On Wednesday 17th June Dr Reah Sedden formally of the NASA space program came into Joseph Swan School. Dr Sedden is a veteran of the space program having spent over 700 hours in space and has the privilege of being the first woman to fly on the space shuttle. Dr Seddon gave a motivational speech and presentation to all of our year 9 students to show them what they can achieve in life if they choose to apply themselves. Students thoroughly enjoyed the once in a life time visit and were keen to ask questions.

In addition to this one student will be given the opportunity to visit NASA space school in America for 2 weeks. Details of this exciting competition will be given to year 9 and 10 students.

The A level Performing Arts group are performing Hairspray as part of their A level exam. The show is on from Tuesday 16th to Thursday 18th June in the school hall starting at 6.30. Tickets are £1.00 and are available from the finance office at breaktime.

A group of five Year 9 and 10 students have recently been successful in a design competition to design a new Parliment building, organised by the Royal Institute of British Architects. They produced a great project, design a for a North East Parliment called The Northern Palace of Democracy. As part of the work they organised two visits to a professional architects company in Newcastle and learned how modern buildings are designed, planned and built.

The final judging was completed by the RIBA members, and other judges, and as a result the team from Joseph Swan will be going to London for the National Grand Final. They will be given a tour of Westminster Palace, visit 10 Downing Street, and will meet Boris Johnson, the overall judge of the national competition.

We have received a letter from Northumbria Police this month regarding their concerns over parking along Saltwell Road South which runs past the school. They have received a number of complaints from residents in regard to parents/carers parking, without due consideration to the home owners along St Andrews Drive.

If you collect your child from school at the end of the day please ensure that you park legally and do not cause a nuisance to other road users. In particular there are clearly defined road markings set out as yellow zig zag lines around the school entrance, where parents/carers must not park during the school day.

Thank you for your cooperation

Between the 24th and the 29th.of March this year, 42 Year 8 students and 5 staff went on a Mathematics and French themed trip to Paris, with some Business Studies thrown in for good measure.

After an overnight coach journey to Dover, a fairly smooth sailing, and another few hours in the coach, they arrived at their hotel on the outskirts of Paris. From there they ventured into the centre of Paris each day for activities including: a guided tour of Paris and its sites; a trip up the Eiffel Tower; a visit to Sacre Coeur; a trip along the Seine on a Bateaux Mouche; a visit to Notre Dame; the Pompidou Centre and the Louvre, along with some wonderful French cuisine and the odd trip to McDonalds. The students had a work booklet to fill in along the way related to the sites we were visiting. This included some tough Maths, French and Business Studies puzzles, along with some fun puzzles and a diary.

After 3 days in central Paris, they spent our Saturday in Disneyland running from ride to ride via the odd queue and spell of inclement weather. Much fun was had by all, including the teachers!

Staff and students alike had a fantastic and very memorable time, due mainly to the impeccable behaviour of the students. They really were a credit to the school and their families.