Crazy Hexagon Lady published in Creative Teaching and Learning Magazine!
Our resident learning geek, Lisa Ashes, AST (Advanced Skills Teacher) in English at Joseph Swan Academy has had her first article published in the national publication of Creative Teaching and Learning magazine. Lisa is one of a growing number of ASTs employed at the school and is a somewhat popular figure on Twitter with her regular updates about exciting teaching and learning ideas that she trials in her classroom. She has a growing number of followers who subscribe to her blog and regularly correspond with her to share her expertise.
Lisa’s latest article entitled ‘Beyond Spoon-feeding’ shares her research on the essential knowledge, skills and tools that students need to become lifelong, independent learners. In it she explores the use of hexagons to help students structure their ideas and uses question squares to encourage students to develop higher order thinking skills. For further information on this article please contact Lisa via her blog.
To access Lisa’s blog, follow this link – http://lisajaneashes.edublogs.org
To follow Lisa on twitter @lisajaneashes
Created by A Millar on May 17th, 2012.
All Third Year Students to the Great Hall
As our magical time drew to a close – we really did see it all – Diagon Alley, the potions classroom, the Great Hall, Privet Drive, the Knight Bus, Gryffindor Common Room and Harry and Ron’s dormitory! What an amazing experience.
We learnt so much about the making of the films and what impressed us the most is the minute attention to detail. Did you know, for example, that every single portrait used in the films was hand painted by artists especially for the films? Or that a team of 86 artists and crew members built the first version of Hogwarts? Or that all animals were trained on set by a large group of animal trainers? Apparently the ravens could be trained in a day but the owls took 2-3 weeks to train!
Here’s a selection of photos of our journey – enjoy!
Created by A Millar on May 8th, 2012.
Science and Technology Challenge Day
Yesterday ten gifted Year 8 pupils went to Newcastle University to take part in a Science and Technology Challenge Day. They competed in pairs against 9 other Schools from the North East, completing different tasks such as bridge building, a forensic challenge, creating a robot and building an electric car. The tasks where designed to make the pupils solve problems and use their imagination.
At the end of the task, awards where given for 1st place in each challenge. Our students achieved first place in the Forensic Challenge and first place for the best electric car.
All ten pupils were excellent throughout the day and were good ambassadors for the school.
Created by A Millar on May 4th, 2012.
A Magical Day
Yesterday we had a tour of London, taking in many sights and stopping at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, before heading off to watch the terrifying supernatural play ‘Woman in Black’ that had everyone screaming in their seats. Can you believe it- we met the real Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint)! He just happened to be at the production of Woman in Black we were watching and one student was lucky enough to have a photograph taken with him.
We’re off to the Harry Potter Studio today so we’ll keep you updated. The way final team positions are:
- Hufflepuff
- Ravenclaw
- Gryffindor
- Slytherin
Created by A Millar on May 4th, 2012.
All Out of Floo Powder
37 students were Expelliarmussed from Joseph Swan Academy this morning to visit the Harry Potter studio in London.
Students have been divided into the 4 Harry Potter houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin so they can compete for prizes throughout the trip. Mrs Hutchison is leading Gryffindor, whilst Miss Fairhurst is in charge of Ravenclaw. Miss Rodaway and Mr Wares are in charge of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively!
Keep checking back to see who’s in the lead. Let the competition begin!
Created by A Millar on May 3rd, 2012.
Year 9 are Gateshead League and Cup Champions
The year 9 team have won every game this season to claim both the league and cup title. In a hard fought game against Heworth our boys ran out eventual winners 4-1 to make it a hatrick of wins against the same opposition this season.
These titles add to the silverware that was won last year when the boys won the Durham Cup. Next season the boys have their sights on doing well in the ESFA National Cup.
We will be running a competition to vote for the players’ player of the year. This will be a close fought contest as there have been some outstanding performances.
Well done to everyone concerned and until next season…….
Created by A Millar on April 27th, 2012.
Attendance
Good attendance and punctuality is crucial for all of our students, if they are to make the most of the range of educational opportunities that we make available to them. Years of research has proven the direct link between good attendance and academic success; an attendance of 90% throughout secondary school can lead to a student dropping by up to one whole grade across subjects in GCSE exam results. We therefore expect a minimum of 94% attendance from every student, and take the matter of poor attendance very seriously.
Our overall school attendance has improved significantly over the last few years (from 89% in 2008/09 to 92.3% in 2010/11) and we are committed to achieving an even greater improvement this year. We recognise good (and significantly improved) attendance in many different ways – communication with parents/carers, certificates and awards, merits, reward trips and prizes. Every half-term, we hold a draw for all students who have achieved 100% attendance in that period, and select 2 winners from each year group. There is also an annual reward trip at the start of the academic year for all students who achieved 100% attendance during the previous year.
Parents/carers can expect daily text messages to inform them if their child is not in school, plus a telephone call and/or home visit where a student is absent from the school for no known reason. We have a staged response procedure for non-attendance, which starts with an initial conversation between tutor and student, and culminates in a formal meeting in school that parents are invited to attend, prior to a referral to the Education Welfare Service. We are about to introduce a further stage (Stage 4) to this process, which will consist of a governor-led panel, supported by a range of external agencies such as social services, the police and youth crime prevention professionals. At this point the outcome may be a formal parenting contract, or the recommendation that either the issuing of a penalty notice or referral for legal proceedings must follow.
Good communication, and working in partnership with parents/carers is critical. To ensure that your child gets the best chance of success, we ask all parents/carers to support us by making sure that your child(ren) attend school every day, and on time.
Created by A Millar on April 4th, 2012.
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