Message from the Headteacher

Welcome to the latest edition of our school newsletter. As you will see, there has been no let up in the pace and excitement of being part of the Marden High School community.

I could fill this page with a summary of what has happened recently, not least the intensive planning we are now doing for our new school which will be open for business in September 2016. I must also mention the thrilling experience of being the venue for the live TV broadcast of Look North on BBC Schools News Day - one of the most exciting events of my long career in teaching.

Word is certainly getting round about the good work we're doing at Marden. We've admitted over 30 new students since Christmas because parents have heard that we have places. Furthermore, we have high hopes of attracting even more students in September by achieving another very good set of GCSE results this summer.

If you'd like to find out more about Marden, perhaps by visiting the school in person, do not hesitate to contact me on 0191 2006357.

Jonathan Morris Headteacher

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...……MARDEN IN THE PRESS………

OFSTED SUCCESS FOR MARDENAt the turn of the year Government watchdog, OFSTED, confirmed a remarkable turnaround at Marden.

Only two years ago OFSTED judged Marden High School to be satisfactory. Now, however, as well as achieving the highest ever 5A*-C GCSE results in North Tyneside in 2013, the school has been rated as good with outstanding features, with leadership and behaviour being awarded the best possible grades.

Inspectors gave high praise to what Marden has achieved, stating: “Good and often outstanding teaching ensures that students from all starting points make rapid progress and achieve well….. The most able students

achieve highly with attainment at A* to A grade significantly above the national average.”

Headteacher Jonathan Morris said: “If you read the report you can tell the inspectors were amazed at the surge in standards at Marden. They also said that the school is well placed to improve even further which is a fantastic judgement to receive.

“It’s been a true team effort but I must give special mention to our brilliant students who received the highest possible accolades.”

Highly praised by OFSTED, students’ behaviour received an “outstanding” judgement. Amongst the comments were:

“Students exemplary behaviour is characterised by high

levels of engagement and commitment in lessons across subjects. They are polite, courteous and considerate and are supported very effectively by their excellent spiritual, moral, social and cultural development…..Students’ behaviour in lessons and social times is exemplary. They are considerate, sensible and friendly… Classrooms are happy places to work... Students thrive on the responsibilities that they are given and take great pride in their contributions to school improvement, such as making decisions in the School Cabinet.”

The full report is now available at mardenhigh.net

TEENAGE CANCER TRUST AWARENESS VISIT

A charity which supports young people with cancer visited Year 9 pupils to encourage them to talk about the disease

and how it may affect them, their family and friends.

The session highlighted the most common signs of cancer in young people, the different types of treatment available,

and how healthy living can reduce the risk of developing the disease in later life. Most importantly, pupils were

encouraged to talk more about the disease, to be aware of it, and to share what they learnt with family and friends.

Television news presenter and ex-student Carol Malia came back to her academic roots when she returned to Marden High School to broadcast the local BBC News live, as part of the BBC’s annual News School Report Day.

Throughout the day budding journalists, photographers, editors and film crew at Marden had the opportunity to work shoulder to shoulder with a professional news team from the BBC who spent the day with them.

They followed the students who were reporting live on the issues of the day, and provided them with a lot of professional advice and tips about the industry.

Assistant Headteacher Mrs Bloomfield, who coordinates the school’s involvement with BBC News School Report Day, said “It’s a great opportunity for the students to learn about working in the Media, and it also gives them a chance to be creative and independent, producing

reports from stories they have chosen to cover. They always love taking part and were so excited when they heard that former Marden student Carol Malia and a BBC Crew were

coming to broadcast live from our Media Studio and to show off all the great work that they had produced here at Marden.”

Marden High School has been involved with the BBC News School Report for the past 8 years. It gives students the chance to be ‘real’ journalists for the day, writing and reporting their own news report for a real audience.

MARDEN MAKES THE

NEWS

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Fuelling the Future, Fuelling Fun!Pupils celebrated National Science and Engineering Week 2014 by

enjoying an explosive show!

Professor John Kilcoyne (Pictured Left) from Sunderland University, who is also ‘The Man in The Shed’ from TV Series Brainiac, performed his show to Years 7,8 and 9, pupils from

Southlands School and Year 6 pupils from primary schools in the area.

Professor Kilcoyne entertained pupils and brought science to life with his exciting show of bangs, flashes and explosions. He used dry ice, burning magnesium and frozen bananas to explain the science behind his show. He also talked about how important

science is to our daily lives, and in solving problems that we face now and into the future.

The pupils had a fantastic time while learning about science in such an exciting way. Emily McCarthy, Year 7, said “I really enjoyed it! It

was exciting and something new that interested everyone.”

Professor Kilcoyne later complemented the welcoming atmosphere of Marden High and congratulated the children on their impeccable

behaviour.

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Spring Newsletter 2014

To celebrate World Book Day, staff and students collected 800 fiction and non-fiction books for

Oxfam’s campaign ‘Message in a book’.

Students were given £1 book vouchers which they could use to choose specially printed World Book Day Books (which were also accelerated

reader books) from the LRC. Vouchers could also be used against any book worth at least £2.99

from participating booksellers

The LRC held a Book Quiz which was won by Team ‘Twain’ and each member of the team

received a free book as a prize.

Students were given a book front on which to write a recommended book which was available

to view in the LRC.

World Book Day MARDEN MEATS THE PIE

A group of Year 11 Business students visited Greggs HQ to learn about their business model. They took in a tour of the production line, then had a talk about the

business and the Greggs Graduate Training Programme.

Spring Newsletter 2014

MARDEN MUTATING

A group of Year 10 students visited the fabulous Jam Jar Cinema, a great independent venue in Whitley Bay, where they watched X-Men in their plush screening room before taking in an entertaining talk from Scientist Simon Watt, a co-presenter on Channel 4′s Inside Nature’s

Giants.

The lecture discussed the Science behind mutations, and there were all sorts of fun activities, including ‘genetically modifying’ Ryan, as the students played ‘Genetic Whispers’, explaining how faults in genes cause mutations with a ‘Chinese Whispers’ style game.

SPORTS RELIEF

Marden students, parents and staff showed their usual generosity during the recent Sports Relief charity fundraiser. A

‘Fun Run’ was held at Lunchtime and raised a massive £588.67 for Sports

Relief and a further £250 for M10 (see mardenhigh.net for further details).

Well done to everyone involved!

Spring Newsletter 2014

marden & the BBC at Beamish museumMarden students worked on a project about the 1944 Education Act for the BBC News School Report Day. They interviewed the

head, supported by Damian O’Neill from the BBC.

The Year 8,9 and 10 students then headed to Beamish to report about the changing

face of education and the impact of inclusion in schools like Marden.

Students completed many other reports before the main BBC School Report Day on

27th March.The other reports, including this one, can be

found here:

http://www.mardenhigh.net/category/partnerships/bbc-school-report/

In July 2013 the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade held a competition with local schools to design a new logo to coincide with their 150th

Anniversary.

The competition was tough, with entries from Churchill Community College, John Spence Community High School and Kings Priory. The Brigade’s Committee of Directors felt that of all the submitted designs

Louise Richardson of Year 10 had captured everything they were looking for and her design was chosen as the winning logo.

Louise was invited to the Watch House Museum in January for the unveiling of her finished design. Well done Louise!

Spring Newsletter 2014

SPORTS REPORTJunior Athlete Education

Programme This is an initiative in partnership with Tyne Metropolitan College. It offers a

support network for our elite performers which includes mentoring, fitness appraisal and time management. Students from all year groups are

currently registered on the scheme.

BasketballThe school has secured a link with the Newcastle Eagles and this partnership has involved a club coach running an

extra-curricular session one night a week after school. Students have also had the

opportunity to attend premier league games to watch the Eagles in live action. Recently, the Yr9 and Yr11 teams both

won their North Tyneside Leagues which enabled them to qualify for the County

Championships. Both teams finished as runners up after superb performances. All players were a credit to the school.

Well done!

Yr9 Team: Theo Riley, Sean Wood, Jack O’Brien, Lewis Rathmell, Luke

Monoghan, Connor Lemon, Tom Stoetzel & Stefan McCowan

Yr11 Team: Mark Butcher, Josiah Riley, Tom Collins, Josh Eyre, Luc Connor-Hartley, Mark Strasshine, Michael Wood and Callum Foxton.

RugbyYr10 boys won an emerging schools

rugby festival at Gosforth Rugby Club, beating St Thomas More in the final. The team was captained by Ross Alexander

and Joseph Campbell. Well done! Currently, groups of students are being coached by NT Development Officer

Andy Buist during lesson time.

Cross-CountryThe senior team (Yrs10/11) won the

North Tyneside Championships before Xmas and four runners qualified for the

county event, Josiah Riley, Mark Strasshine, Sam Tupling and Kieran

Rudd. Finn Heslop, Leodhais McPherson & Lucas Sutherland also qualified and Leodhais went through to run in the NE

finals. Congratulations!

BadmintonThe girls teams competed in the North

Tyneside Tournaments and played extremely well, adapting their game from

mini to full size courts.U14 Girls’ Doubles Team won both the A

and B sections to become North Tyneside Champions. U13 Girls’ Doubles

Team achieved runners up position (section A) in their North Tyneside

Championships. Players included Laura Kirkpatrick, Beth Robinson, Katie Laurie,

Katie Ellwood, Rachel Foreman and Daisy Rowe. Well played girls!

Dance City& The Dance Factory

Year 7 students were given the opportunity to take part in a dance workshop with a dance coach from

Dance City. The sessions went very well and further collaboration is planned.

A dance coach from the Dance Factory delivered an extra curricular session over six weeks for our senior girls to take part

in.

Young Sports LeadersA group of Yr10 girls have been assisting the Headteacher at Monkhouse Primary

School to run an out of hours netball club. The second phase will take place

after Easter. All involved have been praised for their commitment,

responsibility and enthusiasm and are proving to be excellent ambassadors for

the school.

Sarah Donnison, Caitlin Fraser, Georgie Gibson, Stacie Spendiff, Chloe Hall, Becca Brand, Rachel Berry, Amy Hedworth, Chloe Hall

Girl’s Football Marden girls finished their league last

Monday, the final league tables show that they finished 3rd overall which is a

fantastic achievement considering it is an U13 league and over half of the team are

from Year 7. Well done girls!