newsletter term 2 2011

8/7/2019 Newsletter Term 2 2011

1/8L e a r n i n g t h e S t r e t f o r d Wa y

Stretford High SchoolLearning the Stretford Way

Great Stone Road, Stretford, Manchester M32 0XA. Tel: 0161 876 1850 Fax: 0161 856 1851 Email: [email protected]

SHSSHSNEWSNEWS

Term 2 2011

Issue 15

If you had been walking down Great Stone Road

at 4am on Friday 11th March you would havewitnessed an unusual sight. Instead of the usual

sleepy Manchester street you would have beenbemused to discover a hive of activity, as 24

students and 5 staff packed their bags into thecoach (blinking back sleep as they did so), and

said Goodbye! to their loved ones before setting

off on the annual Project 7 adventure, which thisyear was bound for Rome in Italy!!!

Customs was cleared at Manchester Airport

without any problems so we all decided to explorethe shopswhich was when we encountered our

rst problem, when Jay left his boarding card in

Burger King. I think I was more bemused bythe idea of someone eating a burger before 6am,

however the good people at Jet2 (our airline)printed us off a new one and let us on board their

precious plane. The world looked beautiful from38000ft that morning, especially when we ew

over the Alps and saw the dramatic mountain

ranges beneath us. Whilst peering out of thewindows we also started practising our Italian mi

scusi from our phrase sheets.

The landing was textbook, nobody had lost theirluggage, the train into Rome was on time, the sun

was out, the sky was blue and we hadnt lost any

students. This is easy I muttered to myself. Oncewe arrived at the Termini in Rome however, we

discovered thatItaly was gripped

by a wildcattransport strike.

The queue for the taxis spreadoff into the distance, trafc was jammed on the

roadswhich meant that we were going to have

to walk through Rome to the Hostel. It helps thatRome is one of the most beautiful cities in the

world but I would rather walk around it withouthaving to drag my bag behind me! After 40

minutes, we nally checked in and had a chanceto draw breath and relax.

Very quickly we got restless and wanted to getmoving in order to explore the city. The staff

at the Hostel guided us to a bus stop that stillworked and very soon we were throwing coins

in the Trevi fountain, watching the Pope give aservice in the Pantheon and eating ice cream

in the Piazza Navona. Thoroughly impressed

with Rome we then had our evening meal. Ofcourse, pizza is different in Italy to that served

in Britain, so our students were bemused by thetomatoes, which were apparently too runny, the

Mozzarella cheese which tastes weird and the

bottled water, which was too dry! Despite thesecomplaints I thought that the food was delicious

and can conrm that Italy is still one of the greatfood nations on Earth!

Munich Blue Plaques

On Friday 8th July 2011,

Stretford High School will be

hosting a double Blue Plaque

heritage unveiling event.

As the culmination o a research projectconducted by young people in our Year 7group, we have identifed the last addresseso the Manchester United players wholost their lives in the Munich Air Disastero 1958. Two o those players DuncanEdwards and Tommy Taylor lived 200yards away rom Stretord High School. Inorder to keep their memory alive withinthe community where they lived and

also to celebrate their achievements, thechildren o Stretord High School havesuccessully campaigned or Blue Plaquesto be attached to the respective propertieswhere they once lived.

At 11 am on the 8th July, the frst plaque,dedicated to Tommy Taylor, will beunveiled at 22 Great Stone Road, Stretord,by the legendary cricket umpire DickyBird MBE, who was an old school riendo Tommy Taylor in Barnsley. He will givea short speech about Tommy Taylor. Theparty will then walk around the corner to19 Gorse Avenue. At 11.30 am Sir BobbyCharlton will unveil the plaque dedicatedto Duncan Edwards. Again, he will givea short speech about Duncans lie andachievements.

To Rome and Back!

continued on page 2 . . .

www.stretfordhigh.com


2/8

Stretford High SchoolLearning the Stretford WayT h e N e w s l e t t e r o f

Welcomefrom the Headteacher

Dear School,

It doesnt seem 2 minutes since we were headingback to school ollowing our December break12 weeks ago. Since then the world has changed so much with thecataclysmic events taking place in Japan, the uprisings in Egypt and Libyaand o course the oods in Australia. There has been signifcant coverageo these issues in school and our thoughts go to the amilies negativelyaected in these events. Signifcantly our community showed great charityin light o such need across the world by raising 1300 or Red Nose day,in a antastic day o und raising. I am very proud o our young peopleor the way in which they have displayed such support or those lessortunate.

Since our return in January the school has been back to its active and

adventurous best. Our Year 11 students achieved the schools best everearly entry GCSE results in January and are on target or great success inthe summer examinations, subject to urther hard work! Year 7 studentshave been learning in Rome, Year 10 girls have created a hard hitting flmabout the dangers o cyber bullying, our students have had great successin a languages Spelling Bee competition and we welcomed visitors romour partner school in Pakistan; all detailed in this excellent Spring Issue othe Stretord News.

The school has also launched its new website www.stretordhigh.com.The website celebrates the learning that takes place within the schooland is a smart new addition to the way the school represents itsel to theworld. The website will be a direct link or parents and students to accesshome-learning (homework/coursework) opportunities and will also,eventually, allow parents to view their childs progress on line.

Work has begun on ensuring that Stretord High School students get thevery best in acilities. Student recreation acilities have been installed andupgraded around school at request o the school preect body, includingace-liting the ront o our school building and creating a student gardennext to Reception. The schools brand new 100 seat Lecture Theatre willbe opened at the start o April and the schools new minibus has arrived.

Spring 2011 has been a antastic chapter in the story o Stretord HighSchool. I hope you enjoy reading about our progress in this terms issue.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to creating the newsletter.

May I wish you an enjoyable Spring Holiday.

J HaseldineHeadteacher

On Saturday we had our continental breakfast in the caf next

door to the Hostel. Then we jumped on the train and headed

to the Ghost town of Ostia Antica, approximately 30 minutesoutside Rome. Here we managed to walk genuine Roman

streets, climb over ruins, perform in a Roman theatre, see theold shops and Roman bathsall the while keeping an eye out

for any sleeping scorpions hiding under br icks! After lunch wecame back to Rome and went to the Vatican. Again, St. Peters

Church proved to be an amazing sight in the early evening

although I was bemused to hear one student say that it looked

a bit like the Trafford Centre. Hmmmm! After dinner weran up the Spanish Steps in order to get a night time view ofRomespectacular!

We woke early on Sunday in order to get to the Coliseum for

10.30am. We arrived to nd it heaving with tourists. Luckily,

we had pre-booked on the internet so we got to go straight tothe front of the queueand it was worth it. We saw where

the Gladiators fought and where the Romans performed theirgames. Afterwards, just outside, we lmed our dance routine for

the schools Comic Relief video. This in itself drew a huge crowd.I think people thought that we were an internet ash mob. They

were probably all looking for Matt (the famous youtube dancer).

On Sunday afternoon we split the groups up. One group went

shopping with Ms. Eggleton and Ms. Diaczuk, whilst the othergroup, led by Ms. Walker and Mr. Grey, raced up the 551 stepsin the Vatican to see Rome from the top of St. Peters dome.

Whilst up there we got the full blast of a Rome rain stormbut were Mancunians so it felt like home to us! After dinner

and souvenir shopping around the Vatican we grabbed one lastice cream before heading back to the Hostel.

Monday was our last day. We left the Hostel on time but it wasgoing to be a race across Rome to the Airport. Our problemsstarted when we got on to the Tube station platform at 8.30am(the height of rush hour) with all of our bagsonly to ndthat the trains were so full you couldnt even get one studentthrough the door, never mind 29 people and their luggage!

When the fourth train had gone by completely stuffed withpeople I was getting nervous about the time and tr ying to thinkof alternatives (there arent any!). However, with the fth trainMr. Grey took the lead and pushed his group on board whilst Iloaded their bags over their heads. This technique worked welland was repeated with the following three trains. This meantthat we lost no one and got to the airport (just) on time.

The ight back was uneventful and we arrived back atStretford High School just after

3pm. Our annual adventure always

promises so much more than justsightseeingand this year was no

different. Hopefully the studentswho participated will have enjoyed

themselves and learnt somethingabout what they are capable of.I know that the staff did!

By Mr. C. Hirst

Hello | Bonjour | Guten Tag | Hola | Merhaba | Kalimera | Bore

Holiday InformationStudents will break up or our Spring Fortnight holiday on Friday 1st April at1.30pm. Students will return to school on Monday 18th April 8.30am start.

School will be closed on Good Friday 22nd April, bank Holiday Monday

25th April. School will reopen on Tuesday 26th April 8.30am start. Schoolwill be closed on Friday 29th April or the Royal Wedding, will remainclosed on Bank Holiday Monday May 2nd.

School will reopen on Tuesday May 3rd, 8.30am start.


3/8

L e a r n i n g t h e S t r e t f o r d Wa y

Special Events DayThere were two excellent workshops for our

older students during this Half Terms Special

Events Day.

We had an ex-prisoner come in and talk to Year 11 about his liewith drugs and how he has turned it around. We also had Katch 22do a production all about knie crime.

Finally we had a workshop on Live-N-Learn where weendeavoured to equip our Year 11 students with some key skills orlearning in the run up to their exams this Summer.

Some eedback rom Year 11 students:

. . . I enjoyed knowing that making

something happen , has more chance ofactually making a change ,rather thanwaitiingfor it tohappen. . .Sara

. . . Ishould

plan

things andbecome

more activein mylearning .. . Hasan

. . . Ilearned about fixed and Growth Mindsets .. . Mohammed

. . . Dont just sit back .. make it happen

. . . Joao

. . . I can do anything if I put my mindto it . . . Harvinder

. . . I can start doing something nowthankfully . . . Khadeejah

. . . I can relieve examination stress andwork towards achieving success in my exams. . . Mandeep

www.stretfordhigh.coma | B uon giorno | B om dia | Shalom

BPAP Hit The Red Carpet!The Stretford High BPAP (Black Pupils Achievement

Programme) group who had professional coaching

from Coronation Street and Extras actor Steve Jackson,

embarked on their own lming project with Manchester

based production company JMG. The whole experience hasbeen success and the group have produced a hard hitting

docu-drama entitled You Always Have A Choice. Without

giving too much away the story highlights issues such as

cyber bullying, teenage pregnancy and girl gangs.

A premier o the flm was shown in February to all those involved and withspecial guest delegates orm Mothers Against Violence. The stars o the flm thenhosted a presentation about BPAP and its aims and a lively Q&A session. It wasannounced that a showcase tour o regional schools will ollow and there arehigh hopes or flm Festival showing.

I you wish to see the You Always have a choice flm please visit the StretordHigh You Tube site www.youtube.com/shsmedia

You can see this, the making o the flm and other Stretord High productions.


4/8


GIFTS ARRIVE IN Benzuema, Sierra Leone!

New Website & Learning PlatformStretford High School can now be found exactly

where you would expect it to be on the Web www.stretfordhigh.com !

We have invested in a quality newwebsite and learning platormprovided by Real Smart. We hopethat you will be a regular visitor tothe site where we all have all thelatest news, a calendar, details abouteach department and perhapsbest o all: student work. Have alook at the Humanities Showcaseas a great example o sharing theantastic work that our pupils dowith the wider world.

The website is also a portal intoour learning platorm, every studenthas a login through which they canaccess their Google Documents,

their email and Realsmart our new learning platorm. Ask your son or daughter toshow you around it and to share the work they are doing with you.

Thank you to all students who donated gifts for

our Christmas appeal for our partner school in

Sierra Leone. As you can see from the pictures, thechildren were delighted with your gifts. They arrived

in January to the absolute delight of the staff and

students at Benzuema School.The Story So Far:

Stretord High School have established a link with Benguema ArmyRec School in Freetown Sierra Leone. The project is part o theBritish Council Connecting Classrooms.

The partnership is well under way ater a week-long visit conducted

in June 2010. Four members o sta went out to Freetown andtheir fndings are summarised in a short video documentary thatcan be seen on our website (www.stretordhigh.com/sierra-leone-partnership).

So ar the project has seen: CPD Training all our CPD training resources are being used or

teachers in Freetown; Planning working with the Benguema amily o schools to help

them create school development plans; Church link our local church has made and donated items or

the church in Freetown to help build the community. We are alsohelping create a sunday school;

Video the video is being used to help create awareness; A Xmas shoebox project; Finally, we are running Recycle or Sierra Leone. This is where

resources not used anymore by sta at Stretord are transportedto Benguema or use in their school.



5/8


New School MinibusStretford High is delighted to take delivery of a brand

new mini bus. The new Ford Transit vehicle is leased for

60 months and seats 15 people altogether.

STOP PRESS:New Contact DetailsFrom 1st April 2011, Stretford High Schools telephone

number will be changing to:

0161 876 1850and our facsimile number will change to:

0161 856 1851If your child is going to be absent from school you are

required to inform the school at the beginning of each

school day. To report a pupil absent please continue to use

our absent line 0161 873 8682.

Our contact email address is now:

[email protected] website is now available on the domain:

www.stretordhigh.com

MFL Spelling Bee!

On Wednesday 16th March four Y7

students Amna, Tayeba, Jade and Danyal

represented Stretford High at the North

West Regional Finals of the Routes into

Languages 2011 Spelling Bee.

They have been working towards this event with MissBolton, Miss Clarke and Miss Sebti since October 2010.The event which was open to Y7 students across theNorth West attracted 8,500 students rom 70 dierentschools. The best 100 students took part in Wednesdaysfnals. The Spelling Bee tested students knowledge owords in French, Spanish & German.

Each student had 1 minute to spell as many words aspossible in their chosen language. Unortunately bothJade & Danyal who worked very hard or the Frenchteam were unsuccessul in being in the fnal 4 winners onthe day. Amna and Tayeba who represented the Spanishlanguage both made it into the fnal 4 along with 2students rom Wirral Grammar School or boys.

In the fnal Spell O, Amna beat all competition and camefrst over all with Tayeba coming third ater a valianteort. Both Amna and Tayeba will now go through tothe National Finals which will be held at CambridgeUniversity in July.

Please congratulate them all as

they are a credit to Stretford Highand the MFL Department is so very

proud of them.



6/8


World Book Day

The 6th World Book Day was celebratedby Reading Club members on March 3rd withBuild-a- Potato Book Character Reading ClubEvent, in the school library. This was an opportunityto celebrate reading and books by creatingchildrens avourite book characters such as theWimpy Kid, Horrid Henry or Twilight characters ina dierent medium.

The World Book Day celebrations opened witha ourish with a ute recital by Noman

Mohammed Y7. Mrs. Compton introducedthe works o a amous childrens author BrianJacques who wrote the amous Redwall series.His novels have been sold in more than 20million copies and been published in more than28 languages. The author has died recently andalthough his works are well known internationallyit was elt that this generation o readers neededan introduction to his books. Children listened toMrs. Compton with rapt attention.

Children built potato characters based ontheir avourite book heroes such as CaptainUnderpants, InuYasha manga character,Dennis the Menace, the Wimpy Kid, Charlie

Y7 commented that the activity was, un andenergetic or my fngers.

LIBRARY News

Students received free 1.00 World

Book Day books which were kindly

donated by Chorlton Book shop.

Students also had the opportunity to

take away old books in good conditionto sustain their reading or to read

them to younger siblings.



7/8


ShockarellasLets Dance!Dance troop Shockarellas got through to the live semi-

nals of Got to Dance, the hit dance show on Sky 1.

Dance troop Shockarellas got through to the live semi-fnals o Got to Dance,the hit dance show on Sky 1. Stretord Highs very own Holly Hunt is a membero Shockarellas and has been updating us with her dance troops progress withinthe show and needs our support in getting them to the fnals. Despite not

making the fnal the group were tweeted by Missy Elliot no less and Tiny Tempahor their eorts!

Well done from all at SHS, we are so proud of you Holly!

The Flying Theatre Company presents

Les Trois MousquetairesDuring Half Term 3, half of theYear 8 cohort had been studying

Alexandre Dumas novel The

Three Musketeers. Having come

across a theatre group that tours

schools and colleges bringing

such works to life for students the

Modern Languages Department

thought it would be fun to ask The

Flying Theatre Company to perform

for our Y8s. An added bonus was

that the company only perform in

the Target Language of the piece

which in this case was French.

So in early February our Y8s weretreated to an excellent, action packedperormance with abulous special eectsand a ew surprises or the frst ew rontrows. Each student was given a bookletwhich contained key vocabulary shouldthey need to reer to it throughoutthe perormance but as the productionwas so very visually entertaining thestudents seemed to be able to ollow theaction or over an hour which is a greatachievement.



8/8L e a r n i n g t h e S t r e t f o r d Wa y


Great Stone Road, Stretford, Manchester M32 0XA. Tel: 0161 876 1850 Fax: 0161 856 1851 Email: [email protected]

Stretford High School is delighted and proud tobe a winning school in the BBC Olympic DreamsProject. As an outstanding school with full ISA weare honoured at the accolade. Since embarkingon our goal to achieve full International SchoolsAward last year, internationalism has been atthe heart of everything we do at Stretford High

School. Our students and staff have bought into itand it is having a tremendous effect in widening

the aspirations of our students.

We link with Spain, France and have a major link with SierraLeone. The opportunity to link with Habib Public School inKarachi, Pakistan in the build up to London 2012 is somethingthat is getting everyone excited. As the games approach, we areproud, excited and delighted to be involved in such a prestigiousinitiative.

Jordi Hiwula and Mr Richardson travelled to London in Januaryto the Olympic Dreams launch event. Returning with them toschool on Monday were visitors rom our new partner school

Habib International School in Pakistan, who sampled Stretordlie or two days. We visit Pakistan with a lucky student at Easter.

BBC Schools reportThe BBC schools report, now in its fth year at

Stretford High was aired on the BBC schools

channel on the 24th March. Fifteen Year 7 students

were selected to take part.

The day started with a news meeting in the dining hall readingtodays papers and monitoring the television news channels. ThenYear 7 students travelled into Manchester city centre, with theirBBC press passes and clip boards and approached members o thepublic. They asked or their views on current topical issues rangingrom Middle East developments to the royal wedding and theDancing On Ice tantrums.

With their BBC press passes and clip boards the Manchestergeneral public gave some us interesting opinions and theyear 7 students did us proud with well structured interviewsand confdent pieces to camera. The ull BBC report can be

accessed on our website at http://stretordhigh.com/bbc-school-report-2011.

www stretfordhigh com

SHS at The Home OfceMiss Swanston and two students from Yr 10 were invited

to the Home Ofce in London on Friday 11th March

2011 by Mothers Against Violence (MAV) Patsy Mckie to

get young peoples ideas from London, Birmingham and

Manchester on how the government can shape a policy to

tackle guns, gangs and knife crime.

This opportunity was antastic or the students rom SHS who

ound it very inspiring, Shanna-Kay Turner and Hakim Proverbs

were a credit to our school and community. Miss Swanston wasoverwhelmed by how mature and well-mannered they were andby how well they presented their ideas and answers to importantfgures such as the Chie Constable o the Metropolitan Police.This experience has allowed our students to look at the Police &Government rom a dierent angleand they would have never thought ina million years that they could

experience this opportunity.

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