NEWSLETTER Christmas Edition

2018

As we come to the end of our Autumn Term, I would like to wish you a very

peaceful and happy Christmas. Having worked hard all term, the students (and

staff) will be ready for a break and the opportunity to recharge their batteries.

We have had a busy and productive term.

Reading the newsletter I never cease to be amazed by the abundance of talent

our students possess. During our recent Christmas concerts students

demonstrated how far they have come after one year of music provision within

the school. It was also wonderful to see a sneak preview of our show ‘Fame’

that will take place in February 2019.

Sporting successes shine through this newsletter. I am particularly proud of our

Year 7 girls Football Team who became District Champions in their recent

tournament. Their success is due to their dedication and commitment to

training every Friday after school. There is also an excellent ‘team spirit’ within

the team.

On Thursday 13th December we held our termly ‘Accelerated Reading Awards’.

This recognises students that have made substantial progress on our reading

programme, well done to all who were invited to attend.

A special well done to all of our Year 7’s for completing their first term in

secondary school.

Students return to school on Tuesday 8th January at the usual time of 8.25am.

Holly Rigby—Head of School

The Telford Park School – Top Performing Secondary School in England 2018

On 30th November 2018 Mrs Foley headed off to London for The Renaissance Awards 2018 at

Renaissance’s Head Office in Canary Wharf. Not an overcrowded train was going to stop Mrs

Foley from getting there on time to find out how we had fared.

We were shortlisted in two categories, one being The Top Performing Secondary School in

England and the other being Project Manager of the Year. They are prestigious award

categories and we were in the company of exceptional schools and staff. It is a cliché but just

to be shortlisted was an honour, so imagine our delight, excitement and pure joy at being

announced the winners of The Top Performing Secondary School in England category!

More information on next page!

Renaissance (the company that own Accelerated Reader) had analysed schools reading data

generated by our student’s quizzing and STAR testing and determined that we had the highest

quality performance and growth.

To put into context the magnitude and scale of this achievement there are currently over 6000

schools and 1 in 7 children in the United Kingdom participating in Accelerated Reader and we

were crowned The Top Performing Secondary School in England!

A surprise assembly was swiftly arranged for the Monday morning and last years 7 and 8 were

invited to hear the amazing news.

This award relates to last year’s 7s and 8s, so no pressure current KS3, our expectations, as

always, are high!

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER– Community

Christmas Concert for our Local Senior Citizens

Telford Park School continues to develop links with our local community.

On Monday 10th December our local Senior Citizens were treated to a Christmas Concert, something the students were really looking forward to performing in. Residents from Lakeside Nursing Home and Sandino court were treated to a variety of performances from traditional Christmas Carols, Fame and our very own School of Rock.

Thanks to Mrs Bradburn for organising and to all those pupils who took part.

I would also like to thank the following students who stayed behind to help look after our guests

Elizabeth Opare, Leah Sahota, Jesse Opoku, Robin Singh, Georgina Andrews, Lauren Bellamy, Siddiqah Ali,

Chervanna Ferguson & Dyerel Graham-Hoof.

Charity

This term we have been supporting our local food bank “The Big Fridge” with daily donations of food that are used for our local residents who require such support.

On a Friday we provide a food donation to Maninplace a local charity who support the homeless. Thanks to Emma in the kitchen and Rochelle for helping with deliveries each week.

Youth Forum

It was pleasing to hear that several Telford Park Students attended the local youth forum, Jerry Lee Jones was highlighted by the organisers as a “great ambassador for the school”

Thank you to all of you who attended, the list is below:

Millie Gibbs Martin Fellows

Jamie J. Robinson Harrison Shaw

Jordan Sznober Skye Stephens

Owen Hinton Gideon Frimpong

Jack Hinton Priscilla Frimpong

The Primary Transition

We have had a fantastic term working with our feeder Primary Schools; from our busy Open Evening in October to the fantastic Art Master Classes in November. This week we have been fortunate enough to welcome some of our feeder schools back again to watch a Christmas performance. Over 200 students from Grange Park Primary School and Windmill Primary School joined us on Tuesday afternoon for a performance of Christmas songs, drama pieces and an exciting sneak preview of our exciting new school musical; Fame. The students from both Primary Schools were a brilliant audience, even joining in for a rendition of Frozen’s “Let it go”. A good time was had by all; with comments such as “I give that ten out of ten” and “that was amazing!” from the students at Windmill. We look forward to seeing some of those Primary students performing on our stage in years to come! Thank you to Grange Park and Windmill for coming along; we can’t wait to welcome the Primary Schools to Telford Park again

This term, we have had a student

teacher completing his second

teaching placement in the

Business Studies department of

Telford Park School. Recently he

achieved his Qualified Teacher

Status

Many congratulations to

Mr Hayward and we wish him

well for the future

The handwriting intervention team at Telford Park School have had a very busy half term. We provide handwriting intervention to identified pupils, three times a week during tutor time. All of our pupils work really hard during the sessions and we are seeing great success ,which is fantastic! Due to the festive season, we have also produced a 'handwriting' Christmas tree where pupils have made their own bauble and written on their bauble in their neatest handwriting, a festive message. We are making Christmas crackers and pupils will be again writing in their neatest handwriting, a joke for the inside of their crackers! Seven pupils will finish the Intervention during the last week of term and so, we have some new pupils joining the intervention in January 2019. During this half term, all pupils have produced some lovely writing and the team would like to thank them all for their brilliant effort and hard work. If your child has been invited to attend, please encourage them to do so and it would be great if they could practice their handwriting at home. Any queries, please contact Dawn Morgan in The Link.

NEWSLETTER

On Tuesday 20th March, Telford Park Students in Year 9 were visited by the Loudmouth Theatre Company, who performed “Working for Marcus” a piece which looks at the harsh realities of Child Sexual Exploitation and grooming. Also visiting the school, was Victims Commissioner, Baroness Helen Newlove, whose husband was murdered by three youths in 2007. Since then she has campaigned tirelessly against the UKs drinking culture and provides support for young people.

The gritty performance by actors William Costello and Eleanor Rushton begins as a care free meeting of two young people over social media. However, the situation quickly spirals out of control for 14 year old Caz, as the character of Marcus reveals himself not to be the kind and compassionate boyfriend he makes himself out to be at the start of the play.

Following the production, Baroness Newlove spoke to a group of pupils to hear their views about the performance and about how they stay safe despite the many issues surrounding the use of social media by young people. Pupils expressed concern about how social media sites portray certain ideals about how they should look and The Baroness agreed that the only way to combat this was to “just be you” and not what others think you should be.

Telford Park School has hosted Loudmouth on several previous occasions for different year groups, looking at other topics such as drugs and alcohol

NEWSLETTER

Telford Park Remembrance Day Assembly

On Friday 9th November the school held it’s Remembrance Day assembly as part of the assembly the Year 9 BTEC Performing Arts class devised an emotive piece for the Remembrance Assembly this year. The story centred round a young couple who, after making plans for their futures, were separated as her fiancé left for war. The students began with a happy, relaxed scene that was disturbed by the sergeant calling men to war. The second scene saw women at work in the munition factories whilst their loved ones were battling and living life in the trenches. Students read letters out loud aiming to bring together the two separate scenes. A powerful advance from the men, captured using slow motion, created a dramatic battle scene which led inevitably to injuries, and in many cases, loss of life. The surviving soldiers returned home to their loved ones in the final scene. However, for one young lady, the news of the loss of her fiancé was too much to bear.

As part of the assembly several members of staff spoke to the students about their personal thoughts, and reflections of Remembrance day.

Mr Smith talked about how his Great Grandfather, Thomas Knight and his younger brother Alfred were both killed in the First World War. In particular he drew attention to the fact that Alfred like many thousands of other soldiers has no known grave.

Mr Smith also talked about how his Grandfather (picture left) who was seriously wounded and how he had been affected by his experiences during his service in the Second World War and how it was important to also remember those who survive conflicts, but have to live with the effects for the rest of their lives.

Mr Hylton spoke to the students about some of his Army service, in particular his tours of duty during the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, Mr Hylton spoke about the death of colleague in his Regiment, Gunner Paul Sheppard who tragically was killed in Belfast, during his Regiment’s third tour of duty in the Province, Mr Hylton also spoke about the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and its significance as the nation’s year round site of Remembrance.

Mrs Rigby spoke of her Great Grandfather (picture left) who died during World War One. She read a letter he had written to his wife prior to him being posted in France.

Our Cadets Jerry Lee Jones, Ashleigh Chambers, Joseph Nurse and Kaine Vincent were immaculately turned out in their Cadet uniforms, all four students confidently read out poems of war to the assembly.

The assembly finished with the playing of the Last Post and this was followed by a two minutes silence, this enabled the students to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice made by others in conflicts at home and around the world.

NEWSLETTER

FAME NEWS

Trip to The New Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham

60 students visited Birmingham at the end of November to watch the

musical, Fame. Students and staff thoroughly enjoyed the full show, and

since returning, BTEC Performing Arts students have produced some

excellent theatre reviews where they have discussed and explored the

use of staging, lighting, props, costumes and scenery. We have also

gained many ideas on our own production of Fame Jr! Students had a

wonderful experience and are already asking when the next trip will be!

Fame Jr!

Rehearsals for our first whole school musical production are well under way. Students are working hard to learn their lines,

learn dance choreography, learn the songs and develop their characters. The 35 strong cast are showing commitment and

dedication to all of the after school rehearsals and thoroughly enjoying it. Mrs Bradburn and Ms Malhi are too!

The shows will be performed on 12th and 13th February. Tickets will go on sale in the New Year. Be sure to get yours early

to avoid missing out!

Telford Park Christmas Concert

The Performing Arts students deserve a well-earned rest over the Christmas holidays after they performed their Christmas

concert three times in just two days! We began our performances with a festive concert for the senior citizens of our

community on Monday 10th December. This was swiftly followed by a second performance to our feeder primary schools

in the afternoon on Tuesday 11th and our performances ended with a final show to our parents and relatives in the

evening. Students gave strong choir, rock school, solos and Drama performances in all three shows, and confidence and

professionalism increased in abundance. Audiences were also treated to a sneaky peek of Fame! The performing Arts

students should be praised for their hard work both during rehearsals and in the concerts. It was a lovely way to end the

term.

NEWSLETTER– PE

Thank you to our kit sponsors!

The PE dept. would like to thank our 2 kit sponsors for the girls football teams. Midlands Riders and the Councillors Pride Fund have

both kindly donated money to help fund kits for our girl’s teams. Thank you very much!

We are looking for sponsors to help fund kits for our boy’s teams. If anyone is willing to help us, please contact the school.

Football

It has been a busy half-term for football, Badminton and Netball. We have had teams from all years competing in the football

County Cup, County Presidents Plate, the District Cup and the district 5-a-side National qualifying round. We have also been taking

part in the Telford Schools Badminton Competition.

Girls

Our Year 7 girls team have been committed to their training on Friday evenings and it has begun to pay off. Having beaten Thomas

Telford in the first round of the County Cup they played their quarter final away against Bridgnorth Endowed School on Tuesday 4th

December. Goals from Frances Creen and Abbie Frost secured a comfortable win for the team. They will now play Madeley

Academy in the semi-final at home after Christmas.

7 of the same girls team also took part in the English Schools 5-a-side district qualifying tournament on Monday 26th November. The

girls won all of their group games and then met Thomas Telford in the final. They girls went 1-0 down. But a screamer from Paris

ensured the game went to extra time and then to penalties. Georgina Loveridge saved a crucial penalty to crown the girls as District

Champions. They will now go on to represent Telford & Wrekin in the West Midlands finals.

Boys

The Year 7 boys also took part in the same 5-a-side competition as the girls. They won 1, drew 1 and lost 2 which meant they

unfortunately didn’t qualify for the final.

NEWSLETTER– PE

The Year 9 team played Telford Langley in the District Cup ¼ final on 23rd November. Despite playing a solid

first half they conceded right on half time. 2 more Langley goals in the second half meant the boys lost with a

score line that didn’t reflect a closely fought contest. There was man of the match performance from Norbert

in goal.

The Year 10’s played Thomas Telford in the District Cup on the 22nd November. Despite a good team

performance and some outstanding goal keeping from Ryan Phillips Park lost 7-1.

The 10’s also played their first round match on the County Presidents Plate against William Brookes.

Unfortunately, due to an injury to one of our players the match was abandoned and has been re-scheduled.

The Year 11’s played Langley in the first round of the District Cup on 25th October. Goals from Jesse and

Dyerel secured a 3-1 win. They will now go on to play Telford Priory in the ¼ finals. They then played

Telford Priory in the next round. Despite coming back from 3-1 down at half time, they unfortunately

conceded late on to lose 4-3. A great effort by all.

Badminton

Teams from both KS3 and KS4 have been competing every Wednesday for the last 6

weeks in the Telford Schools Badminton Tournament, battling it out in the south

Telford group to try to reach the finals on December 19th at Telford Langley School.

Our KS4 boy’s team have lost won and won all the remaining matches.

Unfortunately as they had some tight wins, they have missed out on qualification on

games won and games lost difference. A great effort against some good competition.

Netball

Both Year 7 and Year 8 teams have played against Telford Langley in Netball friendlies. They

have made great progress in lessons and put they skills to the test against some good Langley

teams. Well played girls!

Twitter

The department has a Twitter account where all PE & Sport related news is give. We will give results, fixtures and photos of sporting

life at Telford Park School.

Follow us on: @TelfordPrkSchPE