CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES REPORT

FOR GOVERNORS 2014 / 2015

ST THOMAS MORE ROMAN CATHOLIC ACADEMY

Curriculum Activities Report for Governors 2014 – 2015

Contents: Department Page English 1 - 2 Mathematics 2 - 4 Science 4 - 6 Religious Education 6 - 7 History and Intergenerational Learning 8 Geography 9 - 10 ICT / Business Studies 11 - 13 Modern Foreign Languages 13 - 14 Design and Technology 14 Food and Textiles 14 - 15 Health and Social Care 15 Art 16 - 17 Physical Education 18 -21 SEN 21 - 22 Music 23 Library 23 - 29

ST THOMAS MORE R C ACADEMY

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English Department

A Level

• Year 13 Literature and Language & Literature went on a cultural trip to London. Activities included: seeing a west-end show, ‘Ghost Stories’; a tour of the Globe Theatre; visiting Camden Market; and going to Westminster Abbey to see Poets’ Corner.

• Upcoming cultural trips for Year 12 to Whitby for the Gothic unit. • Upcoming AS Language trip to Beamish to support their language change module. • A group of Year 12 students went to Newcastle University to hear a lecture by Laura Bates,

founder of the ‘Everyday Sexism Project’. This was to support their language and gender module.

• Year 12 literature students will also attend a lecture day at Sunderland University on ‘Aspects of the Gothic’.

• Upcoming Year 12 trip to the ‘Jam Jar’ cinema. Dept will hire out the cinema to watch the film adaptation of ‘The Great Gatsby’, one of the set A level texts.

• One member of the dept runs the Sixth Form Amnesty group. • Revision sessions for exam modules. • Revision sessions for students resitting GCSE English.

GCSE

• Revision sessions before each exam. • Intensive revision session for three hours in the last week of the year for all Year 11 students. • Weekly revision session (separate sessions for higher and foundation students) ran for two

months in the weeks preceeding the language resit exams. • English enrichment classes for C/D borderline students have run all year. • A large group of Year 10 and 11 students went to see an evening performance of ‘To Kill a

Mockingbird’ at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle. • A group of Year 10 students went to the Sunderland Empire to see a matinee performance of

the hit west-end musical, ‘Wicked’. • Upcoming Year 10 trip with Year 12 to the ‘Jam Jar’ cinema. Dept will hire out the cinema

to watch the film adaptation of ‘The Great Gatsby’. KS3

• Drama Club ran one lunchtime per week for KS3 students until Christmas. Approximately 20 Year 7 and 8 students attended where they wrote plays, performed, read and built their confidence.

• Years 7-9 each participated in a year group Spelling Bee. Those achieving full marks in each class will face each other in an upcoming American-style Spelling Bee to crown the champion speller in each year group.

• As part of World Book Day, the department organised reading activities in all KS3 lessons. • There is an upcoming trip for more able Year 8 students to watch an RSC production of

‘Henry V’ at the Theatre Royal. Students will study this play in Year 9. Staff activities

• The HOD is the English subject specialist for Carmel’s SCITT programme. This has involved planning and delivering four days of training to improve the trainee teachers’ subject knowledge. Five other members of the dept were also involved in the delivery of these days. These days were extremely successful and every student rated the quality of the sessions as excellent on their evaluation forms.

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• One member of the dept is the ITT mentor and has mentored students from Durham University on diagnostic and long placements. She has also mentored one student from Carmel’s SCITT programme for the last term.

• Two members of the department have led whole-school CPD on literacy across the curriculum.

• Another member of the dept will lead CPD sessions on behaviour management for ITTs, NQTs and RQTs.

• One teacher is completing a research project with the Catholic partnership. It is researching the impact of reading aloud on students’ literacy levels. This is being completed with a Year 9 class.

• All members of the department were in fancy dress as fictional characters to celebrate World Book Day.

Maths Department Student Activities

• Students from all year groups took part in national Maths Challenges and achieved the following awards:

Junior – 7 Gold, 11 Silver and 22 Bronze Intermediate – 4 Gold, 19 Silver and 24 Bronze Senior – 2 Gold, 4 Silver and 4 Bronze

• Three Year 9 students qualified from the Junior Challenge for the Grey Kangaroo and achieved certificates of participation.

• One Year 10 student qualified from the Intermediate Challenge for the Pink Kangaroo and achieved a certificate of participation.

• One Year 13 student qualified from the Senior Challenge for the Silver Kangaroo and achieved a certificate of participation.

• A team of two Year 8 and two Year 9 students entered the Junior Team Maths Challenge and finished 7th in the regional final.

• Two teams from Year 8 entered the Diocesan Maths Challenge with one team finishing 4th. • 22 girls form Years 11, 12 and 13 entered the first Girls Olympiad competition and all

received certificates of participation. • A team of two Year 12 and two Year 13 students entered the Senior Team Maths Challenge

coming 7th out of 25 in the regional final. • A team of Year 10 students entered the FMSP Maths Feast. This gave students various

challenges to solve and the team achieved a prize for winning one of the challenges. • Three Year 9 students attended the Royal Institution Mathematics Master-classes at

Newcastle University. • A team from Year 9 entered a competition run by Edge Hill University and have progressed

to the second round. • In July 2014 a team of 4 Year 9 (now Year 10) students came 1st in the North Tyneside Maths

Challenge. • A Year 7 student competed in the Newcastle University Maths Challenge and attended the

prize giving ceremony to receive a certificate for coming in the top 50 out of more than 1000 entries.

• A group of Year 8 students attended a “Happy Puzzle” event organised by the Diocesan partnership.

• A group of Year 8 and 9 students attended the “Mathstastic Day” at the Centre for Life.

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• A group of Year 9 students spent a day at St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School assisting with their Maths activity week.

• A group of Year 11 students attended a “Music and Maths” event at Teesside University. • Students from Years 12 and Y13 attended the FMSP Maths Inspiration event at the Theatre

Royal. • The department took part in the NSPCC number day. KS3 students challenged Maths staff to

games of Connect 4. The day raised £40 for the NSPCC. • The lunchtime Maths Clinic for sixth form students to seek help with any work they are

struggling with continues to be a great success and very popular with students. • A Maths Clinic has also been introduced for KS4 students. • Several Year 12 Further mathematics students attend a course of “STEP” lessons run by the

FMSP with a view to possible entry next year. • Years 12 and 13 Further Maths students attended several problem solving Saturday sessions

run by the FMSP • “A Level Super Learning days” have been held during holidays. • A group of Year 11 students attended a “Mathematics and Statistics beyond GCSE”

Conference at Newcastle University. • A group of more able Year 11 students have been entered for the Level 2 Certificate in

Further Mathematics. This has involved them studying in their own time, attending after school lessons.

• Year 12 have supported lower school lessons throughout the year. • Mr Joyce continues to run the Chess and Go Club with lower school pupils. • Maths Club continues to grow in popularity in lower school. Pupils can bring homework

problems or tackle various puzzles and games. • The school STEM clubs run by Dr Powell continues to be a great success in KS3. Many

different activities have taken place throughout the year. • Year 7 students will be taking part in a STEM day organised at STM. Students will enjoy a

wide range of activities involving staff and outside agencies. • Teams from Year 9 forms will be involved in a Knex Challenge day, having to build different

structures for various purposes. • More able Year 10 students will take part in a “Build a rocket” day in which they will have to

design, build, mathematically model and test their creation. • Mr Prince and a team of 4 Year 12 students took part in the Engineering Education Scheme in

which they had to work with a local industry to solve a real life engineering problem. • Dr Powell has started a programming club for sixth form students and 3 students competed in

a programming competition run by Hewlett Packard. • The department will again organise My Money week across the whole school for Years 7 to

9. Through it students will learn about debt, currency, borrowing and credit. The department will be transformed into a bank for the week.

Staff Activities • Miss Jellema and Mr Joyce mentored 2 students on the short diagnostic placement and 2

students on the long placement. • Very strong relationships exist with feeder primaries. Mr Joyce takes weekly sessions in

certain schools and department staff will be delivering a lesson to all primaries during the summer term.

• Mr Snedden, Mr Joyce, Mrs Szoltysek and Mr McFerran are involved with the research stage of the “Using Formative Assessment in Science and Mathematics Education (FASMED)” project. This involves working in close collaboration with Newcastle University. This work is being carried out by various universities and schools from Europe and South Africa.

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• Miss Jellema and Mrs Szoltysek will lead the department in “My Money Week”. Lessons throughout all key stages will all be to do with finance. Various prizes will be awarded at the end of the week.

• 1-2-1 lessons have been taken by members of the department for pupils entitled to extra tutoring through “Pupil Premium”.

• Various staff members have delivered CPD sessions during the year. • Staff have attended various events held by the Catholic partnership. • Staff have attended various events held by the Local Authority. • Mr Rayson presented a session for the STM Middle Managers course. • Mrs McIlduff has delivered a session entitled “Planning Great Lessons” to two groups of ITT

students. • Dr Powell attends STEM network meetings in the Local Authority. • Various extra ‘in-house’ revision lessons have been, or will be, held for Years 11, 12 and 13

students by many members of staff. • The department has welcomed many guests throughout the year including NQT’s and trainees

from other schools and some ex-students looking at teaching for a career. • The department hosted all Newcastle University Mathematics ITT students for a day. As well

as teaching various groups, sessions including contemporary issues in Maths and top tips were run by staff.

• The department has links with the North East Maths Hub (N.Tyneside), the Archimedes Maths Hub (Carmel) and also the White Rose Maths Hub (W. Yorks).

• Dr Borwick attends Post-16 network meetings held with Newcastle University. • Dr Borwick is a team leader for OCR. • Dr Powell runs a Warhammer club every week. • The department continues to support and run extra-curricular activities within school. • Staff have attended various external CPD activities on such things as

A Level teaching and changes to GCSE. • The department continues to run a coaching programme. • Several members of the department have supported residential trips. • Mr Joyce managed the Schools Fantasy Football League again this year.

Science Department

• ‘Chicks’ Due to the success of the last 4 years, the department will receive 10 eggs which students can watch hatch and develop, either in lessons or via the live feed on the school website. The department has organised several fundraising events for this project. Students have been incredibly enthusiastic and engaged in the associated Science in previous years.

• Year 7 Science Club

This is a weekly club aimed at Year 7 students with particular interest in Science. Activities include making and testing rockets, investigating beef burgers, making bath bombs, colourful combustion, parachutes, sound waves.

• Key stage 3,4,& 5 revision guides and workbooks

Revision guides and workbooks have been made available for all students to purchase in order to prepare them for linear exams.

• Revision sessions

Revision sessions before and after school were offered to all exam classes in the run up to exams.

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• Year 12 Biology Field Trip

43 Year 12 students will attend a local field trip trip focused on an introduction to sampling techniques and statistics needed for A2 modules and coursework. Students will collect data from the Rocky Shore (Tynemouth) and a freshwater environment (Plessey Woods).

• Year 12 Biology Trip to Edinburgh Zoo

All AS Biology students attended a session aimed at raising awareness of the role of the zoo in worldwide conservation. The trip also gave them the opportunity to collect information for their AS coursework – a report on a species of animal currently under threat.

• Year 12 Physics trip to Bede's World

AS students were looking at the non-destructive geophysics methods used in archaeology.

• Year 13 Biology workshop All A2 Biology students participated in a DNA workshop to gain experience using advanced equipment to produce DNA profiles using PCR and electrophoresis. This was held in school and was delivered by Dr. Vanessa Armstrong from Newcastle University.

• Visiting Speakers into school

A range of Health Care Professionals including a school nurse, midwife and a trauma nurse delivered a talk to GCSE Applied Students to help with their coursework.

• Catholic Partnership

o Staff from the Department have attended Catholic Partnership meetings and have planned collaborative events for the future. The will include a “Spectacular Science Day” at English Martyrs with Dr John Kilcoyne as a keynote speaker. This is open to Year 9 science students who are interested in pursuing a career in the sciences.

o A Level Science Day at Carmel College with 12 Sixth Formers looking to study science at University. There were keynotes in Physics, Chemistry and Biology as well as opportunity for students to meet and discuss scientific ideas and activities with similar students from 14 other schools in the Catholic Partnership.

o A group of 10 Year 9 students visited the National Glass Centre in Sunderland as part of a Science/Art cross-curricular event.

• Institute of Genetic Medicine (IGM)

Year 12 students who are interested in a career in Medicine will attend a series of workshops and mini seminars on “Research at IGM” and “The future of patient diagnosis”

• Year 12 Science of Disease workshops Year 12 Biologists were given the opportunity to attend workshops on “The Immune System in Human Disease”, “Biochemistry of Clinical Diagnostics”, “The effect of drugs on enzyme activity” and “Pregnancy and delivery” at the Faculty of Medical Science at Newcastle University.

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• Year 12 and 13 Biology/Chemistry/Physics Clinics

These lunchtime weekly sessions allow students to drop-in, when needed to assist with their studies. Advice on subject content, coursework and exam technique can be provided in a bespoke manner to suit the individual need of the student.

• Year 12/13 Physics trip to Geneva

A group of students will be visiting the Large Hadron Collider at Cern at the end of the summer term.

Religious Education Department August 3 peak challenge A number of the Year 13 Lourdes Group completed the Yorkshire 3 peak challenge. October Peter Vardy conference at Cardinal Hume School. 15 Year 11’s attended a lecture day by leading theologian and philosopher Peter Vardy. November Ampleforth Abbey The Year 8 students went on a RE trip to Ampleforth Abbey to deal with the subject of love which they are studying in RE. Led by the inspirational Father Bede they focussed on agape love through several seminars. They toured round the amazing grounds and researched the ‘day to day life’ of the Ampleforth monks. The students joined the monks in prayer during compline and prepared and attended mass with Father Bede. Diocesan Inspection The department received an outstanding grading in all areas when inspected in December. The report can be found on the school website. February –Biscuit Ball The Lourdes group organised a Charity Ball which raised over £6000 for the HCPT Charity at the Biscuit factory. Revision Clubs The weekly GCSE RE revision breakfast clubs began in preparation for the Exam in May. The sessions targeted borderline students and began at 8.15 am on a Thursday morning. Ushaw College Lectures 60 year 12 students attended the Catholic Partnership lecture day at Ushaw College. March Flame 2 20 students led by Mrs Anderson and Miss Gordon attended at Wembley Arena. They heard a variety of talks including Cardinal Tagle and Father Dermot Donnelly.

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Pre-Pilgrimage Mass Our Sixth Form attended The HCPT Pre-Pilgrimage Mass at Carmel College. Father Pat celebrated the mass and all the groups from the HCPT North East region attended. It was an extremely moving occasion. April Lourdes Pilgrimage Nearly 40 students and staff supported the North Tyneside HCPT groups 36. They visited the grotto where Mary appeared to Bernadette and took an active part in the liturgies and masses that took place during the pilgrimage. They also cared for children with special requirements during the pilgrimage. The students were a credit to the school and were truly inspired by the Lourdes experience. Mr Murray and Mrs Hallam led the work of the youth group who were a credit to the school. The students also fundraised over £12000 towards the trip. Masses in Lourdes The students led the music for the regional mass in Lourdes and the fabulous Gavarnie mass. May Catholic Partnership Mass. 24 students attended the Catholic Partnership Mass celebrated at the Cathedral by Bishop Seamus. June/July RE teacher Training Our successful link with Carmel continues! Hollie Gordon will be our 5th successful trainee. She is a former student and has secured employment at St. Aidan’s in Sunderland. Primary School Visit The Chaplain and Andrew Merchant visited St. Cuthbert’s feeder primary Schools to teach sample RE lessons to Year 6 to meet their ‘mini vinnies’ group. We have also started a ‘midi Vinnie’s’ group at school. Sixth Form Summer Festival A group of Year 12 students will attend the diocesan summer festival They will spend time learning about worship and exploring issues of the Catholic Faith. Summer Festival A group of Year 9 students will attend the diocesan summer festival They will camp overnight and spend time learning about worship and exploring issues of the Catholic Faith. Pilgrimage to the Vatican City in July Our Year 11 will enjoy a memorable trip to the Vatican City. The students will visit the amazing Vatican Museum and the breathtaking Sistine Chapel where the Holy Father is elected. They will see the tomb of St. Peter and the recently canonised blessed John XXIII and John Paul II. The view at the top of the Dome is incredible if terrifying due to the height. We expect to access (usually) restricted areas and will pray for all staff and students at STM.

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History Department

Key Stage 3 Year 7 30 students visited Vindolanda in September Year 8 40 students participated in a field trip to Beamish Museum. Year 9 10 students involved in a Gifted and Talented Conference at Durham studying the Christmas truce of 1914 in the First World War. 10 students involved in a Diocesan Collaboration at Durham studying the First World War in 1914. 10 students involved in a Diocesan Collaboration at Durham studying the First World War in 1915. History and Music Departments organised a weekend visit to London, incorporating visits to The Imperial War Museum, the War Cabinet Rooms, Wicked, the musical, and Warner Brothers’ Harry Potter Experience. 20 students involved in the Heritage Skills Educational Initiative over 5 days. Cross curricular project with DT department. All Year 9 students were involved in the Holocaust Memorial Day. Holocaust Commemoration Evening; display of work produced by Year 9 pupils and talks from Sixth form Students with the main presentation from Eva Clark, Holocaust survivor. Key Stage 4 Year 11 Revision programme for 3 focus groups in September and October Drop in revision sessions at lunch time and after school for pupils. Easter revision classes. May half term revision class. Year 10 Visit to World War One Battlefields in France and Belgium. Key Stage 5 Year 13 Four students involved in the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz programme which included a day visit to Poland. The students then used the information to prepare Year 9 students for the Holocaust Memorial Day and supported staff in delivering the Holocaust Memorial Day. They also delivered presentations on the Holocaust Commemoration Evening.

Intergenerational Learning 8R participated in an intergenerational PSE day (March). 8H participated in an intergenerational PSE day (March). 8M participated in an intergenerational PSE day (April). 8E participated in an intergenerational PSE day (June). 8O participated in an intergenerational PSE day (June).

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Geography Department School trips: - Year 7 Full day curriculum trip to Newcastle’s Quayside: 21st – 24th April 2015. New this year. This was an overwhelming success with students visiting Ouseburn farm, the Baltic, Sage and learning how to use a number of geographical skills in an enquiry based approach. Year 8 full day curriculum trips to Seaton Sluice: 16th and 18th June 2015. New this year. Investigating rivers & coastal processes and landforms. Year 9 Residential trip to Holy Island: Fri 26th – 28th June 2015 70 Year 9 students join us for a wonderful, enriching weekend in a very special place. Year 10 Full day trips (Controlled Assessment) to Seahouses: 5th and 6th May 2015. Collecting primary data for their Controlled Assessment which is our department focus during the summer term. Year 11 Residential trip to Grinton Lodge: 13th – 14th March 2015 Year 11 Geographers had a fantastic weekend in Yorkshire Dales, revising key points from their GCSE course. Year 12 (Skills) Half day trip to Newcastle Wards: 1st Dec 2014 Curriculum trip with students investigating characteristics of and differences in social welfare Year 12 (Skills) Half day trip to the Druridge Bay Coast: 17th March 2015 Curriculum trip linked directly to GEOG2 skills exam with students collecting primary data on sand dune succession. Year 12 (Skills) Full day trip to visit and investigate River Tees: 16th Oct 2014 Curriculum trip directly linked to GEOG2 skills exam with students collecting primary data on a range of channel and valley characteristics of the River Tees. Year 13 Residential trip to the Lake District: 25th – 26th April 2015 Year 13 Geographers enjoyed a wonderful weekend in the Ambleside both engaged in structured revision tasks as well as enrichment activities. Additional activities undertaken by staff: - All Geography Staff A series of additional ICT lessons after school during the 1st half term to support Year 11 students in completing their Controlled Assessment. LCM Led residential trip to Lourdes for 21 Year 12 students as part of my Youth Group: 4th – 11th April 2015. Planned and led numerous charity events in preparation for this trip, e.g. musical evenings at local parish, cake sales, Yorkshire 3 Peak Challenge etc. Involved in planning RE International trip to Rome (July 2015). Busy planning and organising new International fieldtrip to Iceland for 35 of our current Year 9 students (Feb 2016). I have been heavily involved in planning and leading liturgies and Masses for both students and staff at STM both internally and externally, e.g. Youth Village, Year 9 Confirmation Course. Mentor to NQT within department Sept – July - Successfully as appointed to a full time post.

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Year 8 form class residential retreat to the Emmaus Youth Village. AL Wednesday afternoon Enrichment – outdoor education trips. School Ski Trip to Austria (Easter 2015). Led internal CPD session to staff with focus on revision activities. DSR Presented to department new marking scheme for Yr 10 Controlled Assessment. Leading CPD session to HoDs on new Ready-Reckoner. LK School Ski Trip to Austria (Easter 2015). Ran regular Monday night revision sessions for Year 11 students from Christmas onwards. Mentor to NQT within department Sept – Feb. Successfully appointed to a full time post. BEV Ran weekly Geography Club for Year 7 students on a Monday lunchtime with students engaged in building volcanoes & a wide range of creative challenges.

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ICT / Business Studies Department

Year Overview Month Activity

September

Co

urse

wo

rk C

atch

Up

KS

3 Lu

nch

Clu

b

KS

4 L

unch

Clu

b -

Rev

isio

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Year 12 Applied Business – Designing A Product Visit

October

Alton Towers – KS3 G&T

November

Dro

p In

As

Su

rge

ry

Year 12 Btec IT – PC World

Visit

December Yr7 Lourdes ‘Design a Mug’

Fundraising

Asda & Tesco Yr12 Business Applied

January February

Year 12 & 13 Disney – IT

Conference

March

Dro

p In

As

Su

rge

ry

One day AS and A2 support clinics at Odeon cinema for

exam techniques

Year 9 Business & Enterprise £10 Challenge

April May

Revision sessions for: GCSE, AS, Applied and A2 delivered

June

July

Year 10 Business Enterprise Day with the Catholic

Partnership

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Trip and Events Overview • Alton Towers ICT G&T: Fifty-four KS3 students attended the Alton Towers trip in September. The trip is a residential with students travelling after school on the Friday to Alton. While on the visit students experience the thrills of the theme park. They also receive a talk from an industry theme park developer to discuss the reality of planning and running a theme park. Through this trip they are able to gain an insight into ICT in real life action. • Asda, Tesco and Shack-a-holic Applied students attended the Asda trip in December. The trip investigates competition between the rival supermarkets and identifies ways of enticing more customers into stores. While on the visit students experience customer service, forms of advertising and they experience the interview, recruitment and selection process. This gives them an insight into the internal and external factors affecting Human resources. They also attend a visit to the local Tesco Super Store to meet with key staff to discuss roles and responsibilities within stores. The same group of student for Unit 6 – Designing a Product visited Newcastle to investigate a local business and its competitors. This is interregnal to the successful completion of unit 6. • Odeon Cinema, Metro Centre: Sixth form students visited the Odeon Cinema at the Metro Centre for clinics and conference relating to exam content, exam and revision techniques. While at the conference students have the opportunity to speak to experts and ask specific questions relating to the course and the exam. They are also able to liaise with other students from other sixth form colleges to widen their knowledge and share experiences. Revision materials are also provided by the course delivery team which are essential for the students and their examination preparation. Extra Curricular Clubs • Coursework Catch Up: The HOD is providing assistance to Year 11 ICT pupils with their GCSE coursework on a Thursday night after school and Friday lunch time. They are assisting Year 11 GCSE pupils to complete their CAB to the best of their ability. The sessions were run for all pupils to attend who study the GCSE. They also offered one to one support and extra guidance where required. • Lunch Club – KS3 This year the ICT rooms has been opened during lower school lunch on a Wednesday and Thursday lunch time. The club has seen a wide and varied amount of pupils use the facilities for a wide range of activities. The pupils have used the facilities to complete ICT work, use the e-mail facility, complete homework, research activities and other project work for other subjects. The club has been used greatly and the pupils regularly ask for more access on the days that the room is not available.

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• Lunch Club – KS4 This year the ICT room CP5 has been opened during upper school lunch on a Tuesday lunch time. The club has been used mostly by GCSE ICT students to complete additional revision sessions prior to their exam or for additional support for their CAB. • Drop In AS/A2 Surgery During the year the AS staff have hosted 1:1 drop-in surgery sessions with the Year 12 AS students. These have taken place during free lessons and lunch times. During the sessions staff worked 1:1 with students discussing structuring answers, types of questions and answers and general exam worries. Continuations: • Continue with the KS3 (Year 9) Alton Towers G&T Trip. • Continue with the University of Sunderland experience day as this has a huge impact upon the

INFO 4 coursework section of the course. • Continue with the business links of Asda, Tesco and Shack-a-holic for Applied Business course. • Continue with the exam techniques trip to the Odeon Cinema. • Continue with faculty involvement in all Catholic Partnership activities – student and teacher.

Developments:

• With the introduction of Computing to KS3 and KS4 the department are investigating links with external agencies and businesses to provide an engaging and interesting curriculum.

• Co-ordination of lunch time clubs and computer club at KS3. • Develop our own ‘£10 Challenge’ enterprise SOW for Year 9. Modern Languages In 2014-15 the department continued in its aim to take as many opportunities as possible to bring the French and German languages to life. Year 7 In April, seven Year 7 students went to Newcastle University to take part the North East regional final of the Foreign Language Spelling Bee. Their efforts were impressive but unfortunately they didn't make it to the final. Year 8 In September, eight Year 8 students travelled to St John’s School in Bishop Auckland to attend the European Day of Languages. Indian dancing , Japanese and Greek language lessons and French fairy tales were on the menu. Year 9 In September, our 20 year old friendship with our German partner school continued with the visit of 28 Year 9 students to Oer-Erkenschwick , North Tyneside’s twin town. Pupils eagerly await the return visit of their German partners in September 2015.

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In December, 12 Year 9 students attended the Diocesan Partnership’s MFL Eurovision Song Contest, where they performed their self -composed target language song. No prizes but a great time was had by all. Year 10 and Year 11 Year 10 and Year 11 French students will be heading to Paris in July to enjoy 5 days in the French capital. Year 12 In June, 3 German students, 3 musicians and 1 history student will be taking part in a cross-curricular trip to Berlin organised by our new Head of German, Mrs Fisher. Year 13 Also in June, three lucky students will be accompanying Miss Trabichet on a visit to her home area in the French Alps. Apart from these events the Modern Languages curriculum includes as many projects as possible aimed at making the language-learning come alive including: film-viewing, food-tasting and contact with native speakers wherever possible. We were delighted this year to have welcomed Lara Meβbauer (a former student of our German partner school) to St Thomas More for one month as an language assistant. She came just at the right time to help our Year 12 and Year 13 students practise their language skills for the A-level German speaking tests. Technology Department

• Coursework sessions in half terms for Year 11 – Days set aside to help students complete their

coursework. • Lunchtime sessions provided for KS4 students, popular across all subjects – Graphic Products,

Resistant Materials and Electronic Products. • After school drop in sessions set up for KS4 students – Graphic Products, Electronic Products and

Resistant Materials. • After school coursework session every Monday for KS4 resistant materials students. Set up for

students who are currently underachieving in their coursework as identified by Sisra

• After school coursework session every Monday for KS4 electronic product students. Set up for students who are currently underachieving in their coursework as identified by Sisra

• After school theory session every Monday for KS4 Graphic Product students. Set up for students who underachieved in Year 10 examinations.

• Year 8 woodwork club, run with the technician M. Dillon with a small number of students.

Food and Textiles Department • Student work from both Food and Textiles was displayed in the Catholic Schools Partnership

Design Technology exhibition held in the National Glass Centre in Sunderland in November 2014.

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• Super Learning days have again been held for students of Food and Textiles Technology to enable students to have additional time and support in the completion of their controlled assessments. (GCSE Food & Textiles, AS/A2 Textiles)

• Coursework clubs have been held each week throughout the year in both Food and Textiles. Students who have attended have received additional support from members of staff within the department and have been able to make use of the specialist equipment in the department.

• Coursework days have been held during half term and Easter holidays for both GCE and GCSE and Textiles students.

• A group of Year 9 and Year 10 students again attended Slatterys Chocolatier’s in Bury giving them the opportunity to develop skills in piping and decorating as well as gain information about the use of chocolate to decorate and enhance food products. The students produced a range of gift wrapped chocolate goods which they took home.

• Mrs Lacey & Miss Adamson accompanied a group of year 12 Product Design: Textiles students on a visit to the Baltic and Shipley Art gallery to gain inspiration for their AS Textiles practical coursework. They were set a design brief of developing a textiles item which would be suitable for sale in the gift shop of one of the galleries.

• Mrs Lacey and Mrs Mackey accompanied a group of Year 9 students to the Bowes Museum for a ‘Feathers and Fashion’ exhibition.

• Students from Years 10-13 have again visited the ‘Clothes Show Live’ event at the NEC in Birmingham in December. They were able to browse among the stalls selling new and exciting fashion items and had the chance to meet university lecturers and graduates showing their final degree work.

• Two Year 9 students took part in a Catholic Schools Partnership ‘Bake Off’ event. This is the second year STM have taken part. STM students were 3rd in the competition.

• Two Year 10 Food students took part in a Catholic Schools Partnership ‘Masterchef’ event. This is the third year STM have taken part. STM students were 3rd in the competition.

• Two members of the department are supporting the Music department in the production of Annie by producing costumes for the performers and supervising costumes during the production itself.

• Year 12 Food Technology will be visiting Jamie’s Restaurant in Newcastle in June 2015, to enable them to examine Large Scale Manufacturing first hand.

Health and Social Care • Health and Social Care Super learning days enabled students in Year 11 to concentrate on the

completion of coursework for their BTEC award. • Students in Year 10 have started a new course: Cambridge National Health and Social Care. This

is equivalent to 1 GCSE rather than the 2 GCSE BTEC. • After-school sessions have been held after school each Wednesday 3.05 - 4.05 pm throughout the

year to allow Year 11 students to catch up with work and improve Year 10 coursework. • Exam preparation days have been held during the half term holidays for Year 10 stuents taking

their exam in June 15. • The department has again been used as a placement school for Northumbria University Post

Graduate Health Care Diploma. Post graduate students from the University took part in the delivery of one aspect of Unit 5 on the BTEC Level 3 course during February / March 2015. This included a visit to use the health facilities at Northumbria University.

• Year 12 students have been to visit Sunderland University for a “get into health” event. • Year 12 students have been participating in a work related placement every Wednesday

afternoon.

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Art Department October 2014: • The Big Draw

Year 9 students attended a drawing workshop lead by an artist at the Baltic. It was a creative exercise whereby students were challenged to think laterally about different approaches to drawing.

• The Big Doodle Hexham and Newcastle Catholic Partnership event held at St Bede’s Catholic School, Peterlee. Year 8 students took part in a range of drawing activities and workshops to develop and experiment with challenging and experimental drawing processes.

November 2014: • Creative Careers Day

Year 13 students participated in the Baltic’s Creative Careers Day. This event introduced the students to a variety of different pathways in the creative industries and gave the students valid advice on applications to university and the creation of portfolio’s.

• Hexham & Newcastle Catholic Partnership Media Oscars Students from Key stage 4 and 5 represented the school and were highly commended in the photography and ICT development section winning an Oscar in the Abstract photography category.

December 2014: • University Advice

Tutors from Sunderland University will visit St Thomas More Academy to discuss progression within the subject to Year 12/13 students, they will also critique the work of students and give advice on future developments and application advice.

January 2015: • Awe and Wonder

Hexham and Newcastle Catholic Partnership Art exhibition held within the Galilee Chapel, Durham Cathedral. Twenty-five Year 10 Art students participated in the Awe and Wonder Art exhibition, work related to students own depiction of the scripture producing a broad range of exciting outcomes.

• Baltic Year 12 photography enrichment group visited the Baltic gallery to develop an appreciation of the work on display. Students were encouraged to analyse the work and make links to the processes that they have been experimenting with throughout the year.

February 2015: • National Glass Centre

Seven Year 9 pupils visited the National Glass Centre, Sunderland. They were involved in a day of exciting activities watching demonstrations and experimenting with glass making processes, each student created a fantastic glass decoration using glass blowing techniques.

March 2015: • Year 12 and 13 London Trip

Year 12 and 13 students visited London to develop research skills and experience art work in person in a wide range of art galleries and private institutions. Students were encouraged to analyse and discuss the artwork to develop an understanding of the themes that the artists were

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tackling in their work and how these could be relevant to the art practices that the students have been working with at school. The broad range of exhibitions has provided the students with a rich source of enquiry and has encouraged students to consider various techniques which helped to enrich their final outcomes.

April 2015: • KS3 Photography Exhibition

Ten Key Stage 3 students represented St Thomas More Academy in the Hexham and Newcastle Catholic Partnership KS3 exhibition at The National Glass Centre, Sunderland. Students were asked to respond to 13 different photography categories and present their interpretations of the themes. Out of the thirteen entries submitted three of the entries were selected as the winner of their particular category and two others were selected as highly commended.

May 2015: • GCSE and A Level Art exhibitions

The achievements and outcomes of the GCSE and A level students were celebrated in two separate evening exhibitions where colleagues, parents and friends were invited to view the talents and diverse range of outcomes that have been created throughout the year. Both evenings were very successful and well attended. A selection of the work is available to be viewed on the school website.

June 2015: • Year 12 Edinburgh Art Trip

Year 12 students will visit relevant galleries in Edinburgh to develop their individual projects within Year 13. The students will be encouraged to analyse and discuss the artwork to develop an understanding of the themes that the artists are tackling in their work and how these could be relevant to their own individual art practices.

• Year 12 Hexham & Newcastle Catholic Partnership Life Drawing Sunderland University

Year 12 students will have the opportunity to take part in a Life Drawing exercise which will be taught by university lecturers and give the students a unique opportunity to draw from the human form. This will help the students to develop their drawing skills and also increase the variety of work in their individual portfolio’s.

Extra Curricular Clubs and Support Coursework after school development: The department has continued to provide assistance to Year 10 and 11 pupils with their GCSE coursework on a Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evening. The sessions continue to be held for all students to develop their independent projects and encourage further exploration and experimentation of art making activities. One to one support and extra guidance is offered to all students during these successful sessions. KS3 Art Club: Art 4 has held an extremely well subscribed after school club every Wednesday. The club has maintained a high attendance encouraging and providing opportunities for students to use the facilities for a wide range of activities. KS3 students are invited to develop their own work whilst experimenting with interesting and exciting art making approaches.

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KS3 Creative Textiles Club: A weekly Creative Textile Club runs every Thursday evening whereby students are encouraged to experiment with textile processes to understand and develop knowledge with regards to material manipulation and textile experimentation. Photography Enrichment: Year 12 weekly sessions have provided students with an option to experiment with photography exercises both manually and digitally. The students are encouraged to experiment in the dark room and form an understanding of photographic development processes. The department provides students with the opportunity to manipulate digital photographs and experiment with cyanotype techniques to produce diverse range of photographic outcomes. Community Art Project: A community art project has been running throughout the year to develop a piece of work within the local community to demonstrate an understanding of the heritage and local context of ‘Remembrance Promise’ to be housed within the Catholic parish of Our Lady and St. Columba, a community of faith living in the center of Wallsend. Students have visited the Parish and have begun to respond to the contextual information provided kindly by Colin Finlay.

Physical Eduction (visit us @stm_pe our successful Twitter account where you can view great photos of our teams) Once again there have been a multitude of fantastic opportunities offered by the PE department and external organisations over the past year. The traditional and long standing sports are all well represented football, netball, basketball, rugby, cricket, athletics and rounders have teams across all age groups. Many NGBs are funding work in schools and we have benefitted from this in basketball, football, cricket and rugby for both girls and boys. Due to our successes and numbers attending clubs we have secured £3000 worth of funding from the RFU – this year – to be spent on coaching qualifications, equipment and help with transport cost. We have actually attended eight festivals and tournaments – the year 9 team are unbeaten this season. This year we have been particularly successful with many teams winning many competitions and if not winning being runners up. Usually we do really well in football however this year rugby, cricket, cross country, basketball, girls football and athletics have all achieved well. Our gifted and talented student numbers are also increasing and we have county, regional and international representation in a number of sports. The OAA G&T trip is already organised for October with 20 students already signed up. Thanks to Mr Towns for his work in this area. Ongoing work within leadership lessons and work with our primary schools is proving to be inspirational. This year our Sixth Form and Year 10 leaders have helped to run festivals in badminton, hockey, rounders, netball, skipping, athletics with huge numbers attending each event. This is excellent and very positive transitional work – thanks to Miss Flynn for all her work in this area. Sports Day (2nd July) is proving to be a great stepping stone for many students – 200 of our students attended athletics practice last week – it is an amazing spectacle – thank goodness our field is the largest space we have!! Please come along on the day.

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Trips Skiing Austria – 54 students enjoyed a fantastic Easter ski trip – no airline strikes and plenty of snow. We had a record number of competent skiers with us this year, 16 in total who had a fantastic experience all week with their instructor/guide. All the beginners were skiing by the end of the third day. Thanks to Mrs Collins, Mr Anderson, Mrs Anderson, and Mr Logie for their efforts on this trip. Wimbledon – we have once again been allocated Court One tickets through the ballot and will be there middle weekend in July with 8 of our students. Last year we were filmed by the BBC Get Inspired team and you can see our students’ thoughts about this experience on the Get Inspired website. More recognition: Having been awarded the Youth Sports Trust Silver Award for Sport we continue to be the Ambassador school for the North East in recognition of all our work and curriculum standards. This also includes a special project run for disaffected girls in our school who have been working with our Sky mentor Katie Storey former England rugby player. Thanks to Mrs Plummer for all her efforts in this area. Four students have been nominated for the prestigious Talent Inspiration Programme where if successful they will attend athlete mentoring sessions in Manchester run by the YST. We are currently top of the North Tyneside leader board in terms of participation in all organised sports activities this is due to the fact that there are very few opportunities that we do not enter when given the chance to. Thanks to all staff for their efforts in all areas. Most significant achievements: Boys Football: Year 8 Manager – Mr MacDonald –League Cup Winners Year 9 Manager – Mr Anderson- Runners up in League and League Cup Year 10 Manager - Mr Edwards – County Cup and League Runners Up Year 12/13 Manager -Mr Burnett – Promoted to top division this year Girls Football Year 7 Runners up in NT competition. Year 7/8 Regional winners of the Futsal Competition Year 10/11 NT 7 aside Winners Six students were successful for North Tyneside squad and we have two talented girls who are currently trialling for Sunderland. Rugby Very successful season for rugby – All age groups from Year 7 to Sixth Form played fixtures and attended either 7 or 10 a side festivals. Rugby has gone from strength to strength this season, with the support of the RFU, specific coaches targeting Key Stage 3 in class support and extra curricular clubs.

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The Yr 8 team are our most successful team and were Northumberland County Cup semi –finalists. We have two students who are in the county squad. Netball All age groups from Year 7 to Year 11 played fixtures and attended local tournaments Year 8- played all matches Year 9- played all matches Year 11 – NT Champions Cross Country St Thomas More pupils have had a great cross county and athletics season this year! In Cross Country 50 students competed in the North Tyneside Championships with 16 qualifying to represent North Tyneside at the County Championships. We also had great success in The Catholic School Championships, The Year 7 boys won first team, one Year 9 student (female) finished first in her race and one student (male) in Year 9 came second. Athletics This could be our best season to date. In the Senior competition 53 students travelled to Monkton Stadium to compete in the North Tyneside Championships. As a school we had the highest number of athletes competing. 36 of these students finished in the top two in their events and have qualified to represent NT at the Northumberland Championships. One student has met entry standard in the 100m Hurdles which should secure him a place at the English Schools Athletics National Finals. The minor competition is still under way. We have 40 students attending trials to qualify to represent North Tyneside and we are confident many of them will qualify. As a result of our commitment to athletics we have been asked to provide volunteer Marshalls for the ESAA National Finals 9th and 10th July at Gateshead Staduim. This will be a fantastic experience for our students! Cricket Cricket practice for Key Stage 3 boys is attracting over 30 participants –good weather keep coming. Three boys represented the county at cricket. They form part of the team who won the North Tyneside Chance to Shine competition. Around 20 girls are benefitting from the ‘Chance to Shine’ opportunities receiving coaching every Tuesday and opportunities to compete. We will soon be filming a promotional piece for the ECB covering our efforts and participation in the Chance to Shine project. Thanks to Mr Anderson who is instrumental in the organisation of cricket. Badminton: Badminton clubs run at 8 am four mornings a week and are well attended. This work has resulted in the following successes: KS 3 girls were NT Champions KS 3 Boys were regional runners up at the Badminton Centre Slatyford U18 Boys are NT Champions KS 4 Girls NT Champions

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Basketball Basketball continues to thrive as we are still receiving funding and coaching from Newcastle Eagles. Rounders U16 North Tyneside Rounders Champions Dance Dance continues to be a massive strength, those of you who were able to attend the Dance Festival will have witnessed first hand the fantastic standard of work achieved by our students both in curriculum time and within examination dance through the Performing Arts courses. We also held a Celebration of Dance at the Jade Harrison Studio where we showed the fantastic class work as well as the Performing Arts groups. The venue was fantastic and the dance was able to be viewed by the whole audience. Another lovely matinee was attended by our Performing Arts groups at The Theatre Royal to see the Matthew Bourne’s ‘Carman’ One of our Year 13 dancers is going on to pursue her love of dance at Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. Thanks to Mrs Roberts, Mrs Johnson and Mrs Henderson for all their efforts in this area. Table Tennis This club continues to be our most successful club with practices and teams for all age groups. We have developed very strong links with the help of NUFC Foundation for Sport with Cramlington Table Tennis Club this has provided us with funding and coaching for this year and next. The boys from our school represented NUFC at Sheffield Wednesday and came home overall winners. Thanks to Mr Young for all his efforts in this area. SEN Department The academic year has seen the introduction of the New SEN Code of Practice. This is lead to changes in the SEN register – now and the SEN Record - and some changes to our client base with new categories. Our curriculum activities have been consolidated from last academic year with staff time being utilised to support increased training / drop-in opportunities for teaching staff and ITT students. Our SEN base looks considerably different with the change from the SEN register to the new SEN Record as shown below: Previous SEN Register numbers (01-09-2014) School Action School Action Plus Statements 120 89 26 SEN Record June 2015 - 4 categories (All students now SEN support or ECHP / Statements waiting to convert ) Communication and Interaction

Cognition and Learning

Social, Emotional Mental Health

Sensory and/ or Physical Needs

20 19 6 6

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Students funded to access up to 10 hours unless additional funding provided by LA. Curriculum Activities: KS3 Reading Club – Year 7 Three mornings per week – classroom based between 8:15 – 9:00 Reading Club – Year 8 and some additional Year 9s – Library - as above Spelling Club - Years 7 and 8 ICT based program in CP6 - as above. Dyslexia provision has been included within these clubs and more recently further supported by group and individual withdrawal weekly sessions for those students who find it difficult to attend early mornings. One of our new Teaching Assistants started a weekly Djembe drumming group at lunchtime with the support of the music department and the students performed at the Christmas concert. KS4 Travel training has continued for identified SEN students in both KS3 and KS4. Parents have been appreciative of the programme which enables our young people to become more independent. Students have undergone safety awareness and planning visits to various places including home, grandparents, to and from St Thomas More, Silverlink and colleges. Revision sessions and differentiated resources have been provided to support individual identified needs – mainly during lunchtimes. Additional 1-1 Maths tuition for an identified student. Collaborative Activities. • SENCO contributing on two Local Authority Working Parties, in developing new paperwork for

the new Education Health Care Plans and a School Plan. • Staff CPD training on the new Code of Practice. Staff Drop-in, Phonics. • Teaching Assistants have supported Geography and History visits with KS3. • Teaching Assistants support for parents of newly diagnosed ASD students to attend a CYgnet

Group – a LA training programme. Access to ICT has increased and enabled three dyslexic Year 7 students to have individual access to ICT. The Netbooks have been supplemented so that small groups can now access them in Literacy lessons. The Spelling group now uses CP6 which has been very successful. Transition from Primary and onwards to Colleges and University has been supported with additional meetings with parents and where appropriate, Connexions. This year has seen successful Year 6 – 7 transition including some students who would normally have accessed Special School provisions. We nearly had our first Oxbridge student but unfortunately he was not selected. We are enormously proud that he was interviewed and we are sure he will do well at Durham University. Other SEN students are progressing to STM Sixth Form, Newcastle College, Tyne Met and on apprenticeships. Parents at review meetings have been very grateful for the support and quality of education provided by STM. SIMS is continuing to be developed as a primary source of SEN information for teaching and support staff to access information, teaching strategies and latest professional reports.

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Music Department Extra curricular opportunities in Music have continued to thrive, develop and improve in terms of quality and achievement over the year. The department runs the following groups and ensembles on a regular weekly basis: School Orchestra (now over forty students rehearsing on a Monday morning before school) Years 7, 8 and 9 A Cappella Choir, Upper School Choir, Frozen Choir, separate ensembles for clarinet, flute, brass and hand bell groups, and a new Ukulele and Djembe drumming group, Music theory club operates for students who wish to take theory exams to compliment their practical work. The soloists concert at the end of November was a stunning success, with some amazing performances from our students. The two nights of Christmas concerts proved very popular with large numbers of students involved in performing from beginners in Year 7 to more advanced students. As one parent said’ there was something for everyone, it was a fantastic night!) As this is written, students are working hard on the musical ‘Annie’ which will again take place at the RGS, Newcastle, in July 2015. St Thomas More students will be involved in the collaborative Diocesan Concert at The Sage, Gateshead, taking part in all the collaborative activities of the Orchestra, Combined Choir and Big Band, as well as rehearsing a specially composed piece to be performed by the Choir and Hand bell group. Our students were involved in the BBC ‘Ten Pieces’ project at Whitehouse Primary School, in a performance of ‘Zadok the Priest’ and took part in activities supporting primary students. This was filmed by the BBC, for possible use in the ‘Ten Pieces Prom’ in the Summer at the Royal Albert Hall. BTEC Music has continues to develop well and the students performed with great aplomb at the annual ‘Children in Need’ gig in November 2014 and then in the Spring Term showcase evening. Visits have included the joint Music / History trip to London to tour the BBC, see a West End show, as well as visiting the Imperial War Museum, Churchill Wear Rooms and ‘The Making of Harry Potter’. A Year 12 joint Music / German / History trip to Berlin is scheduled for the end of June 2015. Library Report Use of the Library: The Library opens at 8.15am each day apart from Wednesday. It is open each morning break and lunchtime both for Lower and Upper School. It is open until 4 pm after school apart from on Friday. It is occasionally necessary to close the library at a social time if this clashes with a booked lesson. To gain an accurate “snapshot” of library usage throughout the school year, three weeks were chosen for monitoring. The results were as follows: The average number of students visiting the library in social times is 270 per day. This does not include the number of VI form students who use the library throughout the day for private study.

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Week 1 Monday 2nd December – Friday 5th December Day

Social Visits Booked Classes

Monday 332 3 (English 2, History 1) Tuesday 322 3 (English 2, PSE 1) Wednesday 210 5 (English 3, RE 1, HSC 1) Thursday 349 2 (Supp English 2) Friday 299 3 (English 3) Total

1512 (Av 302) 16

Week 2 Monday 17th March – Friday 21st March Day

Social Visits Booked Classes

Monday 319 3 (English Tuesday 309 2 (English 1 , History 1) Wednesday 176 3 (English 1, HSC 1, Enrichment 1) Thursday 304 5 ( Textiles 3, History 1, English 1) Friday 334 3 (History 1, English 2) Total

1442 (Av 288) 16

Week 3 Monday 9th June – Friday 13th June Day

Social Visits Booked Classes

Monday 253 2 (Geography 1, English 1) Tuesday 200 4(PSE 1, Food 1, English 1, History 1) Wednesday 164 3 (English 2 , Textiles 1) Thursday 266 3 (History 2, English 1) Friday 225 6 (English 2, History 3, Food 1) Total

1108 (Av 222)

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Usage Statistics General Overview Issues - 5763 Items Issued to Students 3155 Items issued to Staff 2608 Breakdown of Issue Statistics

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This represents a drop of 940 from the previous academic year. The most significant drop in borrowing was in Year 7. Raising this will be a target for the next academic year. Library Bookings 481 lessons booked into the library. Resources into Classrooms Bookboxes containing books, folders, leaflets etc. are regularly issued to staff for use in classrooms. Over the year 90 were issued. Topics covered: Subject

KS3 KS4 KS5

English Context Midsummer Night’s Dream, Victorian England, Home Front World War 1, Leaflet Design, Context Christmas Carol, Poetry Anthologies, Animal Rights, World War 1 Poetry ,Mythical Creatures, Arthurian Legends, Context Macbeth, Witchcraft, Frankenstein and the Gothic Novel,

Context for Of Mice and Men, The Titanic Disaster, Context for Animal Farm, Context for An Inspector Calls, Capital Punishment

History Roman Trade, Roman Buildings, Christmas in the Past, World War 1 Weapons, Tudor Food, Native American Warfare, Piracy

World War Two Weapons, Pearl Harbour

Geography Endangered Species, Volcanoes, Brazil, China One Child Policy

Climate Change

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Science

The Solar System, Endangered Species, Animal Classification

Drugs/Smoking Alcohol, The Electromagnetic Spectrum, Electric Cars

Forensic Science

Textiles Natural Fibres, “Secret Garden” Inspiration, Sportswear Design

Fashion Designers, Fashion Decades

Fashion Designers, Fashion Decades

Art Mythical Creatures/Gargoyles, Masks, Reptiles/Dinosaurs, Japanese Art

Food Healthy Eating Nutritional Groups, International Food

What have Students been Researching in the Library? English There is a “rolling” programme of classes in the library. Year 7 – Library Induction, “Reading Record” booklet and reading for pleasure Year 8 – Inforead (project work) and reading for pleasure sessions. Year 9 – Reading for pleasure sessions Specific Classes What have Students been researching in the Library?

Subject

Year Group

Topic

English 7 Animal Rights (persuasive writing, Roald Dahl George’s Marvellous Medicine (creative writing) Context for Macbeth, Shakespeare Biography, Victorian England (context for Dickens, Christmas Traditions, The Lady of Shallot (ballads), The Reading Game, Alcatraz Prison and Al Capone (book context), Film Reviews, Classic Authors, Dickens Biography and Themes Project.

8 Life In World War 1 (context for Private Peaceful), WW1 Propaganda, Mythical Creatures, Vampire Folklore (context for Bram Stoker and Dracula), Context for A Christmas Carol, The Holocaust (context for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas), Frankenstein, Mary Shelley and the Gothic Novel.

9 Youth Homelessness in the UK (Context for Stone Cold), Apartheid and Civil Rights, Carol Ann Duffy poetry, Animal Farm (politics and USSR History) Boxing ( debate techniques), Capital Punishment ethics,

10 Context for Of Mice and Men (USA history), Context for An Inspector Calls ( General Strike, women’s rights, Welfare State)

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11 Context for An Inspector Calls, CVs and Application Letters, coursework drafts.

12 Restoration England (context for Aphra Behn, Context for Top Girls (1980s Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher), 20th Century Writers and Styles, Carol Ann Duffy poetry and sources.

13 Context for The Crucible (USA history and McCarthyism), Context for Dr Faustus, English Language Change.

Subject

Year

Group Topic

History 7 Battle of Hastings, Medieval Warfare, Roman Trade and Technology, Medieval Monarchs, Castles, Medieval Life, Heraldry

8 Tudor Monarchs, The Plague and the Fire of London, Tudor Rich and Poor, Witchcraft, Piracy

9 Industrial Revolution, Victorian Crime and Punishment, Causes of World War One, Weapons and Technology of World War One, Battle of Britain, Holocaust Diaries Project, The Home Front Magazine Project

10 World One War Technology, World War Two- Pearl Harbour,

12 Rise of Nazi Germany, USA – Civil Rights, Tudor Family Trees and Biographies

13 Dissolution of the Monasteries, Tudor Political Faction

Subject

Year Group

Topic

Geography 7 Endangered Species – The Red List 8 Brazil Project, China – Population and the One Child

Policy 9 Volcanoes 10 Population and Settlements Coursework

Subject

Year Group

Topic

Science 7 Animal Classification, The Solar System 10 Chemical Processes and Materials, Telescopes,

Drugs and Alcohol 12 Forensic Science, Endangered Species

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Subject

Year Group

Topic

RE 7 St Thomas More Biography

8 Mother Teresa 9 World Religions

Subject

Year Group

Topic

Textiles 7 Natural Fibres Project. The Secret Garden Project

8 Design Inspiration for Handbags 9 Design Inspiration for Cushions 10 Design Inspiration for Coursework and Exam

Preparation 12/13 Fashion Decades and Designers

Subject

Year Group

Topic

Art 10-13 Research for Exam Preparation

Subject

Year Group

Topic

PSE 7-11 Careers Information / Choices, Healthy Lifestyle, Preparation for Assemblies

Other Support • Year 7 (6 students in a friendship group) and Year 9 Reading Club is held in the Library on

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning. I work closely with SEN department to ensure suitable reading material is available.

• Year 10 Reading Group – run by Mrs Clughen is held in the library on occasional Friday lunchtimes.

• Paired Reading Scheme – provided suitable reading material for 9 form classes undertaking the Year 7 and Year 9 Paired Reading Scheme.

• Year 7 Authors Project – working with Mrs McCabe to develop a new scheme of work on classic authors. Concentrating on the themes and characters of Charles Dickens. Piloting with a Year 7 English class.

• Literacy Group – work with Miss Kilkenny and Miss Johnson on Literacy activities. • Premier League Reading Stars – worked closely with Ms Thompson in the delivery of these

lessons in the library for two Year 8 groups. (Autumn Term) • North Tyneside Librarians Group – collaborative work with other School Librarians sharing

resources and ideas.

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Future Plans 2014-2015 • Lower School Reading Group – a weekly lunchtime activities programme based around Reading

for Fun. Some resources provided by The National Booktrust. • Reading Reports/Diaries for each Year 7 student. • Increase visits by Year 7 form classes within PSE time and registration. A fortnightly visit to

change library books. This will help promote the “reading habit” with Year 7. • Target funding to popular fiction…….many students want to read the same book at the same time

so purchase multiple copies to satisfy demand. • Year 9 SEN Literacy project “Stones of Muncaster Cathedral” by Robert Westall • Year 7 Art Project – work with Mr Mason to develop Art department’s use of the library

resources. • Develop ideas to increase the impact of World Book Day. • Collaborative work with Diocesan Schools to develop use of E Books. • Promotion of the content on Kindles, particularly the “Quick Reads”. • Raise awareness of and organise activities to celebrate World Book Day.