2014 - 2015

RD Autumn 2016

ACADEMYUPDAT E

Many Academy students have aspirations to progress their education at university on completion of Sixth Form. Students in Years 10 and 11 had an early experience of university through ‘The Brilliant Club’ programme where they have been working with leading academics from Liverpool and Manchester University on an English project titled, “Does Literature have an unconsciousness?” On completion of the programme all of the students were highly commended on the quality of their work and attended a graduation ceremony at The University of Manchester. Teacher Ryan Walker commented, “This was a challenging programme for the students and we were absolutely delighted at how engaged they were with the university and standard of work they produced for the final assignment.”

WELCOME TO THE AUTUMN EDITION OF ACADEMY UPDATE

ACADEMY GRADUATES

Many of you may have seen The Sunday Times league table of A Level results and we were proud to see the Academy listed as one of the top performing Sixth Form state schools in England, which is where we should be and reflects the ambition we have for our students. Similarly results were also very strong at GCSE with a third of all grades at A/A* and 50% at B or above. Both our GCSE and A Levels were the strongest results ever achieved at the Academy and reflect the hard work of our students, parents and staff. In addition we also saw the first cohort of students complete exams in the Studio school, with Year 13 achieving a 100% pass rate at BTEC and the GCSE results placing us in the top 5 performing Studio schools in the country.

Moving forward it is important we continue to build on this success and this year we have three key priorities: Firstly, to secure good or better progress for our students; secondly, to set even higher expectations of conduct and safety inside and outside of school; and thirdly to support and develop our teaching practices. These priorities are continually at the forefront of everything we do.

Academy Update is here to celebrate and share our students achievements. I hope you enjoy reading what has already been achieved in the first half term.

Mr James WhittakerHeadteacher of the College and Studio

The latest news from Knutsford Academy and Studio@Knutsford

"WE ARE IMMENSELY PROUD OF OUR STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENTS INCLUDING A 100% A LEVEL PASS RATE IN THE COLLEGE SIXTH FORM TWO YEARS IN A ROW."

For the second year in a row a team of students from Year 9 performed a Halloween themed dance routine in front of almost 1000 people at Knutsford's annual Pumpkin Path. The team of 12 choreographed and rehearsed the 'Ghostbusters' routine themselves, and worked with well known Knutsford retailer Peter Murray from POP Perfumery. Peter commented, “The team were simply outstanding and it is great we have such talent here in Knutsford to help and support such a big event for the town.”

20 students from Year 7 recently participated in The Big Draw, the world’s biggest celebration of drawing and creating. The event was themed around Roald Dahl’s BFG and the students had to design and decorate a dream jar. The event was organised by Art teacher Abi Trench, who commented, “It was brilliant to see the students celebrating ‘The Big Draw’ and the 100th anniversary of the fantastic Mr Roald Dahl. We had a gloriumptious afternoon discussing their hopes and aspirations and they all created some wonderful dream jars to capture them. Both students and staff felt inspired leaving school on Friday afternoon. Well done to all involved!” Through the design process students also prepared a simple quote to summarise their dream jars, these are two of our favourites: “My dream is about me and my family going to Perranporth Beach in Cornwall. It is my favourite beach and I would like to retire there.”

“My dream is to be an artist and own a sausage dog called Stanley. My favourite thing is something you cannot buy... time.”

Summer may already be a distant memory but our team of 20 students and 2 staff who went to Borneo for four weeks are still full of stories about what an amazing time they had working on a range of conservation projects and helping local communities.

The projects included tree-planting to help re-establish the depleting habitat of the endangered Orangutan population, as well as building walls for an outside classroom, clearing undergrowth for a community centre, building pathways for medicinal gardens, digging ponds and improving a market square. The students also had their first experience of teaching, leading an English lesson with a group of primary school aged children.

THE BIG DRAW

BORNEO EXPEDITION SUMMER 2016

PUMPKIN PATH

The recent months have seen a number of students perform at a national and international level in their own specialist fi eld of sport or performing arts with some amazing success stories.

The autumn term has seen over 100 students in the Studio school embark on their latest work experience placements. This is central to the Studio school curriculum which has a joint focus on academic achievement and preparing young people for the working world. Students learn valuable life skills through their work experience across a wide range of local and national businesses which can lead to some great opportunities. For example, media student Alex Platts (pictured) spent a day at the UK Headquarters of Mercedes Benz in Woking on a photography assignment. In addition two students are working here at the Academy on a fi lming assignment to create a

new Sixth Form video. Head of Studio Sixth Form May Hawkins commented,“Work experience is such an important part of the Studio curriculum, and is a real plus for your CV when you start to look for employment.”

Aysin DervishYear 9

Competed in the World Taekwondo Championships in Budapest

Tiegan BrownYear 9

Competed in the Street Hip Hop World Championships and was placed 4th in the U14 category

Ellie WoodlandYear 12

Competed in the National Rhythmic Gymnastics Finals at the

Liverpool Echo Arena

Alex Platts on a photo assignment at Mercedes Benz

We now have 20 Sixth Formers well on their way to achieving DofE Gold level, which culminates in an award ceremony at Buckingham Palace in the spring. Head Boy Oscar Edmondson tells us about DofE and the latest expedition in October.

I have been involved in the DofE programme at the Academy since its inception in 2011. It has been very exciting to be part of the first group that has made the transition to the ‘Gold Award’ and to be able to see the interest grow at Knutsford. Through DofE, I have been able to be creative with my time and given the opportunity to take part in genuinely fulfilling volunteering work, developing new skills and personal fitness.

Most recently, myself and a group of 20 Year 13 students completed their final expedition. Over the course of the 4-day expedition we faced long days, rewarded by stunning Yorkshire scenery. We were completely self sufficient and the achievement of completing the Yorkshire Three Peaks was a fitting way to end our DofE experience at Knutsford.

SIXTH FORMERS STRIVE FOR GOLD

STUDIO SCHOOL WORK EXPERIENCE

SPORTING AND PERFORMING ARTS EXCELLENCE

FOOTBALL ACADEMY OFF TO A GREAT START

TEACHER TRAINING AT KNUTSFORD ACADEMY

KEY EVENTS IN THE RUN UP TO CHRISTMAS24th November 6pm - 8pm Sixth Form Open Evening

13th - 17th DecemberBilly Elliot Tickets now available from reception, student offi ce or email boxoffi ce@knutsfordacademy.org.uk

20th December Christmas ConcertFurther details to be announced

22nd December Break up for Christmas Holidays at 1pm

The Academy’s highly successful teacher training programme – SD14 continues to grow and this year has just under 50 students training to become teachers. The programme is partnered with Liverpool John Moores University with trainees working in a number of local schools and then spending every Friday here at the Academy where they receive specialist support and workshops.

Our trainee teachers include students who have recently graduated as well as those seeking a career change and there is a real focus on providing individual support for our trainees.

If you would like to fi nd out more about the programme why not pop along to one of the coff ee mornings on 25th November or 2nd December.

Contact Rachael on rtr@knutsfordacademy.org.uk for further details.

September saw almost 150 students join the Sixth Form in Year 12,

including the fi rst squad of players in our new Football Academy. This is based in the Studio school and in a local community partnership with Egerton

Football Club. The majority of students on the programme

are studying a double BTEC in Sport, which is equivalent to two A Levels. Together with their studies, students have football training three days a week and are in the process of starting their FA coaching and refereeing qualifi cations.

The team play on Wednesday afternoons in the North West College League and have got off to a solid start with two wins out of three, including a victory over local rivals Macclesfi eld College. One of the students, Declan Butler (pictured right) has also been selected to attend the national fi nals for the prestigious Nike Training Academy.

A huge thank you to McHale & Co Solicitors, who are the team sponsors and have sponsored a new team kit.

For all the latest Academy news why not follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page

@knutsfordac Offi cial Knutsford Academy