Senior executives were amazed at the “maturity” and “outstanding ideas” presented by year 9 saltash.net students, Amy Donovan and George Seymour, when they visited the Virgin Media offices in London in December. Amy and George were representing the views of all UK students at the first Digital Youth Council meeting, a group established through collaboration between Generation Tech, Edudemic and Nesta, reporting to the Department for Education. George enormously enjoyed the challenge, appreciating that “It was excellent to work with people with similar views about how technology should influence education”. Amy impressed the panel by her passion for considering education globally. In her view: “Every minute we were there we felt we were changing the future; opening up gateways for success.” Deputy Headteacher Mr Buckley who accompanied the students to London, commented: “We are immensely proud, not only of the excellent way in which Amy and George represented their peers today, but also how of the 20,000 applicants nationally, 2 of the 8 chosen were students of saltash.net”.   The council will continue their work when they meet again next term.

Year 11 homework club is up and running in the year 11 area every day 3pm until 4pm. Students must sign in at the homework club in the canteen, where they will receive a slip for free refreshments that are on offer at 3.30. Laptops are available for the hour, but must be signed in and out. The free minibus is available from 4pm every day.

Click to download a revision timetable that you can fill out and print off to keep with you

The Sports Personality of the Year for 2014 – 15 at saltash.net community school  is Year 10 student, Siobhan Ellyatt.

In recognition of her outstanding sporting success across a range of sports, Siobhan was presented with the Pip Miller Memorial Trophy and a monetary award by one of the Academy’s Trust Board Directors, Mr Ken Martin. Mr Martin established the Award last year in recognition of his wife – Pip Miller’s –  passion for sport and her desire to see all round sporting achievement appropriately recognised.

Head of PE, Mr Rob Hawkins, and teacher of PE, Mrs Emma Gue, praised Siobhan not just for her sporting excellence bit also for the first class leadership qualities she possesses: ‘Siobhan achieved a remarkable sporting ‘double’ in the school year 2013 – 14. She was the only student who played in both the U14 and the U16 County Champion girls’ football teams. She is a fantastic role model for other students and thoroughly deserves the Sports Personality of the Year Award.’

Many congratulations to our talented and committed students for becoming the County Champions of Under 16 Football yesterday, beating Helston 3-2 in the final held at Camborne!

We are looking forward to welcoming you on Tuesday 3 February for our student-led Review.
To ensure that the day runs as smoothly as possible we would ask you to observe the following procedures:

Students
You will find the work left by your teachers through the following link; http://saltash.net/reviewday

Car Parking
All of the school car park at both the front and back (including those spaces which say reserved) is available for you to park in. If you can possibly avoid it please do not park on the road coming into school as this causes congestion. If there are cars on the road, please do not assume the car parks are full; there should be plenty of spaces.

The Review

• Dress code for the students: We have informed the students that they do not have to wear school uniform for the Review appointment. However, we have asked them to come appropriately dressed (smart clothing) for the Review.
• Timing: Each Review appointment will begin promptly at the stated time and a bell will ring after

15 minutes indicating that it is time for the Review to finish. Please arrive promptly for your appointment time as we have very little flexibility in the schedule to make any changes.

• Format of the Review: Your son/daughter has been working hard to prepare a script which will lead us through the Review appointment. As we explained in an earlier letter to you ‘the Review Day meeting will enable your child to take much more ownership of their own learning, progress and development.’

Students on the Record of Need
If your son/daughter is on the school’s Record of Need and you would like to discuss any concerns you may have (whether they were raised at Review or not), Mr Skelton (SENCo) will be available on a drop-in basis between 10.00 am and 2.00 pm. He can be found in his office which is in Room 35, in the Languages corridor. If you aren’t able to meet with Mr Skelton within these times but would like to discuss anything with him, please email him at jskelton@saltashcloud.net to make an alternative appointment.

Emergency arrangements
In the event of the fire bell going off during the day please wait for instructions from a member of staff who will escort you from the building. If this should happen when you are walking to your appointment area, please follow the signs to the nearest exit. The muster point for all staff, parents and students is the tennis courts which are situated at the back of school adjacent to the Geography and History block.

Refreshments
The saltash.net World Challenge team will be selling cold drinks and an assortment of cakes outside Room 40, near the Year 11 area between 9.30 am – 3.00 pm. Proceeds from this sale will go towards the World Challenge trip to Croatia in July.

The annual Saltash Rotary club ‘Youth Speaks’ competition took place at saltash.net community school on the evening of Wednesday 28^th January. Teams from Sir Robert Geffery’s school and Burraton Primary school participated in the Junior competition, whilst saltash.net took part in the Intermediate challenge.

Everyone present was in agreement that the standard of the Youth Speaks competition this year was higher than ever, giving the Rotarian judges an even harder job with the judging.

Teams progressing to the next round of the competition, to be held in Callington on 11^th February, are Sir Robert Geffery’s team comprising Taylor Passmore (Chair), Josh Hawkins (Speaker) and James Sutton (Vote of thanks) who addressed the issue of whether the voting age should be lowered to the age of 11, and saltash.net’s team comprising Freddie Brasher (Chair), Amy Donovan (Speaker) and Harriet Hunt (Vote of thanks) whose choice of topic ‘Raising Awareness of Mental Health illnesses’ gave everyone much to contemplate.

President of Saltash Rotary Club, Mr Gerry Stevenson, praised all of the students who had taken part, congratulating them on demonstrating such high level spoken English skills, and presented them with certificates and awards in recognition of all they had achieved.

Laura Kelly, Flo Bonner, Fiona Snook and Emily Badham, all Year 13 students at saltash.net community school, gave two powerful performances of their Advanced Level Drama production ‘Who does she think she is?’ to an invited audience of friends, family members and staff, after school on Friday 23^rd January.

The original piece of theatre had been devised by the students as part of their Advanced Level examination assessment requirement and they had been working on it for several months, researching the issues explored as well as rehearsing the drama itself.

Focusing on themes of female vulnerability, including anorexia, human trafficking, domestic violence and gender equality in the workplace, the performances had an intense and emotional impact on all of those present.

Head of Drama, Jo Loyn, who supported the students during their preparation for the assessment, said, ‘The final performance was the result of an intense research and rehearsal process which the students have been involved in since last September. Using this research, gathered from speaking to various groups and individuals, and their knowledge and understanding of many different theatre forms and styles, they were able to devise this powerful piece of Drama about the role and treatment of women in society today. We are very impressed with the maturity and standard of the finished result. Their intention was to make the audience sit up and reflect on the stories they were being told and they definitely achieved their intended aim, with many audience members in tears.’

Promethean UK, a leading education solutions provider, recently invited a group of students from saltash.net to join them at the international BETT technology show in London in order to demonstrate the learning  benefits of some of their latest software called ‘Classflow’. This software is designed to help teachers unify multiple classroom devices, such as tablets or laptops, and interact with their students, providing effective feedback and assessment.

After the students from saltash.net had attended the BETT show, the school received a letter from Promethean praising their first class behaviour, attitude and teamwork: ‘Confident, engaging and impeccably behaved, the students represented Saltash to the very highest of standards – indeed, we had many comments from visitors on their maturity and on their ability to articulate their personal experiences of using a variety of technology in school. They also worked very well as a team which brought a real positive vibe to the stand and helped create such an inviting atmosphere.’

Also receiving praise from Promethean was teacher of Maths, Mr Scott Wieprecht, who accompanied the students on their visit to BETT. ‘He was an excellent host for the trip and succeeded in seamlessly managing the logistics of the students both on and off stand – no mean feat given the size of the show.’

The school would like to congratulate all those who represented saltash.net so well on the national stage.

• Click to view the letter from Promethean

You can now download the latest school newsletter

by following the link below;

• Click to download the February 2015 newsletter

saltash.net’s annual ski trip has departed for a week in St Anton, Austria.

We wish them a happy and successful week with plenty of snow.

Thanks go to Mr and Mrs Feldwick, Mr Lee and Miss Newberry for accompanying this exciting school visit. We look forward to a full write up and plenty of photos on their return!

Year 13 students at saltash.net have been immersed in their university application process since the start of this school year.  Those wishing to undertake an undergraduate course of study post A Levels, have been given extensive help and guidance by the 6^th Form team, including the Head of 6^th Form, Mr Scantlebury and deputy head of 6^th Form Miss Wilkinson, during their weekly careers lessons.

Offers have been coming in thick and fast for the students involved and they include an offer to read Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, Trinity College, for Janie Olver and an offer to study Medicine at the Plymouth School of Medicine for Jonathan Lawther.  Also celebrating exciting offers were three students all hoping to pursue a career in Music and Musical Theatre; Laura Kelly, Joe Lang and Flo Bonner have all been offered places to pursue their love of this subject area at Chichester University.

Commenting on the many Higher Education offers being received, headteacher, Mrs Bryce, said, ‘saltash.net’s reputation as a centre of excellence for Post 16 study continues to grow.  Last year, 100% of our students obtained the grades needed to take up places at their first choice universities.  We are all keeping our fingers crossed that this success story will continue this year and we wish all our young people the very best of luck in the forthcoming examinations.’

There will be a wide range of musical items from across the year groups showcasing the talent at saltash.net. Entrance is £1 on the door. All welcome to attend.

Every year, staff at saltash.net community school are invited to dress up as a character from a book in order to promote their love of reading to the students.  This year was no exception and saw the most creative costumes yet!  As World Book day on the 5^th March coincided with St Piran’s Day this year, some staff members tried to incorporate both themes into their costumes, most successful being Deputy Headteacher, Mr Scantlebury, who looked amazing as Tom Bawcock from ‘The Mousehole Cat’.

Staff choices were as diverse as: The Wicked Witch of The West; George & Lennie from ‘Of Mice and Men’; Bellatrix L’Estrange; Snow White; and Thing 1 & Thing 2 from Dr Seuss.  There was also a large turnout of characters from Alice in Wonderland, led by Matt Coot, the school librarian, as the Mad Hatter.

Mr Coot organised a fantastic celebration for World Book Day within the library, including a ‘Matt Hatter’s Tea Party’ theme as well as a thought provoking display concerning the idea of ‘banned books’ which strongly relayed the message of how powerful the written word can be and linked to this week’s assemblies delivered by Assistant Headteacher and Head of English, Kate Littledyke.

Students from the school’s Trematon Zone were also invited to join the fun and also came to school dressed as their favourite book characters!

On Saturday 7^th March the year 9 Intermediate Youth Speaks team from saltash.net travelled to Bodmin College to compete in round 3 of the competition. In this round the best 6 teams from across Cornwall competed to gain one spot, which would take them through to the next round. At the end of the day, the top three teams were honoured with prizes and an award was also given for the best overall Chairperson, Main Speaker and Vote of Thanks.

The saltash.net team, comprising Freddie Brasher (Chair), Amy Donovan (Main Speaker) and Harriet Hunt (Vote of Thanks) delivered an exceptional performance with their speech on “Raising Awareness of Mental Health Illnesses.”

The standard throughout the day was very high and the school was extremely pleased that its team was placed third, giving Freddie, Amy and Harriet the opportunity to be awarded with prizes (WHSmith vouchers) for all of their hard work and effort.  Freddie also won the award for being the best overall chairperson, receiving another certificate.

The feedback from the judges included that Freddie had “brought his team together” very well and that the team had delivered a “thought-provoking speech on a challenging subject.” Teacher of English, Gemma Beacroft, who coached the students for the competition said, ‘Although the team will not be progressing to the next round of the national competition, they did a fantastic job and were a credit to the school.’

Forty staff and students from saltash.net community school travelled to St Anton am Arlberg in the Austrian Tyrol for a week’s skiing over the February half term holiday.  Described as the ‘Cradle of Alpine Skiing’ and a ‘snowy paradise of the highest calibre’, the team enjoyed superb weather and perfect piste conditions.

The students made excellent progress with their skiing skills and some of the students were able to use their achievements on the slopes as part of their GCSE and A Level PE assessments.

Teacher of PE, Head of Year 9 and Team Leader for the ski trip, Mark Feldwick, said, “The students were a credit to the school and not only worked super hard but were amazingly well behaved too.  One of the boys said that it was “even better than football” while a year 11 student declared it to be the best week of his life.  Although it could not be described as a restful week, or indeed, a holiday, I love running saltash.net’s ski trip because it gives me a great chance to see our young people at their best – challenged, working hard but really taking responsibility for themselves.”

Year 13 student, Imogen Bryce, added, “It was a fantastic, all round experience.  Skiing is hard work and a challenging sport but the sense of reward at the end of the week is immense.  We would all like to thank Mr and Mrs Feldwick, Mr Lee and Miss Newberry for organising the trip and making it such a great experience!”

Deputy Headteacher at saltash.net, Dan Buckley, received a warm welcome from teachers and school leaders in the annual BYTE conference which was this year held in the Brandon School District of Manitoba in Canada.  Nearly 1000 teachers attended in person with many more connecting through the live video stream to the more remote parts of the state.  Lots of schools were keen to learn from saltash.net about how the school is implementing SECRET skills and encouraging teachers to learn from each other’s practice across different departments and between Primary and Secondary.  The SECRET skills focus on such things as being a good Self Manager, Creative Thinker and Effective Participant in team situations.

Last week, two students from saltash.net community school in Cornwall were among a group of only 8 from across the UK to meet with Sir Richard Branson, and let him know exactly where they think technology in education needs to go.

The students are part of a new initiative in the ‘Generation Tech’ project, and make up the Digital Youth Council. The council meets regularly to discuss where they see technology in schools heading. Impressively, of those eight students, two come from the same school, saltash.net which is the only school to have two members selected.

The students will eventually meet with government ministers and offer their ‘Big Ask’, detailing what they need the government to do to ensure that as students they leave education with not just the knowledge, but also the key skills required to succeed in life.

After the success of previous meetings, at this most recent visit to London the students were joined by Richard himself to discuss their ideas and plans. The discussion was led by the students, and Amy Donovan and George Seymour from saltash.net made a huge contribution towards it.

“It was incredible – one of my proudest moments as an educator,” explained Scott Wieprecht. “Our students were front and centre of the discussion. Amy explained exactly what they were up to and the goal of the Youth Council. George then followed this up by explaining what they need to do to ensure their ideas were taken up in other schools, mentioning all the exciting projects on offer at saltash.net, and how last year he had even been flown to Barcelona to present to World Leaders as part of a Microsoft Forum!’

Sir Richard gave some ideas of his own, and told the students that their ideas were so good they should start their own business!

“The meeting with Mr Branson was quite time pressured, so not all students got to ask him questions. Deservedly, however, both our students had their questions selected as two of the three to be asked,” added Mr Wieprecht.

The opening question was from student, George Seymour, who wanted to know about his worst moment in business. “Unsurprisingly, the crash with Virgin Galactic was mentioned,” commented George. “What was interesting, was that Richard’s worst moment was on the day he launched Virgin Airlines, and his bank tried to close his account as they said he was mad. He only had the weekend to find a new bank or his whole empire was over. His key message was there is a fine line between success and failure.”

Amy followed straight after, with a slightly trickier ask. “I wanted to know whether he made the more eyebrow raising signings to his record label as a ‘tack tickle’ business move, or just to be rebellious,” she explained. “He didn’t quite commit to an answer but explained that in business you always have to take risks, and if you aren’t taking risks then you aren’t being challenging enough. I also told him I loved his Jacket – and he nearly gave it to me!”

The whole experience was incredible for the students, and only encouraged them more to continue their own school project, codename ‘Aspire’. “A lot of people commented on how lucky they have been to get this opportunity,” finished Mr Wieprecht. “I disagree – this isn’t luck; it is testament to the fact that if, like them, you put in hard work and have a goal, you will get the rewards. This is the fourth time in 12 months students from our school have been selected to meet national and international leaders or present on a Global Stage – that isn’t just luck.”

You are now able to make your choices for Enrichment Week 2015!

Please click here to make your selections online or to download the 2015 booklet

Year 7 students receiving their first Gold Commendation is always a very special occasion at saltash.net.

This year, Will Hunt and Lauren Davies shared the honour.  Will, who came to saltash.net from St Stephens Primary school and Lauren who previously attended Weston Mill Primary school, showed that they had made an excellent start at secondary school, contributing 100% effort to all of their learning experiences.