3rd March 2017

12th January 2018

THE MAGAZINE FOR MOUNTS BAY ACADEMY

STANDING OUT

Cover: Future Chef Competition Winner!

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

It’s all about you...

A New Year Of Challenge and Opportunity...

Welcome to 2018 and a Happy New Year to the parents and students of Mounts Bay Academy.

The first full week back at school has been very busy and full of interesting events and some great news from some of our recent alumni who are studying at Penwith College.

It will have come to most peoples’ attention that the Academy appears on the front page of the local newspaper this week and has also featured on some national websites as well.

The headlines this week incorrectly imply that the Academy does not support students who decide to donate their hair to charity and did not support this student in particular. The facts are that the school has supported numerous students and staff who have decided to support Cancer charities, including those that accept hair to make wigs for people undertaking cancer treatment.

I am very pleased to say the issue has now been resolved after a meeting on Monday with the parent and student involved. We are all disappointed that any upset has occurred and Niamh asked that the story should be stopped on Tuesday morning but unfortunately the local paper has failed to listen to her request.

However, news organisations rely on the revenue generated by sales and sensational stories sell newspapers. You may remember a previous occasion a couple of years ago when we introduced green pens for marking to make our positive comments clearer to students, a journalist wrote an article that featured in the national papers saying we had banned red pens!

Not true, but a great story.

In 2015 our newsletter included a whole page celebrating the charity fund-raising of a student called Lola Bardon-Lees who we supported in her fundraising events based around donating her hair to a similar charity. We sent this article to the local newspaper’s editor but the headline does not reflect this more balanced reporting approach.

“Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”

Mark Twain

BE CHARITABLE

A Generous Haircut

Many of you may know I have cut my hair off for a cancer charity called 'LARF'.The money I

raise will go towards LARF Cornwall, a cancer charity which aims to improve facilities and

increase support for teenagers and young adults undergoing and having had cancer and

leukaemia treatment.

I did this because I wanted to help and make a difference in someone's life and can do this

by giving them my hair to make into a wig.I think this is the smallest thing I could do to help

because there are people actually suffering and all I want to do is help. You can help me

and raise money for people who are suffering to make them beat the horrible pain they’re

going through.

All my friends were saying I was really brave but I am not because I am not going through

the pain I am only trying to help someone else’s life. So far I have raised £375 in around

two weeks. Thank you to all the people who have donated because I am not the only

person who has helped people - you guys did too. Thank you. If anyone else wants to

donate money too here’s the link: https://www.justgiving.com/Charlotte-Barden-Lees1

Before

After

Lola’s hair ready to be

turned into a wig.

LARF Cornwall cancer charity aim to improve facilities and increase support. 2,555

teenagers and young adults are diagnosed with cancer every year, that’s seven a day. With

your support, we aim to make a difference. More than 80% of those who are diagnosed

beat cancer. Sadly, Lauren and Rosie were not part of that 80% but their positivity and

attitude throughout their fight left behind a legacy and inspired their parents to set up the

LARF cancer charity.

LARF, standing for Lauren and Rosie’s Fund, was set up in 2010 by the girls’ parents,

who’d met each other throughout their daughters’ treatment. Lauren and Rosie’s friendship

and ability to stay positive in the face of adversity led to the parents teaming up to start

LARF, not only to honour their memories but also to help those who are in the same

situation in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Click here to visit the site.

Report by Lola Barden-Lees

We certainly support Niamh for her charitable actions and will continue to do so by helping by making our next non-school uniform day for cancer charities including Little Princess Trust. In fact our Full and Half Colours programme has service to others and charity fund raising as a central feature of its criteria.

However the Academy does have a policy about extreme hair styles and all students know this. Indeed, the Little Princess Charity also has a specific policy on hair donation. It says hair should be plaited at shoulder length and then cut so the plaited hair can be sent for easy processing. Their guidance explicitly states that it is not necessary to shave your head. In fact when the charity was contacted by the BBC they made the following statement. ‘We support people who want to donate their hair to charity. We also support the school’s policy”.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Sara Davey Academy Principal

Best wishes

On to other news this week. Mounts Bay Academy was centre stage yesterday at a celebration event at Truro Cathedral in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal. The event was in support of a charity called RJ Working that has been set up to support Cornwall schools become more restorative in their approach to resolving conflict and building healthy relationships. Mounts Bay has been working with the charity for over a year and all the staff and 20 students have been trained to help use restorative approaches when conflict occurs. A group of MBA students has also acted in films that will be used by the charity to help train on the issue of resolving conflict positively. As part of the event which had representatives from 30 schools, Amber Symons and Arianna Caddy sang two original songs, filling the cathedral with the most beautiful sounds and receiving a great deal of positive feedback from many of the 500 guests.

BRILLIANT CLUB

I was also asked to give a speech on a Headteacher’s perspective on the impact of Restorative Approaches in school. I was able to report that over the last year, we have worked with the whole school community to listen to everyone’s viewpoints rather than look to apportion blame if any conflicts occurs. This active listening and positive coaching approach has seen our attendance figures improve and our detention and exclusion rate go down. These trends were noted positively in our recent HMI/Ofsted inspection. We are hoping to develop restorative approaches with parents and will be having a parents information evening soon.

Also this week a joint team of students from Mounts Bay Academy and Five Islands School went to Exeter University to meet the PhD student who will working with them on brain science as part of the Scholars Programme. The students will all work on a high level assignment and will visit Oxford University to collect their final certificate in a few months time. It gives aspiring students the chance to see what life at university is all about and hopefully encourage them to aim high and apply to one of the country’s world class universities.

I also learnt this week that our Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl from 2016 have both been successful in securing offers from Oxbridge. Tean Manser has been offered a place to read English Literature at Cambridge and Ananda Lee has been offered a place to read Oriental and Religious Studies at Oxford.

Well done to both students who are exceptional scholars and deserve the best educational opportunities available.

RJ WORKING EVENT

BE BRILLIANT

On Thursday we were invited to attend a celebration of the great work that we are doing with Restorative Approaches in developing Mounts Bay Academy. We were able to take a large number of students to meet HRH Princess Anne the Princess Royal, who spoke about the importance of this work in developing our schools and communities, and who presented our students with a glass sculpture to celebrate their achievements.

Princess Anne has been the patron of the Restorative Justice Council, and was in Cornwall celebrating the training programme that has been put in place by ourselves and RJ Working to develop skills in young people that enable them to deal more effectively with conflict in their daily lives.

Royal Visit

BE INSPIRED

Report by: Mr Hall

All the students who attended have been involved in the Restorative Approaches work and have either taken three days of training to develop their skills or have contributed to the making of a series of new films that are being used in the training to illustrate some of the issues that we face in schools and communities on a daily basis.

BE YOUR BEST

Sri Lanka Project

In December Isobel Hoyes was fortunate enough to visit southern Sri Lanka.  As she missed some school time she was asked to keep a journal of her trip to record the things she saw, tried and learnt.  On her return she handed in her journal which is a magnificent example full of interesting facts.  For example, the oldest living tree known to be planted by man can be found in Sri Lanka. She took time to research the geography and climate of Sri Lanka and the environmental issues that it faces such as deforestation which has seen it lose half of its natural forest through both legal and illegal forest clearing. She also spent time reflecting and trying the food of the country including curry for breakfast.  Further pages reflect on the culture, religion and the impact of tourism.  She enjoyed a six hour train ride where the variety of sights and food being sold at stations meant she never got bored. This is an amazing journal and a great resource for other students interested in Sri Lanka or as an example for other students going on trips in the future.  I am sure Isobel will enjoy looking back at it in the future.

DA VINCI PROGRAMME

Report by: Mr Jack

EXCELLENCE REWARD

Well done to Kieran Harris for progressing to the Cornwall final following his sterling effort representing Mounts Bay Academy at the annual Future Chef competition.

Kieran produced a stunning pan-fried haddock with vegetable nage and tarragon dumplings dish, followed by a light and elegant strawberry cheesecake. The judges (all professional chefs) were waxing lyrical about the skill and precision evident.

Good luck Kieran in the next round at Stein's in Padstow! 

BE ADVENTUROUS

Future Chef Winner

Report by Mr Bromfield

The Adventure Society at Mounts Bay is now gathering momentum and students are taking part in a range of activities. Thursday night saw 15 students head out to Chapel Carn Brea near Sennen for an evening orienteering session.

The site has been mapped by Cornwall Orienteering Club and a permanent course is now placed there.  The students had some training on further navigation skills before heading off onto the site into a gorgeous evening.  Following all the poor weather recently we were treated to an amazing clear sunset.

BE ADVENTUROUS

Evening Orienteering

Report by Mr Raggett

On Tuesday 9th January, the English Department had the great pleasure of hosting David Mynne’s one man performance of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. All Year 10 students are studying the text as part of their English Literature GCSE studies. David Mynne has for many years been a member of Cornwall’s nationally acclaimed Kneehigh Theatre.

David gave two performances in the intimate environment of our Drama Studio. He brought to life some of literature’s most iconic characters using minimal props to create a memorable and engaging version of a story loved by generations. Our students enjoyed a live theatre experience and took part in an enlightening ‘question and answer’ session in which he provided discussion about drama techniques, and themes and ideas explored in ‘A Christmas Carol’.

It was an educational and entertaining experience for students and staff!

A Christmas Carol at MBA

BE INSPIRED

“It was very interesting to watch and was helpful for thinking about Dickens' use of language techniques throughout the story – definitely something that will help us in the future. As he was alone performing, the actor’s use of props was very

clever and his interpretations of the different characters were very unique and engaging. He staged the performance so that simple props could be used for various characters and settings to help portray the story in an interesting way. Overall, it was a pleasant experience and the performance was helpful for interpreting the different characters for studying the novella.” - Emily Rees (10 Red)

Report by Mr Whiteman

“

”

A group of Year 10 students have been selected to be the first at MBA to become Franklin Scholars. They will give peer support and coaching to Year 7 students in literacy and numeracy. They completed their first training session with Olly from

Franklin Scholars on Friday 5th January.  During this session they developed their mentoring skills and worked together in a variety of team scenarios and games to prepare them for the next stage when they will meet the Year 7 students and complete further training together.

BE INSPIRED

We asked the Franklin Scholars "how confident do you feel about mentoring a younger student?"

INITIAL TRAINING

WHAT HAPPENED?Mount Bay's Year 10 Franklin Scholars received 5 hours of specialised training, focusing on empathy; communication; social and emotional skills and habits; growth mindset; effective learning strategies; and feedback.

/ 7

5.9How useful did you find today?

I'VE LEARNT HOW TO EMPATHISE BETTER IN SITUATIONS.

LEARNING ABOUT OPEN AND CLOSED QUESTIONS IN DEPTH WAS THE MOST

USEFUL.

The next thing to happen will be the Induction Days on Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd January. This will be the

first time the Year 7s and Year 10s meet, so it should be an exciting time for everybody.

Report by Mrs Frayne

Franklin Scholars

On Wednesday eight Year 10 students from Mounts Bay Academy joined six from Five Islands Academy and began their Scholars Programme course with a visit to Exeter University.  This is the third group of students from Mounts Bay to have participated in

this programme and we are pleased to be able to include students from the Isles of Scilly who have not had this opportunity before.

The primary aim of the Scholars Programme is to increase the number of students from state schools who successfully apply for a place at the most exclusive universities in the country.  The programme starts with students visiting one of those most selective universities, hence our visit to Exeter University.  During the day the students received a tour of the campus with a university student who gave them details of what it is like to be at university and living away from home and also answer the students questions about university life.  There was also a seminar where the students learnt about how to

construct an academic argument in preparation for their assignment.  A further important part of the day was a lecture giving information about how to select a university and a degree course and how to successfully apply for a place.  

A further aim of the Programme is for students to learn how university students are expected to study for a degree. To do this they will attend six tutorials led by their PhD tutor Eleni. Every week they will be expected to do further reading and produce written reports.  At the end of this they will write a 2000 word assignment based on "Being in the World".  This assignment will be marked at ‘A’ Level standard and graded using the degree scale of 1st, 2:1, 2:2, 3rd and working towards a pass.  The students will receive

Scholars Programme Launch Trip

BE CURIOUS

feedback from Eleni of what they have done well and what they can work on in the future as learning is part of a journey and not a destination.

The students who successfully complete the course will be invited to a graduation event at one of the Oxford University colleges during the spring.

It was a great opportunity for students from both schools to work together and we plan to build on this in the future so more students can benefit from seeing the world from different perspectives.

All students reported that they learnt a great deal from the trip and are excited about the tutorials to come which is focusing on the world that we construct.

Report by: Mr Jack

BE CURIOUS

Students from 7 Green have been awarded Da Vinci Awards for their outstanding Global Citizenship project which they completed over

the Christmas holiday. They had been tasked with producing a creative piece of work about the unit of work being studied; Christianity. 

Report by: Miss Drew

Creative 7 Green

BE CURIOUS

The students all went to tremendous effort to complete the work, to write a report explaining what they created, how they made it and an

evaluation of the whole process. Here are some examples of it.

I am very proud of them all, well done.

BE ENTERTAINED

Year 8 Accelerated Reader

It has been a brilliant month for Accelerated Reader in Year 8, all students have been engaged and showing great progress and effort.

The winning tutor group for December was GREEN!With an amazing 966,152 words read and 45 quizzes completed they have definitely

taken the crown this month. A special mention to Kit who read 506, 658 of the total word count – well done.

The winning tutor group for the most words read over the Christmas holiday is RED with 148,974 words read in between

all of the Christmas chocolates! - well done.

BE ENTERTAINED

Well done to Peter Thacker in 8 ORANGE and Eirlys Hill in 8 RED who have become Word Millionaires for

the first time - well done.

October’s Accelerated Reader of the Month for participation, effort and achievement is Crystal Sedgeman in 8

ORANGE who completed and passed four quizzes with a 100% pass rate and read 45,921 words – brilliant effort Crystal, well done.

Congratulations to Charlie Harvey (8 COOL) and Samuel Treleven (8 BLUE) who have become Word

Millionaires again, an amazing five million words read between you both.

Report by: Miss Walters

Congratulations to the u13 indoor cricket team who won the Penwith competition.

They now go through to the finals at Truro to defend our County title!

Cricket Champions

Report by: Mr Veal

BE COMPETITIVE

This will be an exciting show with lots of great songs, splurge guns and custard pies. The next rehearsal will be on Monday. Miss Walters is beginning the dance numbers and I will be running through the script. Let me know if you would like to be part of it.The hall will be turned into Fat Sam's Grand Slam

Report by: Miss Osborne

If you thought it was too late to join the school show Bugsy Malone, you are mistaken. We are rehearsing on Thursdays and Mondays after school.

BE CREATIVE

On Friday 5th January I left the Academy before lunch and headed off to Birmingham High Performance Centre and Alexandra Stadium, to compete at the Midlands County Athletic 1st open series of 2018. This was a 2-day event and although classed as an indoor competition, the Throws took place outside.

It was the first time I had also competed with my Sister Sian who was a student here last year. We were up early on the Saturday and woke to find it a very icy 1 degree. My events were moved to the 2nd day of competition so Sian was competing first and did very well. Sunday morning arrived and we were surprised that the competition was still going ahead as the temperature was still 1 degree with a wind chill of -2 / -3 not the greatest of conditions to be throwing 3k of iron!

Unfortunately I didn’t get a PB on this occasion but I had done enough to become part of the Para GB Junior athletic team, because I am only 14 and will have to wait until I’m 15 ½ to be selected for internationals.

Abigail Makes UK Junior Athletic Squad

Report by: Abigail Jose

BE COMPETITIVE

Report by: Abigail Birch

On Sunday 7th January, I was representing Cornwall at the South West Championships in Yeovil, running against the whole of the South West. It was a really tough course with a hill that was a killer and it was extremely cold. There was over 70 children in my race and I came 2nd overall and was selected for the London mini marathon. The Cornwall team I ran for also came second and I also came first as a team for my running club CAC.

Abigail selected for London Mini-marathon

Jude selected for County Squad

It was a really tough and challenging course up in Yeovil. I raced up and was selected as part of the Cornwall Under 13s team. I came 22nd overall out of a field of 62 and my positional finish helped secure the third place for the Under 13 Cornwall boys team.

Report by: Jude Hardy

On Tuesday evening myself and Bonnie Whitlock (10 Warm) were invited to County Hall in Truro, to

attend a presentation about the Cornwall Talented Athlete Scheme (C-TAS). The scheme, run by Cornwall Sports Partnership and Cornwall Council, supports individuals aged 12+ with true sporting talent and who are working towards the highest levels of success in their chosen sport. Although they do not provide any funding they do provide free

access to a number of sports facilities in Cornwall to help with individual training needs.

During the evening we had a presentation from Young and Talented Cornwall, also known as The Lord Lieutenant’s Fund For Youth (LLFFY), they help young people aged 14-23 who have a sporting talent yet could be held back due to personal or family hardship. Last year I applied for a grant to help get me to Canada The LLFFY helped me achieve my dream and I am truly grateful for their support.

We also had a demonstration by Table Tennis Pro David Wetherill, a European Champion, who also represented Team GB at Beijing, London and the Rio Paralympic Games. The evening also introduced a new organisation for those needing more tailored support: GLL Sports Foundation have now taken over the 19 other sports facilities in Cornwall and are working with both Cornwall Sports Partnership and Cornwall Council. The evening raised awareness of the organisations that are available to support the talent we have in Cornwall. Should you wish to find out more about the support available to you as an athlete you can do so using the links:

Cornwall Talented Athlete Scheme

Report by: Abigail Birch

BE COMPETITIVE

http://www.cornwallsportspartnership.co.uk/cornwall-talented-athletes-schemehttp://www.gllsportfoundation.org/

Football Festival

On 7th January five Mounts Bay students took part in two Cornwall games against Bristol at Callywith College.

Tyler, Perran and Toby played in the first match against Bristol which was won by Cornwall 38-24. After that Ben and Eli played in the second match against Bristol, where the lead of the game had changed several times through out the match. Cornwall came out on top with a 34-26 victory.

The day ended with a tie presentation from both teams, with nearly 80 boys receiving their u16 ties.

Report by: Tyler Kearey

SQUAD:

Mari Ward (C) India AngoveIsabel HarveyHoney ThornSaffron HillsMaeya MasonLucie AvisonSkyla McMichaelErin WilliamsEllie FriggensCerys ArthurIsla McLeodOlivia Cockle

Report by: Miss Veall

BE COMPETITIVE

On Wednesday 10th of January the U12s took part in their first 7-a-side football festival. The team played a total of three matches, and demonstrated excellent play. The first game saw the squad take on Humphry Davy school which led to a 5-0 win.

With goals coming from Isabel, Saffron and a hat-trick from Mari. The second game was against St Ives and yet again the team achieved a 3-0 win with goals from Isla, Honey and Mari. The defence played excellently within the game and kept the St Ives team from entering their attacking half. The final match was against Cape Cornwall and the girls continued on their winning streak to gain a 3-0 victory. Goals were scored by saffron, and two by Mari. The squad demonstrated excellent passages of play, but holding their formation well, and some great crosses allowing numerous shooting opportunities. An excellent start to the football season for this team!

County Rugby

This Week’s Puzzle:

   

Last week’s solution:

72 (add the bottom numbers then multiply by the top number)

Could you write next week’s puzzle?If you would like to set the numeracy puzzle for

a future week click here. You will win House

House Competition

Blue: 238 PointsPurple: 70 PointsGreen: 66 PointsYellow: 64 Points

Red: 60 PointsOrange: 40 Points

Click here to submit your answer

Closing date for Entries: Thursday 12:00

This Week’s House Totals

BE A WINNER

Maths Quiz

Win an Amazon voucher

Being a puzzle champ is not all about how many answers you know... it’s how you behave when you don’t know. We believe in recognising pure grit, determination and effort. To be crowned the puzzle champ, all you have to do is enter every competition for the whole semester- all the entries will be entered into a prize draw to win a £30 Amazon Voucher.

Which is the missing drawing?

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WE

EK

@ M

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S B

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SEMESTER

WINTER

WE ARE

MOUNTSBAY

MONDAY 15th JANUARY 2018Primary Badminton Year 3/4MBA Sports Hall 13:00 - 15:00

TUESDAY 16TH JANUARY

WEDNESDAY 17TH JANUARYU13 Girls Indoor CricketMBA 13:00 - 16:00U14 Girls Hockey

Truro school 13:30 - 16:30

THURSDAY 18TH JANUARY

Year 7/8 Boys & Girls Hockey PZ Astro Park 15:30 - 16:30Year 8 Football St Ives School 15:30 - 17:00

FRIDAY 19TH JANUARYYear 10 Citizenship tripTruro Crown Court