Spotlight newsletter issue 1 - Benjamin Britten High School

Edition One, Spring half-term, 2015
Message from the Headteacher:
I thought when we started our Facebook page I had written my last
‘copy’ for a school’s newsletter – well apparently I was wrong!
Then I thought to myself perhaps thinking about it as a newsletter is my
problem. For some reason I am taken back to my school days and my
early teaching appointments and the newsletters that used to come out
on the last Friday of the month, still fresh with the smell of ink solvents
from the ‘Banda’ machine (anyone born after 1980 will have to Google
that!).
This is a magazine. A little more than the current Facebook news line
carefully crafted with the best bits we do – in a little more detail.
The drive to produce this has come from students and staff and I
applaud their efforts to show you what we do.
A message from behind the
Spotlight: The Spotlight
newsletter was first published in
1979 when Benjamin Britten High
School first opened. We have
decided to bring it back after an
absence of several years in order
to inform students, staff, parents
and the wider community of the
successes and achievements of our
students as well as general news
and upcoming events.
On Tuesday, a large portion of the Eco Group were excused from their
regular timetable in order to work with Mr Stanley, a volunteer who is
helping us with the practical aspect of the Solar Garden. Last week, he visited
us to help us plan the garden and this week we began to construct the actual
physical elements of the garden such as the chicken coop and chicken run!
In the morning, we revised the plans we had drawn up the previous week
and after break we got in to the DT rooms and began work on the chicken
coop. We split into 4 teams and each team constructed a certain element of
the coop. It took the rest of the day for us to reach ‘near-completion’ of the
structure however it was to a very good standard and we're all proud of the
product.
The EcoTech team were not a part of the construction and stayed in to make
further plans for the solar panel and its stand, which will be constructed in
the weeks to come. Some of the modules required for the solar panel to
work were broken so some members of the group got onto the phone to the
Solar Energy Alliance and ordered some replacement items which were
delivered later on in the day. The EcoTech group are now fully prepared for
the mounting of the solar panel and will now be focusing on getting the
Raspberry Pis set up to do what we want them to do when we set them up
permanently with the solar panel.
Next week, we hope to get some more structures completed for the garden
and we hope to have it up and running by the end of this term. Be sure to
check back for more updates in the coming weeks!
By Shay Jordan. Year 10, Jupiter.
Special Feature:
BBHS Solar Garden Project
@bbhseco
@bbhseco
/bbhseco
Visit the entirely student-run BBHS Eco
Group website www.bbhseco.org for
more information!
House News
Jupiter House News
Students of the half-term for January-February: Hannah Brooks 11EW, Ronan Boulton 11MW, Hayden Layton-Bullock
11MW, Neve Winney 8FT, Simon Denny 8AT, Shaye Battrick 8FT, Arthy Nagendram 9AL, Sabrina Miles 7JG, Shaun
Rudland 7DR
Fundraising: Fundraising for Jupiter House charity “Team Addie” is continuing. We have raised over £150 from the
Christmas fundraising and more activities are planned. We do need a few large sweet jars – these can be brought in
to Mrs Edge or Mrs Wright.
Mercury House News
Individual house point awards: Maddison Tillett 7AS, Shannon Godfrey 8GL, Alex Langman 10MG and Faith Langman
9NL. The winning tutor group was 7AS (Miss Sweetman).
Art certificates: Josh Cooper 11DS, Gemma Spicer 8GL, Hannah Reid 9NL, Faith Langman 9NL, Rhianna Vingoe 9NL,
Scott Gray 10 AV and Jack Bessey 8GL.
Comic Relief 2015: Every student within the House has been encouraged to think of ideas of how to support the
charity and encouraged to purchase a red nose over the half term break. More news to follow on this.
Mercury Year 11s have been active in supporting Saturday study and Ethan Wells and Georgia Tooke have signed up
for the charity parachute jump in June to raise money for EACH, Topcats, Team Addie and Help an East Coast Child.
Neptune House News
Students of the half-term for January-February: Charlotte Bennett 7AR, Ella Rogers 7TB, Jessica Cator-Durrant 8JS,
Daniel York 8VK, Alice Patching 9HF, Ella Cunningham 9OB, Brandon Flaxman 10BH, Erin Hogan 10JH, Charlotte Jarvis
11GC, Conor Nicolle 11KB
House Point Reward Trip: 8JS have won an afternoon of bowling on Saturday 14th February 2015 for achieving the
most house points during our first term!
Saturn House News
Congratulations to Saturn House student Merynn Levett, representing BBHS and laying a wreath at Lowestoft Train
Station for Holocaust Memorial Day in January. Further details below.
House Reward Trip: Saturn House will be running a trip to Quasar in Great Yarmouth to reward Year 8 students for
their excellent behaviour. More details to follow after half-term!
Fundraising Event: We will also be holding an Easter fundraising event for our house charity Topcats. Just 50p to guess
the number of eggs in the jar…the closest guess wins the jar of eggs!
Club News
Duke of Edinburgh: 15 new candidates from Year 10 have signed up for the Bronze Award and will begin their
expedition training soon. Expeditions are planned for June 2015 and students are currently carrying out a
variety of volunteering activities in their spare time.
Careers News
Year 9 Options Evening took place on Wednesday 4th February and was well attended
by both parents and students. Lowestoft College, Lowestoft Sixth Form College, East
Norfolk Sixth Form College, Sir John Leman High School, UEA, representatives from the
energy and apprenticeship sectors, and Great Yarmouth College were all on hand to
offer advice on potential courses and qualifications post GCSEs.
Coming up:
 Visit from British energy company SSE- please see Mrs Sinclair if you are
interested in this.
 UCS Family Awareness Day 27th February- please see Mrs Sinclair or Mrs
Grant if you are interested in this.
 East Norfolk Sixth Form College Year 11 interviews on 25th February.
The school Careers Department is available to all students for information regarding
future options, help with CV writing, application forms and more. Additional careers
sessions are soon to be introduced into I.T lessons and parents of Year 11 students are
also welcome to attend one-to-one careers sessions with Mrs Sinclair. If you are
interested in this, please contact the School Office on 01502 582312 to make a booking.
For all other enquiries please contact: [email protected] or
[email protected].
Fundraising News
By Mr Mullender
th
Tribute to Respected Teacher: On Friday 6 February the school held a non-school uniform day to raise money for the
British Heart Foundation’s ‘Wear It Beat It’ campaign. The day was especially poignant as it was in memory of a muchrespected member of staff, Mr Steve Beckingham, our popular Media Studies teacher who sadly died after suffering a
heart attack earlier this term. The BHF was chosen by the Student Council to raise money for its ongoing research into
life-saving heart surgery. The day saw staff and students across the school wearing red clothing and accessories and we
raised a grand total of £715.48 for the BHF.
Sky Dive for Charity: On Monday 2nd February, Miss Armon and Mr Ketteringham launched a charity sky dive for our
Year 11 students who will be 16 at the time of the jump. This event is taking place on Saturday 6th June 2015 at
Ellough, Beccles. Visit the school Facebook page for more information.
Money Raised: On Friday 12th December 2014, students and staff were invited to wear a festive jumper in support of
the Save the Children charity. The day was very well supported with a wide range of colourful Christmas jumpers on
show. Donations from the day were split equally between Save the Children and Cancer Research UK. The Christmas
Jumper donation totalled £332.37 which will be doubled by the Government, bringing it up to a total of £664.24.
Congratulations and thanks to all those who took part.
Trip News
Ski Trip: Mrs Bubb will be taking a group of students to Italy on a skiing trip this half-term. Students have been taking
lessons and practicing their skills on the slopes of Norwich Snowsports Centre. Videos on Facebook.
Spanish and French language trips: Letters for the Spanish trip to Barcelona have been given out in classes and students
will know soon if they have a place. They will be visiting Sagrada Famila, Park Guell and Camp Nou in Barcelona as well
as the city of Girona. This is open to current Years 7, 9 and 10. The French trip to Lille in December will be launching next
month. This will be in December and we will be going to the Christmas markets in Lille and Brussels, a chocolate
museum and Nausicaa aquarium in Boulogne. This will be open to current Years 8, 9 and 10.
Holocaust Memorial Day: Students from Year 11 and Year 9 recently represented the school at the Holocaust Memorial
Day, a national act of remembrance, which was marked in Lowestoft by a wreath-laying ceremony at Lowestoft Railway
Station, followed by a service at Ormiston Denes Academy. Chair of the Waveney Youth Council and Saturn student
Merynn Levett laid a wreath on behalf of young people across Waveney and read a speech to mark the liberation of
concentration camps in Nazi occupied Europe in 1945. Students Hannah Reid, Shannon Harrison, Sophie Buckenham,
Lauren Taylor and Polly Keable recited a poem they had written and George Butler and Alice Patching performed a
dance which brought the ceremony to a close.
Student Council Update
News
BBHS Student Council meets once a month and its members consist of one student from each House in each year as
well as form representatives. We often invite members of staff and visitors to our meetings to hear our thoughts and
opinions on how the school can improve to meet the expectations of its students. A number of students who sit on the
Student Council also attend Waveney Youth Council meetings each half term where they get the opportunity to discuss
the services provided for young people across Waveney.
We are currently discussing the renovation of the school toilets and are deliberating over a promising proposal put
forward by Mr Hine at our last meeting.
Kitchen Corner
‘Kitchen Corner’ will feature news and photographs from
the school’s canteen and coffee bars. We’d love to hear from you
if you have any suggestions or ideas for new recipes. Each recipe
created will be photographed and reviewed by students for
forthcoming Spotlight issues. Email your ideas and recipes to our
Catering Manager [email protected] and check back
here to see which recipes were chosen and what our students
thought of them!
This half-term we’re reading…
Earth Fall by
Mark Walden.
(Based on
Book Café
recommendations).
And in other News…
Congratulations to the following students who have been nominated for Michael Marriott Rotary Youth Awards:
Bethany Grace (Drama), Emine Karusta (Drama), Sian Websdale (Dancing), Jazmine Banks (Singing), Merynn Levett
(Public Speaking), Abegail Ramales (Public Speaking), Georgia Tooke (Science), Katie Landles (Science), Sophie
Lincoln (Design), Chloe Burden (Design), Larissa Cook (Design), Elise Carter (Design), Katie Landles (Design), Phoebe
Millican (Design) and Georgia Baker (Design).
Saturday Study Sessions: Saturday Study Sessions for Year 11s have been running from 10am-12.30pm every
Saturday morning for the last 4 weeks. Around 50 students attend each session and their hard work and
determination in working towards their GCSEs was recognised by the Lowestoft Journal last week. Well done to all
the Year 11s who have been coming, we are very proud of you.
Year 10 History students have been studying the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 and had the opportunity to recreate battle scenes using lego and play-doh! Take a look below…
Gold was discovered
in the Black Hills. The
US offer $6 million for
the land but the
Indians refuse.
The Indians gather at
the Little Bighorn
River. Custer and his
men attack the
Indians.
Custer and his men
are wiped out.
People in America are
devastated to hear of
Custer’s death. The US
policy towards the
Indians changes.
4th March – ‘Matilda’ trip to London (Music and Drama Departments).
Also Year 9 Booster injections for Diptheria, Tetanus and Polio.
12th March – Year 9 Parents Evening
17th March – Trip to Tate Modern (Art Department)
23rd & 24th March – Year 7 Trip to Norwich Castle (CBC Department)
30th March- 10th April – Easter Break
13th April – PD Day
New Staff
A warm welcome to the following members of staff who have joined us this term:
Mrs L Greenough (English teacher)
Mr T King (CBC teacher)
Miss K Daniels (Teaching Assistant, Literacy Support Team)
Mrs A Grant (Teaching Assistant)
Miss J Hodgkin (Teaching Assistant)
Miss R Megolla (FLA)
Mrs E Morgan (Midday Supervisor)
And farewell and thank you to:
Mr N Reid (Cover Supervisor)
Unhappy? Want to talk?
Available every lunch time
1:15-1:45pm
A26
BBHS Spotlight will be published at the end of every half-term. If you have a story you’d like us to publish or an event
you’d like us to advertise, please email Miss Stanley on [email protected]
Interested in advertising in the BBHS Spotlight? Please contact the school office on 01502 582312 and ask to speak to
Miss Stanley.