NewsletterSpring 2014

Prudhoe Community High School

Congratulations to the Under 16 Football Team

who areCounty Cup Winners!

Out Of The Woods

Forget going into the woods. 'Out of the Woods' was much more fun. Our latest home grown musical saw the baddies from your favourite fairy tales in therapy

having been banged up for crimes some of them claim they couldn’t avoid committing, because their behaviour is dictated by the way they are written. For five nights, 29 April - 3 May, audiences of staff, family and friends came to discover the truth behind the cheese. With a cast and crew of 30, drawn from Years 9 -13, this upbeat, hilarious musical proved once again what talent and commitment we have in our school.

The Arts are alive and well in Prudhoe. We had great fun working with this lot. No prima-donnas, just a random group that quickly became a show family and really grasped the idea of being part of an ensemble show. Everyone had their moment in the spotlight and performances were sharp with excellent comic timing – not something easy to achieve. We were particularly

proud of the quality of the singing which was excellent. Only in one of our shows would you find crazier being rhymed with euthanasia, see Hansel and Gretel’s step mum appearing on Jeremy Kyle or find out some things about Cinderella that never made it into the sanitised Disney version of the story.

Join us for a charitable reprise sometime in June or at the Tory Club on May 29th as part of Prudhoe Arts Week. In fact, join us next March for ‘Grease’. It is, after all, the word.

Introducton from Mrs Reeman

Well it certainly has been a very busy half term. Three football teams in County Cup finals, our school show “Out of the Woods’ , Art Exhibitions, staff training sessions, Year 11 Awards Evening, raising money for Project Africa and our link school in Tibet . All this alongside final

preparations for our students for GCSE and A level examinations.

We hope you enjoy reading our newsletter which will give you a snap shot of just how much has been going on here at Prudhoe Community High School.

Last week we also had a Section 8 monitoring visit by a team of Inspectors, which went very well. Our report will be published soon on the school’s website.

Finally we are looking forward to meeting our new Year 9’s during the Transfer Day on Tuesday 8 July 2014 and to meet our new parents on 11 June 2014.

Our next edition of our newsletter will be out before the end of term.

GCSE Art Exhibition

Friends and family enjoyed a fantastic Art Exhibition showing the work of the GCSE students. Art teachers Mrs Wallace and Mr Wade are very proud of all our Art students. The standard of work is high and the

commitment to the subject was demonstrated with the wide variety of 2D and 3D work in the exhibition. Students completed units of work on Natural Forms, Architecture, mock exam and the final examination project.

Well done to all our Art students for their hard work and dedication. We wish you every success in the future.

Sixth Form ‘School Uniform’ Day

On Friday 2 May the Sixth Form, along with some staff, took part in a ‘School Uniform’ Day to raise funds for Project Gateway in

South Africa. The day was co-ordinated by 3 of the students who are visiting the project in July. The £93.43 raised will go towards supporting the work of Gateway in the township communities around Pietermaritzburg. This includes supporting local crèche and school facilities. We hope, this summer, to continue the work of the 2013 Prudhoe team at Kwazameseni Crèche in France Township.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank students, staff and parents for their continued support of the South Africa project since it’s launch in 2008. Please follow the work of our team via Project Gateway on Twitter (@projectgateway1) or on Facebook in July!

Congratulations

Congratulations and thank you to all students involved in this year’s

fundraising for the Tibetan school in Mussoorie. We are sending off a wonderful £600 which they will use to buy basic essentials.

Adoption

The way in which schools is funded is constantly changing. One of the latest criteria which impacts on school funding is if a child has been adopted. Obviously this is a very personal and

confidential matter, but if you feel able to volunteer any information regarding students that have been adopted this may improve school funding and in turn future student support. If you wish to discuss this matter further please contact Mr Bryan Wade and be assured that any information volunteered will be treated in the strictest confidence

Fashion Show 2014

The Textiles Department’s annual fashion show was held on the 19 March in the Fuse Media Centre. As usual it was a huge success with GCSE and A level students showing their exam pieces to an audience of parents, friends and staff. Our year 13 students showed a mini collection of their AS and A2 work,

most people agreed that their work was exceptional, with a good range of interesting well-made evening and cocktail dresses from Rachel Armstrong, Jess Barker-Gilholme, Amber Hall, Becky Holmes, Pam Rowe, Jenna Rushmere-York and an angel costume with wings! Made by Lucy Rawlings.

Year 12 students also showed a range of beautiful dresses and a steam punk inspired coat. Year 11 designs were inspired by the swinging 60’s, Punk and Japanese Street Style, with garments as diverse as re-cycled

denim dresses and jackets, dip dyed and hand painted jackets and tartan studded corset dresses. Robyn Wolfe decided to make soft furnishings and displayed her beautiful applique and patchwork cushion and bunting in an exhibition on the night.

Year 10 students worked hard to have their re-cycled denim, vintage inspired waistcoats finished in time to show on the night and the standard this year was very high. By taking part in the fashion show all students helped to raise £150 for the charity they had selected which was the NECCR ‘North of England Children’s Cancer Research’.

BTEC Production Arts students designed and made the set and helped stage the show on the night ensuring that everything ran smoothly. Jenna Rushmere-York and Lucy Rawlings deserve a special mention for all the hard work they put into the event. Also BIG thanks must go to Mr Wallman for taking the photographs, Mrs Domingue for front of house, Mr Linnell for his help and

Mr Tim Smith for an endless supply of advice, support and practical help both before and on the night.

This year’s fashion show was a very special one for Mrs Duffy as it was her last before she retires in the summer. The evening was a huge success and a fitting end to 10 years of teaching textiles at Prudhoe Community High. Mrs Duffy said she was looking forward to being in the audience next year to enjoy the show as part of the audience!

Maths Challenge

European Senior Kangaroo Challenge

Joey Wynne and Conor Maguire have qualified for the Senior Kangaroo which allows students in the UK to test themselves on questions set for the best school-aged mathematicians from across Europe and beyond. This is a very high level mathematics competition requiring students to solve twenty difficult

questions in an hour. Both students did well and just missed out on an award.

Intermediate Mathematical Challenge

The UK Intermediate Mathematical Challenge was held in February of this year with 147 students from Years 9, 10 and 11 participating. A haul of 61 awards, one Gold Certificate, nineteen Silver Certificates and forty one Bronze Certificates was a brilliant achievement, ranking as one of the best performances in the past fifteen years. In particular Thomas Kennedy in Year 10 gained the Gold Certificate, as well as the “Best in School” award and Charlotte Storey in Year 9 gained a Silver Certificate with a score which was one mark away from Gold and consequently she qualified for entry into the European Grey Kangaroo. For her participation in this competition which tests UK students of Year 9 age against the rest of Europe and beyond, she was awarded a UKMT keyfob with a mathematical problem embedded in it featuring the number 2014. Again, the very large number of students taking part are to be congratulated for their efforts.

Mr Robertson

Sadly Prudhoe High School’s longest serving teacher Mr Peter Robertson leaves

us to retire on May 31st 2014. Peter has taught for just short of 42 years of which 36 were at Prudhoe. He joined the school from Lutterworth Grammar school in Leicestershire in 1977 as Head of Mathematics, a job in which he served for for 22 years until 2004 before reducing to a part-time role. During his time here he has been an active member of the Mathematics Association and a strong champion of the school’s involvement in the National Senior And Intermediate Maths challenges. He is famed for his almost encyclopaedic memory about the vast range of students, including parents and grandparents whom he has taught over the years.

Many still living in the community will know him in his other guise: he is a retired former commanding officer of 1248 Prudhoe squadron ATC and a former senior staff officer with the Durham and Northumberland wing of the Air Training Corps. In that capacity he inspired a number of young students to join the forces themselves.Peter recently became a grandfather for the first time and is looking forward to spending more time with his family; however, in truth, you are more likely to find him working to improve an already enviably low handicap on the golf courses of Consett and County Durham! We wish him a happy retirement.

There is a vacancy for a School Crossing Patrol on South Road details are:

Monday – Friday 8.15am – 9.05am 14.55pm – 16.00pm 9hrs 35mins per week.

Annual salary £2695.37.For more information please contact Jackie Robson,

Partnership Supervisor, via e-mail at jackie.robson@northumberland.gov.uk

Mrs Reid held a coffee morning for staff and Sixth Form students. There was a delightful range of cakes

and biscults which were sold in aid of the schools, in Tibet. An amazing £246 was raised well done and thank you!

School uniform

In order to ensure high standards in uniform are maintained, this year we shall be continuing with our current

uniform until the end of the summer term. In the event of warm weather students will be able to remove school jumpers, and wear just white school shirts and ties. Students are reminded to always bring jumpers to school and that ties should be worn smartly to show pride in both our

school and in their appearance.

Barcelona 2014, study trip meets holiday

PCHS hits Spain, Tossa de Mar in the fiercely proud region of Cataluña to be exact. Tossa is bustling seaside town with a pretty bay and impressive medieval quarter. Obviously, the balmy Spanish weather was a pleasant change from the industrial freezer that is England, and the excursions were varied and interesting

from FCBarcelona’s Nou Camp, to the shopping district of Las Ramblas, Tibidabo’s stunning views to the crystal clear seas in the glass bottomed boat.

We even took in some highbrow culture in the form of Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia; one of Barcelona’s most influential landmarks, and the illusory Dalí Museum.

It was a packed schedule with something to suit every taste and we returned exhausted having had a really amazing experience. ¡Muchas Gracias!

Hebe Fryer & Ellie-Mae Longden

Year 9

Teachers love learning too!

All the teaching staff took part in a “lesson tasting” training event.

This was part of our work to futher improve the quality of teaching and learning at Prudhoe Community High School.

Each member of our staff brought along a lesson resource and using a “speed date” type system everyone listened to each others’ideas.

There was a real buzz during the session and all staff agreed it was really useful to share best practice.

Literature Festival

The Year 9 Literature Festival will take place in school between 23 and 27 June to promote and encourage

reading for enjoyment. During the week there will be a programme of events taking place across the curriculum, including sessions on poetry, drama, literature and film. Local author Barry Stone will be in school running workshops on creative writing and sharing his own experiences of writing and publishing.

Students and staff will get the opportunity to share their favourite books at our Literary Lunch, there will be a Poetry Slam for any budding young poets and a book quiz.

We will also be asking students to nominate their favourite book to find out Year 9’s Favourite Book of the Year. Please talk to your son/daughter about books and reading at home and encourage them to use our school library as we have some great books that they can take out to read over the summer holidays.

Sports News

Under 15 Girls Cricketers who reached the North of England in the Ladies

Taverners Tournament

Under 15 Girls Rugby Regional Finalists

Congratulatons to the following students who won the Athletics Area

Championships:

Alex Roney - HurdlesTom Thirlwell - ShotputCallum Otterside 400m/800mChloe Williams - Long JumpEllie Franks - Triple JumpRobyn Bennett -800m

All the winners will now go on to represent Tynedale in the County Championships

Well done to the Under 14 Basketball team who beat Queen Elizabeth High

School 38-26. They will now go on to represent Tynedale in the County Championships.

Football

PCHS football is on a crest of a wave with three teams reaching cup finals. The U16’s team beat Ponteland in a classic game. Trailing 2-1 at half time the team

dominated the second half leading 3-2 with only a couple of minutes to play. However, Ponteland got a lucky break and scored, taking the game in to extra time and eventually penalties. Five great penalty strikes resulted in PCHS’ U16 being crowned County Champions for only the second time in the history of the cup’s sixty years. An outstanding achievement.

The Tyneside school’s cup finals resulted in two defeats. The U14’s lead with seconds to go unfortunately conceding with the last kick of the game to take it to extra time. Eventually losing 4-2 to St Thomas Moore, the U19’s also lost 2-0 to St Cuthberts. Never before have three teams reached the finals. Well done boys!

Under 14 Basketball Area Champions