News
June 2010
Shaftesbury School shines against Arsenal
Shaftesbury School was lucky enough to welcome a team of trainee coaches from Arsenal FC to the school last week.
The coaches worked with Catering teacher Jeff the Chef in the morning, learning about healthy eating and how to cook – they cooked their own lunch! In the afternoon they led coaching sessions with students from across the school who have shown commitment during the year to sports fixtures and after school clubs.
The climax of the day was a match between the Arsenal coaches and a team of sixth form students and staff from the school. The match was refereed in the first half by Jeff the Chef, and in the second half by Ollie Jones, sports teacher at Sturminster Newton High School, with whom Shaftesbury share a Sixth Form. After an early goal from Arsenal in the first half, Shaftesbury battled on bravely to secure an equaliser in the second. With a final whistle score of a 1-1 draw, the match was decided on penalties. Shaftesbury won the penalty shoot-out 3-2.
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May 2010
SPRING SHOWCASE A TRIUMPH
A large audience of parents, staff, governors and friends of Shaftesbury School gathered in the main hall last week for an evening of variety, which included performances by students from years 7-13 of music, singing from the choir, poetry readings and dance.
The host for the evening was Year 12 student Lou Lou Frankenstein, who kept the audience captivated as she introduced each act. Performances from the School Orchestra and various groups including Senior and Junior Wind ensembles, Drum, Keyboard and Guitar clubs were intermingled with solos from students Lisa Burton and Daisy Rodney and several songs from the choir including a grand finale of ‘All That Jazz’ from Chicago. The groups were supported by their peripatetic music teachers.
The audience were enthralled by solos from Year 13 student Evian Yu, who played the Chinese flute, Erin Dawe Lane on piano, a guitar solo from David Langton-Gilks (Year 9) and an excellent rendition of the classic ‘Stormy Weather’ by Year 8 student Seth Jordan on clarinet.
The evening was organised by the music department, in conjunction with Choir leader Sacha Langton-Gilks and Anna Gregory. Many other departments were represented, including English with students reading some thought-provoking poetry, PE wilth a dramatic dance display to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ by Year 7 students. During the show the audience enjoyed canapés and fruit punch provided by Jeff the Chef.
MARWELL ZOO
Year 8 students from Shaftesbury School greatly enjoyed a visit from a Zoo Lab ranger on 27th May. This compliments the Religious Education Module on Animals and Religion / Animal Rights where all aspects of Humans relationships with animals are explored, for example, religious food laws, vegetarianism, factory farming, animals in sport and the pet trade. It also questions the value of zoos in protecting endangered species in the 21st century.
The Zoo Lab workshop programme compliments various elements of the science and Citizenship curriculum and followed on from a recent trip to Marwell Zoo where students learned about endangered species and Biodiversity. Students met and learned about various ‘mini-beasts’ including a millipede, a tarantula, hissing cockroaches, a hermit crab and a corn snake.
Students were fascinated to learn about their habits and habitats, and were able to personally handle the creatures (not the tarantula, to the relief of many!).
YEAR 7S VOTE IN NEW BOOK AWARD
Shaftesbury School recently took part in the New Horizons Book Award, run by the Schools Library Service. The award aims to encourage young people to explore some of the best fiction from exciting new authors.
A reading group of students from Year 7 cast their votes for the best debut children’s author from a list of 16 titles. They produced a shortlist of 5 books which exactly matched the final shortlist in the competition:
The great hamster massacre by Katie Davies
13 treasures by Michelle Harrison
Love Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow
The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams
Shaftesbury was one of the first schools to enter and received a free set of the five shortlisted titles.
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April 2010
QUESTION TIME AT SHAFTESBURY
A BBC institution had a student makeover this week when Shaftesbury School hosted ‘Question Time’ on 31st March.
In the spotlight were an invited panel of representatives from the major political parties: Nick Mason, Conservative District Councillor for Motcombe & Ham, Mike Bunney, the Labour party candidate for North Dorset, Emily Gasson Liberal Democrat candidate for North Dorset, Brian Heatley of the Green Party and Jeremy Nieboer, UKIP for North Dorset.
The audience of sixth formers turned up the heat for the panellists as they asked questions on a range of subjects including alternative energy (particularly the proposed wind farm at Silton), university tuition fees, and the lowering of the voting age.
RIDDELL WINS SAFTA
Year 11 student Kieran Riddell won a SAFTA (Shaftesbury Academy of Film & TV Arts Award) at the Foundation Scenewriting Academy last night. An audience of students, parents and staff gathered to watch six short movie ‘scenes’, which had been written by the students at a Gifted and Talented Scenewriting Academy held during January and February. The scenes had been filmed in and around the school by a cast and crew that included both external industry practitioners and sixth form students. The audience voted for their favourite scene, and Kieran’s clip, entitled “Thoughts (and stuff)” was the overall winner. He was presented with a ‘SAFTA’ by Stewart McKie, Chair of the Foundation Governors who organised the Academy.
View Thoughts (and Stuff) together with the other short scenes by clicking here: http://sceneclass.tripos.biz/movies.html
RAG DAY CASH RAISED FOR MSAADA
Head Boy and Head Girl of Shaftesbury School, Tim Hardiman and Chantelle Wareham, present Billy Kelly of local charity Msaada with a cheque for £4328. The money was raised by the sixth form on Rag Day back in December.
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January 2010
STUDENTS MARK 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF HOLOCAUST
The 65TH anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau was marked on 27th January in Shaftesbury School by a Memorial Service held in the school hall. The Service was attended by local clergy, the Mayor and Mayoress of Shaftesbury, Councillor Colin Kay, chair of North Dorset District Council, Mr John Nash, Director of Children’s Services at Dorset County Council and parents, staff and members of the local community.
Students from Year 8 presented their creative work inspired by the Holocaust in the form of some very moving poems, and members of the Student Aspirations Team gave their thoughts on prejudice and discrimination linked with their work on Anti-Bullying. Oli Coombes, a year 11 student, sang an Anti-Bullying song which he had written himself, and further musical interludes were provided by students, singing ‘The Rose’ and performing ‘Nearer My God To Thee’ during the Act of Commemoration, when representatives of the school and local community lit candles. Prayers were led by the Rev Clive Thomas.
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December 2009
RAG DAY 2009
Shaftesbury School’s Sixth Form Rag Day once again arrived to a plethora of costumes and disguises that were more inventive than ever before. The purpose of the day, as always, was to raise funds for charity and this year it was mainly for Msaada but also the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance. As well as collecting in the town, a number of different activities were planned for the day in school; cake sales, raffles, egg roulette (don’t ask!), karaoke, hair braiding. The day culminated in Shaftesbury School’s take on the Weakest Link which turned out to be an in-depth examination of the gaps in the general knowledge of a number of teachers who cannot be named here! The day raised a massive sum of money and although exact figures are not yet available it will exceed £4,500!.
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November 2009
POETRY PLEASE 2009
A fantastic evening of talent took place in school last night (12th November) when more than 40 students took part in the annual Poetry Please competition.
Pupils from local primary schools at Motcombe, Abbey and Fontmell Magna also competed in the Year 6 competition, and there were some excellent performances. After a tough decision, the judges awarded first prize to Isabella Vincent-Moscrop of St Andrews School, who also won the Year 6 Own Poem category with her poem “When I went to the Seaside”.
Shaftesbury School students excelled with a variety of costumes and props, and delighted the audience with renditions of their favourite, and in some cases self-penned, poems.
Winners were Seth Jordan in Year 7, Kevin Hudson in Year 8, and Frances Bathurst and Kate Coulson in the Senior Category.
In the William Barnes category, there were impressive performances from John Welch and Lucy Gill, and Luke Gibson and Tim Godfrey-Twiss. The winner of this category went to Sam Rutter, Tim Hardiman and George Ridgway from Year 13 who gave a hilarious performance of “The Waggon-a-Stooded”, which brought the house down.
Winner of the coveted Poetry Please Trophy for the best performance of the night went to Daniel Hayden from Year 7 with his energetic Batman Rap.
Musical interludes during the evening were provided by Erin Dawe Lane, and TJ Stevens and Dominika Samulak vel Semczuk singing Love Is All Around.
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October 2009
WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 2009
Sixth Form Psychology students at Shaftesbury School have joined a national campaign to bring an end to discrimination against people with mental health.
Last Friday, they held an event to mark World Mental Health Day 2009, as part of the national ‘Time to Change’ campaign. The campaign’s target is to change people’s attitudes to mental health and the event was to raise awareness amongst other students of the stigma and discrimination that millions of people with mental health problems face every day.
The students manned a stall outside the Main Hall, and encouraged other students to take part in a celebrity quiz, word searches and a lucky dip to find out just how much they knew about the Myths and Facts of mental health.
Many of the younger students in the school were surprised to discover that many famous people like Stephen Fry, Katie Price, Patsy Palmer, Robbie Williams, Ulrika Johnssen and Ruby Wax have all faced mental illness.
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September 2009
SHAFTESBURY CELEBRATES STUDENT SUCCESSES
Shaftesbury School celebrated the achievements of its students this week at the annual Evening of Achievement. Students from years 10 through to 13 were awarded certificates and trophies for their dedication and achievements across all subjects.
Parents, staff and students were treated to musical and drama performances during the evening by talented students: Oliver Coombes, a year 11 student performed two self-penned songs, and Year 13 student Aisling Ewers, who recently won a place with the National Youth Theatre, delivered a monologue which she had written herself about teaching, which greatly amused the assembled audience.
Special guest for the evening was David Zackheim who presented students with their prizes. In his address Mr Zackheim commented that he was “overwhelmed” by the achievements of the school and its students. Mr Zackheim is an entrepreneur who has a portfolio of a number of businesses, from entertainment to property development. He has an interest in the school through its link with Rwanda and the local charity Msaada.
As well as awards for all subjects, special awards went to Anna Glaze-Krayer and George Ridgway for their successes at A2 and AS Levels respectively. Samantha Ryall won a trophy sponsored by the Shaftesbury Talking Newspaper for her contribution to the overall life of the school. Sanderson won the House Cup, and House/Sport Captains Dominic Snook and Matt Haggath picked up the trophy.
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July 2009
“NEVER, EVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS” RUGBY STAR TELLS SPORTING STUDENTS
Students and their families from Shaftesbury School were treated to an inspiring speech from former international rugby legend Scott Quinnell at their annual Sports Awards Evening recently.
Dogged by dyslexia, which was not properly diagnosed until he was 20, Quinnell played professional rugby until he was 32 when a broken wrist brought an end to his playing career. Taking up a commentating position with Sky Sports, his dyslexia became a problem, but he has now, with help, overcome his difficulties. Children, he said, should grow up to be whatever they want to be. Sport has given him everything he wants, but he stressed the importance of attaining a good education at the same time.
He presented awards to over 100 students, for their commitment and progress. Team awards went to the Year 7 Netball Team, and the Athletics Team. Performers of the year were awarded trophies, and medals went to four students, Andrew Turner, Jason Beal, Todd Hart and Merrick Rayner for their Leadership skills. Awards also went to children from Shaftesbury’s feeder primary schools and Yewstock School, with whom the school works closely.
The evening was punctuated by dance performances from the children of Chilmark and Fonthill Bishop Primary School, and Year 10 students Sophie Burton and Lauren Lever.
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March 2009
Shaftesbury School's Sixth Form Outclass Arsenal
The school was lucky enough to welcome a team of trainee coaches from Arsenal FC to the school last week.
The coaches worked in the kitchen under the instruction of Jeff the Chef in the morning, learning about healthy eating and how to cook healthily. This was followed by coaching sessions with students from across the school – particularly those who are actively involved in extra-curricular football fixtures. Year 9 students Sophie Stopps and Daisy Perrin commented: “The coaches were really friendly – they even went to the trouble to learn our names. They were interested in talking to us about other sports that we were doing. They gave us great tips during the coaching. This has been a fantastic opportunity and we really enjoyed it”.
At the end of the afternoon, a large crowd of students and staff gathered to watch a match between the Arsenal coaches and Shaftesbury’s Sixth Form. Mr Parkinson’s match report follows.
Shaftesbury 3 Arsenal 2
Juny Iriah grabbed the headlines with a well taken brace as Shaftesbury School's Sixth Form Football Team beat Arsenal 3-2. Iriah opned the scoring early in the first half as Shaftesbury took the game to their illustrious opponents. Arsenal always looked dangerous on the break but the Shaftesbury back line, marshalled by the impressive Blake Westcar coped well with the pressure. Arsenal's best chances came from dead ball situations with Shaftesbury goalkeeper Dan Sycklemore producing an acrobatic save, tipping the ball away from the top corner. If this was a warning for Shaftesbury, it was not heeded as a subsequent free kick was smashed in off the crossbar leaving Sycklemore with no chance. Shaftesbury responded immediately though with Iriah pouncing for his second, a delightful lob over the advancing 'keeper.
The second half was all Shaftesbury but the North Londoners sneaked another equaliser against the run of play. Shaftesbury pressed forward in search of the winner and were rewarded when Simon Fellows capped a dominant defensive performance with a brave header. Shaftesbury, ahead for the third time in the game worked hard to ensure they did not let it slip again. At the final whistle the large crowd applauded both teams for their effort but it was Shaftesbury's players who left with smiles on their faces.
TRIP OF A LIFETIME FOR SIXTH FORM STUDENTS
Six of our Year 12 students are preparing, with much excitement and anticipation, for a trip to Rwanda, which begins on Sunday 29th March.
Eric Brice, Tim Hardiman, Chantelle Wareham, Tom Sanger, George Ridgway and John Welch, together with Director of Sixth Form Mike Hayes and teacher Clare Davenport will be visiting the Excel Bilingual School in Rwamagana, Rwanda where they will meet women and children who were victims of the 1994 genocide.
During a visit to Shaftesbury by Chairman of the Excel Bilingual School, Emile Rudasingwa at the end of last year, a Partnership was formed between the two schools, with an aim to raise £100,000 to build new school premises to enable more children to have a proper education.
The students are very much looking forward to their trip, where they will see how some of the money already raised – in excess of £15,000 so far – is being used to fund projects to help the people of Rwanda to rebuild their lives. They will also have the opportunity to teach the children at the Excel Bilingual School. Chantelle Wareham commented “I am planning on showing and teaching the students Origami. The reason I chose this was because I thought it would be an engaging and exciting activity for them”.
Of the trip, Eric Brice said “To be chosen by the school to take part in such a worthwhile and exciting cause is a great honour. I am sure this [trip] will make us all look at our lives from a different perspective: our troubles pale in comparison to what this country has faced. I can only hope that this project inspires me and fires me up to do more work of this kind, something that I really want to get incredibly involved with in the future”.
The travellers will return during the Easter holidays. Watch this space for news of their experiences next term.
WORLD BOOK DAY
Thursday 5th March was World Book Day and many students attended school dressed as their favourite book character. Various competitions were also running throughout the week, including an Illustration Competition, a Guess Who? Competition in the Resource Centre, and the Book Buddies were looking for winning jokes for their Joke Book. The Book Buddies group, along with Mrs Symons had a very difficult job judging the competitions, and the results were as follows:
Costume Competition
1st Prize: Emily Burge at Captain Hook
2nd Prize: Eoin Brew at the dragon from “Fire Within”
3rd Prize: Georgina Tilley as Willy Wonka
Illustration Competition
1st Prize: Georgia Neville
2nd Prize: Rachel Dunn & Abigail Masterson
3rd Prize: Jennifer Wu
Due to an overwhelming number of entries, the Book Buddies are still judging the Joke Competition. Results will be announced next week .
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December 2008
RAG DAY FUNDRAISING TOTAL EXCEEDS PREVIOUS YEARS
Shaftesbury School’s Rag Day, on Friday 12th December, raised a record amount in excess of £3000 for local charity Msaada.
Sixth Form students, dressed in a wide variety of fancy dress costumes, took to the streets of Shaftesbury with their collecting buckets, and visited shops and businesses on the industrial estates to help increase the total.
All students wore mufti, paying £1 for the privilege, and were entertained at breaktime and lunchtime with Pie-a-Teacher, where they paid for Miss Little, Miss Greening, Mr Davies, Mr Williams, Mr Ferguson and Mr Haslam to be ‘pied’. Year 12 student Dominic Snook had his head shaved, to the delight of a hall full of students. Mr Langford, Mr Smith, Mr Hayball and Mr Barlow dyed their beards pink – the colour voted on by the students during the previous week.
Other events around school included cake sales and kiss-o-grams, and the main event of the afternoon was a staff/student version of Strictly Come Dancing. Six student/teacher partnerships took to the dance floor and entertained the school with twirls, lifts and some rather dodgy dance moves. Mr Haslam and Anna Dummer-Wade won the lower school competition, whilst Mrs Hunter and Todd Hart took the ‘trophy’ in the upper school competition.
Mr Hayes, Director of Sixth Form said: “As always, the students threw themselves into the Rag Day activities in fancy dress costume. Thanks to the generosity of the students at school and the general public of Shaftesbury, we managed to raise over £3,000. The money raised will be added to previous donations and pledges from other local schools to fund some new buildings for our partner school in Rwanda”.
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November 2008
ENTERPRISE WEEK AT SHAFTESBURY SCHOOL
Enterprise Week was first launched in 2004 and has grown year on year ever since. This year for the first time, it was also part of a Global Entrepreneurship Week with 70 countries taking part.
Sixty one students from Business Studies took part in a National ‘Make your Mark Challenge’ event with a theme of Olympics 2012. Their brief was to create a unique product or service, research competitors, produce a cash flow forecast and to produce a short presentation. Local entrepreneurs Mr and Mrs Boyle from L A Marketing and Design came to judge the teams. The 2 winning teams were Paralympics by Eve James, Lia James, Lauren Lever, Jenna Rayner and Glenn Bailey. Plus, Olympic Visitor E-Guide by Alexander Schlager, Felix Hulbert and Matthias Kretschmer. Congratulations to them all!
Throughout the week we had fantastic events going on in many departments. Maths held a complete week devoted to Enterprise activities, including Dragons Den Role Play and ‘Chocolate, What’s in it?’. English organised a Marketing Project. History ran a Pirate Quest and Trenches Adventure Game. Modern Foreign Languages ran Talent ‘r’ Us and something called Creepy Crawlies. Students from Citizenship received training on Young Co-operatives and how to set up a Mini-Business. PE investigated the cost of a new PE Kit. ICT students took part in a Junior Apprentice Challenge – where they had to design and produce a 40 second commercial.
The winners for the ‘Name your Most Inspiring Entrepreneur’ competition were Hannah Green (Ben & Jerry’s Ice-cream), Milo Marshall (Wagamama Restaurants), Jadie Carter (Peter Jones)
POETRY PLEASE 2008
Forget The X Factor...forget Strictly...the hottest talent show of the year once again graced Shaftesbury School in November, with students from across the school competing to win the coveted Poetry Please cup as the competition entered its fifth year.
The standard was high across the board – from Shaftesbury students and those who came to compete from local primaries – resulting in extraordinarily difficult decisions having to be made to choose the winners. Any finalists who did not come away with a prize shouldn’t be disappointed – they were all brilliant and should be justifiably proud of themselves for getting up on stage and performing – it’s not easy! Some of them deserved a medal for the sheer amount of lines they had to remember!
Performances included a perfectly timed act by Luke Gibson and certainly the most vivacious recitation of a William Barnes poem that I (and, I imagine, the visiting William Barnes Society) have ever seen by Mr Sam Rutter and...err...Miss Tim Hardiman...
So, the winners were...
Year 6 Own Poem: ‘The Castle’ by Lydia Elphick (The Abbey Primary)
Year 6: Lydia Elphick, Lauren West & Lauren Howells (The Abbey Primary)
Year 7: Molly Grant (Sanderson House)
Year 8: Shannon White (Thompson) and Charlotte Gordon (Owens)
Seniors: Frances Bathurst (Sanderson House)
William Barnes Poems: Sam Rutter (Thompson) and Tim Hardiman (Redgrave)
The overall winner was Molly Grant who captured the humorous dialogue between herself and the uncle so brilliantly that we imagined it may have actually occurred! She was presented with her lasting memento of her victory by last year’s overall winner Anne-Louise Richards – also from Sanderson House!
It really was a marvellous evening which continues to get better year on year, so my particular thanks to Mrs Armitstead and her department for putting their time in to organise it and to all the finalists (from our school and the primaries – The Abbey, Motcombe and St Andrews) who put so much time and effort into preparing for the evening – well done!
Karl King - House Captain, Redgrave House
English Gifted and Talented Student Coordinator and one of the judges on the night!
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October 2008
SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP WITH RWANDA
We have recently been privileged to host a visit from Emile Rudasingwa, the Chairman of the Excel Bilingual School in Rwanda. The visit was part of the school’s Rwandan Project, and its purpose was to form a partnership between our two schools.
During Mr Rudasingwa’s visit he met with sixth formers and staff who, as part of the partnership, will endeavour to raise £100,000 to build a new nursery and primary school. The Excel School currently occupies ex-prison premises, and desperately needs the space to accommodate all the children in the town that want to be educated. He also spoke to students across years 7 to 13 about life in Rwanda, showed textiles students how textiles are produced in Africa, and led an African dancing session with music students, and played in the staff 5-a-side football match! He visited the Departments of Education at Bath University, and spent time at the local primary schools.
During a special assembly to mark the visit, Headteacher David Booth presented Mr Rudasingwa with a plate to commemorate the partnership that now exists between the two schools. He commented: “It has been a privilege and a pleasure to have Emile with us for the last two weeks. I know he has gained a great deal from his experience here in Dorset and he has opened our eyes further to the challenges he faces.”
Mr Rudasingwa thanked the staff and students for making him so welcome here. He said, “I am delighted that we have established this partnership which will enable many more students in my town to have an education. I also look forward to returning to Rwanda and meeting with other teachers to discuss new ways in which we may develop our teaching methods”. Mr Hayes added, “I am pleased that the partnership is now established. We very much look forward to a productive and continuing relationship whereby students continue to visit the Excel school to teach, and I hope that in the future other teachers from Rwanda may come and visit us here in Shaftesbury. I was very impressed with the enthusiasm shown by our feeder primary schools where Emile spent many a happy hour, and also to St Mary’s School, Shaftesbury and Talbot Heath School in Poole, where he was asked to give talks to students and staff. We now look forward to involving more people to join our project in building the school in Rwanda.”
BOOK WEEK
Book week began with a visit from children’s writer Chris d’Lacey, whose work includes the David Rain series of Dragon books, Fly Cherokee Fly and Riverside United. He spoke to students in Year 7 and members of our book groups about his work and life as an author. At lunchtime he also held a book signing session in the Resource Centre and met other enthusiastic readers and budding authors.
Earlier in the day, Chris and his wife Jay judged our competition in which students were asked to produce an original piece of work relating to dragons. They found it incredibly difficult to choose winners as all the entries were so good. Eventually he narrowed it down to the following seven students who received signed copies of books from his Dragon series: Megan Booth, Jessica Gough, Petrina Harris, Gemma Harvey, Molly Masters, Ivy Stanton and Jennifer Wu.
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September 2008
AWARDS FOR ACHIEVERS
Last Thursday was our annual Evening of Achievement, a ceremony of prize-giving for Years 10 to 13, in the company of staff, parents and governors.
The evening recognised the achievements of more than 120 students who had excelled or made excellent progress in all subjects across the curriculum.
As well as prizes for all years in all subjects, awards were also made to Eric Brice for his 10 A* success at GCSE, and to Amy Jolliffe for her success at A2 Level, with 3 As and a B. Amy now has a place at Cambridge University to read English.
An award was also made to student Marie Cuff, who was nominated for a Diana Memorial Award by Connexions for the time and commitment she devotes to caring for her father. The award was presented by Chris Ruddick, a previous winner and ambassador for the award.
The final award of the evening was the coveted Champion House Cup, which this year was won by Thompson House, and was collected by House Captains Elliot Moreland and Beyli Schneider.
During the evening guests were treated to performances byTom Whitfield on piano singing Gershwin’s “Summertime”, sisters Eleanor and Alexandra Wetherilt dancing to “Memory” from Cats, and Mr Hayes, Miss Little and sixth formers Kate Roper and Jemma Woolmington giving a presentation on their trip to Rwanda earlier on this year.
An address from Chair of Governors Chris Brickell rounded off the evening, where he praised teachers and leadership of the school for creating an excellent learning environment with fantastic opportunities with students who achieve and perform well.
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June 2008
Busy Art Department
The Thursday Art Club entered the Fonthill Festival recently, and won first prize in the Under 19 Sculpture category. The theme of the sculpture category was recycling, and the group created some ‘models’ and a dog for a fashion catwalk. So impressed was he with the quality of their work that Lord Margadale also made a “President’s Special Award for Creativity” to the group. The prize was £40 and a one day workshop with local sculptor Mark Coreth
Art students have recently been working with Alex Grant, artist and director of the Toozalii Community Arts project in Salisbury. Toozalii works alongside local communities, forming a close working collaboration by engaging, empowering and artistically training local people to create and perform in their own works. The students were making batik silk flags, by creating their own designs and painting them onto silk with dyes.
The flags will form part of a procession at the Gold Hill Fair on 5th July, beginning at Tescos and going through the centre of town, culminating in an installation in the Park around the stage.
Once the flags were dry, they will be passed through a large rotary iron, which will bring out the vibrant colours of the dye.
Year 11 student Billy Wimblett has designed the backdrop for the music stage at this year’s Gold Hill Fair. Students Lydia Hall, Lauren Jack, Alex Skuza, James Bey and David Gamblin have enjoyed painting this as part of their Applied Art course.
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May 2008
OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST AWARDS YOUNG SPORTING STARS
Olympic Gold Medallist Tessa Sanderson CBE presented the awards at Shaftesbury School’s annual Sports Awards Evening on 1st May.
Awards were presented to Shaftesbury students for performance and commitment in sport, and to students from the local feeder primary schools and Yewstock Special School, where the school operates a successful outreach programme.
The Year 9 Boys Rugby Team won the Team of the Year Award, and Year 10 student Steffon Britton won the North Dorset Rugby Club Award. Kyle Fayers and Sam Crocker were presented with their Diana Awards, awarded due to their inspirational qualities as school sports leaders. The Sir Edwin Manton award was presented to Ali Tucker and the Duncan Vaughan award to Richard Thomas. (The late Sir Edwin Manton, an old boy of the school, helped the school towards its Specialist Sports College Status, and old boy Duncan Vaughan was an athlete who was also a torchbearer for the 1948 Olympic Games).
Before the awards ceremony, Tessa Sanderson spent time talking with sixth form students who will be taking Sports Studies at A level, and she also met with students from Sanderson House, who were delighted to meet their House hero.
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April 2008
Sixth Formers visit Rwanda
Four of our students have recently visited Rwanda with local charity Msaada to see how the money that they have raised in the UK is being spent. (Over the last three years, the school has raised around £12,000 for the charity).
Carly Emmett-Bowden, Kate Roper, Sam Ryall and Jemma Woolmington were accompanied by teachers Mike Hayes and Vicky Little and Chris Brickell, Chairman of Governors and also Chairman of Msaada.
During their trip, they visited a school and a support group, which have been set up to help victims of the 1994 genocide to rebuild their lives. They spent time with the children at the Excel School and taught a full day of lessons, and had an emotional visit to Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre where they were given an introduction to the history of the genocide and the aftermath but one of the survivors.
They also attended the Annual Memorial Service which was addressed by the President of Rwanda.
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March 2008
Ofsted Success
Staff, governors and students are delighted with the results of our recent Ofsted inspection, rating our school as good with outstanding features. This is the first report since reorganisation in September 2004, and highlights several successes, including the pastoral house system, which “does much to contribute to students’ good personal development and well-being”. It goes on to state that “teaching and learning, the curriculum and care, guidance and support are good. For the most vulnerable, and those with learning difficulties, they are outstanding.
Headteacher David Booth commented: “We are delighted that the inspection team judged much of our work to be outstanding. This is a moment to be celebrated, and I could not be more proud of my colleagues, our students and the many partners with whom we now work, all of whom have made such a significant contribution to establishing the ‘new’ Shaftesbury School, of which the whole community can feel proud”.
The full report is available to view on this website. Click the link on the Home Page, or the Downloads Page.
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February 2008
Hinduism workshops
Year 9 students have been involved in Hinduism workshops in the RE department during a visit from Rahi Bains. Rahi used to be a Deputy Head teacher and now visits schools offering multicultural workshops and demonstrations of Indian musical instruments and talks on the Hindu religion.
The students explored How Hindus worship, and greatly enjoyed the experience of playing Indian percussion and folk instruments. They joined in with the singing of simple folk and religious songs. Rahi told stories about the Hindu Gods and Godesses and explained how Hindu worship is carried out in the home and the temple.
Feedback from the students was great and they all felt that they had taken part in a fun and exciting session introducing them to the Hindu religion and Indian culture.
Students vote in Dorset’s UK Youth Parliament Elections
Students from Shaftesbury School voted on Wednesday 6th February, along with students from schools across Dorset, for the candidates they want to represent the county as members of the UK Youth Parliament (MYPs).
A polling station was set up, with booths and ballot papers, and all students filed through to put a cross by their two chosen candidates. Members of the Student Aspirations Team worked hard manning the polling station, briefing students on how the voting process worked, and ensuring that the day ran smoothly.
In the afternoon, Stephen Prewett, Dorset County Council’s Director for Children’s Services and Shaftesbury Mayor Derek Beer visited the school to see how Election Day was progressing, and to talk to students and staff. They were accompanied by Simon Fraiz-Brown, Dorset County Council’s local participation and democracy youth worker and Rosie Dunlavey, currently Dorchester’s MYP.
Ballot boxes are now being taken away to be counted, and the result of the election will be announced on Wednesday 13th February.
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December 2007
Dedication service for new school cross
A group of students, staff, governors and ministers braved the cold winter weather on 17th December for a service, lead by Rev Clive Thomas, to dedicate a new cross symbolising the Christian foundations of Shaftesbury School.
Now that the building and refurbishment of the school is virtually complete, headteacher David Booth asked the governors if they would be prepared to fund a replacement for the old cross which was mislaid during the building works.
Mrs Merle Kitching and Rev Anne Heywood, both Foundation Governors of the school commissioned local sculptor Andrew du Mont to produce a cross to be positioned at the entrance to the school as a long term symbol of the school’s Christian values.
Mr Booth commented: “I am indebted to Andrew du Mont for his excellent craftsmanship which forms the central focus for the school and symbolises its values, and also to the Foundation Governors for their generosity in funding this project”.
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November 2007
Enterprising students making their mark
Students at Shaftesbury School were using their entrepreneurial skills this week in response to the 2007 Make Your Mark campaign – a national campaign that is part of Enterprise Week.
7,000 teams nationally – a total of 38,000 students – took part and worked together to develop a product or service according to this year’s challenge - ‘Make it pay in a globalocal way’. The teams had to identify a local need and demonstrate how their idea would make money and have a far-reaching global impact.
In a Dragon’s Den-style scenario, the teams presented their ideas to a panel of teachers and governors. Some excellent ideas were presented, including a Recycling Catwalk, a Great British Barbecue event, a portable football pitch and a city bicycling scheme.
The winning team was Homemade & Natural, a business which sold food grown by local people through local markets. The students involved were Fiona Cheng, Oyinda Akinterinwa, Jadie Carter and Nina Krawec. Their idea will now be entered into the regional finals of the competition.
Picture 1: The winning team
Picture 2: The judges making their decision
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October 2007
The Big Draw - 15th to 19th October
Students in Year 7 have been drawing across the curriculum this week as part of the Big Draw campaign, running throughout October. Their drawings will be recorded on fabric banners - each banner will be covered in drawings of different types reflecting the diversity of drawing in school. Students in Botswana at Marua Pula School with whom we have a link will be participating in the same event and we will exchange banners at the end of the activity.
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September 2007
Annual Evening of Achievement
On 24th September we celebrated the successes of our students at our Annual Evening of Achievement. Around 400 guests attended the evening to see our students receive awards for their progress and achievement across all subjects and year groups.
Additional awards were presented to students who had achieved notable success in their GCSE, AS and A2 level exams.
Redgrave were the winning house this year, and the Foundation Governor’s Trophy was collected by team captains Naja Corbett and Charlotte Jones.
Head Girl Louise Kendrew introduced our guest speaker, Llew Aviss, a business consultant and former student of the school. Mr Aviss gave an inspirational presentation, urging young people to challenge themselves beyond that which they thought they might be capable after presenting the awards to some 200 students. Head Boy Liam Andrews thanked Mr Aviss, and closed the evening. Music was provided by music students from Year 7 to Year 13.
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July 2007
Students Join National Debate on Climate Change at Key One-Day Conference
Sixth Form delegates from Shaftesbury School attended the 2007 Global Student Forum (GSF) in London last week to debate Climate Change and have now returned to the school as peer educators to run assemblies and lessons on the issue.
The conference, entitled 'Dying for a Drink?', exists to enable school students of all faiths and none to think carefully about the spiritual and moral issues underlying global citizenship. Held in association with Stop Climate Chaos, the day helped teenagers reflect on three key issues:-
- that water is a universal human right
- why climate change is a justice issue, and
- how our actions can improve the lives of the poor.
The conference was designed to fit in with the school curriculum and delegates received a Peer Educator book with an integral DVD to enable them to teach PHSE and/or Citizenship lessons for many of the younger students at the school in the autumn term.
Speakers at this year's conference included the Bolivian Ambassador, Maria Souviron, representatives of aid agencies, such as Christian Aid, and young people from developing countries.
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June 2007
FA Charter Status
We are delighted to have been awarded the FA Charter Standard for Schools as part of the FA Football Development Programme.
The school has demonstrated that, under the guidance of a football qualified member of staff, the sport is part of the curriculum across all ages for both boys and girls and is offered as an extra-curricular activity with teams entered into the County Cup.
Jo Poore, Key Stage 4 PE Coordinator said: “FA Charter Status has recognised the hard work and commitment from both staff and students. It will help us push forward with the next phase in the development of football at Shaftesbury School and Sports College. We plan to hold an FA Level 1 coaching course in September for 25 sixth formers, who will then help coach and lead our school teams. Both boys and girls teams are in the County Cup next year, with the boys also entered in the English Schools FA National Cup”.
Working with the community is an important factor for this award, and the school has an official partnership with Shaftesbury Youth Football Club. U15 training takes place on a Friday after school on the Astroturf behind the school. New Year 9 and 10 players are always welcome.
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May 2007
Gamelan Music Workshop
The music of Indonesia was the subject of a workshop lead by peripatetic music teacher Elinor Tolfree this week. Two groups, one of GCSE music students, one of gifted and talented music students from years 7-9 learned about the culture and national dress of Indonesia, before being introduced to a range of musical instruments known as the gamelan.
After learning about the individual instruments, which consist of tuned bronze gongs, gong-chimes, metallophones, drums and bowed and plucked string instruments, the students were able to play the instruments themselves under the guidance of Ms Tolfree.
Head of Music, Neil McMullan said: “The students found the whole workshop with its cross-curricular elements very interesting. They enjoyed making gamelan music and learning about Indonesian culture”.
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Respect Your Life, Not a Knife
A group of students involved in the Damilola Trust Respect Your Life Not a Knife campaign took advantage of the visit from Garth Crooks to launch their Pledge Wall. Garth Crooks was the first to sign the wall, followed by David Booth and Chairman of Governors Chris Brickell.
The Damilola Taylor Trust, set up in memory of the boy who was stabbed to death in Peckham in November 2000, has asked schools across the country to sign up to a pledge wall. The campaign is supported by the government and the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, and aims to try to turn the tide on weapons being carried by young people.
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Garth Crooks Rewards Sports Stars
Ex-England and Spurs footballer and now TV presenter Garth Crooks presented the awards at our Sports Awards Evening last week.
Mrs Hollands-Smith began the evening speaking about the highlights of the year, followed by a very skilful demonstration by students on the new climbing wall. Mr More presented the Commitment to Sport Awards to over 40 students from across the school.
Outreach awards for progress were awarded to children from our feeder primary schools, who had been nominated by their sports teachers in their schools. There were 14 award winners from Yewstock School.
During the evening, Year 11 dance students gave two excellent dance performances.
Angus Ferguson introduced Garth Crooks, who spoke about the feeling that Shaftesbury School students, staff and parents worked very much as a team, and how this teamwork and support was very important in producing great sports people, and helping students to achieve their aspirations.
Award Winners
Commitment to Sport Awards
Year 7 Charlotte Rayment, Georgina Rayment, Sophie Alford, George Lee, Joseph Wahab, Fred Gordon, Kleos Michael, Antonios Mais, Alex Jane, Luke Mundy, Sian Cobertn, Lee Axe, Joshua Hunt
Year 8 Sophie Burton, Mesha Jenkins, Taylor Godden, Stuart Plumridge, Andrew Turner, Thomas Marshall, Leo Jordan, Jason Beal, Alex Andrews
Year 9 Timothy Bullen, George Carter, Steffon Britton, Jamie Lever, Matthew Craddock, Rashid Conteh
Year 10 Hermione Cox, Dominic Snook, John Welch, Matthew Marshall
Year 11 Leanne Elliott, Samantha Ryall, Roxanne Tuffin, Jamie Hayes-Jones, Kian Moore, Jack Mitchell, Daniel Horsman, Nicholas Baxter
Year 12/13 Jamie Laband, Natasha James, Ademide Ademuyewo, Ben Eastmond
Progress Awards
Year 7 Matthew Berry; Year 8 Frances Bathurst; Year 9 William Glaze; Year 10 Robert Charlton; Year 11 Ashley Pedder; 6th Form Charlie Benefer
House Awards
Inter-house Team Winners
Football – Owens; Rugby – Owens; Cross Country – Redgrave; Basketball – Redgrave; Netball - Owens
House Performers of the Year
Owens - Aisling Ewers; Redgrave - Sophie Burton; Sanderson - Alexandra Eastmond; Thompson - Lorna White
Primary Outreach Awards for Progress
Chilmark Primary: Arabella Marshfield, Lara Williamson
Ludwell Primary: Charlie Evans, Harry Jeffery
Motcombe Primary: Jessica Cuff, Jack Taylor
Semley Primary: Anna Stanton, Tyler Childs
St. Andrew’s Primary: Chris Green, William Hollands-Smith
Wardour Primary: Harvey Spencer-Smith, Chloe Roberts-Wise
St. John’s Primary: Kiera Austin, Rory Morris
Abbey Primary: Milo Marshall, Shannon White
Shaftesbury Primary: Matthew Chave, Carrie-Annie Formby
Yewstock School: Chris Westlake, Matthew Williams, Karl Peniket, Zoe Slaney, Louis Ardeniran-Stevens, Matthijs Buhrs, Adam Tuffin, Daniel Lampard, Joe Lambert, Robert Rose, Daniel Plowman, Colin Stedman, Tristan Beaumont, Katy Rand
Teams of the Year
Year 7 – Netball; Year 8 – Boys Football; Year 9 – Boys Football; Year 10 – Basketball
Performers of the Year
Year 7 – Amy Outterside; Year 8 – Finn James; Year 9 – Christopher Roberts; Year 10 – Simon Fellows; Year 11 – Kate Roper; 6th Form Alastair Tucker
Duncan Vaughan Award - Greg Wareham
Sir Edwin Manton Award - Natasha James
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March 2007
Musical Demo Wows Students
Year 7 students from Shaftesbury School were treated to a musical demonstration by local musician Nick Crump. Nick brought in his amazing instruments to inspire and enthuse the students. During the morning, Nick talked to two groups and showed how sound works in the different categories of musical instrument, strings, percussion and wind.
Famous for his instruments made from various plumbing items, he showed how music originated, and how it is possible to make all sorts of items make music if the basic principles are understood.
Students had the opportunity to try out some of his more unusual instruments. The boghorn, made from a toilet, with treble and bass pipes, the bath harp, made from a steel bath, and the crump horn made from the inside of a hot water immersion tank.
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Last Orders
Year 9 students were visited recently by the Solomon Theatre Group who performed a hard-hitting theatrical piece entitled ‘Last Orders’, tackling the effects of alcohol and binge drinking.
Following the performance, the theatre group lead two workshops with the students, to explore the issues covered by the play and how it can affect young people’s lives. Comments from the students included “We got really involved in it”, “it wasn’t preaching – it was up to date and real life” and they felt it was “a good way of getting a good message across”.
The performance was funded by the Signpost Housing Association’s Tenants’ Forum who along with the school is keep to widen participation and promote community involvement. The Amenities Fund aims to support community projects like this especially if they in some way benefit the tenants of the Association or their children. The Association will also fund another production later on in the month, entitled ‘Trickster’ to raise awareness of Distraction Burglary and Fraudulent Traders.
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Night of the Living Books
The school play, shown over two nights in March, was an absolute triumph for all concerned. A cast of 40 students gave their all as the story of Jack, who found himself left overnight in the library, unfolded. Jack, played by John Welch in the first act, and Rupert Bathurst in the second, soon realised he was not alone in the library, and watched as numerous books came to life and told their stories to Jack, who maintained that he did not like books and reading.
Long John Silver (a stunning performance by Matt Cuff), with his trusty pirate crew guided us through the stories and myths – including Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Why The Camel Has Its Hump, ‘Sweeney Todd’ and many more.
But had Jack really been left overnight? Or was it all just a dream?
Written by Ms Elsden, and directed by Ms Elsden and Mr Davies, the play watched by 300 people over the two nights was an excellent production. Congratulations to all involved.
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February 2007
Holocaust Memorial Day
Sixth form students Zoe Burfitt and Susanne Zels led the third annual Commemorative Service in school to mark Holocaust Memorial Day at the end of January. The girls, who recently visited the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau with the Holocaust Educational Trust, were joined by students, staff, members of the local community and clergy for the service, the theme of which was “The Dignity of Difference”.
The service included a moving account by the Sixth Formers of their trip. Music was provided by the Senior Ensemble, and year 9 pupils Ammaarah Forbes-Cooke and Crystal Cooper sang, accompanied by Tom Whitfield on piano.
Guest speakers for the evening were Dorset Police Inspector Shaun Cronin, and Sally Rawles of the Dorset Traveller Education Support Service.
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School Band Wins Glastonbury Gig
Congratulations to Harry Marchington, Nick Bream, Joe Lifton and Tosin Coker who won the Somerset Battle of the Bands 2007 competition in January. Known collectively as TC feat Vertigo, the boys competed against 10 other bands at the Strode Theatre in Street.
Chief judge of the competition, Michael Eavis, founder of the Glastonbury Festival, praised the boys for their rhythm and professionalism, and awarded them with a trophy. However, winning the competition has also won them an appearance on stage at the Glastonbury Festival this June.
Singer Tosin said “It’s a massive, massive thing and it has made my year. It is a real honour for us to be chosen”.
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