Noadswood Blazer - Noadswood School

www.noadswood.hants.sch.uk
Noadswood
Blazer
MESSAGEFROMTHEHEAD
MRBERNARD
The autumn term is always a strange one as it is the longest term and yet it always seems to fly by as so much goes on. We have
had visits to London, Paris and the Dorset coast and all of our Year 7 pupils had a team building day at a centre in the New Forest.
Two highlights for me were the Roman day we hosted for the Year 4 pupils from Orchard School and, of course, the outstanding
“Oliver”. Huge congratulations to all of the pupils and staff who worked so hard to bring us a fantastic production.
Enjoy reading about some of our activities in this edition of “The Blazer” and I wish you and your family a very happy Christmas and
a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
BLOODHOUNDEDUCATIONEXPERIENCE
During the week of 26th to 30th of January, all of our year 8 and 9 pupils and some of the year 7s will take part in 3 of the following
workshops:
1.Tour & Explore the BLOODHOUND Car - Pupils will be introduced to the Bloodhound Interactive Modular Car, a full-size model
of BLOODHOUND SSC. (14m long) They will get a ‘guided tour’ of the car and its components and discuss the design and science
that goes into building a 1,000mph car.
2. K’Nex Cars - Following a brief introduction highlighting some of the key design areas of BLOODHOUND SSC, students will
work in teams to design, test and make modifications to their own K’Nex car.
3. DynaKars - BLOODHOUND SSC will have over 400 sensors on board to transmit live data about the performance of the car to
our team of engineers, when the car is doing a run. Students will be able to see how live data from their cars can be displayed in
graphical format and they will be asked to investigate how the movement of the car changes and how their graphs change when
conditions are altered.
4. Additive Manufacture (3D Printing) -The workshop will cover the development of components for BLOODHOUND SSC
using additive manufacture 3D printing. Working in small groups, students will create their own simulated 3D object from card or
cardboard.
5. Desert Living - When BLOODHOUND SSC attempts the World Land Speed Record
in South Africa, the team will need to live in the desert for 90 days. Students will be
given their brief and asked to produce a comprehensive plan of the camp, the kit and
equipment required for a stay in the desert of around 3 months.
AUTUMN2014
NEWSLETTER#04
OLIVERPRODUCTION
This year’s school production of ‘Oliver!’ was an occasion of great pride in the talent and achievement of our young actors and
performers.
Staged for the first time during the Autumn term, our wonderful cast captured the spirit of the Christmas season with this classic
musical based on Dickens’ famous novel. Led by Owen Noon, in the role of Oliver, and Harvey Weedon, as the Artful Dodger, the
cast charmed and amused a packed hall for each of the three evening performances. The standing ovations they received each
night were well deserved.
Noadswood also took the opportunity to welcome over 300 Wildground and Orchard Junior School pupils who enjoyed a full
dress rehearsal. Afterwards, the children and the cast had a packed lunch together and joined in an ‘Oliver!’ singalong featuring,
Oom PA PA and Consider Yourself. Great fun and a wonderful community event; they couldn’t ask for more...
NAVIG8TRIP
On Wednesday 19th November 15 year
7 pupils made the trip to Lulworth Cove
and Durdle Door, in Dorset. All pupils
have been completing articles that will
feature in their end of term magazine
entitled ‘What make the South unique?’,
and these pupils’ articles are focussed on
this particular area of the Jurassic Coast.
To start there was a short introduction
to the area by our guide Derry, where
we learnt some excellent facts that help
explain why this area is so unique. Did
you know that Lulworth has its very own
butterfly called a Lulworth Skipper?
We then made our way towards the sea,
completing a field sketch of Stair Hole
and walking down to the cove itself.
To finish off the day we made our way
round to Durdle Door, where we took in
the breath taking views from an excellent
viewpoint.
Everyone had a great day and learnt a lot,
even the teachers! Most people’s best bit
was seeing the incredible arch Durdle
Door from up high, and being able to
see where the old coastline used to be.
Thanks also to our guide Derry, who had
some excellent stories and fantastic facts
that we will be able to use in our articles.
KEYDATES
19/12 Christmas Revue
19/12 Last Day of Term (12:30pm)
22/12 - 02/01 Christmas Holiday
05/01 Spring 1st Half Term
15/01 Yr 9 Parent Evening
16/01 Mock Results Day
19/01 - 20/01 Yr 7 Open Morning
27/01 Yr 11 Photographs
28/01 Yr 11 Parent Evening
13/02 School Closed - Inset
16/02 - 20/02 Spring Half Term
PARISTRIP
This November, an adventurous group of 60 year 8 students went to Paris, to
experience French culture, history, language and a crêpe or two!
They had a coach tour around the main sights of Paris, followed
by a picnic lunch in the celebrated Tuileries Gardens in front of the
glass pyramids of the Louvre museum. In the afternoon, they saw the
beautiful gothic architecture and magnificent rose windows of the
Notre Dame Cathedral, span around and made a wish on ‘point zéro’.
They sampled French cuisine in a French restaurant. To top it off, they
did ‘Paris by night’, seeing the Eiffel Tower light up and twinkle, as it
does on the hour.
On the second day, the students floated under the romantic bridges
of the River Seine in a ‘bateau mouche’, looking at the wonderful
architecture of the Parisian landmark buildings. After picnicking and
walking beneath the vast pillars of the Eiffel Tower, the group travelled
past the Moulin Rouge to visit the ‘wedding cake’ structure of the
Sacre Coeur Cathedral. Friday was spent at Eurodisney, where our
students went on many rides, saw shows and met Disney favourites
such as Pinocchio and Mickey.
For some students, this was their first experience of a foreign country. Fun and learning was had by all, and I’d like to thank the staff
who helped make the trip a success in fanning the flames of the students’ enthusiasm for the trip and interest in French language
and culture.
HOUSENEWS
As we come to the end of a very long term and the approach of the festive season, it is good to reflect on our good fortune in life.
Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting the Piam Brown Ward with four Knightwood pupils at Southampton General Hospital which
supports and cares for children suffering from all forms of cancer. Georgia, Annalise, Xanthie and Molly were fantastic ambassadors
for Knightwood as they met with, and presented gifts to, some of the very poorly children staying that day. We were also able to
present a cheque for £862.54 to the Ward to help with their next big project which is to improve the family area on the Ward. The
senior team have decided to keep Piam Brown as our House charity for next year.
We continue to be the eternal bridesmaids, 2nd in Inter House sports before half term, 2nd on Sports day. The ambition for this
year must be for Knightwood to rise up and finally win something. We did have one of the winners in the recent ‘Great Noadswood
Bake-Off’ when Francesca Ovenden won in the ‘technical bake’ category. Well done to all who participated, the standard was
incredible.
Congratulations should also go to a large number of pupils involved in the recent
production of Oliver, Harvey Weedon as the Artful Dodger being one of a number of very
professional performances.
We have welcomed two new tutors to the Knightwood team this term, Miss Cheek and
Miss McCabe, also Mrs Slater has re-joined us after a year on Maternity leave. It has also
been fantastic to see our Year 7 pupils settle in to life at Noadswood so well.
MRSFRENCH
MRFENTON
Finally, may I wish you and your families a very restful and enjoyable Christmas holiday.