EXCELLENCE FOR ALL Summer2015

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Kirkby High School is a member of the Rowan Learning Trust. Company No. 8010464, Reg. Office: Hawkley Hall High School,

Carr Lane, Wigan.

Bracknell Avenue, Kirkby, Merseyside, L32 9PP.

T: 0151 477 8710, F: 0151 477 8715

Email: admin@kirkbyhighschool.net

www.kirkbyhighschool.net

Message from the Headteacher, Mr Leyland

The ‘Kirkby Child’ is an ongoing body

of work which underpins the whole

ethos of KHS. It is about developing

the core values and skills which our

community deems important for

students when they leave school and

enter the big wide world. The values

and skills were highlighted through

staff and student forums with every

KHS member having their input.

Following its introduction in 2014, all

members of KHS have taken

ownership of the Kirkby Child

philosophy and we are now working

towards embedding the Kirkby Child

ideology into all areas of the

curriculum. External bodies and other

education providers have commended

the Kirkby Child work at KHS and

may be adopting a similar body of

work to improve their current ethos.

September will see further

developments and improvements

made to the KC work for all year

groups at KHS. Watch this space…

Welcome to our summer newsletter, I hope you enjoy reading about the fantastic

achievements of our community during the summer term, including a fantastic Ofsted

experience where the school’s turnaround was recognised and significant improve-

ments praised.

The Guardian Newspaper Education Correspondent Sally Weale visited Kirkby High

School and has written an article to be published during August about our approach to

fully preparing Year 11 for their GCSEs and beyond. A copy of the article will be

published in our autumn newsletter.

Wow, what a year we

have had in Music!

Firstly, a big massive

thank you to Liam Frost,

Hannah Hird, Christian

Madden and Richard Jupp

for delivering songwriting

workshops to our Y9 and

Y10 GCSE Music pupils.

The pupils have taken a

lot from the 10 sessions,

and it is clear to see the

pupils have grown in con-

fidence, developed their

instrumental and

compositional skills and

also made new friends.

This is especially im-

portant for the Year 9

pupils before they start

the GCSE Music course in

September.

GLEE Club (aka ‘The

Black-Eyed Glees’ – credit

to Mr Leyland for the inspired naming!) has been a re-

sounding success this year. We now have representatives

from every year in the school, and it is great to see the

older pupils mixing and helping with the younger pupils,

strengthening our great community spirit. The Black

Eyed Glees have/will *perform(ed) at Kirkby’s Got Talent

to show off their amazing talent,

performing songs by Ella

Henderson and Sam Smith!

A massive well done to the cast

of ‘Annie’ for your outstanding

singing, which only came with a

lot of hard work and

determination!

Well done to Lily Madden (Y9),

Jamie Boyd (Y10) and the cast of

Annie for your performance to

over 1,000 people at Kirkby

Festival on 4th July – you were

ace!

The Year 10 GCSE Music group

took a trip to the Royal Liverpool

Philharmonic Hall to watch the

‘White Nights’ program

performed by the RLPO. The

pupils were impeccably behaved

and seemed transfixed

throughout the whole concert!

Finally, just to say a massive thank you and well done to

ALL of the pupils for your work in Music this year! May

you have a restful break over the summer holidays, then

come back for more of the same in September!

Follow us on Twitter - @KHS_Music1

Mr Shaw

News from the Music Department

NEET TV Premiere

Pupils in year 8-10 attended the premier of their film “Same Difference” at the

Showcase Cinema in June. The premier featured talks and award presentations from

local stars of stage and screen.

The students involved wrote, produced and starred in the movie which explores

diversity and promotes acceptance of people who are different from us.

The film was a great success and Kirkby High School along with our friends at Bluebell

Park picked up the award for Outstanding Storyline & Meaning (pictured).

Girls and Gangs

In association with Merseyside Police, year 10 students have created a film to promote

awareness of the dangers of gangs particularly for girls.

With input from drama, music and RE the students created “Stepping Off” – a three

minute piece warning of the difficulties faced when a young person chooses to join a

gang. The film was viewed by our RE students who were surveyed on how effective the

film was at getting the message across.

The films cast (Amber Williams, Rhea Crosbie, Jamie Boyd, Gemma Harrison, Phoebe

Alford & Louise O’Brien) will be visiting Police HQ in Liverpool City Centre to present

their findings and hopefully win funding for the school.

Great work & good luck girls!

The Kirkby Festival

On Saturday 4th July students from year 8-10 were invited to showcase their talents to

the local community at the annual Kirkby Festival.

The weather was beautiful which meant the turnout was great. Students performed to

an audience of over 1000 people.

The cast of Annie revived some of the school production, while Lily Madden & Jamie

Boyd were brilliant in each performing solo to the huge crowd.

Performance groups from other schools and organisations performed throughout the

afternoon and the support shown for every act made for a day filled with community

spirit.

It was great to see some former student in amongst the crowd.

Our Kirkby High performers should be very proud.

Drama Department

Year 10 News

This term has been very busy for year 10.

Students who follow the Uniformed Services

programme have successfully completed a 4 day

residential. Students who follow the Child

Development programme visited Jolley’s Barn to

gain experience in a play centre environment.

The hard work and interest of all students was

outstanding.

Students have sat GCSE mock exams, as well as many

controlled assessments. The effort and

enthusiasm of students in Year 10 has been

exceptional.

Amber Williams in year 10 organised an

Alzheimer’s fundraising event. The Royal Court Youth

Theatre and students from Kirkby High School helped

Amber put on a spectacular event. As well as raising

money, a great time was had by all.

The Cache level 1 Child care

group went on a visit to Acorn

farm. They were investigating

the ways a child may develop

through local amenities.

The group also went on a visit

to Jollies barn to investigate

health and safety issues. They

had a Q &A session with one of

the managers. The group asked

questions about how the play

structure was set up and the

health and safety procedures

the centre follows. The

students were allowed to test

the play area and give feedback

of any issues they might

consider to be an issue.

A big thank you to Jollies barn,

who provided us with toast and

refreshments and allowed the

group to ask all the questions

they needed.

All of year 10 visited Knowsley Community

College on Friday 3rd July. Students had the

opportunity to experience post-16 courses

and focus on what they will do when they

leave school.

Also, a date to keep for your diaries - the

Year 11 Prom 2016 has been booked at

Aintree Racecourse on 30th June 2016.

Child Care

Uniformed Services students ready to go on their camping expedition.

STUDENT LEADERS

Congratulations to:

Joe Lynskey (Head Boy);

Beth Edge (Head Girl);

Nathan Bradshaw (Deputy Head Boy); and

Phoebe Alford (Deputy Head Girl)

on their new appointments.

Sporting Champions

Rounders Our Year 9 girls accepted a late invite to enter a Year 9/10 tournament

in the Merseyside School Games. They had represented Knowsley last year at the games

but played one game and torrential rain stopped the whole tournament. With amazing

skill and tactical play, this team won all 5 games in a round-robin competition to finish as

overall winners and Merseyside Rounder champions. A huge congratulations to all

the team members with Holly Leathley receiving particular praise from most opposing

team managers for her outstanding performances as our team bowler. Team Members: Jennifer Beech, Amie Kelly, Chloe Henderson, Phoebe Bridgeman, Lydia Condron,

Charlotte Edge, Holly Leathley, Connie Swan, Louise Lanigan,

Georgia Roughley.

Year 7 girls 5-a-side This Year 7 girls football team almost made the national finals

with their amazing efforts against three Knowsley schools. A fantastic tournament run by

Mr Downing each year which leads into the English Schools FA 5-a-side competition for

England. Hopefully we will have better luck next year.

Well done to Ebony Wilson, Charlotte Grey, Poppy Cowell, Erin McLoughlin,

Hallie Johnson and Faye Guy.