Stockport SchoolAchievement Evening 29th September 2016
at Stockport Town Hall
ProgrammeOpening music: GCSE Music and Music Technology pieces by students
Welcome and Headteacher’s Report - Mr Ian Irwin
Years 7-8 Presentations
Music performance – Megan Glover, Young Musician of the Year
Years 9-10 Presentations
Music performance – Clarinet group & solo by Nathan Kenworthy
Year 11 Presentations and Subject Awards
Music performance – duet by Rafael Buncaras and Ella Smith
Special Awards
Handover: Head Boy and Head Girl, introduced by Mr Ian Irwin
Dance performance–Revolting Children from Matilda
Dance performance – Gemma Chapman and Olivia Walker
CDL film – introduced by Mr Ian Irwin
Guest Speaker’s Remarks – Mr Frank Robinson-introduced by Mr Irwin
Headteacher’s Closing Comments
Closing music: GCSE Music and Music Technology pieces by students
Guest Speaker:
Frank Robinson, Head of
Human Resources at CDL
(Cheshire Datasystems Ltd)
Frank Robinson is the Head of Human Resources at
CDL, a successful software technology business based
in Stockport.
CDL was established as a small family owned business
nearly 40 years ago. It is currently a UK market leader
in the creation of innovative software to the retail
insurance sector, with close to 600 people based within
its campus.
Frank has extensive experience of working in Human
Resources and has a strong track record of developing
workplaces of highly engaged, innovative and talented
people that are committed to driving continued business
success. Frank says: ‘CDL continues to make a
significant investment in the development of its people
and as a local business, we are proud to have an
excellent track record in helping people from a range of backgrounds realise exciting careers in technology.’
Performers
DanceMusic
Rafael Buncaras
Beth Glover
Megan Glover
Nathan Kenworthy
Ella Smith
Owen Walters
Erin Arnfield-Breen
Lauren Burgess
Gemma Chapman
Maisie Dodd
Chloe Eastwood
Aimee Green
Charlotte Hill
Milli MacCarthy
Mace Maynard
Robyn Payne - Cooper
Hope Roberts
Mia Salamone
Antonia Smith
Olivia Walker
2015-16 Year 7 WinnersY7 Attainment and Effort:
Frank Baker
Emma Beaumont
Olivia Bell
Esther Hulley *
Cleo Johnson
Georgie Minto
Jacob Norton *
Emily Reiner *
Max White
Y7 Effort:Ben Baker *
Lily Gould
Samantha Maleque
Olivia Moorhouse
Dan O’Brien
Erin O’Sullivan
Jamie Potts
Athena Ung
Y7 Progress and Effort:
Megan Chilton *Niamh Coddington
Lucy HowardMace MaynardNathan OddyRhys Williams
* = received straight ‘outstanding’ effort scores
2015-16 Year 8 WinnersY8 Attainment and Effort:
Emily Adams *Lauren Burgess *
Melisa CliffeElla Darby
Tom DaviesAimee GreenEmily Harris
Millie HughesCaitlin McCormack
William SharpLuke Slowey
Chloe Stores *Sophie StoresLucy Vaughan
Nina Young
Y8 Progress and Effort:
Lukrecija Baranauskaite *Kirsty Chorlton
Victoria DobbinsAmelia Jones
Y8 Triple Award for Effort, Progress and
Attainment:
Rafael BuncarasCharlotte Hill *
Grace Hollingsworth *Emma Shuttlewood
Enya SweeneySophie Torrence *
* = received straight ‘outstanding’ effort scores
Duke Of Edinburgh Award
Heaton Mersey Choir Competition
2015-16 Year 9 Winners
Y9 Attainment and Effort:
Yasmine CaveneyJoseph Flaherty
Daniel FlintLuke Gathercole
William Holt PriceTanzim HossainLydia Hulley *Eva Roberts
Chloe SawersCaitlin Taylor-Vernon
Samuel ThompsonJoshua Woodward
Oliver Wynne *
Y9 Progress and Effort:Nyah CottonLaura KillickLewis Njie
Y9 Triple Award for Effort, Progress and
Attainment:
Henna AzizDylan Beever
Emily EyreBrooke HodgkissShona Maleque
Kate MartinSophie Riley
Megan SheehanKieren Smith
Rebecca SmithGeorgia Whitworth
* = received straight ‘outstanding’ effort scores
2015-16 Year 10 WinnersY10 Attainment and Effort:
Lily Wallace-BrownRyan Whittle-Ellis
Y10 Progress and Effort:Curtis ArdenEmily BrownMorgan Clark
Kirsten ConnellyGeorgia CoultonAnna Dougherty
Joshua Hopkinson *Sian Jones
Weronika KasprzakMegan Kielty
April Lowe-Burgess *Hannah Moloney *Alicia Moorcroft *
May O’BrienHannah Phillip
Kayleigh PickfordLisa Reiner
Millie RichardsEve Sanders
Prince SindayigayaChun He Wu
Y10 Triple Award for Effort, Progress and
Attainment:Sam Bennett
Charlotte BentonMaisy Bland
Jess BrettGemma Chapman *
Joel CoatesKate Connor *
Tom Cunningham *Megan FosterCharles Harter
Mia JacksonRyan Martin
Louise McMillanNadia Modla *
Jack NowellEllie Ripley
Yasmin SprayAmie Taylor
Patrick Thomas
Y10 Effort:Anna Croft
Joely Greally *Harry McDermott
Emily StoresCharlotte Tindell * * = received straight ‘outstanding’ effort scores
Dementia Friends
Outstanding musicians
Stockport Sparks Cheerleading Team
Jack the Ripper History Trip
Budding stars
2015-16 Year 11 WinnersY11 Attainment
and Effort:Christabel CoffeyCasi Harrison *Lucy Johnson *Bridget MaliaSam Pickford
Y11 Progress and Effort:
Louise BrownVictoria CalvertJosh CheshireShannon ClareLauren Dover *Declan England
Natasha Lewry *Dylan Maringanise
Georgia NewtonRachel Osbiston *Amber Slowey *Harry Walker *Jack Walker *Owen WaltersChloe White
Y11 Triple Award for Effort, Progress and
Attainment:Aimee Brookes
Alexandrea Buncaras *Jennifer Burrows
Lilla ClarkMillie ClarksonBeth Glover *
Megan Glover *Joel Keeble
Eleanor KilgallonAidan McWilliamsJennifer Milne *
Beth Moran *Gia Nadal *
Ethan PattonIzabella Perrone
Freya RogersGrace Sharp
Imogen SibleyIsobel Spray
Holly ThompsonJessica ThorleyAbigail Woolley
Y11 Effort:Sophie EdmondsJennifer HurleyMolly MycockLucy NesterEmily Nuttall
Chelsea SanthaHolly Wyld
* = received straight ‘outstanding’ effort scores
2015-16 Year 11 Subject Award Winners
Maths (Edwin Pyrah prize) Aaron Nicoll
English Language Joel Keeble
English Literature Amber Slowey
Core / Additional Science Hallie Smith
Biology Megan Glover
Chemistry Beth Glover
Physics Nathan Eadie
BTEC Science Paige Goodwin
Art Kayleigh Sutton
Business Studies Holly Thompson
Computing Matthew Goodhead
Dance Katie Lloyd
Drama (Margaret Booth prize) James McMillan
Film Studies Mark SargeantEleanor Kilgallon
Media Studies Holly Thompson
French Bridget Malia
Geography Alexandrea Buncaras
German Jessica Thorley
Graphics Michael Burton
Health and Social Care Victoria Calvert
History Holly Thompson
Music Owen Walters
PE Courtney Turner
RE Josh Cheshire
Textiles Jessica Thorley
Taking Part: Bugsy
Race for Life
Special Awards (with staff reasons for nominating the students)
OVERCOMING BARRIERS AWARDS: Edward Le, for overcoming many personal challenges, including moving to a new
country and new school, to settle in and progress well. Katie Lloyd, for overcoming her lack of confidence, in Maths in particular, to progress
well and maintain a positive attitude. Alicia Moorcroft, for superb effort, especially in English, despite challenges. Emily Nuttall, for overcoming challenging personal circumstances throughout the
year and still remaining positive and hard-working. Kieren Smith, for maintaining a positive attitude even when he feels challenged,
especially in English. Melissa Sutton, for her positive attitude, creativity and effort, even when
experiencing challenges, in many subjects, including Dance, Geography and English. Chloe White, for overcoming barriers in Music performance and putting in
exceptional effort to make progress.
ENDEAVOUR AND ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS: Shayne Adie, for general excellent effort and for raising his reading age by three
years during this academic year. Alicia Bradford, for exceptional effort and achievement with Accelerated Reader this
year, achieving over 1000% of her target. Victoria Calvert, for her dedication, perseverance and improved confidence across a
number of subjects, especially Maths; she also helped others. Beth Glover, for exceptional commitment to all areas of her studies. Megan Glover, for her outstanding achievement in Music and attending the RNCM. Nathan Kenworthy, for exceptional progress and dedication to his Music studies,
including achieving a Distinction in Grade 8 clarinet and completing his GCSE Music course at the age of twelve, while attending the RNCM.
Luke McLoughlin, for his resilience, independence and determination to succeed when faced with the challenge of a change of schools, and for his commitment to planning for his future.
Kyle Rogers, for his focus and determination to improve, especially in English. Amber Slowey, for achievement and creativity in Drama and productions. Holly Thompson, for excellent effort and exceptional commitment to her studies. Nina Young, for her commendable commitment to the Music department.
Creative Contribution to School Productions
The Trennell Prize: Owen Walters
Special Mention Duke of Edinburgh Awards
Adam Birkett and Casey Pritchard, for outstanding personal effort, character development and 100% commitment throughout the year’s activities.
Special Awards Improvement and Intervention Team Awards:
Improvement and Engagement Award: Lee Ridgway“Having arrived with us for his GCSE years, Lee managed the transition between schools successfully and worked well with a range of staff to catch up on work missed. Lee had a goal to achieve a good set of GCSEs, which he met, and also became a popular classmate with other students. Few students have managed a change of schools as successfully as Lee.”Outstanding Engagement Award: Chelsea Santha
“Throughout the year, Chelsea was outstanding in her engagement with the team. She was eager, willing and appreciative. She engaged well with numerous forms of intervention. She wasn’t precious when we had to work with other students but was understanding and selfless. Overall, a pleasure to work with.”
Most Improved Attitude Award: Tyler Taylor
“Tyler is one of the most polite, respectful and appreciative students we have had the privilege of working with. Over the past few months, we have seen a massive improvement in his attitude to learning, punctuality and attendance. He has engaged brilliantly with incentives and rewards schemes we have put in place for him. During interventions, he has also been a positive role model for others in the room. Overall, a fantastic second half to the year and a major improvement.”
COMMUNITY AWARDS:
Ellie Espley-Wade, for her enthusiastic efforts with fundraising events.
Josh Hopkinson, for outstanding effort and commitment in Music Technology and Drama, going above and beyond in contributing to the school in his technical support of school dance, drama and musical productions.
Esther Hulley, for outstanding contribution to all areas of school life.
Mace Maynard, for exceptional enthusiasm in participating in a full range of activities to benefit others as well as herself. An amazing first year!
Vivo Winners:Y7: Esther Hulley
Y8: Millie Hughes
Y9: Lydia Hulley
Y10: Hannah Moloney
Y11: Georgia Middlemas
Independent Learning:Y7: Emma Beaumont
Y8: Kirsty Chorlton
Y9: Lydia Hulley
Y10: Alicia Moorcroft
Y11: Holly Thompson
Robotics Club
Trip to see Matilda The Musical
Special Awards Service to the School awards:
Head Boy 2015-16: James McMillan * Head Girl 2015-16: Amber Slowey
Head Boy 2016-17: Harry McDermott * Head Girl 2016-17: Yasmin SprayDeputy Head Boy : Sam Bennett * Deputy Head Girl : Ellie Ripley
Head Girl
Head Boy
Hi, my name is Harry and I have recently been given the role of Head Boy at Stockport School which I’m over the moon about! This role is a massive part of our school, so I am very grateful to Mr Irwin and all the other members of staff who have made this possible for me. I hope my time as Head Boy will be looked back at as a success, by both staff and students. In my free time, I play football for the school football team and my local football team Great Moor County. I am also a football official, which is a great job to have, but not when you are getting screamed at by an unhappy player that’s just dived! My other interests are Manchester United football club and photography. I chose photography as one of my options last year, as well as PE,for my GCSEs. I am also currently undergoing the Duke of Edinburgh programme with my school, which I am finding to be very enjoyable and both mentally & physically challenging. I am really looking forward to taking on the role of Head Boy and I look forward to making Stockport School a great place to learn.
My name is Yasmin and I’m a passionate, hard-working student at Stockport School. I will try my best to make the school a better place for the students to learn, and be happy whilst doing so. I hope to improve the communication between the students and the staff, to create a better relationship and help the students academically, socially and emotionally. I have a passion for photography and music, and I have taken them both as my GCSE options. I also have a love for performing, and played roles in the school productions of Les Misérables and Bugsy Malone. As well as this, I am taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh program, and participated in the Model United Nations event last year. I look forward to being a role model and helping my fellow students achieve their best.
Head Boy and Head Girl:
why they were chosen:
Head Boy:
Harry
Harry was always a strong contender
for the position of Head Boy at
Stockport School. Right from the
outset, his letter of application
showed his strong leadership
potential and it was written in his
confident, yet modest, style. He
impressed us during the presentation
stage with his ability to capture the
attention of a varied audience and
spoke with a maturity beyond his
years. A keen footballer and
sportsman, he quickly gains the
respect of both staff and peers for his
100% commitment to all he does. In
his Head Boy interview, he confirmed
his strengths as he discussed his
participation in the Duke of Edinburgh
Award and his vision to head up the
new prefect team. Impeccably
dressed at all times, Harry goes
above and beyond in his commitment
to the school and we were left with no
doubt that he is the right man for the
job. It is a delight to see the impact he
is having already and we are excited
to see him grow in his role this year!
Head Girl:
Yasmin
Yasmin is the ultimate role model for
Stockport School. Always willing to
throw herself into projects, she leads
by example in both uniform and
attitude at all times. Her genuine
passion to make a difference shone
through from the outset, both in her
letter of application and her
presentation to student
ambassadors. Not just one for
words, Yasmin has already proved
that she will go out of her way to
back up what she promises, taking
part in Dementia Friends and the
Duke of Edinburgh schemes with
real enthusiasm. An excellent public
speaker, who communicates with
confidence, she has already
demonstrated that she can take on
addressing audiences of staff,
students and parents and tackle any
task required of her in her role with
real commitment. Yasmin is already
making a difference in her new
leadership role; we are looking
forward to seeing even more of her
in action this year!
Students’ Art Work
Departmental Highlights of the Year:Art, Textiles and Photography
We have run a successful first GCSE Photography Course with 100% achievement and are
looking forward to seeing students experiencing working in a dark room in the new year. It’s
also been another record year for Art and Textiles students with almost all gaining a c grade
and above. Well done to all our students for all their hard work and creativity!
We had a great opportunity to show off our students’ work at the marketplace studios earlier
this year alongside five other local schools, and thanks to those Y8 students that showcased
their work at the Royal Exchange Theatre. We had a great Y10 trip out to the Yorkshire
Sculpture Park for students to enjoy art inside a typical gallery and outside amongst sheep!
It was a busy and successful year thanks to all our students’ openness to new experiences
and hard work. September brings the start of the New Fine Art course at GCSE, bringing
back traditional methods alongside the expressive and conceptual. Also, Art Club is back!
Careers and Business Studies
We have continued to develop our external links in both business studies and careers. The
link with the Manchester Business School has been embedded and developed with
considerable success; all the year 10 students did well in the Business School challenge
and for the first time this year, not only the winning team won vouchers but at least one
member of each group was awarded a prize because the visitors felt the high calibre of their
work deserved rewarding. Other employers included the Army, who talked about recruitment
and selection in the finance and administration teams, and the Juice Academy, who
explained about the important role of digital media in marketing businesses today. Both were
well received by the business classes. Stockport School business students also won the
Enterprise Challenge at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Careers contributed to successful induction programmes this year and colleges, employers
and training providers came to do assemblies, talks and workshops for years 10 and 11 to
support us and stress the importance of preparing for the post sixteen pathways and making
the most of the GCSE years. External visitors also supported the options process in Year 9.
The careers convention is now well established in its new, much larger, venue of the Sports
Hall with over 30 delegates from the universities, colleges and employers attending and
giving talks to parents as well as staffing information desks for their organisation.
Drama
We would like to thank all our Drama Students for making this such a memorable and
exciting year! Our whole school production of Bugsy Malone was a great success
and many thanks to all those who supported it - from helping members of the cast learn
lines to coming along to see the show. The production showcased the talents of our
dedicated and talented student performers, design and tech team.
This year, many students have participated in a record number of inspiring extracurricular
activities. Drama Club has been wonderfully led by Harley Pine (Year 8). Students
have participated in a residential in London and many theatre visits, which included shows at
The Royal Exchange and The Lowry Arts Centre. We have also been fortunate enough to
have exciting workshops from professional theatre companies in school - including The
Royal National Theatre of Scotland. July saw the final performance of our busy and fun year
in the drama department with a physical theatre play exploring internet safety. Our
wonderful Drama Studio is already buzzing with exciting preparations for our production of
GREASE in October and we hope to see you there.
English
This has been another very busy and successful year for the Department. As ever, we have
supported our GCSE students in working to achieve their best in the summer examinations,
including Saturday and holiday revision sessions that were attended by over 100 students.
We were also joined by a very large number of parents and carers at our revision workshop
events.
All year groups had a number of extra-curricular activities to take part in, including our Year 8
speaking and listening competition, where winners from each class presented to their whole
year group, a Year 7 spelling bee and a KS3 visit to BBC Birmingham studios to take part in
filming for a Shakespeare Live workshop.
We continue to promote the importance of reading through reading clubs and our
Accelerated Reader programme with 30 students having read over 1 million words, 9 having
read over 2 million words and 4 having read over 3 million words this year. All Year 7 were
given a free book through the Bookbuzz programme and have been fund-raising to provide
the same offer to our new Year 7s. A number of students were also able to meet locally born
author Sufiya Ahmed who spoke about her parliamentary experience as well as her writing.
Film Studies
As ever, the students who chose film GCSE were simply fab; it was clear to see that so many
of them knew more about the superhero genre than me and so that made teaching this class
so much easier! I’ve really enjoyed teaching each and every one of you. I wish you all the
best and, when you become rich, famous film stars / producers and directors, remember
where it all began...stay cool!
Geography
This has been a fantastic year for the GCSE Geographers, with a weekend away in the
beautiful Borrowdale valley in the Lake District. Students experienced lots of activities, but
the overall highlight has to be an evening walk to the top of a mountain to watch the sun
come down over the landscape; this was truly magical and appreciated by all.
Year 10 students had a beautifully sunny day in the rolling hills of the Peak District to collect
primary data to form the study for the controlled assessment.
In KS3, our students began the study of the new GCSE, investigating hazards and extreme
weather, which we saw in abundance in June with the flooding of our local river study site.
Health and Social Care and Psychology
The Health and Social Care students have been hard at work thinking about the wide ranging
roles available in the sector. They’ve been choosing different job roles and interviewing
professionals to find out what their jobs are really like. Some of the professionals they’ve
chosen include midwives, G.P’s, mental health workers and physiotherapists. All the Year 10
girls interviewed the manager of Kids Allowed about how they meet the needs of children and
what their jobs involve; this gave them a wider understanding of the role and the knowledge
needed to perform the role. They’ve also been updating their skills knowledge by finding out a
lot more about the skills professionals need to be effective in their roles and making important
links between the skills they are developing now and those they will need in the future.
They’ve certainly been exposed to the vast opportunities available in the health, social care
and early years sectors!
Graphics
This year has been an excellent year in graphics. All of year 7 are now proficient in
Photoshop and their zombie creations were truly terrifying. Year 8 explored the world of
internet rumours and speculation, and found out about how urban legends are spread. Year
9 spent a few weeks moving very slowly around the school as they created their own
pixilated stop motion animations, some of which were hilarious.
The Year 10 GCSE graphics group visited Manchester and walked in the footsteps of the
Happy Mondays and Stone Roses, as well as being amazed by the sheer scale of the
KAWS sculptures at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Year 11 completed a brilliant exam which
showcased their skills to the best of everyone's abilities.
The graphics room continues to be open most lunchtimes, for catching up with work,
appreciation of fine music, socialising and furious political debate, as well as the occasional
game of cards.
History
The History Department enjoyed successful GCSE trips to both London and Leeds this year
as part of the Crime and Punishment and Medicine and Surgery elements of their course.
Additionally, selected Y9s enjoyed the opportunity to work on a Holocaust memorial project
with the Imperial War museum.
The History Department is also excited to welcome back Mr O'Leary to the history team,
whose passion and enthusiasm for history will only enhance the learning of history students
this year.
Literacy
A number of activities have taken place to support and challenge students, whatever their
ability. Miss Ormerod and Miss Holt ran a project where Year 9s teamed up with Y7s to work
intensively on improving spellings, with 90% of Y7s taking part improving their spelling age
dramatically (by an average of two years each!).
Activities relating to reading are varied. Mrs Barber and Mrs Platt-Chance continue to
encourage our confident readers to experiment with their book choices; Mrs Cobb and Mrs
Beckett have offered lunchtime reading groups; our support staff have read during
registration with younger students and our Year 10s have continued to support Y7 and Y8
readers with the peer reading sessions. It’s been a real team effort and we are pleased to
have extended our successful Accelerated Reader programme to Year 9 next year, as well
as continuing in Y7 and Y8.
Maths
We saw continued mathematical success for Year 11 student Aaron Nichols, who is the first
student, since being a 11-16 school, to be entered for his A level maths, being exceptionally
gifted. Other Year 11 students attended a trip to inspirational maths lecture in Manchester.
For younger students, we had all year 7 students involved in World Maths Day in October,
with the following students winning prizes: Summer Morrall, 7Ri, Brooke Nield, 7Ri, Emma
Hitchen, 7Va, Megan Chilton, 7Go, Jos Warrington, 7Lo, Caitlin Gregory, 7Kl, Niamh
Coddington, 7Es, Amelia Holland, 7Pi, Chloe Ashton, 7Pi, and Athena Ung, 7Da. In July,
Year 8s participated in cross-curricular project/study to look at effects of exercise on
academic achievement. In February, the department raised £1264.10 for the NSPCC for
Number Day/Week.
Media Studies
Can I say a big thank you to all those students who took this GCSE; it has been a great
two years teaching a number of smiling, happy group of individuals. The quality of work
produced by both classes throughout the two years was of a very high standard and I think
we were very lucky with our exam topic! I don't think you will ever forget my joy of teaching
you Back to the Future. I will miss catching people’s eye in the corridor and annoying you
with the same old questions: which film have you chosen for task 2? Give me 3 technical
terms you will use in the exam! I wish you all the best for the future; BE FLASH!
Film and Media GCSE dual option:
You certainly haven't disappointed me with your fab nature and approach to hard work!
There are too many great characters in this class to mention…I wish you all the best and
thank you for being so amazing regarding the change of course structure; I hope the film
elements we covered were just as good! So, farewell; and not a word...
Modern Foreign Languages
Following a successful event a couple of years ago, the MFL teachers of Stockport
decided to prepare their students to take part in a second Language Fair, organized by and
hosted at Stockport School. Students prepared and were given the opportunity to express
themselves in the language of their choice: French, German, Spanish and Finnish (which
was taught by a Year 7 student) through different means, including drama, role plays,
presentations, music, dance and art. With five other Stockport Secondary Schools coming
over and taking part in the event, we filled the Drama studio. Years 7, 8 and 9 performed all
morning and were judged by a linguist student from the University of Manchester, Mrs
Rongong, our Assistant Head and Mr Conroy, the Headteacher of Werneth, who had a very
difficult job deciding on the winning act. Mrs Robinson’s newly created Language club
allowed students to rehearse at lunchtime and prepare for the event. We are proud to say
that both our Year 8 and 9 finished in second place. The event was hugely successful, with
teachers commenting on the talent and creativity of our students which blew us all away.
Teachers from both the MFL and English department went to Santander in northern Spain
in the spring half term. This second trip was made available following a successful bid to
the European Union made by Mrs Taylor. The grant allowed 3 colleagues - Mrs Robinson,
Mr Kelly and Mrs Hunter - to spend time in Spanish schools, with a view of
to improving their languages skills as well as their pedagogy and allowed them to share
good practice with colleagues from all over Europe.
Mr Kelly organized a European postcard exchange, which involved his students writing
postcards to students in different schools around Europe, with students introducing and
talking about themselves and sharing interesting facts about their home country. This
successful scheme enabled to raise cultural awareness of our students, who were really
excited about receiving these surprise postcard from very interesting European places.
Finally, Mrs Robinson has continued to build relationships with Great Moor Primary school
through fortnightly French sessions with 3 year 4 classes. She has also attended a 3 day
conference with the Prince’s Teaching Institute, meeting with colleagues from MFL
departments around the country to share best practice and innovation in MFL teaching.
Both she and MR Kelly have provided sessions for whole school International Day on the
languages of Africa.
Music
The music department have had a very successful and busy year and have put on 14
concerts throughout the year at various venues. The choir also came 2nd in the Heaton
Mersey Choir Festival.
There have been some fantastic exam results, including Nathan Kenworthy achieving his
grade 8 clarinet with distinction, as well as completing his GCSE music course both before
the age of 12. Esther Hulley also achieved a distinction in her grade 2 oboe after only starting
to learn the instrument in October 2015.
Our extra-curricular clubs are extremely busy as always, with something on every day of the
week. The department joined with the Drama department to put on Bugsy Malone got three
nights last October and we are just about to put on Grease in October this year- we hope to
see you there!
PE
Another activity packed year in PE. At the start, we welcomed Mr Marchant and Mrs Todd to
the department.
Awards
At the borough celebration evening, we won a number of awards for our commitment to
borough competitions for both elite and inclusive students, leadership and participation in PE
and physical activity.
Competition
Highlights include Y7 rugby undefeated. We have represented Stockport at the level 3 games
with Y9 girls indoor rowing, U13 & U15 girls cricket and Y7 girls quadkids. Y7 girls are
borough rounders champions. In football, Y7 boys football were both league & cup finalists.
U16 girls were premier league champions & have represented MCFC twice this year.
Leadership
Our Y11 & Y10 GCSE PE students have organised and hosted primary school events. Y9
and Y7 students have also had the opportunity to work with Primary schools in athletics,
rounders & tennis. Dance leaders welcomed St Georges for a workshop with Y5s which was
extremely successful and we hope to continue these links with primary sport through the
work done by Mrs McKeever.
Dance
There has been a number of new opportunities for our dancers. We took part in the Great
British dance off competition in Manchester and had 5 dances representing the school. We
have had visiting workshops for GCSE dance and also a streetdance and contemporary
workshop for other students.
We continue to forge links strong links with Aquinas – Y10 attended the festival of Sport and
experienced a variety of activities. Our students have also experienced the students from
Aquinas delivering activities in curriculum lessons.
Extracurricular
Students have been provided with an extremely varied programme of activities this year. We
have worked with Cheshire county cricket and MCFC who have run extracurricular sessions
for students to attend. Sally Tommony runs a very popular dance club and we have had
roller skating too with Roller Jems. A number of Y9 students have taken part in girls and boys
active programme.
Charity events are important to our department and this year we have supported Sports
Relief where students completed 5km challenge as well as our Schools Race for life in June
which has raised over £1000 for Cancer Research.
Psychology
The Psychology students have completed their first year of this brand new GCSE
subject. They’ve faced the demands of this new and exciting subject with enthusiasm
and hard work and their efforts are really paying off. They’ve started to really think
about who they are, who we all are and why and are becoming real experts in
reading people’s body language, facial expressions and tone of voice. They’ve done
lots of independent research projects, including some into the origins and
characteristics of anti-social personality disorder, the psychology of eye-witness
testimony, the ways in which psychology can reduce prejudice and discrimination
and how psychology can explain the behaviour of the columbine high school
shooters. The brand new “PsyStock” blog made its debut this year and has attracted
a fair bit of interest. Year 10 students have also contributed to creating their own
revision guide. All in all, a busy but extremely successful first year!
R.E.
The R.E. department celebrates a number of successes as the academic year
comes to an end. Throughout the year, the Message Trust – a broadly Christian
outreach project, which visits schools to work with students – has run a weekly youth
club, every Friday lunchtime. This club has attracted an increasing number of
students, and all who have attended have found it hugely entertaining. Board games
and x-box competitions are used to build confidence and social relationships, while
discussing with the students some broad philosophical and ethical issues.
Also, in March, the music group ‘1224’ delivered a day of presentations, involving
plays and performances about some of the issues facing young people today. This
culminated in a concert, performed by the group, which took place at the MEN
Arena. So many students bought tickets for the event that extra buses had to be
arranged at short notice to accommodate them all.
Science
We saw continued examination success, with triple science achieving over 95% A*-C
in all three sciences again. Core and additional science achieved above national
average, and, finally, we saw a successful performance by the vocational BTEC
science course.
STEM Activities enriching student experience of science have included: RAF Fun
with flight, engineering construction event as part of the STEM Challenge Day,
Medical Challenge Day, Salters’ Festival of Chemistry and CSI day at Aquinas.
We ran an Engaging Science taster day for Y4/5 students from local primary schools,
carrying out experiments with microscopes, acids and flame tests.
Year 7 science club has had a strong, sustained attendance with students carrying
out a wide range of experiments, e.g. firework themed flame tests, mars lander eggs,
rainbow fizz and the spectacular chip pan fire.
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