SUCCESS FOR MARLWOOD


Congratulations to the Year 10 Super 6s athletics teams. The boys were narrowly beaten into second place, the girls’ team won the event and progress to the Sainsbury’s Level 3 School Games at Bath University on 8th July. A great team effort to achieve excellence, well done! The PE Department are very proud of them.

NEW UNIFORM FOR MARLWOOD STUDENTS


After consultation with students, parents and staff and with the final say with the Student Council, I am pleased to confirm Marlwood School will have a new school uniform from September 2015. Full details and our School Uniform Brochure can be downloaded from the web site.

COMMUNITY GOVERNORS


The School currently has two vacancies for Community Governors. We are very keen for these posts to be filled by members of our local business community. If anyone would like to express an interest, and to find out more about the role, please contact theschool@marlwood.net

SUCCESS FOR MARLWOOD STUDENTS


Matthew Robertson (Year 7) was selected to tour with the South Gloucestershire Development Centre football team and has written up his experiences in Belgium and Holland for our newsletter at the end of this term.

 

Congratulations also to Joe Williams (Year 7) on being selected for the Bristol Rugby U13 Development Programme.

 

Congratulations to Charlotte Fox (Year 12) who has been selected for the South West Regional Hockey Squad.

 

Marlwood students have been selected to attend trials to represent South Gloucestershire Schools at the Avon Championships. We wish them all luck: Ellie Leather (Year 11), Calvin Preston (Year 10), Joe Leather (Year 9), Greg Madge (Year 9) and Sam Taylor (Year 7)

 

We wish them all success!

SCHOOL ‘MINISTERIAL ELECTIONS’


This was a fantastic process for the students to take part in and well done to all the students who stepped up to make a difference: Violet Feltham (the Progress Party), Louis Hoare (the Tomorrow Party), Tilly Humphries and Hannah Pickard (the Transform Party) and a special well done to our winner Katie Harper (the Vision Party). The government have now formed a coalition and will be putting their efforts into developing Katie's ideas and making the changes she championed.

AFTER SCHOOL SPORTS CLUBS

The PED Department are running Athletics Club (Tuesday), Rounders (Wednesday) and Cricket (Thursday). All abilities welcome

NEPAL APPEAL


I am delighted to report the school raised £242 for the Nepal Appeal through the cake sale from last Friday. Our thanks to all those who organised and supported the appeal.

YEAR 11


Today is our Year 11 Leavers’ Day and the staff will be joining them in the Quad Dining Room at lunchtime and at the end of the day for the traditional shirt signing. We continue to encourage our students to focus on their exams and their revision, and to work for the best results they can. The link to our revision site is below

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO NEXT YEAR’S SCHOOL CAPTAINS


The school elections are over and our School Captains have been elected for next year. They are: Miss Devini de Alwis, Miss Ella Cottle, Mr Thom Harris-Lee and Mr Dominic Webb. The Senior Team and I look forward to working closely with them next year.

SCHOOL ‘MINISTERIAL ELECTIONS’


Turn out for the election was high and we had an unexpected volume of voters which was very pleasing. There will be an announcement on the winner and their proposals next week!

WINS IN THE FINAL FOR YEAR 11!


Congratulations to the Year 11 Football team for coming from 4-1 down to win 5-4 in the Bristol and South Glos Football Trophy Final 2015 vs Downend School. 3rd time lucky and well deserved! If Steven Spielberg saw that thrilling match he would be making a movie about it!

NEPAL APPEAL






As part of the school’s association with the Save the Children Charity, we are running a cake sale in school today. Our thanks once again to Ian Curtis of the Crusty Loaf in Olveston for providing the cakes and we look forward to raising funds for this very worthwhile cause.

PARENTS’ FORUM


We continue to be grateful to all those parents who have joined us in the last two Parents’ Forums. A summary of the last meeting is now available on the web site; a link below for your convenience.

YEAR 11


Our students are working really hard, with the main exams not far away and indeed some have already started. There is lots of support for our students in school to help them achieve their very best. There is also support via the Revision Blog – link below.

 

YEAR 12 PERFORMING ARTS


Our Year 12 students are presenting the Oscar Wilde play, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ , on Tuesday 5th May in the Drama Hall from 6.30pm. Tickets are £3 each and everyone is welcome. Do come along and support the hard work of our students and we look forward to seeing you on the evening.

SIXTH FORM BAND


Our very talented Sixth Form band will be performing on Saturday 2nd May at The Dolpin Pub, Oldland Common. They are supporting the professional covers band Freefall, including our drum peri Jon Green.
The gig starts at 8.30pm, so if you would like an evening out and fancy hearing some of our Sixth Form students perform covers of current music, then please come along! 

ICT


It’s that time of year again when students are transferring work in and out of school on memory sticks.  Please remind your child to make backups because if the memory stick breaks it is very unlikely our IT Department will be able to retrieve any of the work on it. 

PREMIUM PARTNERS – SUCCESS STORY FOR MARLWOOD Year 13 student


The Working Student, the brain child of Brandon Robertson, year 13 student at Marlwood, is a website for businesses to post part time vacancies for students and it is going to be developed for our Premium Partners. Brandon has welcomed the opportunity, and is working with Premium Partners to create a site that will enable all our Partners to post their apprenticeships, part time job offers and any voluntary work that would be suitable for students. To follow the link to the Premium Partners’ newsletter, click below

EXAM PREPARATION


Our focus continues to be on the teaching and learning of all our students, with particular priority for our examination students. There are many support structures in place, and students are encouraged to visit the school’s Revision Blog for help and information. The web link is given below. 

GIRLS RUBGY


Our PE Department have arranged for some of the Year 8 girls to be introduced to playing rugby this week by a visiting coach from the Eagle Project, an organisation linked to BRFU, specifically to raise the participation of girls in the game. The coaching, which will give the girls the opportunity of playing tag and full contact versions culminates in a festival of all schools involved at the beginning of July. 

FOUNDERS’ DAY SERVICE


We will be holding our annual celebration on Wednesday 24th June at 1.30pm at St Mary’s Church in Thornbury. We invite all our Year 7 and Year 13 students – the youngest and the oldest – to commemorate Marlwood’s long history as a school on this occasion, together with invited guests. Year 7 parents will shortly receive an invitation and I hope you will be able to join us for this occasion.

‘CALL TO ARMS’ FOR SHRUBS


About three years ago the school made a plea to parents to donate trees for new areas of the school grounds and we were extremely grateful for your generosity. On behalf of the school, I am now making another plea for any donations of shrubs to fill our new planters around the site! If the keen gardeners amongst you have any shrubs you would be happy to donate, please bring them into the school and leave them by the school flagpole at the front of the building. All donations gratefully received and even more so if you are able to label the shrubs with their plant name!

TERM 5


Welcome back to all our students after the Easter break. Many of them have been revising hard and sensibly over the school holiday and our focus this term will be to continue to prepare our students for the forthcoming exams.

PREMIUM PARTNERS


Marlwood School is very proud of its links to local businesses. On the theme of ‘Working Together for Excellence’ we view it as vitally important that our local business partners support and contribute to education for the benefit of our young people. To this end we are excited by our developing partnership with Castle School, CSET and the Premium Partners to extend these links further. The following link is to a Premium Partners newsletter which captures some of the exciting school/business link work. - http://goo.gl/1moUph

Also look out for the link to our own Premium Partners webpage from the main school website.

GREEN YOUTH DAY 20TH APRIL


As part of Bristol's Green Capital 2015 programme, Yr 12 and 13 Geography students have been invited to participate in a day long event at the Colston Hall on the above date. Led by an advisory group of young people, the day will address subjects such as the science of climate change, protecting wildlife and the oceans, human rights, the clothes we wear, equality, how to campaign successfully, and why questioning the establishment is essential.

CHANGES TO CAR PARKING AT MARLWOOD SCHOOL


Just another reminder that if you are dropping your child off at school in the morning, please see the following link for car parking details.
http://www.marlwood.com/ws-public/uploads/269_CHANGES%20TO%20CAR%20PARKING%20AT%20MARLWOOD%20SCHOOL%20Apr2015%20(3).pdf

POETOPIA COMPETITION NEWS


We are delighted to announce that the 19 students from Year 7 are about to become published poets!  They entered a national 'Young Writers' competition and these 19 poets have been chosen for publication at the end of June. The school will receive a copy of the anthology and, at that point, the winner and runners up will be judged by the organisers with a 1st prize of £500, a 2nd prize of £250 and a 3rd prize of £100 coming to the school if they win.

 This is tremendous for our students and we are very proud of their success.

SPORTS AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS


With the weather improving, it would be great to see more students attending our afterschool clubs. They finish in time for the late bus (3:15-4:15). All abilities are welcome.

 

Tuesday- Boys Rugby Development (Specialist Coach)

Tuesday- Athletics for all

Wednesday- Girls Rounders

Thursday- Cricket (Specialist Coach)

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS


I’d like to wish all parents/carers and students an enjoyable, relaxing and safe Easter and look forward to welcoming our school community back into school refreshed and ready for Term 5.

CHANGES TO CAR PARKING AT MARLWOOD SCHOOL


We have taken action to improve student, staff and parent safety in the parking area at the front of the school at the beginning of the day. Please follow the link for details.

MARLWOOD PRESS TEAM and NEWSLETTER TERM 5




I am delighted to introduce our newly formed Marlwood Press Team via the end of term newsletter http://www.marlwood.com/ws-public/uploads/269_March%202015%20Term%204.pdf


This initiative offers leadership opportunities for our students interested in journalism and/or photography and they will be covering events in and around the school as they happen.

THE FUTURE ‘PRIME MINISTER’ OF MARLWOOD


Under our PSHCE programme and the Respect Agenda, four students have now been recruited to apply for the role of the future Prime Minister of Marlwood School. This will be a position of responsibility and the winning ‘Government’ will be allocated £2000 to put their proposals into practice. This also provides opportunities for our students to engage with our Respect Agenda and to take the lead on school initiatives. We are looking forward to hearing their election manifestos!

HOUSE COMPETITIONS


Competition remains fierce between the four Houses and there is very little in it at the end of Term 4. Highlights have included the Heads of House Race The Radio Controlled Cars Competition, The Marlwood Great Bake-Off, Jolly Hockey Sticks and the Quidditch Easter Egg Hunt! Full House details are in the Newsletter.

SCHOOL UNIFORM


The consultation period has ended and there is a full report in the Newsletter. Term 5 will see a consultation on the style, colours and costs of a new uniform and this will be communicated to parents and carers.

PARENTS’ FORUM


The second meeting of the Parents’ Forum took place on 25th March. The meeting was well attended with new parents joining our discussions. A summary of the meeting will be available on the school web site shortly.

CURRIULUM FOCUS DAY

Three times a year the normal school timetable is disaggregated and faculties are able to drill down into specific aspects of their curriculum in more detail than a one hour lesson sometimes allows. These days also allow the school to address the wider educational issues which fall under the umbrella of Personal, Social, Health and Careers Education (PSHCE). All year groups, 7 to 13, participate. On Thursday, before our Inset Day, a range of activities took place and contributed to a positive, vibrant atmosphere across the school on a sunny Spring day, which I hope our students have shared with you at home.

GREAT MARLWOOD BAKE-OFF COMPETITION


As part of the Curriculum Focus Day, our Sixth Formers used the opportunity to raise yet more funds for their chosen charities by hosting a Great Marlwood Bake-Off Competition. Ian Curtis, from the Crusty Loaf in Olveston, joined me in the judging. Funds raised from the sale of the cakes, biscuits and ‘other’ reached over £110. Well done to all involved.

Y10 REVISION CONFERENCE



Year 10 spent a morning enthusiastically receiving structured guidance on how to approach their mock exams which start in May. This also prepares them for the mock GCSEs and the real examinations next year. Input came from the core subjects and students were guided on how to manage their time and understand and exploit their own preferred learning styles.

Tutors and subject staff work hard to prepare our students so they are confident in their knowledge of the subject and in sitting exams. Our Revision Guidelines Booklet with Top Ten Tips for exam success was handed out to all students, including information on how to prepare themselves physically and mentally to be at their best on the day. We look forward to reaping fine results!

PARENTS’ FORUM


Our second meeting of the Parents’ Forum will be held on Wednesday 25 March 7.00-8.00pm in the Learning Resource Centre. Our Founder members welcome any parents who would like to join them. On the agenda this time:


Feedback from our uniform consultation
Measuring progress in a future with National Curriculum levels
Progress towards a revised style of Student Progress Parent Evenings



If you’d like to join us, please let school know in the usual way – by phone or email.

CONCORDE BOOK AWARD





It was with great pleasure that Mrs Carrington, Mrs Gill and Abi Southwell (English student) accompanied a group of 14 students to the Concorde Book Award held at the Bristol & Bath Science Park. The event was well attended with over 100 students and many parents.

Marlwood students confidently introduced the six shortlisted books and later gave a drama presentation on their interpretation of Gillian Cross's book After Tomorrow. Gillian Cross later commented how much she enjoyed seeing our interpretation of her book. Our students have been meeting regularly since October to read, discuss and blog about the books. During the last few weeks, they have come up with ideas for our presentations and practiced, latterly, most days. The group have been a real pleasure to work with. For more details see our Term 4 Newsletter which will be on the web site next week

MUSIC VISIT TO NEW SIBLANDS SCHOOL


As reported by Samantha Bland, Y13 student, a group of Year 13s in their second year of studying A Level Access to Music arranged a music performance event at New Siblands School in Thornbury. A group of our talented Year 12 and 13 musicians were invited to perform some of their best pieces in the New Siblands’ morning assembly. This musical showcase highlighted the level of talent evident within the Marlwood Music Faculty and consisted of five performers, including vocalists and instrumentalists, with the diversity of the flugelhorn played by Peter Stace. At the end of the showcase, our students handed out a variety of hand percussion instruments enabling the New Siblands’ children to contribute to the performance for the last piece. The Marlwood students also created Award Certificates to hand out to the children, which gave them a sense of accomplishment and highlighted their overall contribution to this exciting event.

SCHOOL COUNCIL


The School Council has met again this term and have been making decisions on which charities to support within the four different Houses: so far the students have nominated Cancer Research and Macmillan Nurses. Some of the items covered by the School Council includes: working with the Senior Leadership Team to review Homework Guidelines and the School Planner; and School Improvement Bids for work to be done around the school site. There are two new working parties coming together: one will work with the Site Management Team to place and install water fountains around the school, and the second one will be working with myself to look at student engagement and achievement.

ITALIAN TRIP update from Mr Helliker


Students of Geography in Year 11 and 13 have just returned from 4 days on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Staying in Sorrento, we had the opportunity to explore the island of Capri, Emperor Tiberius's summer villa (in ruins now) and take a laser boat around the various coastal features. The second day involved a fascinating visit to Pompeii and Herculaneum to experience what a Roman town looked like. The third day involved a visit to Montenuovo - a cinder cone volcano. Unfortunately, a visit to the crater of Vesuvius had to be cancelled due to snow and high winds at the summit - not the Mediterranean weather we had hoped for! We followed up the visit to Montenuovo to Solfatara, a caldera with active fumeroles and vents. Although there were lots of bad egg smells and steam, it was a very interesting place. The staff thought the students were excellent: polite, punctual and interested… “they were a pleasure to be with."

CURRICULUM FOCUS DAY


19th March sees the school running a Curriculum Focus Day which gives our Faculties the opportunity to run subject-based, extra-curricular activities that are fun and interesting for our students and which give them a broader experience of the core subjects they study in KS3 and KS4.

CHARITIES


Once again I am happy to report on the school’s continuing commitment to helping others who are worse off than ourselves. Students and staff have been happily selling Red Nose Chocolate Brownies to support the Red Nose Day appeal. Our local baker joined the cause and provided the brownies at a very favourable price so our profit margins were better than we had hoped. Thank you to Ian Curtis of the Crusty Loaf in Olveston. All monies raised will help to buy Mosquito Nets in Africa.

The ‘Bandana Week’ fund raising for Brain Tumour Support went very well last week, with the local Press coming along to photograph our students in a variety of bandana wearing guises. Our students raised an impressive £233.30 for their nominated charity.

PREPARING FOR THE WORLD OF WORK


This week has seen our Year 11 students taking part in mock interviews with volunteers from our business partners and the local business community. The students have had to prepare a CV, a letter of application and come dressed appropriately for the experience. The feedback is that our students benefit enormously from this practical experience and we are very grateful to those businesses who spare their staff to come in and make this a worthwhile event for our students.

THE FUTURE PRIME MINISTER OF MARLWOOD


Under our PSHCE programme, recruitment has begun for four students to apply for the role of the future Prime Minister of Marlwood. This will be a position of responsibility and the winning ‘Government’ will receive £2000 to put their proposals into practice. This also provides opportunities for our students to engage with our Respect Agenda and to take the lead on school initiatives. We are looking forward to hearing their election manifestos!

WELL DONE!


We are very proud of all of our students and staff who are involved in raising funds for charity in one way or another. This term sees us introducing a Wishing Well located in the school grounds and the first funds raised will be donated to UNICEF. Staff are also supporting the Daffodil Appeal run by the Marie Curie Cancer charity. A group of our Year 13 students are fund raising for Brain Tumour Support – ‘Bandana Week’, having already presented at a Business Breakfast Networking meeting last week. The school is likely to be a mass of bandana-wearing supporters on 6th March and I have no doubt our students will find some unusual ways of wearing them!

SCHOOL UNIFORM


As mentioned in previous blogs, we are now well into the consultation process with students, staff, parents and governors to consider whether it is time for a change, and if so what that change may be.  Please encourage your children to join the debate via their House and School Councils and we look forward to receiving parental feedback too.

PRIVATE PEACEFUL


Our Year 11 will be performing their exam play Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo on 17th and 18th March. This promises to be a thought-provoking and highly entertaining performance. For more information and tickets, please call 01454 862525.
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