St

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s February 2019

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2019. We have had a really positive start to the year. Thanks to the PTFA, Parents, Carers and Students who raised a magnificent £7858 towards buying a wheelchair accessible vehicle. We now have a fully accessible people carrier that can be used equally by all members of our school community. Thanks in particular to Kim for her dedication to this cause, and to Noah (Y11 student), who has been working tirelessly making paperweights and models from clay to sell each week. I hope you enjoy reading about more positive contributions made by students at our fantastic school in the following pages. Debbie Gerring - Headteacher

Students from Sixth Form have been getting green fingered

as part of a joint project to build ‘starter allotments’ with the

Ashbourne Road District Allotment Association and builders,

G F Tomlinson. The work the students take part in will count

towards a Prince’s Trust qualification and provide them with

transferable skills in horticulture and construction.

Attendance

Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12

Samuel Sky Aaron Josh B Matthew C Joe

Amy James Morgan Lennon Dillon

Alex Thomas Harry Jamie Cindy

Nicholas Samuel H Jamie Tia Harry Year 13

Louisa Evie Ethan Samantha Sufyaan Richard

Harvey Harry Dominic Arjan Michael Daniel

Leon Daniel Josh Shareen Noah Matthew

Reece Liam James Oliver

Kelsey Leah Euan

Shafiera Sabrina Cameron

Saskia Nathaniel

The following students have achieved an amazing 100% attendance since

the start of the academic year in September. Well done!

Please remember to keep school informed if your child is absent. Thank you.

Hello from Gallery 5,

Do you need a personalised t-shirt, mug,

badge, coaster, etc. printing for that

special occasion?

Well, look no further, because Gallery 5 can print what you need.

Don’t forget it’s Mother’s Day and Easter soon, order something special for a

loved one.

Gallery 5 is an Enterprise Business run by our Sixth Form Students.

For more information, call 01332 290419.

Governors

Well hello again, I hope you all had a great Christmas break and

enjoyed seeing the New Year in.

As you can see, a lot has already happened this year with some

outstanding achievements by many of the students. I was lucky

enough to also see the “Xmas Factor“ show before Christmas and

it was amazing to see the wide variety of talent on show. I also

have to say, the confidence shown by all the participants to

perform in front of everyone was fantastic. I visit many schools

and rarely see this confidence and such a polite and enthusiast

audience! This is something else the school should be very

proud of.

I look forward to seeing continued progress this term from your

amazing children, aided and abetted as always by Debbie and

her wonderful team.

Jeff Howe

Chair of Governors

KS3BG KS3BG have settled well into their St Martins role and have made fantastic friends and progress in their learning. We have had a fairly relaxed half term in comparison to the last! Although we enjoyed the busy schedule of X Factor and exciting Christmas days, we have enjoyed having quiet lessons and focusing hard on our school work.

In Maths we have focussed on multiplication and division. We have

been recognising how important multiplication and

division are as they help us in so many other areas of maths. Here

are some pictures of us working hard

and having fun with our learning!

In English, one of our favourite tasks was going out on a poetry walk. We had been finding poetry quite challenging until this. We went outside and used our senses to write poems. We created some amazing work and created powerful sentences. The poems we wrote were amazing! Here we are using our senses., and here is one of our poems!

KS3BG’S Magic Box

I will put in the box

The puffer fish that spikes fish A hair of lucky Louisa

The PS5 because I am so alive!

I will put in the box

The sunny bunny that had some money

An Elf on the Shelf The growling of the lions and the

tipping from the tap

I will put in the box

The love I have for my fluffy cautious cat

The happiness of friendship Chickens that lay golden eggs

I shall surf in my box

To Fortnite Island where I shall stay and play

KS3CC

Broomfield College

We all enjoyed a

great morning at

Broomfield College

before Christmas

learning about,

holding and

touching a variety of

different animals.

ENGLISH

For our English work this term, we are learning about

inspiring authors. We have been looking at Roald Dahl

and currently we are

reading the BFG!

We are especially

enjoying exploring the

way the BFG talks

and learning about

snozcumbers

and frogscottle!

We have been learning in a variety of ways. We enjoy learning in KS3CC. We have been learning

through a variety of practical approaches, examples

being; following recipes, reading in real situations and

following clues in a treasure hunt which we all very

much enjoyed!

KS3CO Social Skills and Teamwork

Both in school and on Outdoor Education, a huge focus this

term is teamwork and communication. The board and card

games that we have in the classroom give us a fantastic

opportunity to work together, learning not only to work as

part of a team, but to play competitively against each other,

dealing appropriately with both winning and losing.

Independent Research Skills

Across the curriculum, we have been developing our

independent research skills. This has involved using our

dictionary skills to improve our vocabulary in English, and

researching wider topics across the curriculum such as sleep

and sports/sportspeople using the internet. An important part

of this is getting our message across to others; presenting

our research findings to the class, responding positively to

other students’ work, and answering questions asked by our

peers and teachers.

Script Development and Performance

This term in drama we are focusing on script reading and

development, and performance. After enjoying performing in

our Xmas Factor show, we would like to further improve our

ability to remember scripts, develop our own characters as

part of a show, and plan and organise props, lighting, and

stage directions. So far, we have been enjoying practising

our on-stage accents in historical comedy sketches based

on the Angel Gabriel’s visit to the three shepherds, The

Spanish Armada, and the sinking of the Titanic.

Maths Mastery

In maths we are focusing on strengthening our reasoning

and problem solving skills. This means not only making sure

that we can work out the correct answer, but be able to

explain to others how we worked out our answer – showing

our method. Through discussion, we have been solving

missing number problems, spot the mistake questions, and

word problems to develop our understanding of

mathematical topics. To improve our reasoning, we often ask

“why” an answer is correct or incorrect, justifying our choices

using mathematical reasoning.

KS3CP

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We have been really enjoying our learning in school this term, and have

had a lot of fun too. A particularly fun lesson has been colour bingo in

French! We are getting very good at remembering French colours now.

In English we have become authors

for a book with no words in! It is

called ‘Journey’ and we have had

lots of exciting lessons imagining

magical and mysterious things

happening, including a girl visiting a

castle and the things and people

she meets along the way.

In Maths we have been very busy

learning lots of new things as well as

practising the things we have already

learned. We have been multiplying and

dividing, learning how to tell the time and

also gathering data and creating tally

charts and bar graphs. We are getting

really good at answering questions about

the data we collect too.

We have been really

excited to be going on our

Outdoor Education lessons.

We have been to some

new places and enjoyed

lovely walks. We have also

spent some time learning

about Geography and

visited Derby and Matlock

Bath; comparing the two.

KS3FC We have settled quickly back

into the swing of things after a

lovely Christmas break.

The class have enjoyed having

a Jive lesson with Fran,

particularly Daniel!

In English we are reading the book

‘The Imaginary’ By A.F. Harrold. The

class has been intrigued by all the

twists and turns. We have also been

learning how to write biographies

and formal letters, which we have

sent to our favourite authors.

In Maths we have been

doing lots of practical

maths and problem solving

through, multiplication,

division and statistics.

In our specialist lessons, we have been studying Fairtrade in Topic and we

have visited local shops to look at their produce.

In Citizenship we have been looking at the significance of the media, and

in PSHE we have been looking at healthy living and growing up.

KS3HW

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During our English lessons we have

been reading ‘Explore the Most

Dangerous Journeys of All Time’.

We have been enjoying the text

and have already learnt lots of

interesting facts about famous

explorers, male and female, past

and present. Soon we will be

researching our own explorers

and creating information texts in

the style of the book. Check our

page on the school website to see

these soon…

This half term’s topic has

been comparing Britain

and India. We learnt lots

about the similarities

and differences

between schools,

homes, hobbies and

food. We tasted some

Indian food too – some

of it was quite spicy!

In our Maths lessons we have

begun to develop our thinking

and have used concrete

objects and place value grids

to help us. We have spent

time consolidating our times

tables and how to multiply

bigger numbers.

KS3KT

ENGLISH Our learning this half term has focussed around the story, ‘The

Enormous Crocodile’ by Roald Dahl. The students have all enjoyed this

story, especially interviewing the Crocodile, taking it in turns to ask

questions and to be the crocodile. We have done lots of imaginative

writing, letter writing and predicting different endings.

In our PSHE lessons we have been

learning about personal hygiene.

We have been identifying what

makes a healthy lifestyle. We have

tasted healthy food, exercised

in PE, and enjoying Yoga and

Sensory activities.

As part of our personal, social and

communicational development

we visit the community every

Friday. We enjoy going to cafes,

shops and parks. We are focusing

on following rules and boundaries

in the community and road safety.

KS3LH English

This term in English, KS3LH have been ‘travelling’ around the world learning

about different countries. We are reading ‘Atlas of Adventures’ and

enjoying finding out interesting facts. We have learned about the Northern

Lights, the Aurora Borealis, which can sometimes be seen from Iceland and

around the Northern Hemisphere. We have also been finding out about

other places in Europe, Canada, North America and South America and

have been producing postcards, diaries and stories about our ‘adventures’.

Maths

We have really enjoyed playing Times Table Rockstars – the students even

do this in their own time. So far this term we have looked at multiplication,

division and statistics and everyone has worked very hard.

Topic

We have been learning all about Fair Trade, including the journey bananas

take to reach our supermarkets. We had a stroll (in the sleet) to the local

Co-op so we could look for Fair Trade products. We discovered they sold

Fair Trade bananas, tea, coffee, chocolate and hot chocolate. We even

bought some chocolate to try!

KS3SG

KS3SG have had a super start to the Spring

half term. The students have shown

excellent skills and attitudes towards their

learning and have worked hard to develop

their teamwork skills.

This half term KS3SG have participated in outdoor education with Howard and

have thoroughly enjoyed exploring Derbyshire by foot. The students showed

excellent levels of resilience and challenged themselves to overcome some of

their fears. They particularly enjoyed walking around the Attenborough Nature

Reserve and are really looking forward to going grass sledging!

In English, we have been learning all about superheroes! We started off by

creating our own superhero and their powers. The students were really

enthusiastic and came up with some awesome, powerful characters that were

ready to save the world. Using these characters the students used intonation

and expression to vocalise superhero scripts that they had wrote themselves. We

recorded these and created QR codes so we could view our work electronically

– scan this one to take a look at a great use of voices to bring work to life. We

also used our characters to create our very own comic book,

these were epic! In addition to this, we have recently helped write

newspaper reports about a superhero that went rogue. We

followed a trail of destruction and managed to solve the case in

order to inform Debbie.

In maths, we have had a great focus on

place value and have used this to help us

solve number problems. As well as this, we

have used our prior knowledge of

multiplication and division to solve some

tricky word problems. We are focusing on

solving a range of problems in real life

contexts. This is something we find tricky but

our determination and positive attitudes

have helped us to understand!

KS3VT In Maths this term we have been

focusing on ‘Maths Mastery’, which

helps the children to learn different

methods of working tasks out and

helps them to establish a method

that is best for them. We have used

bar models, arrays and Numicon as tools to help with addition, subtraction,

multiplication and division.

In English, we have been reading ‘My Brother is a

Superhero’, which the class have really enjoyed.

From this we have created our own superheroes,

given them characteristics, super powers and

written diary entries about a day in their lives. We

are also going to be creating a newspaper front

cover, headline and picture about our Superhero adventures.

Four members of our class were invited to join an afterschool

boxing club. They have now been to the club a few times and

are really enjoying it. They have learnt how to skip, punch, the

angle you need to punch from and how to keep your guard up.

In Topic this term we have been learning all about Fairtrade. We have

learnt what Fairtrade stands for, about fair prices for the farmers’ goods,

and how this has impacted on their lives by allowing better opportunities for

their families. We also went on a class trip to the Co-op to see what sort of

things were available to buy. We found chocolate, bananas, sugar, tea,

coffee and wine.

KS4FT

KS4FT have won the attendance league for the second time in a

row. As a team we are hoping to continue to be the leaders in

the attendance league until we finish school this year!

After Christmas, Dillon started going to the St Martins Youth Club

on a Tuesday evening and so far has been to town and had a

McDonald’s and has also been to play pool in Spondon. Dillon is

hoping that he may get to practice his swing at the driving range

one week.

Jack has been getting prepared for his next steps after St Martins

and together we have applied for a course at Broomfield College

covering small animal care. Jack has also been doing Forest

School on a Wednesday morning with Tim and Adam, and has

enjoyed a trip to Elvaston Castle where they had a walk around

the grounds and fed the ducks.

KS4FT are now looking forward to arranging and planning our

residential trip to finish off the year with some great fun and

memories that they can take away with them.

KS4MB KS4MB’s Cake Sale

KS4MB recently held a Cake Sale to raise money towards their residential. They worked incredibly hard, selling £45 worth of cake! Here’s what they thought of it... “I sold my paperweights that I made and some cakes. I bought some cakes for my family. My favourite part of the cake sale was buying the ingredients.” -Noah “We made some cakes for our enterprise work and rewards. My favourite part of the cake sale was making and selling the cakes. I bought 3 cakes to eat and take home.” -Rasan

“I made some cakes in school. We made some money for our rewards. My favourite part of the cake sale was making the cakes.” -Leah

“I enjoyed the cake sale work. My favourite part of the cake sale was selling the cakes.” -Nathaniel

“I bought some ingredients to make cakes. We sold them in our cake sale. My favourite part of the cake sale was selling the cakes to raise money.” –Euan

“We made some cakes in our class. My favourite part of the cake sale was selling the cakes.” -Cindy

“We made some cakes I liked making them together. My favourite part of the cake sale was selling the cakes.” -Faizah

KS4ML

Happy New Year from Oliver and KS4ML!

News is a bit slow in KS4ML so far in 2019. Mark got a cold (man flu), Cameron got new shoes and reads with Scout the reading dog every 4 weeks, and I got a Derby County lunchbox for Christmas. We are reading “Horrid Henry Robs the Bank” at the moment.

The Attendance League is looking good for us, so far we all have 100% attendance and we are top of the league. Every morning, I remind Mark to log into the register and after dinner, Cameron reminds Mark to log into the register.

We did not win the Christmas Door Competition but this does not matter. Our reindeer stable door was obviously the best, maybe next year I will help Mark’s class win!

My teacher Mark’s spelling is terrible, so I thought why don’t I take over this bad-speller man and write my first-ever class newsletter. I have a question for you, do you think I did a great job? - Oliver

KS4PP Welcome to KS4PP’s Pastoral Newsletter as we move into 2019 and

a new year for our students and Pastoral Team.

Before we finished for Christmas, we had our traditional Xmas

Factor performance, which was a fantastic success. We are

happy to report that Chloe was a member of the winning

dance group!

Chloe made a positive contribution to our Pastoral Group by

choreographing a dance routine for the group which featured

Chloe, Luke, Mehdi, Kristian, Saskia and Abbie.

This is Chloe with her winning

certificate.

We have been planning our class residential to London. The initial

interest letters have gone out and we will be inviting parents in

after half term to discuss our itinerary.

KS4SW KS4SW would like to welcome Tia into the class who has made a fantastic start in the new term. We are celebrating being one of four classes that have the best attendance in school. A massive well done to Samantha, Arjan, Shareen and Tia who have all attended school 100% of the time since we started in September 2018.

At the end of last term, St Martins held a Christmas talent contest, ‘Xmas Factor’. Shareen entered, being part of a dance group and they won first prize! This was due to the fantastic team work, dedication and performance from the group.

Samantha and Arjan recently took part in a digital website project called #THIS IS DERBY where they got to work with students from a variety of Derby schools and staff from QUAD to gain an understanding of what is involved in developing a website for young people. They also got the opportunity to take part in a photo competition which will generate content for the website and give Samantha and Arjan the chance to win some great prizes.

KS4SW have started to plan their two-day trip to London later in the year. We have decided that it would be a good opportunity to fund raise which will support the cost of visiting the fabulous sites and taking part in a range of activities. The fund raising ideas suggested by the students include a staff car wash, a cake sale and sponsored sports events.

We will be holding a parents meeting for the residential on Monday 4th March 2019, 2:30pm-3:30pm and look forward to seeing you there.

KS4TB

KS4TB have been working hard on our Community and social

skills, especially our skills for shopping. We are trying hard to

become familiar with prices of different food and household

items and estimating how much things will cost us. Just before

Christmas we enjoyed a day out in Derby to use our shopping

skills (including a sneaky visit to McDonald’s for a snack!).

We are all looking forward to our residential trip to London in July.

To ensure the trip is the best it can be for the students, we are

looking at where we are going and the options of where we

can visit.

We had a great time learning how to arm wrestle on Crystal Maze

Day. Even our Deputy Head got involved!

KS5VE

This half term KS5VE have been involved with ‘Sixteen Project at the QUAD, producing some fantastic artwork. Our students have been working in partnership with Daisy, Andy and International photographer, Kate Peters for a project which will span over 16 weeks. They have been working together to create unique portraits which they have then manipulated onto building blocks, collages and ‘blueprints’. They have also been able to capture beautiful pictures around Derby city centre. Did you know? Some of the pictures that have been created by the students will be displayed at the ‘FORMAT’ festival in Derby’s Guildhall Market in March- watch this space! Well done KS5VE!

This activity focussed on producing ‘cyanotypes’ – a process used in

photography to create copies of photos, known as ‘blueprints’. The students loved

seeing their portraits transformed!

Term Dates 2018-2019

St Martins School, The Derwent Campus,

Bracknell Drive, Alvaston, Derby, DE24 0BT

t: 01332 571151 e: admin@stmartins.derby.sch.uk

www.stmartins.derby.sch.uk

Autumn 2018

School Opens to

Students

Monday 10th

September 2018 School Closes

Friday 26th

October 2018

School Opens Monday 5th

November 2018 School Closes

Friday 21st

December 2018

Spring Term 2019

School Opens Monday 7th

January 2019 School Closes

Friday 15th

February 2019

School Opens Tuesday 26th

February 2019 School Closes

Friday 12th April

2019

Summer Term 2019

School Opens Monday 29th

April 2019 School Closes

Friday 24th May

2019

School Opens Monday 3rd

June 2019 School Closes

Thursday 25th July

2019

INSET Days Bank Holidays

Monday 25th February 2019 Monday 6th May 2019

SET Parents’ Meeting - Tuesday 5th March from 4:30pm-5:30pm. This is a chance

to speak with officers from SET and the opportunity to ask any questions as we

move forward to join them. http://www.shaw-education.org.uk/