community newsletter december 2015 - saltash.net...

December 2015CommunityNewsletter

IntroductionDear Parent/Carer,

As you will see from this edition of Community News, it has been an extremely full and busy but very exciting Autumn Term at saltash.net. One of the highlights for me has been observing many lessons across Years 7-13 over the last few weeks and seeing an exceptionally high quality of teaching and learning taking place. Our teaching staff and teaching assistants work extremely hard to provide well planned and engaging lessons and it has been a real joy to see how well our students have been responding, not just to what is being delivered in their classrooms but also to what has been provided for them through marking, assessment and feedback in exercise books. I do hope there will be some time over the holidays for you to look in more detail at what your children have been studying and learning over the past term and to see the progress they have been making. Thank you, again, for all the support and encouragement you give – it really is greatly appreciated.

Another highlight for me, not just over the past term but also over the past 50th Anniversary celebratory year, has been the increasing number of ex-students who have made contact with the school and who have taken the time to come back and speak with existing students about their career pathways and journeys. Ex-student, Gary Davies, who, along with Roger Gillett, officially opened our 50th celebrations on 4th July, returned in October to lead assemblies for Years 12 and 13 and donate copies of his exam preparation book – ‘How to pass your Marketing Exams’ to assist the students with their studies. We are delighted that Gary will also be returning to saltash.net as Guest of Honour for our 6th Form Presentation Evening scheduled for Thursday 17th December.

Ex-student, Les Baldwin, who now works for the International Space Agency, also returned to his old school for a series of presentations to Key Stage 4 and 5 students studying separate sciences and computing, and in November more ex-students who have signed up to the Future First scheme returned to speak with 6th Form students as part of their General Studies course. (See report in this newsletter.) These visits play a really key role in our extensive Careers programme and we would very much welcome further visits and involvement by saltash.net’s alumni. For more information about the Future First scheme, please contact our Head of Careers, Mrs Philippa Wadsworth on [email protected].

Inevitably, among the many highlights of the past term, there have also been some difficult times, especially for staff and students who have faced bereavements. I would like to give a very special mention to the family of Rhiannon Percy who so bravely and courageously fought her illness right to

the end. Although Rhiannon only joined our school at the start of Year 12, it was an absolute privilege to know her and to be inspired by her incredibly positive outlook on life. Our thoughts are very much with her family and friends at this time, especially with Christmas fast approaching.

Thoughts remain with all families who may be going through difficult or challenging times right now and as a school community we think particularly of our Service families who, as a result of work commitments, may not be able to be together over the Christmas period.

The traditional seasonal greeting of ‘Peace on Earth, Goodwill to all Men’, never seemed more appropriate than now in December 2015 and I am sure that this message will be reflected upon during our forthcoming Year 7 Carol Concert to be held, again, in St Stephen’s Church on the last day of term.

Please do let us know if there is anything we can do to help and support as a school community if things are difficult right now. In the meantime, on behalf of everyone at saltash.net, I wish you a Happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year 2016.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs I BryceHeadteacher

2 3saltash.net community school saltash.net community school

‘Annie’: Always work with children and dogs!‘Annie’, the Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip ‘Little Orphan Annie’ with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charmin, was the whole school production chosen by saltash.net community school for 2015. Set in 1930s New York during the Great Depression, brave young Annie, played with remarkable skill and talent by Molly Willis from Year 8, is forced to live a life of misery at the orphanage of Miss Hannigan, characterised brilliantly by Year 10 student, Molly Banks.

Determined to find her real parents, Annie’s luck changes when she is chosen to spend Christmas at the residence of famous billionaire, Oliver Warbucks, played by Year 13 A Level Theatre studies’ student, JJ Harding, to great acclaim from the audiences who watched the show each night during the week of 8th – 11th December.

Supporting the central characters was a very strong cast of over sixty students from across years 7-13, who all sang, danced and acted with an ability that belied their years. Bronwen Hall’s mature portrayal of Warbuck’s P.A, Grace, was very well judged, as were the highly comic performances of Tommy Williams and Tiegan Aire as Rooster and Lily, the sinister side-kicks of Miss Hannigan. Adding impressive depth to many of the choral numbers were Emily Lambert, Megan Kelly, Brad Sweet, Eva Kleckham-Ager, Jasmine Leslie and Jemima Budd. Praise also needs to go to Year 12 student, Wes Hoey, who gave a fine portrayal of Franklin D Roosevelt, the President who was confined to a wheelchair after contracting polio.

Of course, being saltash.net, the role of Sandy the dog was of equal importance to the humans’ roles. For the performance given to 270 children from its partner primaries, one of saltash.net’s school dogs, Mollie, played Sandy, but for the four evening performances, Tilly, belonging to the headteacher’s PA, Jude Hollyman, took the lead role and all present agreed that a ‘star was born’!

‘Annie’ was produced and directed by Head of Performing Arts, Emily Venner, ably assisted by Nicola Silvester (Musical Director and Pianist), Matt Oakes (Technical Director) and Scott Wieprecht (Teacher of Drama).Commenting on the production, Mrs Bryce, headteacher, said, ‘This was a perfect choice for a whole school production at this time of the year. Not only was the quality of the music, singing, acting and dancing superb, but the set design, lighting and costumes were all first class too. I would like to congratulate everyone involved and thank them for the huge amount of hard work which went into making it such a great success.’


GCSE Presentation Evening: a proud time for all!saltash.net’s annual certificate presentation evening for the 2014-15 Year 11 cohort took place on Thursday 19th November in the main school hall which had been transformed into a glamorous awards venue especially for the celebratory occasion.

A very large number of family members and friends attended the event to applaud the Class of 2015 and congratulate them on their excellent achievements. Guests of Honour, befitting a year group for its sporting prowess, were representatives from Plymouth Argyle Football Club, Director Peter Jones and Striker, Reuben Reid. They presented the students with their GCSE and vocational certificates as well as many individual awards which not only recognised academic success, but other superb achievements, including an outstanding contribution to the school and local community with the presentation of the John Griffin Memorial shield to Bronwen Hall.

John Griffin Memorial Shield Bronwen HallAcademic Achievement Award Edward Gilford

Alexander FergusonAcademic Achievement - Highly Commended Bronwen Hall

Lily SpencerAcademic Achievement - Commended

India Colton, Hollie Diplock, Nathan Fowell, Bethany Gerrard, Michael Hambly, Lydia Herbert, Emily Hollister, Zac Hyams, William Illingworth, Katy James, Ellie Mansfield, Kieran Marley, Peter Martin, Abigail Medland, Rachel Price, Bethany Parsons, Kirsten Procter, Ben Reynolds, Lucy Sarel, Toby Shotton, Jenny Spencer, Michael Spencer, Walter Stroud, Emily Sweet, Rosie Thompson, Jack Willcocks, Elliot Wearne-Gould

Academic Endeavour Award India ColtonBethany Gerrard

Academic Endeavour - Highly Commended David HillJoe Holland

Sporting Achievement Award Ryan WinfieldEmily Hollister

Sport Achievement - Highly Commended Josie MaddeverEmily Sweet


KS3 Homework Celebration EveningOn Monday 30th November, the English department celebrated the success of the KS3 homework projects. Each English teacher was asked to nominate 3 students who had particularly impressed them. On the night, all nominated students received a certificate in recognition of their efforts and there were some special prizes as well, which were drawn randomly. Sian Carpenter and Reigan Ondrak received runners-up goodies and Abi Cox was the lucky

winner of a £30 Drake Circus voucher.

Thank you to Year 13 student, Georgina Curtis, who made a wonderful video for the event and to Miss Beacroft for organising and leading the evening.

Miss Owen, Head of English

After two years, Homework Club is a well and truly established extra form of support for students wishing to complete their homework with help from four members of support staff on a daily basis. Students can complete their homework with confidence before they head for home. Halfway through the sessions, which run daily from 3pm until 4pm, students can take advantage of a snack of soup of the day, a sweet biscuit and a soft drink, or alternatively, cheese and crackers with a sweet biscuit and a soft drink. Laptops are provided as is stationery to help them along the way. A free minibus is available for the outlying areas driven by a qualified member of our caretaking team. Bookings for the minibus are taken at break time through Mr Drewery our Site manager.

Please ask at reception for full details.

Homework Club

Please would all parents ensure that all personal equipment and clothing is named. There are lots of coats and jackets in lost property but we have no means of getting them back to students. Unfortunately, the students themselves don’t seem to be seeking them out!

We won’t be able to hold on to them forever and after a period of time, they will go the charity shop!

If your child has mislaid a coat, item of clothing or personal equipment, please ask them to enquire at reception in the new year.

Lost Property

Year 10 Parental EngagementThe engagement of parents in the learning journeys of their children is hugely important to us at saltash.net. We understand that trying to keep up with the demand of your child’s school and homework can be a challenge. For most of us adults it’s been some years since we grappled gerunds, verbs and pronouns in English, Pythagoras’s Theorem, algebra and division in Maths!

Therefore, we’d like to help by running a series of English and Maths refresher sessions tailor-made for you. These will take place after school and last for an hour each (details to be confirmed).Before these begin, we’d like to know whether you’d be interested in attending, therefore please could you drop us an email: [email protected]. Please include your full name and brief details about which subject session (Maths/English or both) you’d like to come to.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Parental Engagement Coordinators, Mr Romain & Ms Sayer


A whole-school assembly took place recently to promote awareness of the school’s newly-acquired AED (Defibrillator). As a follow-on from assemblies we have had 3rd year paramedic students from the University of Plymouth who, as part of their degree, came into school to train students on CPR and how to use the AED. They have promised to return in the new year to train the whole school.

CPR and Defibrillator Training

Healthy Schools Awards Ceremony

saltash.net was invited to the Healthy Schools Awards Ceremony at the Royal Cornwall Show Ground in November to celebrate its re-validation of being a Healthy School and to pick up an award for its Healthy School Plus project which focused on a topic within the PD (Personal Development) curriculum.

Three of our year 7 students, Ellie Holdship, Kaja Cohen-Skewes and Finlay Mcloud joined Mrs Wadsworth for an action-packed day. Pasta and bread making with chefs from Jamie Oliver’s ‘15’ restaurant and strutting their stuff on the dance mats were a couple of the day’s highlights.

“The day was very interesting and exciting, it had lots to do like dancing, making bread and pasta and woodland activities. It was amazing to get the award presented to us in front of all the schools. The year 7s who go next year are so lucky as we all wanted to go again next year.”

Ellie Holdship 7SM

“I thought that the healthy school trip was interesting and tasty because we made bread which was lovely. The pasta I made was nice with some pesto. It was a great experience and I would do it again.”

Kaja Cohen Skews 7SM

Miss Noble, Healthy Schools Coordinator.

Young Designer WinnerRyan Barriball, a student in year 13 at saltash.net community school, was winner of the annual Austin-Smith Cornwall Young Designer Awards in the age 17 cohort.

The awards are for students on work experience placements in architectural practices and this year’s theme was ‘Design a Beach Hut for the 21st Century’ and had 31 entries. Ryan worked at Catchfrench Design, Trerulefoot, and his award was presented at the Cornwall Architectural Trust’s Annual Lecture in Newquay by Jane Hamlyn, RIBA Corwall Chairperson, seen here.

Well done, Ryan, and Sam Cooke, also year 13, runner up.


The Core

saltash.net was pleased to welcome visitors from The Core Youth Project (formerly known as K3), who hosted an assembly surrounding the fantastic facilities available in this local, charity funded youth centre. The Core is dedicated to providing young people with activities, support and a place to call their own. Members of The Core’s team, Nigel Kerr and Charlotte Carpenter, demonstrated some of the clubs on offer to our year 7s. Mr Taylor got very stuck in as he was suspended from the climbing wall whilst being belayed by 5 year 7s!

As a school we would like to encourage our young people to participate in the clubs on offer and see if they can develop their talents in a new and exciting way. Activities which are provided by The Core include:

Monday – Youth night for 14-18 year olds 7-9pm. Entry 50pTuesday – ABC Boxing club for 11+ 7-8.30pm. Entry £1.50Thursday – Youth night for 11-14 year olds (from year 7) 7-9pm. Entry 50p. Thursday – ABC Boxing club for 11+ 7-8.30pm. Entry £1.50Friday – To start on January 8th, climbing club for 5-18 year olds 4-6pm. Entry £3

The new café will also be open to the public during the day 8-5pm for coffee (the proper stuff!), cakes, lunches and snacks. Look on their Facebook page, The Core Saltash, to see the transformation of the café and some of the things they have been doing on their youth nights.

The Core also provides so much more than the clubs. They have qualified youth workers on hand to offer information, advice and guidance, including C-card services.

If you want to get involved, need someone to talk to or just want a place to go in the evening with your friends, then go down and have a look around or call Charlotte on 07837 610274, e-mail [email protected], like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

Not Such a Grim TaleWell done to 26 students who have recently had their short stories published in the Grim Tales Southern Adventures anthology! 121 students from across all year groups entered the national competition back in July.

All KS3 students are enrolled on the Accelerated Reader scheme through the school library and have fortnightly library lessons to encourage their continued improvement with their reading skills. The scheme has fantastic benefits and has had some astounding results in helping young people throughout the world. Here are three top tips from Mr Coot, the school’s library manager, on how your child can keep on improving:• Every student should be trying to read for a minimum of 20 minutes

every day to ensure their reading skills improve. Perhaps you could help with this by listening to your child read and by signing the AR Bookmark (available from the main desk in the library).

• Students are tested each term to track their progress and are given their recommended reading ranges (or ZPDs). Students can only improve if they stick to these recommended reading ranges. Anything below their ZPD will be too easy and not a benefit, anything too far above their ZPD will be very difficult and could end up having a negative effect. However, I’m always happy to speak to students about this. To find out more about books in particular ranges, you can use the website: arbookfind.co.uk.

• Parents and guardians can keep track of students’ progress with the Accelerated Reader scheme by using ‘Renaissance Learning Home Connect’. This is a special part of the system which is available to access at home to view progress made and to browse a virtual ‘bookshelf’ of what your child has read and quizzed on. You can access this by going to: https://ukhosted32.renlearn.co.uk/2234740/homeconnect and using your child’s username (should be written in their planner) with the password ‘saltash123’

If you have any questions, please do email: [email protected] Mr Coot.

Top Tips for Accelerated Reader Success


For the past 8 weeks I have been working with some Leaders of Literacy from years 7 to 10; we have been working together to create a range of materials suitable for a literacy session with some year 4 primary school students. As a group, the Leaders of Literacy planned exceptionally well, ensuring that there was a range of tasks for the children to complete, catering to the unique needs of different children.

On Friday 4th December we welcomed students from Brunel Primary School to carry out our first literacy session where they completed our pirate themed afternoon! The first task of the afternoon was to find different words to fit into sentences on their treasure map, followed by extra tasks such as creating their own pirate story with prompts from images.

Packed with activities for the afternoon we also created a range of small tasks to keep the children attentive, using match-up cards and ipads, all so that students could defeat the pirates and find the treasure. Not only did the afternoon strengthen children’s literacy knowledge but also the Leaders of Literacy had a great experience! A good afternoon was had by all, as the children departed filled with chocolate coins from the treasure box.

Megan Rattle, year 13

Leaders of Literacy

saltash.net’s Year 7 Leaders of Literacy were presented with their new badges in assembly last week. The students are part of a whole school initiative to boost literacy across saltash.net community school and its partner primary schools. The year 7s have been working alongside all other year groups, creating a range of activities and schemes to elevate literacy for all students. The badges have been designed in purple to reflect the school’s ‘purple pens of progress’ ethos and to showcase the progress our Leaders will be promoting. They are wearing their badges with pride.

Author, David Hinds, who lives in Plymouth, visited Saltash.net recently to head workshops with year 12 students studying English Language at A Level. He focused on introductions to written work, drawing on the first chapter of his latest psychological thriller novel as an example. Thanks go to Mrs Langmead for organising the sessions.


Support for the Saltash FoodbankFor the second year running, Teacher of Maths, Jennie Benzie, and Headteacher’s PA, Jude Hollyman, have coordinated the collection of food items from staff at saltash.net for a donation to the Saltash Foodbank.

Some staff choose to donate items to the value of what they would have spent on Christmas cards; others still choose to do both. Whatever an individual’s choice, the overall outcome is the same:

an incredible collection of Christmas themed items which it is hoped will make a difference to families who are finding things difficult or challenging financially this Christmas time.

saltashart Art Blog

Please take some time to view the wonderful collection of Christmas lino prints that students have made this month to get everyone into the Christmas spirit. https://saltashart.wordpress.com/

The prints are going to be on display at the St Stephen’s Church, Year 7, Christmas Carol Concert on Friday 18th December.

The Art blog is designed to showcase all the GCSE exam and A-level exhibition work. It also allows students to learn artistic terms and definitions which can help with their studies. There is also a tutorial section on Digital Art using Photoshop and iPads.

https://saltashart.wordpress.com/category/photoshop-brushes/Charities‘Movember’ raised a whopping £913.02 with donations still trickling in. At the end of November, Headteacher, Mrs Bryce, and a selection of students judged those teachers who had grown some amazing facial hair in support of the charity. Teacher of Science, Nick Glanville-West and Teacher of RE, Lucy Sayer, were crowned Mr & Ms Movember. Students joined in the fun, tucking in to scrumptious Moustache Cup Cakes and Biscuits provided by our very own ‘Ladies that Bake’ and then letting our Art department be creative on their faces. Fundraising continues apace, with a Christmas Jumper day, a Talent show and a Christmas raffle still to come. All requests for charity support are raised by our students and as a school community we are very proud that they strive to support those in need. Once again, many thanks for your continued support.


‘Sporting Achievement of the Month’

Students from Landulph Primary school joined Year 7 and Year 9 from saltash.net for a morning of Cross Country competitions on Monday 19th October. Organised by the PE department at saltash.net, assisted by the excellent Sports’ Leaders, the competition saw inter tutor group challenges as well as individual winners.

Leading the way for Year 7 girls were: Maisie Godfrey in 1st place, Abby Shapland in 2nd place and Katie Flanagan in 3rd place, whilst for the boys, Henry Curtis came in first, with Seth Maunder second and Leighton Poolman third. Impressively, Charlie Bennett from Landulph school’s Year 5 class, came 6th out of the 116 boy competitors.

For the year 9s, results were: Jade Parker in 1st place, Lily Davies in 2nd place and Erin Hannay in 3rd place, whilst for the boys, Henry Bunning came in first with Scott Gregory second and Rhen Debeuc third.

The overall tutor team winners were 7GR and 9TD

Speaking at the end of the competition, Mr Hawkins, Head of PE, said, ‘Cross country is one of those events that people always remember from their school days. Today’s competition was no exception. Saltash students and our future students from Landulph did amazingly well, pushing themselves, competing and supporting each other. The amount of smiling faces that crossed the finish line at the end of the race was great to see and confirmed that memories of this cross country would be largely positive … I hope! Well done to all those who ran and a special thanks to our Year 10 sports leaders who marshalled the course and supported the runners along the way.’

Cross Country CompetitionThis year the PE Department rolled out a ‘Sporting Achievement of the Month’ Award, in order to raise the profile of the high end performers in PE and to recognise their achievements outside of school as well as those within. Each month the winner receives a £10 sports voucher and their picture is placed on our wall of fame.

Please be sure to send in any sporting successes that you would like to share with us.

See below the winners so far this year:

September: George Falconer – 7SP (Gymnast)

October: Jasmine Leslie – 8JY (Swimmer)

November: Rhys Northcott – 9RD (Footballer)

December: Alfie Walker – 9CS (Trampolinist)

19saltash.net community school

Year 13 Residential fieldwork. Bristol and London - Urban Regeneration. We arrived in Bristol Late morning and the students had to undertake a series of Environmental assessments of the Bristol docklands Harbour side regeneration project. Students engaged with issues explaining the factors that had led to the decline of the docklands, and then explored how changes had occurred and why. The cultural and tourism led redevelopments were identified as well as other economic factors that encouraged organisation such as Lloyds banking to set up their HQ on Cannon Wharf.

The photo below shows the area of the old docks and illustrated how heritage features are maintained in the present landscape.

We then drove from Bristol to London and drove to Dartford to the East of London where we examined the impact of The Bluewater Retail Park on the local region. From there we drove into central London and found our accommodation in Beckton (East London- Thames Gateway).

Breakfast was served early and we made our way to Beckton station on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and made our way to the first of our planned field sites at ExCEL

We then explored the impact of regeneration on the local communities of the East nd. A level students were encouraged to interview local people in the Canning town community- one of the most deprived areas of London.

Canary Wharf and the investment banking sector on the Isle of Dogs

German Exchange 2015The German Exchange 2015 went fantastically. Three teachers escorted nearly 30 students to Stadthagen in Lower Saxony to experience the German life, culture and language.

There were lots of day trips on offer in Germany, including a trip to Heidepark, Germany’s version of Alton Towers. This park has Europe’s biggest wooden roller coaster.

The staff made the most of the trip as well. The teacher on the left is Catherine Weiβbart, an English language teacher from Willhelm Buschh Gynasium, our partner school in Stadthagen.

A lot of Kaffee und Kuchen was had by all. German food was enjoyed by all on the trip. The German people

are famous for their sweet tooth and the cakes certainly didn’t disappoint.

The students went tree surfing; this activity proved very popular- although one member of staff was too frightened to take part. He was the only one. Everyone did it. Mr Eaglestone.

There was a great trip to the VW factory; emissions were tested and the latest high tech cars were put through the most comprehensive tests.

All in all the exchange continues to be a massive success. All the students came back very excited from the trip and keen to try out their new German skills. Places are already opening up for next year’s exchange. Are you keen to take up the challenge?

Ms Kramer, Teacher of MFL.Mr Clark, Head of Geography.

Bob Digby, author and previous Chair of the Geography Association directs proceedings in Canning town


Languages Theme Day - Qui a tué Kenny?On 13th October the whole school took part in a collapsed curriculum Theme Day. The languages department put together a murder mystery for half of year 9.The day started in the canteen where a French breakfast was enjoyed by all. Suddenly, among the croissants and pains au chocolat, Kenny died. It soon became apparent that Kenny had been poisoned by one of the dastardly languages department.

The clues were spread around the school and were just QR codes. The students were given ipads and ipods for the day. The students went around and scanned the clues. They were then redirected to real French clues on line that gradually revealed the answer to the question all had been waiting for: “Who killed Kenny?”In short, it was Madame Blanche aka Miss Yvinec. Obviously.The students had a great time. They practised their reading and listening when decoding the clues, practised their speaking with the teachers (or suspects) and practised their writing on twitter.

The day was a massive success. Twitter was alight with the students’ feedback on the day.

Watch this space for the next theme day in March. We’ll be putting on a day for the other half of year 9. We’ll be visiting all parts of the world including Brittany where Miss Yvinec will be introducing the students to traditional Breton games.

Senior Maths ChallengeThe STMC day was extremely enjoyable. It offered whole new maths questions that wouldn’t be asked at school and really makes you think “outside the box”: it really tests your full understanding and application of mathematics.

It could not have been done by students who just enjoy maths; it had to be done by students who have a passion for maths. These are students who are happy to work on unfamiliar problems and tackle them from different angles (radians preferably). It was attended by two year 13s (Paul Gerry and Gabriel Crocombe), two year 12s (Ed Gilford and Michael Spencer) and Mr Jones (Teacher of Maths).

At the end of the day, we finished 7th out of 24 from a collection of schools in a wide region. A highlight of the day was that we beat Mr Jones’ brother’s school who were all hand selected by him to attend this maths challenge! Finally, we were given the opportunity to make a mess in Mr Jones’ BMW on route there and back (which we took full advantage of ). The only thing to have made the day better? Bring Mr Hawthorne too!

Paul Gerry – Year 13

When the September newsletter went to print, we were awaiting the announcement of the Year 7, 10 and 12 representatives. We are now delighted to share with you that the following students were appointed:-

Year 7: Jacob Ross and Mia SandeyYear 10: George Seymour and Stephanie WatsonYear 12: Zac Hyams and Dan Chitty

School Council Reps

Staffing NewsCongratulations are extended to Mark (Head of Year 10 & Teacher of PE) and Amy Feldwick (Teacher of History) on the birth of Orla Catherine and to Lisa (Teacher of Science) and Matt Blackmore on the birth of Evie Grace.

We will be saying goodbye to Caretaker, Steve Hyde, who retires this Christmas. We would like to thank Steve for all that he has contributed to the life of our school.


22/09/15 Football Year 11 v DHSB lost 8-229/09/15 Football Year 7 v Ridgeway won 3-21/10/15 Netball Year 9 v Looe won 13-11/10/15 Netball Year 9 v Torpoint lost 10-21/10/15 Netball Year 10 v Looe drew 3-31/10/15 Netball Year 10 v Torpoint lost 8-06/10/15 Football Year 8 v Tavistock won 3-27/10/15 Rugby Year 10 v Bude won 24-108/10/15 Football Year 10 v Ridgeway won 3-28/10/15 Football Year 9 v Eggbuckland lost 7-5 AET9/10/15 Rugby Year 8 v Tretherras lost 24-1013/10/15 Football Year 7 v Stoke Damerel won 5-014/10/15 Girls u14 v Bodmin lost 6-015/10/15 Football Year 11 v Treviglas won 9-016/10/15 Girls u16 v Penryn won 3-121/10/15 Rugby Year 10 v Penrice lost 24-103/11/15 Football Year 11 v Torpoint won 2-03/11/15 Girls u16 v Wadebridge won 5-05/11/15 Girls u16 v Bude won 1-09/11/15 Football Year 8 v Liskeard lost 3-011/11/15 Football Year 10 v Mounts Bay won 3-112/11/15 Football u16 v Exmouth lost 3-124/11/15 Football Year 7 v Mounts Bay lost 4-1 ESFA 26/11/15 Football u13 Girls Argyle Tournament26/11/15 XC Year 7 Argyle Tournament Year 7 team 1st26/11/15 XC Year 8 Argyle Tournament Year 8 team 2nd26/11/15 XC Year 9 Argyle Tournament Year 9 team 3rd27/11/15 Football Year 10 v Ivybridge lost 5-101/12/15 Football Year 11 v Liskeard lost on pens8/12/15 Girls Year 7 v Liskeard won 1-08/12/15 Girls Year 7 v Callington won 6-010/12/15 Girls u16 v Brannel won on pens

Sports Fixtures and Results 2015/2016 Students look to climb careers laddersaltash.net community school students visited the Big Careers Show at the Royal Cornwall Showground in Wadebridge during the month of November to explore their future career ideas and learn more about the opportunities available.

The group of year 11 and year 13 students, all of whom will be making important decisions about their studies or employment for next year, had the opportunity to talk with employers, to collect information and prospectuses, and to try ‘have a go’ activities that included a climbing wall, professional cookery and construction tasks.

The trip was organised by Mr Killeya, Head of Sixth Form, with support from the school’s personal development programme and from pupil premium funding.

Mr Killeya, said, “A lot of our students have already decided on their plans for next year, whether that is to enter the Sixth Form, go on to University or take up an Apprenticeship, and that’s great. It’s also important to our ethos, though, that all students, from 11-18, have the careers support and guidance that they need, and that those who are still deciding get the appropriate extra input like this careers show.”

Fast forward to the future...Amy Donovan, Jack Wickham and Mr Buckley were invited to represent saltash.net in a global debate on the future of education at Polycom’s head office next to the Gherkin in London on Thursday 10th December. The debate was streamed live over the internet and attracted lots of comments over social media from all over the world. The organisations involved included the EFF Foundation, British Council, Microsoft, Polycom and Promethean. As the only students invited, both Amy and Jack received particular praise for their comments and contributions and impressed the group so much they have been invited back to present on stage at the world wide technology forum in London in January. The closing tweet by the EFF foundation summarised the feeling of the whole group: “Sometimes when you set out to inspire students they end up inspiring you”. See the whole debate at www.effdebate.org or follow the links on @praisesaltash.


Local author inspires budding writersIn November, some students were lucky enough to take part in a visit from local author, Ian Parson. Students were nominated by their English teachers on the basis of excelling in writing as well as showing an interest in becoming a professional writer. Ian read students part of his debut novel, 'A Secret Step'

and spoke with students, giving them invaluable advice on how to pursue a career as a writer. The afternoon culminated in the students receiving live feedback on their own writing and even being given a free copy of one of Ian's novels.

Ms Childs

Collaborative Christmas AnthologyAs a product of weeks of hard work from students both at

saltash.net community school and Landulph Primary School we have managed to create our first collaborative Christmas

anthology: 'A Very Cornish Christmas'. The students are responsible for the entirety of its content. The writings were

produced during English lessons at both schools; the lino prints, which serve as the illustrations are the product of a day’s art workshop with Mrs Rose Stiling, teacher of Art at saltash.net. Pictures have been photographed by Art

and Media Technician, Jennie Anderson.

Through collaboration we have produced a body of work that we are all very proud of and any proceeds made from the sales of these anthologies will allow us to initiate other projects. The anthologies are available to purchase on ParentPay for just £2.50.

Ms Childs

Saltash.net was thrilled to welcome back the Pearl of Africa Children’s Choir from Uganda for their third visit to the school on Monday 2nd November.Enrichment opportunities for students and staff at saltash.net included singing, drumming and dance workshops, handmade crafts classes, and a superb evening concert. In return, the school donated Science and ICT equipment to support the learning of the children when they return to Africa after their tour of the UK, as well as all proceeds from the sale of the African goods and donations for the evening concert.

Headteacher, Mrs Bryce, said, ‘We hosted the choir for a week back in 2011 and made some lifelong friends. It was brilliant to meet up again with a few of the original choir members who came to us and to hear that they were doing well with their studies and progressing to university in Kampala. The mutual benefits of our links with the choir is what being a true international school is all about.’

Thomas Hollyman, a Year 7 student, added, “It was great meeting the children from the choir. Some of them were really young but very entertaining! I attended a drumming workshop and enjoyed it very much. I hope they come back next year.’

‘Welcome back Pearl of Africa’


Ex Students help Sixth Form to put their future first

Five ex-students from saltash.net community school have volunteered their time to share their careers experiences with current year 12s to help them with their own experiences.

Four of the ex-students returned to the school in person to speak to students last week. Three of them – Rev Counter who works at the Cabinet Office, Mike Badham of Cisco Systems, and Darren Chapple of the RAF and England Boxing – left the school in the 1980s and were able to share the valuable insights they have gleaned from their diverse and varied careers. In addition Mike’s daughter Emily, who left in 2015 and currently works for Tempus Leisure before taking up a place at Bath Spa University in September 2016, shared her experiences of being a recent leaver, highlighting the value of work experience and research to current students only a little younger than her.

Ruth Nelson, who works in Paris for Louis Vuitton, will be Skyping students from France in a forthcoming assembly to share her own experiences of working abroad.

The event was organised in conjunction with the Future First programme, which works to send ex-students into schools to help guide and encourage the next generation into developing and achieving their own career aims.

Head of Sixth Form, Adam Killeya, who organised the talk said, “It was fantastic to have such a range of experiences for the students to learn from. All of our guests gave immensely helpful insights into what has helped them succeed, emphasising the importance of both following your dreams and being prepared to grasp different and exciting opportunities as they come up.”

Remembrance at saltash.net

saltash.net is proud to be able to report that its students and staff honoured the annual theme of Remembrance during the month of November in a number of positive ways.

During the week preceding Remembrance Sunday, Assistant Headteacher, Ms Kate Littledyke, led assemblies for students in Years 7-11, setting the context for the commemorative events, reminding our school community why we remember and why it is important to reflect not just on all those who have lost their lives for our freedom today, but also to remember current personnel in the armed services, some of whom have family members at saltash.net.

Helping also to raise awareness of the Acts of Remembrance was the annual sale of poppies in aid of the Royal British Legion. In addition, Year 9 student, Alexandra Hole, took the time to make some beautiful hand-made poppies to sell to raise funds for the ‘Help for Heroes’ organisation.

On Saturday 7th November, a representative group of students from saltash.net and the local area, attended the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, with Scott Clowes from Year 12, bearing one of the Festival’s Standards.

Remembrance Sunday itself saw many of saltash.net’s students taking part in the Saltash Town memorial parades, whilst up on the wilds of Dartmoor, the intrepid Ten Tors team took time out from their training to honour the two minute silence at 11.00am.

Finally, on Armistice Day itself, the 11th of November, the whole school community united in a silence at the 11th hour to mark the anniversary of the end of the First World War and to show solidarity for all Services Families within the school community.

Assistant Headteacher, Mr Pete Bond, who coordinates work with the Help for Heroes organisation said, “This year in particular it has been really special to share this event with other ‘HMS Heroes’ Primary Schools here in Saltash. We coordinated messages, written on wooden crosses, which were sent to London to be displayed for all to read.”


Bring Your Grown-Up To School

After less than half a term at saltash.net Year 7 opened up the school doors to their curious families, as once again Bring Your Grown-Up To School day took place, this year on Thursday 15th October.

Just a matter of weeks before, the students were super-brave Year 6s, waving fond goodbyes to their familiar primary schools, setting out on their transition to secondary school. The trepidation was huge: what about getting lost? Or making new friends? Or meeting new teachers?

But WOW!!!! It was with confidence and enthusiasm that just a few weeks later Year 7 welcomed mums, dads, grans and cousins to join them for a school day. An extended Integrated Learning challenge was set to the students and their grown-ups, for an exciting window into saltash.net school life.

“Bring Your Grown-Up To School Day is all about building links between home and school, and welcoming parents and carers into their children’s school lives,” explained Grant Taylor, Head of Year 7 and

Transition. “There is sometimes a perception that secondary schools are a bit of a closed book to parents and carers, but here at saltash.net we like to encourage interaction between school and home.”

Feedback from the grown-ups shows that they seem to agree. “We have loved being a part of our son’s Bring Your Grown-Up To School day and being able to be a part of what he does here,” said one family, and added, “Loved it! Thank you.” One grandparent commented that it was “nice to bring everyone together, both from in and outside of the school,” and a mum said that it was “interesting to get a feel for what it is like to be a pupil in this school”. She went on to say how much she “enjoyed sharing the morning with my daughter and seeing how she fits in.”

Alongside the more traditional subjects like English, Maths and Science saltash.net Year 7s enjoy Integrated Learning as one of their lessons. This is all about the “SECRET” skills of Self-management, Effective participation, Creative

thinking, being a Reflective learner, an independent Enquirer and an effective Team worker. Groups of parents and students working alongside each other were presented with a potential hero for Cornwall – such well-known (and somewhat less well-known) names like novelist Daphne du Maurier, the Eden Project’s Tim Smit, master mariner Captain Bligh, Bishop Trelawny, the last native Cornish-speaker Dolly Pentreath, and the crew of the Penlee Lifeboat disaster. Dad’s iPhone, the .net library, student 1:2:1 Project laptops and colourful resource banks were drawn on in equal combinations as teams worked out how they could convince the stern judge (in actuality Mrs Griffin, Deputy Head Teacher, who looks forward to Bring Your Grown-Up To School day each year as one of her firm favourites in the school calendar!) that their candidate should win. “I learned lots about Cornish Heroes,” commented one parent. “I hadn’t expected that!”

By the end of the morning, after the oversized bits of cardboard, coloured tissue paper, paint and glue had all

met their creative ends (“sorry about the paint on the table!” apologised one dad) we were once again treated to the fantastic outcomes of collaborative team work and creative approaches. Mums, dads and grandparents bravely joined in with the presentations, and all were more eye-catching and inventive than ever this year. But it was the dad with a guitar who swung the judging with his accompaniment of the Bishop Trelawny group’s rendition of Song of the Western Men – it was enough to raise the hairs on the back of the neck! A true moment of Cornish Pride.

And pride was something of a theme on that day, too, it turns out. Our Year 7s were proud to show off their new school and new learning styles to their parents; parents were delighted with how confidently their children have settled into secondary education; and the Year 7 Pastoral team at saltash.net – well they couldn’t be more proud of their fantastic Year 7s! Well done Year 7. And well done their Grown-Ups!


Training for this year’s Ten Tors competition commenced in October with 11 students venturing out onto the moors, following news that saltash.net had secured two team places for next May’s final Ten Tors competition. Two 15 kilometre warm up walks were completed in testing conditions over Bodmin and North Dartmoor. More intense and challenging training is scheduled over the forthcoming months. Staff members, Graham Drewery, Gareth Jones and Kirsty Newberry, together with the students, all observed the minute’s silence on Remembrance Sunday during their 2nd expedition.

Mr Drewery praised all students taking part, commenting on their enthusiasm and the way they have been able to draw on past experience through such schemes as The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Enrichment Week expeditions.

Students taking part:

Danny Snook – 10GWMegan Seymour – 10HAZak Newell – 10FMJack Pritchard – 10FMStephanie Watson – 10NYGeorge Seymour – 10HWCharlie Potts – 10FMWilliam Oatey – 10HCHarry Pascoe – 10HCJames Randall – 10GWSeb Frost – 10HAEthan Cox – 10GW

Ten Tors Training Visit to Duchy College

saltash.net’s commitment to its students extends beyond the time the students spend at the school. As part of its extensive Careers programme, staff at the school are always keen to monitor students’ progression routes to other providers and always emphasise the need to stay in touch once students depart from Saltash.

On Thursday 19th November, The Trematon Zone’s lead teacher, Mrs Gomer, and Head Teacher, Mrs Bryce, undertook a visit to Duchy College at Stoke Climsland, to see how two of saltash.net’s ex Zone students, Arthur Page and Tracy Pryor, were getting on in their new place of learning. Arthur is now undertaking an Agricultural studies course and Tracy an animal care programme.

Both students were doing really well and enjoying the range of vocational opportunities that Duchy College provides. Mrs Bryce and Mrs Gomer were able to catch up with all of their news over a cup of coffee and a bacon butty in the on-site Sam’s café.

Well done to the Trematon Zone students who have been holding a Craft Fair over the last few weeks, with funds raised helping to go towards their enrichment week.


Governors Update

Ann-Marie MyersI became a governor because I am interested in becoming more involved in the local community and wanted the opportunity to contribute to the school. My son studied at saltash.net before going on to City College Plymouth, my daughter started at the school in 2013 and my youngest son will be joining the school in 2019, so I have a vested interest in the school continuing to provide first class education.

I qualified as a Certified Accountant in 1996 and have worked in various companies but currently I am the Finance Director for a company based in Plymouth.

I live in Cornwall with my three children and my husband and whilst juggling the work life balance can be challenging at times, I enjoy being part of the governors at saltash.net. In my spare time I enjoy walking, eating out and going to the theatre.

Andrew MartinI became a governor in October 2015, shortly after my eldest child started attending saltash.net. Taking an active interest in the provider of my child’s education was important to me and was what drove me to apply to become a governor.

Having attended the school in the 1980s, I now run my own business as an Independent Financial Adviser in Saltash, so have an active interest in the local community as well as specific expertise in finance and financial related challenges we come across from day to day.

I have two younger children also so spare time is at a premium but I enjoy helping with one of the local football teams which my eldest son plays for and I’m a keen follower of football in general.

Jan WainI became a governor at saltash.net in 2015. My children both attended the school in the 1990’s and I have involvement with the school again as my husband and I foster. I wanted to become involved after visiting school with a year 6 child we were looking after and was hugely impressed by the energy of the staff that evening. Given the chance I would have gone back to school again!

As well as fostering I still work for a local estate agent and for many years have been based in Saltash.

Outside work I enjoy walking, and am also studying for a degree in psychology with the Open University.

Governor FarewellsThe School would like to express thanks and gratitude to the following longstanding governors who after many years’ service have now stepped down from the governing body:

Ken Martin, Bryan Preston, Sue Candy and Peter Whitehouse.

They made an outstanding contribution to the life of the school over the years and will be greatly missed.

Kate RichI became a school governor in September 2015 as I like volunteering and wanted to make a contribution towards saltash.net. I have 2 boys at the school, who joined in 2011 and 2014.

I work in schools finance for Plymouth City Council, so I am putting my experience to good use, serving on the

Finance committee. I also help with the Friends of saltash.net, and am the Treasurer at Livewire Youth Club. After all that, I don’t have much spare time, but I occasionally make it to the gym and spend my weekends watching my youngest play rugby and ferrying my eldest to gigs with his band.


Important Dates

saltash.net community schoolWearde Road, Saltash, CornwallPL12 4AY

Tel: 01752 843715Fax: 01752 845853Email: [email protected]@saltash.net

Saltash Multi Academy Regional Trust is a Company Limited by Guarantee

(England and Wales), Company No 7542166 and An Exempt Charity

Thursday 17th December 2015 6th Form Presentation Evening

Friday 18th December 2015 Year 7 Carol Concert(St Stephen’s Church)

Friday 18th December 2015 Last day of Autumn Term(Early closure at 1.20pm)

Monday 4th January 2016 Whole school returns for Spring Term

Thursday 7th January 2016 Year 11 Parents’ Information Evening

Thursday 14th January 2016 Year 9 Options Evening

Thursday 21st January 2016 Year 9 Parents’ Surgery

Wednesday 27th January 2016 Youth Speaks Competition

Thursday 28th January 2016 Post 16 Information Evening

Monday 1st - Friday 5th February 2016 Year 11 Mocks

Monday 8th February 2016 Academic Review DayMonday 15th - Friday 19th February 2016 Half Term

Monday 22nd February 2016 Inset Day - School closed to students

Thursday 24th March 2016 Last day of Spring Term(Early closure at 1.20pm)

Monday 28th Mar - Friday 8th Apr 2016 Easter Holidays

36 saltash.net community school

community newsletter december 2015 - saltash.net...

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