Snow and Ice

Please ensure that the school has your most up to date contact details as we will use our text messaging service to keep parents and carers updated on any closures

due to wintry weather. We will also update our website, the Local Authority records and local radio stations

Please note that the school

office will be open during the

holidays on Monday 19

December and Tuesday 20

December.

Useful Information

Please remember to contact school before 8:30am to report any absences.

Snappi Stationery!

Snappi Stationery is now up and running each break and lunchtime, selling stationery items and small gifts and greetings cards, all at very reasonable prices!

The stand is a great opportunity for student helpers to gain customer service experience as well as testing their mental arithmetic skills!

The stand is situated in the dining hall each break and lunchtime - all students are welcome to browse.

Important Dates For Next Term

Easy and Relaxed Space Listening Service

There are 4 members of the ‘Easy And Relaxed Space’ team at NHTS. Miss Buck, Miss Pusey, Mr Bashir and Mrs Townend. This team is always available to support students with any worries, big or small. Just find a member of the team to book a session.

Thank you to all who

supported our recent

poppy appeal, we

raised £41.62 for this

worthy cause.

Contact Us:

Telephone: 01484 223888

Fax: 01484 223889

Website: www.nhtschool.co.uk

Email: office@nhtschool.co.uk

4th January – Students return to school for Spring term

10th January – Year 9 Parents’ Evening

17th January - Year 9 Options Evening

26th January – Year 11 Aim Higher Evening

10th February – Students break for half term

May we wish all our readers and

their families a very Merry Christmas

and a prosperous 2012

Newsletter

Winter 2011

...see page 2

Huddersfield Town Football Club & North Huddersfield Trust School join forces to help KICK IT OUT!

One Game, One Community

Welcome to our school’s Christmas newsletter. Our new school is nearly a term old, and what a term it has been. Everyone has worked so hard to make sure it has been a success – as you will see from the pages of this newsletter there has been a fantastic amount of activity and positive signs of a healthy school are emerging daily.

The first priority has been to establish the atmosphere of the school – we have worked hard to ensure that the school is calm and orderly at all times. Good behaviour and good organisation are fundamental to any successful school and help lead to students feeling happy and secure and parents feeling that their child is safe and enjoying their time here. We have had so many positive comments from visitors about this. The students have reacted magnificently to the challenge of the new school and look fantastic in the new school uniform.

Work at the reception end of school has now been finished with the completion of the Headteacher’s office and lockers have been

installed around the school – after Christmas each student will be given the keys to their locker so that they have their own private and secure storage space.

At the end of term Mrs Taylor left to start her maternity leave but thankfully she will soon be returning – we hope all goes well. After Christmas our new Head of English, Hamira Shah joins us and we wish her much success and happiness at the school.

Speaking of success, we have appointed the first Head Boy and Girl of the new school – well done to Jake Karim-Townley and Sonia Ibrar. They came through a very competitive process which included a letter of application, interviews and a voting system. We were greatly impressed with the overall standard of applicant so well done to everyone involved.

We have started a major review to identify the curriculum of the future for the school as part of the development of our five year plan for growth to achieve our stated ambition of becoming an

A Note From The Executive Head Dr Andy Williams

One Game, One Community

In October, North Huddersfield Trust School was selected to be a partner school by Huddersfield Town Football Club and up and coming Huddersfield Town star, Anton Robinson, for the nationwide ‘One Game, One Community’ campaign. The school worked with the club to promote community spirit and raise awareness of all forms of prejudice and discrimination. This work was recognised by the Football Association of England and the Kick It Out group. Anton Robinson met with a group of Year 7 students during his visit to the school, giving them information and advice around the issues involved as well as speaking about his journey into professional football from the parks of London to the stadiums where he now plays. The students were given formal invitations to attend the One Game, One Community match of Huddersfield Town versus Preston North End and to lead the players of both teams onto the pitch! Anton said of his visit to North Huddersfield Trust School, “I really enjoyed my visit. You can tell from just meeting the students that they enjoy their football and the whole point of this campaign is to ensure that everyone can join in.” On match day itself, students and staff had a great time in the autumn sunshine and we were proud to see our students leading out the teams and watching young hot shot and goal scoring sensation, Jordan Rhodes, score a hat trick in Town’s win over Preston. What a fantastic end to a highly successful campaign and partnership between the football club and NHTS.

Let’s hope we see Town promoted at the end of the season!

outstanding school. Already we have news that next year’s student numbers for the new Year 7 will be substantially up.

In closing I would like to thank all of our students and staff for their hard work and support over the term. We must also thank all parents for their interest in, and support of, our work and also that of our trust partners who have brought so much additionality to the school. We have established our new governing body and it really has been an all action start to the life of the new school, of which much more news early in the new year, when we will be making some exciting announcements about the next stages in our development.

In the meantime though, may we take this opportunity of wishing you and your family a restful and relaxing Christmas break. Dr. A Williams, Executive Head

Community Conference Success

NHTS recently held its first Community Conference at the Cedar Court Hotel. The event was extremely well attended by a wide range of community members and it was clear that there is a genuine desire to establish a Community Forum to provide opportunities of working in partnership with each other.

The day included presentations from Professor Alan Dyson of Manchester University, Andi Briggs of the Deighton & Brackenhall Initiative and our very own Dr Andy Williams. Discussion groups during the day covered topics of community provision and suggestions for a way forward to work better together and improve use of resources.

A website will be set up to allow community related information to be held in a central point which is easily accessible by all. More information will follow on this, so watch this space!

Black History Month @ NHTS To commemorate Black History Month and support Community Cohesion at North Huddersfield Trust School there were a whole host of events which took place at the school. Nearly every department in the school hosted an activity or two for this key month in the annual calendar!

These highly informative, diverse and fun activities included assemblies, a pupil led Caribbean Cafe, speech writing as inspired by Martin Luther King, a whole school meal and celebration, a House competition, Café Scientifique, World Poetry Day and a whole host of other activities and visits! Here are some student quotes:

Black History Month - History Update

“History despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

Students from the History and Expressive Arts departments celebrated Black History Month with a visit from Hidden Gems Productions who performed the play, Lost and Found by Marcia Layne. The production is a story of dignity, courage and survival and about two characters, Ashleigh and Ricky, who ask in very different ways, “What has slavery got to do with me?”, after being taught about it in their history class. Mr Munroe, a school mentor encourages them to discover the revolution that changed our world forever.

Year 8 students also took part in follow up workshops. Students will use this valuable experience to enrich their learning about slavery later in the year.

Claire Thomas, Curriculum Area Leader, Humanities

“It was a great month! The best Black History

Month I have experienced!”

“Mr Lone’s assembly was powerful and made me want

to cry.”

“It made me feel proud to be who I am and to be at this school. Some of my friends in other schools were envious when I told them all that we were

doing to celebrate BHM at NHTS!”

Children’s Restaurant Treat for Community

A group of 26 students from Years 7 and 8 gave up some of their October half-term holiday to work with The University of the First Age, Agewell Kirklees and Kirklees College, to create a pop-up restaurant at Fartown Village Hall. The students cooked a menu of carrot and coriander soup, chicken chasseur or vegetable byriani and sponge cake or apple crumble. They then decorated the village hall and served their food to members of the community. Agewell’s Graham Hellawell said, “The children have been absolutely magnificent and everyone has really enjoyed it, it has really created a community vibe and has brought together people from a range of ages and from a number of cultural backgrounds.”

This issue, Year 7 student Louise Bruniges interviews Teaching Assistant and Administration Assistant, Lucy Buck.

What is your job at North Huddersfield Trust School? I work in the Special Educational Needs (SEN) department 3 days per week as an Administration Assistant and as a Teaching Assistant for the other 2 days.

What was your favourite subject when you were at school? I liked Maths best because I enjoy working with numbers and the answers are either right or wrong, there’s no in between!

What was the last book you read? The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. It was a fantastic read and very emotional. It was so good that I bought the film.

If you could meet anyone living or dead, who would it be and why? Princess Diana, because she did lots of charity work, or Cupcake Brown as her autobiography was shocking but inspiring.

What are your hobbies? I play the flute and volunteer for charity work and fashion shows for the Forget-Me-Not Trust children’s hospice

When you were young what did you want to do? I wanted to be either a teacher or a stunt double!

Do you have any pets? I have 3 cats called Charlie, Mitzeee and Sassy but my favourite animal is a penguin. What’s your favourite restaurant? The Olive Tree in Leeds because I love Greek Food.

Student’s Question Time: Lucy Buck

Intergenerational Partnership On Thursday 24th November, our Year 9 Community Ambassadors were involved in a rewards celebration at the Annual General Meeting for local group Agewell.

Agewell is a fantastic organisation which actively helps those aged over 55 from across the locality to become engaged and involved with their peers and community, offering a wide range of activities and events.

Our students received certificates for their outstanding contributions to help Agewell and their intergenerational work. Dr Williams was also in attendance as guest speaker. It was a special and proud day for all involved with over £1,500 being pledged to Agewell from various sponsors, including staff at the school, for the sponsored bike ride undertaken by Omith Mistry from Sheffield to Huddersfield!

Well done to the following Year 9 students:- Janazir Morgan, Paige Mawson, Rabia Naji, Hamara Shah, Mohammed Saleem, Ray Hill, Tyrel Francois and Mohammed Haseeb.

Modern Foreign Language Update By Mrs Sparagna, Teacher of Languages

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in the UK and around the world.

The aim of this is to raise vital funds and awareness of men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. Here at the school, some of our male staff dispensed with their razors and raised a magnificent £300! A big well done to all staff involved. Pictured here showing off their whiskers are Mr Curzon, Mr McManus, Mr Conway, Mr Epton and Mr Gilbert.

Christmas Greetings from Mr Gillett and the Student Librarians of the Learning Centre!

This term, as in previous years, all Year 7 students have received a free novel which they chose from a selection provided by the Booked-Up book charity. The 12 Student Librarians also received one of these free books as a thank you for all they have done to help at morning breaks and lunchtimes.

We have now had our first meeting of the Book Club which has eight student members and a number of staff as well its chief organisers, Mr Gillett and Mrs Townend. The idea is very simple. We all read the same book, then meet to discuss what we have enjoyed and thought about it and the students get to keep the books they have read.

The summer holiday refurbishment in school gave us an opportunity for some reorganisation and we are also having a new computer system which will help staff and students to make the best use of the library’s 13,000 books!

The Learning Centre remains a very popular meeting place at break and lunchtime, and the final games of the school’s first Chess League competition will be played before the end of term. The winners will be announced in the next school newsletter.

Bonjour, Buenos Días,

The Modern Foreign Language department is thrilled to have our Year 10 students studying GCSE French for the first time in a number of years. This, together with GCSE passes in Maths, English, Science and History mean that these students will receive the new English Baccalaureate qualification which will stand them in good stead for college or university entry. Fantastique!

The Modern Foreign Language department is growing and we have now spread our teaching out across 3 newly refurbished classrooms and have invested in brand new Spanish and French resources for the students. In the near future we plan to:

issue a survey to students to ask their opinions and suggestions about studying languages

discuss a proposal for a trip to Paris for Year 10 students.....watch this space!

In the last half term we have introduced the Michel Thomas method of language learning; this has been particularly well-received by our Year 7 students, many of whom are already showing their potential as promising linguists! ¡Muy bien!

We are also setting ICT-based homework to help the students develop at their own pace and would like to encourage students to submit their written homework through their FROG email. Our school subscribes to the Linguascope and A tantôt websites on which the students can practise at any time and there are also a number of free resources of which they have details. Please note that students do have internet access in school at lunchbreak and there is also an ICT Club after school several times a week.

Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders Today

What is it like to explain and demonstrate a task to a group of younger learners? What are the challenges? What works well and what can you do to prevent your class getting frustrated or bored? Teachers may worry about these things on a daily basis and this is exactly what twenty brave volunteer Year 9 students have been finding out in a two-day training course run by the University of the First Age.

These students have been finding out what makes a good teacher and role model and how verbal and non-verbal communication, good planning and organisation, positive language and praise can make people feel secure and happy in their learning. Similarly, they have also been challenged to work outside their usual comfort zone and to examine their own reactions to stressful situations. The students found out about the theory of learning and reflected on their own preferred learning styles.

Working in teams they had a go at activity planning, explaining and demonstrating activities to a group and they considered ways of motivating pupils who are shy or anxious through the use of praise and encouragement.

These newly qualified peer mentors will venture out into extra-curricular activities or future UFA holiday learning projects to put these skills into practice. Furthermore, the techniques and self-awareness developed in this course will enable them to become more effective, responsible and reflective learners in the classroom, and in life.

Year 11 Philosophy and Ethics Group Visit

Mr Lone, Head of RS

National Anti-Bullying Week 14th to 18th November

This year’s campaign from the Anti-Bullying Alliance focused on tackling verbal bullying with the slogan ‘Stop and think – words can hurt’.

CyberMentors Tyrel Francois, William Goggins, Lara Hoyle and Liberty Charles-Worthlee paved the way in promoting the many anti-bullying activities that were on offer around

school. They did a fantastic job of presenting to fellow students in tutor times, promoting events and activities such as the ‘Bully Box’ created by students involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, and projects where the Year 11 GCSE Performing Arts class shared their performances on anti-bullying with our family of primary schools.

What are CyberMentors? The CyberMentors scheme is all about young people helping and supporting each other online. If you're being bullied, or are feeling a bit low, or are maybe troubled by something and you're not sure what to do or who to talk to, then you can go to CyberMentors for help. It doesn't matter how big or small you think the problem is, or whether you're being targeted online or offline, CyberMentors are here to listen and support you.

The best thing about this is that CyberMentors are young people too. It's never easy talking about bullying, and many young people have told us that they would prefer to speak to another young person if they could. That's why CyberMentors are young people like you, who have been trained and are volunteering their time online to help. It's still important however that you talk to your parents or teachers wherever possible.

Our Year 11 Full Course GCSE Philosophy and Ethics students recently attended an all day event at the Al-Hikmah centre in

Batley, in conjunction with Islamic Awareness Week, to support their programme of study and forthcoming examinations.

Students were given the opportunity to ask questions with leading clerics and professors from Leeds University around topics

such as human relationships and life and death. They were also given a tour of a number of religious buildings and

seminaries. The pupils also engaged with local solicitors, healthcare professionals and Kirklees residents in a forum around

‘Cohesion and Integration in the Big Society’.

We would like to wish them all very the best in their final year of the Philosophy and Ethics course!

Year 9 Peer Mentors

We extend a warm welcome Miss Hunte who

joins us to cover the maternity leave of Miss

Swift and will be with us through to the summer.

We are very keen to see more girls attend

extra-curricular activities, so if you are

interested speak to Miss Hunte.

Lunchtime 5-a-side football is well attended with anything between 20

and 30 students attending every day.

Thanks to Mr Allison and Troy Thomas for helping these clubs to

run smoothly.

The NHTS PE department is keen to develop a reputation for quality leadership across the town. NHTS has started a young leaders’ group on a Thursday in the gymnasium.

Leaders trained here will help with primary school transition work organised by Danny Hermann, the School Sports Coordinator across our local schools.

We are looking to grow the young leaders’ group over the year and add some younger members to our ranks. If you think you have what it takes to be a young leader, please speak to Mr McManus.

Friday night cricket has been as popular as ever and

play is to a very high standard. Thanks go to Mr

Allison, Mr Rohit and Mr Mahmood for encouraging

the lads to display their excellent skills. The summer

cricket programme promises much if these

performances are anything to go by!

Monday night Badminton continues to be successful. As well as the students there is also a strong staff presence with Miss Woodward, Mr Turner, Miss Arshad, Miss Maqsud and Mrs Rushworth regularly demonstrating supreme agility, balance and dexterity around the court and students are really motivated by staff attendance and relish the opportunity to play competitively

Sport Education This term has seen the introduction of Sport Education as a pilot project for Year 9 boys. Sport Education aims to develop leadership and coaching abilities within PE. Each student is given a particular role within a team and points are awarded for how well that role is completed. Roles include team manager, equipment manager, coach, reporter and warm-up manager. The team then plays a ‘season’ over the half term and the team with the most points wins the competition. Extra points are awarded for fair play and sportsmanship, with points deducted for incorrect kit and any behaviour unbecoming of an NHTS student. ‘Team Holland’ was the first winner of Sport Education football this year. The successful team members were Hassan Said, Manaf Hussain, Andrew Pulcella, Shane Hirst and Thomas Blackburn. The team proved themselves worthy winners and epitomised the spirit of the project. They played attractive football, displaying great sportsmanship by loaning good players to other teams when they were short of players. Overall, the project was a huge success and will be rolled out to all year groups later in the year.

PE Department Update by Mr McManus, Head of PE

What an excellent start for the new school in terms of Physical Education and Sport. Students are looking very smart in their NHTS PE kits and have really got on board with changes to curriculum provision and an increased extra-curricular offer. The PE department would really like to engage with as many students as possible, whether it is in curriculum time or after school, so if you have any suggestions as to how we can improve what we do, please do not hesitate to speak with Miss Hunte, Mr Allison or Mr McManus.

We are keen to link with local sports providers. Glenn Swindell from Kirklees Young People’s Service is enjoying huge success with Thursday night football in the sports hall, which is really helping him to develop strong links with young people outside school hours. Glenn has been impressed with how well students have responded to the opportunity and has commented on the exemplary behaviour displayed by all of our students.