Castle Manor AcademyAutumn Half Term 2014 Newsletter23rd October 2014

Feel proud

It has been an action packed and swift half term. We have seen a huge variety of events at Castle Manor with students supporting community events, a visit from Dutch students, sporting adventures, green fingered students, high flying Year 11s, packed enhancements, a huge variety of trips and, of course, a wide range of excellent learning! You can find a selection of these events in this newsletter, but it is also wise to keep an eye on our website and twitter feeds for up to the minute information.

Welcome This half term we will be saying goodbye to David Jefferies who has been with us teaching Maths, but is now heading off to continue travelling around the world. I know that both students and staff would want to wish him well on his travels. As a result we will be welcoming Kirk Bonas to the maths team after half term, along with Nicola Cooper who is returning from maternity leave. I am certain that they will both be made to feel most welcome by our staff and students.

I hope that students, and staff, enjoy a well earned rest over half term and I look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday 3rd November.

Matthew GibsonHead of School

Flanders TripStudents from Year 9 have been visiting Ypres in Belgium this week as part of a very moving and informative history trip. The trip is an established part of the Castle Manor calendar and students always come back with a fresh insight into this key part of our national history. The trip has coincided with a series of special assemblies, delivered by our Executive Principal, Madeleine Vigar, which tells the story of her Great Uncle Harry’s part in the First World War. These two events remind us of both the personal and national affects of our history.

There will be a full write up of the trip in our next newsletter and you can, of course, catch up on the trip by following our twitter feed (@CastleManor). There is also a full display of the fascinating artefacts that Ms Vigar presented in the corridor near humanities. Why not take a moment to read the display and talk with one of our Year 9 students about their experience?

Road SafetyYou will notice that some new fences have been installed outside of our academy. These have been put up by the local borough council, in response to local requests to prevent parking on verges. Please be aware that students should not cross over these fences to cross the road. In order to cross Eastern Avenue there is an island just beyond the main school gate and further down near Ash Grove.

Castle Manor Academy hosted it’s first Apple Day event this week to celebrate the restoration of its orchard.

Pupils from Burton End Primary School and Place Farm Primary Academy attended the event along with helpers from Castle Manor Academy’s Eco Committee. Parents and children from Sandcastles playgroup also joined in the fun over lunch time.

The event was organised by Mrs Baldwin to encourage outdoor learning across our partnership. Activities included an orchard quiz and trail, led by Alison Findlay from the RHS, apple juicing, craft activities and a competition to see who could get the longest apple peel. The longest peel stood at an impressive 31cm!

Miss Snowdon, Key Stage 2 teacher at Burton End, said “We had such a great time, the children were excited about the event afterwards. This event highlights what teaching should be about - they learnt so much whilst enjoying themselves”.

Mrs Sendall, Head of School at Place Farm was also very positive about the event and the project as a whole “The restoration of the orchard as an outdoor learning area has had a big impact on teachers and pupils across the partnership who are working together to create outstanding learning opportunities”

Community Apple Days

Suffolk’s Greenest School

Students from Castle Manor Academy will be joining other volunteers on Saturday 25th October from 10am as part of a Community Action Suffolk litter pick. Community Action Suffolk is aiming to mobilise local people in caring for their community. Students have helped out at similar events recently on Castle Hill playing fields and other local sites. They prove that young people care passionately about the place in which they live.

Haverhill Town Mayor, Cllr Roger André, was full of praise for our students, saying, “The students that volunteer from the Castle Partnership Academy Trust prove that our youth are a caring and

integral part of our community. They should be proud of what they do, as we are of them!”

Community Ambassadors

New Head of House - ChauntryWe are delighted to announce that Daniel Course has now taken over as Head of House for Chauntry House. He will bring his vast experience of working with students to the role and has already made an excellent start in supporting students in the house. He will also, of course, being flying the yellow flag in each and every house competition to spur students on.

Heads of House:

HLTA of the YearWe are extremely proud of all of our students and staff, but this term gives us special reason to be proud of Megan Humphry. Mrs Humphry was recently nominated as HLTA of the Year. She made it through the rounds and was eventually awarded a regional runners up slot!

Well done Mrs Humphry!

New Parent GovernorWe are pleased to welcome David Bray on to the Local Governing Body of Castle Manor Academy. Mr Bray was voted in by parents in the recent election and has already been along to a meeting. Our Local Governing Body exists to ensure that the Academy operates effectively and that our actions work towards fulfilling our Partnership Principles. The role of our Trust Directors and Academy Local Governing Bodies (There is one per school) is essential in supporting the excellent education at Castle Manor Academy. You can get information about the make up of our Board on our website.

Chauntry Daniel Course DCourse@castlepartnership.org.uk

Hamlet David RamseyDRamsey@castlepartnership.org.uk

Helions Jo ReadJRead@castlepartnership.org.uk

WilseyGiulietta CianciolaGCianciola@castlepartnership.org.uk

Dutch Exchange TripCastle Manor Academy played host to a group of Dutch students at the beginning of October. The students were with us for two days for a variety of activities. Each day began with a continental breakfast in our canteen before heading off for an action packed day. On the Tuesday our visitors joined their Castle Manor penpals for a full Castle Manor day, including tutor time an assembly and a range of lessons. Towards the end of the day the students joined together for a series of team building activities with Mrs Baldwin, before heading off for an evening Meal at Frankie & Bennies. On the Wednesday the students all went to visit Wimpole Hall to visit the House and Farm, complete with special talks from a historian and the farm manager. The day finished with a traditional

cream tea, before our visitors made their way back to Holland.

It is hoped that next year we can take part in a return visit and send some Castle Manor students to Holland. Watch out for more information in the future.

We have welcomed many pupils from Place Farm Primary Academy for Science lessons at Castle Manor Academy over the last few weeks. These lessons have been delivered by our science team and have seen the pupils taking part in a variety of engaging and exciting experiments in our science laboratories. You can see from the pictures that pupils have enjoyed engaging with science in a different way, which supplements the excellent science teaching that forms part of the primary curriculum.

Delivering lessons in this way, across the range of subjects, is an example of the excellent work we do across the partnership to smooth the transition from primary to secondary and ensure that students have the best possible experience.

Scientific Visitors

This term we have launched our Year 11 challenge. This sees our students focusing on what they need to do to get the best results they can in their Summer exams. Our students always work hard and we will be providing a whole host of additional support, including skills workshops, focused revision and a modicum of healthy competition.

We launched our challenge with students working together to think about the time ahead. They listened to some words of advice from Sixth form students, who shared their top tips for a successful Year 11, before devising their very own set of motivational statements, intended to spur them on in the months ahead.

Students will need support from home, ensuring a good work area, lots of rest and a huge amount of encouragement.

Year 11 Challenge

Sports Leaders from across our academy gave their time on Sunday 5th October to support the first Haverhill triathlon. The event was run at Haverhill Leisure Centre and our students played essential roles in marshalling, counting swim lengths and ensuring the transition area ran smoothly. We also helped by providing timing services to competitors.

Our students showed true Castle Manor spirit, arriving fresh and ready to support around 7am, with the last helper leaving well over 6 hours later!

Well done to those students that supported the event and those that took part. Keep an eye out for future Haverhill sports events, supported by our fantastic Sports Leaders.

Community Events - HaverTri

Netball continues to be a very popular feature of sports at Castle Manor Academy, both in competitive fixtures and during the after school club. The picture shows our Year 7 and 8 teams following two close matches recently in Horringer.Our Under 14 Girls netball team drew 4-4 with Ixworth last week with Beth Harding working extremely well to grab player of the match, again!

Previous fixtures saw both the Under 16 Girls and Under 14 Girls teams victorious over Mildenhall, 3-1 and 18-0 respectively. The after school session continues to see large numbers attending and we are now building up to our next netball tour.

NetballSports Update

The end of this half term saw the PE team hosting a Tag Rugby tournament as a house competition. it was well attended by competitors and staff, with a great atmosphere. Not every house was able to field a full compliment of teams, but those that did played excellently. Hamlet found themselves victorious in the competition, which will go towards their house cup score this term.

Tag Rugby

The Michael Morrison football Academy will be hosting a football camp over the October Half Term at Castle Manor Academy. The sessions provide a great opportunity for young people to receive professional coaching from Charlton Athletic Player, Michael Morrison and other qualified coaches.

The camp is open to boys and girls aged 6-12 years old on Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th October. Sessions run from 12-4pm on the astro turf and cost £12 per session or £20 for both days. Siblings are half price.

For more information please email morrisonfootballacademy@gmail.com or come along on the day.

Half Term Football CampOur Under 16 Rugby Team defeated Samuel Ward 31-12. An excellent team performance resulted in 5 tries and a superb defence saw off a powerful Sam Ward team.

The Sixth Form rugby team played in a tournament at Bury Rugby Club. They lost their first match to a well organised Kesgrave High School, but in their second match the Castle Manor team really hit top gear and defeated Harwich by 45 points to 5, scoring some superb tries in the process.

Our Year 8 team travelled to Saffron Walden County High School with a large squad of 19 very keen players. They put in a very good performance, but the opposition proved a bit too experienced for them. Our team tackled very well and in the second half began to show what we could do in attack. All the boys deserve praise for their positive attitude, sportsmanship and team spirit.

Rugby Result

Castle Manor Academy played host to the Haverhill Cross Country again this term. The event is held annually and see pupils in Year 5 to 9 from schools across Haverhill and beyond run an excellent cross country route around our campus. This year nearly 400 runners took part in the event, bringing with them a range of supporters to build a fantastic atmosphere.

Runners set off in waves to make their way around the course, which tracked the edge of the boundary. Each runner wore a personalised number which was used to provide electronic timing as they finished. The start/finish area was a hive of activity with runners and supporters cheering one another on, before heading to get refreshments from the catering students.

All the competitors did exceptionally well and seemed to enjoy themselves with some particular successes from within our partnership. Our own Jed Pitcher won the Year 7 boys category, with Bronte Wallis scooping third spot. In Year 8 Rio Wood and Jakub Zbrowski finished second and third in their category. In total nearly half of the competitors came from within our partnership, a fantastic showing!

Youth Cross Country

Our football teams have competed in a wide range of fixtures this half term. Our Year 11 girls team played a windy set of games against IES Breckland and County Upper School this week. The girls played brilliantly with Leah Phillips named player of the match.

The Year 7 and Year 11 boys teams recently beat Stour Valley 2-1 and 5-1 respectively in an excellent display of skills and sportsmanship. Our Sixth Form team played with five new players, galvanising

themselves into a solid team, finally conceding, very gracefully, to a 2-0 defeat. Our Year 9 boys also lpayed a superb match against Thomas Gainsborough, securing a solid 5-1 victory.

Football Results

www.castlemanor.suffolk.sch.uk @CastleManor

24th Oct 2014 PD Day - Closed to Students

27th to 31st Oct 2014 Half Term

5th November 2014 Sixth Form Open Evening

13th Nov 2014 Academic Tutoring Day Uniform Shop

14th Nov 2014 Children in Need Py jama Day

1st to 5th Dec 2014 NSPCC Maths Challenge Week

Upcoming Dates

Sports Update