Inside
P.2 MEET OUR HEAD BOY AND HEAD GIRL
P.13 SKI TRIP TO THE AUSTRIAN RESORT, SAALBACH
P.16 FULL SPORTS ROUND UP Manor Croft Academy Old Bank Road Dewsbury West Yorkshire WF12 7DW
SUMMER TERM 2019 ISSUE 01
Manor Croft pay their respect at the Menin Gate
MENIN GATE CEREMONY WREATH LAID BY B. DIXON & L. NICHOLSON VIMY RIDGE
LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY
EASTER TRIP TO EUROPE’S WORLD WAR 1 BATTLEFIELDS n 12th - 14th April 2019 Manor Croft students went on a three day tour of the World War I battlefield sites during the Easter break. The group came across a number of thought-provoking and saddening sites around the Ypres Saliant, such as Essex Farm & Dressing Station, Sanctuary Wood, Vimy Ridge and Thiepval Memorial. Day 1: After departing MCA at midnight the group travelled overnight to catch the Ferry to France. Upon arrival, we got straight into the trip visiting locations such as Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Essex Farm Cemetery & Dressing Station, Sanctuary Wood, Tyne Cot
British Cemetery and Langemark German Cemetery. Day 2: We left our accommodation at 8:30am and set off for a trip into France to visit Vimy Ridge, site of the famous battle on the Western Front where four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together for the first time to capture the ridge from the German army. The group carried on the day visiting Lochnagar Crater, previously the site of the Lochnager mine which was exploded by the British during the first day of the Somme. The sound of the blast was considered to the be the loudest man-made noise in history. From here, we then visited the Thiepval
Memorial & Visitors Centre and Newfoundland Park. After a lovely meal at a restaurant in Ypres, the final part of the trip saw Head Girl Leigh Nicholson and star student Bailey Dixon take part in the Menin Gate ceremony which is performed every night in Ypres. The group got to witness the ceremony while our two students got to lay a wreath to pay respect for those who lost their lives during World War I. Day 3: Departing the accommodation at 8:30am, we travelled to Ypres to visit the ‘In Flanders Fields’ exhibition, the site of which was originally destroyed by artillery during the war but reconstructed
and named after the poet John McCrae. The museum taught students about the futility of the war as seen in the West Flanders region. After thoughtful reflection, the trip was a great success and the students were a credit to the school, their parents and guardians. Hopefully our students have made memories that they will cherish and we hope to bring about similar experiences for those at Manor Croft Academy in the future which will last a life time.
WELCOME TO OUR FIRST EDITION OF ‘THE TERM’ At Manor Croft Academy, students don’t just achieve the most progress in Kirklees, they also take part in many fantastic enrichment opportunities. While we regularly share these experiences on our website and social media, we wanted to produce a publication to share with the whole community. The Term is a collection of our students’ incredible achievements each term featuring reports on everything from ski trips to cooking competitions. As this is the first issue we have looked back to January this year to share with you just a selection of the enrichment we provide as an Academy. Next academic year this will increase as we pledge that all year seven and eight students will take part in at least three extra full day excursions, we’ll increase the rewards given out for attendance and homework, we are going to host several charity events and that’s only the start. Our vision is to provide innovative and exciting opportunities to the young people who attend Manor Croft Academy.
Do you want to help out with the production of our termly newspaper? If any Manor Croft Academy students wish to assist with future issues of ‘The TERM’, please see Mr Ward.
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AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS DRAMA CLUB “Drama club runs every Thursday after school in Miss Davies’ classroom. I go to drama every week, and have done since last year when it first started. I go because it is fun! We always play fun games, different ones every week. Sometimes, we create mini plays based on short scenes from plays, clips from movies or fairy tales. We are all encouraged to take part and push ourselves to take on new challenges, like lip-sync battles or even singing. We all look forward to it every Thursday!” – Brianna Newsome Drama is all about developing confidence and exploring ideas in creative ways. I like to challenge the children who attend weekly to push beyond their comfort zones and surprise themselves with their abilities and bravery. It is great to see children transition from feeling awkward and embarrassed to being able to release those inhibitions and have fun whilst developing key skills such as resilience. This year, we have done all sorts; we have had a mini Lip-Sync competition where Charlotte Coulson and Aleesha Ali both put on incredible, show-stopping performances, we have tried our hand at reworking bits of the musical Into the Woods, we have improvised scenes and, perhaps most importantly, we have had fun playing drama-based games. We hope to continue to have fun together and invite anybody who wants to be celebrated for their weird and wonderful ways to join us, too!
GAMING CLUB
Meet our new head boy and head girl n 2019/2020 As we say goodbye to the year 11 class of 2018-2019, a new chapter begins for our year 10 cohort. Over 40 students applied to become prefects, filling in application forms suggesting why they would be ideal candidates for the role. After much needed deliberation, 30 students were chosen. From those 30 students, they were given the opportunity to deliver a speech to staff and peers to try and become head boy and head girl. The competition was outstanding but it gives us great pleasure to introduce to you our head boy, Amaan Ali and head girl Lucy-Mae Curtin (photographed above). They will be supported by the deputy head boy Ayub Makda and deputy head girl Amna Ijaz. Manor Croft Academy
Upon being appointed, Lucymae said, “I wanted to become head girl to further my confidence, leadership skills and to voice the concerns of the student body. In addition to this, I wanted to contribute back to the school which has enabled my growth and development within education and other aspects of my character.” She added, “To represent the school which I am very proud of is a great privilege and has been a goal of mine since I began.” Head boy Amaan is over the moon with his appointment. “I am delighted to have been elected as head boy for 2019-2020. This position will enable me to enhance skills that I gained as a student leader and a democracy ambassador my reason for applying was to give something back to the school.” His
deputy head boy added, “I am proud to have been elected deputy head boy at Manor Croft. I am now more able to use my skills to positively enhance our learning environment. I would like to continue to improve the school.” The battle for head girl was a very close contest. Deputy head girl Amna said, “I applied for the role as I knew I could give back to the younger students my knowledge and support.” As a volunteer for teenage mental health, Amna will be able to support her peers during difficult stressful times during the exam period. We are thrilled to have a wonderful collection of prefects that will assist with the day to day running of the Academy and be role models to our entire school.
Gaming Club, is an afterschool activity club on a Friday, which consists of students been given the opportunity to play several online and video games such as Super Smash Brothers, Mario Party and more. Pupils are also provided with several gaming platforms such as Nintendo Switch, the Wii and PlayStation which gives them a choice as to what they want to enjoy. During the term, gaming club has gained publicity in the school as more students have joined and is now one of the most popular clubs in the school. There is a diverse range of people that come to gaming club, making all students feel welcome. People of all years and cultures are openly invited into the club who have now had access to increase their friend circle and socialise with new people. Consequently, this results in students to feel more comfortable and confident which allows them to participate in further school activities. In the future, we plan to connect PC’s with each other to allow students to communicate and play online games together. We also aim to arrange competitions with other schools and local communities to boost children’s social skills and help them interact with new people.
‘HIP’ CLUB Unlock YOUR Potential ‘Homework is Positive’ The library is an ideal location for students to complete their homework as well as a safe place to be after school. It is open Monday – Thursday between 14:30 – 16:00 and Friday 14:30 -15:30 Our homework policy is centred around our students being independent learners using resources like Hegarty Maths, GCSE Pod and knowledge organisers. The library is well equipment with a suite of IT equipment to enable our students to complete all homework.
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Manor Croft supports children’s air ambulance
n 15th July 2019 This year, we held our first ever charity assault course. All year groups took part in a gruelling 30 minute course which saw students sprint, jump and crawl through various obstacles. It was amazing to see so many students push their boundaries and tackle the course. As a school, we
raised over £2,500 which is not only astounding but life changing. The first obstacle involved students diving into a 70ft long inflatable bootcamp. They then ran to the next hurdle, a giant wall to scale and balance beams, all whilst being attacked with water pistols. The obstacles continued as students flung themselves over the Rumble
in the Jungle and had to crawl under nets and weave between slalom poles. Every student bought into the event and knew the cause was something they really wanted to get behind and support. All proceeds are going to the Children’s Air Ambulance. They have recently increased their fleet to
“It was amazing to see so many students push their boundaries and tackle the course” 2 adding a base in Doncaster. It is solely run using donations so as a Trust, Delta decided to support the Children’s Air Ambulance this year with a target of raising over
£100,000 this year across over 40 academies. A special thanks to Mr Ward and our fantastic Prefects for organising this great event.
n Summer 2019
LITERATURE COMES TO LIFE It has become a Manor Croft tradition to allow our students the opportunity to watch the texts we teach in the classroom. We believe this is a thrilling and captivating journey for all students at KS4. For the third year in a row, we invited MANACTO in to perform the wicked tale of Macbeth, the spectacular Jekyll and Hyde and finally, a mysterious production of An Inspector Calls. Our students relished this opportunity and they also took part in a QA session at the end of the performances. Some key questions focused around revision strategies and ways to remember quotations!
MANACTO - QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION AFTER THEIR PERFORMANCE OF MACBETH
Manor Croft Academy
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Careers week 2019 IT HAS BEEN AN EXCITING WEEK AT MANOR CROFT FOCUSED ON CAREERS
n 6th March 2019 A wide range of organisations have come in to deliver sessions to our students. From multinational companies to universities, colleges to apprenticeship providers, the up-to-date information passed on to learners is invaluable. This has been further embedded through assemblies and form time activities. The message that is coming through loud and clear is that the pace of change in the world of work is rapid. Jobs and careers that have existed for decades may be lost to automation and new opportunities are being created all the time as technology develops. It is clear that for the pupils of Manor Croft to be successful in this new age they need to leave with a great set of qualifications and a broad range of skills, which will allow them to adapt to whatever the future has in store. As part of our whole school careers program we run two dedicated drop-down days plus our careers week throughout the year. This is supplemented by the one-to-one careers guidance delivered by Careers Inc. and a range of additional visits and activities. The program is designed to provide all students with the skills, experience and knowledge required to make positive choices as they move onto the next stage of
learning or training. It is clearly having a significant impact, illustrated by the data collected on the destinations of our most recent leavers. The most striking statistic this year is that for the first time, we have no NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) students. This is fantastic news and demonstrates the affect outstanding results and quality careers guidance can achieve. It should also be noted that we have achieved our highest ever proportion of students studying level 3 qualifications, at 66%. This will undoubtedly lead to our students moving on to a better quality of career or further education. We plan to grow and develop our careers offer even further with a whole host of new initiatives later this year! n 4th March 2019 On Monday the 4th of March, Manor Croft Academy had a special visitor who came in to talk about her career. Her career was HR (human resources). She said “People who are coming for apprenticeship get 7 and a half thousand and the workers get over £100,000.”To get from the lower paid jobs to the higher paid you need to “develop” your skills. You need communication skills and teamwork.
OXFORD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE, JAMES, WITH 2 YEAR 10 STUDENTS
From her experiences she thinks working alone is not a nice feeling because when she first started she said “she wanted to break the wall down because she had no one to talk to. “This shows how much she liked to socialise with others and you will feel lonely if you don’t. This shows you need to
n 4th March 2019 On the same day, Manor Croft Academy also had a visitor who came in to talk about his University career. James graduated from Oxford University and spoke at
length with some of our most able year 10 students about his experiences and life lessons he has learned along the way. It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to ask questions about higher education and also to gain insight into what they need to do in year 11 to achieve the greatest of goals.
students to reveal misplaced enthusiasm which they would never have appreciated without visiting the law firm. Work experience is a vital aspect of career choice not just to deepen a passion for a job but to also fully understand what is involved to be able to make more informed decisions about the future. Students were also given the
opportunity to visit the Leeds City Museum and to eat at a variety of international food venders at Trinity Kitchen to sample various cultures and cuisines. Work experience is something that most schools seem to have little time to provide these days but it is something we are hoping to encourage more of next academic year.
persevere when you find the job hard as soon you’ll find it really interesting and fun. Sobiya (Year 7)
WORK EXPERIENCE OPPORTUNITY n 9th July 2019 Many students often ponder the idea of a career in law. They envisage themselves questioning witnesses in high profile court cases and trying to find key pieces of evidence during trials. Becoming a lawyer is just one of the aspirational targets many students at Manor Croft Academy have so we organised for 40 year 10 students to visit top law firm DWF atop Bridgewater Place in Leeds to get a taste for what a career in law actually entails. Through various teambuilding style activities, our students were either encouraged to aim for a legal career, or in some cases the experience enabled Manor Croft Academy
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WORCESTER COLLEGE, OXFORD
Manor Croft at one with nature
A TRIP TO OXFORD - RAISING ASPIRATIONS n March 2019 In March, some of our lucky year 9 and 10s were given the opportunity to visit Oxford University. To provide the students with a glimpse of what their futures could be like, we made the three and a half hour journey to the University City. On arrival the students were treated to lunch in a traditional dining hall on the grounds of Worcester College where we stayed. The students even had their own dormitories to give them a taste of the true university lifestyle. Activities during our stay included: a tour of the university’s Natural History museum with a handling session (including live hissing cockroaches!), a treasure hunt around the city, two full hour university style classes, a tour of two colleges where the students board and even a chance to walk the corridor where the 5th Harry Potter was filmed! The students represented the school excellently, with mature and polite behaviour throughout our stay. We were extremely proud of how they engaged with the activities and are certain we have arrived back at Manor Croft with some future Oxford graduates!
n Summer 2019 Staff at Manor Croft had the pleasure of camping and practicing their survival skills for 3 days at Bushcraft. Forty seven students cooked their own food, made their own shelters and even saved their teachers! It was a great trip and so many students are eager to return next year.
On the first day, students had the opportunity to build their own fires using different resources. They were then asked to build shelters which many bravely slept out in that night. On day 2, students learned basic first aid skills including a search and rescue attempt on staff in a recreation of a plane crash. For
dinner, students gutted whole salmon and cooked the fillets on their own open fires. On the third day, they took part in the Bushcraft Championship Games. Keegan Griffiths and Jack Thompson excelled along with Josh Armitage who was particularly good at survival techniques!
Hifsa cooks up a storm
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FUTURE CHEF – HIFSA n 21st November 2018 A huge well done to Hifsa Zulfiqar for not only taking part in Future chef as a non-food student, but for winning the local final! The event took place in Leeds
College on 21st November 2018 where Hifsa served up two amazing dishes and went through to compete at Sheffield Hallam University at the regional final. Hifsa received outstanding
feedback from all of the chef judges and they were blown away by the taste of the curry she produced. Congratulations Hifsa – you should be very proud of all you have achieved. Manor Croft Academy
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Students celebrate democracy
n 15th - 29th January 2019 Democracy means that everyone in society can use their voice to make a difference. Student Leaders at Manor Croft Academy were invited to participate in a series of democracy workshops providing them
with an insight into the way our laws are made and how their voice can be use to make change. Following the workshop’s the Student Leaders prepared a presentation, which they delivered to their peers via the assembly programme. The presentation
showed everyone how politics affects them for example from the food they eat to the music they listen to. It also explained how our local ward works and how the councillor’s action change to make our local community better.
YEAR 9 HOSPITALITY AND CATERING CHOUX PASTRY CHALLENGE
n Autumn 2018 Students in Year 9 Hospitality and Catering have been learning how to make choux pastry. Their challenge was to present their dessert as if they were serving it in a restaurant. Well done to our Year 9 students who excelled themselves in this task.
This issue’s puzzles are based on our GCSE Combined Science BRAIN TEASER qualification.
THIS PUZZLE IS BASED ON OUR GCSE COMBINED SCIENCE QUALIFICATION Across 4. How plants make food using light energy 6. Charles ___, who theorised evolution by natural selection 8. Subatomic particle that orbits the nucleus in shells 9. Often left behind after the supernova of a star 13. High energy wave with frequencies higher than visible light 14. A chemical reaction that releases thermal energy 15. What all matter is made up of 17. When an acid reacts with an alkali 18. The main gas that causes the greenhouse effect 19. Female physicist that pioneered research into radioactivity Down 1. Discovered by Flemming, these medicines kill bacteria 2. Where aerobic respiration takes place in cells 3. Where DNA is found in most cells 4. This table contains all the chemical elements 5. Changing state from a liquid to a gas 7. Energy sources that will not run out 10. Humans have 23 pairs of these in each body cell 11. Energy of an object due to its motion 12. The pH of water 16. The unit of electrical charge
Manor Croft Academy Across
Down
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We’re gonna need a bigger boat
MARINE ENGINEERING WORKSHOP ORGANISED BY SEAFARERS UK n 9th April 2019 DESCRIPTION: On Tuesday 9th April an ex-RAF engineer came to the school to deliver a workshop organised by Seafarers UK, called the Marine Engineering Pathway. The workshop session covered buoyancy, and explored some of the scientific principles such as density, displacement, Newton’s 3rd law and Archimedes Principle. The workshop was a fun, hands-on session and aimed to teach pupils about the principles of engineering through the use of
Marine based real-life scenarios. Essentially they learnt how boats float, even when made of heavy materials and then designed and made their own boat! TEACHERS COMMENT: My favourite part was one question at the end of the session ‘can girls be engineers?’. The ex-RAF engineer told a story of some female engineers he trained, and how successful they are now and encouraged everyone to consider a future career in engineering.
STUDENT COMMENTS: • This was actually fun and something new. Plus it was amazing to win. Saffiyah • This was a good two hours of lessons and I learnt a lot about engineering. Plus, I had fun making the boat and seeing if it will float. Mia Robinson • Good opportunity, very informative and told me a lot about engineering. Will • Today I enjoyed the sea cadet and learnt lots about engineering with boats. I enjoyed the activity even though I failed. Jasmin • I liked the practical part and I got to work with someone I have never worked with. Jessica • Today I learnt about why boats float when they are made out of heavy material. It has opened my eyes a bit more about engineering and I might design boats. It was a fun and enjoyable experience and practical. Ella • Building boats was extremely enjoyable. Ours was called ‘Sir Bobington’ and it was great to ‘learnthrough-play’ Rose • It was really good today. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I learnt new things as well. Also I thought that the practical was fun and an awesome challenge. Jimmy Easy Sudoku •M y best part was when I loaded our paper boat with glass marbles and I was able to put over 1⁄2 kilogram and it still didn’t sink! Hashir • I enjoyed today’s activities. I learnt a lot about engineering and buoyancy with boats. I enjoyed the experiment even though we didn’t succeed. Lauren •M y favourite part of sea-cadets was making and testing the boats- it was very enjoyable and I hope there are more to come in the future! Sumaiyah
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9 Manor Croft Academy
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GET TO KNOW OUR STAFF...
Mr R Ward Assistant Principal FIND OUT WHAT MR WARD LIKES TO WATCH ON TV, AND WHAT MIGHT JUST BE HIS BIGGEST FEAR What inspired you to be a teacher? Teaching has always been in my family. My grandma was a teacher, as was my Dad and my brother is an art teacher. I always wanted to be a doctor but after completing various science degrees, I was unsuccessful in trying to gain a place on a post-graduate medicine degree so I went to my brother’s school to gain experience as a science teacher. Instantly I wanted to be at the front, delivering the lessons. I loved the pace, the interactions and knew it was something I would enjoy. What is the best part of your job? Witnessing a student suddenly understanding a difficult concept is extremely rewarding and is the main reason why I work in education. Another bonus of working at Manor Croft Academy is my co-workers, some of which have become good friends who share the same commitment to change the lives of our students and to drive phenomenal change in pedagogy. I’ve worked with many teachers over the years in various schools and I can honestly say my colleagues are the most talented professionals I have had the pleasure to collaborate with and they are always pushing me to keep improving.
If you could have any, what pet would you love to have? I think I’m allergic to the fur of most animals so it would depend on whether or not it resulted in my demise, but if not I’d have a zebra or a snow leopard. I used to always want a capuchin monkey like Ross on Friends but I read a few horror stories about what happens when they reach adolescence and it put me off! Saying that, I’m pretty sure a snow leopard wouldn’t exactly be cuddly. What sports do you enjoy watching? I’m a Leeds United supporter although they don’t make it easy these days. It’s not quite the same as it used to be when Tony Yeboah was firing in goals of the season or Dom Matteo was scoring a great goal at the San Siro but nevertheless it’s my team. I’m also a big fan of the UFC and other mixed martial arts promotions. It was a suitable progression from the professional wrestling I have watched ever since Summerslam 1991 with my Grandad! I also randomly watch the NBA and support the Miami Heat What is your favourite TV programme / movie? I know the last season wasn’t great but Game of Thrones is the best television programme ever made. Stranger Things is a fantastic mix of 80s nostalgia and 90s Spielberg-esque brilliance and to continue my adoration for medical dramas, my wife introduced me to Gray’s Anatomy and I’m officially hooked. As for movies, anything by Christopher Nolan e.g. Inception, Dark Knight etc are all masterpieces. I’m a huge Star Wars and Harry Potter fan and I’ve loved all the Marvel movies especially Guardians of the Galaxy.
What were your best and worst subjects at school? Obviously I loved science at school but I enjoyed aspects of every subject. I’m a fan of problem-solving so maths came naturally. My least favourite subjects were probably history and music. I was never a fan of my history teacher and I don’t think he liked me either and while I really like music, my teacher made me join the school choir which did wonders for my reputation.
What is your biggest fear? Other than spiders, it might have to be going bald.
Of all the places you have visited, where has been your favourite? I’ve been very lucky to have visited many amazing places around the world but my two favourite places are Venice and San Francisco. No other place comes close to the serene beauty of Venice. I didn’t enjoy playing the bill for drinks at Caffe Florian in Piazza San Marco but the culture can’t be matched. As for San Francisco, after spending a few days there, I just felt like it was somewhere I could live. There’s a buzz about the city in the Bay that I just didn’t feel anywhere else in America.
What is your biggest achievement to date? Recently I cycled 100 miles in a month (which may not sound like much but I’m not a cyclist, I just cycle for pleasure), we became the first school to reach 100,000 GCSE Pod views in one year, and I became Assistant Principal at an Academy that expects the very best from it’s staff. Whilst I am proud of these achievements, nothing will top the marriage to my amazing wife, the birth of our beautiful son and I’ll soon be adding the birth of our daughter this September too.
Manor Croft Academy
LEFT TO RIGHT: THE SERENE BEAUTY OF VENICE, LEEDS UNITED CELEBRATING A GOAL, AND THE KIDS FROM STRANGER THINGS, SERIES 1
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Students visit Body Worlds
n 2nd April 2019 Incredible memories where made when our student visited Body Worlds Exhibition and the National History Museum. 86 Year 9 and 10 students, plus 9 members of staff travelled to the Capital to visit the Gunther von Hagen’s original Body Worlds Exhibition and The National History Museum. Body Worlds contains real human specimens, including; whole body plastinates, individual organs, organ
configurations and transparent body slices. The Exhibition took students and staff through an exciting journey of discovery under the skin, providing a wide-ranging inside into the Anatomy and Physiology of the human body. Students wandered through six galleries with over 200 exhibitions using individual audio guides, which gave them the educational material that linked to their PE and Science GCSE’S.
Miss Jones, the trip organiser said “Body worlds is a wonderful opportunity for students and staff to explore, discover and learn all about the human body and health, the students thoroughly enjoyed this very unique experience” Cody Lou and Tia (year 9 Sports Science students) - “We found Body Worlds interesting and helpful for our sports studies coursework. It showed us how the body works and react to exercise, disease and illness. We loved it!”
“Body worlds is a wonderful opportunity for students and staff to explore, discover and learn all about the human body” Miss Withers (trainee teacher) “Fantastic trip! I will definitely be organising this trip in my new teaching post!” After lunch, we had a tour of London by coach, passing historical landmarks and key tourist
attractions before making our way to the National history museum. The students had a fantastic day and the academy are very proud of how the students fully engaged in the day and had an experience they will talk about for years to come!
n 3rd May 2019
RUGBY LEAGUE CHARITY “STATE OF MIND” Jimmy Gittins and Ian smith from the Rugby League Charity ‘State of Mind’ spoke to Year 11 today in the run up to their exams. They gave an excellent thought provoking talk on the importance of mental fitness and how they should and could be preparing for this stressful time. Year 11 thoroughly enjoyed the morning and have taken lots from the stories the two speakers told. Ian a former Super League referee and Jimmy an ex professional rugby player who was paralysed in a Rugby League match 17 years ago. Resilience, hard work and determination were the themes of the presentation and this is exactly what our students will need over the upcoming weeks. Many thanks to Ian and Jimmy for an inspirational morning.
n State of Mind Sport is a charity that harnesses the power of sport to promote POSITIVE mental health among our sportsmen and women, fans and wider communities, and ultimately to prevent suicide. Manor Croft Academy
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Manor Croft Academy
Subject UPDATES MFL ENGLISH This year has been jam-packed full of varied and challenging literature texts to expose the students to different writing styles. We have been reading a text each half term and having lots of practise at reading aloud in class and honing the skills to tackle exam style questions. Although English is a very writing heavy subject, we also like to include more hands on tasks, particularly in years 7 and 8, such as acting, script writing and even prop making to help develop
creative skills. Since Christmas, our fantastic Year 9’s have embarked on a thrilling literature journey. From studying the 18 selected poems from our Anthology to then being fascinated by the tragic story of Macbeth. Students have been able to unlock the hidden messages behind an array of poetry as well as exploring the meaning behind Shakespeare’s language choices. It has been an extremely exciting term for our Year 10 cohort. As a year group, we battled with the good and evil side of man when we read Jekyll and Hyde. We then turned our attention to the scandalous Birling family. Jaws dropped when Inspector Goole turned up to uncover the truth. From pizza nights to ice cream vans- our Year 11 cohort have had the delight to taste everything! We started our exciting year with a real focus on English Language. If you want the perfect speech developing make sure you find Rainers, Lauren.A or Leigh! If Literature is something you’re into then you must find Layla, Lewis or maybe even Liam.P! Our brilliant students rose to the challenge this year and they’ve amazed us in every single lesson.
Manor Croft Academy
Year 11 have completed their French exams. I am so proud of them because I know that, whatever the outcome on results day in August, they could not have done any more. I was particularly impressed with their speaking exams where they have to speak fluently in French for about fifteen minutes. I know that they will carry these skills forward and I hope that they will use them in their future lives. Just look how far they have come in five years!!!! I am genuinely impressed by the effort students from all Year groups are making in French. Year 7 & 8 are embracing their Knowledge Organisers and working hard both in and out of school. They enjoy chanting, games and songs which help to build up their language skills and after half term, they will have the opportunity to do more of this when we start a French club on Thursday after school. Year 7 will be completing their assessment in June. Year 8 did really well in their assessment but the following students have a special mention for SMASHING it: Harry Haste, Tia-Leigh Sibbick, Leah Drury, Hannah Ragan, Kara McChrystal and Ethan Murray. In Key stage 4 both myself and Mr Green are really impressed by the attitude and commitment of students. Year 9 and 10 have mocks in June but particularly commendable in the last Year 10 assessment were: Ellie Pickering, Joanna Rupp, Jacob Beaumont and Ben Turner.
WHY SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO STUDY FRENCH? I WILL TELL YOU… French is vastly spoken around the globe in countries such as Canada, a plethora of African districts, Belgium and of course France itself. This broadly spoken language is a key tool to unlock and harness foreign relations. To increase communication, understanding and respect. It doesn’t even necessarily have to be the language of French specifically! Learning a second language and becoming bilingual is a key skill to have and it will give you a variety of advantages going into the future. For example, it gives you a greater and deeper understanding of the world you live in, allows you to appreciate other cultures, broadens career prospects and job opportunities, enables us to connect with those in countries abroad, experience more, discover more rural places and on top of all of this, it deepens and develops your understanding of you own language. I welcome the opportunity to study a language as this skill only open doors and new opportunities for the future. Personally, learning a language has helped me increase my confidence, English skills, has enabled me to develop relationship around the globe and travel off the grid to truly appreciate others cultures. There is not much more to say as it is pretty simple: being bilingual in this modern day will get you far. It will enhance your life experiences and boost your confidence and tolerance levels. Like anything, there will always be difficulties and hardships, but once you have harnessed this skill, it will never fail you. Nothing worth having come easy. Choose to study a language… and you will go far. By Lucy-Mae Curtin, Year 10 French student
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MATHS
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON
In maths we have been absolutely smashing it this year with being top of the Hegarty Leader Boards in Delta, being on it in every lesson and excelling in our weekly assessments! Hegarty Heroes! Top form for last half term was 7NR and we are looking forward to celebrating with them this half term with a Hegarty Form Breakfast! Top pupil our fantastic Holly Driver for being top at Hegarty out of all the Delta Schools! What a good way to end year 11! Top Maths Class the one and only 10P1 for being absolutely brilliant all year and being so well prepared for their mocks! Platinum Students for completing more than 32 hours this year! Our most impressive performances for the Form Time Numeracy Drill have to go to Cameron Ennis, Alex Durkin and Logan Rhodes for topping the charts each week! TIMES TABLES ROCKSTARS: We’d like to thank Mrs Farnell for running our TT Rockstars Club! Please come and join us in M2 every Monday for some amazing fun and quick-fire learning (Year 7 to Year 8) FURTHER MATHS: We are excited to be offering Further Maths GCSE to our Year 10s this year! Cannot wait to have brilliant mock results and progress made by the end of this half term! Statistics GCSE Pupils now have the option to take statistics GCSE! Our Year 10 cohort just gone through have worked incredibly hard with Mr Hankinson and Mrs Dolman all year to get the best results possible in the summer! Miss Darwin is ecstatic for her new year 10 class to start as soon as possible!
TECHNOLOGY IN ART The years 7s across the department have been creating a range of 2D and 3D pieces. We have been researching bugs and transforming their ideas into fantastic clay tiles, designing in the style of Mark Hearld and creating our own borg of wooden robots. There has been torches designed and made and the aromas form the MCA kitchen of pasta pomadoro, scones and apple cakes have been delightful. Jimmy Curtin has shown his art skills and wowed us
with his natural flair for the subject. The year 8’s have been creating clay fish, designing their own personalised amplifier and showing great skills using CAD/CAM. In food they have been making food from around the world and we have seen some delicious Greek and Italian dishes so far with halloumi skewers and spaghetti Bolognese. Textiles have been making fantastic cushion designs The Year 9’s have begun to settle into the GCSE and the next year will be vital to ensure they achieve the grades they deserve. We have some great designs and final products for the coursework coming to be realised out of a range of materials. Year 10 have really picked up the pace for the final sprint of their GCSE and we are hopeful that the grades will reflect their effort in the summer. Alex Durkin has shown a great talent in 3D design and some students have produced textile pieces for the Exam London Fashion show. Year 11 photography push all boundaries producing some unique and striking Exam pieces showing their talent for the subject. Ben Whattam and Faizan. We look forward to see what 2019-2020 brings in the Department we have some excellent Textiles,3D,ACD and Catering students showing fantastic potential.
ANDROMEDA GALAXY
SUMMARY FOR SCIENCE: It has been a busy term for science and students have been hard at work. Within lessons year 7’s have been learning about the earth and ecosystems. Hashir Iqbal and Kaicie Councill have been asking some brilliant scientific and thought provoking questions, future scientists in the making! Year 8’s have been looking further afield at space and they have created some works of art! Alisha Peer was a particular supernova! Another stella performance so far this year has been the constant hard work of Kara McChrystal. The year 9’s on the whole, have made a really positive start to their GCSEs. In Biology they’ve studied everything from cells and osmosis to photosynthesis and respiration. Lina Alizada and Waarisha Mir along with Joe Exley are just a few of our stand out students destined to become phenomenal scientists. In Physics students have engaged with the topics of energy and electricity, they should all be able to rewire a plug if you’re ever in need! In Chemistry students have had to grasps some tricky concepts including balancing equations, Dean Airth and Destiny Eniola really excelled at these challenges! Year 10 have shown promise across the subjects, a joint trip between science and PE saw many of them apply their Biology knowledge to the bodyworks exhibit and Natural history museum in London. As for year 11, it has been a tough run up to the exams but they have shown unbelievable resilience attending many intervention sessions and showing fantastic improvements in progress. Amber Eyles originally aiming for a 6 but achieving an 8 in her biology mock exams and Ben Wattam who has been stuck on a grade 4 for combined science was rewarded for all his amazing efforts before and after school with a grade 7. Hopefully this trend will continue into the summer exams and we can achieve our best ever results to date. We had visitors come in from a variety of places from the royal navy to help students design and construct their own boats. The year 7s had a visit that was out of this world! A planetarium came in and students had the opportunity to look and learn about stars. We also had a visit from Professor Jheeta who brought with him actual rocks taken from the Moon! Weekly science club has allowed our students to express further interest in the subject. This was also demonstrated during the first dissection club where students dissected rats. We look forward to providing more enrichment opportunities this year with our year 7 trip to Jodrell Bank and with the addition of our department pets starting with the Mr Ward’s aquarium.
SUMMARY FOR HUMANITIES: It has been a busy but successful term in Humanities. In History we have had a trip to the Royal Armouries with Y11 to do some work with their staff on the Battle of Hastings and a trip with Y9 to Y11 to the battlefields of the First World War; both were very informative and our students were excellent. In Years 7 and 8 they have been studying World War Two including the Holocaust and the British Empire respectively. Years 9 and 10 have studied Anglo-Saxon and Norman England ROYAL ARMOURIES, LEEDS and the American West. Our Year 11s are busy working, revising and preparing for their forthcoming exams. Geography has been equally busy and our Y10s are now preparing for their up and coming fieldwork trips to Hornsea and our local area in addition to keeping on top of their decision making skills. Our Y8 Geographers have been looking at challenges and opportunities in extremely cold environments in contrast to our Y9s who have been tackling urban issues and challenges. Finally, our students in Y7 have been getting to grips with both the physical and human aspects of our coastlines. Lots of great work being done by all year groups - well done from the Humanities team. Manor Croft Academy
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Manor Croft “Pod Squad” rule supreme
n 2018/2019 This year we began using GCSE Pod, an online resource full of short revision video clips and questions relating to the learning in lessons. Our KS4 students embraced
GCSE Pod and instantly began using it daily to recap what they had learnt in lessons that week but also to prepare themselves for upcoming lessons. Within a matter of weeks we had shot to the top as
the number 1 school Worldwide for usage and this has continued all year. Our phenomenal “Pod Squad” have done the unthinkable and managed to watch over 100,000
videos this academic year which has never been done by any other school not just in the UK but in secondary schools all across the World! Our achievements have led to other schools asking us for advice as to how and why our students are so engaged in independent learning! Mr Ward has proudly represented Manor Croft at the BETT Awards in London earlier this year and has now been asked to present to other academies and schools at an upcoming GCSE Pod
roadshow. But ultimately the praise has been due to the relentless efforts of our students like Leigh Nicholson (Y11) and Waarisha Mir (Y9) collectively watching over 5000 pods!! It was announced on 1st July that Manor Croft Academy are also the national champions of the Pod Games where all schools have competed to engage students the most. We couldn’t be more proud of this accolade and look forward to smashing it again next year!!
Valuable experience gained from Manor Croft Careers Day n 10th July 2019 What a day!! The buzz all around school was fantastic as every year group focused on all things careers. The discussion, debate, stories, questions, ideas, problem solving, communication, group work and all round commitment from staff, students and external providers was brilliant to see. YEAR 10 A huge range of external providers were in school, from banks, accountancy firms, manufacturing groups, the civil service, apprenticeship providers, the NHS and a range of other commercial organisations. They really put our students through their paces and ensured they were well and truly Manor Croft Academy
out of their comfort zone. After introductions, students took part in a series of assessment centre style activities. They were observed by our external partners and feedback on each individual’s performance in the task was given. Students then had the chance to quiz our guests to get a real insight into their organisations and their particular role within it. Every student then received a 1-to-1 interview and our partners did not hold back!! The students all
said how much they gained from the experience and how valuable it will be as they transition into Year 11 and start the application process for their next steps after Manor Croft. Well done to all, the students really were a credit to the academy! YEARS 7-9 Students in Years 7-9 took part in a wide range of activities designed to get them thinking about their future prospects, including sessions on job
“They really put our students through their paces and ensured they were well and truly out of their comfort zone”
types, salaries, budgets, 6th form and apprenticeships, university, as well as time to explore their own individual career interests. It was fantastic to see how engaged the students were and the
mature way in which they approached the tasks put before them. It is clear that aspirations are rising at Manor Croft and students now truly believe in their amazing potential and future opportunities.
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STUDENT PLEDGES n 4th December 2018 The parents/carers of Year 7 students were invited to a meeting today where they were given information regarding the new initiative being introduced by Manor Croft Academy. Please read below for more information. The Delta Manor Croft Academy’s Pledges initiative ensures that you understand the value of extra-curricular involvement within and outside of the Academy. Through meeting the Pledges, which range from attending enrichment activities to organising fundraising events, you will gain confidence and valuable life experiences that will help to prepare you for life in your community and beyond the Academy. Gaining a minimum of a Bronze Pledge award, along with higher than E1 for effort in ALL lessons, will allow you to GRADUATE at the end of Key Stage 3, to advance onto Year 9 and your GCSE Options. Failure to do so may involve you staying back in Year 8 until you have achieved your goals. COMPLETING PLEDGES WILL LEAD TO YOU BEING AWARDED PLEDGE BADGES. Bronze badge - Completion of 3 pledges. Silver badge - Completion of 6 pledges. Gold badge - Completion of 8 pledges. Platinum badge - Completion of 10 pledges. You must make sure that you get your Form Tutor to sign your pledge booklet after providing evidence of you completing the pledge. Evidence can be in the form of photos, certificates or staff witnesses from the event. THE TEN PLEDGES Pledge 1: Regularly attend an after academy enrichment activity. Pledge 2: Represent the academy in a sporting, cultural or academic event. Pledge 3: Take part in an outward bound or other residential programme. Pledge 4: Attend a national sporting, cultural or academic event. Pledge 5: Take part in an academy production or event. Pledge 6: Take part in a formal presentation to an audience. Pledge 7: Be actively involved in an international experience. Pledge 8: Be actively involved in a community experience. Pledge 9: Participate in a fund raising event in the academy. Pledge 10: Help with the sustainability of the academy. Good Luck and GET INVOLVED!
Half term ski trip to Austria
n February 2019 Over the February half term, 48 students and 6 staff made the overnight journey through Europe to the ski resort of Saalbach, Austria. We spent 6 days in resort skiing across 70km of beautiful mountain piste with incredible weather and breath taking scenery. Students developed their skills with trained ski instructors and everyone came on leaps and bounds, many improved upon the skills they had learned the year before. Students of all abilities were able to ride the gondola up the mountain and experience the full impact of what a ski trip is all about. We also enjoyed the après ski around the resort and in our hotel taking part in activities including the FIFA tournament, table tennis, table football and quiz. We were
SAALBACH, AUSTRIA
also lucky enough to go out and see the pros showing off their extreme freestyle skills at the Snowcross tour event. The students were a credit to the Academy and the ski school instructors all commented on how polite and well mannered our students were throughout the
week. We made the long journey home and arrived back in Dewsbury tired but happy, with only a few injuries! All the students had a great time and planning is already underway for the next trip; so if you want to get more information then come and see Mr Wallis.
n Autumn 2018
OUT OF THIS WORLD We invited Aurora Planetarium to spend the day at the Academy to deliver fantastic visuals and information all about the great space race, the Moon landing and a journey around the International Space Station with Tim Peake. Our year 7 students climbed inside the huge dome and then marvelled in full three hundred and sixty degrees at some of the greatest achievements we have made in space in recent years. Astronaut Tim Peake took students on a guided tour of the ISS showing them how they sleep, eat and carry out other daily tasks in zero gravity. This was an opportunity our students won’t forget and one we look forward to providing for next year’s students when they begin their education at Manor Croft Academy.
Manor Croft Academy
14 | The TERM | SUMMER TERM 2019
Our time to save the planet n 11th February 2019 60 students from Year 7 took part in the Sky Ocean Rescue #PassOnPlastic Challenge on Friday 8th February. The Sky Ocean Rescue challenge is a nationwide competition taking place across Scotland, the North and the Midlands. The session was run by Fallon & Maria from The Transformation Trust working in partnership with Sky on this exciting initiative. The day provided the students with a fantastic opportunity to engage with sustainability issues in a creative way. They had to work together as a team to come up with environmental solutions, producing a video campaign centred on their ideas focusing on how to reduce single use plastics. These videos were then presented to the whole group with the overall winner being entered into the Sky Ocean Rescue Challenge. The winners are in with a chance of attending a day trip to London at Sky Academy Studios to work with media specialists to
enhance their campaigns further. The two runner up teams will also attend to support and help with the finished video campaigns. The students worked really well together, using their negotiation, planning and persuasion skills to get the best out of their teams. They had a lot of fun producing their videos, acting, making art work and thinking
BRAIN TEASER
creatively about how to save our oceans, reduce plastic and make a difference to the future of our marine life. The whole campaign fits in wonderfully with Manorcroft’s own ‘Plastic Free Fridays’ and is a huge concern for the Delta group as a whole in teaching our students to make sure that we are all taking responsibility in reducing single use plastics.
AMINO ACID AMINO ACID • ANAEROBIC RESPIRATION • ANAEROBIC RESPIRATION CRYSTALLISATION • CRYSTALLISATION DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID • DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ELASTIC • ELECTROMAGNETICACID • ENDOTHERMIC ELASTIC • GRAVITATIONAL •ELECTROMAGNETIC HOMEOSTASIS • HOOKE’S LAW • OXIDATION •ENDOTHERMIC PITUITARY GLAND • GRAVITATIONAL POTABLE • SOLENOID • TITRATION • VELOCITY HOMEOSTASIS
POWERFUL POETRY
HOOKE’S LAW OXIDATION PITUITARY GLAND POTABLE SOLENOID TITRATION VELOCITY
THIS YEAR DURING SCIENCE WEEK, DELTA ACADEMIES TRUST RAN A COMPETITION WHERE STUDENTS WERE ASKED TO CREATE A POEM TO RAISE AWARENESS TO THE OVER USE OF SINGLE USE PLASTICS. HERE ARE A SELECTION OF SOME OF OUR ENTRIES: Have you heard of the sea creatures, That have eaten plastic They all have special features That are going to waste, that’s tragic
I love the ocean But it is full of plastic I wish there was a potion To stop this, this isn’t fantastic
Beyond the beach Waves dance Not knowing, as pollution is within reach
Every day we use plastic. Is it really fantastic? As the clock ticks. The coin has been flicked.
I am glad that there are teachers That are very specific We will need a lot of cleaners To clean the pacific
There isn’t much commotion There is a lot of elastic Unless we find a solution I will panic
Submerged critters swimming for a chance Of a perfect meal only Ending up with their last glance
A tear falls down deep in the ocean. It happens in a real fast motion. This shows the speed of pollution. But there is a solution.
There are loads of believers That find this horrific We need to do our best, to be receivers To receive the elastic
Do people care about pollution? Some people are sarcastic! When it comes to the disruption I find that ballistic
As the sea holler its familiar shout Whales chomp happily upon elastic Not knowing to plummet into tragic
And let’s be achievers To make this world classic Remember to be dreamers To make the ocean magic
Let’s work together to stop this corruption And make this world realistic And bring it to a conclusion Plus make this world futuristic
Day by day the amount increases. As the world is torn to pieces. The end of the world will teach us. How you have been harming the creatures.
By Mia L.R
Manor Croft Academy
By Mia L.R
Only you can stop world domination Only you can change your ways Only you will change the future And beyond your beach Saffiyah H
The eye slowly shuts. As a disapproval has been tut. This pollution is like a deep cut. The world is turning as dark as soot. By Sobiya P
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RUGBY LEAGUE
It has been a busy season of Rugby League across all years at Manor Croft. Team MCA Boys and Girls have competed in the Kirklees schools competitions, small sided tournaments, tri-series tournaments and the girls played in an invitational touch rugby tournament hosted by the Huddersfield Giants. There was no silverware for the teams this year but they have all played their hearts out and been excellent ambassadors for the sport and the academy. Rugby training will start again in September so we want to see as many of you there as possible so we can improve on this seasons efforts.
Y8 RUGBY
Y9 RUGBY BOYS
Y7 & 8 ATHLETICS
Y9 RUGBY GIRLS
Y11 FOOTBALL
FOOTBALL ATHLETICS
Y8 ATHLETICS
With the outdoor athletics season getting underway we can already celebrate success in the indoor competitions. Our Boys and Girls Year 7 and Year 8 teams blew the opposition away by winning our regional competition and qualifying for the Kirklees Schools finals. The competition was intense and we had some excellent individual efforts on the day. The team event finished with us 7th overall which was still a fantastic effort from all the students involved. The outdoor season has now started with competitions coming up soon. Training for these events will be after school and all are welcome to come and try and break some records.
The Manor Croft Football season has seen the largest turnout in terms of after-school attendance and participation. This has allowed us to enter all the football competitions in Kirklees this season. The players have done an excellent job all season and the some of the football has been and delight to watch and the students have all conducted themselves in professional manner. We now look to build again for next season and some year groups will be ready to enter the English Schools FA competition. We have also hosted the girls 5 aside indoor competition for the Kirklees Schools at under 13 and under 14 age groups. Both of which were a huge success and our girls did us proud in both tournaments. Training for next year’s competitions starts in September so come down and get involved. Manor Croft Academy
TheTERM
Sports report YEAR 7 NETBALL MATCH
YEAR 8 NETBALL MATCH
Manor Croft v Batley Grammar School On Wednesday the 13th of March 2019 we played Batley Grammar school at home. The game lasted 20 minutes, with each quarter lasting 5 minutes. We had a lot of players so we changed every 5 minutes so everybody got 10 minutes game time. It was a really close game with not many goal scoring chances. In the first five minutes I passed the ball to Isla Bates who scored with her first shot on goal. As the game
went on it was very close but no one managed to put the ball in the net until the last minute of the game. Batley were in possession and one of the Manor Croft players slipped leaving Batley to have a free shot on goal which they scored. At the end the result was 1-1. Everyone played well and we gave Batley 3 cheers and they gave us 3 cheers too. The Player of the match was given to Ella-Mae Murray.
Manor Croft v Batley Grammar School
NETBALL On the 13th of March, there was a year 8 netball match against one of our local schools Batley Grammar. A real good team performance by the team and another win for the year 8 netball team. A few girls were unable to play on the day so we were lucky to have Charlotte and Cedes who stepped up to take their places. In the first half the team played fantastic will some good interchanges in passing from Leah Drury (WA) and Isabel Gilder-Scott (GA), and at half time the score was a comfortable 4-0. In
This year saw the first time the Jr NBA has come to Yorkshire and Manor Croft were lucky enough to be selected to represent the region. We were paired up with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association and we received a full team uniform in the Utah green colours. The boys and girls who played in this competition showed excellent commitment to their training and developed their skills massively as the season went on. We faced tough opposition against Kettlethorpe, Morley, All Saints and Bruntcliffe. Team MCA eventually qualified for the inter-regional playoffs where they travelled over to Doncaster to face Hall Cross Academy. The Doncaster team proved strong for Manor Croft and our progression in the tournament ended. The players will be looking to next year now so they can play in the Kirklees Schools competition. Next year’s year 7 will now be given the chance to go one better and try to progress through the playoffs. Training for all basketball competitions begins again in September.
the second half with some good defending and excellent team spirit, we was able to come away with a score of 5-1 to Manor Croft. Special mention to Leah Dury (WA) for getting women of the
match. Our next game will take place in April if anyone is interested in playing for are netball team practise takes place every Thursday unless notified at 2:30 to 3:30.
BASKETBALL
Manor Croft Academy
Y7 BASKETBALL
Do you want to help out with the production of our termly newspaper? If any Manor Croft Academy students wish to assist with future issues of ‘The TERM’, please see Mr Ward.