ECKINGTON SCHOOL a Specialist Engineering College

ECKINGTON SCHOOL – a specialist engineering college

Dear Parents/Carers
You will no doubt have read in the press about the problems we have been having on our site in the evenings and weekends; broken windows, significant graffiti and an assault to mention three. The local authority and the school are co-funding a security fence which should be in place by the beginning of August. The only pedestrian access will be via Dronfield Road – pupils must not use the vehicle entrance for safety reasons.

I would like to wish all our Y10s, Y11s, Y12s and Y13 students the very best of luck in the examinations.

CAREERS MATTERS Y11 STUDENTS:

By now all year 11 students should have made some decisions regarding their post 16 choices. If they have not already done so they should be putting in applications for some, or all, of the following: sixth form, college, training or apprenticeships. David Holloway and Marcus Degg, the school’s Connexions personal advisers, are currently working alongside Derbyshire Network to support pupils with the applications for training and apprenticeships. The local colleges have also started interviewing potential applicants and some of our pupils have already attended taster events at Chesterfield College during the half term break.

Any parent who is at all concerned about their child’s progress in this important decision-making process should contact the Connexions office at the school.

‘Books at Lunchtime’ is becoming more and more popular in the Information Centre on Tuesday lunchtimes. The students bring their packed lunch and listen to a story being read by the Information Centre staff. Sometimes they listen to a complete story, or a whole book is read in instalments. Books are suggested by the students themselves or recommended by the librarians. Interestingly the majority of listeners are boys. Do you read to your son? Age is no barrier, our audience ranges from year 7 to year 11! Comments made by the students on the record sheet vary from “brill”, “wicked”, “I like it” and “I can’t wait”.

Eckington School now has a Debating Society. This is held in the Information Centre on Thursday lunchtimes under the guidance of Mrs. Bailey from the Information Centre, Mr. Burton from Science and Ms. Empson from English. Year 10 students enjoy the challenge of debating subjects from ‘Homer Simpson is an ideal father’ to ‘text speak should be allowed in exams’. The students learn the etiquette of debating, methods of research, speech writing and presentation, invaluable skills both in school and for future careers.

A group of GCSE catering students at Eckington School have hosted their second restaurant evening. On Tuesday, 6th February, over 30 guests were invited to be wined and dined in the food technology restaurant. The year 10 students prepared, cooked and served an Italian bistro menu for a group of parents, teachers and governors.

All the students participated in the preparation and cooking of the food. The waitering roles were then divided up and each student had their own job to perform during service. Danny Waller managed the restaurant with the help of Jade Sill and Danielle Andrews.

All the students contributed to the evening’s menu which is shown below:

Mr. Middlemass, the headteacher at Eckington School attended the event and afterwards made the following comment:

“A superb evening which was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. The food was exceptional. Students and staff worked in harmony to create an event to the highest of standard. The year 10 students showed talent, commitment and hard work.”

The year 10 catering students have all sat their basic food hygiene examination. They have covered all aspects of hygiene including bacteria, the food law, hazards and cleaning materials. The students then sit an internal examination and all students received a certificate. Well done year 10 students.

Year 7 students watched a performance delivered by the Impact Theatre Group. The performance was focused on anti social behaviour. Students worked with the actors in workshops looking at ways to improve community links within Eckington, Killamarsh and the surrounding area. This was the first public performance of the play and Alan Charles, (Cabinet member for school planning and support) and other LEA officials were present. Year representatives to the Student Forum, Jacob Staniforth and Keziah Davis-Cottam (7SR) along with 7PJ’s representatives Ashley Roberts, Curtis Button and Rebecca Whitaker were photographed by the local press with the dignitaries. The visitors commented on the pleasant attitude and positive response of all year 7 pupils.

Year 7 students experienced a talk and video from the fire service pointing out the seriousness of hoax calls, the cost of lives, reasons why people make these calls and how children can be prosecuted from the age of 10 years old for this type of offence. A further video was shown on the consequences it can have on the lives and future of people convicted of crimes. This was an informative experience and one we hope the children will take on board.

The following Year 7 students have achieved 100% attendance in their time at Eckington School this academic year. We are very proud of these students and congratulate them for this accomplishment.
Tiffany Cutter 7DG, Alice Bell 7JR, Bethany Cross 7JR, Niall Ward 7MB, Curtis Button 7PJ, Tillie Hession 7PJ, Amy Potts 7PJ, Samuel Vessey 7PJ, Rebecca Gilberts 7RB, Gregory Roberts 7RB, Thomas Westnidge 7RB, Christopher Greaves 7SR

Year 7 students were treated to a science extravaganza from Dr. Biddel showing the fun, magical side of science experiments. This experience was to show students that science can have an entertaining side as well as a serious side.

We are proud to announce that the students listed below are already on gold or above on the credit pathway system operated within school as an incentive to students for good class work, homework, behaviour, thoughtfulness, manners or any reasons teachers feel deserve praise.

Elle French 7PS, Charlotte Laycock, 7PS, Kristian Braka 7PS, Harry Webster 7RB, Joyce Li 7PJ, Lauren Steedon 7PJ, Sheridan May 7WT, Lewis Rooms 7WT, Lauren Buckley 7LW.

As part of the work of the school council. The forum are in the process of organising a Freshers’ Ball. The ball will be for our Year 7 students and the youngsters currently in Year 6 at our feeder primary schools. The event will form part of the Year 6 to Year 7 transition activities and we hope both Year 6 and Year 7 students attend. The Freshers’ Ball will take place on the evening of Thursday, 28th June at Eckington School during the Year 6 taster week. Members of The Forum have written to our feeder primary schools, booked a disco, ordered refreshments and arranged supervision of the event by Year 10 and Year 12 students – alongside staff of course!

We are very excited to be hosting this event which has been planned by students, will be hosted by students and attended by students! We are waiting for the call from Hello magazine!

Congratulations to Tom Pearson, Jean-lac Chavaudra, John Blacklock, Luke Ford and Adam Chapman who are the five members of a Year 8 band called ‘S Chambered Heart’ who won battle of the bands in Eckington School last week. They play some of their own work and covers of a number of modern classics. Good luck to the lads who are now busy producing a demon C.D. so they can compete in a national battle of the bands competition.

YEAR 8 WOODLANDS SURVIVAL COURSE:

In March a group of 12 year 8 boys attended a woodland survival course. The one day residential was very successful in making the pupils more aware of their environment and helping to develop inter-personal skills.

The pupils learnt how to friction fire light, build shelters, make ski-ing from woodland materials, identify edible foods from the forest and cook them.

All pupils greatly enjoyed the experience and look forward to working again with the Aim Higher team. Thanks to all involved.

ON-LINE READING LIST:

The Information Centre has registered Eckington School with the ‘Love Reading’ website. To access this site, type the link below into your P.C., don’t forget to save it as a favourite!

http://www.lovereading4schools.co.uk/viewschool/1273/favourite

Once you have set up your own log in, you will be able to read the list that we have created for your youngster, search the site for other books and even order them on line. School will get 5% of the cost to spend on new books for the library.

We hope your family will enjoy browsing the site – there’s a section for adults too!

DEBATING SOCIETY:

The Information Centre has registered Eckington School’s Debating Society with ‘HeadsUp’. This is an online debating forum where our students are able to discuss issues that are going through Parliament as they happen.

· The site is run by the Hansard Society and provides the opportunity for our students to give their views on political issues.

· Every debate is supported by background information, quizzes, online polls and can be used inside or outside of school.

· Politicians also take part, adding their input on the discussion. When the discussion is closed, the results of all the discussions are passed onto the politicians, so our student voice is being heard!

· The ‘HeadOn’ section reports back from the parliamentarians.

· Type the link http://www.headsup.org.uk/content/default.asp into the P.C. and see for yourself what is happening.

· The current discussion is: It’s a family affair! – What is the place of family in society? This closes on 4th May 2007.

· The next discussion is: The environment – should we be going green? This runs from 11th June until 29th June 2007.

· If your son/daughter is interested in taking part, ask them to visit Mrs. Bailey in the Information Centre where they can create their own login.

ADMINISTERING MEDICINES:

It is our policy that before any medicines/tablets can be given to a student by a member of the school support team, the parent/carer must complete and return a consent from. This form is available at the pupil reception. No medicines will be administered until this consent form is completed and returned.

All medications must be in the original container as dispensed by your pharmacy, with your child’s name clearly visible. Please notify pupil reception immediately if there are any changes to the dosage, frequency of medication, or if the medication is to be stopped. All information on the consent form will be treated as confidential.