TheUpdateIssue 2 | Autumn Term 2013Thornaby Academy’s o�cial newsletter

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Thornaby Academy Field Day 2013

Also in this issue:The Discover Hub visits York

Two Year 8 students take Level 3 Bikeability Training

The Little Sprouts Challenge

Our Partnership with the Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation

...and much more!

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The Summer Ice Breaker Event

A fantastic start to the year.By Principal Maryssa O’Connor

The year has got o� to a fantastic start so far! I am absolutely delighted that 99% of our year 11s leaving the Academy achieved 5A*-C and 53% of these achieved their GCSEs in English and maths at grades C and above. This makes the Academy one of the most improved schools in Stockton. Our ambitions for current and future students are embedded in our focus on providing students with an exciting and successful education.

As I reported in July, the Academy buildings are now complete and our students, sta� and community are making excellent use of everything on o�er. Students �nd the layout and space really supports their learning and sta� are constantly developing new ways of using our amazing ICT resources to make teaching engaging for all students. You will see many examples in this edition of how our community programmes are now involving a wide audience – it would be brilliant to see more of our students and their families taking part. TA’s Field-

Day was yet again a great success and we will be proud to present Butterwick Hospice with the funds raised towards their charity work.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has visited the Academy during our Open Evenings and Community Events. Knowing that we have the support of our local community, parents and carers is a crucial part in continuing the success of the Academy.

We hope you enjoy this edition of ‘The Update’.

Thornaby Academy Field Day 2013By Mr P Martin

Saturday 21st September saw the return of the annual ‘TA’s Field Day’ community event organised by students and sta�. The day proved to be as popular as ever, with well over 500 students, parents and members of the community coming along. The main Street within the Academy was packed with stalls and activities organised and ran by the students, including old favourites such as face painting, cupcakes, tombola and ‘guess the number of sweets in the jar’, as well as some new arrivals such as home-made lemonade, the Harry Potter sorting hat, a photo-booth and a marshmallow eating competition!

As well as the indoor activities, there were also fairground rides, giant in�atables, ‘splat-the-teacher’, a climbing wall, a model aircraft display and a �re engine to explore. Students also made the most of the fantastic new facilities within the

Academy, with regular live musical and dance performances on the Street and refreshments served in the Street Café.

Visitors had the chance to win some fantastic prizes donated by sta� and local businesses, including two signed Boro shirts. As well as the cup cakes and cookies available on the day, there were also a wide range of fast food stalls and a BBQ to make sure nobody went home hungry.

Everybody who came along had a great day and helped raise a lot of money for the nominated charity of Butterwick Hospice. Students embodied the Academy’s Enterprise culture throughout, with skills such as organisation, teamwork, managing money and a ‘can do’ attitude constantly on display.

The Ice Breaker Event successBy Mr S Newham

Students who joined Thornaby Academy in September had the opportunity to attend our Ice Breaker Event, 2 weeks of fun �lled activities to support the students transition from primary to secondary school.

The programme gave the students the opportunity to take part in a variety of activities linked to speci�c curriculum areas, in particular English and maths. It also allowed students to meet new classmates and make friends before September arrived.

During week 1 students took part in the Academy Maze, this enabled students to gain an understanding on the layout of the academy whilst taking part in challenges in speci�c hub areas, activities included electric circuits, musical instruments, French and Spanish numeracy sequences and win, lose or draw.

The students also took part in a Countdown Challenge and The Street (based on the cube) taking part in a variety of challenges.

During this week the students took part in two trips, one to Slayley Hall for some adventure activities including Kidnapped, solving clues to �nd a hostage, Night Line (team work activity, each member blindfolded), build a canoe and Invisible Maze (teams had to �nd their way through a maze, communication was the key). The students put their enterprise skills to the test by designing their own T-Shirts which they then sold in Thornaby Town Centre. Students made £106 which will be donated to Butterwick Hospice. The students also visited Hardwick part and took part in some orienteering challengers before �nishing with a tour of Middlesbrough visiting some famous landmarks, including Temonos, Riverside Stadium and the Transportor bridge.

The students also put their cooking skills into action by completing a Come Dine with Us team challenge. Each team prepared and cooked a main course and desert for all the students, meals included Lasagne, Mince Cobbler and Spicy Chicken Pasta. The second week included a trip to Centre for Life taking part in a CSI challenge solving a murder, a tour of the centre and a ride on the 3D Motion Ride, they then visited the Baltic Centre and took part in an Art workshop with resident artist. A sports day was held during the second week with students taking part in team games including table tennis, badminton, short tennis, athletics, biathlon, Volleyball and football, great team spirit was shown throughout. Finally, the students were rewarded with a trip to Flamingo Land taking in the thrills of some roller coasters and rides.

Bikeability: Level 3By Miss K Naylor

On the 16th September 2013, twelve Y8 students started their week long ‘Level 3 Bikeability training’ the training was delivered by two highly quali�ed instructors; Julian and Keith.

Level 3 training is suitable for adults or children at secondary school and covers dealing with hazards, making ‘on-the-move’ risk assessments and planning routes for safer cycling. When students reach Level 3 standard they are able to deal with more challenging roads and tra�c situations. 8 out of the 12 students were successful in completing and passing this course. Well done!

“At the start of the week I thought it was going to boring but as the week passed, it got interesting and funny. I was scared to go on the road when Julian mentioned this at the beginning of the week but I did it anyway and managed to go round two roundabouts safely. Overall it was a great experience and I really enjoyed it” Kaitlyn Gibson (8T)

“On Monday, twelve of us started our level 3 Bikeability training. We completed the following activities: •Monday – we completed an obstacle course in school, becoming familiar with the handle bars and braking•Tuesday – we went into some quiet streets and learnt how to complete a U-turn on the road•Wednesday – we learnt how to use various signals when turning on a road•Thursday – we completed the theory side of the course as the weather was terrible

•Friday – This was the big day, we had to put everything we practised into place in hope we would pass the test.

It was scary at times but I managed it” Jess Dunn (8O)

Year 7 ResidentialBy Mr P Collins

On Monday 9th September, 30 students from Year 7 travelled to Ellerton Lake near Richmond to participate in a day of kayaking, canoeing and raft building. After a tiring but FUN day on the water, the group moved to a very wet and windy Carrs Farm near Wolsingham to set up camp and have a well-earned BBQ.

On the second day, the students took part in a wide variety of activities including leadership tasks,

shelter building, �re lighting, bushcraft, hill walking, camp �re building and camping.

On Thursday 12th September, the second half of the year group travelled to a much drier and sunnier Ellerton Lake for their residential experience, which followed a similar itinerary to the �rst group.

Over the coming months, students will be given further opportunities to participate in a wide range of Outdoor Education activities.

For further information about Outdoor Education including the Duke of Edinburgh scheme in the Academy, please contact Mr Collins.

Year 6 Transition WeekBy Mrs C Mason

Year 6 students enjoyed a whole week of transition activities in July. In an action packed week they experienced a day at Teesside University with a Health focus, spent a day building on their enterprise skills, were entertained by a magni�cent team from the University Performing Arts faculty and enjoyed an outdoor adventure; kayaking on the Tees and staying a�oat on their own purpose built raft!

The new Academy students also found time to meet their new teachers and have an introduction to their new lessons. The week �nished on a high note with a celebration and award ceremony. Feedback from our new intake was very positive;

Ben Puggmur said, “I have loved the week”

Charlotte Eccles enthused, “It’s a good experience and its fun!”

When Joshua Smith was asked if he had enjoyed his week his response said it all – “Yes! More than you know!”

A big thank you to all the students for taking part as well as Miss. Shaughnessy, Ms White, Ms Scott and Mrs Scott for making it a fantastic day from start to �nish.

Thornaby Academy were proud to hear when the locals commented on how well behaved and focused students were during the trip.

We were all impressed with the sites of York such as the York minister, the beautiful cobbled streets lined with quaint shops (mostly the sweet shops!) the beautiful parks and of course, McDonalds.

Before we left for home we just had enough time for a photoshoot beside York Minster.

A great day was had by all we look forward to discovering more places soon.

Discover York!By Miss M Shaughnessy

54 Year 10 and 11 students from Geography and History spent the day in York on Wednesday the 25th of September. The visit was part of the students controlled assessment data collection, making up 25% of their overall GCSE grade. History students visited York dungeons where they went back through time to learn about torturing and su�ering of old. Ms White burnt as a witch (...no shock there), Angel sent to the gallows, Jack diagnosed with the plague (beware could be still contagious!). All were threatened by the highway man, Dick Turpin, before he was hanged. The screams of KS4 boys could be heard all over York.

Geography students were investigating if tourism is having a negative or positive impact on York. Before we visited York each student came up with some of their own methods to test the impacts of tourists in York. They split into groups completing questionnaires, environmental surveys, tra�c counts and building surveys. Students enjoyed the status symbol of wandering through York looking important with their clipboards.

Student EnrichmentBy Mrs G Trattles

Academy enrichment is underway with many academy students attending one of the 26 activities o�ered on a weekly basis. Most popular enrichments are Bero Baking and Minecraft. More than 30 students attend Minecraft each week. New enrichments this term are Girls Football, Coding club, Handball and TA Newspaper.

The Enrichment brochure is available from the Academy website - www.thornabyacademy.org.uk

Student LeadershipBy Mrs G Trattles

The Student Leadership Team had productive �rst year of contributing to academy changes such as the academy day, student rewards, student planner and enrichment activities. Applications for new student leaders open on Monday 7th October. We are looking for students who are comitted, con�dent and ready to make a di�erence!

- washed, prepped and weighed ready for the cooking to commence, whilst students were kitted out with aprons and the signature chef’s hats. Students worked meticulously, abiding by stringent health and safety rules of a working kitchen to produce some delicious sauces.

Students are intending to host an Italian themed night during October, in which they will sell their pasta sauce products and deliver outstanding customer service, a requisite for Business GCSE. Watch this space for tickets.

The Little Sprouts Challenge By Miss N Geragusian

The Business GCSE students are currently collaborating with Stockton Borough Council and Little Sprouts Catering on an activity entitled the Tomato Club Project. Students are provided with the opportunity to be creative and showcase their Business and Enterprise talents through the production, packaging, pricing and marketing of their homemade pasta sauce.

Students were briefed about the project before conducting market research into available pasta sauces and investigating any gaps within the market. A number of students even managed to conquer their fear of fruit/vegetable consumption by sampling a selection of pasta sauce products and herbs!

Students worked together in allocated groups to prepare a list of ingredients to include in their pasta sauce.

The next stage was producing their pasta sauce, using the facilities of Little Sprouts Catering. It resembled a scene from Master Chef, as each groups’ ingredients had been -

http://www.littlesproutscatering.com/

Thornaby Academy introduces Community LearningBy Mr S Newham

Thornaby Academy have started to deliver a Community Learning programme. The programme will take place over three terms and will see us o�er a wide range of courses throughout the year. All courses take place on evenings and are for 2 hours each week. Course that have started this term include:

Indian cooking Made EasyMore Dash than Cash (Sewing - transforming old clothes into something new)First Rung Digital Photography.

We hope to increase the number of courses that are delivered and we would encouraged people to get in touch and let us know what type of courses you would like to see in your community.

TACL

Our partnership with the MFC FoundationBy Mr S Newham

TASC have developed a partnership with Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation to deliver coaching opportunities through the Premier 4 Sport Project (Information Below). TASC will deliver two handball hubs for MFC, one based at TA and the other at Stockton Sixth Form with the aim of increasing physical activity outside of school hours.

TASC will also deliver a new girls and ladies football sessions. These sessions will be aimed at encouraging more woman to participation in football. These sessions are aimed at girls aged 14+.

Thornaby Academy Sports Centre (now open 50 weeks of the year) have a range of activities to o�er such as sports clubs, activity groups and �tness instructors. TASC’s

facilities include: a sports hall and activity hall, a drama room, grass pitches and a sand dressed astro turf facility.

TASC has already developed partnerships with local sports groups, �tness instructors and has members of the public hiring the facility for casual sports.

We currently have Zumba, Street Dance (Mini, Primary, Secondary & Adult), Mini Ballet, Glee Club, Ladies Body Blast (Bootcamps), Football Coaching, Badminton Club and more!

Alongside the facility hire TASC are also developing community sports clubs. We currently have Thornaby Hockey Club which currently has a ladies team, the team train every Thursday 7pm - 8pm at TASC, girls/ladies aged 14+ are more than welcome to attend.

Premier 4 Sport ProjectThe innovative Premier League 4 Sport (PL4S) project started in September 2009 and has helped tens of thousands of young people get involved in sport in their local community.

Delivered by the Premier League, Sport England and the Youth Sport Trust and funded by a £3.8m partnership with the UK Government, PL4S sees Premier League Clubs acting as a hub linked to community sports facilities, which in turn are linked to local secondary schools to create satellite sports centres.

Each Premier League Club has a dedicated coordinator who works locally with the sports clubs and schools to maximise opportunities for young people.

Widening the reach of sportPL4S targets those less likely to engage in sport. Sport England’s Active People Survey showed that only 13% of women take part in three sessions of 30 minutes of sport, but females have accounted for 35% of PL4S, with the aim to get this up to a more even split between male and female participants.

Seventeen percent of participants come from black and ethnic minorities – and this is above the national average for similar programmes.