MAGPIE ISSUE 28.pub

PASSMORES NEWSLETTER
PASSMORES ACADEMY
MAGPIE
I SS U E
2 8
S U M ME R
T E R M
FACE TIME!
YEAR 11 REVISION: Use the Student Zone tab on the school’s website.
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2
Ed-Lines
It has been a busy term for all year groups, with Year 11s gearing up to
their exams and being really focused on success. This has allowed Year
10 to begin to try out being the top year in the school, as a squadron of
new prefects took their proud place at the helm. Many of them have
been involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award—full report next issue.
It has also been a typically charitable term, with students doing many
things for worthy causes. Our alumnist, Sophia Stephen, undertook a sky
dive (see Page 4) and Year 7 Abigail Kitson lopped most of her own hair
off. Her report is below.
Finally, it has been a political time too, with the school’s election bucking
the national trend by voting with a wide spread of interest between the
parties. If our students were representative we would be governed by a
Labour-led coalition now. The breadth of their voting was a triumph for
open-mindedness.
I donated 11 inches of my own hair to the Little Princess Trust. They make wigs for children who
have lost their hair to cancer or other illnesses. I got the idea from my friend who had done the
same thing and I thought it was a really great thing to do. I have got a certificate for this as well
so that I can remember it forever as it is definitely an experience I will never forget. When I had
gone to send it, the lady at the post office offered and paid the
price for my hair to be sent off.
COMPETITION
This was heart-touching. Also in
doing this I won a Jack Petchey
CORNER
award. This came as a surprise
Where was this picture
as I didn't do this to get noticed taken?
I just did it to help out a great
charity.
by Abigail Kitson
7 U8 AFK
Your Year 10 guest editors
this edition are Rebecca
Kitson (U8 AFK); Robyn
Shilling and Kirsty Shilling
(D2 JPL) & Holly Hudson
(D3 CDO).
Last time’s shot was
from the laptop locker.
Congratulations
to
Shay Duke 7 L10 JAS
who wins a book
Answers to Mr King voucher.
KEY DATES
1st June Term recommences; 5th June ASPIRE Day; 15th June Jamie Bone
Community Cup Week begins; 18th June Community Day; 19th June Sports
Day; 24th June Sports Presentation Evening; 25th June Year 11 Prom; 29th
June New Timetable begins; 7th July Production Matinee; 8th-10th July
School Production; 12th July Family Fun Day; 22nd July Last School Day.
Editor in
EdChief:
in chief: [email protected]
[email protected]
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3
Anti-Bullying Advert
In May a select group of our talented actors and
singers made a video with Barclays Bank, to
premiere at this summer’s ONE DIRECTION
concerts in the UK. The theme of their work was
anti-bullying.
“Making the anti-bullying video was a very
strange yet a fun experience. The first thing we
Some of our superstars
did was go to a recording studio in London. It was
warming up for their film
quite uncomfortable at first because it had a very
professional look, however, the people running it were very nice. We spent most of the
afternoon singing a few lines of the song they had written for the advert. It was strange
to see that most of the software used is actually that used at school too! Overall it was a
really enjoyable day, we learnt a lot of new things and had an amazing experience whilst
working.
The next day we were filming the advert. This involved a lot of repetition of the same
scene. However, it was still a very enjoyable experience. Everyone on set was very nice
and understanding. We filmed the scene from multiple angles. It was somewhat
intimidating because we were overwhelmed with the amount of staff working but it made
us all feel very important. We even got free food!
Overall it was an amazing two days. It was also most likely a once in a lifetime
opportunity: all of the students in the advert feel honoured to have been chosen to be a
part of such an amazing experience. We met a lot of impressive people and learnt a lot
about the processes needed to make an advert.
by Jay Guyton 10 U7 DME
Back and Forth
As I write it has been a fantastic past
few months watching them develop into
independent revision “machines,” as
fear hardens into determination and
hard work fires ambition in the white
heat of its burn.
One of the oddest things is that when
Year 11 get to the end of their school
journey with us, despite the farewell
being sad, it also feels right. They are
ready to spread their wings and take the
world on its own terms following their We have had the Hollywood Night—a
time with us.
great Prom warm up in February and the
alumni show High School Musical 2
(pictured; another box office sell-out),
which has shown that goodbye isn’t
always forever.
We wish our Year 11s the very best for
their next steps. Go boldly, as Gene
Roddenberry should have said!
Want to write for the Magpie—submit material to Mr King.
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Alumn-I in the Sky!
High-flying alumnist, Sophia Stephen, showed what she was
made of with a stunning charity sky-dive recently.
"Ahhhh!" my friend screams as her and her instructor are thrown out of the plane
3 miles above the earth. I laugh as my instructor shuffles us forward so that I'm
hanging off the edge of aircraft. Before I have a chance to admire the view we're
tumbling towards the earth at 120mph. The world is spinning and the clouds
looking like cotton below us, the sky has never been so clear.
“After 50 seconds of free-falling we slow dramatically as the parachute is pulled.
A chance to take in the view, although still above the cloud bank - I can see for
miles. I couldn't stop laughing: it felt so free.
“Once my ears adjust my instructor lets me
take hold of the parachute while we steer
towards our landing area. Once below the
cloud bank the wind throws us around and we
realise we can't land where we need to. The
harness holds me against my instructor like a
pet being picked up by their stomach, letting
their limbs hang.
“Once we reach the (closer) landing spot we
spin around to a halt and our feet are on the
ground again.
"HI5!" he shouts as we throw our hands
together to celebrate my first but not last skydive.”
To donate to St Clare hospice, if you haven't
already, please do here:
www.justgiving.com/sophia-stephen
Passmores in Wonderland
Alice would have been happy in Passmores this term,
as the school was transformed into a wonderland to
celebrate World Book Day. With our theme based
around the children's classic, bunny-eared staff served
tea and cakes to students and played party games. In
PE students learnt croquet in a nod to the English
country lawn activity of the novel in question. All in all,
a great fun day celebrating reading.
A little expense, a regular draw, a good cause...join the 100 Club — [email protected]
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5
A Week in The Economist
Guest
editor
Holly
Hudson
took
an
amazing
opportunity
for
her
work
experience, as the view
from
her
office
demonstrates!
“For my Year 10 work
experience I was lucky
enough to have the
opportunity
of
spending it at The
Economist magazine in
London for one week.
“The Economist is a
A lovely view over the capital
weekly
international
news and business
publication that is widely known for its funny, witty and eye-opening covers. I am
interested in graphic design so I was on the graphics level (11th Floor) for most of the week
where the cover designs are created, illustrations are drawn and illustrators are
commissioned.
“On the Monday, I took part in three meetings; the first was in the boardroom on the very
top floor where journalist and reporters met to discuss what would be written about that
week. Colleagues contribute on how to create the best writing and what not to include
etc. Each floor is for a different topic, for example The Americas, Britain, Science and
Technology, Books and Art are all on different floors with people allocated to each one.
“After this I went into the Head Editor’s office to discuss that week’s cover. There was an
array of developments for the cover because they went through many stages before
ending at one that is suitable and understandable. That week’s title was ‘The Whole
World’s going to University’ and depicted hundreds of people (and dogs) going to
university.
“My highlight of the whole week was doing the late shift (1pm-12pm) and meeting three
illustrators who come in every week to draw for the newspaper. At the start of the day
they were researching and drawing pencil outlines and by the end of the day they were
finishing off their watercolours or drying it off. It was interesting seeing how they produce
an illustration that is funny but completely relevant to the articles. By the end of the week I
had learnt about the world of work and had designed some of the pages going in the
newspaper that was then printed all over the world. I think it is great to say that people
like President Obama have read pages that I had seen before.”
http://passmorespopstar.weebly.com/
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Technology Celebration
“On Wednesday 22nd April, students,
staff and parents attended the
t e c h n o l o g y
evening,
which
was filled with
P a s s m o r e s
students’
work.
They had work
from hand-carved
clay
masks
to
beautifully hand-made dresses. The work was
absolutely spectacular and all the students really
outshone themselves.
“Another truly amazing part of the evening, was the
fashion show. GCSE students from Years 9 - 11 wore
and showed off their made garments. Year 9s made
waistcoats on the theme of the circus, Year 10s made
pencil skirts in the style of Vivienne Westwood and
were allowed to rip and re-design the skirts
accordingly, and Year 11s made stunning dresses to
the theme of Frozen. One of the Year 11s even made a
blue jacket which was particularly fantastic.
“The evening went perfectly and awards we given to
some of the best students who made the most
impressive products. There were awards for 'Best in'
each subject but even though only one student could
win, all deserved to and made outstanding projects
and coursework.
“I hope the future GCSE technology students know
how high the bar is set because there is some tough
work to beat!”by Robyn Shilling
TOP: The foyer is abuzz;
FAR RIGHT: Amazing artwork;
NEAR RIGHT:
Those coveted awards.
#passmorespopstar
Page 7
Social-List
This edition’s social media round-up
focuses upon our sporting successes!
Passmores Celebrates
World Book Day … in PE!
Our Year 8 girls celebrated World Book Day
by playing Croquet! The Alice in
Wonderland themed game was a big hit
with the girls who really enjoyed the game,
as you will see from the picture:
had a great opportunity to score within 20
minutes to take the lead, however, the
opposition were strong and they equalised
to make the score at half time 1-1.
Whilst playing in the second half, I
unfortunately got hit in the face with the
ball and had a very bad nose bleed. Whilst
everyone was crowding over me the
opposition went straight past everyone and
scored the last goal. This made the final
score 1-2.
We were all gutted as a team that we didn’t
get the win but we are now more
determined then ever to bounce back next
year”.
Girls football is on Tuesdays after school 4.15-5.00pm.
Interview with a Sports Captain
Essex Schools Indoor Cricket Cup
India Friend talks to Evie Breen about being a part of
the girls football team at Passmores.
Passmores played a 3 match indoor series
against Stewards in the pool stages of the
Essex Cup. The boys were successful in all
three fixtures, with strong performances
from Reece Galvin with the bat, and Paddy
Jackson with the ball. The cup run sadly
came to an end in a tight match where
three runs separated the two teams. The
boys should be raring to go for the outdoor
cricket season. Watch this space!
India is a key player of the team, playing up
front in the striker position, and although
they are now out of the Essex cup, she is
very hopeful that next year they will take
the title! India gives an overview of their
semi-final defeat.
“We started really well in the first half.
I
https://passmorespedept.wordpress.com/
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Follow us online
http://www.passmoresacademy.com
Hi-Tec High
Our annual display of technology work from across the disciplines
was augmented by work from BTEC and GCSE Art in May, as
students from Years 9 and 11 paraded the results of their hard work
as they reached the end of their qualification...more pictures online.
Red Nose Day Celebrations
Passmores were funny for money in March to support Comic
Relief as students and staff donned bright red apparel to raise
money for the good causes being supported....read more online.
The P Factor
Students proved they had the P factor in March
with P standing for power, performance and
Passmores, as they stormed the stage for our
Spring Showcase...read about all year groups
online.
Pupils help police and PCC to get the message out
STUDENTS have been doing their bit to help keep fellow
residents safe by signing them up to the new Essex
Community Messaging (ECM) system. Read more on:
http://www.essex.pcc.police.uk/2015/03/pupils-help-policeand-pcc-to-get-the-message-out/
Next Issue
The Year in Review
The JBCC
Community Day
Sports Day
Sunshine!
E-lectrify your Learning: www.passmoresacademy.com/198/student-zone