Carol Kitson
Annual Abbey Grange Alpine Adventure
Ski Trip to Sestriere, Italy
February saw our Annual Academy Alpine Adventure as 72 students and staff boarded a
luxury coach to Sestriere in the Via Lattea (Milky Way) ski area of Italy which was the site of
the Winter Olympics of 2006.
Confident that lightning doesn't strike twice, we set off full of optimism that there would be
no repeat of last year's epic 33 hour journey. Whilst (due to the odd forgotten item) we came close to setting a new record, we
reached our hotel safe and sound and ready for a full day’s skiing the next morning. Snow conditions were fabulous and most
of the week we were blessed with azure skies, well groomed pistes and fresh powder mornings for the powder-hounds in the
party! Fun filled evenings kept faces smiling 24 hours a day with swimming, ice skating and a last night disco serving up some
après ski adventures. During the week we saw students make real progress with their skiing at all levels, and it was a delight
to see age groups mixing together and supporting and celebrating in each other's
achievements.
Sadly all good things must come to an end and with heavy hearts we boarded the coach
for our journey home arriving late on Sunday tired, but with lifelong memories of a great
trip. Who will ever forget Mr Fisher's ice skating, Jake Avdiyoski's attempts at ice
skating and lest we forget Mr Collins piling it whilst trying to show off in front of ski
school. Capture the dream? We certainly did. Watch this space for news of next year's
trip. DJW
Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Training Day
at Otley Chevin
On Saturday 29 March, 30 Year 11 and Year
12 students took part in a D of E training
day. They learned how to plan and cook a
meal on a Trangia camping stove, how to
properly set up tents and basic map orientation
skills. Abbey Grange was well represented by
all students who are now a little bit more
prepared for their overnight expeditions which will occur at the end of June. MB & EB
LEEDS FESTIVAL OF SCIENCE POP MATHS QUIZ
Congratulations go to Abbey Grange Year 7 students Joseph Tapper, Dylan Li and
Matthew Hambling who won first prize in the Leeds Festival of Science ‘Pop Maths
Quiz’ held at Leeds University on Saturday 15 March. 24 teams from across the
city participated which clearly made it a tough challenge. The impressive looking
trophy is proudly displayed in the Academy’s Trophy Cabinet.
Well Done! CS
ABBEY GRANGE BASKETBALL TEAM’S SUCCESS
The Year 9 Basketball Team won the School Sports Partnership Final on Thursday,
9 January 2014 winning all three games against Horsforth, Farnley Park and Ralph Thoresby.
The team played equally well in the City Finals beating Morley, Boston Spa, Allerton Grange and
Horsforth to bring the trophy back to Abbey Grange. Congratulations to Asher Simkins,
Joel Miriwada, Pierce Clarkson, Eliel Anku, Alfred Ogedengbe, Euan Outram and
Efosa Ogunbor. HDW
SPELLING BEE
Well done to the Year 7 students from Abbey Grange who joined students from 28 schools across Yorkshire and
the Humber in the Regional Final of the Routes into Languages Foreign Language Spelling Bee on 13 March 2014 at
the University of Hull. This was a tough competition, students were asked to speak and spell 100 words from a
selection of 150 words in French in 1 minute! JRN
London Theatre Visits
On 21 March our Year 10 English students travelled to
London to visit the impressive Globe Theatre on the banks of
the river Thames.
They were also able to spend some time exploring Covent
Garden before heading off to the Drury Lane Theatre to see
the new musical production of
Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. The students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and behaved impeccably,
despite the fact that we were held up on the M1 and it took 8 hours to drive to London! PG
Reading Leaders 2014
Congratulations to our Y13 Reading Leaders who have successfully completed their Reading
Mentors scheme and will be awarded their OCN Level 2 certificates in April. This year’s
successful Reading Leaders are Katy Smith, Megan Dunworth, Sophie Rowe, Gurpreet
Sandhu and Anna Stirland. The students received training from the Sheffield-based charity
Reading Matters in October 2013 and then used their skills to mentor younger students on
a weekly basis throughout the academic year.
The Reading Leaders scheme is a central part of our Literacy Initiative and helps
support the reading progress of younger students, whilst enabling Year 12 and
13 students to develop their own personal and vocational skills, giving them
valuable experience prior to embarking upon university courses.
Certificates will be awarded during assembly on 28 April and this will be
followed by a Celebratory Reception for the Reading Leaders, their teachers,
friends and families and the younger students they mentored.
Well done to you all – you’ve contributed something incredibly valuable to Abbey Grange and really made a
difference! LM
Some of our Year 11 students have been working alongside Jill Adam from Level
Partnerships, to raise money to go to Ethiopia in November to take part in the
organisation and ‘running’ of The Great Ethiopian Run.
This is an annual official fundraising campaign, united under the “Running for a
Cause” banner. Last year it raised a total of 1,300,244 birr for social protection and
welfare programmes run by selected Ethiopian organisations. Abbey Grange
students are hoping to go to Ethiopia and work with some of the charities that
benefit from the run as well as actually competing in the run itself. RCO
INTERMEDIATE MATHS TEAM CHALLENGE
Congratulations to our KS3 & KS4 Mathematicians - the Year 8
and 9 Intermediate Maths Team - Martin Parker, Gabriel
Dixon-Hardy, Emily Diggle and Nathaniel Law who came 2nd
in the Regional Finals of the Intermediate Maths Team
Challenge on Wednesday, 5 March 2014. The team were only
beaten by 1 point! Well done Martin, Gabriel, Emily and
Nathaniel. CS
UK MATHEMATICS TRUST CHALLENGE 2014
The UK Mathematics Trust aims to advance the education of children and young people in Maths and
organise national competitions and activities for 11-18 year old UK school pupils. Abbey Grange was
represented by Tiki Gibbens in Year 11, Matthew Scott in Year 10, Gabriel Dixon-Hardy, Martin
Parker, Patrick Forbes and Oliver Duggan in Year 9 who progressed into the Intermediate Maths
Kangaroo (a European competition) and our congratulations go to them on such a great achievement. CS
Leeds Chamber Music Competition Victory
Four woodwind and one brass group represented Abbey Grange in the Leeds
Chamber Music Competitions held at Temple Newsam House. Congratulations go to
the Senior Clarinet Trio of Luke Stirland, Anna Stirland and James Buckley who won
the woodwind class and the newly formed brass group, involving Euan Holwill, Sam
Newman,
Ben Tailby, Ethan Dunn, Donald Ricketts, Adam Howley came second in the brass
competition. Both groups will perform at the Winners’ Concert at Seven Arts at
Chapel Allerton on Sunday 11 May. Many thanks to Mary Plumb and James
Hamilton for their hard work in preparing the students for the event.
JK
Raising money. Changing Lives.
Thank you to everyone who participated in and donated to the PE
Department’s fundraising activities for Sport Relief 2014. We raised a
fantastic £1,056! KB
More news from our Music Department
Congratulations to Tom McKenzie who achieved a Distinction in his Grade 8 Double
Bass exam and thanks to his teacher Jenny Nicks for her work with him and a special mention for Becky Lowson who passed her Grade 1 Flute exam.
Congratulations also go to Naomi Priest who passed her Grade 6 Singing exam and
performed a solo part in the latest Youth Opera production.
Well done to Simon Denson who successfully auditioned for Leeds Youth Opera and
to Paige Steedman who sang in a charity concert she and her friends organised. We
were delighted to hear that Charlie Smythe has been accepted on a course at the prestigious Leeds College of Music next year.
Good luck to our Violin, Brass, Singing and Piano grade exam students: Rhianna Moore, Sanjeet Chatterjee,
Diana Bestwish Tetteh, Emily Saysell, Euan Holwill, Ben Tailby, Ethan Dunn, Charlie Walker, Caroline Tailby and
Sean Harris who will be taking their exams this week. JK
And last but not least, Hannah Lewin, a Year 13 student in
Rievaulx Abbey, won a competition run by Alton Towers to
design a fairground ride. Her prize was free entry to the park
for herself and her classmates. On Thursday 10 October
members of Rievaulx 13 accompanied by Dr Brivonese and
Mr Collins made the trip and had a fantastic day, scaring
themselves silly! We’ve been waiting for the official photograph but it’s still not
arrived hence the delay in printing Hannah’s fantastic
achievement and treat for all concerned! Hannah is going to pursue her artistic
talents next year on a Foundation Art & Design course. AB
CHAPLAINCY
You may recall reading in the December newsletter that Mrs Kay Brown, a
member
of the Academy’s teaching staff, was commissioned as Chaplain of Abbey
O
Grange by Bishop John of the Ripon & Leeds Diocese. We thought Easter an appropriate time
R
to introduce ‘Chaplaincy Corner’ to the Abbey Grange Newsletter providing information on the
various activities and events Mrs Brown arranges for our students.
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E
Ash Wednesday
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As Year 11 near the end of their compulsory education at Abbey Grange, they were challenged
to consider their regrets and consign them to the fire as part of the service of Holy
Communion on Ash Wednesday. The theme of the service was Journey, marking the time they have spent at
Abbey Grange. As the choices about where they will study at Post-16 become very real, this was a chance to let go
of some of the things that have not gone as planned but also to turn to embrace a positive journey with God. Each
student received a bookmark with a ‘Prayer for Preparation to Study’ to help them on this next step as they ready
themselves for exams. Music was provided by our Year 11 Worship Band and we were pleased to welcome
Rev Jude Smith of Hawksworth Wood and Pioneer Curate Rev Hannah Smith to celebrate with us.
'I Am With You Always' Matthew 28:20
To mark Fairtrade Fortnight Abbey Grange has taken up the national campaign
‘Sticking with Foncho’ with great enthusiasm. Selling Fairtrade bananas at
break has seen a big increase in fruit consumption, with banana sales more than
doubling, showing pupils making ethical choices. On Tuesday 25 February a
Colombian Fairtrade Banana Farmer, Aimeth Fernandez Angulo, visited the
Academy to talk to Year 10 students about the impact being a Fairtrade farmer
has had on her life and community. Student responses included:
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Fairtrade not only helps the farmers but the whole community.
I’ve learnt how not everyone has the same healthcare and education and how this should change to be fair.
How Fairtrade can affect a whole community rather than just an individual, eg providing healthcare.
How lucky we are in the UK. How lucky I am to have everything just given to me.
How small things can make a difference and change someone’s life somewhere else.
I will think about what I am buying and if there is a Fairtrade option.
This shows the impact that meeting people whose lives are directly affected by issues can help shape students’ thinking.
Aimeth’s talk has been followed up by assemblies and in lessons, from DT Food to PHSCE. Students have also had the
opportunity to buy delicious Fairtrade chocolate and other treats in a Fairtrade shop in school, as well as petitioning the
Business Secretary, Vince Cable, to investigate unsustainable supermarket pricing. The enthusiasm and willingness of
students to get involved has been great to see but hopefully we will also see a lasting legacy as these young people make
decisions about how they spend their money in the future.
Lent and Easter
We are using the Leeds’ Lent prayer diaries during Lent to focus in Form time on the many ways in which the Christian
community in Leeds serves the wider city. There is also an opportunity to watch Soul Surfer at the Lent Film Club, which
follows the true story of faith in the face of a tragic accident although to press we don’t know what happens yet!
Last week Year 7 had the opportunity to receive a Gideon New Testament and Psalms to
develop their personal spirituality.
There will be Easter Communions for Years 7-10 in the final week of term and a prayer trail,
based on the Stations of the Cross, has been displayed around the Academy. When we
return, still in the season of Easter, Prayer Spaces will be set up in the Fairbreeze Room for
exploration in RS lessons as well as at lunchtimes.
May I take this opportunity to remind all our families that the collective worship materials are available on the website under
Chaplaincy so you have chance to take the focus we have in school into discussions at home.
I wish you all a blessed and happy Easter. Kay Brown, Chaplain
Farewell from all at Abbey Grange
At the end of April, Mrs Joan Singleton is retiring after 44 years dedicated
service to Abbey Grange, Joan will be missed by her colleagues and students.
Joan joined the school in September 1970, initially as a Domestic Science teacher
but after a series of promotions in the pastoral team she ‘retired’ from teaching as
Deputy Headteacher in 2000. Joan's role in the 21st Century has been outside the
classroom but still very much involved in the pastoral care of students from an
initial role as Learning Mentor to more recently taking on responsibility for
Work Related Learning.
Whatever role Joan has undertaken at this school, the one thing that has
always been a priority is the students in her care. Joan really has had the care of
students at the centre of everything she does, above all else, Joan will be missed by
her colleagues and students for this.
On behalf of the Governing Body, past and present students and staff, I would like
to thank Joan for her invaluable contributions to the life and ethos of Abbey
Grange. We all wish her a happy, healthy and well earned retirement.