Student Voice July 2014

Hi!

This is the last edition of the

magazine this academic year.

I hope you have enjoyed reading

it as much as I have enjoyed

writing it!

Tilly Wale (Writer & Editor)

CONTENTS:

LRC News

Sports Day Feature

Teacher News

General News

G&T English Workshop

Sporting Successes

Head Girl and Head Boy Message

DT News

Exceptional English Work from

Year 7’s

The Student Voice Magazine

Mrs Conaghan’s Message

I would like to take this

opportunity to thank Tilly

for all the hard work she

has put into creating the

student magazine. Not

only is it informative but it is

also an enjoyable read.

If any of you are interested

in helping out next year

I’m sure Tilly and

Mr Lambourne would

appreciate your

contributions.

Enjoy the summer holidays

and I look forward to

seeing you ready for

another fantastic year in

September.

LRC NEWS

Riveting Readathon

On the 23rd of June, a small group of Year 9

students met up with other Year 9 students from

Dorcan and Highworth Warneford schools to

debate which book they thought should be

awarded the Riveting Read of 2014!

We began with a warm up session, in which a

student stood in the centre,

shared a statement like ’I think

the real hero in Harry Potter is Hermione’, and

students that agreed with the statement all got up

and switched seats, leaving one person left as Mr

Cook took away seats!

Next we got into groups with

other students from Swindon schools and

discussed their presentation brief, which was

to pick out 7 scenes they agreed should be

included in a film trailer based on their specific

book. After a quick discussion, we made huge

flipchart images and mind maps as well as

preparing our presentation.

Then we all gathered in the

fiction library and presented our ideas to the

other groups. This was great fun as everyone got

to present their own personal opinion, whilst

sounding more like film producers by the minute!

To finish, each person entered their ‘Riveting

Read’ vote into the box.

And the Riveting Read voted by students from

the participating Swindon schools was…

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey!

Whilst the announced winner brought mixed re-

actions of agreement and outrage as ’Hostage

Three’ just missed out, it was a really enjoyable

day. Thank you to Mrs Curtis and Mrs Longthorne

as well as Mr Cook for organising this for us!

Student Thoughts?

“I liked all the group activities. My favourite book

was ‘Heroic’ because it was thought-provoking. It

was a really engaging experience and I would rec-

ommend it to other years. Also, it really helped my

public speaking and I felt really comfortable giving

the presentation. It was a great morning”.

“I think that the Riveting Readathon was a very good

success. I enjoyed conversing with pupils from other

schools and I found it really fun. We all had different

interesting views and I liked presenting in front of oth-

er people. My favourite book was ‘The 5th Wave’.”

If you are going into Year 9 next year and are interested

in reading some amazing books, meeting new people

and sharing a great and educational experience,

remember the Riveting Readathon and get involved as

soon as possible!

SPORTS DAY Last year we held Sports day at the Swindon County

Ground Athletics track. Feedback from staff and

students was extremely positive and the day was a

huge success; therefore we decided to hold it again

this year at the County Ground on Friday 11th July.

Staff and students arrived early to help set up and

with the weather set to hit 23 degrees we were all confident the day would

be a huge success. The atmosphere at the track was electrifying. An open-

ing ceremony by the Kingsdown School Cheerleading squad kick started

the morning with a fantastic performance. The routine was choreographed

by our Y10 students who have spent many lunchtimes practicing their rou-

tines in recent weeks.

Tutor groups were proud to represent individual Olympic

countries and designed flags in support of these. Team

captains motivated their teams and made last minute

changes which helped encourage participation in all

events. Students competed to the best of their ability

and support and encouragement by all spectators was

outstanding. This created a great competitive vibe be-

tween all three houses com-

peting to become this year’s sports day champion.

Tutor groups selected their own winning anthems

and these were played throughout the morning

during the awards ceremony on the podium.

By midday Rebecca Pinnock achieved a new

sports day record. Rebecca beat the current Y8

Girls Javelin record achieved by Z. Hawkins in 2005 and threw 21.26m.

Mr Hamilton did a fantastic job throughout the morning

ensuring all were kept up to date with the overall house

scores. Coate took the lead from the very start of the

day with 209 points. At the end of the day the final

house results were as follows:

1st- Coate 1126 points

2nd- Lydiard 896 points

3rd- Stanton 816 points

Miss Colledge, Head of Coate said:

Today Coate won the House Trophy for the first time

in years! It is because they are an AMAZING house

and were all AMAZING! Their behaviour was brilliant

and their team work impeccable! They were true

heroes and sports people and I could not be more

proud than I am of their success. Long ago are the

times when Coate used to lose everything, we are

now going to WIN EVERYTHING because WE ARE THE

BEST!

I was so proud of everybody who took part today

and everybody made it a day for Coate to remem-

ber!

Many congratulations to Coate for their victory at Sports

Day. Well done to everyone for taking part and gaining

House points for their teams!

The PE Department would like to thank staff and students

who helped prepare for the day and would like to thank

all students in attendance for their impeccable

behaviour. You were all great ambassadors for

Kingsdown School!

The PE blog can be accessed from the School website to

view photographs and results from the day.

www.kingsdownpe.wordpress.com

In:Touch Newsletter July 2014

TEACHER NEWS Miss Simmons will be running an Amnesty International Group at

Kingsdown School next year:

“We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human

rights.”

Join Kingsdown Amnesty International and become a young activist campaigning and

fundraising for human rights. We will be standing up for human rights by:

As part of an Amnesty youth group you will develop great skills and experience for your

future career and job or university applications.

See Miss Simmons for more information.

Organising fun events and creative

campaigns Lobbying local MPs

Raising money and awareness of

Amnesty

Organising assemblies, vigils,

demonstrations and other public

actions

Writing letters to prisoners of conscience

and government officials around the

world

Watching documentaries and

learning about human rights

around the world

Unfortunately we will be saying goodbye to several

members of staff at the end of this academic year. I’m

sure you will agree that all members of staff leaving have

been inspiring and passionate teachers in their subjects

and will be greatly missed. We wish them the best for the

future in everything they do.

Student Librarian Vacancies!

We very much value the help of our student

librarians, who assist us during break and lunch

times. We now have a few vacancies for student

librarians, so if you would like to put your name

forward, just pop along to the LRC and speak to

Mrs Curtis or Mrs Longthorne for further

details. The places are open for Year 8 students

and above.

GENERAL NEWS

G&T ENGLISH

WORKSHOP Miss Brackley ran an afterschool G&T English workshop for students. The

focus of this workshop was in creative writing, looking specifically at

accounts and conditions of World War One.

We were first introduced to this new project called 14-19-Now. This project

has been created as a commemoration to soldiers who fought in World

War One. The main focus of this project is to write a ‘Letter to an Unknown

Soldier’. Hundreds of school children, teenagers and adults in the UK have

been submitting their own message to the unknown soldier. Some have

written to remember the soldier as they have a link to World War One in

the family, and some have written to show their appreciation of the efforts

of soldiers in the War. Others have simply written in the style of a poem,

painting soldiers as heroes, and some have put themselves in others’

shoes, writing as a relative, lover or friend of the unknown soldier. If you

could say what you want to say about the war, with all we’ve learnt since

1914, what would you say? If you were able to send a personal message

to one of the men who served and was killed during World War One, what

would you write? Visit www.1418now.org.uk/letter/ now to find out more

about this soldier and to read letters that others have created for the

unknown soldier.

Here is a copy a student’s letter to the unknown soldier, created over the

3 workshops with Miss Brackley:

Brave Brother,

You journeyed on with blank expression: all fear hidden. Your efforts have

stretched far… farther than those lines of which you called home.

You are unknown to those who choose an ignorant outlook. You have

created a stable and rewarding life for my generation. Fear need not exist

in these parts due to your sacrifice, and for this I am eternally thankful. I bow

in admiration at your efforts.

Your nationality is unknown, but is not needed to be known in order for our

warm appreciation to shine, through the murky despair of harsh realities

such as death. Creed, colour, you are a hero no matter your origin.

Courageously one young life was lost as millions of souls were saved. The

innocence within your selfless decision freezes my heart when I come to

terms with… with…

Why? I ask.

Disaster and travesty are the few words that come to mind. I wasn’t there as

death became of you nor do I know your background. However I can but

gasp in honour in your fight for righteousness.

Shed no tear for the flower will bloom another year. Like a swallow your

body will fly away into the sunset, yet your presence will linger for years to

come and will forever remind people of the injustice you eliminated and

the tranquillity you brought to our lives. For this you are not unknown.

Dearest Soldier, this is for you.

Tilly Wale (Year 9)

SPORTING

SUCCESS On Friday 27th June Kingsdown competed

in the 2014 Swindon School Games hosted

by Lydiard Park Academy. Kingsdown

teams competed at a range of venues

across Swindon.

Beginners and advanced finished 1st and

the intermediates finished 3rd. Y8 boys

Tennis team, captained by Tommy

Dearsley finished 3rd and the swimming

team finished 4th.

Congratulations to the Gymnasts who

then went on to compete at the Wiltshire

School Games held at Marlborough

College on 2nd July (Lucy Hudson, Molly

Mundy and Lara Hill).

Congratulations to the Girls U12 Football

team who competed in the South West

Regional Finals in June. The team started

slowly with a 15-2 loss but soon picked up

their pace and passing and finished in 3rd

position overall:

Kingsdown 15-2 Coombeshead Academy

Kingsdown 0-5 Wadebridge Town

Kingsdown 2-2 Cheltenham Spa

Kingsdown 4-2 Dawlish United

Well done to all players!

Congratulations to Hannah New in

Y7 who won the 70m Hurdles final at

the Swindon Schools Athletics trials.

Hannah then became the Minor Girls

Wiltshire Schools County Champion.

Since then Hannah has now beaten

her club record and is currently

ranked No.1 in the South West for

Hurdles.

Congratulations to Joe Castle in

Y9 who qualified for the South

West Athletics Championships in

the Junior Boys Pole Vault. Joe

competed as part of the

Wiltshire Schools team in Yeovil

finishing in 4th position.

A fantastic achievement Joe.

Well done!

Congratulations to the Girls Y9 Rounders team who are

top of their Swindon Schools pool. The Girls will now play

Lydiard Park Academy in the final!

D.T NEWS

Imagine converting an old, unusable milk

bottle into a colourful patterned sheet of

plastic that will save our planet!

The DT Department are very pleased with

their latest purchase…….

C R Clark’s Shredder and Sheet Maker!

The ‘Shredder’ is a recycling machine taking old scraps of plastic

and shredding them into small chips. These small chips can then

be heated and pressed in the ‘Sheet Maker’ to make new sheets

of plastic.

Students from all years will get to use this machine in DT lessons

such as Product Design and Resistant Materials. It is a great way to

get students involved in DT and in saving our planet. Hundreds of

plastic boxes and broken plastic chairs are thrown away every

year at schools….. but now they can be re-used for students’ work!

Miss Iles kindly allowed me to have a go at

creating a new sheet of plastic. I used an old

piece of plastic that would have otherwise been

thrown away into a landfill, and shredded it down

in the machine to create different coloured chips

of plastic. I then arranged the different colours

into a pattern in the heating pressure machine

and pressed it to create a new sheet of plastic for

use. It was amazing and a really exciting way to

re-use old plastic to create such colourful,

patterned sheets of plastic.

Look out for the ‘Shredder’ next academic year!

YEAR 7’S EXCEPTIONAL

ENGLISH SKILLS

These exceptional pieces of English work have

been put forward by Miss Brackley. Well done

to all these students who had their work pub-

lished in this edition and others!

Trembling with fear, a chill rode down my spine as the grotesque figure gravitated towards me. The

trees around me bowed to it like soldiers. It fired a raging leaf storm from his ravaged pal. The

tempest got closer… and closer… and closer.

THUD!

My face collided with the most soil…

It was like a wicked dream; a brick embedded in my mystified mind. Forcing my dreary eyes open,

I noticed swaying tress above me: was it the wind or my confused imagination? I scrambled to my

feet. As I rose, a specific towering tree caught my attention. Suddenly I remembered everything…

It all came back to me. Everything. Rushing to my mind like a rapid tornado of forgotten memories.

I ran. Through the unnerving forest, I ran. Eerie, emerald, empty. Emitting from the labyrinth of trees,

a voice of the finest silk warmed my heart. “Leave now or suffer the consequences!”. I froze.

By Archie Evans, Sam Reed and Joe Lenihan

I don’t know where I am!

I can feel damp soil against my face. As my eyes flicker open, my surroundings come into focus.

Leaning heavily on my left hand, I gradually sit up. I look around. Formidable trees loom over me,

blocking what little sunlight there is. Dead leaves carpet the creepy, crooked path.

I don’t know where I am!

SNAP! Somewhere, a twig shattered, I whisk around and get the feeling that I am not alone. Out

of the corner of my eye I see a shadow creep closer… closer… closer. I blink and it’s gone.

I bury my face in my hands. Who am I! Where am I? When I open my eyes the world spins. Suffo-

cating in the smell of blood, I hear beeps echoing. A mysterious figure towers over me like a sky-

scraper, a syringe in his hand. He moves closer to me until the syringe is plunged into my neck. I

try to scream but sound evades me.

A flash of white sends me tumbling down to earth, where I sit, hyperventilating. I see the sinister

shadow before me.

A gust of wind. Then darkness. I don’t know where I am.

By Imogen Deaton, Abbie Harper, Rosalyn Fernandes and Mia Rivers

HEAD GIRL AND

HEAD BOY

Hello Everyone,

We are Tapi and Matthew, the current Head

Girl and Head Boy. Having been

students at Kingsdown for four

years now, we have taken on

various other responsibilities, but

this year we are excited about

our greatest challenge yet.

This last term has been quite busy for us but it

was indeed very enjoyable. We had a great

time attending the KS3 Presentation Evening,

where we carried out our first duties as Head

Girl and Head Boy reading our first speech. It

was quite nerve racking but the evening as a

whole was fantastic; it was great to be there

to hear and celebrate all of the wonderful

achievements of individuals in Year 9, from

sporting to academic.

We are looking forward to our

year as your Head Girl and Head

Boy very much, and throughout it

we hope to get to know and talk

to many more of the students.

We aim to help support all

students this year by increasing

the interaction and communication between

the year groups, because as students ourselves

we feel it would enrich school life for us all.

Just as much as we would like to share with you

our aims and goals for the year, we would also

love to hear feedback in any form: suggestions,

questions or concerns. We sincerely hope that

every student will find it easy to come to us,

because together as a student body, we feel

we can hopefully make the coming year,

Kingsdown's best yet!

We wish you all a great summer and we look

forward to the coming academic year,

Tapi Kachika and Matthew Bowles

Enjoyed reading your Student Voice

Magazine? Why not write an article

yourself to publish or give us some

feedback?

The Student Voice Magazine needs you. The Student

Voice Magazine was created in 2011, and I have

thoroughly enjoyed writing articles for each edition so

far… but unfortunately numbers have dropped and I

would love to hear from you! What do you want to see

in your magazine? What do you want to find out about

at Kingsdown School?

Ideas for articles:

Past events

Upcoming events

Fashion tips

Opinions about new projects

Department/teacher news

Comic strips

Jokes

Student information

Please get involved at the start of the year so that we

can build a great team of photographers, researchers,

writers and contributors. If you don’t want to write an

article yourself but have something you think is worth

talking about, why not get your tutor to contact me at

the start of the next academic year!