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NewsletterNewsletterNewsletterNewsletter December 2011

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‘Aiming for Excellence’Aiming for Excellence’Aiming for Excellence’Aiming for Excellence’

Awards Evening 2011

Wednesday 16th November saw the annual Awards Evening for Springfield’s previous GCSE and KS3 pupils. In addition, special awards were made to acknowledge the out-standing work and dedication of former and current members of staff Mrs Willis and Mrs Forhead, as well as the outstanding contribution to the school made by Mr Pilch (from Queensbury Shelters). Following the KS3 awards, Springfield was delighted to welcome a very special guest speaker to the stage: founder and CEO of the company Pall-ex; and the newest ‘dragon’ on the TV show ‘Dragon’s Den’, Hilary Devey. She gave an inspirational speech in which she commented on the hard work and devotion of the Headteacher, students and staff at Springfield. In an interview for ‘Portsmouth News’ Ms Devey also said: “It’s absolutely amazing what these pupils have achieved.” Afterwards the former pupils of the school, who received fantastic results in August, were recognised for their achievements in individual subjects as well as excellent progress and results in their GCSEs overall. Members of the community and business sponsors attended to present the awards. The evening finished with an address from the previous senior prefects summarising their time at Springfield School, declaring that: “It’s not just a school, it’s an experience.” Now it’s up to the current Year 9s and Year 11s to reach the exceptional standards set by last year’s cohort.

Mason Mitchell (11R) and Ellie Plane (11F)

Photo: Last year’s Head Boy (Colin Webb) and Head Girl (Charlotte Payne) receive their awards from guest speaker Hilary Devey at

Springfield’s annual Awards Evening—see article left

It was with slight trepidation that the cast, comprising Year 9, 10 and 11 pupils, approached Euripides’ epic ‘The Trojan Women’. It is fair to say that the first few rehearsals contained much scratching of heads, raising of eyebrows and more than the occasional mispronunciation. However, putting aside the initial feelings of wariness, the cast rose to the occasion with real aplomb as, for one week, the Springfield drama studio was transformed into a busy Trojan beach, sitting on the doorstep of a ransacked Troy. ‘The Trojan Women’ is not a happy play. The looks on some of the faces as the audience left the auditorium stands as a testament to this; and also as a testament to what a very good production they had just seen. Much of the praise goes to the cast: Mia Finnigan as Hecuba; Dave Mills as Talthybius; Natasha Coote as Cassandra; Megan Rae Mullins as Andromache; Jessica Manns as Helen of Troy; Jason Barnes as Menelaus; James Burnham and Harry Palmer as the Greek soldiers and Nadia Warr and Megan Griffiths as the Trojan women. Each member of the cast delivered a stirring performance, perfectly depicting the raw emotion of Euripides’ play to enable the audience to relate to the plight of poor Hecuba as she sees her land destroyed and many of her offspring slain. Much thanks and praise must also go to the members of the BTEC crew, whose indefatigable work ensured everything went smoothly including the set design, lighting and sound. Big thanks must also go to Mr Rowland, Mrs McAlister, Mr Wilson and the caretaking team, as well as Mr Cunningham and Mr Tremlett, who helped us put up the telegraph pole in the studio! No-one is quite sure where Mr Cunningham managed to procure the pole; perhaps there’s a street in Drayton somewhere without a landline!

Luke Atiyah – Director

School Production—’Trojan

Pictured left to right: Mia Finnigan (10G) with Megan Mullins (10R); Harry Palmer (9F); Dave Mills (9L); Megan Griffiths (9G), Megan Mullins (10R) and Jessica Manns (11P)

Springfield’s “Young Apprentice”

Design and Technology subjects have been running enterprise projects

throughout the department this term. Pupils rose to the challenge in

Food, Graphics and Textiles to create a variety of quality products. We

put them to the test by taking part in the Fratton Park Christmas Fayre

where pupils were responsible for the running of their stall and inter-

acting with their customers. They raised a total of £200 and all in-

volved had a really fun day. We would like to thank Fratton Park for

the opportunity they gave us, as well as all the pupils from each of the

five year groups who have helped in their own time to make their busi-

ness a real success. Look out for future craft sales going on in and

around the school to support these young entrepreneurs!

Miss Graham—Design Technology Pupil comments:

“During Textiles Club we made a variety of products including ginger-

bread men, stockings, Christmas tree decorations and fabric cones

which we filled with a variety of sweets. Bake Club made Christmas

cupcakes and Christmas cake and the Year 8 pupils who earned ‘Chef of

the week’ throughout their lessons took the lead in making some

peppermint creams and coconut ice. The Graphics Department also

developed a variety of decorations using the laser cutter. We have

been working since October to make all of the things we were going to

sell and, since the Fayre, we have had to manufacture even more to be

able to put on our own Christmas Fayre in school!”

“On 19th November students from all year groups attended a Christmas

Fayre at the Victory Bar in Fratton Park. During the day we met a for-

mer Portsmouth footballer, Linvoy Primus; he was really impressed by

our creations and our dedication to Design Technology. We went to the

Fayre because we are raising money for our after school clubs, as there

is such a large number of people who would like to take part in them. By

taking part in this fayre, we can also continue to make our really good

products and experience what it is like to be a ‘young apprentice’!

As the day at Fratton Park went on we all decided to reduce prices to

sell what we could and enjoy the excitement of selling out of our prod-

ucts! We were also interviewed by a reporter who was really impressed

with our business ideas. We are going to develop both our ideas and

products and hopefully create a successful business through which to

fund our clubs.”

James Cufley, Shaun Ewing, Lois Halbert-Pearce and Elizabeth Davis (Year 8)

“It was a really festive day and we had a great time” (James Cufley) “I really enjoyed being there and selling to the public” (Shaun Ewing) “I think it was really fun and I would do it again” (Lois Halbert-Pearce) “It was very tiring but I really enjoyed it” (Elizabeth Davis)

High Diving Success I have been high diving for three years now, training three times a week for almost two hours per session. I am a member of the Southampton Diving Academy (SDA). I flew to Dublin on 4th November for a weekend com-petition. This was my first opportunity to dive at this level and as part of an older age group and I had learnt new dives for the competition. I performed forward dives, back dives, reverse and inward dives, front ‘one and a halves’ and arm stands. On the Saturday I came third on both 1m spring board and tower (platform) and won two bronze medals. As I have just moved up to the next level, all the coaches were very impressed that I managed to finish in a medal position, having competed against people who had been diving at that level for two years. On Sunday I came fourth, just missing out on a further medal by eight points, but still everyone was pleased. The most important thing is that I got enough points to continue at this higher level of diving. All of us from SDA had a great time there and the whole team was successful, earning 31 medals altogether. Kieran Sharley (8L) - pictured in photo above (first left in back row)

Pictured (left to right): Ben Pickup (10L), Saul Barrett (10L), Sam Harris (10L), Lesley Powell (Sainsbury’s), James Burns (‘Help for Heroes’), Maggie Hatch (Sainsbury’s) and Lewis Sudbury (10D) - see article above. Ben Goble (10D) was also part of the winning

team

Help for Heroes Charity

In October Year 10 pupils (pictured below) worked as an enterprise team creating and running a major charity meal at the Royal Marines Restaurant. A cheque for over £1,100 was presented to the “Help for Heroes” representative, Mr Burns. Thanks to the invaluable support of the catering staff at the restaurant and Sainsbury’s Farlington, nearly forty guests were treated to an excellent evening led by the Year 10 “Seabreeze” team. Well done to all.

Mr J Lomas—Assistant Headteacher

Pupils pictured above with the wide range of products on sale at the Fayre at Fratton Park: Kelan Wilby-Denham (8P), Elizabeth Davis (8E), Clare McConnachie (8S), Megan Ford (10F), Lois Halbert-Pearce (8E), Delyth Hartley (7E), James Cufley (8P) and Shaun Ewing (8L)

We try to provide a rich mixture of opportunities to support anyone at Springfield School who has an aptitude, talent and/or interest and this covers a range of activities. Here is an overview of some of what has been happening this term and information about what’s coming up soon.

Textiles run a KS3 Club on Tuesdays (and an overflow group on a Thursday). Pupils spent every day in the two weeks leading up to the Craft Fayre at Portsmouth Football Club (on 19th November—see article on page 2) making and preparing special items, with support from KS4 pupils Lauren Willis, Megan Freeman and Mitchell Walker. The plan is to now make and sell crafts all year round for different occasions, including at our own Christmas Fayre on 13th December (article to follow in the next edition). The Year 7 and 8 Bake Club is so popular that it has two parallel groups which run on alternate weeks. The “Chefs of the Week” con-tributed products for the Craft Fayre and were involved in costings and pricing; turning it into a real young enterprise style project. They are planning to continue to make and sell items in school. Next term also sees the development of two cookery competitions: the KS3 ‘Create and Cook Competition’ and the launch of the KS4 ‘Jamie Oliver Competition’; all pupils should watch out for details! Talented musicians and actors are busy rehearsing for the next school production of ‘South Pacific’ which follows on from the very successful staging of ‘Trojan Women’ (see front page). The cast will have the chance to perform excerpts in assemblies and also to junior schools prior to the opening night in February. Additionally our musicians have contributed to assemblies at Springfield and are planning once again to visit our feeder primary schools. Look out also in this edition for a spotlight on Callum Edwards (see page 5). At the time of writing, school football teams have reached the later stages of the County Cup competitions for Year 7 and 11. In the New Year we will be entering the girls’ indoor county cricket competition (an event we won two years ago). Thirty Springfield Young Sports Leaders assisted with the very successful Cluster Multisports Festival for Year 5 and 6 pupils on 29th November whilst individual sporting successes include Kirsty Edginton’s performance at the National Judo Competition (see Springfield Bulletin October 2011) and Kieran Sharley’s achievements at the National Diving Championships (see page 2). As we prepare to enter Olympic Year we continue to focus on sporting success - both that of individuals and teams – with plans taking shape for Sports Day together with other sporting events to celebrate this fantastic forthcoming occasion. The Art Department has been running a Year 8 project in connection with the Southern and Scottish Electricity Company to provide signs for the company’s office space in Havant. They have also recently launched the “Photographer of the Week”. Pupils should look on the school’s website in the New Year to vote for the photographs they like the best. Of course there are pupils who are involved in a wide range of sports, music and drama activities beyond our gates! Pupils should watch out for regular updates in these publications and the screens in the School Hall to find out about the progress and achievement of their fellow pupils. Mrs McFarlane—Assistant Headteacher

TIDY SCHOOLS AWARD Mr Ward (Springfield School Site Manager), Patrick Shaw (11P) and Kirsty Edginton (9P) (pictured above with the Mayor of Portsmouth, Ms Cheryl Buggy) were proud to receive the ‘Tidy School 2011 Award’ on behalf of the school. This award represents another exam-ple of local citizenship in action, with staff and pupils being rewarded for the value they place on their local environment.

Mr Lomas—Assistant Headteacher

Pupil Performance targets – 2013 The following targets were agreed between the teachers, governors and School Improvement Partner: 5+ A* - C including English and Maths: 68% Percentage of pupils making good or excellent progress from KS2 – KS4 in English: 82% Percentage of pupils making good or excellent progress from KS2 – KS4 in Maths: 76% These outcomes will only be realised if pupils, parents and staff con-tinue to work together. We ask Year 10 parents to look out for the Progress Review—due home on Friday 13th January 2012. Some Year 10 pupils have made an indifferent start to GCSE courses and homework is not being completed reliably. The 2011 target for 5+ A* - C grades including English and Maths (set in December 2009) was 65%. Our result of 75% was excellent and reflects the hard work and commitment of the whole of the school community. Early indications for 2012 outcomes for the current Year 11 against their target of 68% 5+ A* - C grades (including Maths and English) show that there is potential for pupils to meet their targets but there are six months of hard work ahead. Lynn Evans—Headteacher Derek Good—Chair of Governors

PRIVATE TUITION

Physics graduate willing to give private tuition, either in groups or individually, for Maths and Science up to ‘A’ level. In 2008 I passed ‘A’ level Maths with a grade A. I can also teach French up to ‘A’ Level as I have the D.E.L.F. Levels I-IV certificates. CRB checked. £12.50 per hour or £8 per pupil for group lessons. Call David on: 023 92811454

An hour of yoga We have enjoyed seeing a wide range of visitors in Citi-zenship lessons this term. Most of the presentations have taken place in the classroom but one of our lessons was different! As part of our preparation for the mock exams next month we were treated to an hour of yoga. We had a taster of a wide variety of yoga exercises during a busy hour. These included breathing exercises, relaxation techniques and stretching exer-cises. Many of us have been enthused to think about continuing with yoga in the future. Thanks to Mr Lomas for arranging these sessions and to Ms Balmer, our yoga teacher.

Sarah Harris (11F) and Mason Mitchell (11R)

What is happening in Maths? Last summer’s GCSE results at Springfield were outstanding. In addition, the number of pupils achieving a high level of progress in Maths was way above national levels. This was due to the exceptionally hard work of the pupils and staff. The Maths department of highly qualified teachers give up many hours of their own time to provide support to the pupils and are continually assessing them-selves and looking for ways to improve. How is Maths different now and how have the exams c hanged? The emphasis now is on functional Maths i.e. Maths in a real life context and the exams require pupils to work out for themselves what approach to use in solving the problems. Another new feature is that pupils are marked on the quality of their written communi-cation in some questions. This means that they have to give a clear, understandable and logical reason to explain their answer. It is not enough just to write the correct result. The only way to succeed in this type of exam is through lots of practice and by gaining experience in answering different types of question; so it is very important that pupils do all the necessary ground work throughout the year and every lesson is important. The Maths department are also working to help pupils discuss and improve their own and other pupils’ work during interactive dis-cussions in the classroom. This helps everyone to practise techniques, understand critiques and try out, or hear, different answers. Mock exams at the end of this term provide pupils with further practice under exam conditions so that they can identify strengths and weaknesses which need to be addressed before the summer exams. What support is offered? During the school year the Maths department will be offering a number of additional activities to help raise achievement levels for all pupils. These include: homework support; parents’ workshops; Easter and half term tuition; withdrawal classes; extra lessons and exam warm ups. Please encourage your child to take advantage of the extra support provided by the school. The staff do everything they can to help pupils achieve the best possible results. What can parents and children do at home? What has become clear is that some pupils lack experience in terms of using Maths in their everyday lives. We can help by looking at simple examples of items from our daily lives and relating these to the world of Maths. For example: calculating gas bills or mobile phone charges, planning a day out or a holiday and using timetables. These simple examples of functional Maths can all be practised at home. Andy Minchin, Maths Link Governor

Photos Left: Sam Spencer (11F) and Taela Woods (11R) Above: Foreground: Briony Meades (11P) Below (left to right): Daisy Jones (11L), Rosie Winslade (11R), Chloe Morton (11E) and Lewis Samson (11L)

A pilgrimage to Mecca Muslims have to perform a pilgrimage called Haj. In order to do this they need to travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The reason that they go there is because of the holy Ka’aba; a black, square house, called by some people ‘the house of God’, is in the holy land of Mecca. In fact Muslims believe that the prophet Abraham and his son, Ismael, built the Ka’aba. One of the acts devout Muslims perform on a pilgrimage is to walk around the Ka’aba seven times. There are many more acts to perform in a pilgrimage too. I am very pleased that I had the opportunity to go and perform this amazing pilgrimage. Zahra Esfandmoz (8P)

CLUSTER ATTENDANCE OFFICER APPOINTMENT

We are pleased to confirm the appointment of Helen Murfin, the Cluster Attendance Officer. The position has been created due to the loss of the centrally funded Educational Welfare Officer posts. The Cluster Attendance Officer role was developed to support our local cluster of schools – Springfield, Court Lane Junior and Infants, Solent Junior and Infants and Highbury Primary - to help improve and maintain good attendance. As parents/carers we all understand how important it is for all pupils to attend school on a regular basis and to be punctual. However, sometimes families can find this difficult. When a pupil’s attendance or punctuality causes concern the Heads of Year or Attendance Assistant will make contact with the parents/carers and usually the attendance difficulties are addressed. How-ever, there may be times when this intervention is not enough. In these cases, the school will ask the Cluster Attendance Officer to visit your home to discuss ways of supporting you and your child. This may involve liaising with other agencies as well as with the school on your behalf. If you find that you are having difficulty get-ting your child to attend school you can contact the school who will pass on your concerns. We hope that this positive new role will help us all to ensure that our schools’ children enjoy happy and successful school lives. In extreme cases, however, the local authority still requires us to refer parents to receive a Fixed Penalty Notice for their child’s poor attendance. We are working together to avoid having to make such referrals and welcome our new appointment.

Mrs Summers—Deputy Headteacher

Spotlight on … My name is Callum Edwards and I play the trumpet. I have been asked to tell you about all the things I have achieved because of my musical talent. I started playing when I was in Year 3 and I am going to take my Grade 7 exam this month. I play in a Youth Wind Band and we give regular concerts. We performed in Paris in April, when I played a solo on the stage in Disneyland, Paris. It was terrifying but fan-tastic all at the same time! I have also performed at the Ports-mouth Music Festival. Since starting at Springfield last year, I have taken part in assem-blies, the Elderly Neighbours’ Christmas Party and I am in the middle of rehearsals with the school band for the production of ‘South Pacific’. I am part of the Portsmouth Music Service Junior and Senior Wind Bands. For me, music has been great fun. You get the chance to meet so many people, have a brilliant time and show what you can really do. I would recommend everyone to take up an instrument. You never know where it may lead you! Callum Edwards (8P)

Vary your child’s Learning Experiences Have you ever wanted to help your child in their learning but

didn’t quite know how, aside from buying ‘help books’ or glossily produced revision guides? We are often asked at parents’ eve-nings or information evenings about how parents can help their child in their school work or the best ways to revise. The school’s VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) is a resource that can aid this process and might be one that parents do not know much about. The VLE contains plenty of resources that the teachers at Springfield have specifically put there – in other words, it is of direct use to the pupils at the school. It can be accessed via the school’s website under ‘Learning Platform’ in the left hand blue

box and every pupil has a log in identity and password to gain access. Once logged in, there is a menu of subject boxes which, when clicked on, take you to support materials, activities, year-specific work, revision guides; the list goes on. This kind of support is one of the main functions of the VLE for pupils and parents but it is also worth browsing the site because of impor-tant information that might otherwise remain in the bottom of school bags! In the exams section, for example, there is a pro-visional timetable for the GCSE exams – valuable information for parents. Help books and revision guides are good; it would be worth complementing these with a visit to the school’s ‘in

house’ resources bank. Mr Wharton—Deputy Head (Curriculum)

Science Club From the moment the Science Club pupils arrived, they wanted questions answered—and so did I. Why, with a plethora of other after school clubs, did these pupils choose Science? They were really keen. Perhaps their inquisitive minds and thirst for information could be satisfied by the enthu-siastic teaching of Mrs Jackson and Miss Jackson. “How does the eye focus?”, “Does the eye deteriorate with age?” and “Does everyone have a blind spot?” were among the questions to which the pupils wanted answers! The way to answer these questions was to “operate” on an eye. Each pupil was given a pig’s eye and shown how the eye works, though, to fully understand, the lens in the eye needed to be removed. This operation was not for the squeamish! Muscle and fat needed to be carefully re-moved from the outside of the eye before using the scal-pel to cut through the white and then carefully remove the clear lens—not an easy task The lens was then placed onto newsprint to see that it really worked—the newsprint was enlarged around the lens. What a great way to get first-hand knowledge of how an eye works! Surprisingly, none of the pupils were squeamish—though I was and needed some fresh air! I walked to two of the other classrooms to find Year 10 pupils undertaking a challenge set up by the British Council to investigate practical ways of making water for drinking and irriga-tion. In order to satisfy the brief, investigations looked at: electrolytic action, filtration processes, reverse osmosis and boiling water in vacuum conditions in order to pro-duce it economically. Computer modelling identified possible successful outcomes. I was so impressed that Springfield pupils were able to work—both with support but also independently—on such projects, which were so interesting and cutting edge. Perhaps that is the reason why they choose Science. Derek Swords—Link Governor Science

Smallpeice Trust Physics and Engineering residential tripSmallpeice Trust Physics and Engineering residential tripSmallpeice Trust Physics and Engineering residential tripSmallpeice Trust Physics and Engineering residential trip In the October half term holidays, two students in Year 9 visited Reeds Board-ing School to take part in a physics and engineering course with the Small-peice Trust, supported by many companies. Fifty pupils from all over the coun-try took part in the four day residential event and they were split up into ten teams. Each team consisted of five people from different schools. There were two main tasks and each group had to complete the activity they were given. The first five groups had to make a working train that was pow-ered by a third rail. (A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a train usually through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of the track.) This project was headed by ‘First Group’ who make public transport. There was a track that the train had to run on which had a tunnel, small bend and a hill. The train had to safely carry an egg to the end of the track and stop at the top of the hill. The other five groups had to make a container for ‘nuclear waste’ which would survive many tests, includ-ing a plane crash and being dropped from a height (see photo below). The waste was substituted for an egg and the building materials were limited. There was also a cost limit for this activity, which was created by the ‘Nuclear Laboratory’.

Awards were made at the end of the course for the winning product from each set of groups and the best teamwork for two teams. Both students from Springfield gained a prize—one for best teamwork and one for best project. We both learned many skills from going on the course, including teamwork skills and being able to meet and talk to new people. One of us has already gained a place on another residential in the summer term and we both enjoyed the course a lot.

Rebecca Lecomte (9S) and Laura Heathcote (9G) The Smallpeice Trust organise excellent engineering residential courses and we are very fortunate that three of their courses are held locally:

• Year 9 course in Marine Engineering at Southampton

University

• Year 9 Nuclear Marine Engineering course at HMS Sultan

• Year 10 course in Electronic Engineering at Portsmouth

University All courses take place between June and August 2012. See the Smallpeice Trust web site for more details (www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk ) or contact Mr Elliott Mr K Elliott—Assistant STEM Manager

‘Bloodhound’ visit to Fareham College (‘Bloodhound’ is the car that has been used to attempt to break the land speed record—see photo above) On 29th November a group of Year 7 pupils went to Fareham College to see the supersonic ‘Bloodhound’ car. However, the trip was not completely about the car. We also burned jelly babies—and they screamed. This happened because the sugar on the jelly babies reacted with heat and sparked wildly, which was spectacular! We also made small balloon-powered cars, though mine completely failed to work! The best car travelled over 7 metres and the least successful travelled 0 metres! We also went out onto the huge field and watched rockets. There were water and air powered rockets as well as traditionally powered models. When we went back inside some of us had the chance to have a go in a driving simulator and we all got to see the full size replica of the ‘Bloodhound’. The enthusiastic ‘Bloodhound’ team answered all of our questions. I would like to do something like this again because it was very interesting and it was fun. I think Fareham College did well with the presentation of the ‘Bloodhound’. They made it a very good experience for us. Joseph Boxall (7G)

Pictured above (left to right) visiting the ‘Bloodhound’ exhibition: George Porter (7P), Ella Judd (7P), Kira Weston (7P), Rosie Mathieson (7S), Connor Wright (7P) and Michael Luck (7N). Foreground: Joe Mouland (7N). See article left

Mr K Elliott—STEM Coordinator

WORKING WITH SOUTHERN ELECTRIC

• Do you work for SSE at Penner Road? Did you know that one of our pupils, Carl Hewitt, designed the sign that is now used to show colleagues at Southern Electric Penner Road who is a ’First Aider’ in their work area (see photo below which shows his ingenious invention in action on an appropriate desk!)

• Do you know about ssEco? [SSE + Ecoinomy* = ssEco] *Ecoinomy is a company that has developed a unique way to encourage individuals to be more ‘green’ or environmentally aware. Please take a look at their website on the internet: http://www.ecoinomy.com/. The greatest benefit built into this system is that it rewards individuals for ‘green’ behaviour in a tangible way and shares some of the savings that an organisation can make by supporting causes or groups nominated by its employees. The Springfield Cybercafé is one of these groups—or ‘Guilds’ as they are known. Your efforts to be ‘greener’ could pay for our Saturday Community Cybercafé, which we would like to restart for our elderly neighbours. You can find out more or sign up to the Cybercafe Guild by clicking on ssEco on your Citrix homepage or by emailing sseco.system@sse.com. Our Year 8 and 9 pupils are now designing sculptures to advertise the ssEco initiative in the SSE workplace. Mrs Kilgallon—STEM Manager

The team at the NEC (right to left): Kirsty Edginton (9P), Rebekah LeComte (9S), Robert Panter (9S), Adam Boxall (9N), Con-nor Chaffe (9P), Ian Castellano (9N) and Tom Guy (9N) - see below

Year 9 Young Engineers’ trip to the NEC

On Saturday 19th November, seven Year 9 students arrived at school early in the morning to be taken to the NEC in Birmingham. Here they helped showcase Springfield’s stall at a Design and Technology Conven-tion as guests on the Young Engineers stand. (Young Engineers is an organisation the school has frequently invited to give talks and attend Focus Days at Springfield.) The team of enthusiastic pupils, accompanied by Mr Elliot and Mrs Kilgallon, took part in a range of activities at the fair, including attend-ing a Lego Mindstorm demonstration and making their own balloon-powered car. The first two hours were spent explaining to visitors the many things Springfield School has done in terms of STEM activities (Science, Tech-nology, Engineering and Maths), including several competition entries, such as the ‘Young Engineers’ Flight of the Quail’s Egg’ and the ‘Qinetic Boat Competition’, together with design challenges set by professional businesses, such as safety signs for Southern and Scottish Electric. The pupils then had the chance to look at other companies’ exhibits. There were people at the NEC from Techsoft, The Bloodhound Project (see article on facing page) and Robot Wars, with just under one hundred exhibits to look at in total. Lots of new and exciting technologies were on show and the team had the chance to try out equipment such as 3D print-ers, laser cutters and SMART Materials. A pupil who went on the trip, Connor Chaffe, said: “The highlight of the visit for me was probably a 3D mouse we were shown, which allowed the user to ‘feel’ the object on the screen.” Finally, the pupils took part in a challenge set by Young Engineers: They had just ninety minutes to design and make a balloon-powered car. The materials provided were just some wood, cardboard and pipe cleaners to start with, though the team also managed to collect resources from the other displays. Eventually, the car was made—from metal rods, some laser cut plywood wheels, a wooden frame and self-healing tape (to hold the balloon in place). Adam Boxall, another student taking part, said: “It was great that we could go and ask other people, like the blacksmiths (who we asked to cut the metal rod), for help, and I wish that we could do the same in school or in the ‘real world’. Although we only managed to get the car to travel a few centimetres, I found it a hugely enjoyable experience that was definitely worth the time.” Ian Castellano, Tom Guy, Adam Boxall and Connor Chaffe

On Sunday 19th October students from Years 7, 8 and 9 went on a trip to the INTECH Museum in Winchester. INTECH is an interactive science museum and planetarium with a wide range of activities. The planetarium was amazing with fantastic graphics and information you would never have known about the night sky. We arrived at the museum during Science Week and had a chance to go around stalls that were run by different companies. They told us different facts and gave us an insight into what it would really be like to experience being in space. There were some stalls that were entirely devoted to space related themes e.g. with information explaining how a rocket works and breaks up in space. We saw diagrams of different space shuttles, learned how the craft flew to and from the space stations (there were lots of these, as we had learned in the planetarium) and also how they delivered food and took rubbish away. On another stall there were genuine space rocks and meteorites and we were told how they had made their way onto our planet including the meteorite that landed in Russia two years ago. Staff explained in great detail how we know the earth’s core is metal and how we came to find out. The last stall demonstrated how to make your own water-powered rocket and how to achieve the correct aero-dynamics to keep the rocket on a straight course into the air. We also learned how air pressure contributes to the height of the rocket. The INTECH trip was very interesting and educational and we would definitely go again.

Beth Parvin (8G) and Josie Pedder (8N)

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

LAST DAY OF AUTUMN TERM—FRIDAY 16TH DECEMBER—2.20PM FINISH FIRST DAY OF SPRING TERM—TUESDAY 3RD JANUARY 2012

PROFESSIONAL CLOSURE DAY—WEDNESDAY 25TH JANUARY

CALENDAR *

Please mark these dates on your calendar NOW!

JANUARY

TUESDAY 10TH MORNING YEAR 11 GCSE: ENGLISH LANGUAGE—PAPER 1

THURSDAY 12TH 4.30PM YEAR 8 PARENTS’ EVENING

FRIDAY 13TH YEAR 10 PROGRESS REVIEWS ISSUED

TUESDAY 24TH 4.30PM YEAR 10 PARENTS’ EVENING

TUESDAY 24TH YEAR 11 GCSE: TRIPLE SCIENCE—BIOLOGY

WEDNESDAY 25TH JANUARY—PROFESSIONAL CLOSURE DAY (SCHOOL CLOSED)

MONDAY 30TH YEAR 11 GCSE: TRIPLE SCIENCE—PHYSICS

FEBRUARY

MONDAY 6TH AND TUESDAY 7TH AFTERNOON ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ - PERFORMANCES FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS

WEDNESDAY 8TH—FRIDAY 10TH 7.00PM ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ - SCHOOL PRODUCTION

FRIDAY 10TH YEAR 9 PROGRESS REVIEWS ISSUED

MARCH

THURSDAY 22ND—FRIDAY 30TH MARCH YEAR 11 GCSE EXAMS IN ART, APPLIED ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY

FUTURE TERM DATES: YEAR 6 SATURDAY CLUB YEAR 9 OPTIONS EVENING NON-UNIFORM DAY YEAR 9 PARENTS’ EVENING YEAR 10 MODULAR MATHS EXAMS YEAR 10 HISTORY BATTLEFIELDS TRIP PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS’ PROMS EASTER HOLIDAYS

7TH JAN TO 28TH JAN; 25TH FEB AND FROM 3RD TO 17TH MARCH WEDNESDAY 22ND FEBRUARY

MONDAY 27TH FEBRUARY WEDNESDAY 29TH FEBRUARY

FRIDAY 2ND AND MONDAY 5TH MARCH WED 14TH—SAT 17TH MARCH THURSDAY 29TH MARCH SAT 31ST MARCH TO SUN 15TH APRIL

SATURDAY 11TH—SUNDAY 19TH FEBRUARY : HALF TERM

TUESDAY 17TH YEAR 11 GCSE: HISTORY

*Please note these dates are correct at publication, but could be sub-ject to change. Please check the website, future newsletters and your child’s study planner

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Situated on the Western Algarve near Lagos, close to golf courses

and numerous sandy beaches. Features 3 twin bedrooms,

2 bathrooms, private pool, sun terrace, maid service, semi-rural location.

Call on 023 9257 0001 or go to www.villasinalgarve.net

Mention Springfield School for special discount

Update from the Welfare Office • Please remember to telephone the school absence number (023)

92381185 to report your child’s illness by 9.30am • Please encourage your children to be well organised and bring all

they need to school every day. We have an increasing number of pupils coming to Welfare to ring home and ask for homework, PE kit, ingredients etc. to be delivered. This causes congestion and a lack of privacy and quiet for those who are unwell. Pupils will now be asked to go to their Year Office to make a case for a ‘phone call home.

• Please keep us up to date in the Welfare Office with any medica-tions your child is taking, especially inhalers/pumps that are used for asthma.

• Parents are reminded that the Welfare Office can store painkillers, to be given to pupils, according to parental consent and instruction.

• Remember to provide us with new addresses, contacts, telephone numbers when you change them. We may need to contact you in an emergency.