Academy Newsletter Edition 15, February 2012

FRIDAY 10th FEBRUARY 2012: ARRANGEMENTS FOR LAST DAY OF TERM

Periods 1 -5: Normal Lessons 3pm Academy closes at normal time

Welcome from the Academy Principal, Mr R Gilbert A rather belated Happy New Year to you all. This year, 2012, is one of the most exciting at the Academy. The progress being made with the new building is very good and the internal aspects are now clearly shaping very well indeed. I can report that the classrooms have now been firmly established and a great deal of mechanical and electrical infrastructure is almost complete. The project also seems to have generated a great deal of interest from external bodies, and I was very pleased to welcome Monmouthshire County Council to the Willmott Dixon site on Friday 27th January 2012. They took a very keen interest in what we were trying to achieve, through the building design, and also the fact that a large number of students in the Academy have been actively involved with the whole process, alongside Willmott Dixon. I have every confidence that our completion date of 9th July will be met, and look forward to being able to share our new build with you all at the earliest opportunity. 2012 also brings along with it the London Olympic Games. The Olympics are very dear to our heart, as an Academy with a Sports specialism, and we are very keen to develop our own Olympic legacy during this year, that will stand us in good stead for years to come. The Sport and PE team, led by Mr Revett, have actively engaged in a large number of high participation events in order to ensure that as many students in the Academy, both in the secondary and the primary phases, have access to competition during this Olympic year. There has been A, B, C & D competitions, in various sports, that have an Olympic theme; gymnastics, in the primary phase, and table tennis in the secondary phase. At this stage we are very pleased to be able to share some regional successes with you, in the shape of the Year 11 and Year 10 boys Pro5 Football Teams and the upper school Table Tennis Team. More details of this can be found in the Sport section of this newsletter. Another notable success, more on an individual level, has been achieved by Eloise Robertson, who has recently won the sub-regional heat of the Rotary Club Young Chef of The Year. She has now completed two parts of this national competition and moves on the South West regional final, to be held in the near future. It appears that we have our own Master Chef in the making and we would like to pass on our best wishes to Eloise for the next round and we look forward to hearing of her further successes. On the academic front, this term has been very busy with examinations for Years 12 and 13, with some modular examinations for Years 10 and 11. The majority of students in the Sixth Form have sat some examinations and the results of those will be known to us in March. We hope that their results are an indication of the hard work and progress they have made so far with their Post-16 studies. For parents in Year 9, this is an important time of the year. Prior to the half term break, you will all have known that we have had our Year 9 Subject Parents Evening followed by our Year 9 Options Evening. It is the time when our Year 9s decide the option choices that they are going to make, in relation to their GCSE and equivalent qualification studies in Years 10 and 11.

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Many GCSE courses have already started, in the core subjects, and they will be continued well into Years 10 and 11. It is worthwhile noting that this Year Group will not only be the Year Group when there will a change to the examination system, in that all of the exams they sit will be final exams, meaning the end of modular study, but also that they will be the first group of young people that will be required to stay on in education and/or training until the age of 18, therefore raising their participation in education age to that level. It is very important that all students who are studying for the summer examinations really focus on their learning over the next few months. As I indicated to Year 11 recently, there is only now a matter of weeks before the GCSE examination season gets underway on 14th May 2012. This is an important time and I would urge all parents/carers to be fully supportive of their children over the coming weeks. Attendance levels in the Academy remain extremely high for all Year groups and Guilds throughout this year. Good attendance is so important in ensuring that every child gets the very best out of the opportunities afforded them and, if all students continue to show the good levels of attendance they have shown so far this year, I am sure that they will all be very successful and will see themselves making progress at a faster rate. Keep this up everybody!

Message from the Principal It is very clear that the expectations placed on us as an Academy, by the Department for Education, as well as our sponsors, is that all students conform to Federation policies. Therefore I would ask your support in ensuring your child comes to the Academy each day in the appropriate uniform. To remind you all:

The Academy blazer is a compulsory item and must be worn at all times

The Academy jumper is optional, but is the only garment to be worn over the top of the mandatory white shirt and Academy tie. No other garments are permitted whatsoever, including cardigans, hoodies etc.

The Academy tie must be worn properly

Black shoes are compulsory at all times

Grey trousers, or knee length skirts for the girls, are the only garments to be worn in addition to the above. Leggings are not permitted.

If your child does not wear the correct uniform you will be notified on a consistent basis. We expect your child to turn up every day, on time and dressed in the appropriate manner. Please ensure they do so!

The Academy football season is now well under way. The 5 a-side tournaments held at the W.I.S.E. campus, Filton were the starting block for what looks like being a very good season for

Year 10 & 11. Both teams played some very good football, competing fairly and strongly in all their matches. Deservedly they both ran out winners on the day! Well done to: Year 11: Toby Strauss, Kurtis Luke, Blaine Skuse, Cameron Gibbs, Alex Turner, Liam Hammond &

Brandon Ball Year 10: Will Phillips-Lewis, Ashton Coleman, Frankie Vaughan, Tyler Johnson, Bradley Simons &

Sam Wilmot Unfortunately Year 8 and 9 did not to come out as winners of their groups, but plenty of fun was had and the boys put in some very good performances at times. They need to start attending training regularly and build as a team so that next year they can compete for the winning spot. Well done to: Year 9: Joe Wood, Liam Drew, Dan Miller, James Fisher, Billy Hack & Callum Merrett Year 8: Kyle Williams, Alex White, Callum Cooper, Kacy Brown, Kyle Head, Jamie Dwyer, Alfie

Harper & Zak Pritchard

YEAR 8 v BRADLEY STOKE – TUESDAY 31ST JANUARY After losing to them in the 5 a-side competition Year 8 took on Bradley Stoke and redeemed themselves with some fantastic football. Kyle Williams had an excellent game in goal, pulling off some fine saves and showing great bravery. Kacy Brown was in fine form, scoring a superb hat trick and making some strong runs at the Bradley Stoke defence. Jamie Dwyer and Kyle Head also played very well, winning the ball with strong challenges and picking out some fantastic passes. Man of the match however went to Alex White who was absolutely incredible in defence. He closed down everyone running at him and made several very important tackles to clear his lines. Well done to the whole team who ran out 5-3 winners! Kyle Williams, Alex White, Kacy Brown, Kyle Head, Jamie Dwyer, Alfie Harper, Zak Pritchard, Charlie Walker, Lee Harris, Jack Wilkinson, Austin Augustin, Jack Townsend, Spencer Dracup & Jacob Carmichael.

YEAR 11 v BRADLEY STOKE – TUESDAY 31ST JANUARY Year 11 continued their winning streak with a 5-0 win over Bradley Stoke. Strong performances came from Cameron Gibbs, Kurtis Luke, Blaine Skuse and Alex Turner. This is one of the strongest football teams YIA has seen over the years and we are hoping Year 11 can continue to progress and play the excellent football they have shown us already. Well done to: Liam Payne, Alex Turner, Blaine Skuse, Liam Whittingham, Jack Heaven, Ben Hembury, Liam Hammond, Kurtis Luke, Connor Davis, Darius Kiedowski, Cameron Gibbs, Brandon Ball & Ryan Higton

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YEAR 10 v BRADLEY STOKE 1ST FEBRUARY (AWAY) Year 10 were unfortunate to come away without a point from their clash with Bradley Stoke losing 2-1. We played some very good football at times and grew as a team as the game progressed. They can look forward to the next fixture and let‟s hope this time they can come away with the points. Year 7 fielded a team and every one of them went out and had fun. Although they didn‟t manage to score they played as a team and, all credit to them, they didn‟t let their heads go down once. With more training together they will become a stronger team and be more able to compete. Well done!

AVON SCHOOLS’ COUNTY BADMINTON

FINALS

On Tuesday 31st January four Year 11 boys took part in the Avon Schools‟ County Badminton finals. This was held at The University of the West of England Sports Centre. Unfortunately our boys didn‟t walk away with any silverware but they must be congratulated for playing so well and winning their preliminary heats to reach the final. Well done to: Rhys James, Kurtis Luke, Connor Davis & Liam Whittingham

SECONDARY SCHOOLS’ TABLE TENNIS COMPETITIONS

Bradley Stoke Community School played host to the Secondary Schools Table Tennis Competition on Tuesday 24th January. 8 students, who have regularly

attended Mr Prescott‟s after school Table Tennis club, took part. The competition was split into two contests, the Elite and the Emerging. All our students had a great time and each of them played very well. Our Elite squad won their competition and the Development squad came in 3rd! Well done to: Rhys James, Filip Rudzinski, Liam Hammond & Adrian Nash-Morris (Elite Squad) Julia Rudzinska, Jakub Rudzinski, Liam Payne & Liam Whittingham (Development Squad) Sport is looking very positive on the girl‟s side with several clubs and sporting fixtures this term. The success of the Key Stage 3 netball was capped off with a netball Christmas lunch, on the last week of term. The girls, that had played or trained during the season, were invited and treated to Christmas dinner, festive snacks, crackers and Christmas themed Karaoke! The girls appeared to enjoy this very much and each year group intermingled as they were dancing on the stage to „All I want for Christmas is you‟, by Mariah Carey ably lead by Tyler Groves, Ellie Sady and Hollie Davis in Year 7! It was a very fun event and we are aiming to do something similar for all of our sports teams in the summer. A big well done should go to our Year 7 and 8 „B‟ teams, who came second at a friendly tournament at Bradley Stoke School. On the back of the success of the Year 7 netball team, the Under 16s team continue this winning streak with two wins out of two over Bradley Stoke and Winterbourne. Due to other academic and extra-curricular commitments, the team have had very little training this year but, despite this, have played some excellent netball and this has been reflected in their victories. This year‟s Yate International Academy team is made up from Year 10 students and the league predominantly consists of Year 11 students so, to beat a mixed Year 10 and 11 Bradley Stoke team and a Year 11 Winterbourne team 11-4, is quite an achievement. Brilliant performances have particularly come from Saskia Dracup, Rosie Lloyd and Megan Ball, with Eloise Robertson, putting in two very capable performances after stepping in to play for the team at short notice The girls now face Brimsham, Chipping Sodbury and Castle in their remaining fixtures, so let‟s hope the winning continues!

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Cricket Club is on a Wednesday night in the sports hall for girls in Years 7, 8 and 9. It is run by the Women‟s Cricket Development Officer for South Gloucestershire and has been attended by approximately 20 girls. The club has been well attended and the girls continue to improve their skills, with some very promising players coming through. This bodes well, not only for the cricket season, but also for the rounders season, which begins after the Easter holidays. The under 13s team are due to play in a tournament at Brimsham School on the 21st of February and the under 15s team at the same venue on the 28th February.

Interguild competitions continue to take place in the PE department and Friday 27th January saw competitions in netball for the girls and rugby for the boys. On the girls‟ side, participation was excellent and the games were played with great team spirit. However, two guilds emerged as a cut above and played each other in the final match of the day. This was Griffin against Pegasus. After convincing wins in their previous

matches, the contest was hotly fought and the victors were the Griffin girls winning 4 goals to 1. However, notable performances came from Tyler Groves and Jessye Kelly from Griffin and Milan Cacacie and Jaydie Pomphrey from Pegasus. So in overall first place were the Griffins, followed by Pegasus, sadly followed by Lion (my Guild!) and in last place were Phoenix. Yate International Academy students are also involved in a number of sports initiatives outside of the Academy. Two of our students, Ellie Christophers in Year 9 and Chloe Morley in Year 8, are attending a South Gloucestershire Sports Leadership Academy, run by the School Sport Co-ordinator Jason Prescott. The aim of the Academy is to improve their group management and communication skills and learn how to lead a series of sports activities sessions and competitions at a fundamental level. Five Year 7 Gifted and Talented students have been nominated to attend Yate gifted and talented development squad, held at YIA over the last few months. The aim of the squad is to support, guide and inspire young athletes to the elite level. Students have been involved in fitness and conditioning, strength and nutrition, teambuilding, sport psychology, problem solving and SAQ development. The students involved are Jasmine Upton, Telilah Wears, Milan Cacacie, Joe Shutt and Cian White Indoor athletics tournaments have been held for a variety of age groups at YIA over the last 2 months. Students have competed in a range of activities including sprint races, and throwing and jumping events. In Year 7 two girls, Telilah Wears and Hollie Davis have been selected to represent the Academy at the South Gloucestershire competition.

A dance club lead by Erin Cacacie, founder of dance company REDDS, has proven very popular amongst our key stage 3 students, with 40 regular dancers each week! The club aims to provide tuition in a range of dance styles and a large emphasis on technique, but also fun! The girls have learnt one Jazz and one contemporary style dance already. The club is mixed and it would be really encouraging to see some boys attending in the future. The girls are going to be performing two of their dances at the engage festival on March

3rd, so if you wish to come along and watch see Miss Greaves for details. On a performance note we would like to wish Milan Cacacie good luck in her upcoming dance competitions in the next few months. Rock Challenge rehearsals are well underway with the main 5 groups all beginning to learn their choreography, in preparation for the performance in Portsmouth in April. Numbers and attendance have been positive, and we look forward to seeing it come together over the next few months. Last, but not least, the PE department would like to welcome Mrs Julia May to the team, who is currently covering Mrs King‟s maternity leave. Phew, I think that is enough for one term!

Miss Greaves – Teacher of PE/Sport

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Mrs Hughes – Head of Science STEM CHRISTMAS QUIZ All students were challenged to some Christmas related Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths questions, such as: The 3 Kings gave the baby Jesus gifts: one gave Frankincense, one gave Myrrh and the other gave Gold - what is the chemical symbol for Fold? and which square number does Christmas day fall on? There were a series of knock-out rounds until there were only 3 students left: Cherilyn Williams (Year 13), James Westacott (Year 9) and Hannah Bressington and Katie Diclaudio (dual entry from Year 7) were invited to the live final round on 16th December 2011. They were asked to calculate the number of reindeer needed to pull Santa's sleigh! Hannah and Katie did amazingly well and bagged themselves the winning prize of £100 Mall Gift voucher, Cherilyn was pipped to the post and came second (£75 Mall Gift voucher) and James came third (£50 Mall Gift voucher) – Well done everyone! Just goes to show that it's worth giving these quizzes a go, you never know - next time, the winner could be you!

BIG BANG FAIR FOR YEAR 9 STUDENTS Something to keep an eye out for! There are 50 places for Year 9 students to travel to Birmingham to experience the Big Bang Fair on Friday, 17th March 2012. Students will be able to engage with some hands-on Science. Through practical and fun activities, like designing a

solar powered water heater, exploring radioactivity with a real Geiger counter or experimenting with a bionic eye, they can see where their classroom subjects could lead. Look out for the trip letters coming soon as places will fill up fast!

Five Year 8 students (James Westacott, Ryan Byron, Callum Hunter, Emily Fincher, Abbie Evans) were excellent ambassadors for Yate International Academy when they took part in the GO4SET competition. Their challenge was to design an eco-classroom – very relevant

considering the new Academy being built. They deserve praise as they spent many weeks working on this after the Academy day, bouncing ideas off each other and planning the presentation. As well as using their Science knowledge, they also made full use of all the opportunities to demonstrate their leadership skills, team work and creativity. They have now attended the Final Celebration Day, delivering their presentation with confidence and answering questions from the judges.

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PARENTS IN YATE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY Year 7 parents attended sessions in Science to find out about the excellent teaching and learning that takes place in lessons. Led by Ms Orford, they carried out experiments and completed the tasks that students usually take. The parents were very enthusiastic and very much enjoyed the challenges. They solved electrical circuit problems, carried out titrations to find out the strongest acid and investigated pH as well as finding out about how to help sons and daughters complete homework – no more pretending that homework has not been set!

SPEED NETWORKING

Year 10 students experienced a whirlwind tour of Science career choices in workshops run by – ARKive, Magnox, Thales UK, University of Bristol. They listened to presentations from Scientists who discussed the work that they do as well as the wide range of Science –related careers open to students. Science jobs are not only very interesting and challenging but students with good Maths and Science qualifications generally earn more money.

ROLLS ROYCE FAN TASTIC CHALLENGE

Some Year 8 students are once again rising to the Rolls Royce Fan Tastic Challenge. Representatives from Rolls Royce have visited to launch this exciting event and students will now focus on designing, building and racing their cars. This will add an even more exciting edge to Science lessons.

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News from The Guilds

Lion Guild

Term 3 always seems to be a long one – what with the holiday celebrations and long cold nights. However, the Lion Guild continues to work well with plenty of Guild points being awarded. Stars of the Guild point‟s league so far this year are Ellie Buet, Ben Edwards, Christopher Cook and Maisie Pitman of Year 7. Year 8/9 champs are Alex White, David Armstrong-Abbott, Cole Read, Genna Bradbury and Nathan Reed. The Year 10/11 superstars are Curtis Slocombe, Corey Paul, Morgan Caldecoat, Sam Wilmot, Cameron Gibbs, Leigh Blackbourn and Briany Webb. Well done to these students and a massive well done to the whole Guild for their efforts. Year 9 have just gone through a reporting process. There were many good reports but the following are to be congratulated for outstanding reports: Lily Cocking, Jordan Crowther-Russell, Georgia Dewar, Bade Pirinc and Megan Wood. The next set of reports due out will be Year 11. The Guild is looking forward to many reports of a positive nature. Attendance remains very high this year, despite the season of coughs and colds. 17% of the Guild has managed 100% attendance and almost 70% are above the Academy target of 96%. It is a well known fact that “You‟re in, you win.” Frequent absence can mean a considerable drop in grades and levels which will have an ultimate effect on career prospects. I would therefore encourage every member of the Guild to attend as fully as possible. Holidays for Year 10 and 11 during term time should not be taken and will not be authorised. A very positive term – let‟s hope we can continue in this manner.

Mr A Lord – Head of Lion Guild

Griffin Guild

With January out of the way, Griffin Guild are looking forward to warmer temperatures and the exciting prospect of a new Academy. As the snow falls and wind howls, it is hard to imagine that in just seven months time we will be crossing the threshold of our fantastic new building! The Griffin writes from second position in the Guild Point League Table! As things stand, we are only one hundred or so points behind Lion. Surely, with a concerted effort, top spot is manageable before the end of term. Well done to Year 7 Griffins who are currently in second place overall in the mentor group league table, especially Courtney Pearce (with 147 guild points) and Tyler Groves (with 146). Big shout outs also to all Griffin Year 8 and 9 mentor groups who have done their bit to put us in second place: KL – in ninth position (thanks to Chloe Zapata (130 points) and Deanna Prendergast (139 points)), AO in twelfth (well done Joe Wood (128 points) and James Johnson (105)) and GB in seventeenth (big pats on the back for Amy Johnson (128 points) and Callum Hunter (82)). We should take heart from the improvement in the fortunes of my beloved Liverpool Football Club who have turned things around in recent weeks. After a dreadful defeat at Bolton, Liverpool beat both Manchester teams in the space of a week. Kenny Dalglish said after beating Wolves that „attitude was everything‟: the way you approach things, whether it be a Premier league game, an English lesson or revision for a GCSE exam, is absolutely crucial. Without the right attitude, you cannot succeed – just ask Andy Carroll!

Mr S Ponsford – Head of Griffin Guild

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Pegasus Guild

Term 3 of the academic year continues very positively for students in Pegasus. The Guild members have reached 9000 points, a fantastic achievement, and demonstrates how they remain focused on improving their learning. I hope they can continue this for the remainder of the year, as it would appear that Griffin students have stepped up their game and now challenge for the 2nd place. Attendance continues to be a strong aspect of our Guild and 75% of students are exceeding the National target set for attendance. This is excellent because, if you are absent, you are missing out on your learning opportunities! The guild as a whole has an attendance of 94.5% which is excellent and demonstrates that Pegasus students focus is to learn. The students have been given skill challenges in their Guild assemblies. The skills are those that are valuable now in the Academy, but also ones which can serve them well on their quest for their chosen career. Students have been challenged to be „Reflective Learners‟ and spend a few minutes at the end of each day thinking about one thing that went particularly well, either in a lesson or as they went around the Academy. From this they can identify what it was that they did to make it a success and look to repeat it again. Being reflective helps students repeat the positives and improve their learning opportunities. Term 4 will see the 2nd Pegasus reward trip to the Bristol Ice Rink, on Thursday 29th March 2012. This trip is available to a maximum of 50 students, who have received no more than 1 buddy referral (detention of 30 minutes). I look forward to this trip but am saddened that this could be one of the last trips to Bristol‟s ice rink before it closes later this year. If you would like

more details of the venue please follow this link http://jnlbristol.co.uk

Mr S Matthews – Head of Pegasus Guild

Phoenix Guild

This term has seen many Phoenix students taking enrichment opportunities, for instance Chelsey Bennett STR, Holly Crouch CB, Abi Fussell ANM and Frank Warren STR who took part in a BeReal Day in December at the University of the West of England in Bristol. Also congratulations to Hannah Bressington and Katie Diclaudio who came first and James Westacott who came third in the Stem quiz organised by Miss Orford. Next, Eloise Robertson who won the Yate district Rotary Young Chef competition recently at Winterbourne and now enters the Area round in Somerset. Finally, Billy Hack, Danielle Hacker Sophie Hussey, and Kieran Rose took part in a French trip to South Wales in January. I also wish to send congratulations to the following Year 9 who have received very good or good reports: Daniel Miller, Emma Griffiths, Courtney Sutton, Rebecca Weeks, Kirsty Hicks, Danielle Hacker, Amber Gardner, Chloe Faithfull, Billy Hack, Thea Seaman, Amber Sharpe, and Shaun Mitchel.

Ms D Longley – Head of Phoenix Guild

YEAR 6 D&T WITH MR ASHLEY

For anyone either too old or too young to know, this is a Noo Noo. It‟s a blue vacuum- sucky- robot character in Telly Tubbies.

Year 6 have been making their own Noo Noo creatures to star in a movie, loosely based on the story of the Iron Man. This is the vacuum forming machine they used to mould a sheet of thermoplastic over the shape-

The 20 children from Year 6 Sycamore class were divided into 7 groups to produce 7 scenes of their crazy film. The sets were made in miniature and filmed by the pupils.

This scene shows the car park where the rampaging Noo Noo is seen feeding on parked cars! Mr Hipkins has been helping Sycamore pupils to create the music and sound effects for the movie which is due to be completed by next term.

Teamwork Rules OK Two Year 6

Directors have a disagreement about which car is eaten

first!

Great concentration

required!

The camera crew at work

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THE ROTARY YOUNG CHEF COMPETITION In early December Mr Parris had an unexpected request, “would he like to come to the food technology room and taste test some lemon meringue pies.”

Always being a willing victim / volunteer, where there is food involved, he dutifully munched his way through quite a few of the Year

10 Food Technology students‟ pies. Carefully weighing up the flavour, crispness

of the meringue and lightness of touch with the pastry, Mr Parris announced the three winners: Eloise Robertson, Hattie Hemsley and Zoe

Corrigan-Langmaid. These students went on to represent Yate International Academy at the first round of the Rotary Young Chef Competition. They competed against three students from Winterbourne in a two hour cooking session, where they produced a three course meal between them. They cooked: Leek and potato soup – Hattie Chicken pot pie with vegetables – Zoe Chocolate and raspberry roulade – Eloise

The end result was fabulous and I overheard the judges commenting on the students‟ excellent skill levels.

This judge certainly enjoyed the soup! Judging took place, and then with all dishes sampled, they left the room to discuss the results in private. A nail biting time later the results were announced. All students were commended for their hard work. Third place went to Zoe, second place went to a Winterbourne student and the first place to Eloise. Congratulations to all of you!

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Eloise, collecting her prize from the judges: Mrs Sally Thacker, an ex-army chef from Yate International Academy, Ms Gemma Oliver, Food Technology teacher at Winterbourne International Academy and a representative of the Rotary Club. That night Eloise was asked if she would represent the Yate District at the second round of the competition, to be held at St Katherine‟s school in North Somerset. I am delighted to say that all Eloise‟s hard work and practice paid off with her winning the regional final and featuring in the Bristol Evening Post. Eloise was quoted as saying: "The trio of raspberries was my best looking dish." She also cooked a butternut squash soup, apricot chicken wrapped in Parma ham and a chocolate roulade. Judges, Ian Hughes (Head Chef at The Brook Redwood Country Club), Andy Chan (Sous Chef at Thornbury Castle) and Scott Lucas (South West of the Craft Guild of Chefs) did the tasting and the deliberating.

The nationwide contest, aimed at promoting healthy eating and culinary skills among young people, gives the students two hours to cook a three-course meal for two on a budget of £14. Rotarian district youth opportunities officer Bryan Bamber congratulated all the contestants and praised the culinary standard which he said improves every year.

I‟m sure you will all join me in wishing Eloise the best of luck at the next round of this competition, the South West final which is being held in March.

Mrs Beddow

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YEAR 9 ART WITH MR ATKINSON This is a photo of Year 9 students developing skills in life drawing. Tazmin Truman earned Level 7b for her drawing shown here. Well done Tasmin!

Staff and students would like to express their sincere thanks to Mr Atkinson for his hard work and sense of humour during Mrs Elkington‟s time away from us. We wish him all the best in his future career!

February 14th – Valentine‟s Day

March 2nd – Year 8 Saints Day/World Maths Day

March 7th – Primary link Year 5 Fair Trade Workshop

March 14th & 15th – Visit from our Tanzanian friends

April 23rd – International Book Day

May 18th – International Primary Link

June 26th – Olympic Sports Day

INTERNATIONAL CALENDAR 2011 - 2012

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MODERN

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

LANGUAGES AT WORK!...by Miss Howells – Teacher of MFL

YATE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY STUDENTS STEEL A TRIP TO TATA

Twelve Year 9 students had the opportunity of visiting Europe‟s second largest steel producer in Port Talbot, South Wales on Tuesday 24th January 2012. The students were lucky enough to have a guided tour of the site which covers 28 square miles! They saw everything from ships bringing raw materials into the dock, the hot steel rolling down the mill and the finished product on rail wagons waiting to be delivered.

The students met with some of the staff from the Export Sales Department, who explained to them how vital languages are within the company. The students discovered that employers look to employ young people who speak languages, and you can even earn more money just from having a GCSE in a language! There are lots of jobs in the UK where you can use languages and you even get paid to travel to different countries whilst meeting customers and seeing the world! Here‟s what the Year 9 students thought of their trip to Tata Steel: “It was really good to see how languages are used in their jobs and how they use languages when speaking to their customers. They have customers all over the world!” “It opened our eyes to new horizons!” “It was really interesting to go around the site and to see how they make steel.” “It‟s encouraging to see languages being used in real jobs and it helped us to decide what to take for our options. I‟m going to take French now!”

TEAM KENYA GIFT SALE!!!

TEAM KENYA will be hosting a gift sale at Yate International Academy on Thursday 1st March 2012 from 6pm-8.30pm. Come along to find many different stalls offering various types of quality gifts and support Team Kenya with their fundraising! STALLHOLDERS: If you wish to hire a stall this will cost £9 which will go directly to the Kenya fund. Please contact kathleen.kruiniger@trfyia.org.uk for more details.

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ENGINEERING Willmott Dixon showed Year 13 Engineering students around the new build site and explained all they are doing for the Academy to be more sustainable. They also gave the Construction Department two skips, so we could recycle our broken bricks and blocks. The Year 12 construction group helped to fill them up, which they did safely.

EXCITING EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MATHS FACULTY DURING SPRING TERM 2012

UK Mathematics Trust Challenges

On Thursday 2nd February, eight of our top mathematicians from Years 9 and 11 will be taking part in this individual competition. The going gets tough when marks are taken away for incorrect answers! Years 7 and 8 get their chance on Thursday 26th April.

World Maths Day 7th March

Students at the Academy will be among 5.5 million people from over 200 in this truly unique global maths event. The challenge is simply to answer as many maths questions as possible during a one minute game. Last year there were more than 420 million correct answers worldwide!

Pi ( π ) Day 14th March

Or even Pi minute which is on 14th March at 1.59. On this day students will be taking part in activities to investigate and explore this mystical number which occurs in nature simply by dividing the circumference of a circle by its diameter.

Year 7 students become teachers at Woodlands

During the term, students from Year 7 who have been training after the Academy day have begun peer teaching their Year 6 counterparts at Woodlands. This not an austerity measure, but by teaching and mentoring other students, the year 7s gain a clearer understanding of their work. The Year 6 students get the work explained in a different way from usual. Early signs are that both sets of students are benefiting from the experience.

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Exam dates

Y10 all students Y11 Retakes: Y11 all students

GCSE Unit 1 Friday 2nd March pm

GCSE Unit 1 Friday 2nd March pm

GCSE Unit 2 Monday 5th March pm

GSCE Unit 3 Tuesday 19th June pm

Year 11, please make sure you know if you are entered for a retake.

Equipment

Are you fully equipped for your maths lessons? Scientific calculators (including shocking pink ones) are available for £6.60 and geometry sets for £1.25. Anyone wishing to buy needs to pay at the Finance office and take a voucher to Mrs. Taylor who will gladly hand over the goods.

MATH PUZZLE COMPETITION Please write your solutions and working on paper and hand them to Mrs Taylor by Friday 24th February. Stick at it – I‟m sure your solutions will be first class!

The Puzzle:

Last week Evariste and Sophie both bought some stamps for their collections. Each stamp Evariste bought cost him £1.10, whilst Sophie paid 70p for each of her stamps. Between them they spent exactly £10. How many stamps did they buy in total?

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London Marathon 2012

Hello! My name is Alyse Strachan, and I have worked at Yate International Academy (formerly King Edmund Community School) for 11 happy years and I have been Head of English and Communication for the last 4 years. However, my connection with Yate did not start when I started work in here in the year 2000! My parents moved to Yate when I was 7- so I have a long association with our town. Chances are, if you are from Yate, you either: went to St Mary‟s or Brimsham Green School with me, taught me, or were taught by me! Or perhaps you were served a drink by me when I worked as a barmaid at Shireway Community Centre? Or perhaps, if you are REALLY old (!) I served you with your paper when I worked at Forbuoys on Cranleigh Court Road! Either way you might already have a fair reason to sponsor me to run the

London Marathon in 2012.... But in case you don‟t here is the reason I am running it..... Jordan Thorn started at King Edmund in September 2006. I took a Year 7 tutor group that year, and Jordan was good friends with some of my tutor group. He was sporty, funny, polite and kind- just the sort of student every teacher wants to teach! He was diagnosed with a rare form of Ewing‟s sarcoma in 2008. Until the end of his life in 2010, Jordan was consistently positive and brave- an inspiration to his friends, family and his teachers. It is hard to put into words what he meant to the staff and students at YIA or how tragic his early death was; I know that he will never be forgotten. Jordan really believed in the work of Teenage Cancer Trust, and it is because of him that I am supporting them in the London Marathon. Teenage Cancer Trust believes that teenagers should have experts and wards suited to their specific needs- anyone who knows teenagers knows how different they are to young children and to older adults, and Teenage Cancer Trust works to provide facilities specifically for teenagers. With your donation Teenage Cancer Trust can continue to work with young people like Jordan. For more information about their work, please visit http://www.teenagecancertrust.org/ If you honestly need any other reason to donate then please picture this..... The year is 1985, I am 13 years old and the lesson is PE. I was uncoordinated, ungainly and absolutely rubbish at sports. Mrs. Westcott (my PE teacher) had set the class up for a Hockey game. Captains were chosen. Pupils were being picked... Who do you think was always the last person to be picked? Yes, you guessed it; I have always been utterly useless at sport-- so the idea of me running 26.2 miles was quite frankly ridiculous then...... Fast forward 26 years (26 YEARS??!! Where on earth did the time go?!) and the idea is even more laughable, BUT I am more determined than I have ever been to achieve this goal. I am trading my thesaurus for trainers in order to raise money for this great cause. If you would like to support me, then please visit my online sponsorship page at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AlyseStrachan (You can also visit Yate International Academy reception, where there is a paper based sponsorship form!) Thank you so much for your support, every penny really does count! I will keep you updated on my progress!

Thank you,

Let's face it-- looking like this, I really do need help!

Running the Bristol 10k-- I believe the marathon is a bit

longer...

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YIA Guild of Friends presents a

Family Fun Night

Saturday 11th

February

7.30pm in the Main Hall (doors open 7pm)

By popular demand – The Rotary Club

Pig Racing Team will be

paying us another visit!

See if you can choose the winner for

each race!

With Quizzes, Family Activities and Light

Refreshments

£2 per person or £5 per family Tickets on the door from 7pm

YIA Guild of Friends raises funds for the benefit of everyone at the Academy.

Call our Chair, Jude Enright on 01454 881989 for more details

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NEWS: February 2012

INTERNET REMINDERS Please remember that Google Scholar is a good research engine and free and this is also a reminder that The Federation have provided access to various databases via EBSCO. This provides cutting edge research journals, especially for the Science/medicine, business areas all sourced and verified which can be e-mailed with links, downloaded to ipods, translated into other languages and via speech. 6th form students have been shown this but any further queries please see Ms Miles at Yate International Academy and Ceri Green at Winterbourne International Academy.

COMMUNITY NEWS Yate Library Deanna Prendergast, Christian Howlett, Thomas Keenan, Joe and James Heron, Emily Boskett, Chloe Simpson and James Westacott came along to our January 16th meeting after school at Yate Library to put together posters, quizzes and costumes for the “Love Libraries Day” on Saturday 4th February at Yate Library. They were rewarded with Mrs Fiddes‟ cake (!?) and guild points and their enthusiasm is much appreciated by Yate Library and Yate International Academy. Please be aware that there is homework help in our LRC at break, lunch and after school until 4.15pm and also homework help at Yate Library with free photocopies, online resources, laminating and pens, pencils and paper at the following times:

NEW BUILD: We have had a lot of interest in our

projected new “Discovery Centre” images and plans which we still have on show if you have

missed them.

Sun 11.00 – 3.00

Mon 9.30 – 7.00

Tue 9.30 – 7.00

Wed Closed

Thur 9.30 – 7.00

Fri 9.30 – 7.00

Sat 9.30 – 5.00

.

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DELETED BOOKS As part of our “streamlining” process we are setting aside certain deleted books which we will have for you to look at and any that are left we will take to St Peter‟s Hospice as they will make funds on them whether they are sold or sent for recycling. We will do this on a rolling basis.

CONCORDE BOOK AWARD

We have a team of avid readers helping to select our favourite book from these titles by 1st March: Missing, Believed Crazy …The 13 Treasures … Scorpia Rising …Trash … Numbers:Time to Run … The Hunger Games. There will be an award ceremony at Brimsham Green School on Monday 12th March with award-winning author Alex Scarrow (Time-Riders series).

PHOTOCOPIER COST REMINDER: 5p - A4 or A3 black/white 20p - A4 colour 30p - A3 colour - Especially useful if you have photos!

JANUARY SALES! Scholastic magazines have been distributed with up to 70% off and The Book People magazines can be seen in LRC. Some mega deals. Deadline: Thursday 2nd February for any orders to LRC.

LRC Quiz – next one will be on Olympics 2012. HAPPY READING!

NEWSLETTER PUBLICATION DATES 2011-2012 For information the publication dates for further 2011-2012 newsletters will be as follows:

29th March 2012

24th May 2012

19th July 2012

Copies also posted on the Academy website (www.trfyia.org.uk):

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CALENDAR TERM DATES 2011/2012

TERM 4

Monday 20 February TERM 4 BEGINS

8 March Year 11 Subject Parents‟ Evening

9 March Year 11 Photographs

21 March Year 13 Subject Parents Evening @ WIA (for subjects taught at WIA)

22 March Year 13 Subject Parents Evening @ YIA (for subjects taught at WIA)

29 March Year 12 Mentor Parents Evening @ YIA

Friday 30 March TERM 4 ENDS

TERM 5

Monday 16 April TERM 5 BEGINS

Monday 7 May BANK HOLIDAY – ACADEMY CLOSED

Friday 1 June TERM 5 ENDS

TERM 6

Monday 11 June TERM 6 BEGINS

Friday 29 June INSET Day – Academy Closed to Students

Thursday 19 July TERM 6 ENDS

Thursday 19 July INSET Day – Academy Closed to Students

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In the interests of SAFEGUARDING Parents and Carers are reminded that if your personal contact details change e.g. telephone/mobile numbers/work numbers or addresses, then Yate International Academy should be informed as soon as possible. We may need to get hold of you in an emergency! Students can give this information to The Academy, via their mentors or parents, or contact the main office themselves to ensure we have the correct information.

Your help with this important matter is greatly appreciated.

Be on your SAFE ‟GUARD‟ ING. CHALLENGE

It is now policy that all staff wear I.D. badges at all times. It is an expectation that parents/visitors always enter Yate International Academy via Reception. Parents/visitors will then be signed in and given a Visitor badge. Please do not be offended if you are asked to go to Reception and to sign in as a visitor – it is an important matter of safeguarding. You will then be met by the member of staff you came to visit or escorted to them through the building. We have innumerable points of entry at YIA and we are endeavouring to make the building as secure and SAFE, as we possibly can. The new build Academy will have only one point of entry and a secure line to safeguard your children.

LOST PROPERTY We have a very large amount of items in lost property which is still unclaimed. If it is not clearly labelled or is not claimed by the end of term, it will be taken to a charity shop, as we cannot store it all.

ATTENDANCE HOTLINE This is the number to phone if, for ANY reason, your child will be absent from the Academy:-

01454 862668 Jane Whiting —Attendance Clerk