Duke of EdinburghSchool of The Year

Sporting Champions

Winter 2016

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INSIDENEWS

Christmas Bauble EventREPRESENTATIVES from Student Council gathered in the Learning Centre for the annual Christmas Bauble event.

Mr Lamoury welcomed the students before the guest of honour, school governor Mr McConnachie, switched the tree lights on.

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Principal: Mr YarwoodTHIS time of year is always very special at Hodgson Academy as we approach Christmas. It also will be a special time for me after completing my first term as the Principal of this superb academy. I want to take this opportunity to thank the staff, parents and students for your support throughout the term. It has been a pleasure to see the staff and

students respond to the challenges, changes and demands that have been asked of them during the autumn term.

It has also been a term with many highlights, some of which you will read about in this edition of “Hodgson Highlight”. My new Strategic Leadership Team also deserve a special mention, especially with four of the team being in brand new roles this term.

Mr Nicholson has been a great source of advice and challenge, Mr Siddall, Mr Lamoury, Miss Hetherington, Miss Aionesei and Mrs Bristow have taken up their roles with great purpose and real drive. Mr Pickles, who I have known since our teenage years, continues to be an outstanding Business Manager as well the SLT person who can bring the “non teacher slant” to our strategic planning.

The staff and students have worked really hard this term and the atmosphere around the academy is a pleasure to be part of. This term started a week earlier than normal in August so I am sure everyone is looking forward to the holiday.

I hope you all have a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year. I look forward to seeing all the boys and girls refreshed, determined, healthy and positive on January 9th 2017.

Merry Xmas Mr Y

HODGSON WINS SECONDARY SCHOOL OF THE YEAR AWARDHODGSON Academy enjoyed a successful and rewarding evening at the Blackpool Evening Gazette Education awards where we were crowned secondary school of the year once again. This award acknowledges the high level of academic achievement at the academy plus the charity work and the huge participation in The Duke of Edinburgh scheme. The awards were sponsored by BAE Systems and Blackpool and Fylde College.

Our Boys and Girls Under 14 County Badminton Champions also received the Sports Achievement award which was sponsored by Blackpool Sixth Form. The team are Wyre and Fylde Champions and are now competing at a regional level and are regional champions. There were six other highly commended awards in varying categories before the evening was capped off with Hodgson once again being awarded the Secondary School of the Year.

Congratulations to all students, staff, parents, governors and other stakeholders in recognition of these wonderful achievements.

MEET OUR SENIOR TEAM…

Miss Aionesei Assistant Principal

Miss Hetherington Senior Assistant Principal

Mr LamourySenior Senior Assistant Principal

Mr Nicholson Executive Principal

Mr Pickles Business Manager

Mr Siddall Deputy Principal (acting)

Mrs Bristow Assistant Principal

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MR Yarwood was appointed at Hodgson by Head teacher John Bowers in 1985 as a newly qualified physics teacher. He quickly established a strong reputation as a teacher through excellent physics results and his prowess as a football and cricket coach. During the early 1990’s Mr Yarwood was appointed as Head of Year 11, he remained as a head of year for 11 years where he consistently showed his competitive side as well as the inspirational and

positive leadership we still see to this day. He also had many successes in the sporting world which included being the manager of the Blackpool schools district football team for 12 years (1994 – 2006) winning 35 trophies!

Colin Simkins, the Head teacher at the time, promoted Mr Yarwood to the role of Director of KS4 Student Progress in 2003, this coincided with the surge of the school to the top of the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Examination League tables where Hodgson has remained to this day. Colin was instrumental not only in transforming the exam performance of Hodgson but also Mr Yarwood’s career. In 2005 Mr Yarwood spent a year on secondment to the SLT which gave him the experience and appetite to work permanently at that level.

In September of 2006, Mr Yarwood relinquished his role as manager of Blackpool schoolboys to become Assistant Manger of the Lancashire Schools U-16 Football team. Here he worked with many schoolboys who have gone on to become professional footballers.

Mr Yarwood also spent many of the school holidays as deputy leader to many Hodgson overseas trips to places like Paris, The Rhine, Strasbourg, New York, Barcelona and Cologne. He has always encouraged new staff to get involved in both sport and extra-curricular activities like school visits. It is one of the reasons he has remained so positive and energised for the 32 years at Hodgson. I am sure many of these memories will be in the book he keeps telling us will be released when he retires, yes it’s called “Yarwoodn’t Believe It”.

Mr Yarwood was appointed permanently to SLT in May 2009 with a focus on whole school progress and results. During this role he delivered lectures, presentations and seminars at many SSAT events around the country, sharing our successes and helping other schools with strategies for improvement. As a result of his success in this role he was appointed as Deputy Principal in May 2013 with responsibility for whole school standards in progress, behaviour and overall achievement. This date also coincided with his last match as Lancashire Schools football manager, a win in the English Schools Trophy National Final, thus satisfying a lifelong dream to be the champions of England. It was also the 100th trophy that Mr Yarwood has won in total, what a way to finish a long career in sport!

His role as Deputy Principal of Hodgson Academy is recent and well known. The 3 years in the role gave him the platform to take up the Acting Principal role at the end of August this year. He is determined that Hodgson continues to improve and always aims for the highest possible standards and outcomes from the staff and the students.

Hodgson has been and will continue to be a massive part of Mr Yarwood’s life.

Thank you.

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Highlights from Mr Yarwood’s journey from NQT to Principal

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An Act of KindnessTHIS is Alex Forster. On Wednesday the 28th September she had 18 inches of hair cut off for the Little Princess Trust charity. This charity provides real hair to girls and boys who have lost their hair through cancer treatment. This is the second time Alex has donated her hair to this group. The first time she was in Year 7 and she has been growing it since to donate again.

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HODGSON SCIENTISTS ON the 5th October a group of 15 intrepid scientists went to see Professor Brian Cox on tour at Preston Guild Hall. He delivered a brilliant lecture on the origins of the universe and our ideas about the Big Bang. He talked about red shift and theories about what happened before the Big Bang. We were blown away by the mind boggling ideas.

On the 15th November a small group of 4 students went to Blackpool Sixth Form College to hear Professor Lord Robert Winston. He was there to celebrate the college having received a major award for its science, technology, engineering

and maths provision Winston was the presenter of many BBC television series, including Your Life in Their Hands, Making Babies, Superhuman, The Secret Life of Twins, Child of Our Time, Human Instinct, The Human Mind, Frontiers of Medicine and the BAFTA award-winner The Human Body. As a traditional Jew with an orthodox background, he also presented The Story of God, exploring the development of religious beliefs and the status of faith in a scientific age. He presented the BBC documentary “Walking with Cavemen”, a major BBC series.

Religious Education Year 7 ChurchesIT is that time of year again when students enlist the help of parents, grandparents and siblings to help fulfil the herculean task of ‘building a church’. Every year the standard and commitment to this task amazes us, with this year being no exception. It is fantastic to learn how students create their masterpieces and how the project brings delight to the whole family (honestly). By building their own church students demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Christian worship and symbolism. Visit and view a sample of our Year 7 churches in the LRC. Although some churches were just too yummy to put out on display! (Thank you Ella and Leah Haywood & mum).

We are very impressed with Oliver Clarke’s church; it includes some fantastic features and decoration. Well Done Oliver (and parents!).

WHO would have thought 8 years ago, that a simple question to students about what extra activities they thought Hodgson should offer would lead to this?

So many replies came in asking why we did not offer the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. So, that was it. We looked into what was needed to be able to start the scheme and off I went to get trained up. I had no idea how much this would entail and just how much it would change my life.

I met the trainers and the other people on my course to find out that they were all intrepid outward bound types who could read a map quicker and better than I could even unfold one! Several very wet, cold and even snowy weekends later, I too could read a map. I still remember how proud I was the first time I knew where I was on a map and how to get to the next checkpoint – I hope every student who trains with us today gets to feel that same sense of achievement.

After training, we started up with just 10 students taking part in the Award Scheme at Bronze level and we are now up to 120 Bronze this year, with 28 Silver places and a team of Gold students. Over half of the staff take part in supporting students with sections of their award and many staff have now completed their own training as leaders or assessors.

We have taken hundreds of children through Bronze with well over 100 through Silver and I get to take more through their Gold Award every year. It is a huge achievement for each young person, they have to plan their own activities and push themselves so hard on physical challenges.

I hope that the Award Scheme is as life changing for others as it has been for me. I am now a confident map reader and have taken part in a 100km challenge walk with Mr Stubbins, triathlons for Marie Curie, half-marathons for Trinity Hospice and who knows

where the Award Scheme will lead me next.My visit to Westminster Abbey was a

great honour for me. I never dreamed it was an opportunity I would receive. To see the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh was amazing and it would never have been possible if the Academy had not been so engaged in the Award. It was brilliant to be there with so many inspirational leaders and participants and know that we had been recognised for the hard work of all our students and staff.

The Award Scheme was originally put forward on the grounds that every one of us is stronger, braver, more able and more compassionate than we think we are – we just need an opportunity to see it. I think it is this idea that keeps Hodgson Academy driving forward with the Duke of Edinburgh Award and inspires so many staff and students to take part.

HODGSON’S JOURNEY TO DUKE OF EDINBURGH EXCELLENCE

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SPORT REPORT (SSCO L.BRUNSKILL)

The PE department continue to thrive after the huge investment in our facilities over the last 4 years. Many extra-curricular clubs, house competitions and out of school competition against other schools ensures a wide variety of sporting opportunities are available for our students. Our successes in competition can now be seen displayed in the beautiful trophy cabinet in the department which is a fitting tribute to James Doherty.

The year 7,8,9,10 and 11 netball leagues have all been taking place since September. Year 11 have represented Hodgson Academy for the last time and all achieved their colours. Year 8 had a successful competition winning most of their matches and year 7, 9 and 10 are currently taking part in their respective competitions. Congratulations must go to Ellie Pearson and Libby Buck in year 9 who have been selected for the U14 Lancashire squad.

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HOCKEY: The hockey academy has been running since September and was enthusiastically attended by a cross-section of our students from all year groups and boys and girls. Having the new astro-turf last year has benefitted our students tremendously and the standard of play has improved dramatically. The year 7’s played in their first tournament hosted by Hodgson Academy winning 2 of their matches and holding a draw against Millfield. It is pleasing to see so many students now attending training at Stanley Park. Thanks must go to Toby Jefferies for coaching students in goal keeping and congratulations to him for now being selected to play at a high level for Blackpool.

BADMINTON:It is with great pride that the U14 badminton squad from last year have been voted ‘Team of the Year’ by the Blackpool Evening Gazette receiving their award at the Tower Ballroom. Well done to all concerned and to Mr Egan for coaching the team. The journey in the Lancashire Cup has just begun and we wish all the teams success. Badminton continues to be very popular with clubs running every lunchtime and after school for both boys and girls.

HANDBALL:Handball continues to be a popular new sport at Hodgson Academy and students have been playing in the Wyre and Fylde League at Carr Hill. The year 10 and 7 teams so far remain unbeaten and year 8 attended training in large numbers.

FOOTBALL:The year 7 team have recently been crowned Wyre and Fylde Champions winning the league in an impressive final seeing them beat Lytham 5-0. They have had no goals scored against them throughout the competition and now go on to play in the National Competition. The year 7 and 8 girls have enjoyed equal success winning the Wyre and Fylde Tournament at the new ground at Pool Foot. Well done to them! Year 10 are through to the 5th round of the National Cup and continue to play with passion and pride.

SPORTS LEADERSHIP:The year 9 and 10 sports leaders officiated at the Primary Wyre and Fylde Indoor Athletics Championships. They did an excellent job and the staff and organisers were delighted with their enthusiasm and efficiency. They have been asked to officiate at the final of all primary schools in January and the winner will go on to the Lancashire Youth Games.

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Wyre And Fylde Charity Dance FestivalThe eighth Charity Dance show was held at the Opera House, Winter Gardens, Blackpool in partnership with the Hilton Hotel. The theme of the show was ‘Carnival of Dance’ and 27 Primary and Secondary schools took part from across Wyre and Fylde. The dances depicted a wide range of ideas based on the summer Olympics which were held in Rio De Janeiro this summer and the South American culture of carnival and Samba dancing. Mrs Brunskill directed and hosted the show in front of an audience of 1800 people and 56 students from Hodgson Academy took part alongside a total of 700 school children. Thanks must go to Aime Perry and our very own Laura Wade for choreographing the dance in dance club every Monday night since September. Well done to all the students who took part and this resulted in a staggering £9500 being raised on the night, which brings the total to over £70 000 in the last eight years. This has been used to fund local charities in the Wyre, Fylde and Blackpool area.

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MathsCLUBMR Moyle is running the new maths club this year. Students can attend on Friday’s at lunch time in M4. Students have a range of maths problems and games to enjoy like; chess, draughts, logic puzzles, physical maths problems, maths puzzles and help with their homework if they need it.

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ALICE IN WONDERLAND ON ICE……THIS year Alice in Wonderland will be performed on ice

at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Arena from the 11th to

the 27th of December.

BTEC HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE VISIT C.A.R.E IN ACTION BY FREYA SEVILLE 9M

THE year 9 Health and Social Care group visited Alexandra Nursing Home Dementia Unit as part of their course work. The focus was to implement the Care Values in action in a social care setting. We were welcomed by the staff and residents and spent an hour and a half talking to both. The residents were delighted to see young people from Hodgson Academy and many spent time talking about the past and their life experiences. The students helped make Christmas cards with the residents and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

FORMER Hodgson student Lauren Riley inspired the Class of 2016 students at their GCSE Presentation Evening on Thursday 17th of November.

Lauren talked about her journey from Hodgson to becoming Chief Executive Officer for her LinkApp company.

Lauren showed you need hard work combined with resilience, ambition and belief if you want to fulfil your dreams and goals.

We would all like to thank Lauren for her inspirational speech and for presenting the students with their prizes and their GCSE certificates.

LAUREN RILEY

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PETERPANOn January 27th and 28th 2017 a number of Hodgson students will be taking to the Grand Theatre stage in Peter Pan with Blackpool and Fylde Children’s Pantomime (BFCP). The cast this year comprises of almost 140 children between the ages of 4 and 18 who have been working extremely hard in rehearsals each week. BFCP is a volunteer-led, non-profit company who won the North West NODA for Best Pantomime with their last production of Cinderella.

We are extremely proud of the talented Hodgson students who are involved with the Pantomime this year.

Tickets are now on sale via the Grand Theatre. The cast would greatly appreciate any support. See you in Neverland!

Y E A R S E V E N

WINNERSCONGRATULATIONS to our Year 7 Football Team who have been crowned Fylde and Wyre Champions following a comprehensive 5-0 victory in the final against Lytham St Anne’s High School.

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CPD - The Lesson Study ModelTHIS year as part of professional development within Hodgson each member of staff has had the opportunity to get into groups of three to research an area of education that they feel they could develop within their own teaching. Altogether there are 19 groups with a wide range of interests: introverts in a world of extroverts, flipped learning, behaviour for learning, how to motivate disengaged students and many more! Since the start of September each group has researched and put in to practice ways to improve progress, performance and development through their teaching, these will all be evaluated by Christmas ready to be adapted and tried out again next term. We have so far seen new behaviour strategies- stop signs in the classroom, flipped learning through videos and student research, questionnaires on Staff engagement. These projects are ongoing and by the end of the academic year we will be hosting a TeachMeet across FCAT to showcase what our staff have found. Watch this space for updates on our Teaching and Learning Blog and Hodgson’s Teaching and Learning Twitter account.

PHOTOGRAPHY club has been run here at Hodgson for the past couple of months by Mike Foster. Showcased are some of the best pictures taken by the students so far.

The Big Draw at HodgsonHODGSON Academy’s annual Big Draw event was spectacular with amazing abstract pieces of work being created based on the theme of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths).

Local artist Jayne Simpson led the creativity as Hodgson students were joined by pupils from Park Community Academy and local primary schools.

It was an opportunity for students to experiment with different materials and work on a larger scale.

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ON the 23rd of October 2016, 49 students were lucky enough to go on the Harry Potter trip. It all started when we arrived at school at 10:30am where we all met up at Hodgson ready to go. We were all shaking with excitement as the bus driver loaded our bags onto the coach. Our teachers called our names one by one to make sure we were here and our parents said goodbye to us with a look of relief, that we were leaving them in peace, glistening in their eyes. We all climbed onto the bus, found our friends, sat down and revealed our sweets. We left Hodgson and waved goodbye to our parents, who were now jumping with joy. The fun had started. About an hour later, blue lights lit up the coach, people were shutting the curtains and televisions descended from the roof with the first of the Harry Potter films…

Four hours later and we arrived at Pizza Express Watford. The food was

amazing! We then went to the hotel for a huge Harry Potter Quiz followed by more sweets, prizes and bed.

Then day two…Harry Potter Studios. This was by far the best part of the trip. Our favourite part was Diagon Alley where we were chased down the street by Death Eaters. There was just so much to do at the studio: we tried butter beer (non-alcoholic obviously); saw all the costumes, sets and wigs; went on the Hogwarts Express; climbed the night bus; went into Privet drive and Harry Potter’s home; we even participated in the CGI experience of riding a broomstick! After having a good look through the shop, we set off back home, via McDonalds and arrived back at Hodgson at 8pm.

It was the best trip ever!Robert Clare. 8A.

KS4 Literature Club BY JENNY HIGGINS & HANNAH PARKINSONLITERATURE club is a student-run club for years 10 & 11 each Monday lunch in L1; with books, cake, hot chocolate and marshmallows, it really is better than your average club. We are currently reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, independently and discussing what we have read in the sessions - but don’t worry, it’s never too late to join. We are constantly looking for new members and hope that you join us soon - even if you only turn up once, make sure you give it a go!

Remembrance DayREMEMBRANCE day is always marked with great solemnity by the

staff and students at Hodgson Academy. We are all very aware the

great debt we owe to the people who sacrificed their lives during

the Great War and those that have followed. This year we were

proud and honoured to pay our respects to a fallen hero at our

local cemetery on Moorland Road. The cemetery was originally

founded in 1884.

Harry Potter Trip 2016

The Apprentice Show 2016A group of Year 10’s visited Manchester for the Apprenticeship Show in October to find out about alternatives to college and were stunned by the variety on offer- from The Army to Superdrug, Engineering to accountancy. There was lots of information and activities on offer. One student said “it’s been really interesting to find out what you can do and what sort of jobs you can get with training included. The pay’s good too!”

Spring 2017 TermJanuary

Monday 9 Academy opens for Spring Term

Monday 9 Year 11 Interim 2 Reports issued this week

Monday 16 Year 7 Interim 2 Reports issued this week

Year 8 Interim 1 Reports issued this week

Wednesday 18 PTFA Meeting 6.30pm / Parent Forum 7.30pm

Monday 23 Year 10 Mock Exams start (until 3rd February)

Thursday 26 Year 8 Subject Review Evening 4.00pm - 7.00pm

February

Monday 6 Year 11 Mock Exams start (until 17th February)

Friday 17 Last Day of half-term GCSE PE Trip (High Adventure, Skipton) Year 10 Paris Trip 17th -21st February Year 11 New York Trip 18th -22nd February

Half-term holidays 20th – 24th February incl

Monday 27 Academy re-opens after half-term holidays

Monday 27 Year 10 Interim 2 Reports issued this week

March

Monday 6 Year 8 Exams start (until 17th March)

Thursday 9 Year 11 Final Countdown Evening 5.00pm-7.00pm

Monday 13 Year 9 Exams start (until 24th March)

Thursday 16 Year 10 Subject Review Evening 4.00pm - 7.00pm

Wednesday 22 PTFA Meeting 6.30pm/Parent Forum 7.30pm

Monday 27 Year 7 Exams start (until 7th April)

Tuesday 28 Year 11 Progress Tutor Evening 4.00pm - 7.00pm

Thursday 30 Year 8 Options Evening 6.00pm - 8.30pm

April

Monday 3 Year 9 Interim 2 Reports issued this week

Friday 7 Year 11 Written Progress Update to Parents

Last day of Spring Term

Easter holidays 10th-21st April incl

Can you

solve OUR

mystery?

Who did it?Sue says Laura did it.

Laura says Rachel did it.Rachel said Tony did it, Tony said he did not do it and Paul says he did do

it. If Sue didn’t do it, one of the five did do it and if only one is telling the

truth, who did it?