Newsletter 204 version2.pub

GOVERNOR TRAINING DAY
Last Saturday, the governors of Lord Grey met together in the Conference
Facility in the Languages Centre for their annual training. The session was ably
conducted by Richard Fawcett, a renowned Educational Consultant and
ex-SHA president, who led governors through a digest of their roles and
responsibilities. Sue English, the Clerk to the Governors, who also leads the
Local Authority Governor Support Team acted in a supporting role, ensuring
governors were familiar with training and development opportunities provided
in Milton Keynes.
THE LORD GREY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
A weekly newsletter for students, parents, staff, governors and friends of the school.
No. 204 Friday 27th January 2006
This newsletter will be distributed each Friday and will be published on www.lordgrey.org.uk.
Staff, students, parents or governors are welcome to contribute items of news or information.
These should reach Julie Stevens by 10.00am on Wednesday.
Roy Warner, Chair of Governors, welcomed three new governors, Stella Bye,
Hilary Tzallas and Dave Butler to the governing body and Des Pavlou, gave a
Roy Warner, Richard Fawcett, Sue English and Des Pavlou enjoying the day
short presentation utilising the new technology in the Conference Facility,
ensuring that governors were all familiar with the past history of the school and also its future aspirations.
Governors were united in their view that the day was very worthwhile. They thoroughly enjoyed seeing the new Languages Centre,
and most of all, enjoyed the lovely lunch provided by Lord Grey Catering, John Hayter and his team. The next governing body
meeting is scheduled to take place on 21st February 2006 at 2.30pm.
Tim Jones, Governor
MRS ROALD DAHL VISITS LORD GREY
We were delighted to welcome Mrs Liccy Dahl to Lord Grey this
week. She was here to help us launch the Readathon for Year 7 and 8
students and as a lasting reminder of her visit, signed a copy of
The Roald Dahl Treasury for the Learning Resources Centre, as well
as donating signed copies of books, to be awarded as the literacy prize
at next year’s Presentation Evening.
Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
Excellence and Diversity
BRIGHTER OUTLOOK FOR
THE LEARNING SUPPORT TEAM
Catherine Russell, Head of Lower School; Carole Jones,
Head of Upper School; Linda Lennox, Assistant
Headteacher, and Bernadette Webb, Learning Support
Team Assistant have moved into a new suite of offices.
School Achievement Award
Mrs Dahl started her talk by telling students about Readathon, how it
had been set up by Brough Girling with Roald Dahl as its first patron.
Her involvement in Readathon continued after Roald’s death when she
set up The Roald Dahl Foundation. The Readathon is a core part of
the Foundation’s literacy programme. This national sponsored reading
event not only encourages children to read, but in recent years has
raised over one million pounds annually.
Des Pavlou with Liccy Dahl
The rooms provide a bright, well decorated working
environment close to Student Services and Reception and,
after a hectic couple of days moving, the team are well and
truly settled in and enjoying their new space.
The Learning Support Team working hard in their new surroundings
One great advantage is that we have a dedicated meeting room
where we can meet with parents, run mediation and multi-agency meetings. Our telephone and e-mail addresses remain the same.
Many thanks to Dick Deller, Business Manager, who worked hard to move us as soon as possible and with the minimum of disruption
and to the site team; Mark King and Dennis Whittle, who constructed our furniture in a very short space of time and to a professional
standard. We already feel as if we have been here for ever!
Linda Lennox, Assistant Headteacher
KEEPING THE SCHOOL CLEAN
KEELE UNIVERSITY SURVEYS
For a number of reasons, including increased numbers of
people on the school site, building work and the inclement
weather, there are areas of the school which are very muddy at
present.
Questionnaires have been sent out this week to the sample of
parents selected. We would be grateful if parents could return
survey booklets to the school Reception as soon as possible.
The field is out of bounds
and we are asking students
to be sensible and stay
away from the muddy
areas and keep to the paths.
The school is trying to help
and assist and two new
pathways have just been
completed. So please use
them and keep off the mud
and grass areas.
We are sure some parents
are not happy if their child
comes home with muddy
trousers. If any student
gets too muddy by not
following this advice they
will be sent to Student
Services to change into
spare clothes we keep in the lost property collection.
David Smith, Assistant Headteacher
Michele O’Donnell, Assistant Headteacher
Literacy was Roald Dahl’s great crusade and the Foundation supports
this with numerous projects throughout the UK. Grants help to improve literacy skills by funding specific
out-of-school literacy projects, including after-school youth clubs, events in residential homes, pre school
playgroups and also centres for homeless young people. The Foundation supports many varied projects, in
exactly the same way Roald Dahl did when he was alive, offering practical assistance to children and
families in three areas: neurology, haematology and literacy. Since its creation by Mrs Dahl in 1991, the
Foundation has donated over £4.5 million in grants.
Our students asked Mrs Dahl many questions, and found out a great deal about Roald and his way of
working. Mrs Dahl also told students about the new museum, The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre
at Great Missenden where Roald lived for 36 years, which sounds as if it is well worth visiting.
There are many interesting exhibitions and activities to see and participate in, such as;
Chocolate Decorating for Chocoholics, World Book Day Party, Story Telling with
Adam Guillian or a Giant Story Workshop with David James. To find out more visit
www.roalddahlmuseum.org or call 01494 892192 . The hours of opening are Tuesday to
Sunday, 10am - 4.30pm daily. It was a lovely morning, and a great way to encourage
students to participate in the Readathon. Mrs Dahl was delighted by our students and the
very intelligent questions that they asked. We would like to once again thank her for agreeing to visit us.
REMINDER
Isabella Coles, Librarian
There is a dedicated telephone number for parents/guardians to
advise the school if their child will be absent due to illness or
for any other reason. The telephone number is 01908 626167.
MEETING LICCY DAHL
When you telephone the student absence Hotline, please state
the name of the student, tutor group and the reasons for their
absence. If your child is absent for more than one day, then
please telephone this number daily until they return. Thank you
for your assistance.
Mrs Dahl came into Lord Grey School to speak to our Year 7 pupils. She prefers to be called Liccy. First she talked about
Readathon, and The Roald Dahl Foundation and then the Year 7s asked lots of questions about Roald Dahl and his books.
We already knew a bit about Roald Dahl, and everyone had read some of his books, but
we learnt a lot more thanks to Liccy. We heard about his childhood and his time in the
air force. Liccy also told us about his friend Wally Saunders, who helped him to build his
writing hut, and who was the person the BFG was based on. She also said that he used
to get back pains because he was so tall - he was 6ft. 6ins! It was lovely to meet
Liccy - you don’t meet someone like her every day!
Linda Lennox, Assistant Headteacher
Heather Spalding, 7L
Cut out and keep this card for future reference
Student Absence Hotline
01908 626167
If your child will be absent from school, ring
the Student Absence Hotline and leave
their name, tutor group and reason for absence.
Liccy Dahl with students from Year 7 who enjoyed her talk on Wednesday morning:
Ross Acland, 7D; Bethany Brent-Williams, 7G; Simranjit Dhesi, 7H; Lacey Griggs, 7K and Andre Murrell, 7D
Signed copy of The Roald Dahl Treasury by Mrs Liccy Dahl
RAISING MONEY FOR CHARITY THROUGH READATHON!
This year, for the first time, the Learning Resources Centre in conjunction with the English Faculty is
running a Readathon for Years 7 and 8. This will raise money for two children’s charities, the Roald
Dahl Foundation and CLIC Sargent. Readathon is a national sponsored read, which aims to raise a
million pounds every year for sick children. It works just like a sponsored walk or swim, except that
students read books in exchange for pledges of money.
The money raised is donated equally to CLIC Sargent and The Roald Dahl Foundation, who between
them spend it primarily helping children and young people in Britain suffering from cancer, Hodgkin’s
disease, leukaemia, epilepsy, blood disorders or acquired brain injury.
Parents can help…
•
Let children read whatever they choose. Readathon is for fun, it’s not homework or a chore.
•
If your child is not a keen reader, allow them to choose a magazine or comic, listen
to a story on a tape or draw a book-based picture.
•
Give them lots of encouragement and help them to find sponsors among family and friends.
Grandparents can be very useful!
Please remind your child of the Readathon code:
Stick to family and friends - do not approach strangers.
Students have been issued with an official Readathon sponsorship card. Money collected is to be brought into school to me clearly
marked in an envelope, with the sponsorship card. I will sign off the card and keep a record of the amount. House points will be
awarded to the students gaining the most sponsorship money collected.
The Readathon will continue through February half-term, and all money should be collected and brought into school in the week
beginning 20th February. Please do all you can to support this worthwhile event; not only will you be helping children suffering from
some horrific illnesses, but it will encourage students to get into the reading habit. So, a win, win situation all round.
Isabella Coles, Librarian
MALCOLM ROSE IN THE TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT
In last week’s TES Teacher Magazine an article regarding Malcolm Rose’s visit to Lord Grey was
published, combining fiction and science. (See our Newsletter 197).
During his visit to launch the 10th Annual Book Week, earlier this year, Philip Owens’ Year 9 students
were particularly interested to learn about forensic science as a career. Malcolm Rose,, an analytical
chemist and author of books, wore a blood spotted lab coat, the result of an accident he had supposedly
stopped to analyse on the way to Lord Grey, to talk about crime detection. A dead body was analysed,
DNA, the natural clothing fibres, the cough and sneeze, muddy shoeprints, hairs, skin and fingerprinting
were all clues to the corpse. Philip Owens considered theories of scientific error pointing out: “accounting
for error is integral to scientific investigation and method.” As one Year 9 student said: Malcolm’s books
are “dead good.”
Malcolm Rose in his lab coat covered in
blood splotches!
Malcolm has visited the school on many occasions as an author and friend, to enhance the reading
experiences for our students and review many of his books. His new series of books called “Traces” based
on a teenage forensic scientist called Malc, is proving to be a great success and the third book “Roll Call” is
now available.
We look forward to welcoming Malcolm to Lord Grey on many future occasions.
Isabella Coles, Librarian
The Performing Arts Faculty is having a
busy year.
Simon Armitage definitely stole the show with his witty, stand-up comedian skills. Innovative meanings were explored and the
inspirations behind each poem helped us to gain insight. A flavour to leave you with was John Agard's rendition of a hippo poem
which opened: “...my beautiful fat wife.”
I am confident the day will have boosted students' confidence to discuss and analyse poetry preparing them to tackle the GCSE
Literature paper. This was a really worthwhile visit that we will endeavour to arrange for next year too.
Hannah-Jayne Horne, Teacher of English
The PE department is continuing to
motivate students and develop their skills
both in the practical and theoretical
aspects of Physical Education.
MUSIC
The music department this week hosted
JockStock – a showcase for local talent
featur ing the band Terra pin
Trainstation, Firetype and Son of a
Gun. We are pleased to announce that
JockStock II will be hosted in May –
watch this space! The Music department
runs a wide variety of clubs and all are
welcome:
• MONDAY
Lunchtime: Senior Choir
• TUESDAY
Lunchtime: Beginners Guitar
• WEDNESDAY
Lunchtime: Girls’ Guitar/Junior Choir
After School: Orchestra
• THURSDAY
Lunchtime: Wind ensemble
Fantini Sixth Form Choir
After School: Calamity Jane Orchestra
• FRIDAY
Lunchtime: Keyboard Club
The JockStock Concert with 3 local
bands: Son of a Gun, Firetype and
Terrapin Trainstation, displaying
their talent
DRAMA
The Drama department is really going
places. We are very pleased to be one of
the key subjects in the new Humanities
Specialism status and look forward to
developing the drama talent within the
school. The cast is busy rehearsing for the
forthcoming musical, Calamity Jane.
Building on the success of last year’s
stylish Dr Faustus production, this show
will set new standards in school musical
performances and involves students from
across the year groups. The show will be
performed on 8th, 9th, 10th of March.
There are numerous drama clubs offered
to aspiring students:
•
TUESDAY
Lunchtime: Year7 and 8 in Drama Room
• WEDNESDAY
Lunchtime: Year 10 and 11 in the
Drama Room
• THURSDAY
Lunchtime: Year 9 in Drama Room
For more details please speak to
Amanda Dickinson, Treley Cope or
Jo McBride, Head of Drama.
Year 11 GCSE students are invited to
attend revision sessions on Monday and
Friday lunchtimes in M08 to enhance their
theoretical knowledge and fully prepare
for the GCSE examination. See
Andrew Soper, Physical Education
Teacher or Faye Causer, Sports
Co-ordinator, for more details.
Through our dedicated SSCO programme,
we are working closely with our primary
schools to develop the sporting talent
destined for Lord Grey. Extra Rugby and
Hockey coaching are being offered to young
students destined for the school.
• BOYS FOOTBALL
Commiserations to the Year 10 Football
team who were defeated by St Paul’s in the
quarter finals of the County Cup. Good
luck to the Year 7 boys football team, who
play their County Cup quarter final match
against Chesham on Monday 6th February.
The Year 9 football team also have their
quarter final match against John Collet on
22nd February. Team training for Year 7, 8
and 9 is on Thursdays after school on the
Astroturf.
For more details please speak to
Shaun Humphries, Head of Music;
Arabella Ramsey or Michelle Saracino,
Music Teachers.
POETRY LIVE IN MILTON KEYNES
Sophie Tiller, Jo D'Amore and myself escorted thirty Year 11 students to Poetry Live last Tuesday at Milton
Keynes Theatre. We arrived early and our students were impeccably behaved during the long wait. Students
perused the programme and were pleased to see John Agard,, (who was voted a favourite by the boys),
Carol Ann Duffy, Gillian Clarke and Simon Armitage would be appearing to read their own poetry. Pens and
paper to the ready, we were waiting to capture their every word….
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
• BOYS BASKETBALL
Good luck to the Year 7 boys who play in
the Milton Keynes Schools Basketball
Tournament on the 30th January. Year 7 and
8 Basketball training is on Mondays, after
school in the Sports Hall.
MEDIA
PSHE
One of the most innovative developments
this year has been the delivery of PSHE
through Drama in Year 7. This provides
an excellent opportunity for students to
learn about PSHE issues using drama
techniques. PSHE has also been delivered
across the school and students have
participated in Sex Education week and a
Protective Behaviours talk from staff at
Woodhill Prison.
Media continues to be a growth area for the
faculty with our Year 10, 11, 12 and 13
groups undertaking a range of practical
projects.
Following the success of the YMCA pop
video last year (which many of our
students saw in the Easter assembly), our
students are busy capturing and editing
video footage – the best of which will be
shown in future assemblies. Watch out for
the next pop video premiere!
Jo Trevenna, Head of Performing Arts
We look forward to the forthcoming
Anti-Bullying week and Healthy Living
week. If you would like any more
information on these events,
please contact Amanda Dickinson,
Teacher in Charge of PSHE.