Sheldon Standard
Sheldon Former Pupil Launches Conflict Reporting Website
[email protected]
www.sheldonschool.co.uk
Issue Number 315 - 16 January 2015
Sheldon graduate Ben Jones has launched a website, internationalconflictwitness.com to showcase
the realities of life in war-torn, developing and post-conflict environments.
Since leaving Sheldon in 2011, Ben has visited over 30 developing countries and has been consulted
by the Prime Minister’s Holocaust Commission at 10 Downing Street for his expertise on learning
the lessons of armed violence. He now hopes to inspire others with
what he has learnt by sharing the stories of his experiences in Libya,
Congo, Ukraine, North Korea and Libya.
Ben says “I would really appreciate the support of Sheldon students
and staff in this project. We have some amazing stories on our
website which give insights into the human reality of armed conflict.
I loved my time at Sheldon and I threw myself into my experiences
there, chairing the first and second Chippenham Food Festivals and
becoming the first of my family to go onto university afterwards.
With this website, I am keen to show current Sheldon pupils the sort
of things it is possible to achieve with the great start in life provided
by Sheldon. My time at Sheldon has been key in enabling me to
reach the position I am in today. My sixth form tutor Mr Devine has
supported me for years since I left”.
In January, Ben will be working for United States former President
Jimmy Carter on the response to Ebola. He will be helping rebuild
justice systems in Liberia to help prevent relapse into civil war.
Ben at 10 Downing Street to advise the Prime Minister’s
Holocaust Commission. Ben first became interested
in armed conflict “during Mr Silto, Miss McCullagh
and Miss Merriman’s fantastic history lessons”.
EES Year 12 Engineering
Residential Workshop
The Year 12 engineering team
consisting of Josh Matthews,
Gus Bailey, James Barrett and Ed
Carver went to Gloucester College
on 6th January for 3 days for the
engineering residential, working
with Siemens. They managed to
design and build a fully functional
model railway level crossing,
including safety features designed
by the team. The team worked
very well together to complete the
model in the three days, showing
an aptitude for engineering. They
used 3D printing, electrical circuits
and components, electromagnets
and used the program Solidworks to
model their designs. The team will
next complete a
full engineering
report based on
their designs and
compete in a
celebration and
assessment day
in July.
Sports Hall and Letting News
Slimming World meet at the school every Monday
6.00pm. Recommended by doctors, you can also bring
along children 11 to 16 years for free. The group
encourages a healthy living life style.
Contact Candy Neale on 01666 840645
There are some weekend vacancies in the Sports
Hall for five a side, cricket nets and sporting
parties. Please contact Lynne on 01249 651056
or email [email protected].
Graccia Gardner in Year 9 has been selected for the 2015
England Talent squad for Synchronised Swimming. The
final squad is made up of 13 elite athletes from all over
the UK.
Graccia will represent England at the British
Championships this year and also internationally in
Croatia and Italy.
Congratulations Graccia and good luck.
SHELDON SCHOOL’S NEWSLETTER
HEAD-ITORIAL
Happy New Year – and hope that you all had a very enjoyable Christmas.
This time of year often brings snow and this week threatened to be the first occasion when we might have seen some
disruption. Fortunately, the heavy snow that was forecast at one point for Tuesday night / Wednesday morning did not
come to pass and business could operate as normal. Luckily, now into my third year here, we have only had to shut the
school for one day in my time and any decision to do so is never taken lightly. A number of factors have to be taken into
account including how safe it is for the students to travel to school, how safe it is for staff to travel to school and how
feasible it is, given that large numbers live some distance away; and then consider how safe it is for students once they are
in school – both in terms of making routes around school passable and also ensuring enough supervision for them from our
staff. When there is potential for closure, the site staff are here very early clearing the car park and paths around school
and I am up much earlier than usual liaising with various colleagues in different parts of the region to check on conditions
locally, as well as discussing with the other secondary headteachers in Chippenham what they have gleaned. We also,
occasionally, need to factor in the likelihood of worsening conditions if we can be fairly certain of information supplied by
the Met Office. All that has to be completed by 6:30am, as ideally, decisions need to be communicated in very good time
to both parents and staff members before journeys are contemplated.
If the decision is taken to close, a text message will be sent immediately using SchoolComms – it is therefore vital that any
changes to your number or email are notified to school. I realise that the signal does not reach all in the community, so we
will also place a message on the school website and via Twitter, which will show on the front page as you log in. For those
who cannot access the internet, we will also notify radio stations Heart FM and Radio Wiltshire, so you can tune in there to
find out. Having informed you of the various procedures, I hope that we won’t actually have to use them, but forewarned
is forearmed.
Neil Spurdell, Headteacher
Music Results
Tamsyn Hankinson-Chandler passed
Grade 6 violin
Richard Noble passed Grade 4 violin
Ben Law passed Grade 3 viola.
ABRSM Singing
Alyssa Lenton-Jinks. Grade 2 with
Merit
Annabel Flay. Grade 2
Mariah Foster. Grade 3
Amee-Lauren Goodway
Grade 3 with Distinction
Trinity Singing
Joseph Tedds. Grade 4 with Merit
Megan Kitts. Grade 8 Pass
LCM Music Theatre
Kaija Brunyate. Grade 7 with
Distinction
Kirsty Hibbert. Grade 8 with
Distinction
Congratulations and well done from
Mrs. Dobson
Calling all Musicians...
Sunday 8 February 2015
10am to 5pm
Neeld Hall, Borough Parade,
Chippenham
Open to all ages and abilities (we
advise Grade V and above)
Bring your orchestral instrument
- whether you are rusty or you
currently play - and be inspired
by joining members of the
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
in a fun day of music-making.
Programme: Sibelius Symphony No.2
Cost: £30 adults / £15 under 18s.
Booking essential: 01202 644707 or
e-mail [email protected]
Good luck to all students
participating in the following Maths
events:
2nd February Maths Enrichment
morning at Hardenhuish School
and
9th February Year 7 team challenge
at St Mary's School in Calne
Duke of Edinburgh Awards
Congratulations to the following students who have all
achieved their Bronze Award in 2014.
Year 11
Caitlin Allison, Liz Arnold, Aidan Bottomley, Megan Blackwell,
Georgia Burgess, Evgenia Burgess-Omelchenko, Sam Fuller,
Seb Galardo, Emily Gurr, Sophie Hope, Lewis Kelly, Ben Lobl,
Bethan Lynn, Toby Rogers-Jones, Cerys Smith, Kate Tamin,
Alice Tedds, Joe Tedds, Tom Tennant, Charlie Wild
Year 12:
Ishmael Akalanne, Luka Brown, Ed Carver, Jack Cook, Nathalie Gordon,
Ellen Heimpel, Abigail Jeffery, Connor Jones, Matthew Nicolson, Rebecca
North, Sally Sayers,
Year 13:
Katy Calder, Katy Pugh, Madison Hicks, Elinor Tedds, Sophie Trott, Zoe Trott
Calling all Netball Fans ...
If you would like to watch Team Bath
V Surrey Storm on Monday 9th
February, 6pm - 10 pm at Bath
University please see a female
member of PE for a
letter.
The cost is £11.00
and the match will be
televised live on Sky TV.
Teacher Tackles Tough Terrain in
Terrifying Temperatures
During the Easter holiday this year one
of our staff, Mr Page from Humanities,
will be attempting what is often billed
‘the toughest footrace on Earth’, the
Marathon des Sables. This gruelling
challenge takes place in the Sahara
Desert with competitors racing 156
miles (slightly further than Cardiff
to London along M4), split across 6
stages in 7 days. Daytime temperatures
can exceed 50◦C with night-time
temperatures falling to near freezing.
In addition, competitors are expected
to be self-sufficient and carry all they
need with them for the week, with the
exception of water which is provided.
Mr Page is taking part in this challenge
in an attempt to raise money for the
Multiple Sclerosis Society. MS is a
debilitating disease that has affected
a close member of his family. If you
would like to sponsor him you can do so
at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/
MdS2015-RichardPage. All donations
are hugely appreciated and will help
motivate Mr Page to keep going in the
Sahara.
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