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Newsletter October 2018

Chew Valley SchoolLearn Grow Achieve

If I start with the summer holidays and say that I was privileged along with four other staff to spend two and a half weeks in Kenya with 28 Year 11 students. We were working with schools and communities in the Kisii and Masai Mara regions with the charity Mend The Gap and a number of the students also completed a trek on Mount Kenya. The students were absolutely brilliant and a credit to Chew Valley and everyone associated with them.

The first half term of the academic year has disappeared very quickly and much has already gone on. Year 7’s first day seems a long time ago! We are pleased with the introduction of the house system, vertical tutoring and the new uniform together with a reaffirmation of our behaviour systems. It has been commented to me by many people that the start of the year has been a good one. Some highlights include the house competitions of the inflatable bungee football, and the fun run that the whole school community took part in on a Friday afternoon. It was great to see staff and students supporting each other in this with smiling faces and great words of encouragement. Our regular house activities very much bring the whole community together.

We carried out a KS3 Review in conjunction with Lighthouse Schools Partnership staff in early October for four days. Here nearly 40 lessons were visited, students were spoken to and work was scrutinised. The school and the Trust were really pleased with the general outcome and we now have some areas to think about which we will share with our governing body in the form of an action plan.

As ever, this newsletter highlights the many events that happen as a matter of course at Chew Valley School. This would not happen without the staff we are fortunate to have here. It has been lovely this term to be able to visit house assemblies and see students of various ages come together. We have had some good feedback about the mixing of ages in tutor groups and the fact that older students are now known to younger ones as good role models. This is an area we will continue to monitor and develop.

Gareth Beynon

From the Headteacher

Diary DatesFri 26th October - Term 1 endsMon 5th November - Term 2 beginsThurs 8th November - Y10/Y11 Info EveningThurs 15th November - 6th Form Open EveningWed 21st November - Autumn Music ExtravaganzaWed 28th November - GCSE Presentation EveningThurs 29th November 9am - 10am - SEN Coffee Morning for Years 7 and 8 parents/carersThurs 29th November - RSE EveningSun 2nd December - Chew Valley Santa ScrambleWed 5th December - The School Society Bingo Evening10th - 13th December - House Rewards EveningsTues 18th December - Carol Concert Chew Magna

Chew Valley SchoolChew Magna

Bristol BS40 8QBTelephone: 01275 332272

Email: enquiries@chewvalleyschool.co.uk

Fri 21st December (midday) - Term 2 endsMon 7th January - Term 3 beginsTues 15th January - Year 9 Options EveningMon 21st January - Inset DayThurs 24th January - Year 9 Parents’ EveningThurs 31st January 9am - 10am - SEN Coffee Morning for Years 9 and 11 parents/carersThurs 7th February - Year 11 Parents’ Evening11th - 14th February - Dance FestivalThurs 14th February - Term 3 endsFri 15th February - Inset DayMon 25th February - Term 4 begins

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Useful Exam InformationYear 11 Art Preparation – Monday 3rd Dec 2018, P4 & P5

Year 11 Art Exam Day – Tuesday 4th Dec 2018

Year 11 Language Speaking Exams – Wednesday 5th & Thursday 6th Dec 2018

Year 11 Mock Exams – Monday 10th - Thursday 20th Dec 2018 Timetables will be released after half term

Year 12 & 13 Mock – Wednesday 9th - Friday 18th Jan 2019

Chew Valley School Art Department clutched another armful of glittering prizes at the Winford Show back in September.

In no particular order Chloe Payne was highly commended, Samuel Vokes, Cory Cook, Callum Gould, Sinead Hauser, Isobel Russell, Harrison Gane, Freya Harding and Fin McDonald all had glorious certification and were mentioned in despatches, Tasha Davey got a first prize. It was difficult to choose entrants as there were so many worthy and fine potential submissions. Congratulations to the above mentioned and winner and congratulations to the unsung students who have produced equally fine images either in traditional paint, pencil, ink or digital photography, Photoshop or indeed other categories that as yet the fine Winford Show does not yet cater for.

Mr O’Connell

Winford Art Show

WANTED: FILM CAMERASThe Photography / Art Department regularly use the vital film element of photography to enrich and further the students’ studies and experience at A level and occasionally at GCSE. We are on the lookout for your working but dust gathering and bothersome film cameras you might have cluttering up the attic.

Donations to Mr O’Connell or any of the lovely Art teachers.

Thank you in anticipation.

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Students spend their summer in KenyaTwenty eight students fresh from completing their GCSE examinations spent part of their summer in Kenya exploring the country and working with the local charity, Mend The Gap. The trip involved working with the community in the villages around the town of Kisii where students visited local schools, witnessed tea processing and worked on various projects. The students also were involved in the distribution of clothing which has been taken out by the team including jumpers which had been knitted by people here.

The students visited the Masai Mara where they experienced the thrill of safari, seeing many of the ‘Big 5’ animals. The group split in the second part of the trip with some students remaining in the Masai region where they were involved in installing solar lights into the homes of the Masai tribe which had been financed by fundraising back here in our community. For a Masai family, who have an open fire and keep animals in their homes, this light which, in addition has a USB charging point for their mobile phone, changes their life enormously. Other students embarked on a four day trek in the Mount Kenya National Park where they camped at about 10,000 ft for three nights and woke up to frost on the ground even though they were only a few miles from the equator.

The trip finished in Nairobi, where the group were privileged to go into Kibera, the informal shanty town within the city and look at the work of a charity working there. The students were very aware that they were given a glimpse of Kenya that tourists would not see. The trip would not have been possible without Mend The Gap. Their website (www.mendthegap.org.uk) gives an insight into the work that they do.

This term the Fundraising Team and new Homeless in Action Team have joined forces to collect donations for homeless people in Bristol.

This is to support a local charity called ‘Feed the Homeless Bristol’ which distributes hot food to rough sleepers in Bristol on Friday and Sunday evenings but they are also organising a ‘Keep Bristol Warm’ event. They have won a number of community awards and you can find more information about their work on their website: https://www.feedthehomeless.org.uk/

Each tutor group is being asked to make two boxes of goods for homeless people in Bristol, these are being distributed on 28th October by the charity. Each box should contain some warm clothing and toiletries (each tutor has a list of the items they should contain).

All boxes must be completed and handed in to the Base by Friday 26th October.

Many thanks for your support.

The Homeless in Action and Fundraising Teams

Homeless in Action Team

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Award winning author visits schoolStudents enjoyed a literary treat on Monday 1st October, when the award winning author Kiran Millwood Hargrave visited school. Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s first book “The Girl of Ink and Stars” has been a huge success and was nominated for the prestigious Carnegie Award in 2017, before scooping the British Book Award Children’s Book of the Year and becoming the Winner of the Waterstones Children’s Prize 2017. Kiran, whose second novel “The Island at the End of Everything” has also been well reviewed, spoke to Year 7 students about the inspiration behind her novels and discussed how she brings her characters to life on the page. She even used a few props to illustrate the wintry setting of her new novel “The Way Past Winter”, with one willing volunteer dressing up in woolly socks and a furry hat and coat!

The students enjoyed a lively question and answer session with Kiran, after which they had the opportunity to buy books and to have them signed.

Kiran proved to be a lively and engaging speaker, generating much pleasure and excitement amongst the students. By the end of her visit the whole year group was buzzing with animated conversations about books and writing ambitions! As one enthusiastic student remarked “It really makes you think about writing your own stories!”.

Ms Hillis

On Tuesday 16 October GCSE Dance students from Year 10 and 11 participated in a Dance workshop delivered by professional dancer Mel Simpson from the Juka Dance Company. The aim of the day was to support the students with their understanding and their performance of the Set Dance Phrases that form part of their examined work. The detail that was covered in this fast paced, high energy workshop provided lots of challenge for our students but the progress they each made was clear to see.

Students were thoroughly engaged in a variety of different performance and choreography tasks and left feeling confident and inspired.

“We really liked the choreography tasks; taking dance material and working with other students to develop it into a new dance was good fun. It was really different and although it felt strange at first, we now feel confident we could use it again when choreographing our own trio.” – Year 11 Dance students

“The dance phrases ‘Breathe’ and ‘Shift’ that Mel taught us were really tough but I loved the challenge!” – Year 10 Dance student

Mrs Loynton

Juka Dance workshop

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The Chew Valley Santa Scramble is coming!Entries are now open for the Chew Valley Santa Scramble, sponsored by Winford Ford. Run, walk, skip, or a combination of all three, this fantastic Winter community event is on Sunday 2nd December at 11am and will see participants make their way round a 5k-ish route from Chew Valley School, taking in the beautiful countryside of Chew Stoke and Chew Magna via footpaths, lanes and fields! The course, the friendly marshals with jingle bells, the obligatory Christmassy medal and the Santa suit are included in the price of entry. There will also be a Mini Santa Scramble at 10am for younger children to get in on the action, set within the grounds of Chew Valley School! You can find out more and enter online now at www.chewvalleysantascramble.co.uk.

Brought to you by Chew Valley School and the team behind the Chew Valley 10k, the Chew Valley Santa Scramble is a simple concept – everyone wears a Santa Suit, included in the entry fee (£14 for the 5kish Scramble, £10 for under 18’s and £7 for the younger children’s Mini Santa Scramble) and everyone is welcome – just come and have some fun! This year, under 11’s can also take part in the 5k ish Santa Scramble if accompanied by an adult, so family and friends can all take part together, dressed as Santa (you just need to finish within 2 hours to allow our marshals to warm up! )

All funds raised will go to Chew Valley School, who are fundraising to provide an outdoor gym and also to Mend The Gap (www.mendthegap.org.uk), a local charity based in Langford, which the school supports.

There is free car parking, changing, showers, toilets, bag storage, Christmas music, jingle bells and a Santa Sleigh, along with a few extra surprises! Hot festive refreshments will be provided by the School Society.

Thank you for your support – if you would like to help as a marshal on 2nd December, either for the 1k Mini Scramble or the 5k Santa Scramble, we would love to hear from you at email@chewvalleysantascramble.co.uk – you can also keep up-to-date by following the event on Facebook, Twitter @cvsantascramble and INSTAgram @cvsanta_scramble.

The Chew Valley Santa Scramble team

Shakespeare Schools’ FestivalOnce again the Drama Department at Chew Valley is delighted to have been asked to take part in this year’s Shakespeare Schools’ Festival. This annual festival, showcasing the best productions of Shakespeare’s plays which have been created in schools, is now in its 18th year and we are thrilled to be a part of the big birthday celebrations.

Our production of As You Like It will be performed at The Tobacco Factory Theatre on 23rd November (with tickets available now from the theatre box office). As part of the festival, we took our cast and crew to a workshop at The Trinity Centre Bristol recently. At the workshop, the students were given the chance to share scenes already created with another school and then work with two professional theatre directors as further scenes were developed. The cast and crew of Year 9 students, assisted by Lizzie Stuckey (Yr 12) and Ben Lindsay (Yr 11) were a credit to the school, receiving praise from everyone who worked with them on the day for their energy, focus and creativity.

Rehearsals are continuing twice a week in school and we are all looking forward to our big opening night in a few weeks time.

Mr Conway

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As part of A Level Geography, we study a module of Changing Places which looks into areas that have experienced positive or negative changes in how they are perceived by people. We went on a field trip to St Paul’s in Bristol to see how the perceptions of the district have changed over time. To gather local opinions, we interviewed people who live, work and visit the area as they will provide us with information that we may not consider due to not knowing the area well personally. We also spoke to representatives of Circomedia and the Learning Centre to see the extent of the positive services that they provide to the community.

Before our trip, we had perceived the area to have a negative reputation due to crime rates and historical rioting, which was consistent with perceptions of locals in our interviews and questionnaires. This was something that we were hesitant of before we arrived and made us worry about the way people would perceive us studying their home as outsiders to the area, although we did recognise that we would not have this fear if we were studying in an area like Clifton. However, we found that locals have noticed that St Paul’s has changed a lot over the years and believe that St Paul’s is an up and coming trendy area and that had improved so much - though there is still a long way to go. When talking to people who know the area well, many believed that St Paul’s is

A Level Geography

a beneficial area that celebrates cultural diversity, encourages independent businesses to thrive and is striving towards improvements in housing and community activities. There was a high sense of community and togetherness due to the celebration of culture through food, music and art, which is honoured annually at the St Paul’s Carnival.

Mrs Taylor

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On the 6th October despite a grey and miserable day outside, inside the lower school block and the Sixth Form, things were warm and welcoming. On this day we celebrated the fact that Chew Valley School was in its 60th year and welcomed students and staff – past and present – to join us to reminisce.

The celebrations had started in school assembly the previous week with our Heads of House sharing some photographs of the school when it was first built, and explaining how the curriculum had changed over the years. The students were fascinated by the beehive built into the classroom so that students could see a hive in action, or that many lessons had a rural theme or perspective. In fact, the photo archive also revealed goats on site that were milked by students and students plucking chickens; not something we do today with the residents of Cluckingham Palace. Not only have the lessons changed but the site has too. Our alumni discussed the swimming pool, now under the Music block, and the mini golf course on the quad in the middle of the school.

Whether it was sitting in the Main Hall eating scones or scrutinising the old photos on display, the atmosphere of humour and fun that Chew Valley School has given to its students was evident. One very happy memory for old students was the annual House reward trip to Weymouth, and the first tastes of independence with trips abroad or away from home such as to Simonsbath. But we discovered that these fabulous adults may not have been the best behaved students in the world when at school. Stories of “dap or dig” punishments or the horror of detentions were discussed with glee and shame! Many past students also talked about their teachers and how influential they had been in building the people they are today.

What we were reminded about was not only what a lovely community we have around us at Chew Valley School, but also that teaching young people is one of the most important and rewarding jobs we can do. Thank you for sharing your history with us – see you in 10 years for the next one, but please keep in touch.

Mrs Rowlands

Chew Valley 60th Celebration

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We are a group of students in Year 9 who are entering the Land Rover 4x4 national competition (http://www.4x4inschools.com/home/). If you are part of/own a local company and would be interested in sponsoring us, it would be greatly appreciated. If you are interested don’t hesitate to get in touch. We will accept money in any amount or resources that we could use, any contribution is greatly appreciated. We would put your company’s logo/name on our car and uniform. The competition is streamed live over YouTube and your logo would definitely be seen. However, the larger your sponsorship the larger and more prominent your logo will be. Please get in touch via bdoherty@chewvalleyschool.co.uk for more information.

Thanks from all the Team

Sponsorship PleaChew Valley School were delighted to host our Careers Convention on Tuesday 23rd October. 45 exhibitors were welcomed to our school from a wide range of companies (both national and local), as well as Higher Education organisations, universities, apprenticeship providers and Chew Valley School Alumni and parents.

A large number of students across the year groups and their parents/carers received lots of information about Post-16 pathways from the wide variety of representatives. We even welcomed a robot and some high tech virtually reality to our event! Our grateful thanks to all those who gave up their evening to come to talk to our students. We look forward to next year!

Mrs Seeley

Careers Convention

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House Activities Results

1st Hauteville2nd Bilbie3rd Rodney4th Moreton

1st Moreton2nd Hauteville3rd Bilbie4th Rodney

1st Bilbie2nd Moreton3rd Rodney and Hauteville

1st Moreton2nd Hauteville3rd Bilbie4th Rodney

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House Activities Results continued

1st Rodney2nd Bilbie3rd Moreton4th Hauteville

Upcoming House events

Current House Points* (22/10/2018) * This does not include the PE House matches results!

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