First Thursday - King Alfred`s Academy

March
2015
Dear Parents & Guardians
A
First Thursday
K I N G
A L F R E D ’ S
A C A D E M Y
fter half term, the few weeks until Easter are flying by.
Rehearsals for ‘Chess’, our annual production, are picking up
in terms of pace and intensity, and we are also looking
forward to the Key Stage 3 Celebration Evening in the last week of
term.
The Marbella Sports Tour and Boston/USA Ski trips were a huge
success and, as ever, our students behaved impeccably and rose to
the challenges that being abroad with independence brings. I would
like to thank Mr Mason and Mr Gayler, as well as the staff
accompanying them, for leading these trips during their half term.
They were full of praise for the students.
E
xams
Students in exam years should now be studying daily as a
matter of course. There are many very good websites which
suggest different revision techniques, and it is really
valuable to have discussions about which ones work; we are all
different in the way that we study, and simply copying out copious
notes may not, in fact, be helping. From meeting with Department
Heads regularly, it is clear that they are very willing to support with
extra revision and guidance, and are working
hard on providing resources to support
Inside this issue:
students. Please keep the daily discussion
going at home about what was revised at Anti-Bullying
3
school, what the plan for the week is, whether USA Trip report
4
the revision guides are lined up on a shelf or
5lying under the bed and how are they planning Department News
16
their revision for each subject. The exam board
specification on the website is a must in terms Sixth Form News
17
of planning. If your son/daughter doesn’t know
how to access it, please contact the subject
What's On
18teacher and ask, or get them to!
22
It is clear from talking to staff and students that
with such busy lives, we have ‘taken our eye
off the ball’ regarding some of the basic rules
that we have in place in order to keep the focus
of conversations on learning and opportunities.
Counsellor’s Corner
23
Dates for your Diary
24
(Continued on page 2)
This week, through tutor time, we have revisited all of the rules that students are very familiar
with relating to equipment, mobile phones, uniform and punctuality – just to name some of
the main ones. As of Monday morning, the usual rules apply! Please could you support your
son/daughter in ensuring that they are not going to fall foul of uniform checks and that they
remember to keep their phone switched off and in their bag if they bring one to school. As a
reminder, the offices will always pass messages on to any student if a parent needs to make
contact.
We are working hard on putting together all of the Year 8 Pathways options at the moment
and senior leadership will be finalising the details over the coming weeks. Thank you for all of
your input and valuable discussion on this, and the meetings to help our Year 8 students
make their decisions.
I do hope that many of you will be able to join us for ‘Chess’ and the KS3 Celebration
Evening as we begin to look forward to Spring and longer evenings. Soon after Easter we will
be looking forward to the Annual Sports’ Awards, but some more hard work to get on with
between now and then!
Jo Halliday
Headteacher
Page 2
Anti-bullying at KA’s
A
t King Alfred’s, we are continuing to
develop our work on providing students
with the tools to recognise and deal
effectively with bullying.
The school working group meets regularly to
discuss our action plan and to agree the next
steps for developing this important work. Our
current priority is to get an accurate picture of
young people’s perceptions about bullying within
our community and students will be completing a
detailed survey to help us with this. Please
contact the school office if you would like to see
a copy. We will be collating the findings and
sharing them as soon as is practicable.
Our tutorial and assembly programme is of vital
importance as we share messages about antibullying. Young people are kept informed about
the significance of reporting incidents and are
clear about the expectations that we have
around respecting one another in the real world
and online.
Recently, there has been a great deal of debate
in the media about the impact of anti-bullying
work in schools, with one speaker at the London
Festival of Education calling for this work to be
abandoned in favour of teaching young people
about ‘grit’ and resilience. At King Alfred’s, we
believe that both have their place. We want our
students to be informed about what bullying
behaviour is, to know how to deal with it and to
feel confident about reporting incidents to adults
who can help them.
Parents and carers should contact form tutors in
the first instance if there are any concerns or
issues that need to be raised. However, there
are also a number of useful websites providing
support and guidance:
www.bullying.co.uk is part of the ‘Family Lives’
charity and provides information for parents
about how to spot the signs of bullying, what to
do about it and how to deal with children who
engage in bullying behaviour.
‘Kidscape’ is another useful source of information
about bullying and the charity have produced a
helpful leaflet: ‘How to support your bullied child’.
This resource can be downloaded at
www.kidscape.org.uk/advice/advice-for-parentsand-carers/resources/
‘Childline‘ have a detailed section on their website
about bullying. Children and young people may
benefit from the information about building selfesteem and confidence. A short film clip can be
found at: www.childline.org.uk/Explore/Bullying/
Pages/Building-confidence-after-onlinebullying.aspx
The NSPCC website is also highly recommended,
and parents/carers may be particularly interested in
the section relating to online safety. The charity has
just released a new film, suitable for younger
students called ‘Share Aware’ and this can be
viewed at www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/
keeping-children-safe/share-aware/
Another section on the NSPCC site provides adults
with advice about the implications and potential
risks from social networks, specific apps or online
games: www.net-aware.org.uk/
We are always pleased to receive your feedback
about our work and a number of parents have
commented favourably on our work on preventing
and tackling cyberbullying. The most useful thing
that parents can do to keep their children safe in
the virtual world is to stay informed and keep lines
of communication open so that young people feel
that they can share worries. The most recent
government guidance was published last November
and can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/
uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/
file/375420/
Advice_for_Parents_on_Cyberbullying_131114.pdf
We also recommend the following websites to
parents:
www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers
www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/parentsguide/
www.vodafone.com/content/parents.html
www.kidsmart.org.uk/parents/
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/cyber_bullying/
Please contact me if you would like further
information or would like to discuss this work
further.
Jonathan Smith
Senior Deputy Headteacher,
Head of East Site
Page 3
USA Ski Trip
W
ith many of King Alfred’s school
trips or expeditions experiencing
SUN SEA or SAND it safe to say
the Boston Ski Trip had SNOW, SNOW and
more SNOW!
Our week consisted of five days skiing as
well as outlet shopping—and how could you
go to Boston without a trip to
‘Cheers’ (though staff were clearly more
excited than students)! .
Starting our ski experience at Loon, it was
the first time 17 out of the 30 students had
ever put on ski and it was clear to see the
same thought cross everyone’s faces —
“IT’S NOT AS EASY AS THEY MAKE IT
LOOK!”
But, by Day 3 and our first day skiing at
Canon everyone was “buzzin mate” (Laura
Fisher) .
By our final day skiing most students had
made it to the top of the mountain and skied
down blue if not black slopes.
The only thing left was outlet shopping and
our trip to Boston. With Converse,
Timberlands and Nike bought in vast
quantities, and dinner consumed we
headed home to mildly forecasted
7
degrees, a hash contrast to the -20 we had
become accustomed to!
Jessica Hardy
Page 4
Creative Arts & Design
Y
ear 10 Textiles
Year 10 Textiles have just started a
new project - ‘Natural Forms’. Here
are a couple of excellent examples
of inspiring initial pages using a wide range
of research from textiles, artists’ work,
quotes and links to other subjects and
drawings. A truly inspiring start to the topic!
Well done Chloe Lincoln and Phoebe
Howard.
M
usic visit to Fitzwaryn
School
I took music GCSE students
Maddie Goodfellow-Pound, Izzie
Dowling and Jess Newton-Burdett to
Fitzwaryn School for an afternoon singing
rehearsal with other WASPs schools at the
end of last term. They joined in for a group
performance of 'Wake Me Up' and then
Maddie and Izzie performed their GCSE
performance
pieces
to
the
other
schools. They were fantastic role models to
the
younger
students
and
their
performances were brilliant. Well done and
thank you to them!
Jennie Baxter
Page 5
Sock Creatures come to life
M
iss Doney's Textile Elective students
have been busy making Sock
Creatures. They are nearly there and
it will be exciting to see them completed with
excellent detail.
KS3 Creative Arts Change Team
M
iss Doney's KS3 Creative Arts Change Team have been liaising with Carters
Construction to come up with art work that will promote the exciting changes on
Centre Site. The students went over to visit the building site for the new four storey
block and were given a guided tour. We took lots of photos and
will soon be starting to turn them into exciting illustrations.
Watch this Space!
Page 6
“Too Much Punch For Judy” Workshop
H
ow amazing would it be to work with the actual playwright
of a play that you had been studying?
Well, the Year 10 Drama Students had the privilege of doing so.
Over the course of last term the students had been studying the
play ‘Too Much for Judy’ which is based on a true story about a
young lady drink driving which resulted in a car crash which killed
her sister Jo. Judy was banned from driving but 10 years’ later
went on to kill another person due to drink driving. The play aims
to raise awareness and explore the story behind the events.
The playwright Mark Wheeler has written many plays and
they have been performed worldwide, not only in schools
but by professional theatre companies, so having him
come in and run a three hour workshop with the students
was a dream come true.
Mark started the workshop with discussing the
background to writing the play, where his inspiration came
from and how the play developed over time. The students
responded and asked a range of questions. A warm-up
game then followed which showed the Year 10 students
to be very competitive, and it created a buzz and energy
within the room. The students then went on to explore a new scene from the play; Mark was
never happy with the original opening and consequently was always trying to write/find a new
way to open the play. The theme that the students explored was how physical theatre can be
used to create an effective opening to a play and to bring the words on a page to life. Students
performed these and Mark commented upon the standard of their work and the skills that they
demonstrated – he was impressed! The students then watched a clip of ‘the crash scene’
being performed and they discussed how effective it was. The rest of the workshop focused on
working on improvisation and how characters could be explored. It was an amazing workshop;
the students worked fantastically together and learnt a great deal.
“I feel more confident in drama and how to stand out in a
performance”
Sarah Jane Walton
“I found it inspirational in that you can achieve anything with
effort and perseverance”
Josh Roots
“Really enjoyed it and found it interesting to use different
techniques to explore the play”
Olivia Simpson
“Really good. I liked hearing about the detail and background to
the play”
Krysti Anderson
Page 7
Jewellery Elective
S
tudents on East have been
working with fimo to sculpt
and create individual pieces
of jewellery in elective time. We
have been really enjoying our
elective time on this.
I have taken part in school productions at King
Alfred’s since Year 7, and have loved being
involved every year. It was one of the aspects
of secondary school I was most looking
forward to after seeing ‘The Sound of Music’ in
Year 6. After being on stage for six shows, I
wanted to experience this year’s production
from a different perspective, and so applied to
be Assistant Director. When I was appointed to
this relatively new role (the Student Leadership
scheme was only introduced last year), I
couldn’t wait to get started on the musical,
‘Chess’. Since September, I have not only
helped to direct and choreograph chorus
numbers alongside the teachers, but have also
enjoyed learning the songs and music as well.
The Student Leadership scheme is particularly
beneficial for me as I am aiming to become a
qualified drama teacher after university, and
therefore I feel as though I could use this
experience to help in my future career.
C
atering
With Year 11 exams round
the corner, one of our Year
11 GCSE groups has been
off into town to learn about IT and
Health and Safety in the Catering
industry.
Many thanks to ‘Umani’ for having us
and thank you for the information
shared with our keen chefs .
Jessica Hardy
Catering
Ellie Godfrey Year 13
Page 8
Music
T
his month we are ‘all hands on deck’ for the final preparation of the Musical Production.
Below we have an article from Year 9 student, Lucy Evans, giving the inside scoop on
rehearsals! We hope you have all got your ticket orders in for the March 18th- 21st
performances, as we sell out every year.
Another opportunity not to be missed is the A level Performance recital, taking place this year
at St. Mary’s Church, Childrey on March 10th starting at 7pm. Refreshments will be served
and it promises to be a great evening showing the best that our A level students have to offer.
C
hess: The Inside Scoop
So the school musical (Chess) is coming up very soon, and in preparation for this we
have been having our extra Sunday rehearsals. To some, these would seem like hell;
going to school at 10am on a Sunday and having to sing for about 6 hours. But for us,
the people who put on the show, devote our time and energy to it and are very determined to
put on a good show, it’s just important extra time to refine our skills and learn more.
Considering the show is currently (as of this article being written) just over two weeks away,
we are getting very excited to show you what we have been working on since September. In
the two Sunday rehearsals that have already happened, we have learned lots of songs, and
run through a lot of the show with the extremely talented band.
This being my first show, it is even more exciting now that I can see the finish line in sight. The
chorus is extremely large, and the amount of younger students taking part is astounding. The
chorus is an enormous team of voices, blending together in total harmony. As Ellie so
eloquently put it: “It's a really great experience to be a part of; everyone involved shares the
same passion and determination towards the production!” Having spent so long learning many
layers of harmonies, having the addition of the band on Sundays is amazing. Songs sound so
much different with a band (especially with the addition of percussion).
Now, with two weeks to go, we are getting ready to see our set (complete with a lit up floor as
seen at the BRIT awards), get in costume and polish everything up for opening night. So, my
final words to everyone are that I cannot recommend coming to see ‘Chess’ highly enough,
and I hope you enjoy the show!
Lucy Evans 9W1
M
usic Opportunities
On Page 10 is a poster showing a fantastic opportunity to attend a charity concert by a local
musician – he is offering extra discounted tickets for KA’s students at the fantastic price of
just £2! A fantastic opportunity to carry on your Music education outside of the classroom.
It promises to be an evening of Jazz, Latin, Soul and Pop, original songs and arrangements, from
some of the UK's most exciting musicians. All proceeds go to ‘Mind’, a fantastic charity working for
better mental health in the UK.
Between them the band have played with Roots Manuva, Tony Allen, JUCE, Michael Jackson musical
'Thriller' and for the BBC show ‘Call the Midwife’. They've performed in Australia, the Middle East,
throughout Europe, at Glastonbury music festival and on ‘Later with Jools Holland’. Not to be missed!'
Tilly Shale
Head of Music
Page 9
Music for ‘Mind’
Page 10
Sports Section
Results Winter 2014 / 2015
Term 2 & 3
Team
Opposition
Date
Competition Type
Result
Won/Lost
John Mason
05/02/15
OSFA
3-0
Win
Wood Green
25/02/15
OSFA
5-0
Win
U13 Boys
Lord Williams
11/02/15
Friendly
1-7
Win
U14 Boys
Henry Box
24/02/15
OSFA
0-3
Lost
U115 Boys
Marlborough
25/02/15
OSFA
3-2
Win
U19 Boys
Cokethorpe
09/02/15
OSFA
3-2
Lost
Various
11/02/15
Cake Tournament @
Larkmead
Cheney
30/01/15
OSBA
30-24
Lost
St Helen & St Katharine
26/02/15
OSBA
32-12
Win
Win
Win
FOOTBALL
U12 Boys
NETBALL
U15
1st
BASKETBALL
U14 Boys
U14 Girls
U15 Boys
Henry Box
12/02/15
OSBA – Henry Box gave
20-0
us the game
U19 Girls
St Clare’s
04/02/15
OSBA
Various
10/02/15
Vale round of Centre
4th
Parcs Competition - Final
8-36
BADMINTON
K/S 4 Girls
Page 11
English
“
500 words” is BBC Radio 2’s short story writing competition. Students from our
Year 7 and 8 classes submitted entries. Their stories will now be nationally judged,
with the top 25 in their age category being invited to the live final in May.
Below are excerpts from some of our 500 words competition entries.
Lucy Gotham
Year: 31,572
“We, number 4, have waited a long time for
this.” A voice whispered, making number 4’s
slender figure jump. ”I thank you for your
patience, it will be rewarded today”. A
remote control fell to the ground with a soft
‘thump’. Number 4 picked it up and pressed
the button without a moment’s hesitation…
40,000 miles away an average girl with an
average name, scratched her head and saw
a pulsing light around the street corner. Her
instinct was to run but she kept walking; she
couldn’t stop. She reached out towards the
bright light. She touched it. She fell.
Maddie Wright (7W1)
I entered school with my head ducked; I’m a
loner, the outcast. Nobody wants me
because I’m not ‘perfect’, I have dull light
brown hair, intriguing hazel eyes and what
they say is a chubby body; but what they
don’t know is I am a fighter, inside and out. I
box outside of school; boxing is my life. I do
it as a way of letting myself free. In being a
boxer I actually have a really fit body.
I have always said since as long as I can
remember “never a victim, forever a fighter”.
I say this because all you ever see is people
in little groups bullying the younger ones in
school. I won’t stand up to them yet. They all
still see me as the weak little defenceless girl
who lost her best friend. Soon I will though.
Caitlin Elliott-Sopp (8W4)
I often wish for a blank canvas in life, where
past actions and wrongs are washed away.
To be able to draw the world with a simple
pencil, and then when something goes
wrong or is of no use any more it can be
rubbed out and drawn again. Those who
change the world weren’t happy with it and
still aren’t afterwards, so everyone in the
world could gather round this canvas and
draw it together, everyone happy with the
result. You know, every human is so
different yet I think we all want the same
thing: for ourselves and everyone else to be
content.
Emily Mair (8R1)
Page 12
Biology Residential Field Trip
B
efore half term, all A2 Biology students
embarked on a field trip in South
Pembrokeshire which consisted of fieldwork, data analysis and statistical testing.
Having arrived around lunchtime on the first day,
the afternoon was spent collecting data in the
surrounding woodland area including placing
quadrants, laying out transects and comparing
North and South facing sites.
After dinner we were back in the classroom
doing Chi-squared statistical tests on the data
we’d collected that afternoon.
On day 2 we went on an excursion to a rocky
beach (West Angle Bay) on which we carried out
self-planned investigations on trends such the
diameters of limpets, related to the height above
sea level. That evening we presented our
findings and medals were awarded for the best
presentation!
The
third
day
involved a visit to
the
beach
at
Freshwater Sands
(famous for hosting
the death of Dobby)
and
on
this
particular day it
appeared also to be
hosting the death of
a (common) seal
which piqued the
scientific interest of
many of us (and Dr
Skinner).
We
constructed
sand
sculptures to illustrate the process of succession
of sand dunes and from there went on to
investigate the succession in the dunes for
ourselves. Along the way we tracked the changes
in abiotic factors and measured the abundance of
various plant species. Our scientific and general
knowledge were both enriched as we discovered
the hidden delights of some of the native plant
species such as wild thyme and Salad Burnett that
surprisingly tastes of cucumber. The data was
later analysed using Spearman’s rank correlation
and more awards were distributed to those who
excelled in certain areas. The trip was nicely
rounded off that evening with a game of 40/40 and
sardines!
All in all we all learnt a lot and also had good fun!
Josephine Harrison
T
he British Biology Olympiad, organised by the Society of Biology, challenges and stimulates
students with an interest in Biology to expand and extend their talents. In offering a wider
syllabus than A-level, it allows students to demonstrate their knowledge and to be suitably
rewarded and publicly recognised by the award of certificates. Nine Biology students from Year 13
took part in the British Biology Olympiad this January. This involved sitting two one hour multiple
choice papers taken online.
Our congratulations go to Holly Vanags and Sophie Jeffreys
who have been Commended on their achievement and to Esme
Gardiner and Sophia Barnes who have achieved Bronze
awards.
Judith Skinner
Page 13
Careers
P
sychometric Testing
Morrisby is a Psychometric Testing Service
which identifies the careers most suited to your
personality, interests and abilities. Adviza are
running sessions throughout the year in Oxford, and if
there is a reasonable amount of interest from parents at
King Alfred's, we can run sessions at the Academy. The
assessment is suitable for students aged 15+ and costs
£99, although there is a bursary scheme available
through Adviza for those facing economic disadvantage
with an income lower than £26,000 (evidence of
household income may be requested).
Three weeks after the assessment candidates receive a
comprehensive feedback report delivered via a one to
one session; parents are welcome to attend .
For more details and to book contact 0845 408 5002, or
visit www. adviza.org.uk/shop or contact Sue Cronin on
scronin@kaacademy.org
To anyone who is unsure on what career they would like to pursue, or just needs the reassurance,
the Morrisby test feedback report is highly specific to you and will give clear indications and
suggestions on specific careers which would be suitable for you and your personality. It
was also very helpful in finding my individual strengths and weaknesses and can show where your
abilities lie, therefore giving you the guidance to reach your full potential. A three hour test may
seem like a waste of your time; however, it could be the advice that helped you find the
thing which you do for the rest of your life. Personally, I found the whole experience really enjoyable,
especially seeing how they judge my personality and ability through the answers I had given. Being
able to see where strengths and weaknesses lie in relationship to each other, was one of the most
helpful parts as it helped me see what, maybe, I needed to work on or what kind of career path I
would find most enjoyable.
Lizzy Deacon 11V3
Page 14
Maths
INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE
We are delighted to announce another good set of UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge results for
Year 9, 10 and 11.
GOLD CERTIFICATES:
Year 11:
Sam Farrington
Madeleine Ellliot
Ciara Watkins
Year 10:
Megan Blanshard
Harry Bowman
Daniel Stokell
Nathan Van Der Reit
Charlie Grimes
Alexander Thomson
SILVER CERTIFICATES:
Year 11:
Daisy Ffrench Davis
Ewan Grieve
Elliot Cheetham
Jack Sheppard
Adam Burridge
Jasmine Dhesi
Charles Harrison
Mark Kersley
Year 10:
Georgina Ottley
Lee Stone
Tiana Brady
Lauren Hall
Joseph Fowler
Year 9:
Noel Lawrence
Matthew Chambers
Lucy Evans
Oliver King
Hannah Hooker
Samuel Hendy
BRONZE CERTIFICATES:
Year 11:
Anna Willis
Jake Martin
Callum Cockburn
Luke Edwards
Lucy Hall
Jasmine Barrett
Alex Lund-Yates
Felix Clay
Anna Harris
Year 11:
Anna Willis
Jake Martin
Callum Cockburn
Luke Edwards
Lucy Hall
Jasmine Barrett
Alex Lund-Yates
Felix Clay
Anna Harris
Year 10:
Katie Sheath
Isaac Allen
Joshua Hastings
Clare St. George
Year 9:
Ruth Harris
Harry Snuggs
Connor Clark
Caitlin Warboys
Ewan Robertson
Connor Hall
Vicki Spits
Nicola Cheetham
Math Prime
James White
Very well done to all these students.
Also….
Sam Farrington, Madeleine Elliot, Ciara Watkins (Year 11) and Harry Bowman, Daniel Stokell,
Nathan Van Der Reit (Year 10) have qualified for the Intermediate Pink Kangaroo Competition,
which is a follow-on round to the Intermediate Maths Challenge.
Megan Blanshard (Year 10) has qualified for the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad Hamilton
Competition, which is a fantastic achievement [Megan scored an excellent 96 points on the Intermediate Maths Challenge].
WELL DONE!
Chris Boyle
Page 15
Ethics and Philosophy Exams
T
he OCR GCSE Religious Studies,
Applied Ethics and Philosophy (J621)
exams are fast approaching for the
majority of students in Years 10 and 11.
The two Ethics papers (B603 and B604) are
among the first of the summer exam
season on Monday 11th May, while the two
Philosophy papers (B601 and B602) take
place a month later, on Thursday, 11 th
June.
For Year 10 students, the Philosophy
course has been completed and Philosophy
lessons from March onwards will focus on
revision, starting with the Ethics units which
were taught in Year 9 (‘Religion, Peace and
Justice’ and ‘Religion and Equality’). Year
10 students will also complete their final
Ethics unit and have further revision
lessons on all the examined units over the
course of term 5. Year 11 students who
have been entered for the Ethics and
Philosophy exams will have the opportunity
to work on both their subject knowledge
and exam skills on Theme Day 5.
All students who are taking these exams will
be provided with revision booklets which have
been produced by the Ethics and Philosophy
department. Year 10 and 11 tutors are
actively involved in this revision process,
monitoring the use of these booklets and
providing opportunities for revision during
tutor time.
This is a fantastic chance for Year 11
students to add to their GCSE qualifications
and enhance their ability to qualify for the
most challenging A Level courses in Sixth
Form. For Year 10 students, this is a great
chance to experience the process of sitting
and gaining a GCSE before the main bulk of
exams in Year 11. We look forward to our
current Year 10 students beginning Year 11
having already met their target grade in a
subject.
Owen Sucksmith
Page 16
Sixth Form News
B
elated festive congratulations
SeeSaw is a local Oxfordshire charity that was set up in 2000 to help bereaved children
through the pain and grief of losing someone they love. Since then they have supported over
3500 children, often through one to one support from fully trained support workers. They also
work with children and parents to help prepare them for a death in the family by providing opportunities
to talk through what is happening and to create practical ways to preserve the memories of the person
who is dying. SeeSaw needs £300,000 every year to provide a countywide
service. 85% of their funds come from their own fundraising activities and
the support of individuals, local communities, businesses, schools and
charitable organisations. Every penny that is donated helps to support
children, young people and families.
It was for all of these reasons that we decided to support SeeSaw by
holding our first ever "Sixth Form Christmas Jumper Day". You can see our
worthy winner Josh Robertson - as voted for by the students. We were
delighted to recently send SeeSaw a cheque for £185.
M
eningitis Research
Oxford University's Oxford Vaccine Group visited King Alfred's at the beginning of March to
ask Sixth Form students to participate in a research study. The bacteria which cause one
form of meningitis are found in the throats of 5-10% of adults, and in 25% of older teenagers meningitis is rare but can be fatal, and 16-19 year olds are the highest risk group after the under 5s.
The research team are helping to assess the impact of a vaccination programme, and have asked
Sixth Formers to complete a short questionnaire and have their throats swabbed to test for the
bacteria. Researchers gave presentations to the whole Sixth Form, explaining the research study and
also outlining the symptoms of meningitis and the action students should take if they, their friends or
family members display them.
C
areers App Research
As part of our careers programme, we have been invited to test a new form of recruitment tool
which uses the context of a mobile phone-based game to generate a profile of certain
personality traits. The company Arctic Shores has developed the mobile game in collaboration
with Oxford University's Department of Experimental Psychology and it is a response to new thinking in
recruitment, namely the idea of a personality fit with a company being as important as academic
achievements. The game will shortly be launched by a major accountancy firm as part of their school
leaver recruitment campaign for this year and the company is looking for Sixth Form students to act as
testers before it goes live. The game takes 20-25 minutes to complete and all individual data is
confidential to the player, but will be used in aggregate to help provide comparisons. After completing
the game a short (10-15 minute) questionnaire is completed and those that complete both will get a
report on how they did, and what this means for their psychometric personality profile, as well as the
opportunity to enter a work experience competition the firm is offering. A week's work experience is
being offered in Arctic Shore's Manchester or London offices for two students (expenses paid) who will
be selected on the basis of the feedback they provide in the questionnaire at the end of the game.
A number of our students have found the Morrisby psychometric careers test to be an extremely
valuable tool in helping them to understand their strengths and where their future interests might lie.
This is available for a fee to all students (and is free to those from lower income families) and consists
of a three-and-a-half hour written assessment with feedback from a trained careers counsellor.
Students who are interested should speak to Mrs Dean. (See page 12 for more info).
Tim Lawrence
Page 17
What’s On
Page 18
Page 19
What’s On
Page 20
Performance
No. of
Adult
tickets
@£12.00
Cost of
Adult
tickets
No. of
school
student
tickets
@ £6.00
Cost of
School
Student
tickets
Total Cost
Wednesday 18th
March @7.00pm
Thursday 19th
March @7.00pm
Friday 20th March
@7.00pm
Saturday 21st
March Matinee
@1.30pm
Saturday 21st
March @ 7.00pm
Total Enclosed
For internal ticket applications
Name of Student …………………………………….……………Tutor Group …………
(Students will be asked to collect tickets from Centre Site Office when they have been issued)
Please make cheques payable to King Alfred’s Academy
For postal applications
Your name
………………………………………………………………………………….…...
Your address
………………………………………………………………………….
….…….
Please return this form with your payment to
Chess Box Office, King Alfred’s Academy, Centre Site, Portway, Wantage,
Oxon, OX12 9BY 01235 225700 (Ext. 2200)
boxofficeenquiries@kaacademy.org
Page 21
20
What’s On
Page 22
Counsellor’s Corner
U
nderstanding Anxiety
I meet with lots of young people who say that they’re suffering from ‘anxiety’, that
they’ve had panic attacks, that they can’t sleep, that they’ve been to the doctor and
that the doctor says they might be ‘depressed’. To begin with, I know nothing about
their relationships at home or what might have be going on in their lives. I do know, however,
that when young people say they’re ‘anxious’, they’re usually describing a conflict - often an
unconscious conflict - between how they feel and how they must behave, between wanting to
remain a child and having to grow up. ‘Anxious’ usually means having mixed feelings.
It’s worth thinking about a panic attack as an eruption of strong feelings, of feelings stored up
inside until they can’t be stored any longer and spill out in various inarticulate, physical ways.
Panic attacks say, “I’m feeling bad inside! You probably don’t know what I’m feeling bad
about, but I need you to realize that something’s up!”
Young people coming to see me about ‘anxiety’ often expect me to prescribe something. So I
could suggest breathing exercises, listening to calm music, thinking about happy things…. But
this is all common sense. Young people know this stuff. They’ve tried these things already
and nothing has changed because most young people have good reasons to feel anxious:
they’ve got exams to do and a lot’s expected of them; they’re trying to manage a whole stack
of things that are changing their lives; they’re dealing with friends and enemies and parents
and siblings and worrying about the future…. Their anxiety makes sense.
Because of all the things that are happening, lots of ‘anxious’ young people are
understandably angry young people. Sometimes they’re also scared young people:
understandably scared about what they can and can’t control. I sometimes ask, “I wonder
what you feel like saying to all people in your life?” and out come the feelings, the mixed
feelings: the anger, the fear, the longing.
When we’re anxious, the worst thing is being told that there’s something medically wrong with
us. In fact, we feel anxious because there’s something right with us!
Nick Luxmoore
Academy Counsellor
www.nickluxmoore.com
Page 23
More news ………….
Dates for your Diary
(more dates/details can be found on our website)
March 2015
2nd-6th
5th
12th
16th
18th-21st
23rd
24th
25th
26th
27th
WASPS Music Event
Year 11 Parents’ Evening
Year 10 Maths Challenge
Year 12/13 Parents’ Evening
Upper School Production “Chess”
Theme Day 5
Year 6 Welcome Team (Invitation only)
Celebration Evening
End of Term 4: buses at 1520
INSET—No students in College
April 2015
13th
20th
Start of Term 5
Year 7 Activities Trip Parents’ Evening
May 2015
1st—9th
4th
6th
Year 8 Watersports Trip
Bank Holiday
Theme Day 5
Trip Payments Due
March
13th
27th
Year 7 Activities
Year 9 Croatia
Year 10 Morocco
Year 9/10 Activities
Year 7 Barcelona
Year 8 Paris
Year 8 Watersports
Music Tour
Geography Extension Trip
Centre Site Portway Wantage Oxfordshire OX12 9BY
Telephone: 01235 225700
Email: enquiries@kaacademy.org
www.kaacademy.org