eBulletin - Downend School

eBulletin
#027 – 13 Feb 2015
School Absence Line: Tel: 01454 862395
You may ring this number at any time to leave a message regarding
your child‟s absence
SCHOOL PERFORMANCE TABLES
At the end of January the government published school league tables for last summer‟s
results. Although the league tables are quite simplistic, their annual publication is generally
seen as helpful in providing parents with an overview of how schools are performing.
Unfortunately, this year‟s tables have been rendered almost useless due to the enormous
number of changes that have been made nationally to the curriculum and qualifications over
the last two years. Parents may have seen the widespread coverage of this in local and
national media, links to which are included below:
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-heads-say-school-tables-nonsense-changes/story25958642-detail/story.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-31023685
Mr Roberts
Headteacher
At Downend, various rule changes have left us in the bizarre situation that many of our Year
11 students achieved qualifications which are perfectly valid from the student‟s point of view,
but which do not count as results for the school. For example, if a student took Maths in
November and achieved a D, then took it again in June achieving a C, the student will
receive a certificate for their grade C, but only the D will count in the school‟s results.
When the rule changes were announced in September 2013, the leaders and governors of
Downend School took the decision to prioritise the results for students above the results for
the school, even though we knew this would lead to a low league table ranking in 2015.
This makes it hard for parents to use the tables to make comparisons, as the rules affected
all schools differently. The “headline” figure which is most frequently quoted is the
percentage of students achieving five or more A*-C grades including English and Maths. On
this measure, Downend achieved 43% in 2011, 54% in 2012, and 58% in 2013. The
equivalent figure in 2014 was 45%, 53%, 57% or 63%, depending on which rules are
applied. So whilst the league tables record 45%, our students actually achieved 63%.
Ofsted recognised Downend School‟s strength in their inspection earlier this year. (The
inspectors were happy with our decision making regarding the rule changes, and quoted our
results as 57% in their report).
Meanwhile, our A-level results show that Downend Sixth Form achieved the highest level of
“value-added” of any school in South Gloucestershire, for the second year running.
We are confident about the continued improvement of our school, and I am happy to provide
further information about the details of our results to any parent who wishes to know more.
STAFFING
We approach half-term with a couple of staffing changes to update you on.
Anna Sfakianakis (HLTA, English) is leaving Downend this week to take on a new venture
elsewhere. Mrs Sfakianakis has supported many students over the last 18 months and her
work has had a great impact. Our new HLTA in English will be Grace Beazer, a former
student who joined Downend recently as a Study Supervisor.
Louise Williams, who has worked at Downend for six years as PA to the Headteacher, is
moving to a new role at Blackhorse Primary School after half-term. Mrs Williams has been a
great support both to me and my predecessor Mrs Savage, and will be very much missed.
Mrs Williams‟ role will be temporarily divided between a number of our existing administrative
staff before a permanent appointment is made.
NOTICES & EVENTS
Social Science
News
Y13 Health and Social Care have been visiting
the Health Promotion Unit at the Greenway Centre
in Southmead. The unit is a resource centre full of
activities, models, displays and information leaflets
for health promotion campaigns. Y13 Health and
Social Care will be using the resources as well as
ones they have created to deliver a small health
promotion campaign with a group of their choice,
examples include healthy eating with KS1 at a local
primary school, the effects of smoking with KS3
and the effects of binge drinking with KS5.
Y11 Health and Social Care had a visit last week from Sian McLaughlin a Senior Midwifery
Lecturer from Bristol UWE. The main focus of the session was on informing the students of the
care values that midwives maintain and promote, Sian also brought in a number of teaching aids
she uses with her student midwives, these included an empathy suit, Lily dolls and a rubber
placenta and umbilical cord. The students thoroughly enjoyed the visit and learnt the value of
conducting primary research using their own questionnaires written for their coursework.
Y12 Psychology and Sociology students will be conducting research next term, most will be
investigating learning through observation or through replicating previous research. These research
activities will support their knowledge and understanding of research methods and help them to
develop the skills and critical analysis skills required for AS and A2 Social Science courses.
Music Notes
News From The Music Department
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Exam
Information
Concert Tour to Valkenburg, Holland. Christmas 2015.
Second deposits now due in. Many thanks to those who
have already submitted theirs.
Samba Band starts up again on Friday 27 Feb - 3:05 to
4:05pm in A1. Old and new members welcome. Free of
charge. Biscuits available. [email protected] for more
information.
Big congratulations to Hannah Le Poidevin for Grade 4 violin with merit and Lily Konteh for
her Diploma in Musical Theatre (singing) Dip.L.C.M.
Watch out for Lily Konteh in the forthcoming Ivy Arts production of Les Miserables at the
Olympus Theatre, Filton.
Exams Information
We have now published an exams calendar onto the school website, showing
all board timetabled exams for the Summer 2015 exam season, according to
the current information. Please note there will be additional assessments
which are not included on this timetable because the times will be set by
individual teachers; this could include languages orals, science investigative
skills assessments, controlled assessments and BTEC on demand tests, all of
which are compulsory elements of the award. Students will be informed of these by their teachers.
Any students with a clash (i.e. two exams timetabled at the same time) will be informed of the
arrangements made with their exam timetable.
Students will be issued with „Entry Statements‟ prior to February half term which they should check
carefully. If there are any queries regarding their entries they should initially refer these to the
relevant subject teacher. Individual candidate timetables will then be issued to all students once
room and seating arrangements have been finalised. It is the student‟s responsibility to ensure that
they attend all exams on time and fully prepared and equipped.
Please also see the document “Exams – a guide for students and parents” under the Exams
section of the school website for additional information.
Drama
Productions
Year 12/13 Drama Showcase
 10th March 2015 6.30 free entry, charity collection
"The Bodysnatchers"
A new comedy based on characters from the world of
commedia
"Evidently Chickentown"
The poetry of John Cooper Clarke. 24/7 surveillance.
Welcome to Chickentown. You are being watched.
"4:48 Psychosis"
Sara Kane's last play before her suicide is not comfortable.
The worst time of night, when you have shed your skin and you have no hope left.
Active Kids
Active Kids Vouchers
From the 28th January until 5th May we will
be collecting the Sainsbury's Active Kids
Vouchers as we have done since the scheme
began
Last year we collected enough vouchers to
make a substantial difference and we have
been able to purchase many pieces of
equipment; we have exchanged vouchers for
equipment such as digital cameras, woks,
microwaves and one year a fridge!
Maths Test
Information
Year 10 Mathematics Tests
In term 4 all Y10 students will be taking a number of tests to assess their progress on the GCSE
mathematics course. Tests will take place in class in the week beginning 2nd March and we will
use the results to determine if set moves are required.
Students will be given further information in lessons over the coming weeks but please do not
hesitate to contact the mathematics department if you have any queries.
Winter Games
Year 8 Success
Our Year 8 Girls Sportshall Athletics Team qualified to compete in the Winter Games Level 3
Sportshall County Championships at UWE last Tuesday.
The competition from the Bristol Schools such as Redland Green, St. Mary Redcliffe and Fairfield
was very high and it was a well contested competition. Downend finished 4th overall just missing
out on a Bronze medal but they did extremely well and the girls were a credit to themselves and the
school.
The girls team consisted of:
 Maggie Brown
 Lauren Hague
 Kezia Kenyon
 Tia Jackson
 Izzy Maine
 Mia Escott
 Nerys Akers
Book Swap
As Part of World Book Day we are organising a 'Book Swap Event'. If you have
ANY unwanted Books, Comics or Magazines please send them into the school
INNOVATION CENTRE where they will be given a new purpose.
Innovation
Centre
See It, Make It – Film Project
Sarah Belfield and Rebecca Rose (Course Coordinator BFI Film Academy Bristol and Bristol Old
Vic Theatre School) are working with a group of our students, to help them develop their own short
film project.
The first activity was coming up with an original idea that they will take through all the creative and
technical stages of film making.
The film will be shown at a special event at The Watershed Cinema.
Origami
We had a huge number of
entrants to the „Downend Fold
Off!‟ You can see the quality
of the entries in the
photographs
World Book Day
Holocaust
Memorial Day
Students and staff commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day in the Innovation Centre; as usual
there were some moving and inspirational readings of poetry and writing.
Ice Cream
Ice Cream Parlour Open For Business
On one of the coldest days of the year Red Pathway students decided to open an ice cream parlour
selling their home-made creations. It has to be said that the cold weather did not seem to have
much of an effect on customers!
Well Done Joe
Poetry By Heart
A huge well done to Joe Cooke in
Y11 who was the Downend School
„Poetry By Heart‟ Champion.
Earlier this term Joe took on the
task of memorising three poems
which he had to recite on stage in front of an audience at the Regional Finals at The Egg Theatre in
Bath. To add to the pressure Joe was invited to take part in the Geoff Twentyman Drivetime Radio
show on BBC Radio Bristol before the finals.
Even though Joe didn‟t manage to qualify for the National Finals his performance was described as
„amazing‟ by the „Poetry By Heart‟ team.
You can listen to one of Joe‟s performances by clicking the following link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02h1hhj#auto
Joe starts at about 1hr 57mins into the programme.
Mr Minkov’s
Mindful Mind
Puzzles
A man runs to the quayside, performs a death-defying leap and lands safely but painfully on the
deck of a ferry. He is very happy, until an impressed stranger asks him a question, whereupon he
starts crying. What is the question?
Add 2 to 171 and make it less than eighteen.
Every morning a woman takes the lift from her apartment on the twelfth floor, leaves the building
and goes off to work. When she returns in the evening however, the woman always gets out of the
lift on the eighth floor and walks up the remaining stairs to her flat. She was not a keep-fit fanatic so
why did she do this?
You enter a deserted house
late at night. Inside there
is an oil lamp, a gas fire
and a stove full of wood.
You have only one
match however, so
which should you light
first?
ESFA Football
Downend Lose Out In Semi-Final
On Thursday 12 February Downend Y9s hosted Haverstock
School from Camden in the Semi-Final of the ESFA Small
Schools PlayStation Cup.
Downend, the defending champions started the game well and
it would be fair to say they dominated the first half. However,
the score line didn‟t reflect the number of chances they had,
but they went into break with a 1 – 0 lead.
The second half was a different game with Haverstock
emerging from the half-time talk with a real determination and
soon equalised. Despite some excellent chances and real commitment from the Downend boys,
Haverstock took their chances and finished the game as 3-1 victors and proceed to the final.
Downend in the
Top 100
Sporting Success Recognised
Downend School has been named in the top 100 state
schools for Sport, we came in at no 79.
http://www.schoolsportmag.co.uk/top-100-sportsschools/4587348675
Based on 20 different sports and more than 120
different national competitions, more weighting is given
to success in a range of sports rather than single
sports – not to mention competitions with more teams competing - and all results are inputted into a
special computer programme.
A fantastic achievement by the PE department and all the students that give up their time to
compete for the school in a huge variety of sports.
Rugby
Girls Rugby Festival
Well done to the following girls who took part in the South Gloucestershire & Bristol Girls Rugby
Festival, held at Kingswood RFC. They are a fantastic new team, who played well in all their
games. The try scorers were: Mia Escott x 2, Jasmine Deere x 1, Molly Birch x 1, Felicity Jenkins x
1. The girls also had the opportunity to meet a World Cup winner – Sarah Hunter.
The team are looking for more players. Training is on every Thursday from 3:05 – 4:15 on
the field with a Professional England Rugby coach.
All Welcome!!
Girls U14 Squad:
Ellie Thompson-Gorwill, Lisha Ali, Mothy Fathers, Molly Birch, Izzy Birch, Kaira Touray, Molly
Richardson, Felcity Jenkins, Alice Knight, Jasmine Deere, Charlie Jones, Mia Escott, Ellie Salt,
Angel Raby.
Emerging Talent
Bath University Emerging Talent Day
Eight year 7 students were successfully identified as being outstanding in sport, and have the
potential to participate to a high level. They were given the experience to attend Bath University
where they took part in a variety of sports workshops; Judo, Speed for Sport, hand-eye
coordination and trampolining. They were also given a tour of the facilities and met sporting
champions. The students really enjoyed the day and said they were inspired to continue with their
sport to a high level.
Students:
William Brock, Ole Bainbridge, Jamie Taylor, Jack Roberts, Stacey Ngode, Esme Stoker, Emily
Tipping, Olivia Goozee.
Multi skills
Festival
Year 1 & 2 Multi Skills Festival
A class of year 9 students have taken part in a
leadership programme called The Young
Leaders Award and Sky Sports Living for Sport
Project. Their aim was to be trained as leaders
and then plan and deliver a sporting event to a
primary school.
The Multi Sports Festival was aimed at twenty
four year 1 and 2 students from St Augustine‟s.
The year 9 leaders demonstrated fantastic
leadership qualities which enabled the event to
be a success. The students should be very
proud of themselves.
For Your Diary
Term 1
Tuesday 2 September 2014 (Y7 & 12 only) –
Friday 24 October
Term 2
Monday 3 November 2014 – Friday 19
December 2014
Term 3
Monday 5 January 2015 – Friday 13 February
2015
Term 4
Monday 23 February 2015 – Friday 27 March
2015
Term 5
Monday 13 April 2015 – Friday 22 May 2015
Term 6
Monday 1 June 2015 – Monday 20 July 2015
INSET Days (teacher and support staff training days)
Downend School will be closed to students on the following days:
Inset Day 1: Monday 1 September 2014
Inset Day 2: Monday 3 November 2014
Inset Day 3: Monday 5 January 2015
Inset Day 4: Monday 13 April 2015
Inset Day 5: Monday 20 July 2015