Newsletter

December 2017

GOLDINGTON ACADEMY IS THE PLACE TO BE!

New email address: office@goldington.beds.sch.uk

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PRINCIPAL’S INTRODUCTION

Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

Once again it has been an incredible term, and this newsletter provides only the highlights!

It gives me great pleasure to see how the young people of Goldington Academy embrace the opportunities that their teachers provide for them at school. As Christmas approaches, I have been particularly pleased to see us doing more work in the community. Last week, our choir sang at The Mallards and Kimbolton Lodge, and our community ambassadors led a Christmas craft activity with the residents, who loved the activity, as did our children who learned from Gwen (103 years old) what teaching was like ‘in the good old days’.

Our community work is just one example of new initiatives here at school. We are constantly looking to provide a rich, exciting and stimulating extra-curricular provision that can bring out the individual talents of each child. Some examples of that curriculum include: Robotics and STEM; Parkour; Gardening Club and, of course, the myriad of sports clubs and competitions that take place. Our sporting success continues as the Year Five and Six girls’ football team became District Champions and both the girls’ and boys’ Year Seven and Eight teams were crowned District Sportshall Champions last week.

In addition, our Arts Department have had a busy term. I particularly enjoyed our Act!17 performance of ‘Pandora’s Box’ at Bedford Modern School’s ‘Greek Myths’ collaboration. Call me biased, but I personally felt our performance was the best! Well done to Mr Stratton and all the young actors who were involved.

I would particularly like to thank Miss Thompson who, along with two of our Year Nine students, represented Goldington Academy on a residential trip to Belgium at the WW1 Battlefields in November - a trip which both girls thoroughly enjoyed.

If your child would like to start something new in January, they might consider cribbage, creative writing or even Mandarin!

I am delighted to inform you that Mrs Jackson will be returning as Head of maths following her maternity leave. In addition, the maths department will be bolstered by the recruitment of two additional teachers: Miss Goulty, who is a specialist maths teacher, and Mr Hall, who is an experienced teacher of maths, PE and geography.

Two members of teaching staff are leaving at the end of this term and I would like to put on record my thanks to them both. Firstly, Mr Fehrenbach leaves us as Head of Humanities to move to a school closer to his home in Peterborough. Secondly, Mrs Bestwick leaves us from the science department. Both have done excellent work at Goldington and will be greatly missed. Also leaving us is Mrs Wilson, who has provided much help and support for our young people as LSA and EAL Co-ordinator. She leaves a big hole for us to fill.

I would like to finish by acknowledging the very sad news that Jacquie Moore, a much-loved teaching assistant (2011-2017) passed away in September. Jacquie provided an incredible level of support to some of our most vulnerable pupils and her brave fight against cancer was both humbling and inspiring. She is much missed at Goldington.

All that remains is for me to draw your attention to the ROSPA top tips for Christmas safety on page 20 and to wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas period.

We look forward to seeing your child return on Wednesday 3 January.

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Newsletter

December 2017

On Monday 6 November, all of our Year Nines had the privilege of participating in the RAF 100 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) day. It was a fun-filled day of hands on, STEM based activities linked to situations engineers of the RAF may be required to complete. The day kick started with the ‘Chain Home’ activity where the teams had to construct a ‘radar tower’ with only paper straws and limited masking tape that was to hold as much mass as possible. Teams had to utilise their maths and science knowledge to consider the strength of a variety of shapes and had to cooperate to make the most of their limited time. The next activity required the application of the students’ physics knowledge as they had to design, build and test an ‘aircraft’ that was powered using elastic potential energy. After a presentation about the huge range of engineering roles in the RAF and the importance of studying STEM subjects at GCSE and beyond, students started their final task. This required programming a small robot which had to successfully navigate a ‘disaster zone’ course to reach survivors. This task required excellent team work, accuracy, planning and plenty of persistence for students to work out how to navigate the robot through the course. The students worked exceptionally well and did themselves proud in what they produced. The day was a huge success and the students walked away able to see the applications of STEM subjects in real world contexts and, we hope, inspired to become the engineers of the future.

RAF

Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

DANCE

ARTS

MUSIC

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This term, dance clubs have been led by Mrs Mahoney and Mrs Trewby. Mrs Mahoney has also been leading Goldington Academy’s Dance Company which aims to provide opportunities for our most talented dancers. They are currently working to produce some very technical and beautiful lyrical dance pieces for next term’s Gym and Dance Show.

Throughout December, our Advanced Choir and Handbells group have been out and about in the community performing our Christmas repertoire. Both groups have worked hard to learn a variety of Christmas items to sing and play for performances at The Christmas Tree Festival at St Paul’s Church and two residential homes.

The Christmas Tree Festival is an annual event held at St Paul’s and was opened this year by the children’s author Julia Jarman. Our performance slot was immediately after the grand opening which was very exciting. Our groups performed brilliantly; in fact, so well that we were asked to perform again for BBC Three Counties Radio to record. It was a wonderful way to start off our festive period.

The residents at Kimbolton Lodge and The Mallards were delighted to hear our pupils sing and play and really appreciated the effort the children went to to help them celebrate Christmas. It was such a joy to see how much pleasure it gave them watching our brilliant young musicians perform.

Upcoming events next half term: Wednesday 10 January is our Informal Concert and Battle of

the Bands is on Thursday 1 February. Please also note the Summer Concert will now take

place on Friday 6 July, not Thursday 5 July.

Newsletter

December 2017

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ARTS

DRAMA — ACT!

On Friday 8 December 2017 we held an informal performance. The event was a medley of Christmas themed drama pieces directed by Mrs Wildman. Pupils from across all year groups welcomed parents and friends to celebrate the end of term and the start of Christmas.

Drama Club

The drama ambassadors have been busy running and planning some fundraising activities in

order to raise funds toward the end of year show! Well done ambassadors!

Ambassadors

On Monday 20 November 2017, 12 pupils performed in ACT!’17 ‘Greek Myths’, a free drama festival hosted by Bedford Modern School, where teachers and students from Bedfordshire’s schools are invited to collaborate on the creation of a piece of theatre. The pupils were joined by students from Bedford Academy, Stratton Upper School and Bedford Modern School (BMS). The night was a huge success for all involved and Goldington pupils received some glowing feedback from visiting practitioner Nigel Munson (6Foot Stories), parents and peers. ACT!’, which Goldington has been a part of for the past two years, is a fantastic example of schools working together to celebrate achievement through the Arts.

Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

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ARTS

ART

Year Six Printmaking Year Six students have been getting messy in the art department in order to produce expressive prints! They have designed and produced their own stencils before applying them to their backgrounds. I have been really impressed by the quality of the work produced. Let’s take a look ...

Photography and Printmaking – Personalised Learning Programme (PLP) Year Eight students have made a wonderful start to their photography and printmaking PLP course. They have been learning about how to use the camera in order to produce successful compositions based on the theme of natural forms. Students have produced excellent compositions which will now inspire their etching, lino-cuts and mono-prints. Here’s a sample of their work… Miss Morgan

ARTS

ART

Local artist Amanda Silk recently visited to share her expertise

in ceramics. She worked with a small group of students and

introduced them to ceramic and glazing techniques. The work

produced in the workshop will be entered in to this year’s

Harpur Trust Competition, the theme of which is ‘Mindfulness’.

Students produced Hamza hands. Should they be lucky

enough to be selected as a winner, their work will be exhibited

in The Higgins Gallery, Bedford. Good luck to everyone who

took part. Miss Morgan

ART

Our wonderful team of art students and art ambassadors have been working hard for the past few weeks in order to produce Christmas tree decorations which are adorning our tree at St Paul’s Church. This year’s theme for the festival was children’s stories; our chosen theme being ‘The Wind in the Willows’. Students have been producing watercolour paintings, tree bark illustrations, glittery pine cones and many more woodland themed ornaments. The work produced is outstanding and all involved should be very proud. A huge thanks to the four pupils and our Art Technician Ms Stewart for all their hard work!

Newsletter

December 2017

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Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

The design technology department is now live on Instagram too! Start following to see if your work shows up or for ideas for your current projects! @dt_goldingtonacademy #lovedesign

Year Five have settled in nicely this term getting to know their way around the workshop and creating some amazing Memphis art inspired containers! In Year Six, students have produced some splendid creations for their moving cars!

Re-designing a traditional toothbrush, and applying these ideas through modelling, was a quick challenge for our Year Nines! Not as easy as it looks! The focus when modelling was not only the aesthetics but the ergonomics.

Year Eight pupils have been using their existing knowledge to create light designs on 2D design and making them on the laser cutter!

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

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Newsletter

December 2017

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

We have been remembering the fallen with honorary acrylic laser cut poppies. Each one was researched and individually designed. In one afternoon. Well done, Year Eight.

Year Nine design technology students have undertaken a research led pewter casting project. Through greater understanding of a range of designers’ work they have been able to apply their 2D design (CAD) skills to produce intricate design work. The results have been very promising! Can you guess the designers who have inspired them?

Year Seven pupils are well into making their country inspired vacuum formed games. The pro-ject explores the different classifications of plastics, iterative design, heat forming processes and 2D design!

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Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

ACTIVE GIRLS’ PROGRAMME

Thursday 23 November saw the first disco of the new school year and a great time was had by all who attended. We managed to raise a healthy profit of £445.00 from the event, which will be added to the funds already sent in and banked from this year’s Fun Run.

For the second year running we ran a successful Christmas raffle - congratulations to all the winners.

Thank you all for your support with the Friends’ events. It really does make a difference, with all the additional money raised helping to improve the environment for the children of Goldington Academy.

We look forward to the start of the works on the new bike sheds which are being paid for from previous fund raising events.

Wishing all our students, parents and teachers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Maddy Anderson

This year, girls from Years Eight and Nine are taking part in an Active Girls’ programme aimed at students who wish to stay healthy and active beyond the classroom. The girls took part in an introduction session this month and will be participating in an eight week programme in the new year. This will see the girls try new and exciting activities such as clubbersize, rowing, tag rugby, spin and many more. The girls will be working alongside other schools and they have been given a fitbit to track their progress throughout the campaign. Mrs Worthington

“I think the Active Girls’ program is great because it encourages girls to take part in sports. I am mostly looking forward to Clubbersize.” Wiktoria 8W

FRIENDS OF GOLDINGTON ACADEMY

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Newsletter

December 2017

ORIGAMI CLUB

The origami club is run by four students from 7P who are "barmy for origami". The club is open to Key Stage Two pupils and runs every Friday lunchtime. It has been hugely popular, with 18 pupils currently on the members list!

CRIBBAGE CLUB

It is great to see Year Eight and now also Year Seven students enjoying the old card game of cribbage, pegging their way around the board during lunch on Mondays in Room 13. For a change, at times we play in partnerships with the game of Skipbo. This also enhances communication skills and good team work. All students are welcome.

CHINESE MANDARIN

In the new year, there will be a Mandarin Chinese club starting for Years Eight and Nine. This will be held on a Friday lunch time. Please contact Miss Castagnaro, castagnarol@goldington.beds.sch.uk if you would like any further information or if you wish for your child to attend.

We hope you really enjoy yourselves during the Christmas holidays and take part in lots of fantastic activities with your families and friends. However, please remember to keep yourselves safe at all times. The numbers below are for the services which could help you should you have any worries or concerns at any time. Bedfordshire Police HQ (non emergency) - 01234 841212 NSPCC - 0808 800 5000 (24 hour helpline) MASH team (safeguarding) - 01234 718700 (office hours) or ring 0300 300 8123 (out of hours). In an immediate emergency always dial 999 Enjoy the holiday! Mr Atkinson

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Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

PE DEPARTMENT

NETBALL

Year Seven Netball Tournament

Huge congratulations to the Year Seven netball team

who came second in their group and played fantastic

netball, winning all their matches, bar one. The team

have worked hard to perfect their skills and we look

forward to our next tournament in the New Year.

“On 3 November the Year Seven A team participated in a netball tournament at Bedford Girls’ School. We started off by winning all of our matches and even beat one school by 12 goals”. Chloe, Captain.

Year Eight Bedford District Schools League The A team’s play developed over the season and they had great results in all their games, eventually ending the term as runners up. The B team produced some lovely netball which also saw them end the term as runners up.

Year Seven Bedford District Schools League The Year Seven A team had some amazing results before losing to Lincroft in the League Final which meant they finished as runners up. The B team put on a consistent set of results and came 3

rd in the C League.

Year Five and Six Year Five and Six netball clubs have been well attended. League matches (Wednesday nights) and district tournaments will be held for both year groups in the second half of the Spring Term.

Gymnastics clubs have been running for all years – 150 children, boys and girls have been attending. We have also run two clubs for different year groups for all the exceptionally talented gymnasts that Goldington Academy has.

It has been amazing to see the enthusiasm and dedication Goldington’s gymnasts have. After Christmas, we will all be working hard to produce some exciting numbers for our annual Gym and Dance Show which will be held just before next half term. More details will be sent home at the start of next term.

GYMNASTICS

CROSS COUNTRY/RUNNING CLUB

All years have been preparing for the cross country season which begins in January. The

running club has been well attended and we are looking forward to seeing how well they do in

the new year.

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Newsletter

December 2017

PE DEPARTMENT

RUGBY

As usual, it has been a very busy term! The Year Seven and Year Eight rugby teams have been involved in the league, doing well in all their games. The Year Sevens were involved in the county tournament too, finishing third in a very competitive field. They also took part in the Bedford School Invitation, playing lots of free- flowing rugby as well as showing a great desire to play and work as a team. The Year Fives have also played in the County Festival, playing five games, losing one, drawing two, and winning two. Well done to them and also all those who have been coming along to Year Five/Six practises. On Friday 24 November the Bedford Blues held their Community Rugby evening for local schools and 12 boys from the school and I, along with Mr Pell, attended the event, which included free coaching, a chance to be the guard of honour and a pitch walk at half time in front of the 2400 spectators prior to the game against Hartbury College. In addition, the boys had the chance to get autographs from Blues players and a photo with ex-Goldington Middle School pupil, and now a Blues player, Elliot Clements Hill.

Sportshall athletics club has been very well attended this term and competition was strong to even make the teams. All our teams competed in the Bedford District Competition this term.

Year Five and Six The Year Five and Six team were runners up.

Year Seven and Eight Boys teams The Year Seven and Eight team were first or second in every track event and the majority of field events and were very convincing winners to make them district champions for the third year in a row.

Year Seven and Eight Girls’ teams The Year Seven girls’ team were runners up. The Year Eight girls were crowned District Champions. All five teams now go on to represent Bedford at the County Championships.

Well done to all the squads.

SPORTSHALL ATHLETICS

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Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

FOOTBALL

PE DEPARTMENT

The Year Seven/Eight girls’ football team have been playing the District League, playing some fantastic football and deservedly reaching the finals.

The Year Five/Six girls’ football team were crowned District Champions in October.

They won every game and dominated the league from start to finish. In nine games,

the team ended up scoring 52 goals, and conceded only two! This is a fantastic

achievement and was well deserved as their attitude and their ability were

impeccable.

The Year Six boys’ football team competed in the District League this term. They played some positive attacking football and scored the most goals in the whole of the league. A couple of close games just went against them and the team finished runners up to Lincroft. A good season overall. Well done boys! Years Seven, Eight and Nine boys have been training at football club each week in preparation

for their season which begins in early February. We wish them well for the new season.

Table tennis club has proved very popular this term with all year groups taking part in both friendly fixtures and district matches. Mr Galbraith and Mr Llewellyn.

TABLE TENNIS

Many students have been attending Badminton Club on Tuesdays after school. The Year Nine girls’ A and B teams have been involved in a district competition, finishing a credible second in their groups. Badminton fixtures will start in the New Year.

BADMINTON

The sports leaders have been very busy supporting extra-curricular clubs this term and they have all done a great job of assisting the teachers and developing younger pupils’ skills and confidence. They have been invaluable in helping out at the Year Five/Six district hockey league, shown enthusiasm and patience in leading Year Five gym and dance clubs and been assisting the development of players at football and netball clubs.

SPORTS LEADERSHIP

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Newsletter

December 2017

FESTIVE FOCUS ON LITERATURE

Year Seven were treated to a festive

performance of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by

Quantum theatre. Adapted from Charles

Dickens’ novel, the three cast members

brought the eerie story of a “tight-fisted”

miser to life. Visited by three ghosts,

Scrooge is forced to see the errors of his

ways and realise the importance of charity,

humanity and Christmas spirit. Dickens

proves that it is never too late to change

your ways! Year Seven are currently

studying the Charles Dicken’s novel, which

is a text that provides students with

challenge and a rich variety of language to

analyse.

It also helps children to learn about Victorian Britain and the injustice in society towards the

poor. Performances are a brilliant way to help students to understand the events of the novel,

bringing it to life and creating engagement. Thank you to all the parents who supported this

event.

This term the advanced science Year Eight students were treated to a STEM activity afternoon, led by engineers from Leonardos, an international engineering company that designs and manufactures electronic defence systems for the aerospace, defence, security, cyber and space centres. The students were challenged to design and build their own aircraft which could carry a range of structures whilst keeping within a tight financial budget.

The students produced a fantastic range of designs and enjoyed the final challenge of flying their aeroplanes in a competition at the end of the session. It was great to see the innovative qualities in the students and the team work that went into the final product. It was also an opportunity for the students to be introduced to possible careers and opportunities in engineering.

Mrs Mckenna

STEM

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Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

BELGIUM

November visit to the battlefields in Belgium and France

I was very fortunate to visit Ypres and The Somme in November along with two students from Year Nine.

After travelling to Calais via Ferry we drove to Ypres.

We visited Lijssenthoek Cemetery, Poperinge where almost 11,000 soldiers are buried along with nurses from the military hospital which had been on the site during the war.

We visited Langemark German Cemetery where 44,000 soldiers lay buried, including many that have never been named.

Tyne Cot cemetery cannot fail to affect anyone who visits. It is so well kept with rows upon rows of white headstones, many without names. This is an area where the third battle of Ypres, also known as ‘Passchendaele’ was fought. After the war it was decided to make Tyne Cot the main concentration cemetery where the bodies and remains of soldiers across the Salient would be buried. The cemetery took five years to complete. In all 11,956 soldiers are buried there.

The following day we drove down to The Somme and visited different sites of the battles including the site where the Newfoundland Regiment proceeded to fight and many died.

The memorial at Thiepval is unforgettable. It is a memorial to the Missing of the Somme, a place where families and relatives can visit to remember their loved ones when there is no named grave to visit. We searched for the records of a soldier from the Bedfordshire regiment who had lived in Stanley Street, Bedford. The wind and the autumn leaves seemed to whip around us as we read the names of just a few of the thousands and we were very aware how privileged we were to be there and to be travelling home, whereas these men and women never made it home.

Although the trip was serious and somber, there was still time for fun. The students had time to socialise with others in the evenings and listen to up to date stories of what life is like in the armed forces today.

The final day saw a visit to the Last Post at the Menin Gate. This is the memorial to the missing, and records the names of 54,406 soldiers from Britain, Australia, Canada, South Africa and India, who lost their lives in this part of Belgium during the war. The names of a further 34,948 are recorded at Tyne Cot cemetery.

Miss Thompson

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Newsletter

December 2017

BELGIUM

I found the battlefields tour trip a

very fun, enjoyable, exciting

experience. It was such a thought-

provoking trip and I loved visiting

the different museums. There was

so much to learn and I feel very

lucky to have been chosen to take

part in this trip which was not only

enjoyable but powerful as it made

me feel sorrow when visiting the

different memorials.

On Friday, 10 November me and one other pupil went on a very experiential trip to Belgium. On the first day we stopped off at Ashford where we did group challenges and learnt about World War I battlefields artefacts. Early morning on Saturday, we took a ferry to France and from there we entered Belgium. During our travels, we saw many battlefields which we took a lot of information from. This trip improved our knowledge of many things that we did not know before. We went to many cemeteries such as Tyne Cote Cemetery where we looked for a particular soldier from Bedford. We successfully found him and also located him on the Internet — this trip really was a great experience and an opportunity to make new friends. At the hotel where we stayed, we had an evening of looking at the soldiers’ equipment from World War I to now. We also tasted the food that soldiers nowadays get. This helped us to think about the way soldiers now live when they are at war. We also visited one of the famous battlefield museums where we went through a real live trench and also a man-made trench. Overall I would say this trip was incredible; it was a great experience and a great way to meet new friends. The knowledge we came back with will also help us in future history lessons which is ideal for our education!!!

Here dead we lie

Here dead we lie

Because we did not choose

To live and shame the land

From which we sprung.

Life, to be sure,

Is nothing much to lose,

But young men think it is,

And we were young.

A E Housman

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Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

Dear Parents/Carers

Our whole school attendance percentage is currently 96.7% for the year so far. Please help us to keep up this excellent attendance average by ensuring that pupils are organised for school the night before and are only taking time off school for genuine illnesses. Please also be aware that the school cannot authorise absences for family holidays.

As winter approaches, please ensure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather to reduce the risk of illness.

Please remember our attendance targets are:

KS2 – 97% KS3 – 96% Whole school – 96.5%.

SCHOOL REMINDERS

Dear parents and carers,

Your continued support in ensuring that your child is properly equipped and wearing the correct uniform is much appreciated. Your child’s form tutor and head of year will be closely monitoring uniform and equipment for a number of weeks, with a particular focus on the following:

Plain dark grey trousers (not skinny-cut or denim), or the official school skirt

White shirt and tie

Blazer (Year Nine only)

Black shoes (not trainers)

Hair styles which should not include colours, patterns or designs

Children being equipped with correct basic equipment, e.g. pens, pencils,

rulers etc.

Thank you again for your support in this matter. We strongly urge you not to purchase your uniform at Josens because the garments are often the wrong colour and the logo is incorrect.

NOTE FROM THE GOVERNORS

Dear Parent/Carer The beginning of the Autumn Term was a milestone in Goldington Academy’s journey as we welcomed our last intake of Year Five students and our first cohort of Year Nines. As we start our journey as a successful secondary provider, I am mindful of the need for our governors to keep pace with all the changes and be ready to undertake our duties effectively with regards to the delivery of the GCSE curriculum. To strengthen and support our curriculum committee and full governing body, governors are delighted to welcome onto the governing body, Emma Butler, Deputy Head at St Peters school, Huntingdon where she has the responsibility for teaching and learning. She has had 14 years of secondary experience and has also been a school governor. We are confident that she will be an asset to us and are very much looking forward to working with and learning from her. This is an exciting time for the school and governors remain committed to ensuring that the GCSE curriculum is delivered well and pupil outcomes are the best they can possibly be. Warm Regards Diane Field, Chair of Governors

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BOOK CLUB

With Christmas around the corner, here are some of our top Key StageTwo recommendations for literary stocking-fillers:

The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (10-11years)

Awful End by Philip Ardagh (10-11years)

From Hereabout Hill by Michael Morpurgo (10-11 years)

Granny by Anthony Horowitz (10-11 years)

Who Let the Gods Out? by Maz Evans (10-11 years)

Clockwork by Philip Pullman (9-10 years)

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke (9-10 years)

Emil and the Detectives by Eric Kästner (9-10 years)

Scribbleboy by Philip Ridley (9-10 years)

Hacker by Malorie Blackman (9-10 years)

Since September, we have been holding a Key Stage Two Book Club on Monday lunchtimes. We read, discuss books and have even created some games around our favourite books.

Last half term, the children taking part really enjoyed a new book they were given to try out called ‘Dreaming the Bear’. All the pupils taking part have worked really hard on a review to share their opinions with you.

BOOK REVIEW DREAMING THE BEAR – by Mimi Thebo Dreaming the Bear is about a young girl called Darcy who develops a serious case of pneumonia. One day, a heart-felt, loving bear comes to Darcy as though it was destiny. Treating Darcy like a cub, the bear shields her from the storm and wraps her in her warm fur. This touching book really tugs at your heart and takes you on a rollercoaster of

emotions that draw you into Darcy’s world.

The detailed description and tantalizing text makes you feel like you’re in a whirlpool of words and you are more than happy to be taken on the journey!

The only aspect of the book that wasn’t so good, were the places where the pace slows down. Although Darcy’s adventure is an exhilarating one, there are times when the book is less eventful and less captivating. But, despite this, we still really enjoyed the book overall.

We would recommend this book to people who like to read adventurous, emotional and dramatic stories that really grip you to the pages. We would warn you that you can’t put it down.

Star rating: 4 ½ out of 5

REMINDER — Please can all parents/carers periodically check your child’s hair for any “unwanted guests” and treat as appropriate.

Your co-operation in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Newsletter

December 2017

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Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

ROSPA TOP TIPS FOR CHRISTMAS SAFETY

Christmas is a time when your home is likely to be full of people and it is in the excite-ment of the season that accidents can easily happen. But one of the good things about Christmas is that there are typically more people around to supervise the children and, with a little more care and forward planning, most accidents could be avoided.

Follow these 12 safety tips to help prevent your festivities being cut short by a trip to casualty:

Make sure you buy children's gifts for the correct age group and from reputable

sources that comply with standards (e.g. The Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011)

Remember to buy batteries for toys that need them - that way you won't be tempt-

ed to remove batteries from smoke alarms

Look out for small items that could pose a choking hazard to young children, in-

cluding parts that have fallen off toys or from Christmas trees, button batteries and burst balloons

Keep decorations and cards away from fires and other heat sources such as light

fittings. Don't leave burning candles unattended, make sure you put them out be-fore going to bed and do not put candles on Christmas trees

If you have old Christmas lights, seriously consider buying new ones, which will

meet much higher safety standards, keep the lights switched off until the Christ-mas tree is decorated, don't let children play with lights (some have swallowed the bulbs), and remember to switch off the lights when going out of the house or going to bed

Remember, Christmas novelties are not toys, even if they resemble them, and

they do not have to comply with toy safety regulations. Give careful thought to where you display them, for example, place them high up on Christmas trees where they are out of the reach of young hands

Parents - give yourself enough time to prepare and cook Christmas dinner to

avoid hot fat, boiling water and sharp knife accidents that come from rushing, and keep anyone not helping with dinner out of the kitchen. Wipe up any spills quickly

Have scissors handy to open packaging, so you're not tempted to use a knife,

and have screwdrivers at the ready to assemble toys

Beware of trailing cables and wires in the rush to connect new gadgets and appli-

ances, and always read instructions

Falls are the most common accidents so try to keep clutter to a minimum. Make

sure stairs are well-lit and free from obstacles, especially if you have guests

Plan New Year fireworks parties well in advance and follow the Firework Safety

Code

Parents - do not drink and drive, and plan long journeys so you won't be driving

tired.

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This year the House Captain team have decided on some local charities to support throughout the year. In the spring they will be holding a charities week full of exciting opportunities for the students across the school to be involved in. They are at the early stages of planning but would like to announce the charities they will be representing.

Rogers – Holly & Casey have chosen The M.S Centre in Bedford Emms – Mia & Charley have chosen The Young Carers of Bedford Charity Stott – Perry & Ellie have chosen Chums Pendleton – Tia, Olivia & Jaydon have chosen The British Red Cross Frezza – Lexi & Shanice have chosen The Salvation Army Foster – Will & Maisie have chosen St John’s Hospice

Great thought has been put into choosing these charities this year as they are linked to families within our community. It is hoped that at the end of the year these charities will benefit from the many events the House Captains have planned. Watch this space…

HOUSE UPDATE

ROBOTICS

This term, over forty pupils have been busily preparing for the annual ‘VEX Robotics Competition’ taking place on 31 January. With support from Lockheed Martin, Goldington will be a regional host venue and will welcome other teams from across the region to compete in a friendly scrimmage event and the regional finals next month. Our four teams: ‘Girlbots’, ‘Jaguars’, ‘Einsteinium’ and ‘No Idea Crew’ have also received invaluable technical support from Mr Harris who has run lunchtime coding sessions so the robots can be programmed to manoeuvre the arena and pick up the cones to collect points. We would like to thank Mr Harris for giving up his time to support the teams!

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December 2017

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Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

Due to the weather, we have undertaken fewer activities in the garden this half term, apart from preparing for the winter months by fleece-wrapping our blueberry plant. We carried out a dig in different areas of the garden to look for worms and insects, and the children have filled pots with compost in preparation for planting bulbs. There has, however, been no shortage of things to do indoors!

The Green Ambassadors VIP kits from the World Wildlife Fund were distributed to our gardeners a few weeks ago. The kits gave the children lots of tips and advice about how to look after the natural world and each kit came with a badge to wear.

All of our club members have been working hard over the past few weeks to attain their RHS Level 4 award. With the help of our gardening ambassadors Samiha, Isma, Fanni, Nikol, Shanice and Zuzanna, they have painted and decorated Christmas-themed pots, then planted them with spring bulbs. These are growing really well in Mrs Sacre’s science room. We are most grateful to all of our ambassadors who have been watering the bulbs in between gardening club sessions.

The crocus, narcissus and allium plants will be on sale to staff, students and visitors to raise money for our gardening club. The bulbs will be suitable for planting outside either before they flower or after they flower and will reappear annually to brighten your gardens. The pots they are grown in all come with festive messages and will make lovely little gifts for Christmas. Children also enjoyed making posters for the plant sale which will be displayed around school.

For our latest project we have been using the ipads to find out about terrariums. Here the children have the opportunity to research information about the use of suitable plants and materials for their construction. We will be converting an old fish tank into a terrarium in the spring term.

The ambassadors have recently completed some community work at Kimbolton Lodge Residential Home, where they have led a Christmas craft activity with the residents, decorating and planting Christmas plant pots suitable for indoor decoration.

Our garden area is currently under renovation! We are using our Tesco Bags of Help money for Grow @ Goldington to have the area professionally landscaped by Steve Burns and his team at Castle Gardens. This will provide us with a better area for growing fruit, vegetables and flowers.

Come and join our exciting club which offers members a variety of activities during Wednesday lunchtimes in room 6. Please see Mrs Sacre if you need a priority lunch pass.

GROW @ GOLDINGTON

Flattened by diggers!

Gravelled and ready for

the new beds! The carrots we grew and harvested!

Preparing our Christmas

pots for our Level 4 award

enterprise activity

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Newsletter

December 2017

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

At different times through their education, lots of children can experience challenges, struggles and difficulties with their learning with things such as: communication and interaction; cognition and learning; social, emotional and mental health difficulties; sensory and/or physical needs. The reasons for these difficulties are wide and complex, and each pupil is an individual.

At Goldington Academy, we support children with their learning and their social and emotional development in a number of ways.

Some of these include:

Additional adult support in lessons

Differentiated teaching resources in class to match ability

SoundsWrite phonic support

Small group guided reading groups

Handwriting intervention

Lexia reading (an ICT reading program which can also be accessed by children

at home)

Power of 2 maths coaching

Specific dyslexia support

Each pupil identified as having additional needs has a profile, which all staff have copies of. The profile contains differentiation strategies to help the child make progress at school.

If you have any concerns or questions about your child’s learning, please contact me at school by email or by phone. Alternatively, there is a drop in session on Fridays between 3 -3:30 pm, when parents can come and see me without an appointment.

Bedford Borough Council has published a “Local Offer” which sets out, in one place, what support and services are available for children and young people with disabilities and special educational needs and their families. For further information see:

https://sendguide.bedford.gov.uk/

I encourage parents to act quickly if there is a concern, as we can plan steps to help your child achieve his or her potential and be happy in school. Mr Roopnarain, SENDCo roopnarains@goldington.beds.sch.uk

Reminder—please inform the school office if you move address or change your telephone or email address so that our records are kept up to date

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Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

This term has been busy with various fundraisers. Since September, including the Fun Run and all the other charity events, we have raised just short of £4500 thanks to the generosity of students, parents and staff!

CHARITY AND COMMUNITY EVENTS

On Friday 20 October we accessorised our uniforms with pink items and donated money towards the Wear It Pink campaign, a breast cancer awareness charity. We also ran some pink-related activities such as ‘guess the number of (pink) sweets in a jar’, a pink-themed form quiz and ‘pink a pink item’ for small donations, with winners receiving pink prizes.

Mrs Spinelli also baked some delicious gluten-free pink cupcakes for staff to enjoy in return for charity contributions.

As a school, we adorned over 1000 pink items, with Poppy wearing a total of 21 items herself and 7W winning the prize for ‘Best pink form’.

We raised a total of £422.09, well done!

Children in Need is clearly a charity close to our hearts, and it is with delight we can announce that a grand total of £700.59 was raised on Friday 17 November. We contributed £1 to wear mufti to school, wearing spots and stripes to support Pudsey’s Spotacular theme and had various activities going on around school. Our Year Eight ambassadors, Samiha, Isma, Fanni, Nikol, Zuzanna and Shanice organised a Pudsey scavenger hunt around school which was very popular. Winning entries won edible treats as well as a one-day priority lunch pass. Year Seven ambassadors Sofie, Lily, Abigail and Maria organised some competitive break time events on the playground and many people contributed to take part. Thank you to everyone who got involved.

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Hurricane Maria Disaster Appeal 2017

Jasper, Leo, Oliver, Lily, Abigail and Sofie in Year Seven organised and ran a cake sale on Friday 10 November. Between them they baked and decorated a vast number of cookies, brownies, cupcakes and gluten-free goodies to raise money for the Dominica Overseas Nationals Association’s and Dominica Development Trust.

Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean, was hit by Hurricane Maria on the 18 September with one hundred percent of residents’ lives being affected. Roads, buildings, home and health facilities have been damaged and it will take a lot of time and money to regain some semblance of normality for the islanders. With the help of Mrs Hemming, these enterprising students ran the cake sale at break time and raised a staggering £183.60 in 15 minutes! Well done all of you for such a thoughtful idea to support people who are struggling to rebuild their lives after this natural disaster.

CHARITY AND COMMUNITY EVENTS

Future charity events for your diary

Friday 15 December – “Christmas Jumper Day” in aid of Save the Children – come to school in your Christmas-themed jumper on the last day of term and contribute £1 to the charity collection to help raise money for children less fortunate than yourselves across the world. Why not make your own Christmas jumper this year?

Find out more at https://christmasjumperday.org/

February half term – Bikeability. Thank you to everyone who has returned their reply slips to join this event. Places were very popular, but names have been submitted on the register and we are just awaiting confirmation of places. If you’ve been successful in securing a place, you will be notified as soon as possible via the daily bulletin.

If you have any ideas for fundraising activities, or have a favourite charity you would like to suggest, please see Mrs Sacre in Room 6!

Mrs Sacre Community Coordinator

Movember Miss Lambe will be running the London Marathon next year, raising money for the Movember foundation, a men’s health charity that is concerned with physical and mental wellbeing of boys and men. During the month of November, Mr Galbraith grew a rather impressive moustache to support Movember, with staff sponsorship and donation towards his efforts. A final total of Miss Lambe’s fundraising will be available after she’s run the marathon, but we would like to say a big thank you to Mr Galbraith for growing his moustache throughout November!

Newsletter

December 2017

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Did you know … just registering your child for Free School Meals means that the school gets extra money?

Register now to make sure we don’t miss out!

The government is giving money to schools to help children from lower income families do their very best. This funding is called a ‘Pupil Premium’. Your child will receive pupil premium

for SIX years after registering (even if you no longer qualify for free school meals.)

For every child registered, Goldington Academy gets £1,320 a year to spend!

With this money we could offer your child 1:1 tuition, or small group support in school. If you are registered for free school meals you could also get help with costs of school events, trips or music tuition. The money also supports the cost of the additional learning support staff in your child’s class.

Please register as soon as possible to make sure your child and others in his or her class don’t miss out.

How does it work?

1. First, check if you qualify – it is not just if you are unemployed, so please look at the list at the bottom of this page.

2. Registering is really quick and easy – if you think you qualify, contact our office staff who will help you.

3. If you want your child to have a free school meal at lunchtime, then he or she will get the free school meal (saving you more than £300 a year), and extra benefits; and the school will receive £1,320 extra a year for 6 years whilst your child is in our school.

4. If you don’t want your child to have the free school meal they do not have to have one; as long as you qualify and are registered, the school still gets the £1,320 extra.

No one will know you have registered and it will not affect any other benefits you are claiming.

Please talk to us about registering your child today. Do you qualify?

You can register your child for pupil premium and a free school meal if you get any of these benefits:

Income Support

Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance

Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit

Child Tax Credit, provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenue & Customs) that does not exceed £16,190

Working Tax Credit 'run-on' - the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

FREE! FREE! FREE!

Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

Newsletter

December 2017

27

New Menus

We are working with the school’s caterers to improve the lunch time provision. To this end we are delighted to announce that the menus have been reviewed and significant improvements will be implemented as soon as we return to school in January, with more healthy food and diverse dishes being served. Please see the new menus which have been uploaded to the school website. www.goldingtonacademy.org.uk/school-meals-and-breakfast-club

Paying for School Lunches

The voucher system currently in place for pupils who do not have enough money on their account to buy a school lunch is no longer fit for purpose, because there are a minority of parents who persistently fail to top-up their child’s account. Managing these debtors has become unmanageable, and a new system is therefore being implemented from the start of January 2018. The details are as follows:

• For the vast majority of you, who keep your child’s school meal account topped up, this change will have no impact. Thank you for keeping your child’s account in credit.

• For those parents who, most of the time, remember to top-up their child’s school meal account, this change will mean that your child will be fed on the day when the account balance fails to cover the cost of your child’s school lunch. Your child will be given a card to remind you that payment is due, and you will be able to top-up their school meal account on ParentPay before lunch the following day to ensure there is no disruption to the service your child receives from Taylor Shaw.

• For those parents who do not top-up their child’s school meal account you are required to provide your child with a packed lunch. When students fail to bring a packed lunch, and they do not have enough money on their account to buy a lunch, they will have to wait until we have finished serving hot dinners and an emergency meal of a cheese or ham sandwich, a piece of fruit and a bottle of water will be prepared for them. Payment in respect of these emergency meals will be due to the school.

Please also remember that the Reval machine in the school hall does not accept the new £1 coins, £5 notes and £10 notes, and we strongly recommend you top-up your child’s ParentPay account online. Topping up the account this way will give you a record of all payments that you have made to the school including trips and activities, as well as lunches.

All parents and carers are given a ParentPay account, when their child starts at Goldington Academy. If you have not yet activated yours, and would like help to do so, please contact Mrs Barrett in the school office. We are also able to create a second payer account for each child, so please let us know if this is needed.

Meal Price

You will remember that we gave you notice in the July newsletter, or in our welcome booklet for new starters, that the cost of a school would increase to £2.30 from September 2017. The price at the till has not been increased in the Autumn term, but please be advised that the new charge of £2.30 per meal deal will take effect from 1st January 2018.

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Engaging minds. Nurturing success. Inspiring futures.

SCHOOL CLOSED FOR STAFF TRAINING ON TUESDAY 2 JANUARY 2018

Wednesday 3 January Spring Term begins

Tuesday 9 January Robotics day — selected pupils

Wednesday 10 January 4.15 pm—5.00 pm Informal Concert

Thursday 11 January 3.30 pm—5.30 pm Conscia Jazz — selected pupils

Tuesday 16 January Bedfordia cross country at Lincroft

Wednesday 17 January 7.00 pm Parents’ Forum

Thursday 18 January 6.00 pm Duke of Edinburgh Information Evening

Monday 22 January Year 6 SATs information evening

Thursday 25 January 4.30 pm—8.30 pm Year 6 Subject Teachers Parents’ Evening

Wednesday 31 January Robotics Day — selected pupils

Thursday 1 February 4.15 pm—5.00 pm Battle of the Bands

Wednesday 7 February 7.00 pm—9.00 pm Gym and Dance Show

Thursday 8 February 7.00 pm—9.00 pm Gym and Dance Show

HALF TERM — MONDAY 12 FEBRUARY — FRIDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2018

Thursday 22 February 4.30 pm—8.30 pm Year 7 Subject Teachers Parents’ Evening

Wednesday 28 February Evening The Bedfordshire Battle of the Bands

Wednesday 28 February Parents’ Forum

Thursday 1 March World Book Day

Monday 5 March —Friday 9 March

Mock SATs (2) Week

Friday 16 March Big Bang — Birmingham

Thursday 22 March 4.30 pm—8.30 pm Year 5 Subject teachers Parents’ Evening

Thursday 29 March Year 6 & 8 Reports sent home

Thursday 29 March—Thursday 5 April

Ski Trip to Andorra

Friday 30 March School Closed—Bank Holiday

EASTER HOLIDAY — FRIDAY 30 MARCH — FRIDAY 13 APRIL 2018

Monday 16 April Spring term begins

Thursday 19 April 4.30 pm—8.30 pm Year 8 Subject teachers Parents’ Evening

SPRING DIARY 2018