Term Two 2018-19 Newsletter Issue 004 - Stretford …...Page 1 of 15 Term Two 2018-19 Newsletter –...
Transcript of Term Two 2018-19 Newsletter Issue 004 - Stretford …...Page 1 of 15 Term Two 2018-19 Newsletter –...
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Term Two 2018-19 Newsletter – Issue 004
We thought about it…
My last newsletter started with “think about it” in relation to striving to
reach our goals and ambitions. After a term of competitions, trips,
costumes, re-enactment, record breaking number of House Points
awarded, charity, community spirit and love, it is fair to say we didn’t
just think about it. We thought about it and then we smashed it.
We continue to showcase the amazing qualities that staff and
students at Stretford High have to offer and this newsletter is a
celebration and reminder of what has been achieved over the last
term.
Keep working hard, push yourself to reach your potential and
remember to celebrate the good things that you do in and around
the school. Have a restful Easter break and I look forward to
welcoming you all back in Term Three.
Mrs. Doward
House News
Royce managed to claim the House Trophy last term with over half
a million points. This term Team Royce retained the House Trophy,
thanks in part to their ability to double their points tally to over a
million. They are the first House to reach this milestone since the new
House system was created. Well done Royce House!
Pankhurst have secured second place for a consecutive term,
comfortably ahead of their nearest rivals, Turing. Bronte have
earned more than they did at this stage last year, however, it is not
enough to push them further up the leader board.
A total 3,777,745 points have been awarded since the start of the
academic year (another record) for attendance, library book loans
and, of course, points awarded in and around school for being
ready, showing respect and being safe.
Remember to keep working hard and earn points for your House, you
never know you could be in for a reward at the end of Term Three if
you amass the highest number of points in your form or year.
Enjoy this bumper edition newsletter and thank you all for everything
you have contributed to this term.
Mr. Freedman (Student Champion)
Students, per House, with the
most House Points at the end of
Term Two.
Bronte
Mikaeel S. (7B/SKN) 8122
Pankhurst
Daniel-James M. (8P/CSI) 9093
Royce
Uzair Y. (7R/OMO) 10938
Turing
Kushpreet K. (7T/GRO) 7971
House Points, per House, at the
end of Term Two.
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ARRIVEDERCI ROME!
On Friday 22nd March a group of 26 of our Year 7 students gathered
at Manchester Airport with 5 staff for the eleventh (and final) Stretford
High School trip to Rome. It was (as always) a sickeningly early start.
Early drama was avoided by everyone being on time and nobody
having a case that was too large for the plane. Once we had
checked in and gone flight side through security everybody
scattered in groups to do “breakfast shopping” (which translates as
“eat as much sugar as possible”!). The flight to Rome was wonderful
as always. Jet2.com have flown us over on every trip and their staff
always treat us well when we are on board. When we arrived in Rome
it was midday, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was already 25
degrees. Perfect!
Sadly, our luck didn’t hold for much longer. There was a strike at Rome
airport so we instantly had a one hour delay waiting for bags to arrive
on the carousel. This wasn’t so bad. I spent most of this time playing
“Pokemon Go” and, besides catching Pokemon with students, we
also got to cheer the Italian Special Olympics Team, who arrived at
Rome airport at the same time as us, laden down with medals from
an athletics meet in Dubai. Very impressive!
Once clear of the airport everything else that day went to plan. We
took the Leonardo Express into Rome, the Metro to the Hostel and
then we checked in. By this point we were starving so we got out of
the hostel very quickly and made our way to the Trevi Fountain where
we had dinner (and a certain nameless student ordered a steak with
chips instead of the Pizza or pasta that he should have done! I
couldn’t believe it…I’m not made of money!). After dinner we walked
through the centre of Rome on a beautiful Friday evening (surely one
of life’s great experiences). We threw coins in the Trevi Fountain,
Students, per Year, with the
most House Points at the end
of Term Two.
Year 7
Uzair Y. (7R/OMO) 10938
Year 8
Zarah M. (8R/SSH) 10224
Year 9
Kamay L. (9B/SWE) 6214
Year 10
Zara K. (10P/MFI) 6888
Year 11
Dev Singh L. (11R/ZMA) 8472
House Points, per Year, at the
end of Term Two.
Year 7 937002
Year 8 940772
Year 9 684505
Year 10 604168
Year 11 610998
Sporting Events
Keep an eye out for results
coming in the next few weeks:
Y8/9 girls football tournament
Internal matches between year
groups, starting with Year 10 vs
Year 11.
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marvelled at the priceless art treasures in the Pantheon and ate gelato in the Piazza Navona. Days
rarely get better than that!
On Saturday morning we had breakfast at Vincenzo and Alyseo’s café next door to the hostel (they
have made us breakfast since our first trip in 2006 and they always remember us). After that we took
the train to Ostia Antica, the Roman Ghost town outside of the city. After exploring the ruins on a
blisteringly hot day (and keeping a wary eye open for basking snakes, lizards and scorpions) we took
the train back into Rome before exploring the Colosseum. All stadiums in the world have been based
on the design of the Colosseum (and it even staged a mock naval battle about 2000 years ago! The
Romans made the stage area watertight and built two battle ships inside the stadium. These ships
were manned by Gladiators who then fought to the death in a battle between the two ships! Makes
you reflect that human cruelty knows almost no bounds).
After the Colosseum the hot day started to take its toll amongst our students. After dinner I had to
take one back to the hostel because he was unwell. The rest of the group went on to the Spanish
Steps. However, whilst I was back at the hostel I got a text message from one of the teachers to say
that the Metro at the Spanish Steps had been shut. This was a major problem…how to get everyone
back to the hostel on a Saturday evening? Fortunately, the staff on the trip were amazing and they
used their phones to guide everyone to a different station in order to get the Metro back. When they
got back to the hostel I expected the students to be upset at having to walk quite a distance. Not a
bit of it! Everyone seemed very happy and had treated it as a problem that had required solving.
Fantastic attitude from the staff and students.
Sunday morning started with
“Rome Supermarket Sweep”. Each
group received 50 euros to do their
food shopping for breakfast and a
Vatican picnic that day. Off they
went around the Auchan
Supermarket next door to the
hostel whilst I stocked up on Italian
coffee! Once we finished
breakfast we made our way on
the Metro to the Vatican, where
we saw the Pope deliver his
midday Sunday address to 100,000
people. After that we had our
picnic in the Vatican square
(again, one of life’s great
moments!). Once lunch had been
eaten we looked around St. Peter’s Church (the centre of Christianity) before doing something that
we had never done before. This was our last trip to Rome so EVERYBODY was going to do the 551
steps to the top of the Cupola. Yes, it was an effort, but those who were reluctant had to admit that
the view was amazing from the top and they did get a sense of achievement from completing the
climb.
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Once we were back down it was time for some souvenir shopping in the Vatican area followed by
dinner in the Vatican. We had two of our students have birthdays and turn 12 on the trip so we held
a double celebration for them both, complete with cake, candles, cards and a rousing chorus of
“Happy Birthday!” After that it was time for one last gelato before going back to the hostel to pack.
On Monday we said goodbye to the “Youth Station Hostel”. They have provided accommodation
for us on every trip since 2006 and it was sad to say “Farewell” to Daniel and Marco…they have
helped us out with our Rome trips since the start. The Metro and train trip to the airport was as frantic
as ever but we managed to get through security in good time. At the foot of the stairs to the plane I
breathed a sigh of relief…the students were all on board and we were going home. I gave Ms Lowry
and Ms Crabtree a “high 5” and started to walk up the stairs. Literally seconds later we had a crisis to
deal with…a student had left his passport on the bus! I had celebrated too soon! Fortunately, the bus
came back to the plane ten minutes later and the driver handed over the lost passport. Now I could
relax!
This was a wonderful trip to Rome. The attitude of the students throughout was fantastic…they were
upbeat, positive and enquiring at all times. The staff; Ms Latham, Ms Crabtree, Ms Lowry and Ms
Hughes were amazing. Anybody who has supervised on the Rome trip knows that it is hard work and
anything but a holiday. I’d like to give a big thank you to all of the students who attended the eleven
Rome trips over the years (that works out at 275 children!). Similarly, all of the staff who have had to
endure me shouting the word “Groups!” every five minutes…you have my admiration for your
patience.
Arriverderci Rome!
Mr. Hirst
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Y7 STEM Spelling Bee 'Grand Final' Results
In January we held our 'Grand Final' of the ‘STEM Spelling Bee’. The list of finalists was huge and
included: Aleem, Ruhi, Alfie, Hamid, Daod, Haifa, Daniel, Umaymah, Humera, Nawaha, Kaiden-Lee,
Sabeeya, Abdo Rahman, Nooriyah, Ahmed, Medina and Abdi.
After round one, the top 4 went through to round two where they
had to spell each word aloud. It was a gripping showdown
between Humera, Ahmed, Nawaha and Abdo Rahman. After a
tense and nail biting showdown, it came down to Nawaha and
Ahmed from Mrs Pixton and Mr Moloney’s classes respectively.
After an intense final, the overall champion and recipient of the
trophy for 2019 was crowned - NAWAHA - ‘STEM Spelling Champion
2019’.
All finalists received a badge and certificate to mark their
outstanding efforts.
A massive well done to all of the year 7 students, wonderful effort
with the in-class rounds and fantastic behaviour throughout the
competition today. And well done Nawaha!
Mrs Clayton
Disneyland 2019
Four members of staff embarked on
a week’s stay in Disneyland Paris with
31 of our year 9 and 10 students. It
was absolutely fantastic to see some
of our quieter students really come
out of their shell. Our students made
us exceptionally proud! The
student’s enjoyment made our
exhaustion totally worth it.
Students attended seminars and
workshops as well as enjoying some
of the main attractions at the park.
The staff delivering the seminars
commented that our students
certainly had personality and were a
pleasure to teach.
Mr. Moloney
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Year 10 English Residential.
At the beginning of March Year 10 jetted off to
the peak district for some intensive English
revision to help them prepare for their GCSE
English Language Exam in June.
Students covered a range of skills and exam
questions and even managed to see some of the
glorious peak district on a walk through some
very muddy fields. We certainly made the most
of our environment as inspiration for creative
writing! Thank you to Mrs Rhodes, Miss Mitchell-
Brady and Mr Taylor for their support on their trip.
Good to luck to all Year 10 and 11 students in your upcoming English exams.
Miss. Eggleton
Drama
The Drama department took 11 students on a visit to
London last term. Our budding dramatists took
backstage tours at The National Theatre and The
Globe before spending an evening watching Les
Misérables on the West End. The students were an
absolute credit to the school and to themselves.
Miss. Crabtree
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Library
This has been an incredibly busy term in Stretford High Library!
We've celebrated lots of things,
including International Children's Book
Day (2nd of April every year) and the
big one; World Book Day in March.
World Book Day was an incredible day
once again, with pupils taking part in
competitions and activities in the
Library throughout the day, and 200
pupils were lucky enough to grab a
free WBD special edition Diary Of A
Wimpy Kid book. 100 books went
before the school day officially started,
and there were pupils queuing up
outside the Library waiting for it to
open so they could be in with a
chance of getting hold of one.
Lots of staff dressed up as characters from their favourite books to celebrate their love of reading
and share it with the pupils, and hid behind their favourite book covers for a quiz that's still getting
interest! Once again the Library was full-to-bursting with
staff and students celebrating books and reading at
break time and people were queuing to get in!
Key Stage Three pupils created some wonderful World
Book Day homework; they dressed up cans and tins as
book characters and they're on display and looking
fantastic in the Library.
In addition to all of this, one of our amazing Year 8 pupils'
English homework was so impressive that it caused
conversation between the authors of the on Twitter!
We're already planning our next event for after Half Term
with Harry Potter Night in the Library, so keep your eyes
peeled for next time to see how it went!
Miss. Winn
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No Borders, Just Horizons, Only Freedom
The Welfare Team returned from a fantastic trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park back in March. It allowed
some of our students an amazing opportunity to get into nature, appreciate art, reflect and work
together.
The students were a credit to
Stretford High and their
behaviour, so a special thank
you to each and everyone of
you for your attitude and
enthusiasm!
Mr. Devine
At the car wash
The second annual Staff Car
wash raised a staggering £89!
This money will be used for lots
of fantastic opportunities for
the students and families that
need it most in our community.
A huge thank you from all of
the Welfare Team to the
students that helped on the
day and to the staff who
allowed their car to be
washed!
Roll on the Spring Term where
the car wash will be a much
more enjoyable experience.
Mr. Devine
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Careers
As part of their Careers lessons, a group of Year 9's had
the pleasure of being invited to Trafford Town Hall to
explore the roles of an apprentice there. We were given
a guided tour, in depth Q&A session about current
apprenticeships as well as knowledge on the various
routes into a position. We saw some of the fabulous work
Trafford Council apprentices have been a part of and
were given an insight into the pros and cons of this type
of employment and learning.
Not only were we treated like VIPs, given refreshments and
goodies, we were also greeted by Trafford Mayor
Councillor Tom Ross who showed us around the Mayor's
parlour with a privileged look at the guest book noting the
esteemed visitors over the years. Students found it a really
worthwhile, informative, experience. Thank you to all
involved.
Mrs. Latham
Debate mate
Our budding Year 7s, took part in the Urban
Debate League round 2 yesterday with the help
and support of some our more established
debaters. We were so proud of the effort and
enthusiasm shown by our students, Lovepreet,
Babandeep , Gurditar and Neo.
Authur showed everyone how it is done as the final
speaker in the FPTP Debate earlier in the month. As
the fourth and final speaker he has a unique role to
play; summarising previous speaker points and
rebuttals. Arthur is always busy writing notes during
the whole debate and makes sure no point left
unturned in the final showdown. Great to watch!
Miss. Knowles and Miss. Van Alderwegen
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History Club
We're now six sessions into our new Stretford High History Club. We had
a fantastic start with a varied and brilliant group investigating the
infamous Whitechapel Murders of 1888 and deciding who was the real
Jack the Ripper. We've since debated the pros and cons or getting
involved in World War Two, investigated the best and worst of the British
Empire and discussed Manchester's own Peterloo Massacre. Last term
we even arranged the room to emulate the trenches of the First World
War and really imagine what it would be like to be there.
This is a great way for any enthusiastic History lovers to have fun and
look at areas that we wouldn't normally discuss in lessons. We're putting
the pupils in charge and getting them to pick topics that they are
interested in. Going forward we might even make the pupils present a
session themselves.
In the coming weeks we're looking at areas such as medieval battles,
Irish history and the Civil War. Interestingly, a popular option was 'The
partition of India', although I must admit I might need to brush up on
that myself first.
Staff sometimes get involved in the action too dressing up as our
favourite historians.
Mr. Neilson
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Humanities EGG Competition
The first humanities egg competition has been a wonderful
success! All the entries were fantastic, and you have all
worked really hard! It was a tough competition, our top
judges Mrs Lee, Mr Kyrycz & Mr Neilson had a very hard time
choosing our winners. In first place, Jayden with his Martin
Luther King Jr. Egg. Second place, Anaaya & Nawaha for
their fantastic interpretation of the humanities department.
In joint third place, Angelica with Henry VIII and Laura with
Christopher Columbus. Have a look at the winning eggs,
they’re simply eggcellent!
Miss. Clark
Imperial War Museum
This term provided a fantastic opportunity for a group of Year 8 students to visit the Imperial War
Museum in Salford. This museum, explores the conflicts that Britain had been involved in since the First
World War to the current day through a timeline of objects. It was poignant to walk into a reading of
a poem about children in war, with images and facts projected onto the walls within the museum.
Our students viewed each and every piece presented by the Museum and were able to use this
contextual information in their final responses to War Poetry in English.
Mrs. Mahmud
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Year 7 Football
While the year 11's were battling away on
home soil, the Year 7's travelled away to
take on St. Anthony's in the Trafford Footballl
Cup in March. Year 7 continued to march
on with their great form and stormed home
to a 10-2 win. Caius with another hat-trick,
Hamza with his first goal for school, Dylan
added a couple more, Kanji managed 2
from defense, Mohammed scored one and
Alec wrapped the game up by smashing
the ball in to the top corner from 18 yards
out.
They followed this victory with an away trip
to Sale Grammar where their cup run
unfortunately came to an end. A strong
defensive display saw us go in at half time
only 1-0 down to a penalty and then the students came out ready for the second half.
A much improved performance in the second half saw Isa and Kandji score two amazing goals but
unfortunately the height of the other team saw them score 2 from corners and the result ended up
coming in at 4-2 to Sale. A very respectable score line against a strong team.
Well done to the Year 7 team – you have the potential to make others quake in their boots based on
how you have progressed.
Keep an eye out for the talent of the following boys; Adam, Callum, Kandji, Hamza, Dylan, Isa, Alec,
Aaron , Caius, Mohammed and Mohammed.
Mr. Fielding
Year 11 Basketball
Stretford gave a valiant effort but
unfortunately fell 43-35 to the better team in
Altrincham Grammar School for Boys. This is a
team that didn't win anything in year 7, 8 or 9
but they made a huge commitment to come
together and get better. They are continuing
to grow as a team every day. Thank you for
having the determination and passion that
they have shown while representing the school
over 5 years.
I salute you.
Mr. Fielding
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Student Council
Student Council has been busier than ever this term, with all the Year 7 to Year 10 Student Council
representatives undertaking a new initiative for a Student Leadership Accreditation. This has seen
some our very talented Year 9s plan, prepare and deliver an assembly on “success” to all the year
groups. As well as listening and sharing the views and suggestions from their peers, they are
launching a recycling campaign around the school, along with the help and advice of Mr. Cooke,
to help reduce our waste and carbon footprint. Although in the early stages, there are some big
plans ahead, so watch this space.
During last half term, the whole school was invited to take part in a competition to create a poster
to raise awareness around the importance of recycling. With several entries from all the year groups
I managed to whittle it down to ten and left the very tough decision to choose a winner to Mrs.
Doward.
The posters will be copied, laminated and placed around the school. In first place is Warda (Year
8), who receives 100 House Points and a shopping voucher for the Trafford Centre – well done
Warda. In a very close second, with an equally amazing poster, is Humera. Well done Humera, 50
House Points have been awarded to you.
Check out the winning entries below.
Mr. Freedman
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Thank You
This certificate says it all. Thank you Stretford High.
Mr Freeman
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Maths Club
Don’t forget to attend your Maths Homework Club next term!
Mr. Mohamed