Year 12 Drama students at saltash.net have performed an exceptional piece of theatre as part of their final AS practical assessment.  Joe Day, Jasmine Donovan, Megan Easton, JJ Harding and Jessica Jones selected Joan Littlewood’s 1963 Theatre Workshop play ‘Oh! What A Lovely War’ to interpret and update.

The play chronicles the story of the First World War through short scenes and provocative songs of the era.  The Year 12 students imagined themselves to be a group of street performers, presenting the story to passers-by – the audience.  After the jolly, happy opening song, their tale grew darker and more sombre with an increasing focus on the massive loss of life during the first world war.

Jo Loyn, Head of Drama, said, ‘The students have worked extremely hard developing the piece since we began working on it in January. All five students are outstanding performers and this enabled us to create an ensemble piece which captured the essence of the original company of sixteen people. Reducing this to a cast of five enabled them to use their skills in switching from character to character, changing accent, age and sometimes from male to female, in exemplary style.’

To show solidarity with the people of Nepal, saltash.net held a non-uniform day fundraiser on Friday 1^st May.  Some students chose to wear a ‘onesie’, in keeping with the theme of unity and the showing of compassion for the people who have been so terribly affected by the devastating earthquake.  The grand total of £565.31 was raised and this will be sent to Oxfam to support its Nepal Earthquake Appeal.  The charity will be using funds raised to provide much needed clean water, sanitation and emergency food.

Taking place on the same day was another big fundraiser, this time to help raise money for the 50^th Anniversary of saltash.net celebratory event, scheduled to take place on Saturday 4^th July.  The day will have something for young and old and will include a major exhibition of archive photos and artefacts from the last 50 years in the main school hall, as well as an extensive programme of community events on the school’s playing fields overlooking the River Tamar.

Thanks to the generosity of staff and students, including Phoebe and Oona Svarc from Year 11, who donated a huge box of popcorn, the Cake Sale raised £188.70 and was enjoyed by all.

We currently have 22 students spread across years 7, 8, 9 and 12 who are involved in the Carnegie Medal Shadowing Group. They read the eight texts that are nominated for the award and write reviews for our very own website.

We meet each week, on a Friday lunchtime, sharing our views and opinions on different books, leading to some very fervent discussions. The students involved have already shown how reading is such a huge part of their lives and their informative and interesting review posts have already led to an invitation to Eggbuckland School. We will be taking some members of the Shadowing Group to Eggbuckland on the 22^nd June where we will meet with six other schools and present our opinions on our allocated book: Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge.

The scheme so far has challenged the students’ perceptions and taken them outside of their comfort zones, encouraging them to read further afield.

Our Carnegie Medal Shadowing Site is filled with information on our readers, our own blog post, an abundance of excellent student reviews, polls and questionnaires and even our own video on why we like reading so much. You can find it at: http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/grouphomepages/index.php?GroupID=11796

On Thursday 30^th April the U16 Girls’ Football County Champions team from saltash.net came together for one last time before their GCSE examinations and the end of Year 11.  Determined to mark their incredible success story in a fitting and memorable way, P.E. teachers Mrs Gue and Mr Budd organised a Testimonial match on the school’s All Weather Pitch, which saw the U16s playing a team comprising skilled girl footballers from the rest of the school.

The match was played in the same excellent sporting manner that had characterised the U16’s previous matches and was definitely a contributory factor in them becoming county champions in 2014.

The final score was 4-0 to the U16s, but the real winner was girls’ football at saltash.net.  As coach Mrs Gue said in her message to the team in the souvenir programme:

“Every one of you has been a pleasure to coach and drive around the country!  You have come so far as a team and you will always have your incredibly strong bond with each other.  You are a great group of girls with so many qualities and I would like to thank you for all that you have done for girls’ football within our school.  You will be missed; however, you should feel honoured that it all started with you.’

After the match both teams were served a special celebratory tea by Mrs Bryce, Headteacher, in the school’s dotnet café – a real treat!

Year 11’s ‘official’ last day is a ‘rite of passage’ anticipated with a range of emotions by students and staff alike at saltash.net community school.  On Friday 8^th May, there was much fun and laughter as the students arrived in an incredible array of fancy dress outfits for their last day of lessons before the examination and revision programme commenced in earnest.

There were also, however, tears and hugs as the year group, head of year, tutors, teachers and support staff came together to share memories and reflect on everything that had been achieved over the last five years.  There were lessons as normal in the morning, followed by a special lunch in the gym which gave all of the students an opportunity to have their Year Books signed, whilst being entertained by Year 11 student Nathan Daniel, an ‘in house’ DJ!

There was live music at lunchtime with an open air ‘bandslam’ session in the Year 9/10 quad.  Students Bronwen Hall, Elliot Wearne Gould, Ryan Kean and Matt Ward performed a series of numbers providing the perfect entertainment for the Year 11 cohort.

In the afternoon, Year 11 assembled in the main hall with Head of Year, Mr Oakes, and Assistant Head of Year, Mrs Sloggett.  More musical entertainment was provided by Lydia Herbert, Rose Bonner and Chloe Brandon.  Teacher of PE, Mrs Emma Gue, was presented with a bouquet for all she did to help with the Year Book, and student, Toby Shotton, was presented with a certificate and reward for achieving the outstanding feat of having 100% attendance throughout his whole time at saltash.net.

Headteacher, Mrs Bryce, commended the class of 2015, saying she knew they would make everyone proud this summer and wishing them all the very best now and in the future.

You can now download the latest school newsletter

by following the link below;

• Click to download the May 2015 Community Newsletter

For Head of 6th Form and Deputy Headteacher at saltash.net, Mr Nick Scantlebury, the annual Year 13 May Ball was set to be particularly memorable.  Having announced his retirement earlier this year, Mr Scantlebury has been making the most of his remaining time at the school, and this included enjoying a very special evening at The Duke of Cornwall Hotel in Plymouth designed to mark the end of the 6th formers’ time at their school.

Arriving in style, the Year 13 students enjoyed ‘red carpet’ photocalls organised by DT Technician, Mr Darren McDonald, before sitting down to a three course meal and dancing the night away.

Commenting on the success of the May Ball, Mr Scantlebury said, ‘Tonight was a very fitting way for students to mark the end of their A level studies. Everybody enjoyed the evening, as was evident in the wonderful atmosphere. I am sure that the students will have good memories not only of the May Ball but also of their time in the Sixth Form.‘

Please note, Monday 29th June 2015 is an inset day and is closed for staff training.

The Year 7 Parents’ Surgery is on Wednesday 01 July 2015 between 4.00pm and 6.30pm and you are warmly invited to join us to discuss your child’s progress. This is an important time in the academic life of your child and the evening provides the perfect opportunity for you to find out exactly what needs to be done as you and the school work together to enable your child to maximise their potential.

Preparing for the Parents’ Surgery

There are a couple of things which you can do before you attend the Parents’ Surgery which will help you to get the most out of the evening:

1. Look at the Progress Trackers which you received in November, January, and April ahead of the Parents’ Surgery. Progress Tracker is designed to give you an overview of your child’s performance against their potential as well as the level of effort in each of their subjects. It is issued four times a year in Year 7 to enable you to follow your child’s progress across the year.
2. Please look through your child’s work and planner – you can do this together over the next few weeks and discuss how they feel they are progressing. Subject teachers will have written specific comments on how your child can improve in exercise books, on their work and/or planners. This will happen at key milestones in their learning rather than on every piece of work. Although it will vary from subject to subject, on average there will be at least one key comment for every 6 lessons.

Making appointments

We use an online booking system for Parents’ Surgeries and this works very successfully.

You will need

Your child’s legal first name and surname
Your child’s date of birth

Please note

Mr Broadbent, supply IT teacher, is not available for the Parents’ Surgery. If you have any concerns regarding your child’s progress in IT, then please use the email address below and the query will be forwarded accordingly for a response for you.

If you are unable to book, please email parentsurgery@saltash.net or call the school and a member of staff will help you. We believe that this system will give parents much better control over their appointments and we hope that you will find it simple to use.

We are looking forward to seeing you on the evening and as usual there will be staff and student helpers on hand to assist you if you require any help.

To find out more, please find below the letter sent home with students and an accompanying Powerpoint file giving some great tips on how to use the booking system

• Parents HowTo
• Letter to parents

Click to download the poster and entry form for the dog show at the 50th Anniversary event on July 4th

Please note, we are having a non-uniform day on Monday 15th June 2015 in aid of the 50th Anniversary.

Year 8 students at saltash.net had a great welcome back after the half-term break with a lively and very hands on African Drumming workshop. Allan Kerr, a local Musician, taught a half hour workshop with each year 8 tutor group. They covered some traditional African songs and learned about the Djembe drums and how to create polyrhythms as a whole class ensemble.

Allan also delivered an hour workshop with our future GCSE year 9 students and the year 10 GCSE students looking at the cultural and social aspect of Djembe drumming in Africa.

Head of Music, Mrs Emily Venner, said, ‘It was a fantastic day and I know all the students really enjoyed themselves.’

Exam season can be a testing time for anyone, especially when you are a teenager. It’s always important, however, to realise these exams and the results are only a part of who you as a person, and they don’t need to be as daunting as they appear.

For this reason, the Year 8 Pastoral team, along with the Maths department, gave the year group an ‘experience’ on the last day before half term, to show them exactly what it may feel like in three years’ time.

The Mock was designed to give the students the most realistic experience possible, and at the same time, show them there was nothing to be intimidated about by sitting in a hall with the other members of their Year Group.

The ‘exam’ was scheduled to take place at 1.55pm.  However, diligent students began to arrive over 30 minutes before this, and, by 1.45pm, the whole year group had assembled themselves early.

“It was lovely to see them taking it all so seriously,” commented Head of Year, Scott Wieprecht. “They had all been given seat numbers in advance, and, as always happens, a number had lost these, so it helped to show them the importance of keeping the entry slip safe.”

As the students entered the hall they were greeted by rows of tables filled with test paper, and a bottle of water. “We wanted to get them focussed, but also relax them,” explained Mrs Snowdon, assistant Head of Year. “The bottles of water were just a small way of showing them they had our support – even if carrying 230 bottles of water around was tiring!”

The students were incredibly well behaved and completed the entire experience in test conditions, before the final bell went, marking the start of their half term.

“It was a very proud moment for me,” finished Mr Wieprecht. “The whole point was to show them this didn’t need to be as daunting a process as it can sometimes feel.  From the comments the students made, many of whom actually enjoyed the experience, I know we achieved this. I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the experience from the Maths department, to the admin team and finally our pastoral team. Our young people acted incredibly maturely and were well behaved – I only wish they would sit that quietly during my assemblies!”

ENDS

A selection of students from Years 8-10 enjoyed success at Brickfields Sports Centre on Wednesday at the East Cornwall athletics qualifying event for the Cornwall school games.  The Year 8 and 9 boys team, the Year 8 and 9 girls team and the Year 10 boys team have all qualified for the finals on the 24^th June ahead of the 5 other schools in the competition.

More than a dozen hands are high up in the air, wide-eyed faces are eager to give the answer – the pupils of this mixed year 5/6 class learning the French for items in the school bag are clearly enjoying their lesson. But there is one thing different from your average classroom: the teachers are only a few years older than the students.

Teaching is the best way of learning – this is the reason why saltash.net community school has launched an award scheme called “Language Leaders” which aims at enabling year 8 and 9 students to develop their communication and intercultural skills. This scheme was originally established by Routes into Languages London.  However, languages teacher, Melanie Breforth, has brought this unique opportunity to the South West: “Many students are not aware how important it is for their future to not just learn a language but also acquire the skills linked to it, such as communicating effectively, understanding other cultures and expanding your horizon.”

In fortnightly meetings the Language Leaders develop their planning and presentation skills to be able to teach activities and lessons for younger learners in local primary schools. By helping younger learners the Language Leaders are not only contributing to the wider community but also improving their own language skills: “I really enjoy learning different languages and teaching younger children,” says Abbie Jones in year 8, and her friend Phoebe Northmore adds: “Also, I have met new friends and we do language workshops which will really help me for the upcoming exchange.” So far the Language Leaders have had introductions to Spanish and Chinese. They also have had the opportunity to take part in different competitions and celebrate various cultural festivals, such as the recent Chinese New Year.

For the students, the award scheme is a great opportunity to develop key employability skills by organising events and activities to encourage other students to learn about different languages and cultures. Carys, one of the first Language Leaders to visit Landulph Primary School, is a great example for this: “I want to be a primary school teacher one day and the Language Leaders scheme helps me to get the experience I need. I really enjoyed working with the primary school children. At the beginning I was really nervous but seeing the other children’s enthusiasm helped me to become more confident. I definitely want to go again – as soon as possible!”

Carys is one of 20 language leaders who on completion of the award will achieve an official certificate, a language leader badge, a skills set which will improve her employability, an extra qualification for her CV and a whole year of fun.

Year 12 A Level Physics students at saltash.net community school were given an unexpected learning opportunity on the morning of Friday 5^th June.  As chance would have it, they happened to be in a Physics lesson with their teacher, Miss Ripper, when ex-student and highly successful London Car Salesman, Bradley Carr, drove into school in a state of the art electric car that a client of his had lent him for a few days enabling him to return to his home in Cornwall in style!

Bradley, who had undertaken a Work Experience placement at the Bramall Allen Vauxhall showrooms and garage in Saltash alongside his A Levels in 2002-4, had kept in touch with his old school and was pleased to be able to return to share with current students the latest in electric car technology.

The A Level Physicists were able to explore the £80,000 Tesla car for themselves and were impressed to hear from Bradley how it could do around 310 miles on one electrical charge.  They were also impressed with the in-car computer system and the clever design which meant the car could easily convert from being a 5 seater into a 7 seater – and with no cumbersome engine taking up space under the bonnet, there was plenty of room for shopping and luggage!

Following their investigation of the electric car, the students were able to research the life and works of the car’s namesake, Nikola Tesla, an inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.

Speaking after Bradley’s visit, Mrs Bryce, headteacher, said, ‘It is always excellent when ex-students want to return to their school to give something back to their community.  Bradley has done so well in his career and is now one of the main sales people at the Aston Martin showrooms on Park Lane, Mayfair.  We would like to thank Bradley for coming to see us and we hope that other ex-students will be able to come along to the school’s 50^th Anniversary celebrations scheduled to take place on Saturday 4^th July.’

Over fifty students from the Saltash Association of Schools very successfully came together to stage Disney’s ‘Peter Pan’ during the 10^th – 12^th June.  Now in its fourth year, the tradition of staging a music and drama production involving both saltash.net secondary school key stage 3 students, as well as children from key stage 2 in the Saltash and district primary schools, is very much welcomed by young and old alike.

‘Peter Pan’ proved to be an excellent choice of play to showcase the talent across the six schools involved (Bishop Cornish, Burraton, Landulph, saltash.net, Sir Robert Geffery’s and St Stephens).  The casting, by Director Matt Oakes and Musical Director, Nicola Silvester, was spot on.  Brandon Escott as Peter Pan, Emily Lambert as Wendy, Jemima Budd as Tinker Bell, and Tommy Williams as Captain Hook all excelled in their lead roles, their fine voices perfectly complementing their impressive acting ability.

Equally deserving of praise were the students who undertook the supporting roles:  Brad Sweet as John and Tiffany West-Lakes as Michael gave confident, energetic performances; Thomas Hollyman and Megan Kelly impressed with their excellent understanding of the confused and bemused Darling parents; and Matt Calder entertained everyone brilliantly with his comic timing in the role of Smee, Hook’s foil.

The chorus parts, including the Fairies, Lost Boys, Mermaids, Big Chief Tiger Bamboo and TigerLily, were all delivered admirably, especially the rousing musical numbers of ‘A pirate’s life’, ‘Never smile at a crocodile’ and ‘Following the Leader’.

Speaking after the shows, Mr Oakes said, ‘I would like to congratulate all of the students involved in the production and thank the parents and primary school teachers for the support which has been given.  I would also like to thank my colleagues, English teacher, Natasha Bruty, and Performing Arts team members Emily Venner and Jo Loyn as well as Charlotte Burton the technician for all the help that has been given throughout the auditions and rehearsals.’

Jacob Hunt could be performing at MTV Live and Local and NEEDS YOUR VOTES! Have a listen, AND VOTE!

http://www.radioplymouth.com/win/mtv-live-and-local-vote-for-the-singers/

Download the event guide as a PDF (858Kb)