Diary Dates

Friday 9th June BBC Music Day

joint orchestra concert - 7pm in the

drama studio

Saturday 10th to Sunday 11th

June DofE Bronze Assessment

expedition

Saturday 17th June

Football Italia Tour

Monday 19th - Friday 23rd June

Year 12 exams

Wednesday 21st June

Sports Day

Thursday 22nd June

KS3 Celebration Evening

Friday 23rd - Monday 26th June

DofE Silver Assessment expedition

Monday 26th June School

Musical dress rehearsal

Tuesday 27th, Wednesday 28th

and Thursday 29th June

School Musical performances

Wednesday 28th to Friday 30th

June Year 11 sixth form

induction

Thursday 29th June Year 10

Consultation Evening

Friday 30th June - Sunday 2nd

July Year 9 trip to the Battlefields

Monk’s Walk News

June 2017

Need to contact us? Tel: 01707 322846 Email: admin@monkswalk.herts.sch.uk

Facebook page: Monk’s Walk School Official /Twitter: @MonksWalkSch

Monk’s Walk at the

London O2 Basketball play-off final

showdown.

On Sunday 14th May 2017, Monk’s Walk students went to

watch the British Basketball League play-off final between

Leicester Riders and Sharks Sheffield at the 02 in London.

Before the showcase game was played, we were lucky

enough to witness the Women’s BBL play-off final which was

between Nottingham Wildcats and Sevenoaks Suns, the

Hoops Aid wheelchair basketball game which featured Ade

Adepitan, a mixed Hoops Aid match featuring footballers

David James, Adebayo Akinfenwa and X Factor finalist 5 After

Midnight amongst many more famous faces.

The show game was a little one-sided in the first three

quarters until the final part of the game when the gap was

reduced, but the Sharks Sheffield team left it too late and

Leicester Riders won convincingly by 21 points.

The half-time entertainment was the amazing Tinchy Stryder.

I found it a great opportunity to be there with my friends and

teachers. The games were fast and exciting and it was an

amazing experience. I am looking forward to the start of the

basketball season next year as I am full of confidence and

can see what I could potentially aim to strive for.

Thank you to Miss Steadman, Mr Poole, Mrs Sullivan and Mrs

Bennet for organising the whole trip.

C Philbert and E Currie (JM)

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

So far all Bronze, Silver and Gold students have successfully completed their practice expeditions.

Our Year 10 Bronze students spent one night under canvas during a two day expedition around the local

area. The Year 11 Silver students were blessed with glorious weather at the end of April for their 4 day

excursion to the Peak District. The Gold Students had a five day trip to Snowdonia and although the

weather was what you would expect of Wales in April (very wet and windy), all students completed the

expedition successfully and managed to keep smiling throughout!

The pictures show our Gold Students at the top of Snowdon (having climbed it with full back packs) just

before moving on to set up a 'wild camp' on the side of the mountain, and the Silver students relaxing in

the sun at Monsal Head at the end of their expedition.

All bodes well for the assessed expedition which take place over the next half term.

Junior UK Maths Challenge 2017

On Thursday 27th April 2017, a group of our most talented mathematicians in Years 7 and 8 took part in

the 2017 Junior UK Maths challenge. Particular congratulations go to J Shindo (Year 8) and L Barry (Year

8) who not only earned gold certificates but also qualified for the next round. J Shindo also won Best in

School. Gold certificates were also earned by J Greener-Tofts , Z Owen (Year 8) and A Owen (Year 7).

A Owen was also awarded Best in Year. Silver certificates were earned by B Carter, R Gaylor, H Joiner,

A Clark, J Kinchin-Smith, H Sugg, T Westcott , A Slater (Year 8), E Baskerville, C Ekwunife, A Fowler,

K Lovett, D Saluja, L Street and L Tanak (Year 7). Bronze certificates were earned by H Baker, B Crooks,

O Dorn, L Evans, P Humphrey, F Reid , E Woodliffe, T Saunders, C Pike, E Downes (Year 8), A Evans, T

Gloyn, G Hawes, A Jolly, O Laflin, J Lee Critchlow, A Lewthwaite, S Grant, G Milbourn, H Pace, N Rix, A

Smith, H Timms and S Webster (Year 7). Well

done to all those who took part and our

certificate winners in particular.

A week before the Maths Challenge, a team

made up of J Shindo (Year 8), Z Owen (Year

8) , R Law (Year 9) and D Lakin (Year 9) took

part in the Junior UK Maths Team Challenge

Regional Final at Ashlyn's School. They took

part in four rounds and were in a strong position

at the half way point. However, the final two

rounds involving relays, proved tricky, and the

team finished a very creditable 8th out of 25

teams that took part.

Successful LiFi Project

Six of Monk’s Walk’s Year 12 students who are thinking about becoming engineers were given the

opportunity to join in with the Engineering Development Trust’s Engineering Education Scheme’s

programme of running an engineering project over a seven month period. In the Hertfordshire branch, 20

schools took part, each being partnered with a mentor from a company from the industry. The Monk’s

Walk team was partnered with Deutsche Telekom’s Phil Cornforth, based in Welwyn Garden City.

Following Phil’s guidance last October, the team decided to explore the viability of LiFi, which is a

developing technology that uses light to transfer data (similar to WiFi). Through weekly meetings and

developing project management skills, the team prepared for a two day workshop in January in which they

could use the facilities at the University at Hertfordshire to build and develop their demonstration models.

Phil borrowed a LiFi bulb from a supplier in Germany for the team to be able to demonstrate the concept.

They also developed the software, electronics and hardware to build a working model of how an office of

the future may work using LiFi technology. In addition, the team investigated the advantages and

disadvantages of LiFi and developed a good understanding of what the next steps would be for the

technology to move forward.

Having written a full report on their findings, the team submitted their work before the Easter break and

prepared for their final Celebration and Assessment Day, based at the GlaxoSmithKline Research and

Development centre in Ware on 28th April. The team presented a highly polished and professionally

delivered presentation to a team of industry assessors. They then spent the next few hours explaining and

answering questions about their project using the materials at their stand. Their LiFi bulb transmitted a

‘Star Wars’ film to a laptop for the duration of the demonstrations. At the end of the afternoon, the

Institution of Mechanical Engineer’s immediate past president Professor Richard Folkson presented the

teams with their certificates.

As an added bonus, due to the amount of work involved in completing the project and the high level of

skills developed and used, each member of the team was awarded the highly prestigious and nationally

recognised Gold CREST award. Overall, the group enjoyed the experience and learnt many new skills,

including how to work effectively as a team and the importance of effective project management. The

experience means that they will be able to make a more informed choice about possible careers in

Engineering and working in Industry.

The team is very thankful to Deutsche Telekom and Phil Cornforth for their support and guidance, and to

the Head of Sixth Form, Mrs Furness, for her backing and help. It was a delight to work with the team and

I wish each student every success for the future in their studies and careers.

Mrs Rayment (Maths teacher, Teacher mentor and ex-Engineer)

Mr Dodson

What subject do you teach? ICT and Computing

(although I’m really a PE teacher!)

How long have you been teaching? 9 years

Why did you want to become a teacher? To be

involved in delivering PE and Sport to children

If you weren’t a teacher, what other career

would you have chosen? Physiotherapist

Do you have any hobbies? If yes, what are they?

Trampolining. I used to compete for Great Britain. I

now coach at a club in Stevenage and for the Great

Britain Team.

What is your favourite t.v. programme? Luther

What is your favourite food/meal? Roast turkey

with all the trimmings

Where has been your favourite holiday

destination? Australia

What has been your favourite gift/present? A

new suit given to me by teachers at my old school

for when I started working at Monk’s Walk.

Please tell us something we would not know

about you… I have grade 7 in the Oboe, and

also play the bass guitar (badly).

Dragon’s Apprentice

We would like to say a big well done to our Year 12

students who took part in this year’s Dragon’s

Apprentice programme. Our students hosted a

variety of fundraising events including a Krispie

Kreme doughnut sale. The team even designed

their own shopping bags to sell and raise money.

Despite all of their efforts and hard work Monk’s

Walk’s team were unsuccessful in hitting the

required fundraising target of £1000 and making the

final part of the programme.

Monk’s Walk is still very proud of them and are

pleased to tell you they raised £562.00, which has

been donated to Hertfordshire Action on Disability.

Monk’s Walk School students

observing the 1-minute silence for

Manchester bombing victims

Athletics Results

Tuesday 2nd May J Horleston broke the school record for 100m Sprint with a time of 11.2 seconds

and he also broke the long jump record with a 5.15m jump!

J Kendrick-Gibson broke the school record for 400m sprint with 55.6 seconds!

Monday 15th May J Weaver (Year 7) broke the school record for the 70m hurdles with a smashing

time of 16.4 seconds

L Evans (Year 8) broke the school record in Discus with a fab throw of 14.83m

Monday 22nd May J Horleston (Year 9) set a new Long Jump record of 5.23m

S Elvery set a new (Year 10) Discus record of 21.9m

M Smith (Year 7) ran a seasons best 16.9s in the hurdles

J Felthouse (Year 8) ran a seasons best 46.8s in the 300m

M Hume (Year 8) jumped a seasons best 1.26m in the high jump

Rounders Results

Monday 8th May Year 8 Monk’s Walk School v Stanborough School

Year 9 Monk’s Walk School v Stanborough School

Won

Lost

11 - 10

14 - 21

Wednesday 24th May Year 7 Monk’s Walk School v Chancellors School

Year 8 Monk’s Walk School v Chancellors School

Year 9 Monk’s Walk School v Chancellors School

Year 10 Monk’s Walk School v Chancellors School

Lost

Won

Lost

Lost

13.5 - 18.5

TBC

4 - 13

17.5 - 18

Tennis Results

Thursday 11th May Monk’s Walk Girls v St Albans Girls’ School

Monk’s Walk Boys v Marlborough Science Academy

Lost

Lost

Tuesday 23rd May Monk’s Walk Girls v Abbots Hill School Won

Wednesday 24th May Monk’s Walk Girls v St George’s School, Harpenden Lost

Thursday 25th May Monk’s Walk Girls v Abbots Hill Won

Tennis Success

A huge congratulations to C Adey (Year 12) and K Hliwa (Year 11) for taking part and winning the Hertfordshire County Tennis Doubles tournament. The boys played at Welwyn Tennis Club against Chancellors School, Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boy’s School and St Albans School.

Shooting Star

Massive congratulations to

Monk's Walk student Alfie

Tibbles (Year 8) who won the

British Schools and Young

Shots competition on Saturday

6th May, scoring 30ex32 targets then had a shoot-

off with four others with a crowd of 150+. Alfie beat

the other three to win a trophy.

Athletics Stars

We would like to say a big well done to G McKen-

zie (Year 12) for becoming a Senior District Cham-

pion by winning the 400m sprint and to R Brown

(Year 11) for becoming a District Champion by win-

ning the girls Long Jump at Gosling Sports Park,

Welwyn Garden City on Tuesday 25th April. We

are very proud of you both and of all of the others

who took part.