Thamesview School with Bus iness & Enter pr i se Sta tus Autumn Term 2

December 2009

THAMES V IEWS

Inside the Issue:

Headteacher’s letter 2

Community Points 11

Enterprise Community 4

Challenger Community 6

Endeavour Community 7

Discovery Community 8

Important Dates 10

‘We’re in Business’

Developing Enterprise Skills

BUSINESS & E NTERPRISE !

30 Year 11 Business students kicked off the first of many enterprise events this year with the ‘We’re in Business’ challenge. Students were set a task which required them to tender a bid within their groups. This task involved financial planning, creative thinking, risk taking and many more enterprising skills. Groups then presented their bids to external judges who praised all groups on their originality and initiative.

Building on last year’s success, Thamesview hosted another fashion event. This year saw more entries into the competition as the opportunity to storm the catwalk caught the eye of budding fashion enthusiasts. On the night, contestants demonstrated their knowledge and understanding of the fashion industry through their imaginative and creative outfits which they displayed on the catwalk. Contestants also entertained an enthusiastic audience with their professional approach to modelling and choreography.

This competition ran over 4 weeks with students from all year groups battling it out in the earlier rounds to make it into the final fashion show. As a Business and Enterprise specialist school, Thamesview is dedicated to providing students with an array of opportunities to become involved in a multitude of events with the aim to improve students’ enterprise and employabil-ity skills, creativity, risk taking ability, communication skills, and financial management capabilities. Well done to all the contestants who participated, especially My Mode, who deservingly won first place. Ms Jo Ryan

We would like to thank Miss Beaumont’s Academy of Dance students for their Fashion Fix performances.

Throughout October and November, many of our Year 10 students attended an enterprise event which enabled them to develop their soft skills, communication, risk taking and financial awareness to name a few. Thamesview employs an expert out-side agency to come to the school to coach students with their employability skills. Students are encour-aged ‘to think outside the box’ and to use their initia-tive within an array of tasks. Well done to all Year 10 students who made a positive contribution throughout these events. Ms Jo Ryan

Happy Holidays from all the staff at Thamesview!

Find out which star won last Term’s I-pod on page 7

Thamesview’s Fashion Fix

Win, win, win…

An I-pod on the Christmas

Math’s Teaser - see

page 5.

Dear Parents, Carers, Governors, Teachers, Students and Friends Crickey, another Term, another calendar page turned over, and another year nearly done. Where does the time go? I remember being at school and thinking how long some days were, now all I can think is there isn’t enough time in the day to cram in all the good things planned for your child each Term. I am really pleased to see that our assess-ment cycle has developed and we are able to track your child’s progress that much more tightly, so we can see Term by Term where your child is and where they should be. It is wonderful to reward so many students for achieving expected levels of progress and for achieving beyond expectation. It is also a bet-ter way to ensure that we are able to identify who may be falling behind in a particular area and mentor that student to get back on track before their next report is sent home. I am also pleased to note that students and parents are now using the new Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills criteria when they are discussing progress, and relating it to skills as well as knowledge. Our business and enterprise status has taken on real momentum now, and all stu-dents are accessing more and more entrepre-neurial activities as a result of our specialism. We really believe that B & E is an excellent real life specialism that will benefit every child re-gardless of ability or future chosen career. We continue to have a massive drive to raise standards in Maths, as well as English, and welcome any support you can give your child in using all our excellent on-line re-sources to enhance the learning that takes place in these areas during school time. Maths is leading the way in developing our

Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that we can, in the future, ensure that learning can take place 24-7, whether at home or school. The completion date for our new school moves

nearer and nearer so we are busy preparing staff and students for this move, and plan to host an open day session in the Spring so that parents can have a preview of what their child’s learning environment will look like from September 2010. We had Ministerial visitors and leaders of Kent Council visit us at the end of term, which was exciting for everyone, and offered another opportunity for us to show off our school in its best light so that we could demonstrate how we are preparing everyone for the move across to our transformational new school, ensuring that standards of learning are kept high on the agenda. I want to thank parents for making every effort to ensure your child’s attendance is a high priority, because it is evident year on year; those students who have the highest atten-dance, achieve the highest results. Therefore, if you put that holiday on hold until the actual school holidays, your child will benefit from being included in every topic of every module of learning. Communication has always been important to us, which is why we invest so much time, energy and money into our newsletters, but we believe we can improve further with your help. Please notify us of all address changes and include e-mail addresses so that we can con-tact you with all our updates first-hand, fast and free! I want to thank our Governors for their con-tinued support and backing with the innovative approaches and progressive methods we use, I want to thank staff for another dedicated Term to ensure your child’s education is of the high-est quality. I want to thank you parents for en-suring your child attends regularly and promptly, fully equipped and ready for learning. Finally, I want to thank our students for their continued efforts in striving for their best. It takes an outstanding team to keep in the Pre-miership League, and I think together, we are just that! I wish you all a happy, safe, restful and fun holiday filled with family times and eager anticipation for a prosperous New Year!

Best wishes,

Rhiannon Hughes Headteacher

Page 2 Autumn Term 2

Golfing Challenge The following young people, have attended a 6 week Golf course and gained a Challenge for their Youth Achievements: Ben Sizer, Luke Bainbridge, Aaron Rayner, Jordan Sesniak, Jamie Atkins, Stuart Atkins and Zak Ford. Well done to all!

P Stotesbury, Community Youth Tutor

Kent Youth County Council On Saturday 28th November the KYCC

youth elections took place at County Hall in Maidstone. RYAN BLACKAMORE has been successful in becoming an elected member of the Kent Youth County Council to represent the Gravesham and Dartford Area. I am sure that all at Thamesview School will join me in sending him our congratulations for this fantastic achieve-ment.

P Stotesbury

Zoe and the Sea Cadets

I have been in the Sea Cadets for almost 2 years now and I joined the Ceremonial Drill Display Team, which is rifle drill performed to music rather than from a command from an officer. I have been in the team for almost 18 months and we first performed at the Gravesend Big Day Out in 2008 and again in 2009. We then took part in the 2009 National Armed Forces day in Chatham. We lined the street as Gordon Brown walked down and he stopped and shook my hand and spoke to me. We proved good enough to perform in front of the highest ranks in the services and even an appearance from royalty! On the 25th October, after all the weekends of training hard, I stood in Trafalgar Square in front of crowds of people and officers, including the Admiral of the Fleet. There were TV cameras all around and so many eyes on me and the whole team. It went very well, was a great experience and worth all the hard work.

Zoe Appleton

Congratulations.... We would like to congratulate 5 members of our staff for achieving the qualification Understanding and Managing Children with Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties from SEBDA (The Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties Association). The qualification is accredited by the University of Leicester and is worth 40 points towards a degree qualification. The course involved staff attending a residential weekend in Gloucestershire, together with two written assignments and the submission of a portfolio of their work. A great deal of hard work for all those who were involved. The staff who achieved the qualification have all now received their certificates: Helen Goodwin, Sarah Flowers, June Dean, Sue Finch, and Sheena Turner. We would like to thank the Gravesham Excellence Cluster - Behaviour Improvement Programme for funding the course for our staff. We would also like to congratulate Glynis Gabriel from the Excellence Cluster who attended the course and also gained the qualification.

Also congratulations to Sue Pettipher and Vicky Heanly for gaining their qualification in Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools (SET).

Tony Shand

Page 3 Thames Views

Help us sow the seeds for a greener tomorrow. Our school participates in the Generation Green programme from British Gas – a programme designed to encouraging our children to become ‘Greener’ and do their bit to save the planet. Every task we complete earns credits called Green Leaves. When we reach our Green Leaf Goal we receive green-themed rewards for the whole school. Any support you can give us will be very welcome. Please complete one of the Energy Saver’s Report on Line at britishgas.co.uk/esr – you don’t have to be a British Gas customer to do this and they are not trying to get you to sign up to anything. Just remember to donate your leaves to Thamesview.

Recycling

Do you work in an office – have lots of ink cartridges? We are still continuing to collect used ink cartridges - the monies raised support the Born Free Organisation. So please don’t throw them out, bring them in and we will

put them to good use. Our Mobile Phone Challenge is on-going, so come on search those drawers and cupboards. I know there must be some old phones hiding in them. We are currently the proud parents of Svalbaard Polar Bears, a Bengal Tiger, and a Mountain Gorilla, all adopted from the proceeds raised from our last challenges. Would you like your Learning Community to have its own Mascot? The Community that collects the most mobile phones will be able to adopt an Endangered Animal as their mascot. Endeavour adopted a Bengal Tiger as a mascot after winning a mobile phone challenge. Thank you for your support. Here’s to a greener tomorrow. Mrs Dean

Once gain, the Technology Department Knitters have been knitting for charity. Hundreds of woolly hats were knitted for Innocent Smoothies. The hats were put on the bottles and sold in Sainsbury's in November as part of a National charity appeal. Each one sold raises money for Help the Aged. The fingers were weary and the needles well worn but it was all in a good cause.

G Smith

Knitting for Charity

Cryogenics Workshop

On the 20th October a very deathly cold cloud descended over the Science department. The

cloud consisted of very cold Nitrogen gas. A group of Year 7 and 8 Gifted and Able Science students took part in a workshop that revolved around the science of liquid Nitrogen, an extraordinary cold substance that requires very careful handling. The stu-dents were introduced to freezing bananas, expanding and contracting balloons and methods in preserving and killing living organisms. Students finally got to make their own ice cream, which everyone enjoyed including Mr Shand! All the students enjoyed the event and Aaron Rayner said, “It was way cool!”

Thamesview at Woodville

Halls Thamesview School was again represented at the Gifted Young Gravesham show. Art work from Year 11 students was displayed in the Wood-ville Halls foyer and Wade Manville, Year 8 and the Head Girl, Rosie

Hobson, both performed on stage on Saturday 21st November. Well done to all involved and thanks to the Gr@nd (no this ‘@’ is not a typo) for organising the fantastic expressive event.

Mr R Curtis

Old gardening tools, plant clippings, top soil seeds, gardening books etc to support our gardening club.

Year 7 Puzzle Day

On one special day in October our Year 7’s took part in their first Thamesview School Gifted event. The Happy Puzzle Club turned up with all their brain stretching puzzles to try to challenge our stu-dents’ minds. There were various puzzles, ranging from balancing penguins to laying down a road so that there were no dead ends. Maths teacher, Mr White said, “The whole day was a great success. The students were very enthusiastic and keen to learn. Even Mrs Sesay came down to test herself!”

Mr G Robinson Lead teacher Able,

Gifted and Talented

Who needs a new school when we can

build this! Students on the engage-ment project spend one day a week with the Challenge Troop. This is

run by the army and demands a high level of dedication and enthusiasm. As part of their course students were asked to build a hut. As you can see they did this with ease. Little did they know they then had to a spend a cold night inside it! Brave gentleman. Well done, Jimmy Penfold, Tom Hussey, Josh Payne and Arron Denham. Ms Pauline Blayney

Page 4 Autumn Term 2

Dear Parents and Carers We have had an exciting term, lots of innovations are happening to get us ready for the big move to the new school. Our recent Operation Christmas Child has been a tremendous success again this year in Thamesview. Through all the Communities, Thamesview School collected over 80 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes filled with toys, toilet-ries and games that will be given to children in poorer countries who wouldn’t usually receive a gift at Christmas time. A big thank you to staff and students who made such an effort in the past month to make this year’s Operation Christmas Child Appeal the best year yet!! Operation Christmas Child Every year Enterprise runs operation Christmas child, this has been run in the past by Miss Llewellyn and EpML, and this year Miss Reynolds has taken over the reins….. “Nasima and her family of seven live in Montenegro in two rooms totalling 28 square feet. Her five children rarely receive presents as their income is so unreliable, so the arrival of the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes last year was a won-derful surprise. Pens, cars and soft toys were just some of the gifts that were spotted amidst smiles and shouts of joy. As her children played happily with their new toys, Nasima watched in delight. “Thank you for helping make this possible,” she said.”

Marathon Man On the 26th April 2009, Enterprise Learning Director (Mr Robinson) ran the London Marathon to raise money for Phab Kids. Phab Kids is a national charity that attempts to include disabled children in everyday activi-ties. Mr Robinson managed to raise £1,500 for his charity by collecting sponsorships, hosting race nights and

singing in Christmas concerts as a girl, which is happening again this year but not for charity just fun! Mr Robinson managed to finish his first ever mara-thon in 5 hours and 30 minutes. He hopes to beat that time next year as he is continuing a life-long dream of running the five major marathons (London, Berlin, New York, Chicago and Boston). Mr Robinson runs in the Berlin marathon on 26th September 2010 and said, “My main aim is to finish the marathon so that I can collect any sponsor money for my Charity, but would love to do it in under 5 hours.” This time he is running for Whizz Kidz another charity who look after disabled children. If you would like to sponsor him then please visit his JUST GIVING page on www.justgiving/GaryRocketmanRobinson.com and donate as much as you can. Any small donation will be greatly received. New Year Challenge! Many people have been growing beards to raise awareness for Testicular cancer, I myself have taken inspiration and am laying the charity gauntlet down! The general consensus is that students prefer me without the beard so if we, as a community, manage to raise a minimum of £150 for a charity nominated by Miss Llewellyn then it will be shaved! Sad Departure At Christmas one of our Enterprise tutors, Miss Llewellyn, is leaving to return to Wales. We would all like to wish her the very best. She has been a fantastic tutor and influence within En-terprise community and the whole school will miss her a great deal. Good luck in the future Miss Llewellyn! Extended Learning We have been developing extended learning (replacing homework for Year 7 to 9 students) and have given students the choice of projects this term. They could choose from the topics of TV, Radio or Magazine. There have been some fantastic examples of work seen so far and this could be the best one yet!

Children in Need To help raise money for children in need, EpLLE sponsored Mr Razzack the learning stage leader of Enterprise to dress up as a school boy back in the times, with a few adaption's like a pink wig! The form raised £30 for Mr Razzak to participate in the Children in Need challenge. Well done to all the stu-dents in EpLLE for raising the money for a good cause.Mrs Lee

Enterprise Show Talents During our recent training day our tutors have been displaying their learning styles and taking part in some healthy competition. We split up into teams of our favoured learning style (Visual: seeing things and pictures. Auditory: Listening to sounds and words. Kinaesthetic: Doing practical things) and took part in 4 team challenges. We soon discovered the kinaesthetic team did best at the physical tasks (balloon run and egg drop), the visual team had the task to do with working as a team visually (stick task), and the auditory team won the task where they had to listen (blindfolded egg drop). This has followed on from last term’s extended learning and your child will be practising their teamwork using these different learning styles in the next few weeks during their form time.

First day of Term, 4th January this way…

Wanted: Very enthusiastic students for 2010!

Happy Holidays

Win an I-Pod In the Christmas Carol—12 Days of Christmas, how many objects are there and how many people are involved in total?

Thames Views Page 5

Don’t miss out on our first Thamesview trip to the USA. To register your initial interest please see Mr Chapman, who will be issuing letters in January.

Exam Success Students at Thamesview complete many different exams which help them in their education. Students on the Con-struction and Built Environment Diploma have just been successful in their BSC Level 1 Health and Safety exam. This is a nationally recognised adult exam in the world of work. Congratulations to you both! Pauline Blayney

Ruler or rod push (Visual/Kinaesthetic) You need; long metre rulers or garden canes and at least 3 people in a team. Aim: to put the ruler and rod on the ground, making sure it is lowered parallel to the ground all the time. Instructions: all team members must touch the un-derside of the ruler/rod with it starting at shoulder height of the tallest person, it must rest on top of the one forefinger on each hand, and no-one is al-lowed to grab/grip the cane or put anything on the top of it. If anyone’s finger leaves the ruler/rod you must bring it back to shoulder level and start again. First one to put the ruler on the ground wins! Not as easy as you think. Balloon run drop (Kinaesthetic) You need; as many balloons as you have teams. Aim: to get the balloon from 1 corner of the room to another without touching it with your hands (works best with 4 teams as the chaos happens as they all get to the middle). Instructions: You have to get the balloon from 1 corner to the other, you cannot touch the balloon with your hands and if you are in contact with the balloon you cannot move your feet. Try it (make sure no valuable items or furniture in the way).

A special welcome to our new Aimhigher Mentor, Andrea Head, who Joined our school last term.

Year 11 Prom For the past 3 years we have been delighted to host a Year 11 Prom, where we invite students to join us in a formal celebration to say good-bye to Thamesview before they commence their final year examinations. At the beginning of the year, we held a Year 11 assembly explaining the criteria for invitation to our event, and we think it important that we share the criteria with parents:

Attendance & Punctuality – 93% minimum Inclusion Room – no more than 1 session Exclusions - none Conduct Logs & AD (monitored) Uniform (high standards, including the wearing of a

blazer and not needing to be reminded regularly) We will be inviting members of Year 11 and reserve the right to withdraw the invitation (even on the day of the Prom).

Miss R Hughes, Headteacher

Attendance Opens Doors Fact: For every 17 days of school missed, a child can drop one GCSE grade.

The greater the attendance, the greater the achievement—help your child achieve their best.

Do you know your child’s atten-dance? Good attendance is 95% or better.

Answer the 10 questions here to see which is your preferred style: 1. When I operate new equipment I generally: a. read the instructions first b. listen to an explanation from

someone who has used it before c. go ahead and have a go, I can

figure it out as I use it 2. When I need directions for travel-ling I usually: a. look at a map b. ask for spoken directions c. follow my nose and maybe use a

compass 3. When I cook a new dish, I like to: a. follow a written recipe b. call a friend for an explanation c. follow my instincts, testing as I

cook 4. If I am teaching someone something new, I tend to: a. write instructions down for them b. give them a verbal explanation c. demonstrate first and then let

them have a go 5. I tend to say: a. watch how I do it b. listen to me explain c. you have a go 6. During my free time I most enjoy: a. going to museums and galleries b. listening to music and talking to

my friends c. playing sport or doing DIY

7. When I go shopping for clothes, I tend to: a. imagine what they would look like

on b. discuss them with the shop staff c. try them on and test them out 8. When I am choosing a holiday I usually: a. read lots of brochures b. listen to recommendations from

friends c. imagine what it would be like to be

there 9. If I was buying a new car, I would: a. read reviews in newspapers and

magazines b. discuss what I need with my

friends c. test-drive lots of different types 10. If I am choosing food off a menu, I tend to: a. imagine what the food will look like b. talk through the options in my

head or with my partner c. imagine what food will

taste like If you chose mostly A’s you have a preference for VISUAL learning style.

If you chose mostly B’s you have an AUDITORY learning style. If you chose mostly

C’s you have a preferred KINAESTHETIC learning style. You may be a mix of two or three styles, but we usually have one that is our preferred style.

Learning Styles Curious to know your own style?

Page 6 Autumn Term 2

Where has this year gone? It only seems like yesterday that the new Year 7 students were joining us and we were starting the new academic year. Now it is Christmas! It has been another busy term for Challenger and we have been involved in some very worthwhile activities. Form groups were involved in the collection of Christmas boxes as part of Operation Christmas Child (OCC), which is where boxes are sent to children in other parts of the world where they won’t get a present. Lots of individuals also contributed to the push for boxes, and everyone gave very generously. My two daughters also made a contribution each, even though they are only 2 ½ and 10 months old! It is important that we think of others at Christmas and remember those who are less fortunate than ourselves, and if we can do some-thing, then even better. We also had our Community Council Elections, and this was well supported by students not only in Challenger, but across the school. We even had a better turn out than a proper general election. I would like to say well done to Aaron Mills, Natasha Holowell and Joe Degnin who are our representatives on the

Junior Leadership Team, and were brave enough to put themselves up for election. Well done to all the candidates, and hopefully we will get more candidates for the future Community Council Elections. It has also been an intense term for our Year 11 students who have been building up to the mock exams, preparing for module exams and coursework deadlines. Our targeted

students have been receiving some one-to-one mentoring from senior members of staff to make sure they are on track to achieve their full potential.

Myself and the Challenger team wish you all a happy Christmas and an even happier new year. I am sure that students will come back in January refreshed and ready to get stuck into their learning again. Thank you. Mr Hodges Head of Learning Community

Family Puzzle What is this puzzle? (phrase or saying). LAST PUZZLE—Just say what you see!!- 3 mice with no eyes = 3 blind mice. NEW PUZZLE

In our last staff INSET Training Day, we all worked within our Community Teams. All train-ing related to moving in to our new school. Some sessions involved developing our ICT expertise, whilst one involved us all putting on our hard hats and boots and taking a tour of our new build. This experience was fantastic, as we can really begin to see all our plans coming to fruition with only 7 months until they hand over the keys to our new school.

New School Update

During October, forms’ in Challenger took part in voting for students they wanted to represent them at Community meetings. Students voted for KS3 and 4 representatives. The post of Community Council Representative gives the opportu-nity for students to: Attend regular meetings of the Com-

munity Council Assist the Community Leadership

Team in leading the Community Contribute to discussions and deci-

sions about the future of Challenger Community

Represent student views Help motivate and engage students in the Community. The following students were voted as representatives of Challenger: Senior Students: Joe Degnin, Ryan Elliott, Helen Turner, Katie Harding CILB—Sam Heywood and Helen Turner CCSP—Katherine Bagshaw and Sarah Port CLF—Aaron Mills, James Lawrence and Emma Hogg CKH—Alfie Smith, Alex Terry and Albert Toulson CRR—Natasha Hollowell and Shaun Grimes CBE—Michael Bruford and Becky White CSFI - Ben Rush, Amy Hall, Beth Collins and Luke Powell CRF—Keeley Gardiner and Lindsay Morris CLB—Kerris Webb and Jack Baldwin The first Community meeting was then held on 14 Octo-ber in which students decided on nominations for our TVS Junior Leadership Team (formerly the School Council).

The role of the Junior Leader involves: Leading and representing the views of all students Assisting governors, Headteacher and staff in making deci-

sions about the school Helping make TVS a better school Discussing issues that matter to students and bring about

change that will help everyone to achieve their full potential The election for all Junior Leaders took place on 22nd October. Challenger now have 3 Junior Leaders: Aaron Mills, Natasha Hollowell and Joe Degnin Students were able to cast their votes during break and lunch-time at the Challenger voting booths. One of our Junior Leaders has written a few words for us:

‘I have been selected to be a KS3 Junior Leader. I was on the School Coun-cil last year too. I have helped in activi-ties in school by showing parents and new Year 6 students around, and I have taken part in this year’s Fashion Fix. The Junior Leadership team have met once already. Robyn and I worked together and our task was to design the motto and logo for the Junior Leadership Team (It looks really great!) Our main aim is to improve the school and make it a better place in which all students can succeed. By the way, keep on going Challenger, keep on smiling, we can beat the rest!’

Natasha Hollowell, Year 9.

‘Since becoming a Senior Student, I have been re-quired to assist with many events such as parents eve-nings and the selling of Re-membrance Day poppies. We also take assembly once a term for the Community on a subject that interests us. By becoming a senior stu-dent it has given me much more responsibility and it will really help me when applying for sixth form.’

Katie Harding, Year 11

Thames Views Page 7

Endeavour has changed the way in which we work on a Friday, during form time. Our forms are experiencing different ways of learning all related to Endeavour. Miss Cormack is developing a Community song with the groups, Miss Wray is designing an Endeavour T Shirt for us to wear later on in the year. Miss Lok ‘s group is designing a new Endeavour Logo, as well as many other ‘fun’ activities that as a community we are working on. Our Students are working with each of the Tutors to have a go at all of the activities. Our aim is to put FUN into the start of Fridays within our Commu-nity and to make Endeavour an even better community than it already is!

Mrs Gordon, Learning Director

Another term is almost completed and Christmas is Nearly upon us. If you are anything like me you have re-written many Christmas lists, surfed the web for online bar-gains and have used all those discount vouchers that are avail-able. The students in Endeavour have continued to shine in

areas beyond the school gates. We are extremely proud of Josh Payne Year 11 who represents Kent in county darts. Mai-sie Lukes is off to London this week for auditions with her street dancing group. Maisie will also be representing Great Brit-ain at the World Championships for Street Dancing. Some of the Year 11 students were put through their paces by the Army at the end of November. They were taught team-

building skills, listening skills, how to give clear explicit instruc-tions and develop the skill to ‘think outside the box’. The high-light of the day would have to be students being blindfolded and having to weave between the beacons while listening to instructions given by their team mates. Many laughs and tum-bles were had, but everyone learned that we all need to im-prove our listening skills. Academically, the Endeavour students are continuing to im-prove and make progress in their grades. On the front of every student’s books they will have progression stickers so they can see and you, parents can see, how they are progressing for the

term and what they need to be achiev-ing by the end of the term. Many Year 11’s are being assertively mentored. They are meeting with their mentors regularly in order to track and raise grades. It is important that those Year 11 students who are being mentored are attending the Maths and Eng-lish revision classes, although every-one is invited to attend. All Key Stage 3 students are cur-rently working on extended learning which allows them to either create a radio or celebrity TV show or a magazine. Please take time to have a look in their extended learning books to see what topic your child is developing. Attendance at Thamesview continues to be of paramount im-portance. In Endeavour we are making this one of our pri-orities. All students with a 100% attendance will be placed in a draw at the end of the term for Bluewater vouchers and certificates will be given to all students with 100% atten-dance. Those students who are improving their attendance will also be rewarded. I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year! Miss Arndt, Head of Learning Community

Year 10 Experience of Enterprise Education On 13th November 2009 I participated in a soft-skills Business and Enterprise day. I was pleased to be taking part in what turned out to be a fun but educational day. From the moment we walked into the room we were treated like adults and everyone looked the part in their smart clothes. The day was filled with different workshops, where we learnt how to communicate and, most importantly how to work in a team. I am a Year 10 Jumper student and until we had this workshop I did not feel 100% confident working with the other people around me. When I went into the work-shop, the providers put us into groups and I was the only Jumper student in my group. If we had been allowed to pick groups the day would not have been as informative.

Throughout the day I learnt some invaluable employability skills including group work, which is one of the new PLTS skills we are assessed upon. As a team we worked well winning two challenges, and even though my group did not win the main ‘roller-coaster’ challenge I was pleased to have learnt a new skill that would boost my confidence and benefit me in later life. From building newspaper bridges, to making paper hats, every student enjoyed the day and all students learnt new skills that will help them achieve better PLTS grades in their reports. My day was made complete when I was told that I had won the ‘smartest dressed student’ award. I would love to participate in more Enterprising events throughout the year and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff that worked hard to arrange the event.

Jordan Meade, Year 10

Fashion Fun Fights Heart Disease On Thursday 3rd December Thamesview held another successful Fashion Fix. This year all money raised was donated to the British Heart Foundation. We have requested that the money is to be used to support the baby cardiovascular clinic at Darenth Valley Hospital. Even though the final amount has not been calculated (due to late donations) we have definitely raised over £100! Congratulations to our raffle prize winners including our very own Mrs Bambridge who won two gold-plated watches courtesy of West County Fair (North Devon). Also, a big thank you to all the local businesses who donated to our raffle.

Jordan Meade, Year 10

Well done Layla Allen 8EvJEC, as she won last term’s Newsletter I-Pod Competition.

Newsletter Winner

Page 8 Autumn Term 2

On Thursday 22nd October, Thamesview had its very own Polling Day to elect students from each community to be on the newly created Junior Leadership Team. Each Community had their own polling station (manned by Senior

Students) and all students were issued with polling cards. Stations were open throughout the day and students queued patiently to register their vote. In Discovery Learning Community over 95% of students cast their vote! I am pleased to announce that Robyn Stevens, Shannon Presland and Oliver Saward were elected to represent our Community. They will be joined by James Freed, who as Head Boy automatically takes his place on the Junior Leadership Team. Our Junior Leaders have a very important and responsible role in the school. They will ensure students’ views are repre-sented in any decisions that are made about their school. They will work closely with Miss Hughes, staff and governors to help make our school an even better place. They have already begun to highlight their priorities for improvement and work with teachers to improve teaching and learning. They will be going out of school on Thursday 10th December to receive some leadership training and to begin designing some outdoor learning spaces for the new school. All of the students are committed to their role and I am sure they will help make Thamesview an even better school than it already is. Mr M Sorby Head of Discovery Learning Community

Jamie Fenton DJC casts his vote

Students from Discovery queue patiently to cast their vote in their polling station

James Freed (Head Boy), Rosie Hobson (Head Girl), Aaron Mills (Challenger), Natasha Hollowell (Challenger), Joe Degnin (Challenger), Robyn Stevens (Discovery), Shannon Presland (Discovery), Oliver Saward (Discovery), Jamie Gilbert (Endeavour), Laura Hobson (Endeavour), Noel Scott (Endeavour), Tia Hussey (Enterprise), Harry Souten (Enterprise) and Ibuk Oluwasegun (Enterprise).

Students are now completing an extended learning project based on different types of the media. They were given a choice of reality television, radio or magazine. All students have a booklet with tasks that they should be completing on a weekly basis. Well done to students in DJM who won the media quiz! The following students have been identified by their tutors for completing excellent work on the last project about learning styles: Hannah Large, Shannon Plumb, Jack Tomkinson, Harry Clark and Chloe Gower. Well done!

Our students continue to be heroes! Throughout this term our students have continued to work hard and turn out to represent their Com-munity. A number of students have been taking GCSE examinations early and all Year 11 students have just finished their mock examinations. We look forward to seeing their results! Other students have experienced success outside of school. Here are two of our students who continue to achieve sporting, as well as academic success.

Ashley Gabbitas, DRC, continues his successful Badminton career. He has represented Kent for well over a year. He has recently achieved a Badminton England Grade 3. He won a doubles competition which took place in Cambridgeshire on the weekend of the 28th and 29th November. Ashley com-peted against people from all over the country.

Annie Waghorn, DJB, went to a National Athletics warm weather train-ing week in Pathos, Cyprus recently. This was for budding young athletes already well on the road to athletic star-dom. The purpose of this week was to prepare for the winter season. We wish Annie all the best as she continues on her quest to perform at a national and international level.

Page 9 Thames Views

Course Title:

Understanding Your Teenager About the course: The aim of this course is to help parents explore types of behav-iour and to develop strategies for encouraging positive behaviour. Generally delivered as a 6-week course The course is free with course material provided by the tutor. Who the course is for: This free course is designed for parents or those who care for children. It is about trying to get it right as a parent – not about being perfect! Our Approach: During this course we aim to explore

Communicating with teens How teens develop Pressure for parents and teens Expectations and boundaries Alcohol, drugs and sex in the teenage years Other relevant topics as requested by the group

The course is discussion based with a variety of activities which will be used to share topics and relate them to parents’ own experiences. It will provide opportunities to share practical day-to-day problems and solutions. It is not about being a perfect parent - more about discovering that other people are having much the same experiences.

KENT ADULT EDUCATION

Kent Adult Education are able to run a course for the parents and carers of Thamesview students based around ‘Understanding Teenagers’. The course details are listed below. If you would like to sign up for this course or would like any further information about the course please contact Kate Hudson at school or email k.hudson@thamesview.kent.sch.uk

Year 11 Careers Conference

October 15th saw another Year 11 Careers Conference success-fully executed. All Year 11 students worked within their Community groups on different work related topics. This day allowed students to start planning their progression routes and also gave them some insight into the world of work. Such focus days encourage students to attend school in smart dress. Students did not disappoint as they all attended the day dressed for success! Well done to all who participated, especially community leaders who worked with their groups throughout the day.

“It is our duty to ensure that our students are positive contributors to

their school, local, national and international communities.”

Thamesview students have continued their work as positive contributors to the school, local, national and international communi-ties this term. Our focus on Black History month led to many forms around the school researching famous black people and their influence on the world of politics, sport, civil rights and entertainment. EpGR was the form with the most en-tries in the research compe-tition and therefore won the Community Cohesion award for our Black History focus. With Christmas upon us our students have been participating in various com-munity causes to make Christmas better for those around them. Thamesview’s involvement in Operation Christmas Child encouraged students to give presents to those children in other countries who are less fortunate than themselves. Many of these children would not have a Christmas present if it wasn’t for the students who gave so gener-ously. Special Community Cohesion awards were given to Ashley Stapley, Kirsty Stapley, Alex Terry, Abbie Marriot, Wade Manville,

Char-

lotte Coyle, Anastasia Kravcenko and Katie Swat-ton for their contribu-tion to this cause. A big thank you goes to Miss Rey-nolds who co-ordinated this event.

Our students will be involved in a week of assemblies and activities surrounding Advent and Christmas delivered by the local Emmanuelle Baptist church from 7th-11th De-cember. Over the last term our students have also experienced assemblies and class work activities around the following themes: 11 Nov—Remembrance Day 20 Nov—Universal Children's Day & Children in Need 1 Dec—World Aids Day Keep watching the notice board for more competi-tions that allow you to be positive contributors to the community.

Kate Hudson.

Parent-School Partnership

Please sign and return the data sheet to the main school

office to give us up-to-date address and contact details. E-mail addresses are important as we can send all letters in-stantly by Parent Mail now. Thank you for your assistance!

Year 11 Career Conference Evaluations

050

100150

Can I identify my keyskills?

Do I have a completedPersonal Statement?

Do I have a completedCV in the correct

format?

Can I effectively usethe

www.kentworks.co.ukwebsite to research

Yes Some No

% o

f Stu

dent

s

Page 10 Autumn Term 2

Term Term Start/End Dates

3 4th January 2010—12th February

4 22nd February—1st April

5 19th April—28th May

6 7th June—23rd July

1 Sept 2010—To be confirmed

Thamesview School

Thong Lane Gravesend Kent DA12 4LF

Phone: 01474 566552 E-Mail: School@thamesview.kent.sch.uk Headteacher Miss R Hughes

Event Other Key Dates

Staff Development Day 29th Jan

Parents’ Forum 25th March

Parents’ Forum 17th June

Staff Development Day 25th June

Up to 40 Key Stage 3 students have given the thumbs up for “Wicked Wednesday”, which have been running this term. The after-school classes in “Basic cooking”, “Makeup for Beginners”, “ICT” and “Get Fit, Stay Fit” have been a real success. In Basic Food there has been a lot of interest in mak-ing soups, Vegetable Pies, home-made burgers, apple tartlets and Spaghetti Bolognese. In “Makeup for Beginners” the girls have learnt about skin types, types of make up, how to look after your skin and how to apply make-up properly. In ICT they have been learning to use computers to control and solve problems. Everyone has enjoyed the classes and new activities will run after the February holiday, so look out for more “Wicked Wednesday” fun.

M. Cooper

Who Said Construction Was Just Bricklaying?

Year 10 Young Apprentices in Construction spend one day a week in the world of work as part of their course. These students are working on a sustainability project at Jeskyns Park as part of their course. These students need to be hardy and devoted to spend time in water in November! Well done lads keep up the good work! Pauline Blayney

Evening Classes Start

Evening classes have started in the Vocational Centre with great success. Adults have attended classes from 6.30pm – 8.30pm one day per week for 6 weeks, n bricklaying. If you are interested in joining this group or you would like to see other practical classes in DIY, Motor Vehicle etc., just

contact Pauline Blayney on: 01474 566552 Ext 244. Well done parents and friends for joining! Pauline Blayney and Martin Francis

Note to parents: If you are booking a holiday during school time please ensure dates do not clash with exams: Approximate dates - 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th & 21-26 March, 24 May—30 June 2010. (Please note exact dates may change).

Thames Views Page 11

Community Name

Points

Challenger 110

Discovery 110

Endeavour 100

Enterprise 122

There are many maths resources that students and parents can now access from home which follow on from what we are doing in school. Students will definitely benefit from using these on a regular basis. All are available through Fronter, our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). All students should have been given their Fronter login, if not they can get it from the ICT technicians in the INET). Once logged onto Fronter, students and parents can then go to the Maths Resource Area in the ‘Choose Room’ drop down menu. Your screen will appear shown right, and as you can see, students can access the level 4-6 and 6-8 KS3 textbooks. These are interactive digital versions of the books we use at school. The MyMaths link and login details are provided. This is an interactive pack-age that provides lessons and assessment questions. The Maths Watch video clips are a fantastic resource for students, parents and teach-ers. They are video clips of almost every topic that appear in maths from Levels 3 at KS3 to A* at GCSE. We have also con-verted them to a software file that can be downloaded to an I-POD. We have re-cently purchased 50 I-Pods for the maths faculty, which will help to support Students’ work on topics they need for revision topics during lessons. The pod-cast version will be on Fronter shortly. The PODCAST link is a link to a website for GCSE students, where they can print a worksheet based on exam questions and then listen (either on the computer or via an IPOD) to a teacher speaking to them, taking them through the solutions. The exam board website link provides students with easy access to past exami-nation paper materials. There is also a discussion forum set up for anyone to post a question about a

maths topic. It would be good to see that used by students, parents and staff. There is also a section on Fronter showing students’ digital work. We have 8 camcorders for use in lessons and there are examples of maths work some

students have produced. Well done to the following for having their work published on Fronter : Molly Green, Tom Drynan, Chelsea Stickells, Chloe White, Temmy Atoyebi, Seyjal Malhi, Julia Johnson, Chay

Bellingham, Bradley Hodge, Megan Limbert, Paige Kaminski, Dominic Burgess, Nathan Hales,

Toby Boyd, Jamie Sutton, Steven Edmeades, Connor Murphy, Shane Toulson, Oriana Bevan, San Fearne,

Alicia Gigg, Amy Stevens, Beth Springett, Mia Ovenden, Jessica Gold-smith, Lindsay Morris, Alise Oakley.

There have been many new initiatives this year in maths. They include: New resources for Years 7, 8 and 9. New assessments so we can accurately monitor students’ progress. The Maths Watch video clips.

50 IPODS have been bought to be used in lessons (only maths topics have been uploaded onto them!). Camcorders used by students for project based work. A Level students from Graves-end Grammar School for Boys attending sessions after-school on Mondays and Thursdays to provide mentoring and coaching for Year 11 students. A Saturday school for GCSE students has been running since the beginning of November (for 2 ½ hours). Attendance has been very encouraging. A government initiative to sup-port students on a 1:1 basis has begun. Currently 15 year 11 students are being supported on a 1:1 basis for 10 weeks. Support available for students and parents through the Fronter maths page. The senior leadership team are

also involved in the teaching of maths - Mr Sorby and Miss Hughes are enjoying the challenge. Well done to Miss Hughes on her completion of the Year 11 home-work tasks set on Mymaths!! Her chal-lenge is for students to beat her scores. Revision sessions after-school continue for GCSE students sitting the module exams in January (for all of Years 10 and 11). These are on Monday with Mr Mauceri and on Thursdays with Mr Razzak. The puzzle club continues to be successful, with over 30 students regularly attending on a Wednesday after-school with Mrs Burns, Mr Atiase and Mrs Flowers.

Mrs M Sesay

Many parents will now receive this newsletter instantly via Par-entmail. If you have not yet given us your email addresses and would like to receive information, letters, newsletters and notices please inform the school office of your email address/mobile phone number or email school@thamesview.kent.sch.uk to let us know.

Page 12 Autumn Term 2

Students in Years 10 and 11, who are doing Food Technology, were treated to a day of pastry making. As part of their GCSE coursework they were shown how pastry is made by Steve Waghorn, a professional Pastry Chef. He showed them some tricks for mak-ing perfect pastry every time. Once seen, the Year 11s set to using the skills shown to make pasties, pies and volovants. As you can see from the results it was a bit of a tasty day! M.Cooper

Rachael Cox, Kenny Watkins, Louise Pilfold and Jodie Munns show, it was a tasty lesson to learn!

A group of Year 11 Thamesview Motor Vehicle Students took a trip over to the Centre of Engineering Excellence in Rainham, Essex as part of an Enterprise trip to look at the progression routes available to them once they leave Thamesview School. Students received a tour of the college and talks from various members of staff detailing the routes available to them in the world of engineering. All students found this very infor-mative and were enthusiastic upon their return, eager to look at careers they may like to pursue. Thamesview Year 10 students were given an insight into the work of road safety experts and the local fire service last month looking at the effects of dangerous driving and the importance of maintaining a vehicle to the correct standard. After a morning of talks 6 students were placed in a crashed car and then the fire service proceeded to cut the roof from the vehicle and extract the students as if they had been in a real accident. Since this was a very successful trip and very relevant to the students’ work on Vehicle Construction and Safety Systems we will be opening this opportunity to more groups in the future for all to participate.

Mr M Francis

Once again Year 8 students visited Paris as part of their Technology work. 61 students and 8 staff visited France, spending some time at Vimy Ridge, Arras, and the Eiffel Tower. As well as these places of interest and history, we stayed at

Euro Disney and spent a day in the Park trying to avoid the Pumpkin People. The rides were all tested fully by everyone and given the thumbs up. The stu-dents were given a book of exercises and information to find out, which included work on structures, mecha-nisms, travel, design and food. On the last day we visited Paris and the Eiffel Tower. This was a real test for many students as the confined lifts and great height unnerved many of them. But everyone enjoyed it and said that it was a great experience to finish off the trip.

Mr Cooper

Students on the Level 3 Diploma in Construction in the Built Environment have just taken part in a national advert campaign that will appear on our screens in January 2010 to support the Diplomas. Filming was held at Kempton Race Course over a very cold long day. We cannot wait to see the advert on ITV and Channel 4 & 5. Well done Charlie Rayfiled, Georgia Bradford and Raj Barsa. You are all celebrities!

Ms Pauline Blayney

On Sunday 22nd No-vember, I went up to H.M.S Caledonia in Scotland, with 10 of the Gravesend Sea Cadets. We did lots of Navy things like rope work, fixing and reloading 2-20 rifles (I did this in only 6 seconds as the fastest person complet-ing the task!), and a first aid course, which covered C.P.R, serious

bleeding, choking and much more. We also did a swimming test (I passed) and made dif-ferent pipes with a Boswain's Call, which is a whistle. We all had a really good time and at the end of the week we didn’t want to leave. I want to go in the Navy when I leave education, but only if I can study volcanoes and become a volcanologist, or a

Students at the Eiffel Tower, Euro Disney and Vimy Ridge

marine biologist with the Navy.

Kyle Hoban

Kyle making a Back-splice Knot All at Sea...

Centre of Engineering Excellence Visit

I’m a Celebrity..