Student Voice - Kingsdown School Voice July 2014 Hi! This is the last edition of the magazine this...
Transcript of Student Voice - Kingsdown School Voice July 2014 Hi! This is the last edition of the magazine this...
Student Voice July 2014
Hi!
This is the last edition of the
magazine this academic year.
I hope you have enjoyed reading
it as much as I have enjoyed
writing it!
Tilly Wale (Writer & Editor)
CONTENTS:
LRC News
Sports Day Feature
Teacher News
General News
G&T English Workshop
Sporting Successes
Head Girl and Head Boy Message
DT News
Exceptional English Work from
Year 7’s
The Student Voice Magazine
Mrs Conaghan’s Message
I would like to take this
opportunity to thank Tilly
for all the hard work she
has put into creating the
student magazine. Not
only is it informative but it is
also an enjoyable read.
If any of you are interested
in helping out next year
I’m sure Tilly and
Mr Lambourne would
appreciate your
contributions.
Enjoy the summer holidays
and I look forward to
seeing you ready for
another fantastic year in
September.
LRC NEWS
Riveting Readathon
On the 23rd of June, a small group of Year 9
students met up with other Year 9 students from
Dorcan and Highworth Warneford schools to
debate which book they thought should be
awarded the Riveting Read of 2014!
We began with a warm up session, in which a
student stood in the centre,
shared a statement like ’I think
the real hero in Harry Potter is Hermione’, and
students that agreed with the statement all got up
and switched seats, leaving one person left as Mr
Cook took away seats!
Next we got into groups with
other students from Swindon schools and
discussed their presentation brief, which was
to pick out 7 scenes they agreed should be
included in a film trailer based on their specific
book. After a quick discussion, we made huge
flipchart images and mind maps as well as
preparing our presentation.
Then we all gathered in the
fiction library and presented our ideas to the
other groups. This was great fun as everyone got
to present their own personal opinion, whilst
sounding more like film producers by the minute!
To finish, each person entered their ‘Riveting
Read’ vote into the box.
And the Riveting Read voted by students from
the participating Swindon schools was…
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey!
Whilst the announced winner brought mixed re-
actions of agreement and outrage as ’Hostage
Three’ just missed out, it was a really enjoyable
day. Thank you to Mrs Curtis and Mrs Longthorne
as well as Mr Cook for organising this for us!
Student Thoughts?
“I liked all the group activities. My favourite book
was ‘Heroic’ because it was thought-provoking. It
was a really engaging experience and I would rec-
ommend it to other years. Also, it really helped my
public speaking and I felt really comfortable giving
the presentation. It was a great morning”.
“I think that the Riveting Readathon was a very good
success. I enjoyed conversing with pupils from other
schools and I found it really fun. We all had different
interesting views and I liked presenting in front of oth-
er people. My favourite book was ‘The 5th Wave’.”
If you are going into Year 9 next year and are interested
in reading some amazing books, meeting new people
and sharing a great and educational experience,
remember the Riveting Readathon and get involved as
soon as possible!
SPORTS DAY Last year we held Sports day at the Swindon County
Ground Athletics track. Feedback from staff and
students was extremely positive and the day was a
huge success; therefore we decided to hold it again
this year at the County Ground on Friday 11th July.
Staff and students arrived early to help set up and
with the weather set to hit 23 degrees we were all confident the day would
be a huge success. The atmosphere at the track was electrifying. An open-
ing ceremony by the Kingsdown School Cheerleading squad kick started
the morning with a fantastic performance. The routine was choreographed
by our Y10 students who have spent many lunchtimes practicing their rou-
tines in recent weeks.
Tutor groups were proud to represent individual Olympic
countries and designed flags in support of these. Team
captains motivated their teams and made last minute
changes which helped encourage participation in all
events. Students competed to the best of their ability
and support and encouragement by all spectators was
outstanding. This created a great competitive vibe be-
tween all three houses com-
peting to become this year’s sports day champion.
Tutor groups selected their own winning anthems
and these were played throughout the morning
during the awards ceremony on the podium.
By midday Rebecca Pinnock achieved a new
sports day record. Rebecca beat the current Y8
Girls Javelin record achieved by Z. Hawkins in 2005 and threw 21.26m.
Mr Hamilton did a fantastic job throughout the morning
ensuring all were kept up to date with the overall house
scores. Coate took the lead from the very start of the
day with 209 points. At the end of the day the final
house results were as follows:
1st- Coate 1126 points
2nd- Lydiard 896 points
3rd- Stanton 816 points
Miss Colledge, Head of Coate said:
Today Coate won the House Trophy for the first time
in years! It is because they are an AMAZING house
and were all AMAZING! Their behaviour was brilliant
and their team work impeccable! They were true
heroes and sports people and I could not be more
proud than I am of their success. Long ago are the
times when Coate used to lose everything, we are
now going to WIN EVERYTHING because WE ARE THE
BEST!
I was so proud of everybody who took part today
and everybody made it a day for Coate to remem-
ber!
Many congratulations to Coate for their victory at Sports
Day. Well done to everyone for taking part and gaining
House points for their teams!
The PE Department would like to thank staff and students
who helped prepare for the day and would like to thank
all students in attendance for their impeccable
behaviour. You were all great ambassadors for
Kingsdown School!
The PE blog can be accessed from the School website to
view photographs and results from the day.
www.kingsdownpe.wordpress.com
In:Touch Newsletter July 2014
TEACHER NEWS Miss Simmons will be running an Amnesty International Group at
Kingsdown School next year:
“We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human
rights.”
Join Kingsdown Amnesty International and become a young activist campaigning and
fundraising for human rights. We will be standing up for human rights by:
As part of an Amnesty youth group you will develop great skills and experience for your
future career and job or university applications.
See Miss Simmons for more information.
Organising fun events and creative
campaigns Lobbying local MPs
Raising money and awareness of
Amnesty
Organising assemblies, vigils,
demonstrations and other public
actions
Writing letters to prisoners of conscience
and government officials around the
world
Watching documentaries and
learning about human rights
around the world
Unfortunately we will be saying goodbye to several
members of staff at the end of this academic year. I’m
sure you will agree that all members of staff leaving have
been inspiring and passionate teachers in their subjects
and will be greatly missed. We wish them the best for the
future in everything they do.
Student Librarian Vacancies!
We very much value the help of our student
librarians, who assist us during break and lunch
times. We now have a few vacancies for student
librarians, so if you would like to put your name
forward, just pop along to the LRC and speak to
Mrs Curtis or Mrs Longthorne for further
details. The places are open for Year 8 students
and above.
GENERAL NEWS
G&T ENGLISH
WORKSHOP Miss Brackley ran an afterschool G&T English workshop for students. The
focus of this workshop was in creative writing, looking specifically at
accounts and conditions of World War One.
We were first introduced to this new project called 14-19-Now. This project
has been created as a commemoration to soldiers who fought in World
War One. The main focus of this project is to write a ‘Letter to an Unknown
Soldier’. Hundreds of school children, teenagers and adults in the UK have
been submitting their own message to the unknown soldier. Some have
written to remember the soldier as they have a link to World War One in
the family, and some have written to show their appreciation of the efforts
of soldiers in the War. Others have simply written in the style of a poem,
painting soldiers as heroes, and some have put themselves in others’
shoes, writing as a relative, lover or friend of the unknown soldier. If you
could say what you want to say about the war, with all we’ve learnt since
1914, what would you say? If you were able to send a personal message
to one of the men who served and was killed during World War One, what
would you write? Visit www.1418now.org.uk/letter/ now to find out more
about this soldier and to read letters that others have created for the
unknown soldier.
Here is a copy a student’s letter to the unknown soldier, created over the
3 workshops with Miss Brackley:
Brave Brother,
You journeyed on with blank expression: all fear hidden. Your efforts have
stretched far… farther than those lines of which you called home.
You are unknown to those who choose an ignorant outlook. You have
created a stable and rewarding life for my generation. Fear need not exist
in these parts due to your sacrifice, and for this I am eternally thankful. I bow
in admiration at your efforts.
Your nationality is unknown, but is not needed to be known in order for our
warm appreciation to shine, through the murky despair of harsh realities
such as death. Creed, colour, you are a hero no matter your origin.
Courageously one young life was lost as millions of souls were saved. The
innocence within your selfless decision freezes my heart when I come to
terms with… with…
Why? I ask.
Disaster and travesty are the few words that come to mind. I wasn’t there as
death became of you nor do I know your background. However I can but
gasp in honour in your fight for righteousness.
Shed no tear for the flower will bloom another year. Like a swallow your
body will fly away into the sunset, yet your presence will linger for years to
come and will forever remind people of the injustice you eliminated and
the tranquillity you brought to our lives. For this you are not unknown.
Dearest Soldier, this is for you.
Tilly Wale (Year 9)
SPORTING
SUCCESS On Friday 27th June Kingsdown competed
in the 2014 Swindon School Games hosted
by Lydiard Park Academy. Kingsdown
teams competed at a range of venues
across Swindon.
Beginners and advanced finished 1st and
the intermediates finished 3rd. Y8 boys
Tennis team, captained by Tommy
Dearsley finished 3rd and the swimming
team finished 4th.
Congratulations to the Gymnasts who
then went on to compete at the Wiltshire
School Games held at Marlborough
College on 2nd July (Lucy Hudson, Molly
Mundy and Lara Hill).
Congratulations to the Girls U12 Football
team who competed in the South West
Regional Finals in June. The team started
slowly with a 15-2 loss but soon picked up
their pace and passing and finished in 3rd
position overall:
Kingsdown 15-2 Coombeshead Academy
Kingsdown 0-5 Wadebridge Town
Kingsdown 2-2 Cheltenham Spa
Kingsdown 4-2 Dawlish United
Well done to all players!
Congratulations to Hannah New in
Y7 who won the 70m Hurdles final at
the Swindon Schools Athletics trials.
Hannah then became the Minor Girls
Wiltshire Schools County Champion.
Since then Hannah has now beaten
her club record and is currently
ranked No.1 in the South West for
Hurdles.
Congratulations to Joe Castle in
Y9 who qualified for the South
West Athletics Championships in
the Junior Boys Pole Vault. Joe
competed as part of the
Wiltshire Schools team in Yeovil
finishing in 4th position.
A fantastic achievement Joe.
Well done!
Congratulations to the Girls Y9 Rounders team who are
top of their Swindon Schools pool. The Girls will now play
Lydiard Park Academy in the final!
D.T NEWS
Imagine converting an old, unusable milk
bottle into a colourful patterned sheet of
plastic that will save our planet!
The DT Department are very pleased with
their latest purchase…….
C R Clark’s Shredder and Sheet Maker!
The ‘Shredder’ is a recycling machine taking old scraps of plastic
and shredding them into small chips. These small chips can then
be heated and pressed in the ‘Sheet Maker’ to make new sheets
of plastic.
Students from all years will get to use this machine in DT lessons
such as Product Design and Resistant Materials. It is a great way to
get students involved in DT and in saving our planet. Hundreds of
plastic boxes and broken plastic chairs are thrown away every
year at schools….. but now they can be re-used for students’ work!
Miss Iles kindly allowed me to have a go at
creating a new sheet of plastic. I used an old
piece of plastic that would have otherwise been
thrown away into a landfill, and shredded it down
in the machine to create different coloured chips
of plastic. I then arranged the different colours
into a pattern in the heating pressure machine
and pressed it to create a new sheet of plastic for
use. It was amazing and a really exciting way to
re-use old plastic to create such colourful,
patterned sheets of plastic.
Look out for the ‘Shredder’ next academic year!
YEAR 7’S EXCEPTIONAL
ENGLISH SKILLS
These exceptional pieces of English work have
been put forward by Miss Brackley. Well done
to all these students who had their work pub-
lished in this edition and others!
Trembling with fear, a chill rode down my spine as the grotesque figure gravitated towards me. The
trees around me bowed to it like soldiers. It fired a raging leaf storm from his ravaged pal. The
tempest got closer… and closer… and closer.
THUD!
My face collided with the most soil…
It was like a wicked dream; a brick embedded in my mystified mind. Forcing my dreary eyes open,
I noticed swaying tress above me: was it the wind or my confused imagination? I scrambled to my
feet. As I rose, a specific towering tree caught my attention. Suddenly I remembered everything…
It all came back to me. Everything. Rushing to my mind like a rapid tornado of forgotten memories.
I ran. Through the unnerving forest, I ran. Eerie, emerald, empty. Emitting from the labyrinth of trees,
a voice of the finest silk warmed my heart. “Leave now or suffer the consequences!”. I froze.
By Archie Evans, Sam Reed and Joe Lenihan
I don’t know where I am!
I can feel damp soil against my face. As my eyes flicker open, my surroundings come into focus.
Leaning heavily on my left hand, I gradually sit up. I look around. Formidable trees loom over me,
blocking what little sunlight there is. Dead leaves carpet the creepy, crooked path.
I don’t know where I am!
SNAP! Somewhere, a twig shattered, I whisk around and get the feeling that I am not alone. Out
of the corner of my eye I see a shadow creep closer… closer… closer. I blink and it’s gone.
I bury my face in my hands. Who am I! Where am I? When I open my eyes the world spins. Suffo-
cating in the smell of blood, I hear beeps echoing. A mysterious figure towers over me like a sky-
scraper, a syringe in his hand. He moves closer to me until the syringe is plunged into my neck. I
try to scream but sound evades me.
A flash of white sends me tumbling down to earth, where I sit, hyperventilating. I see the sinister
shadow before me.
A gust of wind. Then darkness. I don’t know where I am.
By Imogen Deaton, Abbie Harper, Rosalyn Fernandes and Mia Rivers
HEAD GIRL AND
HEAD BOY
Hello Everyone,
We are Tapi and Matthew, the current Head
Girl and Head Boy. Having been
students at Kingsdown for four
years now, we have taken on
various other responsibilities, but
this year we are excited about
our greatest challenge yet.
This last term has been quite busy for us but it
was indeed very enjoyable. We had a great
time attending the KS3 Presentation Evening,
where we carried out our first duties as Head
Girl and Head Boy reading our first speech. It
was quite nerve racking but the evening as a
whole was fantastic; it was great to be there
to hear and celebrate all of the wonderful
achievements of individuals in Year 9, from
sporting to academic.
We are looking forward to our
year as your Head Girl and Head
Boy very much, and throughout it
we hope to get to know and talk
to many more of the students.
We aim to help support all
students this year by increasing
the interaction and communication between
the year groups, because as students ourselves
we feel it would enrich school life for us all.
Just as much as we would like to share with you
our aims and goals for the year, we would also
love to hear feedback in any form: suggestions,
questions or concerns. We sincerely hope that
every student will find it easy to come to us,
because together as a student body, we feel
we can hopefully make the coming year,
Kingsdown's best yet!
We wish you all a great summer and we look
forward to the coming academic year,
Tapi Kachika and Matthew Bowles
Enjoyed reading your Student Voice
Magazine? Why not write an article
yourself to publish or give us some
feedback?
The Student Voice Magazine needs you. The Student
Voice Magazine was created in 2011, and I have
thoroughly enjoyed writing articles for each edition so
far… but unfortunately numbers have dropped and I
would love to hear from you! What do you want to see
in your magazine? What do you want to find out about
at Kingsdown School?
Ideas for articles:
Past events
Upcoming events
Fashion tips
Opinions about new projects
Department/teacher news
Comic strips
Jokes
Student information
Please get involved at the start of the year so that we
can build a great team of photographers, researchers,
writers and contributors. If you don’t want to write an
article yourself but have something you think is worth
talking about, why not get your tutor to contact me at
the start of the next academic year!