Summer 2014 - Wilmington Academy

N E W S L E T T E R
Summer 2014
Mrs Trusler, Mr Gore and Mr Devlin
receive the SE Regional Pupil Premium
Award from the Deputy Prime Minister
Nick Clegg
Mrs Trusler, Mr Gore and Mr Devlin receive the SE
Regional Pupil Premium Award from the Deputy
Prime Minister
Nick Clegg at an
awards ceremony
in London on the
25th June 2014.
“We are extremely proud to accept this award on
behalf of everyone at Wilmington Academy”
Official Opening Ceremony 8th July 2014 of Wilmington Academy
Wilmington Academy was delighted to welcome Dominic
Herrington, Regional Schools Commissioner, and Sir Geoffrey
Leigh to the official opening of its impressive new buildings.
Other guests included the Mayor of Dartford, Mr Avtar
Sandhu, Parish Councillor Anne Allen MBE as well as head
teachers and governors from local schools and academies.
Wilmington Academy, part of the Leigh Academies Trust, has
undergone a remarkable transformation over the past four
years and is now the top performing non-grammar school in
Kent. We believe the £14m re-build, funded by the DfE, will
contribute enormously to the maintenance of excellence for
the lasting benefit and success of many future generations of the students at the academy.
T. Trusler
Students Independent Learning in Science
The students have been showing off their practical skills in Science this week in order to attain the highest
possible practical grade, in advance of their KS3 Science Exams.
Students in Year 8 Apollo and Minerva classes were observed as being “Outstanding Independent Learners” as
they made slime; investigating the cross links between polymer chains and produced rainbow tubes; to show
how acids and alkalis react across the pH scale.
“This is the best thing I’ve done all year”
“It was disgusting but the lesson was
fantastic and every student was full engaged”
“I loved this practical”
The results were fantastic. “I had a knack
for this practical. I helped to teach my peers
how to complete it”
L. Horton
Y9 GCSE Law & Citizenship Visit – Houses of Parliament
As part of their GCSE studies,Year 9 Law and
Citizenship students were sponsored by local MP
Gareth Johnson to visit the Houses of Parliament, the
home of democracy in the United Kingdom.
Students were given a guided tour of the Houses of
Parliament, which included the history of the building
and how it is used to make laws that affect them and
others in the United Kingdom.
Students saw working MPs including Zac Goldsmith
and the current speaker of the House of Commons,
John Bercow; they walked in the steps of the Queen
and even marvelled at the gold leaf panelling in the
House of Lords. Students even had the opportunity
to see how the House of Commons is officially
opened for Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesdays. Both the Law and Citizenship courses require
students to have knowledge about how laws are made within the UK and the role, which both Houses of
Parliament play within that process. Their visit to the Houses of Parliament was a fantastic way of bringing
their academic knowledge to life.
L. Evans & S. Stevens
Bath and Bristol Trip
This year we had so many Year 7 students interested in the Bath and Bristol experience that we had to book a
second trip.
The numbers enabled us to split the group equally and have a separate Apollo and Minerva trip. All students
thoroughly enjoyed themselves and returned to Wilmington exhausted.... as did the staff. Here are two brief
accounts from a few students who participated.
T. Salih
We had an excellent time on the trip. Even though the trip was quite short
every day gave us new experiences with a lot to see and do. Not only did
we see another side to our fellow pupils but our teachers as well; they had
as much fun as we did!!
From venturing into ‘haunted’ caves to learning about the astonishing world
of the Romans and interacting with the ways of science, we did everything,
including being scared upon the SS Great Britain!!
On the trip although we were always in the safe hands of our teachers, we had the freedom to roam around
and explore the beautiful scenery and architecture.
Overall, the trip to Bath and Bristol was an unforgettable experience for us all.
Charlotte Crockford, Elise Grigg and Isabel Ray (Minerva)
Cross Trust Numeracy Challenge
The Cross Trust Numeracy Challenge took place at Wilmington Academy with both the Leigh and Longfield
Academies in attendance. Each academy entered 15 key stage 3 students in five teams of three. Pupils solved
16 logical maths problems and scored points every time they reached a correct solution.
The winners were Wilmington Academy and joint second place were Leigh Academy and Longfield Academy.
K. Larner
District Sports Day
On 24th June, Mr Slater and Miss Collinson took a group of Year 8, 9 and 10 students to the Annual District
Sports event at the Dartford Harriers track. The students competed in a range of track and field athletic
events against other schools in the district and the Wilmington Academy pupils were excellent, showing great
enthusiasm and effort to succeed in their events. Special mentions go to:
• Bill Woledge Year 10 for winning the Javelin and coming 3rd in the 1500m
• Toni West Year 8 for coming 2nd in the 1500m and 3rd in the 800m
• Kanan Fitton Year 8 for coming 3rd in the 800m
• Ollie Anderson Year 8 for coming 4th in the 200m final
• Alex Gillingwater Year 8 for coming 5th in the 100m final
• The Year 8 Boys 4x100m relay team for making the final as well
Overall, an excellent day for all involved. The PE department and the School are very proud of all of the
students.
Extra-Curricular Clubs Round Up
The pupils of Wilmington Academy have showed excellent commitment to the extra-curricular clubs offered
at lunchtime and after school this year. Girls sport is on the rise with a great turn out for Miss Stewart’s
trampolining club on a Tuesday night.
Girls football has been extremely successful with Rosie Nobbs. Sophie Lawson and Rebecca Flitton making
the Dartford FC team after successful trials. Boys football was once again extremely popular, with Year 8 boys
being a stand out team this year. Now that the Sports Hall has been opened, the pupils have engaged well in
the lunchtime activities offered to them with keen participants in table tennis and volleyball. Looking forward
to carrying on the success for all teams in all sports next year!
L. Collinson
World Language Day
On Monday 23rd June, 30 students went to Medway
University to celebrate languages with many other schools
from Kent. The day started with a fantastic Spanish drama
performance where 175 students enjoyed learning in a fun
and interactive way. After that the students were given the
opportunity to take part in a variety of workshops designed
to encourage them to practise the languages they have been
learning. Everyone had also the chance to try a new language
and experience different cultures.
Lunchtime enabled students to ask for maps, pens and books
in a foreign language.
2014 was the tenth anniversary of the World Language Day
and on this occasion Wilmington Academy was lucky enough
to win two prizes in the world food competition. Well done
Temi for winning the bread competition and Mufidah and
Bonnie for winning the cheese one!
“I really enjoyed going to Medway University, and am thinking
of doing languages at college” Stavan Holkar
“ I enjoyed the language day very much. There was lots of enthusiasm everywhere you stepped I learned lots
and I would definitely go again!” Harman Padda Year 8 Minerva
H. Helali
Wilmington Year 10s go Ballistic in Maths
On Thursday 3rd July the Maths Faculty were pleased to welcome Grahame
Baker, Principal Lecturer in Engineering at Greenwich University, to deliver
a session on applied maths to a selection of Y10 students.
The session was arranged as part of the University’s outreach programme,
which aims to make links with Kent Schools to help encourage students to
consider further study and / or careers in the field of Engineering. Nearly
40 of our most talented Y10 G&T students who achieved their GCSE an
impressive 2 years early, were invited to the session, which started with
a look at geometry and the art of remote measurement, namely using
Pythagoras for measuring buildings and mountains.
This was then followed by a talk outlining the history of ballistics and the
maths of rocketry by showing how understanding the trebuchet allowed us
to go to the moon, and included a demonstration of a working small-scale
trebauchet model. Mr Baker also bought in a model Mamod steam engine
to demonstrate the link between Maths and the industrial revolution, via
the evolution of rail travel.
As well as giving the students an understanding of applied maths in practise, the session also gave them the
opportunity to discuss careers in engineering and what courses would be suitable for future study. We look
forward to working with Mr Baker and his colleagues again in the future.
N. DiRicci
Wilmington Academy Sports Day 2014
On the 12 & 13th June,
Wilmington Academy hosted
the annual Apollo and Minerva
Sports Day at Dartford Harriers
Athletics Track.
Thanks to the great weather and
fantastic attitude of our pupils the
event was a huge success.
Special mention goes to Toni
West, Ryan Nalder, Leo Msipa and Nicole Munn who won the sports man and sports woman awards for their
respective colleges.
A big thank you to everyone who took part, all staff that helped out on the day, and the 6th form students
who not only helped officiate but also pushed the PE team to their limits in the staff versus students relay!
M. Slater
Year 11 Prom
This year’s Leavers’ Prom was held at the Woodlands in Swanley
and proved to be a huge success. The Year 11 girls looked
amazing with dresses in an array of colours and the boys were
extremely smart in their suits and tuxedos. A wonderful evening
was had by all the students. There was a great atmosphere as the
Year 11s danced the night away. As the evening drew to close
there were a few tears as this would be the last time they would
be together as a year group. Everybody agreed they all had a
wonderful night. My thanks go to all the staff that supported and attended the
event.
S. Stevens
Readathon
This term we ran our successful whole academy reading competition, ‘Readathon’. Students had two weeks to
read as many books as possible and could gain points for each page they read. The tutor group with the most
points at the end of the fortnight was crowned winner for 2014. Congratulations to 3rd place winner A14, 2nd
place winner M7, and the champions M4, who won £250 to spend on a day of fun and adventure!
Accelerated Reader Millionaires
Reading one million words in a year is quite an achievement, and 15 of our students now hold that title.
Congratulations to our new millionaires Jessica Crafter (M13), Callum Burke (A16), Owen Barnes (M10), Rhea
Uppal (|M4), Ellie Kemp (M6), William Denman (M11), and Tait Lamb (A6). Special mention goes to Jake Roake
(A14), and Beth Carter-Hart (M13), who are Double Millionaires, as well as Maria Kennett (A1) who read over
four million words this year and is the academy’s first Quadruple Millionaire!
N. Marken
Wilmington Academy Students meet HRH Princess Anne and Lord Nash
HRH Princess Anne
met Mr Burke, Mr
McKenzie (Head
Chef – Cucina) and
Wilmington students
at the South of
England Agriculture
Show where we were
showcasing our “Fork
to Fork” initiative,
which involves the
produce grown by our
students being used in
the food served in our
restaurant.
Also at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, Wilmington Academy students were the face of the Royal
Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Appeal. In total 10 students had the opportunity to attend the show. Lord
Nash came by the Miracle Gro stand and our students were able to enlighten him about what they do here at
Wilmington. We were rewarded for our efforts with another silver medal.
L. Burke
Army Reserves – Look at Life
Year 12 students spent a week at the Army Reserves in Bexleyheath as part of
the Year 12 work experience programme. They were involved in a variety of
activities to develop their employability attributes of: leadership, professional
effectiveness, effective intelligence, judgment, management, initiative, reliability,
powers of communication, team spirit, subordinate development, physical
stamina, courage and values.
All the students have had a very enjoyable time and some have earned
themselves A- and B+ grades for these attributes. Raul Baluteanu gained a
special award for the most improved during the week.
I would personally like to thank Nigel Scobie of the Army reserves for his organisation of this event and Lesley
Elson for organising the initial assembly with the Army Reserves for the
whole of year 12 back in February, which led to this amazing opportunity.
The students have shown maturity and resilience during the week and have
been superb ambassadors for the academy.
Well done to Raul Baluteanu, Stephen Douglas, Elly Ward, Macaulay Rickard,
Christopher Ball and Tom Nobbs, who went from 30th June – 4th July and
Mitchell Philpott, Lewis Drew, Ryan jones, Daniel Marchant, Ralph Danuco
and Nick Rowe who went from 7th – 11th July.
T. Murphy
Year 12 Induction Week
The year 12 induction week was a huge success with students participating in lots of lessons, team building
experiences and a trip out to University. The beginning of the week saw all students arriving smartly dressed
and experiencing taster lessons which they have chosen for the forthcoming years of study.
On Thursday we took two coaches of students to The University of Kent for a Taster Day where we were
met by the Student Ambassadors. The students took part in lessons on politics where they debated the EU
Referendum, wrote a story in creative writing and were eye witnesses on a murder case in psychology. The
students were very enthusiastic in all of the lessons and there was positive feed-back from the Ambassadors
who led the day.
Friday saw the Army arriving on site setting up challenges around the school field. The students had to work as
a team to complete the challenges set, not working as a team meant failure. The afternoon ended with a ‘Tug of
War’ with Team 3 coming out as overall winners.
Well done to everyone for a fantastic week, enjoy your holidays and we look forward to seeing you all on
GCSE results day which will be on Thursday 21st August.
J. Murty
Key Dates
Friday 18th July 2014
Thursday 14th August 2014
Thursday 21st August 2014
Monday 1st September 2014
Tuesday 2nd September 2014
Tuesday 23rd September 2014
Wednesday 1st - Friday 3rd October 2014
End of school year – 1pm finish
A Level results (see website for details)
GCSE results
Year 7 & Post16 students return
All students to return
Open Evening 5pm – 8pm
Open Morning Tours
MINERVA SPOTLIGHT
As the end of the academic year 2013-2014 approaches, I feel it is important
to reflect on the successes of Minerva College. In September 2013, Minerva
had a new structure consisting of Head of College, an Assistant Principal and
two new student Service Managers who have consistently demonstrated
a desire and commitment to make the college a safe, purposeful learning
environment. I can confidently say that standards in Minerva have
significantly improved across the board from academic achievements, student
attitudes and attendance to name a few areas. I want to personally thank the
form tutors and teaching staff for both, enforcing and embedding our high expectations throughout the
year. A big thank you to the administration and site team for all their hard work.
Ultimately credit needs to go to the students in Minerva for pursuing their dreams and aspirations
by working hard to achieve their potential and working effectively together as a community of young
people.
Congratulations to all the year 11s for completing their exams and finalising their days as a Key stage 4
student. I look forward to celebrating outstanding results with the students in August.
Year 8 students have completed their options and after the summer break should look forward to a
bespoke timetable complete with their chosen subjects and begin their pathways to their examinations.
A big congratulations to all of the Year 7’s who have settled into Minerva and developed their core
skills to flourish in Year 8.
I look forward to welcoming our new cohort of students in September from our neighbouring primary
schools and I am very positive that our new Year 7’s will embrace the opportunities that Wilmington
Academy has to offer and be a credit to the Academy.
I would like to thank parents/carers and other stakeholders for all of their support throughout the year
and wish you an enjoyable and relaxing break.
M. Gore, Head of College
Summer 2014
What a year 2013-2014 has been… it seems like just a few weeks ago that we started the academic
year and yet the environment we started in feels like a distant memory.
The highlight for me this year has been the way that Minerva has come together as a community,
and although this is partly due to the physical environment I know it is more than that. I am very
proud of all of our students and how well they have coped with a year, which has seen many changes.
Academically we are on track to achieve good results and progress for all year groups is encouraging.
There have been many opportunities for extra curricular activities and an increased number of students
have been engaged with the clubs and trips. As the SMSC coordinator for the academy I continue
to be impressed with the spiritual, moral, social and cultural developments of our students and the
impact this is having on their personal development. An area where this is really apparent is in the
Minerva assemblies, which students are actively involved in planning and delivering. The increasing
self-confidence and awareness of the world around us, which has been demonstrated weekly is very
gratifying.
I look forward to us building on the success of this year and sharing excellent result with our Year 11
students in August.
Finally, to all the students ‘Keep up the good work and enjoy and well-earned rest” and to all parents/
carers ‘Thank you for your continued support”.
T Salih
It has been a fantastic year getting to know the Minerva students. We have enjoyed various activities
with them including sports day where our students excelled, also tutor- led assemblies. We look
forward to the new term and hearing about their varied holidays and adventures during the summer.
S. Duff & T. Penkert
AP☼LLO SPOTLIGHT
What an amazing year! It seems like only yesterday that we were welcoming our new Year
7’s into Apollo. This year has been an exciting time for the Academy, from celebrating the
excellent results of last summer, to the move into the new buildings and the culmination of the year
with Project Based Learning week. There is no such thing as an ordinary day at Wilmington!
We, like you, believe that high standards are essential if our students are going to be successful
academically and we constantly impart the message to the students that ‘Anything is possible’. It
has been a pleasure to see all year groups respond to this challenge. A particular source of pride in
Apollo is our assemblies, most of which are organised and delivered by the students themselves. One
of the most common fears or phobias is the fear of public speaking. You would never believe this was
true when you see students from Year 7 through to Year 11 speak to a peer audience of over 350
students with confidence and clarity.
As we approach the end of this academic year, it is a good time to reflect on the many achievements
and numerous events at Wilmington. It is huge credit to the staff that we have been able to deliver
such a wide and varied programme of activities and the levels of participation from the students
has been excellent. Perhaps, the most recent example of this is the Apollo Sports Day, where the
atmosphere was superb. For a change we were treated to sunshine (a welcome from last year!) and
we had a wonderful day. The races and athletic events were keenly contested and it was a pleasure to
see how encouraging and supportive the students were.
I would also like to say a huge well done to all of the students that have attended the revision and
study support sessions that have taken place after-school, on Saturdays and during school holidays. I
am sure that your hard work will be rewarded in the summer. To all of our students who are going
to be taking exams next year, I would like to encourage you to make time in your schedules for next
year. Regular attendance at
revision sessions can make
an important contribution to
your future success.
Looking forward to
September, I would like to
wish you all a relaxing and
enjoyable summer break
and thank you for your
support over the past twelve
months. With the hardworking staff team we have
and the positive attitude to
the learning of our students,
I am sure that Wilmington
Academy will continue to go
from strength-to-strength.
P. Devlin, Head of College
Remarkable Success at Wilmington Academy
We have achieved a number of remarkable successes this year and it was a great pleasure to
accompany our students to the Chelsea Flower Show and to The South of England Show where they
met the Princess Royal.
Her Royal Highness showed great interest in the links between our students and the Academy Chef.
Lord Nash was pleased to meet our students at the Chelsea Flower Show and took a great interest in
the Fork to Fork Initiative.
I would like to commend those students that I have met in the after-school and weekend booster
classes. I am looking forward to seeing their hard work recognised in the August exam results.
B. Dedross
A Great Time for Apollo
This year has been an exciting year for Apollo.
Attendance is always one of the schools main priorities and we are pleased that this year we have
improved our attendance to over 94%, which is in line with the national average. We have worked
extremely hard this year with our students to improve their attendance and we would like to
congratulate everyone for their hard work in helping to achieve this.
Achieving 100% attendance is a very challenging target, however in Apollo we have a number of
students who have accomplished this and we would like to celebrate their success.
Congratulations to;
Ajo Abraham A9, Christopher Ades A8, Nicholas Denny A15, Isabel Firmin A6, Stavan Holkar A2,
Emily Knight A16, Subishan Krishnakumar A12, Joshua Majek A6, Jonathan Malt A12, Matthew Malt
A12, Zack McLean A8, Hannah Richardson A8, Ben Stotesbury A14, Luke Tanner A7, Evangelina
Valler A11, Ben Webb A12, Callum Wilkins A12, Adam Williams A1
We have celebrated huge success across the small school with students taking part in a variety of
different activities, including the Christmas tea party for the local community, the school production
“Bugsy Malone” and a variety of different charity events.
Sports Day was another success for Apollo, with lots of students taking part in different events. It
was lovely to see so many parents/carers supporting the school and their children by joining us as
spectators. The medal ceremony was also a pleasure, it was great to see so many of our students get
involved and supporting each other’s achievement. With students cheering on all participants it was
clear that Apollo has a great team spirit.
It was lovely to attend the year 11 Prom this term. The Year 11’s have been working so hard on
preparing for their final GCSE exams, that it was fantastic to be able to join them in celebrating their
last five years at Wilmington Academy. We wish them good luck and all the best in the future.
We would like to wish you all an enjoyable and restful summer break and we will see you all in
September.
M. McLean & S. Johnson
Wilmington Academy
Common Lane, Wilmington, Dartford, Kent DA2 7DR
01322 272 111 | www.wilmingtonacademy.org.uk
All text and images © Wilmington Academy 2014
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