AGS News Issue 34 - Autumn 2012

Anthony Gell School specialist sports college
ISSUE 34
Autumn 2012
According to the Director, this year's
"Christmas Cracker" promises to be a
"cornucopia of loveliness". There is so
much talent to admire that it will be a
different show each night.
There will be DRAMA (with Edwardian Sci-fi from years
7&8, a play about a wall and the problems it causes
from Y9-11 and two mask pieces with a hint
of James Bond and Fawlty Towers from the A level
group.), lots of MUSIC from the choir, jazzband,
orchestra and possibly the (very) odd ukelele and
DANCE from the 7&8 Dance Club, Y9 Dance Club,
Y10 BTEC Dancers and Y11 BTEC Dancers
The show
is on Tues
18th and
Wed 19th
December
at 7.30
The jazz band will be playing
Tickets will be available two weeks before the show
One of the traditions that has developed at AGS on
Children in Need day– apart from raising loadsamoney
by dressing up, baking and selling cakes, washing cars,
and making a giant Pudsey out of coins collected by all
our tutor groups— is that the Sixth Form (and a few
brave members of staff) put together a show to
entertain the whole school at lunchtime.
This year was no
exception as Lizzie
Whittall stepped up
as Cilla for a weird
and wonderful version of Blind Date. This included Messrs Olphin, Lowe
and Carr vying for the favours of the irrepressible Mrs Pickford– with
Mr Carr emerging as a popular winner, after he had serenaded her and the
whole audience.
Such generosity of pocket and spirit from staff and students
and a massive total of almost £2000!
Cilla meets the not-so-likely lads
Year 7 students have recently returned from their two day residential trip
to Castleton. Staying at the new Youth Hostel in the village, refurbished at a
coast of over £3 million, they carried out history and geography
fieldwork. A visit to Peveril Castle gave students an
opportunity to think about the impact of the Norman conquest on
the Castleton area. For geography they considered what the impact of tourism was on the community. Exploring Treak Cliff Cavern, where 'Blue John' is
still mined, also provided an opportunity to
research into the geology of the area.
However the real success of the trip lies in the fact that new friendships are
made and developed. Cadell Edge, 7G, commented 'I thought it was
brilliant. I really enjoyed myself. My favourite part of the trip was carrying
out the village survey because I got to visit the gift and sweet shops.
The only thing I wish could have been better was the weather!'
This may have been no Bond experience for our gifted
and talented students of Anthony Gell School, but it
certainly left them with a love for Russia...
Jack
Rosie
A once in a life time trip organised by the 'East Midlands
Gifted and Talented in Education' organisation recently
presented our top set Science students with a unique
opportunity to increase their knowledge of Russian culture
and interact with foreign students from many different
backgrounds. The purpose of the trip was essentially to
allow students to enhance their understanding of Science.
Having been set the challenging task of putting together a
play which they had to perform, based on the world's first
artificial satellite, the Sputnik, the students worked in teams
and co-operated with others of similar ages from all over
the world, to produce a presentation for their peers. Jack Sutton of Year 11, and Rosie Silverman of Year 12
both agreed they particularly enjoyed meeting and working with new faces, and said 'everyone talked, socialised, and had fun with each other.'
Our students were lucky enough to witness talks from two very important and respected members of Russian
society; the Mayor of Korolev, and the Education Minister for Russia. They also had the chance to visit the
famous Red Square in the city of Moscow, to see the Kremlin with their very own eyes! It's wonderful to know
that people of all ages can still appreciate such iconic architecture and the history behind a country. Both Jack
and Rosie said they would 'definitely go back'!
Alix Pressley
This November, A-level maths students have taken part in the Senior Maths Challenge. This is a nation wide
competition which tests the students’ problem solving and logical thinking skills.
The individual challenge paper was sat by twelve Year 13 students, of which four students were awarded a Bronze
certificate. Ceri Hedderwick-Turner was our top scorer and he was awarded a Silver Certificate.
Four of our strongest mathematicians, Aaron Taylor, Ceri Hedderwick-Turner, Natalie Bennett and Emily Ball, were
also chosen to represent the school in the regional heat of the Senior Team Challenge held at Derby University.
This was a great opportunity for the students to use their teamwork and communication skills, as well as answering
some very challenging maths questions. They competed in a number of rounds including a maths relay and solving
a difficult maths crossword.
Just how much CAN you pack into a 6-day exchange visit to France?
Well, a mixed-age group of 15 AGS students
accompanied by Mrs Taylor and Mr Richards certainly found
out , when they visited Wirksworth’s twin town, Die in October.
After a long, but smooth journey by Eurostar and TGV and by
coach along the winding road from Valence to Die the group
arrived on Saturday evening, tired but excited, in time for a
meal with their host families and a first opportunity to test their
survival French.
There was no Sunday lie-in as we set off early on a sunny
Sunday morning for a coach-drive up the winding roads (Yes,
all the roads that lead to Die are winding!) into the Vercors
mountains. Here we visited Vassieux, a centre of the French
Resistance during the Second World War and now home to
“Le Petit Monde des Santons” - an exhibition of scale models
and animations depicting rural life in the region. From there
Happy Twinners
we moved on through stunning mountain scenery to the very
lovely St Nazaire en Royans for lunch and then on to the
Grottes de Chorance - limestone caves even more beautiful and remarkable than our own Peak and Speedwell
caverns. In the evening we joined members of the Twinning Association of Die, who generously paid for a 4-course
meal for us and our host families.
Monday was a damp and drizzly day but we were up brightish and early and spirits were high as we “discovered Die”,
taking in the cathedral and the old town hall, which houses a wonderfully preserved medieval mosaic. We also visited
the Cave Cooperative, where they make the town’s famous sparkling wine “Clairette de Die”- though we satisfied
ourselves with tasting the NON-alcoholic version. After lunch and a (very) short siesta we made our way to L’öcole
Primaire Publique Mixte de Chabestan—Die’s Primary School, to rehearse for a performance of our take on the
Legend of the Four Dragons the following day.
So, on Tuesday we were up early again (school starts around 8 am in France) and spent the morning entertaining a
lively audience of 6 to 11 year olds and then, acting as ambassadors for Wirksworth Junior School, we showed slides
and answered some tricky questions ( “Does it always rain in England?”) In the afternoon we strolled to the edge of
town and visited NATEVA a small factory which processes local and imported herbs and turns them into wonderfully
smelly products.
Wednesday is market day in Die (so is Saturday) and we were up early enough to see the final stalls being prepared.
After a couple of hours browsing and making the (very) odd purchase we climbed the steps of the cathedral bell tower
for a spectacular view of Die and the misty mountains beyond. Then it was on to the Mairie to meet the merry Mayor.
After lunch the mist and cleared and the temperature rose to 23 degrees so a few hardy souls made their way back up
the tower for another look. Meanwhile an even hardier crew climbed a hill as steep as Greenhill but twice as long up to
the old town walls. After a tour of the town’s museum which is jam-packed with Roman remains we relaxed with our
French friends and a glass of iced tea.
The journey home began at 6 am on Thursday. The TGV sped us to Lille, where we had a tour of the town and
received one of a string of unsolicited compliments for our behaviour and enthusiasm. By 9 pm we were back in
Wuffwuff ( as they say in Die) exhausted but exhilarated by the whole experience.
"For me, the trip was a really great way to meet new people and improve my French vocabulary and the
confidence I feel in talking. I really enjoyed staying with the family and I'm really glad I went because I feel that bit
more confident in speaking in French." Emily
" It was very interesting to go to Die after for years being told we were twinned with it and we were not
disappointed!" Laurie
“ It was an amazing trip that we all loved” Ada
“ It was a really good experience. We gained lots of new phrases, confidence in speaking, a friend for life and had
a lot of fun too! I will definitely visit Die again” Laura
“An enlightening, educational, interesting experience in a land of wondrous mountains and splendorous views.
A great expansion to my knowledge of the French language.” Joe
“ What a lovely group to take abroad! Thanks to Camille Bizouard, her friends and the Twinning Association of Die
for their wonderful hospitality and to Mrs Etheridge for stepping in when needed” Mrs Taylor and Mr Richards
It has been a busy time lately for the AGS Camera Club.
Earlier this term as part of the Bolehill "Dish Do" they exhibited
photos they took at Chatsworth of the lead-measuring
dish presented to Bolehill by Henry VIII.
During the Wirksworth Festival Camera Club Members
Hannah Julian, Jack Sutton, George Peck, Matt Turner, Jack
Sutton, Sam Foster and Laurie Butler who had their photos on
the theme of Balance and Harmony chosen for an exhibition at
Peak House Practice and Jack, Sam and George were
also chosen as official photographers of the Festival. On the afternoon of the Community Celebration at the end of the Festival
the club ran a Candid Camera Stall on the Market Place.
There is no charge for attendance at the club which meets
weekly on Thursday after school and is open to all year groups. Some members choose to bring their own
cameras but others prefer to use one of the range of excellent cameras we have at our disposal.
Besides taking photos, we use a range of free photo editing software, including Picasa and ipiccy to enhance
our photos. We share each other’s photos and admire the work of other photographers.Occasionally we have
visits from local professional photographers and we sometimes we go off-site together into Wirksworth and
beyond to take photos.
In recent years we have undertaken several special projects, most notably the publication of our book
“Wirksworth: Picturing Past and Present”.
The group is lively and sociable but also very task-focussed at times - it is about fun with a purpose.
It is a club, not a class but we do try and enhance members photographic skills. New members welcome!
That’s me!
Since I Joined the Matlock 140 Air cadet squadron (Hurst farm area) in
2011, aged 16, I have joined all sorts of adventures great and small I
previously considered only for adults. Despite wanting to experience life
in all sectors of the civil service, this year has been difficult to do so,
I quaked at the idea of my ATC days being over, a sixth former with 4
subjects each with homework for half term, that’s quite the pile!
Nonetheless, with the help of the ministry of defence ATC sector
organising travel, I became part of a guest crew of 18 Air cadets from
all over the U.K. on board the sea cadet training ship the T.S Royalist,
a 30 metre long, iron tallship.
You had to leave your landlubber ways behind on this tall ship, being
November we did not get the best weather in the Solent (the gap
between the Isle of Wight and England) you had to be brave enough to
climb to the main mast, rock with the ship and if the weather was good,
cross the channel.
You had to disciplined to be able to leap out of
bed and sprint to your bracing station to tack
ship everyday (even in the dark) but all this
Our ship on a calm day
has its perks - a 15-rated bedtime story or
watching ‘sky fall’ at the local cinema, but best
of all was when the wind died and we left deck to zoom around the Royalist in the
dinghy-boat.
Six days in one room and two corridors with 18 fellow teenagers and surrounded by water
requires a lot of patience but it creates a strong sense of camaraderie to look out for each
other in the rigging or each others well being, we had many a good joke on board the
Royalist and I would not be quick to choose studying over adventure again.
I took this!
Frances Porter, Year 12
The idea behind Film Club is to show a wide variety of films that everyone can enjoy. FILMCLUB is a national
charity, which works with over 7,000 schools across the country. As an added bonus, it is free for state schools to
join! How could we resist? We started a Film Club here in February 2012, as a once a week lunchtime activity.
Since then, there has been a loyal audience of 'Filmclubbers' at our weekly showings.
So far, we have watched films ranging from modern animation 'Up', to 80s classic 'Ghostbusters.' Other firm favourites have been 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid', 'Labyrinth' and 'Mr Bean's Holiday.'
As well as enjoying the films, students have the added advantage of being able to register and join 'Gell Film Club'
on www.filmclub.org and request films, post reviews online, enter competitions and get access to interviews and
lots of 'behind the scenes' action.
For those worried about the amount of time children already spend looking at a screen , here are some reassuring
statistics:
96% of club leaders say FILMCLUB helps students understand different social and emotional issues.
80% say their club enhances members' critical skills.
91% say FILMCLUB is effective at engaging students who face barriers to learning.
87% say FILMCLUB enhances students' ability to share and debate their opinions with other.
Lights, camera, action!
At Christmas we are saying farewell to our Deputy Head, Helen Jackson, who has decided to take early retirement
(very early she assures me!). Helen joined the school as Deputy Head in 1999 and we were deputies together until
the end of 2005, when Rod Leach retired as Headteacher.
Helen had previously worked in a number of schools in Derby where she had built a career in the Arts, particularly
Drama and Dance. She has always maintained her love and support for these areas of the curriculum and has
been central to their development in school. In recent years, Helen has also taught a lot of English and has
characteristically worked hard to develop her lessons in this area and to contribute to the department. She has
also done a lot of work on cross-curricular literacy and is currently working to develop our new Y7 reading scheme
before she leaves!
Helen loves to travel and has a real interest in other cultures. The school has benefited from this and she has
helped us to develop links with other schools, most notably when she travelled to Bangladesh with Janice Price as
part Of Lord Coe’s International Inspirations project.
As a Deputy Head, Helen has always shown great skill in supporting both staff and students and has dealt with
many situations with patience and clear, principled decision making. She has developed our links with the new
Multi-Agency teams and has chaired our joint meetings which are central to our support systems in school.
The job of a Headteacher is busy and demanding. What you need from a Deputy is clear support, challenge and
an alternative perspective. Helen has always provided this and has always held the best interests of the children
and staff central to her thinking. I am very grateful to her for all of her hard work and loyalty.
We will all miss Helen but we wish her the very best in her retirement and look forward to a few postcards when
she is on her travels!
David Baker
Footnote
On an organisational note, we will not have a Deputy Head after Christmas but Mr Baker and the rest of the Senior
Team – Mrs Appleton, Ms Farnan, Mrs Lowe, Mrs Millward and Mr Pover will have extra responsibilities whilst the
staff and governors decide how to re-structure the management of the school in these tight financial times.
If Mr Baker is out of school, one of the Assistant Heads will be in charge of the day-to-day events.
The Bronze Youth Arts Award aims to inspire young people to develop their arts and leaderships talents
and over 90% of our clever current Year 10 students achieved this in their creative arts lessons last year.
A huge well done to all of them and how about setting a challenge to our current year 9 students can you make it 100%?
Throughout their year 9 creative arts lessons (art, drama
and music) students look at
developing their arts skills,
researching their creative arts
heroes, watching and
reviewing live creative arts
works and developing their
leadership talents. The award
requires students to work at a
GCSE level so it is all credit to
the hard work of the students
that they achieve this award in
year 9 - make sure you hang
onto it so you can impress
prospective employers and
universities with it later on!
Poppies Youth Theatre and Casting Agency run workshops from
our school on Wednesday nights in T5 (they charge £4 a session).
They are a unique and vibrant youth theatre that provides drama
classes, workshops and productions for young people and they
also provide prospects for professional development in the
performing arts through their casting agency. They have students
from year 7 to year 13 and it is always a lovely atmosphere.
Miss Hampton said 'I am so pleased with the work they have been
doing - they provide a real opportunity and excellent drama
workshops in a friendly atmosphere' But don't just take a teacher’s
word for it, here are some of the students’ comments about what it
is like at Poppies Youth Theatre:
“Poppies is an amazing and inspiring group, the fun never ends
and it always allows you to feel and act as who you are”
“Poppies is an amazing and inspiring group, the fun never ends
and it always allows you to feel and act as who you are”
“Poppies is a really fun and enjoyable club, it’s brilliant fun, great to
be somewhere new and well worth £4”
“I do a lot of theatre and drama groups but Poppies has a lot of
new/different games and workshops”
“Poppies is fun and you learn lots of new skills”
“At Poppies you can act without some of your other silly class
mates”
“Poppies is really fun, we practice improvisations and learn new
drama skills”
They are currently working towards a production of ‘Teachers’ by
John Godber which will be performed in February but they will be
open to new members after February half term. If you would like to
put your name on the waiting list to join the group – see Miss
Hampton in T5 and watch out for the posters!
Karen Mackay is a new parent governor :
I am very much looking forward to joining the
Anthony Gell governing body. I have a son in
year 8 and have lived in the area for over 15
years. Over the last 30 years I have held local, regional and national positions in education including Headship, Ofsted Inspector,
local authority officer, Director, adviser to the
past and current government administrations
and more recently Managing Director of the
Erudition Schools Trust.
I am joining the governing body fully prepared
to commit time and effort building upon the
current school successes and supporting the
school community in its quest to continually
improve.
Congratulations to John Thompson,
Chair of the Anthony Gell
Foundation, who has won the Derby
Telegraph Service to Sport Award.
#Derbyshiresportsawards --
Eight students - six girls and two boys - took up Rotary Wirksworth’s
Masterchef challenge this year– and as so often happens on the telly,
it was a male chef who emerged as the winner.
it it
The Rotary judges were very impressed with overall standard as
students prepared a two-course meal in two hours and they
particularly liked Michael Bevan-Beirne and Esther Sutton’s
desserts, but it was Jacob Dremza’s fennel and pear soup followed
seared tuna and asparagus with a pesto cream sauce that took first
prize.
by
Congratulations from Rotary’s Ian Dolby
Jacob will receive his certificate and cash prize soon
at a special Rotary meeting and he has the chance
to go on to the next round of the competition in the
Spring
The winning dish
Before half term the students of 7A and 7F were lucky
enough to participate in a poetry slam workshop lead by
Matt Black (poet laureate of Derbyshire). We were
treated to a reading of some of Matt Black’s poems.
Then we could start on our own.
Matt Black chose 12 finalists from each class to compete
for their houses in a poetry slam that afternoon. Fearn
house competed against Arkwright house in a well
matched slam. It was a close shave; Fearn just pulled
ahead to take first prize.
Matt Black invited everyone to an event similar to the
slam at Cromford Mills during the half term. Upon going
to this event, one of our pupils (Ruby Tomlinson) was
lucky enough to win first prize. Matt Black provided a
brilliant day for 7A and 7F.
I thought, on the whole the poetry workshop and slam
were brilliant experiences. The competition at Cromford
Mills was especially good. I loved reading out my own
poem and hearing my voice echo around the marquee.
Perhaps even better was hearing other people read out
their poems. I thought Matt Black’s poems were really
good. I am really pleased I won.
Ruby Tomlinson and Sarah Duckworth
Mrs Barnes was very proud of her students:
” I’m glad so many students were interested enough
to take part this year. The skill level was again very
high.”
Playing the poetry game
The Poetry Games
is a national
competition where
you write a poem.
Thousands enter
and there are 12
runners up in the
finals.
I have had my
poem chosen to be
published and I
have a chance of
being one of the 12
finalists.
If I do get chosen,
I will need to put a
video on the web for a online vote-off . The
winner in the East Midlands wins an Kindle
All the people in each part of the UK who win a
Kindle go onto another online vote-off to win an
Ipad ! So if I get through, please vote for me - it
will help a lot.
Natasha Balysz Year 7
We have had a great term of football and believe that it is our
best start to the year in terms of victories in both boys and
girls fixtures!!
Girls football in particular has been extremely popular and the
Tuesday lunchtime club is growing in numbers each week. Many
of our girls play for teams in the community at a weekend and so
we have pushed to get them school fixtures this term. We have
had friendly matches against Highfields and have won in both the
U14 and U16 age groups. Unfortunately both our U16 and U15
teams were knocked out on their first round of the DSFA competition but both games were extremely close and a very valuable experience. The U16s are through to the quarter final of the U16
Derbyshire County Cup. They play Woodlands on November 30th
so watch this space!!
The boys have also had a great start to the season. The 6th form
are currently undefeated having beaten both Lady Manners and
QEGS. Y7s have beaten Highfields in their first match and are
looking to continue their success when football starts again in the
spring. The Y8s have had some very close games in the league
and in the cup where they were narrowly defeated. Y9s and Y10s
have also played really well. A special mention and
congratulations
must go to Myles
Wright and
Regan Cooper
who have both
been selected to
represent
Derbyshire in their
respective age
group!!
Well done to all
the boys and girls
who have trained
and represented
the school at
football this term.
All students are welcome to attend the football clubs, even if
you haven’t been before!
For further dates go to
www.anthonygell.co.uk
SPRING TERM
Mon 7th Jan
Wed 30th Jan
Mon 18th Feb
Wed 27th Mar
Start of term
INSET DAY
HALF TERM WEEK
End of Spring term
SUMMER TERM
Mon 15th Apr Start of term
Mon 6th May BANK HOLIDAY
Mon 27th May HALF TERM WEEK
Tues 23rd Jul End of summer term
Our website has had a makeover and
now it has its very own Twitter feed.
Check us out www.anthonygell.co.uk
@AGS_Wirksworth
Thirteen year old Katy Gigg in Year 9 has had an exciting time lately.
Several months ago she was chosen from 1,600 applicants nationwide to take part in
the CBBC series “Hero Squad”, where six young people are transformed into Hero
Squad Cadets and undergo a rigorous training programme alongside real-life life
savers. We’ve already seen episodes involving caves, lifeguards, coastguard, fire and
mountain rescues but Katy’s most exciting challenge was going up in a helicopter for
the final episode which will be screened on Saturday Dec 8th ( 5pm) and Sunday
December 9th ( 12pm).
Meanwhile, Katy who plays football with Derby County, was chosen via the Elite Player
Camp system as one of 20 girls from throughout the country to play for England Under
15’s. So far she has played 45 minutes in each of 2 matches against the Republic of
Ireland. England won both times and she hopes she might get another call-up soon
Katy plays in the left midfield or as a striker, so it’s not surprising that her favourite male
player is Man City and Argentina’s Sergio "Kun" Agüero but her real favourite is Kelly
Smith of Arsenal and England. Katy is modest about her achievements but clearly
relishes every new challenge, so stay tuned for “What Katy did next”!
Supported by AGS Foundation Governors
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