clubs next week, and it will be great to welcome many new faces!
Rugby
One club that has started this week is Rugby. We are very fortunate to have Exeter Chiefs coach Aron Struminski join us for 3 months, who will be working with our boys and girls to develop their rugby skills. Aron is also supporting us with our after school rugby provision, and this week put our Y8 and 9 players through their paces!
Students of the Week
Year 7 – Brooke Birchall and Ethan Tomlins
Year 10 – Olivia McCormack and Merissa Farrington
Year 11 – Hannah Carr and Vensan Crushcov
House Stars of the Week
Year 7
Brunel – Cohen Andrews
Christie – Francis Downer
Darwin – Kaelum Bowness
Fawcett – Stella De Rose
Harrison – Robyn Higgins
Kitson – Annie Aldous
Nearne – Poppy Bettridge
Pengelly – Poppy Sanderson
Year 8
Christie – Lauren Tanton
Darwin – Matilda Stevens
Fawcett – Felicity Adams
Harrison – Barnaby George
Kitson – Eliza Brooks
Pengelly – Serina James
Year 9
Brunel – Eve Cameron
Christie – George Scrimgeour
Darwin – Jessica Nicholson
Fawcett – Connor Howard
Kitson – Aliyah Smith
Nearne – Charlie Knight
Pengelly – Sonny Paton
Homework Stars of the Week
Year 7
Brunel – Luke Harding Smith
Christie – India-Rose Faulkner
Darwin – Lilly-Rose Garbett
Fawcett – Sophie Timms
Kitson – Archie Somerset
Nearne – Hayden Quadling
Pengelly – Lewis Collett
Year 8
Brunel – Farrah Ambrose
Christie – Halle Wooton
Darwin – Hamish Herring
Fawcett – Oliver Cocker
Harrison – Kelsey Drew
Kitson – Sophia Box
Nearne – Edwards Evers
Pengelly – Amy Rogers
Year 9
Christie – Isaac Knowles
Darwin – Katie Rowe
Fawcett – Ruby Bovey
Kitson – Ollie Coleman
Nearne – Tessa White
Pengelly – Millie Sneap
Tassomai Leaderboards
