7th July, 2016
Dear Parent/Carer
Key Stage 4 News
The summer term has marked the end of a very busy and at times stressful year for Key Stage 4. Year 11 have finished their exams, which they undertook with an amazing degree of maturity and commitment. All of the exams ran smoothly and revision sessions went without a hitch due to the dedication of the year 11 teachers and the students themselves. We wish Y11 every success on results day.
Year 11 finished the year off in style at Baldwin’s Omega where we hosted the Y11 Leavers’ Prom. The students all looked stunning and their behaviour was impeccable. The management at Baldwin's and the photographers all commented on the mature attitude ofourstudents, a standard they have not experienced at a school prom before. The atmosphere at the event was fantastic and was enjoyed by all who attended.
A huge thank you to all Y10 pupils who volunteered to be ambassadors for our Y6 transition events. We had so many volunteers we had to shortlist, so well done to those who were chosen. These 32 pupils have already assisted at the Y6 transition evening and will continue supporting our new cohort at our transition days and then at the start of the next academic year.
Y7 News
This year's Y7s are finishing their first year at Silverdale with great enthusiasm and they are still looking forward to the final few activities. It has been a busy year with a lot to learn and many changes to cope with. Many students have been involved in sports, drama, danceand other activities andwe are very proud of their achievements.
Key Stage 3 News
Mr Kent& theKey Stage 3team would like to thank pupils, parents & teachers for a most productive & enjoyable year. Highlights have been excellent academic progress, a well embraced new pupil progress scheme & the active contributions of our pupils who have been elected Y8 & Y9 Lead Students. Our pupils deserve special congratulations for combining this with their extraordinary extra-curricular contributions, which help make Silverdale such a great place to learn.
Sporting Achievements
It’s been a fantastic year of sporting achievement at school this year.
Our Y8 boys’ football team were crowned Premier League champions and in doing so,became the first Silverdale football team to win thetop league in Sheffieldin over 5 years. Our Y8Rugby team were also crowned City champions for the second yearrunning, with the Y10 and Y11 team also performing admirably as they finished second in their league.Our KS3 and KS4 table tennis teams were both crowned South Yorkshire champions, and were only narrowly defeated in the regional rounds that followed.
On the Athletics front, 4 out of our 6 teams have qualified for the Track and Field League Finals at Woodbourne Road and 11 of our best individual performers competedfor city selection at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster recently. Joel Vernon achieved the outstanding title of South Yorkshire champion in the 100m, with Ed Dawson, Milly Fox, Emily Heap, Rebecca Atkins, Ana Garcia, Cameron Cass, Lily Fletcher and Eleanor Hall also performingnotablyon the day.
Congratulations must go to the achievements of our basketball teams, with Silverdale dominating the Sheffield Schools leagues once again. Our Y7, Y8 and Y9 teams finished as runners up in the city and the Y11 team were crowned Sheffield champions for the fourth year running. This same Y11 team also performed exceptionallyin theNational Cup, earning the right to call themselves one of the top 4 teams in thecountry as they reached the semi-final stage.Our Y12 team also performed exceptionally well on a national level as they reached the quarter final stage of the National Cup, a feat they have now managed to achieve forthe secondyear running.
A final mention must go to Millie Haffety who continues to establish herself as one of the elite divers in the country, and I know I speak for us all at Silverdale when we wish her all the best in her quest to be selected for Team GB!
Bright Ideas Challenge
As part of their Geography curriculum students in Year 8 study and research renewable energy. This year they were given the opportunity to take part in Shell’s Bright Ideas Challenge, which involved designing an energy solution for our future demands in energy, with an ever increasing population.
Six Silverdale groups were entered into the competition and the Futuristic Design group was successfully selected as Yorkshire and Humber winners; one of 12 regional winners. As regional winners Silverdale has received £1500 towards STEM teaching and each student in the winning team has been awarded a tablet.
Students travelled to “Make the Future London” Festival on 1st July where regional winners competed to win the national title. Although not crowned national winners, students and teachers are very proud of the group’s achievement in reaching this prestigious final.
Y10 GRIT Days
This year we have trialled a new method of delivering our statutory RE and PSHE provision to all Y10s. We have done this through five off-timetable GRIT days which have aimed to develop the kind of skills which students will need in later life and the kind of experiences which can have an impact in the way the normal curriculum cannot. The days have covered the world of work, the refugee crisis, wellbeing, media analysis and a university experience. The Y10s have really enjoyed this new approach and all the external providers have commented on the maturity and insight shown by Silverdale students. We hope to build on this success in future years.
Art Dept News
This year has been a fantastic year in the department regarding students’ work. Both at GCSE and A-Level our students produced wonderful work for our exhibition and we would like to thank all of our students for the sheer hard work and effort involved in producing this work. The end of year exhibition is a testament to this.
We have also had highly successful work at KS3 including the ‘Typography Project’, which was a new scheme of work. The outcomes have been fantastic. The elephant our students fundraised for and decorated as part of the ‘Little Herd’ project to continue the excellent work done at Sheffield Children’s Hospital is currently on display in The Crucible, which looks fantastic. After his public debut, this sculpture will wing its way back to us for permanent display.
Staff changes
There are a number of staff who will be leaving Silverdale at the end of the academic year and new staff will join us in September. On behalf of the whole school community we would like to thank the staff who are leaving for all their hard work at Silverdale, we wish them all the very best in their future careers or retirement.
Permanent Teaching Staff who are leaving are:
Ben Arscott – Head of RE & Philosophy
Joe Birkbeck – Assistant Headteacher & Teacher of History
Amanda Childs – Teacher of Science
Natasha Ellison – Teacher of Maths
Kate Hemingway – Teacher of Maths
Vicky Howard – Teacher of History
Christina Parkin – Teacher of German
Sarah Rockliff – Lead Practitioner TSA & Teacher of Business
Kate Wardman – Key Stage Leader & Teacher of RE/PSHE
Permanent Support Staff who are leaving are:
Anita Chapman – Receptionist
Helen Kahler – Office Manager
School Expansion
As part of the Sheffield City Wide Strategy for School Places, Silverdale School agreed to expand it’s entry numbers for the Y7 intake in September 2016-17 from 180 to 240 students. We would like to warmly welcome these students and their families to the Silverdale Community.
As a result Silverdale has been granted an exciting new extension (subject to planning permission) to our current building which will provide us with 20 additional classrooms, in which will be housed our English and Modern Foreign Languages classrooms, a larger Learning Resource Centre, a larger Sixth Form study and social space, extended dining space, as well as conference facilities. Building work will commence in January/February 2017 and the new extension will be open in Spring 2018. In addition, the current building will be remodelled giving us four new Science laboratories and extended PE facilities. All refurbishment and building work will be completed for an official opening in September 2018.
Change in School Hours
Due to the extensive building work on the above 25% of the school grounds will be out of use until at least March 2018. In order to ensure the Health and Safety of our students during this time we have taken the decision to reduce the lunchtime by 10 minutes. We have therefore, altered the timings of the school day to accommodate this with an end time of 3.15pm.(Please see new timings below).
Registration / 9.00 am to / 9.15 amPeriod 1 / 9.15 am to / 10.15 am
Period 2 / 10.15 am to / 11.15 am
Break / 11.15 am to / 11.35 am
Period 3 / 11.35 am to / 12.35 pm
Lunch / 12.35 pm to / 1.15 pm
Period 4 / 1.15 pm to / 2.15 pm
Period 5 / 2.15 pm to / 3.15 pm
Please note students are still welcome into school from 8am where the dining room will be made available for their use. I thank you for your support in anticipation of these necessary changes.
During the academic year September 2017-18 a full consultation will be carried out with staff, students and parents/carers to decide the permanent timings of the school day for September 2018 onwards.
Silverdale Multi Academy Trust
As of the 1st May, 2016 Silverdale School became the founding member of Silverdale Multi Academy Trust. In effect this means that we are now in a position to welcome other schools from the Primary, Secondary and Special sectors, into our Trust to build more formal partnerships with them. The benefits of being a Multi Academy Trust are many; shared ethos, values and vision, financial economics of scale, joint world class continuing professional development from our Teaching School Alliance, shared planning and resourcing of curriculum, sharing expertise across schools and so much more.
Silverdale Multi Academy Trust has it’s own Governance Structure consisting of 5 Members who appoint a Board of Directors who Govern the Multi Academy Trust. For further details of this structure please refer to our website.
Silverdale School will retain it’s own Local Governing Body so in effect very little will change in the way of Governance for Silverdale School.
Silverdale as a Teaching School
As an Outstanding School we were recognised in 2012 as a Teaching School and formed the Sheffield Teaching School Alliance providinginitial Teacher Training, Continuous Professional Development and school to school support across and beyond Sheffield. We have built up a formidable reputation as one of the country’s largest and most successful teaching schools, now training 100 student teachers in September 2016-17, from an initial starting point of seven trainees.
This year there are more exciting developments to add to our portfolio. We are currently working with the DfE to establish the country’s first ever Modern Foreign Language Specialist SCITT (School Centred Initial Teacher Training) at Silverdale School. As an accredited body for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), this two year fully funded pilot could become a national approach to Initial Teacher Education.
We have also been successful in our bid to work with London Challenge Partners and Hounslow Language Service as providers of teacher training to experienced teachers in English as an Additional Language (EAL). This too has brought funding to support us to continue to develop our excellent practice and to share our expertise with other schools.
In addition, in September 2016 we will become providers of Physics Subject Specialism training; training Science teachers to become more confident in the teaching of Physics up to GCSE.
If you would like any more information about any of the above or would consider training to be a teacher please contact Gaynor Jones, Director of the Sheffield Teaching School Alliance on
Uniform
The tightening up of uniform this year has been very successful. Please can you continue to support the school by ensuring your son/daughter arrives in school every day with the correct uniform (available on the school website).
In particular students should not be wearing any clothing which is not school uniform on school grounds. The following items are not permitted:
- Denim
- Tight trousers
- Skirts that are above the top of the knee
- Jersey Cardigans/hoodies which are not uniform
- Studs
- Tracksuit bottoms
- Leggings/Jeggings
- ‘Tube’ skirts
Parents are reminded that uniform should be purchased direct from the suppliers, The Stitch Factory. This can be done online. There is a link from the School website and MLE to or an order form can be collected from reception at school. Delivery can be to home or school, orders collected on Friday should be delivered on Friday the following week.
Lockers
Lockers will be available as now on a daily basis from September. Priority will be given to Y7 pupils. A £1 coin is necessary to rent a locker for a day.
Y7 Electronic Planners
In September 2016 Silverdale is introducing an online homework planner called ‘Milk’ to all Year 7 students.
Available online or as a phone app (available for all phone platforms), the system is designed to replace traditional paper planners so information regarding homework set, resources needed for it, messages sent directly from teachers and information regarding assessment and behaviour can all be accessed in one easy to navigate place.
With the system, teachers can send homework directly to students who can access it directly on their computers or smart phone. The teacher can include details of what is required, due dates and a whole variety of resources to help your child complete the work. Whilst helping the environment by saving unnecessary photocopying, this allows for your child to be more organised and elevates any issues of writing down homework themselves, including writing down descriptions in enough detail or losing worksheets. As soon as the homework is set, a notification will be sent to your child’s smart phone and onto the desktop edition available online which will be available from our schools website. Additionally, parents are provided with their own login so you too can keep a check on what homework your child is being set, as well as information about whether they’ve missed deadlines or have been given an extension. This allows you, as a parent, to really get involved with the work your child is being set at home and the dates it is due.
Teachers can also send messages directly to students which you, as parents and carers, will also be able to view. These could include information on trips, extra curricular activities or if your child has been set a detention, allowing you to keep in the loop and keep informed.
The system has a personalised dashboard for your child which shows attendance, assessment tracks and positive and negative behaviour points, once again giving you access to your child’s school life in a clear and concise way. It also provides both you and your child with their timetable, though a printed copy will also be made available to them when they start in September.
The app is completely free to download and you and your child will be provided with login details for both the app and the online version. Your child does not need a smart phone to get the benefit out of this new system. More information is available for you at
Arrangements for the End of Term
School will close for the summer holidays on Friday 15th July. Lunch will be provided at 12.20pm. Students will be registered at 1pm and dismissed thereafter.
Arrangements for the Beginning of the Year
Silverdale School will be open to Y7 and Y12 students only on Monday 5th September 2016. Please arrive at school for a 9am start.
On Tuesday 6th September 2016 all students will be welcomed back in a phased approach:
9.00 – 9.30 am / Assembly in Hall for Y89.35 – 10.05am / Assembly in the Hall for Y9
Y8 with Form Tutors
10.10 – 10.40 am / Assembly in the Hall for Y10
Y8 & Y9 with Form Tutors
10.45 – 11.10 am / Assembly in the Hall for Y11
Y8, Y9 & Y10 with Form Tutors
11.15 – 11.35 am / Break
11.35 – 12.35 pm / All Forms with Form Tutors
12.35 – 1.15pm / Lunch
1.15pm (P4) & 2.15pm (P5) / Normal Timetable
Y13 – 9.00am / Y13 Assembly
Finally
Thank you to all parents/carers for your support throughout another very busy year. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe and happy summer.
Yours sincerely
Roisin Paul
Headteacher
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