2009 term 1

Thamesview School with Bus iness & Enter pr i se Sta tus Autumn Term 1

October 2009

THAMES V IEWS

Special points of interest: •

Inside the Issue:

Headteacher’s letter 2

Community Points 11

Enterprise Community 4

Challenger Community 6

Endeavour Community 9

Discovery Community 8

Important Dates 10

Eco News Sam Learning After School Activities Year 11 Take to the

Sea

SPECIAL AWARDS

Thatcher Mug Award (for achieving the best GCSE results 2009; 15 GCSEs) Residential Trip Award New Leaf Award Skills for the Working Life CITB Construction Award Glass 2000 Peer Mentor Award Welcome Desk Award Christchurch College Award

Work Experience Award Work Experience Diary Year 7 Friendship Award Literacy Achievement Governors’ Challenge Cup Griffiths Rose Bowl

Charlie Goddard Jordan Sesniak Stephanie Weir & Mark Stapley Colin Owen & Amy Wood Emma-Louise Huckstepp Harriet Ferris Tom Allen Harry Souten Sam Costin Kirsty Gibson Natalie Woods Lewis Foreman Aaron Mills Robyn Stevens Craig Hammond

The 2009 Awards evening took place on Thursday 24th September. Well over 100 outstanding students received awards for their hard work and contribution to school life. Proud parents, staff and governors attended this fantastic Awards Evening, which was very successful. A special thanks goes to James Hemming and Gemma Shepherd DJs from Heart

Breakfast Radio, who were our inspirational guests of honour.

Congratulations and well done to all the students for their fantastic achieve-ments!

Halloween themed disco for Years 7-9 on Friday 13th November from 6.00pm—9.00pm. £2 per ticket; half the money will go to the British Heart Foundation. Event organised by the students who run the Health, Care, Advice (HCA) Zone! Buy your ticket soon before numbers run out!

Win, win, win an I-Pod… - see page 10

“Fun with Maths”

motivate and enthuse students with Maths, as this is an area that we definitely need to promote. Too many students join us with a lack of confidence in Maths, and it is our aim to improve aspirations and enjoyment in Maths this year through offering inspirational maths teaching and special events. We now have a Maths teacher dedicated to 1-to-1 tuition for specifically targeted students to raise their numeracy skills, we have a link forged with the Grammar School and look forward to 13 of their Year 13s joining us to work with students in the after school Maths sessions on Mondays and Thursdays, and we are about to offer a 12 week Saturday Maths Club for Years 10 & 11, which will undoubtedly help increase knowledge, understanding and confidence in Maths. We have a range of events planned for this curriculum area, but we ask parents to support this too by ensuring every KS4 student uses the ICT out-of-hours access to compliment the learning from lessons. These are: Maths Watch, MyMaths and SAMLearning (good for most subjects). At least 2-4 hours a week will make a big difference in your child’s results if they start now in readiness for final examinations. If you want to know more about them, please contact your child’s Maths teacher. The new school is still on track for a July completion, and we are hoping for a general public open day early in the New Year. We are excitedly planning for the move across to ensure that every child is familiarised with the set-up before they move into the school permanently in September 2010. There are many learning and social events coming up in our calendar so I look forward to seeing you at these.

Best wishes, Rhiannon Hughes

Headteacher

Autumn Term 1

A New PA for the Vocational Centre

The Vocational Centre welcomes Paige Green our new PA for one day a week. Paige is in Year 11 and is working on her administration and communication skills. We look forward to her

improving the office efficiency in the Vocational Centre!

Amy Wood – Galloping to Success

Amy Wood, who for the last year has been working at Hadlow College completing a BTEC Certificate in Horse Care, has just been awarded 2 B’s for her hard work. She is continuing this course in Year 11 and hopes to obtain a further two GCSEs at a higher grade (Hopefully A*’s). Well done Amy! Pauline Blayney

Thamesview School has joined Fronter as part of the Building Schools For the Future programme. This is a new virtual learning environment (VLE) that enables teachers to share with their students class work, revision activities and much more. It is a web-based learning environment, which provides access to school work and key school messages anywhere in the world. All you need is a web connected device. Using Fronter allows students to be associated to all their classes virtually. This means they can retrieve work, hand in assignments and homework and communicate directly with their class teacher. When at home, Fronter is easily accessible from the school website via a link at the bottom of the home page (scroll all the way to the bottom and click on the link). This is a good way for students to show parents what they have been up to in school and for parents to see key messages and marked work, so they

have an idea of the progression their child is making in daily lessons. This is an ongoing, and developing VLE at Thamesview. Not everything will happen at once. Parts of the VLE will be introduced over the year ready for the move to the new school. At the moment we are developing the ‘front pages’ for the rooms that students have access to, so that students can get relevant information and guidance to help them progress in each of their subjects. Example of a room front page:

If you have any questions please feel free to contact our two ex-Year 11s, now employed as Fronter administrators in school, whilst they are carrying on their studies in the local sixth form. Jack Smith- [email protected] or Craig Hammond- [email protected]

Dear Parents, Carers, Governors, Teachers, Students and Friends Another Term has flown by again, and we are half way to Christmas, incredible! We had another record year of examination results, where 2/3rds of our students left with at least 5 x A*-C passes, and our highest achieving student, Charlie Goddard achieved an amazing 15 GCSEs above C grade, including English and Maths, which is really something to make us proud. We are delighted that more students are acquiring good passes at least a year early, with many of our current Year 11s having already banked their Humanities, Maths, English and Religious Studies at a minimum of a C grade, so that we can give them something different in their final year at Thamesview; we are running AS Level English and also Statistics. Our students who jumped Year 9, and are finishing their 2nd year of KS4, will also be anticipating what curriculum offer we have planned with them next year; we are looking into possibilities such as Psychology, Astronomy, Leisure & Tourism and of course some time for independent study and peer support programmes, where they assist with the education of the younger students to help raise levels of literacy and numeracy, The learning cycle is not just thick and fast for students, but also staff. We have a large number of support and teaching staff gaining further qualifications in an effort to enhance their own development, but also their knowledge so that they can impart this to our students. The ‘Staff Honours’ picture on the back page was taken at the recent graduation ceremony for many TAs and LSAs, who achieved Level 2 & 3 qualifica-tions. We congratulate them all on their hard work and determination to reach these higher levels of qualifications. We are having a huge drive this year to

Link on the school website;

Working Beyond the Walls of School Students from Year 10 have this year branched out to other schools within Grave-sham as we continue to personalise each student’s education: Zoe Appleton Young Apprentice in Sport at Meopham School Tim Saunders Higher Diploma in Society Health and Development at NFSG Jodie Gibbs Higher Diploma in Society Health and Development at NFSG Jessica Dawkins Foundation Diploma in Society Health and Development at NFSG Connor Aubrey Higher Diploma in Business and Finance at NFSG Mark Smith BTEC Diploma in Land Based Studies

Whilst some students go o ut to other schools for their chosen courses, we have all the other Gravesham Schools come to The Vocational Centre for Construction and Hair and Beauty courses Some of our own students follow these

courses at either Young Appren-ticeship Level or on the Diploma. These students are listed to the left:

Pauline Blayney

Thames Views

SAM Learning provides award-winning online services, used by over 60% of secondary schools and 1,200 primary schools across England, to improve exam results. Last year alone, almost one million learners used SAM Learn-ing! SAM Learning’s services have been independently proven to boost

exam results. Research conducted by the educational char-ity, the Fischer Family Trust, confirmed that as little as 10 hours’ use of SAM Learning can lead to significant benefits. For further information please contact Mr Rahman [email protected] or telephone: 0845 130 4160 or email: [email protected]

Subjects Covered ICT, Leisure and Tourism, Science, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Citizenship, Design and Technology, Drama, English, English Literature, French, Geography, German, History, Italian, Maths, Media Studies, Music, Physical Education, Physics, Religious Studies, 21st Century Science, Spanish, Statistics and Welsh. You can use the My Progress area of the site to see how your child is doing. Visit www.samlearning.com and enter the following details

Login Instructions Centre ID: DA12ts User ID: Example: 010898DJ for David Jones born 1st August 1998 Password: Student’s password (initially same as User ID) W W W . S A M L E A R N I N G . C O M

Laura Whitehead 11CBE Attends the University of Creative Arts As mentioned in last term’s newsletter, Laura Whitehead

attended Summer School at the University of Creative Arts. This is what she has to say: “I was extremely lucky to be referred to the UCA art summer school by Mr Curtis and I attended the four day residential at the Rochester Campus. I went on a field trip to make studies of architecture. I had to produce a 3D model of my design and I had a day off to do this. As well as the hard work during the day, I had fun with the other students organising evening events; a movie night, ghost tour, bowling and a celebration party. It

was a fantastic experience and well worth taking the time out of my summer holiday! I would recommend it to any-one.”

Mr Curtis

MACMILLAN COFFEE MORNING Well done to our fantastic admin team for raising £400 for MacMillan Cancer Care. Delicious homemade cakes and coffee or tea went on sale to staff for £1. Special thanks go to Jackie Reilly our Exams Officer for organising the event and also to all the staff who took time to bake such fabu-lous cakes and dug deep to support the sale.

Want to Get Higher Exam Results?

Rosie Penfold Elizabeth Lee Ashleigh Jeffery Demi-Louise Holdren Lauren Harvey Daisy Green Maxine Francis

Ross Blandford Chris Donoghue Michael Fenton Andrew Windsor Josh Blackwell Harry Bridger Antonio Olvera Lewis Gibbins James Waller Connor Martin Jessica Pay Jade Simpson

Want to know more about multiple intelligences and VAK (Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic) learning, then look on our website under the Extended Learning, KS3 tab. It makes for interesting knowledge about yourself. Have a go on the self-test.

We have also looked at students’ preferred multiple intelligences—this is how we prefer to produce work and show off our talents. Ask your son or daughter if they can explain their preferred multiple intelligence!

ENTERPRISE REPORTS At the end of last year we had some fantastic stuff going on. On our two Community days we had fundraising, enterprise creativity tasks, vocational taster sessions and a celebration picnic! We have our three intrepid reporters to let you know more……. THAMESVIEW SCHOOL FASHION FIX Last summer term, the whole school took part in a Fashion Fix. To summarise, every student was given a t-shirt of their house colour. Students were put into groups and asked to design a motif that is enterprising.

Everyone had a go, putting their own touch to their clothing. Then all the models put on their t-shirts and stepped out onto the cat walk. The students did very well, all were unique

and some looked worthy of going into stores! But there is always a winner and the winners were: Paige, Harry, Jessica and Ryan from EPML. Special thanks to Mr Razzak for offer-ing his services as the most frequent model, and thanks to the planners of it all, Miss Ryan and Dr Bell, the Art De-partment and Technology Department. Veni Kumar, EPJR

Autumn Term 1

Fashion fix T shirt winners: Paige, Harry, Jessica & Ryan

Dear Parents, Carers and Students A new school year is upon us and Enterprise Community

is out of the blocks with a roar and now leading the Community competition including having the best overall attendance in the school! Fantastic start Enterprise! As always however, our real focus is on how well our students progress and achieve. Nothing is more important to us than students gaining the skills, experi-ences and qualifications needed to be successful in later life and this year, we have started a new initiative of Assertive Mentoring. Assertive Mentoring is being lead by Ms I Arndt (Head of Endeavour) and aims to ensure our targeted students achieve their potential through mentoring by the Enterprise team. We are aiming to improve progress across the school for all Enterprise students by working closely with Learning Mentors, tutors and co-tutors and also ensuring they are meeting progression grades and removing any barriers to learning. This term we have contributions to our newsletter by our resident student reporters, filling us in on the fantastic activities we did at the end of last term. So here’s to another great year and making sure all Enterprise students enjoy their learning and achieve their potential! Dr P Bell, Head of Enterprise EXTENDED LEARNING Our Extended Learning this term has been based on “how we learn, different learning styles and how we can show what we have learnt.” Our students should now be able to tell you whether they learn best through Vis-ual, Auditory or Kinaesthetic activities. This basically means: Visual (V) = Learning through seeing

things (pictures, reading etc.). Auditory (A) = Learning through listen-

ing. Kinaesthetic (K) = Learning through

doing, touching and moving.

WALK FOR LIFE Nearing the end of the school year, Enterprise decided to embark on a challenge for charity, a “Walk for Life”. During the Friday morning, Enterprise spent their time decorating t-shirts which later brightened up, and enhanced the walk ahead. All of Enterprise Community worked together on the field to walk or run the distance of 5km. Students and teach-ers all became involved and really got into the spirit of the event as it was raising money for Cancer Research. Moreover, the afternoon event was also inspired by all participants, as banners were made to support the cause of the walk on the sunny after-noon. It was also accompanied by mu-sic to help Enterprise keep on going, in fact a few students and teachers went that extra mile and ran over the distance of 10Km. It was a lovely after-noon and Enterprise thoroughly enjoyed it after they had completed their task. The real winners of the day though, were Cancer Research, for which over £300 was raised and we hope that the money raised helps them in their daily developments to help people in the future. Thanks to our fantastic camera-men and report-ers! We had a great time! Just to say a big well done to all our competitors but a special mention to 3 people: Top athlete on the day: Lewis Gibbins Best effort: Nick Hawes Overall star: Shirley Smith Great effort Enterprise!!!!!!!!

Sean Hammond, EPJR

Thames Views

Congratulations to Mr Mould, Shane’s Dad, for winning the £100 M&S prize draw for sending in e-mail details for parent mail! Don’t forget to send yours in if you have not already done so! We need your e-mail addresses please!

Engagement Project Could you take orders? Could you work as a member of a team within strict guidelines? Could you travel all over Kent to be part of a project? Well these students can! One day a week as part of their programme of study the students below are part of the Challenge Troop project which is also part of a two day course called the Engagement Project. The results so far have been pleasing and we look forward to next term to hear about their residential and other challenges they have to face! Jimmy Penfold Arron Denham Josh Payne Tom Hussey Matthew Playle Ashley Symes

Congratulations go to Lewis Gibbins, Michael Carey and Luke Adams, who were selected for Kent district football teams.

Well done to Annie Waghorn, who won the gold at the under 15s heptathlon, and beat the club's

previous record! R Rogers

Evening Classes at Thamesview

From Wednesday 4th November Thamesview will be holding adult evening classes in Bricklaying. The course runs for six weeks and application forms are available from Pauline Blayney via the school. Hurry, numbers are limited!

There will be 3 reward trips run by the LSL’s throughout the year:

Christmas Easter Summer

Rewards Trip Criteria 1. You must have 97% attendance or better. 2. You must have no conduct logs. 3. You must have no lates. This will run termly, so at the beginning of each term you have the chance to meet this criteria.

COMMUNITY PICNIC For the picnic at Shorne, all of the Enterprise form groups were gathered together for the walk to Shorne Country Park. The Community took the scenic route to make the journey as safe and enjoyable as possible. The scenery on this longer walk was also much better than the shorter options. The group were led through fields and villages until Shorne Woods came into focus. We all managed to arrive in time for the lunch that we had brought with us, before being allowed to disperse into smaller groups to explore Shorne Woods’ recently opened trails and interact with the activity structures dotted throughout the park. The Community was then rejoined and led back to Thamesview. Unfortunately the return journey did not go as planed as Mr Razzak led half of the group in the wrong direction leaving the remainder of the Community (which I was in) to take the long route back. You will be glad to know that everyone returned safe and sound! Matthew Sparks, EPJR Working Beyond the Classroom

Vocational students continue to spread their wings beyond the school gates into the world of industry and education. Although we have only been back a short time numerous visits have been arranged and taken place. ‘Branding Day’—Year 10 Young Apprentices (YA) and Diploma students. Fishing trips and educational courses on the environment – Year 10. 2nd place on the Tall Ships race around the Isle of Wight—Year 11 Apprentices. Branding day—Year 12 Diploma students. BTEC Construction Diploma and Young Apprentice students to Shorne Country Park. Year 11 Young Apprentices representing Gravesham at the Construction Expo in Chatham. Diploma and Young Apprentices in Hair and Beauty to Exhibition at Edexcel Hair and Beauty students to Spa visits. Full one day a week work experience for all YA students in Year 10 & 11 all over Kent in

their fields of study. Year 11 CACHE Students to nursery and primary schools as part of their course. Year 11 students to North West Kent College doing Welding and Motor Vehicles. Year 11 at Pitman’s doing legal secretarial courses. Not bad for the first 6 weeks back! Further exciting trips and residentials have been arranged for students in the months to come. Watch this space for updates and reports.

Pauline Blayney

Wanted! Parent Governor

We have a vacancy for a new Parent Governor. This is a voluntary post and no experience is necessary, as training is provided. If you are interested in becoming more involved in the school, please contact Mrs Sharon McGregor on 01474 538112 or email: [email protected]

Three years ago we asked parents, students and staff to respond to a question-naire about Thames-view School, and we feel it is time to get your overall views again. We will soon be requesting you to complete the Kirkland Rowall survey, and in return for your completed surveys, we will put you into another draw for £100 for M & S vouchers. We need your views to help us forge forward; it is all about positive partnerships.

Autumn Term 1

Welcome to a new academic year, and to the massive opportunities it brings us all in the school, and in particular Challenger. Firstly I would like to send my congratulations to the students who have left us over the summer, and who achieved some really positive and well earned exam success. There are a number of students worthy of a Mention. I would like to say a particular well done to Jade Deavin and Charlie Goddard. Charlie received the highest amount of GCSE results in the school; 15 at a C grade or above. They both achieved excellent results, and I know that this was down to some really hard work and lots of effort. The saying ‘you get out what you put in’ is so true with exam results, and I hope the current Year 11 students put in their best over the coming year. If they do they will be rewarded at the end, and if not, they may well be disappointed. As we are on the subject of effort

and reward the tutor group, CCSP had a reward breakfast in the first two weeks back after the summer, to say well done for being the smartest and best presented tutor group in Challenger. Thanks goes to Mrs Brooker who organised the breakfast, and who has put the spot-

light firmly on uniform and presentation. If you look smart and well presented, the likelihood is that you will work smart and take pride in what you do. Keep it up CCSP, and as for the rest of you- the challenge has been laid down and they are the tutor group to beat! We are also pleased to welcome the new Year 7 students into the

Community. I am sure you realise by now that you have joined an excellent Community who are firmly focused on being the best teaching and learning community in the school. There are plenty of people who are always available to help with any issues you may have, academic or social. Your first point of contact in school, however, is the tutor. They will then help deal with the problems, or they will refer issues to the right person for you. I am really excited by the year ahead, and I am sure that Challenger will go from strength to strength. But this can only happen with everyone, (teachers, students and parents) all pulling in the same direction, and remaining totally focused on student achievement.

M Hodges Head of Challenger Community

Family puzzle; What is this medieval puzzle? (phrase or saying). LAST PUZZLE; Just say what you see!!- Robin Hood (left one). NEW PUZZLE

Challenger extended learning

Year 7 Football The Challenger Players: Lewis Dellbridge, Joshua Smalley, Izak Both, Tom Arnold, Christopher Barnes, Lewis Lancaster–Usher, Nathan Blandford, Georgia Reece, Liam King The Matches!!! Challenger v Endeavour—The match was great! We had an advantage as Endeavour only had 4 players but they still worked hard as they all put effort in. Challenger started off doing really well and Lewis Lancaster-Usher had played outstanding throughout the game with lots of shots and scored a few goals. However everyone on the pitch played really well and Challenger won! Challenger v Discovery - They were a tough team, but again everyone played their best. Josh scored an excellent goal and Lewis scored another! Both sides made fair tackles and we all enjoyed the game. Challenger v Enterprise—This was an excellent match even though it was another hard game for us. Enterprise had taken the lead for a couple of minutes, but Challenger managed to score and equalise! Both teams tried to take the lead again but due to the outstanding performance of both keepers the score stayed the same. Overall Challenger won. Well done team!

By Lewis Dellbridge CLF

Who are you? How do you learn best? What do you need to do to improve your learning?

OUTCOME: The current extended learning programme had been designed to be done over 7 weeks eventually producing a way of demonstrating how students learn best. What is Extended Learning (EL)?: It replaces homework and covers all subject areas and Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS). Students will have activities to explain their EL in tutor time and they will extend this in their own time. Students must complete the basic task each week and choose an open ended and differentiated task: Bronze is the simple level that all students should achieve; Silver is the level that most should achieve and will allow students to develop skills that will prepare them better for GCSE qualifications and lastly Gold, which is aimed to challenge more able students.

Being a Senior Student There are many responsibilities and roles to undertake. So far we have led a celebration assembly for our Community where we produced certificates for KS4 students who have already passed GCSE English and Maths. We attend many meetings, for example the Community Council in

which we take a leading role. We will also be involved in planning and organising the Year 11 leavers’ prom. The role of the Senior Student comes with lots of benefits and we feel it will be beneficial in the future as it demonstrates our ability to be an exemplary member of the school community.

Joe Degnin

Thames Views

“It is our duty to ensure that our students are positive contributors to their school, local, national and

international communities.”

Thamesview students are already positive contributors to the Community in which we live. We have taken part in many activities in the past few years that show Thamesview's dedication to the community around us. In the last newsletter we congratulated the students who took part in Gravesham’s Big Day Out at the prom, which was a huge success for the community. This year we will be embarking on many more projects that allow us to become positive contributors to the community. This term we have looked at International Peace Day and Black History Month. The students have taken part in research projects and artistic challenges to show their understanding of these issues. Keep watching the notice board outside the staffroom for more competitions that allow you to be positive contributors to the community.

Kate Hudson

Thamesview students participated in a competition to design a peace poster. There were many entries across the communities and the finalists’ posters are pictured below. Congratulations to Connor Watson and Natasha Hollowell. The most entries came from DRC where almost every member contributed. Thank you for those entries.

Connor Watson—CJC

Natasha Hollowell—CRR

What do they think so far? Before coming to Thamesview I

felt really excited and I was looking forward to it. I feel quite happy in Thamesview now because I feel like an older person. I enjoy playing with other students at break and lunchtime. I enjoy PE, EBL and also attend some after-school clubs.

Joshua Smalley CSFI Before coming to TVS I felt very excited and very happy. I feel very happy about being here now because of having more freedom. I enjoy break times with my friends. I enjoy PE the most as it is fun!

Zak Both CLF Starting Thamesview was fun but before I started I felt a bit nervous. Now I feel fine and a bit more confident. I enjoy break and lunchtimes the most. PE is my favourite subject.

Nathan Blandford CILB Before I started Thamesview I was a little bit nervous but more

excited! Now that I have got used to it, it’s fun and not scary at all. I enjoy PE, Science, Technology and EBL the most. I do like most lessons but these are my favourites.

Georgia Reece CRR

Before starting Thamesview I did feel excited but a bit nervous. I feel grown up now and I like Thamesview a lot. I enjoy P.E the most but I also like EBL, form time and Maths.

Chloe Oakley CKH Before starting Thamesview I felt really scared. I now feel really good being at TVS. I enjoy PE and form time but my favourite subjects are English and Humanities.

Taylor Perfect CKH

We would like to introduce ourselves as the new Challenger Peer Mentors. Since we became the new

peer mentors we have done a number of things, like showing new students around the school, going to a variety of different schools to tell the new students what it’s like at Thamesview. The first time we met our new students was when they came into school for a couple of periods back in June, and then we met them again on Induction Day where we spent the whole day with them, getting to know them. We came in early on the first day to help the new students to settle in and to make sure they knew their way around the school. In the future we hope to further help the new Year 7’s get the best possible first year at Thamesview as they can. We are: Shaun Grimes, Sara Port, Zoe Appleton and Naomi Nichols.

Autumn Term 1

Hello Everyone For those who don’t know me, my name is James Freed and I have been selected as the Head Boy for 2009-10. To become Head Boy has always been an aspiration of mine, and therefore since starting Thamesview I have thrown myself into various opportunities that have come my way. I have been on the School Council for the past 4 years and was even lucky enough to be voted by the students in Gravesham to become a Kent Youth County Councillor representing Gravesham for one and a half years. I then moved on and became a Peer Mentor in Year 9, before going through an interview process in Year 10 to become a Senior Student and then being voted on by the staff to become Head Boy. I will be helping out in assemblies and various other activities around the school. As a member of Discovery I feel that I am not just representing the whole school but also showing everyone else what Discovery as a Community can achieve. I am immensely proud to be part of Discovery Learning Community as I know are the other students. We had an extremely successful time last year; we won Sports Day, the Community Competition and many of our students achieved success in their exams. I am sure we will be even more successful this year! I look forward to helping out each and every student within the school, and I hope everyone has a good year.

James Freed—Head Boy

In June 2009, several Year 10 students in Discovery Learning Community took GCSE examinations a year early. Through their hard work they achieved the following results: Ryan Bunce = Cs in English Literature, Humanities and Maths Lauren Curtis = Cs in English Literature and Maths Hollie Payne = B in English Literature Annie Waghorn = C in English Literature Ben Lewing = B in English Lit and Cs in Humanities and Maths James Treveil = C in Maths James Freed = Bs in English Literature and Humanities Jesse Orange = Cs in English Literature, Maths and Humanities Molly Brett = Cs in English Literature and Maths Alex Davies = C in English Literature Letitia McFarlane = C in English Literature Dannielle Boswell = C in English Literature

In the summer term, students in Discovery Learning Community voted for the British Heart Foundation to be the charity that we support this year. The BHF raises money to fund research into the causes of heart disease and buy vital equipment for treating people who

suffer from heart disease. They also promote awareness, healthy living and other ways to try to prevent heart problems. I have done lots of work for the BHF in the past and am pleased to be promoting this charity in our community and school. We will be holding a number of events throughout the year to raise money. The first of these being a Halloween themed disco for Years 7-9 on Friday 13th November from 6.00pm—9.00pm. Discovery should feel proud that they are helping the BHF to try to stop Britain’s biggest single killer.

Discovery Learning

Community—runaway winners

of Sports Day 2009!

Congratulations to all involved.

Discovery Newsletter Pages produced by James Freed, Jesse Orange, Sian Dowd and Annie Waghorn (Senior Students)

Our students continue to be heroes! The whole community pulled together at the end of the Summer Term when we annihilated the other communities on Sports Day (see picture). Every single student took part in at least one event earning valuable points. We were the only community which managed to get all of its students involved. Well done to everyone. This victory has motivated our students to do even better this year and we have already achieved success in the competitions so far.

Stewart Atkin, Emily Crowther and Aaron

Murphy-Peak (all from DMD) winners of Year 7 Quiz. Our

very own Masterminds!

Winners of the inter-community staff quiz.

Mr Francis, Mrs Griffiths, Miss Dugmore and

Mrs Thomas

2nd Place in the Year 7 Football competition. Harry Beadle, Charlie Abrey, Brett Hutson, Chloe Whittingham, Bradley Stoneham, Charlie Ellis, George Wrench and Stewart Atkin

Thames Views

A Note From Our Head Girl Welcome back to the new term! Congratulations to the Year 8 football team who have won Endeavour valuable points. Let’s hope the other year groups can win us some more! I know all of the Year 7’s are settling in well. If you have any problems, come and find me and I’ll help you. As Head Girl, it is my duty to make sure that your transition into Year 7 is as smooth as possible. Good luck to all future competitors, let’s show the other Communities what we are made of!

Rosie Hobson

Extended Learning – Who Am I? Our Extended Learning Project this term is called Who Am I? The project involved activities that helped us to understand how we learn best, by looking at different learning styles. Already many of the students have researched about their family history and have com-pleted a family tree, some have been very impressive. As the term progresses students will be able to learn a lot about themselves and how they learn best. Mrs Gordon Learning Director

Miss Arndt, who has joined Endeavour as our Head of Community. We are thrilled to welcome her to Endeavour and know that she will continue to take the community from strength to strength. Also, Mrs Rodgers EVSRO in Science and Mr Robinson EVSG in PE.

Winners of the Year 8 Football competition. Daniel Large, Harry Cook, George Drynan, Aaron Rayner, Jack Barham, Bret Hill, Anthony Rice and Kieran Treleavan

I have really enjoyed Thamesview so far because everyone’s very friendly and all the teachers are very good. I also like the idea of the four communities

because I like being competitive.

Max Sullivan DJC

I have really settled into Thamesview. I have made

loads of friends in the school and have met lots of nice

teachers. I enjoy being in the best

Community, Discovery!!!

Jamie Fenton DJC

The first time I walked into Thamesview I was scared, but once I made some friends and started to know the teachers I started to really

like this school.

Fiona Brett DRC

The new term and year has started with a vengeance. The Year 7s have arrived and embraced all aspects of secondary school with much enthusiasm and excitement. The Community competition has started and although we appear to be slow start-ers; it’s a marathon not a 100m dash – we will continue to catch the others up. We will be starting to make Christmas boxes for Operation Christmas Child so I encourage all form groups to support this very worthwhile charity. Certain groups of Year 10 & 11 students will be taking part in the Assertive Mentoring programme which will be launched shortly in order to ensure that all students receive their best possible grades. I would like to wish all students in Endeavour well for the rest of the year and may we continue to achieve our best!

Miss Arndt Head of Learning Community

Autumn Term 1

Year 7 Competition Starting Thamesview

(by winner Thomas Honeyman, 7EvJEC)

Before Thomas joined us, he wrote: I am really looking forward to starting Thamesview Secondary School. I am really excited but at the same time extremely nervous; it feels like I am starting a new chapter in my life because I am going from the biggest at Junior School to the bottom of Secondary School. I am really excited because I have always wanted a locker, making new friends, enjoy-ing new lessons that I have not yet experi-enced, such as carpentry, mechanics and building. I am extremely nervous because I might get bullied; I might not make friends; get lost and most of all not having the right equipment for the right lessons. But overall I am really excited and I believe that it will be like a rollercoaster.

Well done as well to Chelsea Bellingbroke 7EpSL, who won the Art Competition with her 3D beach design box.

Term Term Start/End Dates

2 2nd November—18th December

3 4th January 2010—12th February

4 22nd February—1st April

5 19th April—28th May

6 7th June—23rd July

Thamesview School

Thong Lane Gravesend Kent DA12 4LF

Phone: 01474 566552 E-Mail: [email protected] Headteacher Miss R Hughes

Event Other Key Dates

Parents’ Forum 12th Nov

Staff Development Day 27th Nov

Staff Development Day 29th Jan

Parents’ Forum 25th March

Parents’ Forum 17th June

Staff Development Day 25th June

Are you the parent or carer of a child with a diagnosis of ADHD? If so these sessions might be for you……

Over a three week period we are offering you the chance to meet with local paediatricians and other specialists involved in health, education and support-ing families in Gravesham. The sessions will take the form of presentations along with chances to discuss things that concern your own families as well as finding out more information and ways of helping to care for children with ADHD.

The aim is to meet for all three mornings at Chantry base for Specialist Teach-ing Service (above the Primary School in Ordnance Road)

All sessions will run from 9.30am—12.30pm. Please feel free to join us for coffee from 9.10am. To reserve a place or to find out more telephone Tracey Sams on 01322 668501.

Session 1 Thursday 5th November Focus on Health

Session 2 Thursday 12th November Focus on Education

Session 3 Thursday 19th November Focus on Family

Personalised Learning Thanks to our dedicated Learning Facilitator in PE, Mr Franks, who is running the Btec Vocational PE, which has been offered to students after school hours and the feed-back from parents has been very appreciative: “We realise that you have shown a huge commitment to the students by running the course in your own time. We hope the students are aware that they are privileged to have been given this great opportunity, and to have a dedicated teacher who is prepared to 'go the extra mile' - as we are not sure whether many teachers at other schools would make such an offer. Hopefully the students who are taking the course will repay your commitment by being motivated and working really hard.”

Let’s have some fun with Maths… 1. Averages—what is the average

number of sheets in a toilet roll? 2. If each Year Group has 160 stu-

dents, how many people work at Thamesview?

3. Half the number of school days in the Christmas term 2, minus the number of days in Advent, multi-plied by the number of days in a week, plus the number of Learn-ing Communities in school.

Go for it! Answers to Miss Hughes by Friday November 6th 2009.

Thames Views

Community Name

Points

Challenger 56

Discovery 60

Endeavour 38

Enterprise 66

Bored in the evening after school? Want to spend time with your friends doing something different? Want to learn new skills? Well... why not try a school club, or attend activities run by the youth service, or be involved in “Wicked Wednesdays”. Or come along to a Community competition and repre-sent your Community, there are lots of opportunities, quizzes, sports and many more. So look out and be involved. New for next term “Wicked Wednesday”. The choices are all given below in the boxes...

COOKING FOR BEGINNERS

Do you want to learn the basics of cooking? Always thought you could be the next Nigella or Jamie? Then come and join us at these sessions. Learn how to slice, dice, chop and cook amazing food to impress everyone. Tutors: Mr Cooper & Mrs Fishenden

GET FIT, STAY FIT Have you ever wondered how to lose weight, get fit, build muscle or just stay healthy? Well this is your chance. For 6 weeks you will take on the role of a personal fitness coach. You will learn how to test for fitness, what training methods can help you lose weight or build muscle and how to plan an exercise plan for someone. If you are interested in keeping fit and healthy yourself or simply want to have the knowledge to improve your body then come along. Tutor: Mr G Robinson

MAKEUP FOR BEGINNERS This course will involve learning how to: look after your skin, how to apply make up correctly Work on a daytime look Work on a night time look And finally design your own look for a competition at the end of the six weeks. Tutor: Mrs Gordon & Miss Skipsey

ICT FOR YEAR 7 This course is a fun way of creating an individual learning journal! You choose from various subjects including social net-working, music, fashion, sport or crime scene investigation. There are loads of different ways to learn with cc4g- webpage’s, multimedia games, quizzes and downloadable resources. It is all in line with the key stage 2/3 national curriculum of ICT

Tutor: Mrs Topsfield

A HEALTHY START TO THE DAY!

Come and join us for breakfast every morning in the drama hall. Cereals, toast and juice for just 20p! 8am – 8.30am

If you are interested in taking part in “Wicked Wednesdays” you need to get a registration form from Mr Cooper, fill it out and return it. Go on give it a go!

Newsletter Ipod Competition

In picture 1: Robyn Stevens In picture 2: Jamie Gilbert In picture 3: Mrs Finelli The winner from the last newsletter was

Layla Allen EvJCO. Well done Layla!

Autumn Term 1

Advance Level Diploma Students Work at

Cambridge University For two days in October Year 12 & 13 students studying the Advanced Level Diploma in Construc-tion and the Built Environment worked at Cambridge University’s new Vocational centre. This was the second time that the

students from the Voca-tional Centre (a Centre of Excellence in this field) have been asked to participate in such a programme. Following this experience it is hoped further educational visits will be arranged and some students are already applying for

university courses at Cambridge. Watch this space for an update on their progress! Pauline Blayney

Year 11 Young Apprentices Take to the Sea

After spending last year in Dubai as part of their course, this year the Year 11 Construction Apprentices decided to take part in the Tall Ships Race around the Isle of Wight from the 1st

Oct – 4th Oct. Teamwork and a strong stomach were the order of the day with GALE FORCE 7 winds and the skills of learning sailing to contend with. After their initial training, race day saw them come 2nd in their class despite a crash with another ship. No fear was shown by any student or staff member which some described as ‘amazing’ Asked if they would repeat the experi-ence, the answer was a resounding YES! Well done to Mrs Goodwin, Mr Wilkinson and YA Apprentices for a great achievement.

Pauline Blayney

Last term some students took part in our ‘Action Earth’ Day. This involved them in planting lots of plants and seedlings in our man-made flower beds, hanging feeders for the birds and of course getting very smelly when visiting the compost bins! On our return to school after the summer Holiday, we found we now have numerous sunflowers and our Herb Garden has grown madly over the holidays. If you are interested in growing plants and seeds etc come along to the Gardening Club on Wednesday’s after school –

see Miss Dugmore for more Information. We are once again registered with the supermarket Morrisons so please support us by bringing in your vouchers. Last year we collected over 2,000 and this helped

us to get the gardening club up and running. Students’ also recycle their mobile phones and proceeds raised are used to adopt endangered animals. So far we have adopted a Tiger, Polar Bear and an Orang-utan. We extended this last year to an

inter-community competition and Endeavour collected the most and had the privilege of adopting a Bengal Tiger as their Community Mascot. So dig out those old mobile phones and do some-thing worthwhile with them. They do not have to be in working order and all are gratefully received. Mobiles should be given to form tutors who will then pass them on to me.

Interested in Environmental and Green Issues? Our Eco Committee is in need of volunteers – see Ms Dean, Miss Dugmore or Miss Beaumont for more information. Thank you for your support. Here’s to a greener tomorrow! Miss Dean

Think Green

Our TA and LSA stars, who recently attended their graduation ceremony to celebrate their Level 2 & 3 achievements. Congratulations to them all!

2009 term 1

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