This issue - Southfield School

ISSUE
05
April
2014
This issue
Dates for your diary

1 Head’s welcome
Tues 22 April
Teacher Training Day

2 WE Day UK
Wed 23 April
Term 5 Begins

3 Faculty Focus
Thur 8 May
4 Parent Portal
Spring Dance Show

Mon 12 May
Year 10 Parent’s Evening

Tues 20 May
Paris Trip Info Evening

Senior Citizen Tea Dance
Dear Parents,
This spring edition of Southfield News is yet again
brimming with examples of the wonderful things that
are going on at Southfield. It has been a privilege to
attend all of the events that have happened this term,
including the Young Lions Awards evening which
celebrated our students’ commitment to volunteering
and to the wider community. Indeed, I would challenge
any school to match the positive attitude of our
students and the opportunities available to them.
As we are now over half way through the school
year, I am already beginning to review the strategies that we have put in
place since I was appointed, to ensure that they are having a positive effect
on outcomes for our students. I am very pleased with the progress that we
have made so far and I was delighted to receive a letter last week from
Michael Claddingbowl, Director for Schools at OFSTED, praising the good
leadership and management of the school, highlighting that we have “the
right leaders in place” to support us in improving the school. He also
stated that the “regular checking of teaching, through drawing together of
evidence from students’ books and visiting lessons, is having a positive
impact on students’ achievements. This new approach is already leading to
improvements in the curriculum and the quality of teaching, which is
reflected by the better attitudes to learning demonstrated by students.”
This recognition of the good work that we are doing has of course been
well received and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all parents
and carers for their continued support and to wish all of our students
preparing for exams next term the very best of luck.
I wish you all a very happy Easter break.
Thur 17 July
Best wishes
Mon 2 June
Term 6 Begins

Mon 9 June
Yr 12 Career Day

Wed 18 June
Yr 10 Meningitis Vacc’s

Fri 27 June
Sixth Form Prom

July 7 - 11
Paris Residential

July 7 - 11
Yr 10 Work Experience

July 14 - 18
Yr 12 Work Experience

Tue 15 July
Yr 7 Boulogne Trip

Wed 16 July
Yr 7 Boulogne Trip


Wed 16 July
Responsible Babysitting

County Badminton
Winners
After recently competing at the Winter
County School Games and coming first
in their badminton tournament our
badminton players then went through to
the regionals where they represented
Northamptonshire at the Center Parcs
National Schools Championships.
Our KS4 girls were very pleased to win
the event after winning all three of their
matches.
Well done to the team!
Young Enterprise Tenner
Group Success
Tenner Young Enterprise Team,
“Cakes n Shakes” were thrilled with
their prizes for winning the 15-19 years
Sales Pitch Competition.
They each received a copy of The
Ultimate Student Cookbook.
Well done girls!
Fri 18 July
Yr 10 Career Day

We are thrilled that Southfield School for Girls has been announced as “Talk Out Loud” School of the Year. This award is for the school that
has demonstrated how it has worked towards the key objectives of: 1. Increasing mental health awareness, drawing attention to the stigma
and discrimination experienced by young people with mental health needs and challenging the negative perceptions of mental health needs.
2. Raising awareness amongst their students about mental health issues, stigma and where they can access help and support.
Fri 23 May
End of Term 5

Talk Out Loud School of the Year 2014!
Fri 18 July
Mrs Julie Goswell
Headteacher
Yr 7-9 Sports Day

Wed 23 July
End of Term 6
Southfield School
Challenge : Commitment : Choice
www.southfieldsch.co.uk
Sixth Form Council
Fundraising
On Friday 21st March we held a Mufti Day for Sport Relief and The British Heart Foundation. Over £900 was raised and this will be split
between the two charities. Many thanks to everyone who contributed.
SCHOOL COUNCIL CHANGE OVER
Through various fundraising events
the current Sixth Form Council have
raised enough money for four picnic
benches.
These have been officially donated
to the school and students are
already enjoying them during break
and lunchtimes.
Thank you to everyone who helped
with the fundraising.
Eisteddfod
Our students thoroughly enjoyed
attending this year’s Kettering and
District Eisteddfod, an annual
celebration of the arts. Both of our
choirs received a First Place, along
with our Brass Group and Woodwind
Ensemble who each received a First
too.
Well done to everyone involved!
On Monday 10th March, Southfield held its Annual Council Change Over
assembly where the outgoing council were thanked for their
achievements and presented with the traditional red roses as a token to
recognise their efforts and hard work over the past year.
The outgoing School Council have had a tremendous year with many
successes and have raised a total of £3500 for school projects as well
as additional funds for charity.
Outgoing Head Girl, Sophie Howlett has been a true role model for
students and has led the council well with her excellent leadership and
organisational skills. In her final speech, she outlined what the raised
money has been spent on, which includes: picnic benches for the
outside areas, fans for classrooms, gardening equipment and plants for
the walkway from the school’s bottom gate, beanbags for the library,
lanyards for the new Team Southfield, along with new equipment for,
Music, Textiles, P.E and Maths.
The Council have also raised money for Children in Need, Breast
Cancer and for ‘The Bridge’; a charity that works with homeless teenager in the local area.
Over the past year, the council have also organised events, particularly for Year 7, including a movie night, and ‘welcome’ and ‘Halloween’
discos. They have also been instrumental in organising revision sessions for Year 11 students, and for raising the profile of the Anti-Bullying
Committee.
Council members have represented all Year Groups and Houses, as well as mid-year admission students.
We would like to thank the Council for all they have achieved in the past year and wish Giorgia Macoretta, our Head Girl appointed for
2014/15, every success in the coming year as she works with her new council members.
COMMONWEATH CLUB
Monday 10th March was Commonwealth Day and seven students were
invited to attend the Observance for Commonwealth Day at Westminster
Abbey. The service was attended by Her Majesty The Queen, HRH The
Duke of Edinburgh, HRH The Prince of Wales, HRH The Duchess of
Cornwall, HRH The Earl of Wessex and HRH The Countess of Wessex.
The service is a celebration of membership of the Commonwealth and
across the country only 1000 students are invited to attend each
year. We were very fortunate to be part of the amazing celebrations and
be able to listen to the music of the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra and
Laura Mvula. Inspirational speeches were given by Lord Sebastian Coe
and Malala Yousafzai as well as other members of Commonwealth
countries.
It was a privilege for Southfield to be represented, particularly as this
year the 20th Commonwealth Games are being held in Glasgow.
WE DAY TRIP TO WEMBLEY
The BIG Question
Get involved in some big questions
to get you thinking this term…
Q1 - How many revolutions of a car
tyre will it take to travel 40,000mm?
Q2 - If you could walk to the moon,
how old would you be when you got
there?
Q3 - How many 1st class postage
stamps could you fix to a carrot
without any overlapping?
Star Question
If the value of the stamps was equal
to the value of the carrot, what is the
price of carrots per tonne?
Please pass your entries to Miss
Mitchell or the maths office by the
end of term 5 – Friday May 23rd
2014. Entries from students, parents,
groups and staff are
welcome! House points will be
awarded for winning entries.
(Remember to put your name and
form on your entry).
On Friday March 7th, 28 of our Year 9 students were among 12,000 other students who travelled to Wembley Arena to celebrate change with worldrenowned speakers and performers. Tickets could not be bought for this event. Each student had to earn their ticket by completing at least one act
of local and one act of global fundraising.
Co-Chairs of We Day UK, Holly Branson and Lord Rumi Verjee, opened the show by introducing Free The Children co-founders, Marc and Craig
Kielburger. Marc and Craig shared the history of Free The Children with the crowd of students.
Marc and Craig then introduced an environmental icon to the stage: former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. He told us: “When you have a very clear
sense of what is right and what is wrong, don’t let anybody talk you out of it! Stand up for what you know in your heart is the right thing to do.”
After inspirational words from multi-award-winning actor Clive Owen, Holly Branson returned to the We Day stage to introduce her father, Sir
Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group. Sir Richard Branson shared, “Hug an enemy and make them a friend!”
Award-winning, multi-platinum vocal super group The Tenors serenaded the crowd with their powerful anthem ‘Free The Children,’ with the help of
up-and-coming hip hop sensation, Young Stitch and Ramona. The afternoon was filled with other incredible performances too. Acts like Birdy, Sam
and the Womp, Dizzee Rascal, and Jennifer Hudson had the room up and dancing!
The We Day crowd gave a huge royal welcome to Prince Harry. Passionate about giving back to others, Prince Harry encouraged the students to
take action. “Some people don’t think it’s cool to help others…personally, I think it’s the coolest thing in the world.”
Marc and Craig Kielburger carried on Prince Harry’s message of giving back by introducing the audience to Adopt a Village and Free The Children’s
many campaigns. Not only do they create change in communities locally and globally, but they’re fun to participate in with friends and family.
Malala Yousafzai, international education activist and co-founder of Malala Fund, took to the
stage to a roar of applause. Malala spoke of access to education, and how we can come
together to help children all over the world.
London’s hometown hero, Paralympian Martine Wright’s story was so inspirational, and she
proved to the audience that “good can come out of bad.” While she experienced a traumatic
event, it led her to discover a new love of sport that became a lifelong passion. Her
positive energy radiated throughout the crowd, and she left the stage to a standing ovation!
Anything can happen. That was the message of the final performer Ellie Goulding. She took
the stage by storm. Backed by the London Youth Choir, her songs Anything Can Happen
and Burn had everyone singing along.
During our bus trip home we had a live interview with BBC Radio Northampton. The DJ was
keen to hear about our day and what our students had achieved to gain their tickets.
The students and staff all had a fabulous day and are very grateful for the wonderful
opportunity.
Many thanks to everyone who took part in the WWF Earth Hour. A global event at 8.30pm on 29th March when millions of people
switched off their lights for one hour.
Congratulations to Mrs Lesley McGowen our Library Assistant who will become our full time Librarian when we return after the Easter
break.
DUKE OF EDINBURGH
TECHNOLOGY TOURNAMENT
Last weekend the first Duke of Edinburgh Silver group from
Southfield School in five years went out on a practice expedition
to the Peak District. They set out nice and early on Friday March
21th and walked 31 miles around places like Youlgreave, Bakewell,
Haddon Hall and Rowsley. They really worked hard!
In the evenings the girls had to work as a team to cook dinner on
camping stoves and eat food very different from what they are
used too.
Whilst out on the walk, the girls picked up valuable teamwork,
map reading and navigational skills. These will see them well in
the future for their qualification expedition in July, which will be in
the White Peak area of the Peak District.
Congratulations to all involved and good luck for your qualifying
expedition later in the year.
On Wednesday March 19th 12 Year 9 students travelled to Weston Favell
School in Northampton to take part in a Technology Challenge event
along with 19 other schools from the Northamptonshire area.
B.E.E.F, Southtec and Bang were our teams. The girls had to work in
teams of four to complete a design, make and test task. The task
involved designing a mechanism that would be able to pick up and move
a “Radioactive Meteorite” (aka tennis balls) from inside a box on to a
points target. Only a few materials were available to make the
“grabbers”, but we started off by designing and planning a few ideas
and soon we found one that we liked.
We tested our designs in competition with the other schools and were
pleased to hear that two of our
three teams won first and second
place in the Foundation Task.
The Mayor of Northampton, Les
Marriott and the Rotary District
Governor, Margaret Morley were
at the prize giving ceremony and
presented team B.E.E.F with a
trophy and £25 in WHSmith
vouchers.
THE BIG DRAW COMPETITION
We're delighted to have won £1000 for our Big Draw entry "The
Drawing Room" from The National Association of Decorative &
Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS), a leading arts charity which opens
up the world of the arts through a network of local societies and
national events.
Please visit our website on the link below to view more images.
http://www.southfieldsch.co.uk/?p=5316
FACULTY FOCUS: ENGLISH
Southfield’s Inaugural World Book Day Fest!
March 6th was World Book Day so all week we celebrated reading and books with lunch time activities, competitions, discussion
and a focus in lessons across the curriculum on the crucial skill of summarising.
Two groups of students visited Waterstones to spend their World Book Day tokens with Kayleigh Ashworth and Tamzin Curtis
winning a book each for their excellent answers to the book shop quiz. Others puzzled over a competition to work out which
member of staff had nominated which ‘book that changed their life’. Some devious techniques were employed but a group from
8RE won fair and square, with some good entries from Year 10 tutor groups as well. Meanwhile, we were very pleased with the
professionalism of the entries for the competition to film a short video ‘trailer’ for a book; the winners were two excellent trailers
for Looking for JJ and Gangsta Granny.
The most popular events were showings of films of books: Life of Pi and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Other students joined in
discussion of books that many of our students find compelling, The Fault in our Stars and Gangsta Granny, or wrote their own
stories in a Creative Writing session. The library ran a ‘Book Swap’, there was a numerical book quiz in registration, some
students took part in a recital reading their favourite bits of their favourite books out loud and Miss Cassidy interviewed teachers
and students about ‘My Life in Reading’. All in all, it was our mini-literary festival here in Kettering!
Clubs:
We are gradually trying to increase the number of clubs and wider learning opportunities we offer, students should see their
English teacher for details of any of the following: Homework Club, Creative Writing Club, Film Club or Year 11 Literature Film club.
We are also offering specific exam support to Year 11 students on Friday lunchtimes.
Students of the Creative Writing club led by Mr Swain and Mr Welsford have had recent success with short stories written on the
theme of ‘A Twist in the Tale’. Four students were successful in getting their stories published in the East Midlands anthology.
Accelerated Reader:
Many Year 7 and 8 students have been avidly reading independently for Accelerated Reader and there are already a pleasing
number of students who have become ‘millionaires’ by reading over a million words – there are 7 in Year 7 and 4 in Year 8. We’d
like to congratulate the students who have made most progress in their reading ages: Year 7 students Abby Titmuss and Jennifer
Caplan and Year 8 students Ruby Paul and Simisola Akande. They have all read regularly and achieved consistently high scores on
quizzes and this has enabled their progress. Accelerated Reader is also run as an interhouse competition. Parents of Year 7 and 8
can now access Home Connect through the Parent Portal to see how their daughters are doing on Accelerated Reader.
Doddle:
Every student has their own Doddle account with access to various activities to support their study of English. Whilst Years 7 and
8 receive regular Doddle homework, we also encourage other students to visit the site. A link can be found on the ‘Students’ page
of the school website. Username: full name followed by year of entry to the school (e.g. MelissaFox12), password: Southfield.
Where could English take you? For independent careers advice and guidance on future
education, come to a Connexions drop-in. Available in the library every Monday 13.15—
14.15. We look forward to seeing you!
Have you registered yet?
As a school, we have moved
towards more electronic
communication and have
consolidated the systems we use to
contact parents / carers when the
need arises.
As part of this, we have moved all
our current text and email
messaging to a system called Parent
Mail.
Copies of this newsletter, and other
important notifications are being
sent using this new system, but we
need all parents / carers to sign up.
If you have not already done so,
please send us an email with your
child’s name and tutor group to:
[email protected] and we
will reply with instructions and your
child’s unique registration code.
Head Shave for
Cancer Research
One of our Sixth Formers is going to
shave her head. Her best friend's
mum has recently been diagnosed
with Breast Cancer and she would
like to support her and others
diagnosed with all types of cancer.
If you
would
like to
sponsor
Georgina,
here’s
how:
The
website
is:
justgiving.co.uk/Georgina-Kibble
The text is: ‘GMMK 90 and donation
amount in £’ to 70070
There is also a sponsorship form in
the library.
Thank You!
Spring Concert
On Monday March 31st we held the
School’s Spring Concert, which also
included highlights from our “Alice”
production.
The performances were beautiful
and a very enjoyable evening was
had by all. Special thanks go to
Mrs Littlecott, Miss Brooks and Mrs
Wogan.
Staff Profile
Name: Adam Bridgeford
Position: Assistant to:
Head of Sports
Development /
Academy Manager at
Libero Academy of
Football
Profile:
Adam is responsible for the football
development and progression of
Libero Academy and Southfield
School students. Adam has played
and coached at Northampton Town
FC and has been Academy Manager
at Libero Academy for 5 years now.
In that time every Academy graduate
has progressed on to a level of paid
semi professional football or
obtained a football scholarship in
the USA.
Adam recently completed The FA
Academy Managers Licence after
spending a week’s study visit at
Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, famous
for developing such players as
Cristiano Ronaldo. He was invited to
achieve the qualification after
completing the UEFA ‘A’ Licence and
showing a commitment to
developing young footballers.
Retirement News
Congratulations to Bannister House who won the Lower School Inter House General Knowledge Quiz.
PUPIL PREMIUM
Is your daughter eligible for free school meals? If so, then not only do
you save money on lunches, you will also receive additional financial
support for uniform costs, trips and musical tuition.
The Government is giving money to schools to help children from lower
income families achieve their very best. This funding, called ‘Pupil
Premium’, will make a real difference to the provision of education for
your daughter. This year, for example, the funding has enabled us to
provide extra revision classes, study guides and enrichment activities
from which every child at Southfield has benefited.
Registering is quick, easy and confidential:
Firstly, do you receive any of these benefits?
 Income support
 Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
 Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
 Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
 The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
 Child Tax Credit, provided you are not entitled to Working Tax
Credit and have an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenue &
Customs) that does not exceed £16,190
 Working Tax Credit ‘run-on’ – the payment someone may receive
for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working
Tax Credit
Lions Young Leaders in Service Award
On Friday 25th March we held the 1st Young Leaders in
Service Award Presentation Evening.
Many people are familiar with Lions Clubs International and
its work worldwide as one of the largest voluntary service
organisations with over 1.35 million members.
Lions Clubs support young people by recognising their
efforts and providing them with opportunities to learn,
achieve and grow.
Lions Young Leaders in Service Award is a way of
recognising young people who provide significant levels of
service to their communities and rewarding participants with
a nationally recognised award.
Kettering & District Lions Club are extremely proud of all the
young people who have already achieved their awards, and
have been awarded their certificates, letters and badges.
We also have many others who have started the scheme and
not yet completed their hours at S. & E. Midlands Wing Air
Training Corps, Kettering Police Cadets and the
Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs. We are
looking forward to presenting those awards next year, along
with more from Southfield School!
Students can also register for free school meals if they themselves
receive any of these benefits. Southfield School does not require any
proof of these benefits and there are two ways to register: On-line at
www.northamptonshire.gov.uk or via a postal application form,
obtainable from the school office.
Sarah Easton our Library Manager
has been with us since April 1990
when she started at the school as a
General Assistant in the Science
Department.
After two years she quickly found
her calling and love of books by
moving into the library and
eventually becoming the library
manager and building it up to the
wonderful and busy library it is
today with over 17,000 resources.
Sarah even pulled her library
through the school’s asbestos
disaster in 2003 when she lost every
single book and had to rebuild her
library from scratch. During this
time she made a mobile library to
take on tour to the students that
were situated around the Kettering
area.
Quizzes are her hobby and passion
and she will definitely miss doing
our regular “House” quizzes. On
April 4th she will have worked at
Southfield for 24 years and one day!
Roger Eaton is our Technician for
the English, Drama and Media
departments, but he is also very
involved in the back stage work for
our many productions along with
technical assistance during
assemblies and exams.
He is known as “Mr Fix It” and loves
a challenge! Roger is leaving us
after five years of service.
They are both going to leave a huge
void at Southfield and will be sorely
missed.
Everyone at Southfield wishes them
a wonderful retirement!
If you qualify, your daughter will be able to have a free, healthy meal
at lunchtime, saving you more than £350 a year. We have also added
£1 for breakfast. You can register at any time during the year.
If you require any further information, please contact our Data Office on
01536 513063.
STAFF NEWS
This term we are saying goodbye to the following members of staff:
Mr Roger Eaton – Stage, Media and Drama Technician – Retired
Mrs Sarah Eaton – Librarian – Retired
Mrs Donna Gioia – Learning Support Assistant
Miss Jessica Langham – Learning Support Assistant – Maternity
Leave
We’re also welcoming:
Mr Will Platton – Finance Apprentice
Mr Josh Seaton – IT Apprentice
DANCE NEWS
We have had a very successful two terms since Christmas
beginning with SouthStep and Spectrum dancing to great acclaim
at the Kettering & District Schools Dance Show. We’ve had very
successful exam days for GCSE, AS and A2 Dance students and
ending with the Footloose workshop on 2nd April. This was put
on by Ashleigh Hammond, a former Southfield Sixth Former who
studied Dance, Drama and Music with us. She is now at
Chichester University studying for a Musical Theatre degree and
has formed a company called SOAR with four other students.
She takes musical theatre workshops out into the community, and
girls from our Years 8 to 11 were able to take part. The acting,
singing and dancing they produced was amazing!
Keep Connected – Parent Portal
In January we launched our Parent Portal, a new online facility designed to provide parents and carers with essential information about
their children, including live attendance records and copies of their most recent progress reports. Parents are able to edit personal
contact details, review permissions and even view their child’s timetable.
The new portal also provides links to other useful features such as ParentMail+, the system used in school to support cashless catering
and send letters home.
Parents have already received a user guide as well as their username and password details needed
to access their accounts. If however you have any questions about this new facility, please don’t
hesitate to contact us.