December 5

Communication Counts

Schoolcomms, Headline, in-form, twitter – we bandy around these words on a regular basis but

appreciate as parents you don’t always know where to find information about the school and your

students. We have put together a mini guide to highlight just what information is available, where and

how often you can find it and how you can contribute to it. Hopefully this will clear some of the muddied

waters with regard to your student and school life, and help to reduce the pressures about last minute

football fixtures, rows about balances on Parentpay and confusion over just what the week ahead holds

for your son or daughter!

Headline 05 December 2013

Email: [email protected] @ilkleygrammar

Schoolcomms: The email/text system used to communicate with parents. Currently emails/texts go to

parents who are highlighted as priority 1 on the annual data collection sheets you complete. We can use Schoolcomms to contact you through either mobile (text) or email. You can also download the School Gateway app which means texts will go direct to your phone without a cost for the school. Corrections or amendments to contact details can be made to [email protected].

Headline: our weekly parent/community newsletter issued on a Friday afternoon –

you are reading it! You can read it either through the ISSUU link emailed to you via Schoolcomms or as a PDF on our website. Contributions can be made via [email protected]. Headline usually contains the sports fixtures list for the weekend (this can also be accessed via the school website)

in-form: the student version of Headline issued for Friday morning (Post16 have their

own in-form). It’s a weekly update of news and events planned for the week ahead for students. It usually contains menus, lunchtime rotas and success celebrations. Students are emailed in-form directly (with the exception of the current Years 11-13 who are not part of the iPad scheme) and time is put aside during a Friday morning tutorial to read this. Students can also access in-form via Realsmart.

Realsmart: Realsmart is a mini website for students to use to access work,

to contribute to work and to find information. The Realsmart learning environment allows us to create and share learning activities for all our learners. It provides the tools for students to learn independently, collaboratively, to identify and evidence their progress and to give and receive feedback

Website: our school website can be found at www.ilkleygrammarschool.com. There is often a lot of

information held here: Headline PDFs, extracurricular activities, the sports fixture list for the following week amongst other news.

Key Stage Hubs: Years 7, 8 and 9 are Key Stage 3; Years 10 and 11 are Key Stage 4 and Post 16 (sixth

form) are Key Stage 5. Each Key Stage Hub has an office for both student support and parental contact. You can get in touch via email or telephone, Dial 01943 608424 and select 2 from the main menu:

Key Stage 3 - Option 3 on the phone or email [email protected] Key Stage 4 - Option 4 on the phone or email [email protected] Key Stage 5 - Option 5 on the phone or email [email protected]

Parentpay: the system that facilitates the money side of things! You can use this to pay

dinner money, trips and for equipment www.parentpay.com. You can view your balance,

as well as checking what your son/daughter has been eating. Please activate your

account and ensure that your details are up to date even if you don’t pay for meals.

Twitter: we regularly update our twitter feed with news from the school – this can cover sports results,

success stories and connections with the community. It’s still new for us but has been a big success since September @ilkleygrammar.

mailto:[email protected]

[email protected]

http://www.ilkleygrammarschool.com/




http://www.parentpay.com/

https://twitter.com/Ilkleygrammar



Review Day This year we made a digital transition with Review Day. Each student prepared a presentation to use as the discussion point with their tutors. It was wonderful to see that our students had put real effort into these. They all now have SMART targets for the remainder of the year, they all know what they need to do to be their Personal Best and I hope I can rely on your continued support with their behaviour and commitment to learning to reach their individual goals.

Stray FM in School We welcomed Stray FM into school on Wednesday. The James Stanley show recorded their School Show which will be broadcasted on Friday 6th December – listen out for our students telling you all about Children in Need, the School Council and one of them will be reading the weather!

Creative Arts Evening We enjoyed a wonderful Creative Arts Evening on Wednesday night. Our pop songstress Rhiannon Forbes-Wake treated the crowd to her own composition, alongside the younger Drama Club’s modern take on St George and the Dragon. Thank you to all of you who supported our evening – I hope you enjoyed seeing the hard work, creativity, inspiration and talent of so many of our students (and our staff!)



Governor Update We are delighted to welcome three new governors onto our Academy Board this month, Peter Smeaton, Georges Droogmans and Henri Murison.

Peter Smeaton Peter has been in Finance for the past 35 years and currently runs his own business which is based in Burley in Wharfedale. He has worked extensively in Europe, Africa and Asia but has finally settled down in Yorkshire with his wife Emma (an Ilkley girl) and their three children Sophie (10) Isabel (7) and Ned (5). When not working or raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation he can usually be found supporting the girls at Ben Rhydding Hockey Club or walking the dogs on Ilkley Moor (weather permitting).

Georges Droogmans Georges has worked for the Homes and Communities Agency based in the Leeds office and was responsible for national management development. He moved to Menston four years ago after spending 16 years in Cambridgeshire where he was Head of Geography at Anglia Ruskin University. Georges background is in sustainable development, regeneration and environmental change. While living down south he undertook a four year parent governor post at a Primary School assisting the Resources and Curriculum Committees. Originally Georges comes from Hasselt, Belgium but has lived in the UK since 1987 when he undertook a course of study at Strathclyde University where he met Linda who is a Primary School teacher in Bradford.

Henri Murison Henri has a wide range of experience as a former charity worker for the Royal National Institute of the Blind and Council Cabinet Member for Quality of Life at Newcastle City Council. He moved back to Yorkshire to take up a role as Research Director to West Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner. Currently Public Affairs Manager for the Yorkshire Building Society he also still takes a strong interest in employments rights issues as a former lay trade union representative. Formerly a trustee of the British Youth Council, he was also previously a Primary School governor in an inner city Newcastle Primary School. In 2005 Henri gained a masters degree from Cambridge University in Social and Political Sciences.



Thank you We have received a thank you from the Royal British Legion. This year we donated nearly £200 raised from poppy sales in the Key Stage Hubs.

Coming Up

Monday 9th December: Year 12 Parents’ Meeting

Tuesday 10th December: Clothes Show Live Event, Birmingham, with Adam Leach (Year 11) in the final

Wednesday 12th December: Aid for Philippines Concert 7.30pm

Friday 13th December: Year 11 Craven College taster morning

Wednesday 18th December: Year 13 Presentation Evening 6.30 for 7pm

Thursday 19th December: IGS Swing Band concert at Margaret’s Church 7pm

Friday 20th December: School closes 1.15pm

Attendance

Year 7 Two tutor groups share the top spot this week 7DSF and 7HED/KE both achieved 98.8%

Year 8 8HM secured the winning position this week with a top attendance of 99.4%. Year 9 Joint winners this week were 9BJS and 9JI/DL both with 99.4% attendance. Year 10 10ACF achieved the highest attendance rate this week with 96.3% Year 11 Top attendance this week in Year 11 for 11MH with 100%



Sharing Success Well done to our intermediate girls’ cross country team who competed in the ESAA National Finals on Saturday in Southend. The flat course of Southend provided a different challenge to our girls who are more used to the hilly terrain of Ilkley Moor, but without exception, all the girls 'ran their socks off' and really did us proud! A creditable 11th position overall out of 24 schools…that's 11th in the country.

Well done Sarah Pickering (10ACD), Lucy Haines (10VEB), Jemima Elgood (10VEB), Lucy Jacques (10AJH), Zoe Judkowski (10VEB) and Abbie White (10BB).



Congratulations to our U13 hockey team who travelled to Silcoates on Tuesday for the National Mini Hockey Tournament.

Being the only state school entered they beat Ackworth 3-0, drew with Rishworth 0-0, beat Gateways 5-0 and finished the group fixtures with a thrilling last game against The Grammar School at Leeds, drawing 0-0. Having not conceded a goal in their group games they went through to the play offs to face the winners of Group 2, Wakefield Girls’ High School. They narrowly lost 2-1 to miss out on a place in the final! In the 3rd/4th place play off they beat Silcoates 3-0 to finish 3rd overall in the whole tournament behind Wakefield Girls’ High School and The Grammar School at Leeds. Well done girls, a fantastic achievement! Well done to our IGS 1st XV rugby team who played away to Queen Elizabeth 6th Form College Darlington on Wednesday in the NatWest Vase. It was a very close and competitive game. IGS won in the dying seconds of the game, a well deserved win through commitment and hard work with IGS dominating throughout. The final score was QE 6th Form 12 - 13 IGS. This is the furthest any IGS team has progressed in this competition, a great achievement.

Congratulations to Alex Johnson (9SMD) who has won the Endeavour Trophy from the likely & District Ridding Association. Alex was selected by the club for effort and achievement throughout the year. Only one member per year receives this award.



…IGS SPORT…IGS SPORT…IGS SPORT…IGS SPORT…IGS SPORT…IGS SPORT…IGS SPORT…

A AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS AND FIXTURES

MONDAY 9 Dec

U13A + U15A Netball v Holy Family (H) (SMB) Y11 BASKETBALL Club (SP) 12.05-12.55pm SpHall (*week A only) Street Dance -All ages (JW) Gym 3.15-4.15pm Y7 FOOTBALL (PLB) School Fields 3.15-4.30pm Y10/Sen NETBALL Club (SMB) SpHall/Cts 3-4.30pm

TUESDAY 10 Dec

U18 Hockey v BGS (A) (JH) Y7 Hockey v GSAL (H) (AJK) Y8 + Y9 Boys’ Rugby v PHGS (A) (VP/MWC/SB/GR) Depart @ 1.30pm

Y7/8 NETBALL Club (SHR) SpHall/Cts 3.15-4.30pm Sports’ Leaders (PLB) 3-5pm Y9/Sen HOCKEY Club CANCELLED

WEDNESDAY 11 Dec

U15 Netball Tournament @ BGS (SMB) Depart @ 2pm

U14C Netball v Belle Vue + Dixons (A) (SHR) U16 Basketball v Queensbury (A) (SP) Girls’ Synchro (Mrs Gooch) Pool 3-4.30pm Y7/8 Boys’ + Girls’ SpHall ATHLETICS (PLB) SpHall 3.15-4.30pm

THURSDAY 12 Dec

Y9 Basketball CV2 @ Beckfoot (SP) Y7/8/9 Girls’ FOOTBALL Club SpHall 12.10-12.55pm (*week A only)

Y9 NETBALL Club (SHR) SpHall/Cts 3.15-4.30pm Y7/8 HOCKEY Club (AJK) BR Astro 3.15-4.30pm Y9/10/11 BADMINTON Club (AJH/KPC) SpHall 3-4.30pm Sports’ Leaders (PLB) 3-5pm

FRIDAY 13 Dec



Another fantastic week for our news stories –

our Mo Bros made it to the front page!



In February 2014 the Year 12 Geographers will be going to North Yorkshire on our fieldwork trip and in April, a group of 47 Post-16 Geographers are also going to Iceland. The weather conditions on our visit to Iceland

are likely to be similar to the conditions seen during a typical British winter, with temperatures around 0-10ºC and wind speeds reducing the temperature further. Likely requirements for both trips will be waterproof trousers and jackets, sturdy walking boots/trainers, hats, gloves and warm layers underneath. Students often require extra clothing and/or equipment to protect against the varied weather conditions. Then school is acutely aware of the cost implications this may bring. As such, our local Mountain Warehouse store (Brook Street, Ilkley) is offering a discount evening on Thursday 5th December from 6-7pm. The evening will be exclusively open to Ilkley Grammar School students, parents and staff, providing an extra 10% discount off everything in store, on top of all current price reductions. Mountain Warehouse staff will also be on hand to provide expert advice and answer any questions you may have. The shop is offering a special “Ski Package” which would be suitable for those travelling to any cold climate, notably the Post-16 Iceland trip soon approaching. The package costs £79.99 (a reduction of more than 50%) includes: A snow-proof winter jacket, snow-proof insulated trousers, a beanie, a pair of ski gloves and a pack containing two pairs of warm tube socks. This evening has been offered through a Year 12 student who works in the shop. I aim to have a parental information evening in the New Year for the Iceland trip but I also plan to be in the shop on the evening to offer any thoughts or advice on equipment for both trips. I feel that this is a good opportunity for any purchases to be made at a discounted rate in preparation for the trips and just in time for Christmas! It is worth noting that on our trip in February, students do have the opportunity to borrow equipment from the Centre reducing the cost if they are not on the Iceland trip.

Philippines Aid Concert – Tickets Now Available Tickets are now available from our Reception for the concert organised by Keiron Anderson to raise money for the Philippines Aid Fund, priced at £5. The concert will see the Phoenix Concert Band play music from the movies. The band was formed in 2001, and under Music Director Keiron Anderson (Head of Creative Arts) has grown in strength to around 50 regular attendees, enabling it to give rousing performances for its audiences, with a well-balanced sound in all sections of the band. More information on the band can be found on their website http://www.phoenixband.co.uk

Please join us to support all those people who are still facing such distressing circumstances.

http://www.phoenixband.co.uk/home/4573108513



Literacy Fortnight: Colons for Christmas What better way to add a bit of festive cheer than with a sprinkling of colons and semi-colons! Simply read the rules and complete the tasks! Answers next week.

It was Christmas Eve_ Santa was busy packing his sleigh. Normally he would take the usual gifts_ toys, sweets, clothes, electronic equipment and board games. But this year he decided that children should be given something different_ punctuation.

He would often moan to his wife, Mrs Clause, about the children’s declining standards in punctuation in their Christmas letters_ she would just laugh. So this year, improving children’s punctuation became his main priority_ his mission. He packed his sleigh with everything he could think of_ commas with all their uses_ apostrophes for omission and possession_ capital letters for the starts of sentences_ colons to introduce lists, related explanations and quotations_ and semi-colons for separating long phrases in a list and joining two related sentences together. He remembered Julius Caesar’s famous saying_ ‘I came, I saw, I conquered.’ And thought he’d do the same thing with punctuation.

A few minutes later, Santa and his team were high up in the snowy sky. But suddenly disaster struck. The large sack of punctuation was too heavy for the reindeer to pull_ they began to fall to earth. He quickly pulled out his mobile and phoned the only person he knew who could help_ Mrs Clause.

A few seconds later she pulled up beside him in the emergency sleigh_ she swapped the punctuation presents for real presents. Santa set off again. He thought punctuation could wait until next Christmas. Then he texted his wife_ Thanx c u l8r. Lol. But didn’t know whether to end it with :-) or ;-).

Challenge and Celebration Week Friday 20th December is an important deadline day for the second payment for Challenge and Celebration Week. If your son/daughter is participating in any of the activities and visits you will have already received a letter outlining the schedule of payment deadlines. This can also be found on the school website. It is important that these deadlines are met as the school has payment deadlines of its own to make. I would be most grateful if you could make sure that all monies are uploaded to ParentPay for this date. If there are any issues with ParentPay please e mail the school Business and Finance director, Mrs Alison Kaye. [email protected] Thank you for your cooperation and I hope your son/daughter is looking forward to what should be a very exciting week.

PTA Join up and join in! We welcome all new members to our PTA - the remainder of the meetings this school year are due to be held on: Tuesday 21st January, Wednesday 12th March, Tuesday 29th April and Wednesday 11th June. Meetings start at 7pm and are held in the Lower Library in school. If you can’t make our meetings but would like to be included then email [email protected]. Watch out, too, for our 2014 Car Boot Sales: provisional dates are Sundays 6th April; 18th May; 22nd June and 20th July. The PTA also have their own Twitter feed now, follow them on @IGSPTA or like them on their Facebook page IlkleyGrammarSchoolPta.

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https://twitter.com/IGSPTA



GCSE Overview It is important for students, staff and parents to have the overview of what GCSE commitments Year 11 have over the next few weeks. We have provided them all with this information in the form of a bookmark for their planners.

Please see the calendar below.

Sunbridge Mission Church Charles Mahonde (12KS) recently travelled was part of a group of 14 members representing Sunbridge Mission Church on a missionary trip to Wakiso Children's Orphanage and school in Uganda. Their sole objective being to help Pastor Joshua make the orphanage a better place for the children who learn and live there. The village began as a simple, single building, utilised as the school, in the middle of Wakiso but upon their arrival in 2012 living quarters for both boys and girls had been built as well as more teaching areas. This year further advancements had been made, each year the village seeming to excel and prosper. This experience had a huge impact on Charles, he saw the importance of family (some in the orphanage had family members who were deceased or had abandoned them). ‘It has been important for me to go to Uganda for the past 2 years and live their life so as to appreciate what l have. Seeing deprived children in these situations has motivated me to step up and take action. It gives me great pride to see that the school, though small, has the highest performance and results rate in the whole of the Capital city Kampala and Wakiso district because the children know education is the best way out of poverty and value it greatly. Next year l plan to fundraise again to return and complete the work we have begun.’



Career of the Week: Horticulturalist The Work: As a horticulturalist worker you will be involved in growing plants for one of the following purposes:

production horticulture – producing and selling plants for either food or decoration

garden centres – producing plants for sale to the public

parks and gardens – looking after areas such as private or public historic or botanic parks, gardens and green spaces.

Entry Qualifications: No specific entry qualifications but you will need to be able to work alone or in a team. If you worked in a garden centre you would also need customer service skills. There are college courses in horticulture where you can learn some of the skills you will need. You may be able to get into this job through an Apprenticeship.

Training and Development: Once you start work you will receive on-the-job training from experienced workers and supervisors. You may also be able to work towards qualifications such as Level 2/3 Certificate/Diploma in work based horticulture.

Pay: Horticultural workers can earn from £12,000 to around £19,000 per year. (These figures are intended as a guideline only).

Further Information: www.rhs.org.uk www.growcareers.info www.nationalcaeersservice.direct.gov.uk

Post 16 News GCHQ Recruitment: are you ready to enter a world of possibilities…somewhere you can explore a variety of new experiences, new ways of working, and new ways to grow your expertise? There is a joint technical programme with the Security Service (MI5) and Secret Intelligence Service (MI6).This is an apprenticeship like no other. You'll be learning about, and working with, some of Europe's best and most cutting-edge technology. And because our work is constantly evolving, it's always challenging - giving you plenty of development opportunities to explore. Not only that, but you'll be earning a salary - and gaining a unique insight into the world that you won't find on any university course. You'll help the UK's intelligence agencies to build, develop and further advance our technical capability and by doing so, play a vital role in our mission to tackle terrorism, organised crime and cyber threats. To apply, you'll need three A levels (or equivalent qualification) at Grade A-C, two of which must be in a STEM related subject. They are currently open for applications until the 9th December and you can find out more at www.careersinbritishintelligence.co.uk

Workshop Conferences: popular courses for future professionals in the following subjects: Forensics, Law, Exploring Journalism, Exploring Psychology, Exploring Physics, Medisix, Nursing, Medsim and Vetsim. Dates are available from April 2014. More information from [email protected] or www.workshop-uk.net

Extended Project Qualification: the final EPQ sessions for the year will be on Wednesday, Period 1 and the following Monday, Period 2. All students must attend.

Year 12 Work Experience: if students are organising a work experience placement, please let Mrs Cowley in the Post 16 Office know the dates and contact details. If students have put down to do work experience during Challenge and Celebration Week, it is particularly important to organise this as soon as possible, as the competition is fierce at this time.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/

http://www.growcareers.info/

http://www.nationalcaeersservice.direct.gov.uk/

http://www.careersinbritishintelligence.co.uk/


http://www.workshop-uk.net/



Tune in on

Friday 6th

December,

2-3pm to

hear our

students.



Calendar

December January Monday 9 Year 12 Parents’ Meeting Monday 6 School re-opens Tuesday 10 Clothes Show Live Event,

Birmingham Wednesday 8 Technology Challenge Evening

Thursday 12 Aid for Philippines Concert 7.30pm Monday 13 Year 11 mock exams start Friday 13 Year 11 Craven College taster

morning Tuesday 21 PTA Meeting 7pm

Wednesday 18 Year 13 Presentation Evening 6.30 for 7pm

Thursday 23 Year 11 mock exams end

Thursday 19 IGS Swing Band concert at St Margaret’s Church 7pm

Friday 24 Year 11-12 Taster Day

Friday 20 School closes 1.15pm

Next Week’s Menu

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 01943 608424

Website: www.ilkleygrammarschool.com

@ilkleygrammar

Get in touch and stay in touch! We would be interested in any feedback on these bulletins. Also, if you would like further information on anything within them or, wish to request other information items, please get in touch! It is really important we can stay in touch with you; if you need to change your contact details please email [email protected] or contact the school office.

Christmas Lunch

Menu

Roast turkey, sage &

onion stuffing, pigs in

blankets

Honey glazed parsnips,

crisp roast potatoes &

cranberry gravy

Leek, goat’s cheese & sun

blushed tomato filo parcel

with basil dressing

Traditional Christmas

pudding with vanilla

custard


http://www.ilkleygrammarschool.com/

https://twitter.com/Ilkleygrammar


December 5

Documents

Transcript of December 5