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Spring 2015
Champions of England
Spring 2015
Page 2
Champions of England
Fallibroome’s U16 Girls’ Netball team are ranked as No 1 in England after winning the
English Schools’ Championships at the weekend.
This is a fantastic achievement from a squad of girls who have represented the Academy
with distinction for five years. A full report is included inside this newsletter and the
whole Fallibroome community congratulate Miss Mountford and her amazing team on
this stunning success.
Top 100 School
In addition to this national success Fallibroome has been ranked in the top 90 schools in
the country for achievement at GCSE. Schools Minister David Laws wrote to the Academy
this month to praise the school for our impressive 5+ A*-CEM results and highlighted the
impressive achievement of our least advantaged students.
Spring 2015
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To receive accolades for our sporting and academic achievements in the same month is testament to our commitment
to the principles of ‘a whole education’ and to the hard work and dedication of our wonderful students, staff and
governors and the support of parents.
The Fallibroome community share the pride in our success and I have no doubt the achievements of our senior
students will inspire our next generation to similar heights. Well done!
This vibrant newsletter once again records the wide range of contributions our students and staff make to Fallibroome.
As our year 11, 12 & 13 students make final preparations for their exams, may I take this opportunity to wish them good
luck and thank all our students and staff for another term of success.
With best wishes for a restful break,
P W Rubery
Executive Principal
Spring 2015
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Alumni News
It has been a fantastic first eighteen months for the Fallibroome Alumni Association – membership approaching 800;
four reunions; inauguration of long service awards for staff; an increase in work experience placements for current
students; a growing list of Alumni speakers willing to share their inspirational life journeys with current students – the
list goes on and on.
After the success of the most recent reunion last November I asked, via the Alumni Facebook page, for members or
other ex-students to share their life journeys since leaving Fallibroome. I asked for these to be brief (200 words) and
below are three which make interesting as well as inspirational reading. I hope to include these on a regular basis so
if any members reading this would like to contribute to future issues of this Newsletter please send your offering to
[email protected] and state it is for the attention of Bernard Hurst.
I thought it was only right to start with Malcolm Bird, whose idea way back in 2011 and subsequent organisation of
the reunion of the 1978/1979 cohort, started the whole idea of the Alumni Association.
Spring 2015
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After leaving Fallibroome, I attended
Newcastle Polytechnic, (now The
University of Northumbria) to study
product design. While at Fallibroome
I had been interested in media, having
worked at Piccadilly Radio, and so
when I left Newcastle Poly I worked
in radio for the BBC producing a
network pop music show.
for $247million. I have now started
a kids content site called The
Viddiverse, (www.viddiverse.com).
I have been awarded two Emmy
awards, (nominated for three),
awarded three “Telly” awards and as
I write, The Viddiverse has just been
nominated “best streaming video
site”, by Kidscreen Magazine.
I launched Nickelodeon in the
UK in 1993; ran Hanna-Barbera’s
international business 1995-97,
looking after Europe, Asia Pacific
and Latin America, which involved
a lot of travelling; launched a TV
network in the US 1998 and ran a
production company in Los Angeles
from 1999-2002. I then joined AOL
to build and run their kids and teen
business from 2002-2007. After AOL
I ran an investment fund, culminating
in purchasing a company in China
I always loved my time at Fallibroome.
It was, and is, a special place. I
organized the first reunion a couple
of years ago with the intention of
starting the Alumni Association. It
is important to use the amazing
resources and teachers at Fallibroome
to their full extent. Speaking as an
ex student and now an old one, you
don’t realize until you’re older how
much the education you’re getting
right now means.
Alumni Founder
Malcolm Bird
Spring 2015
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Sarah Meredith (nee Bruce)
Karen Williams (nee Simm)
Sarah Chapman
“I starting building my dream at
Fallibroome, and in 2011 realised it
when I graduated as a vet from the
University of Liverpool. Now residing
in Mid Wales, I spend my days and
nights tending to hundreds of cattle,
sheep, cats and dogs. I am studying
for a post-graduate qualification
in Cattle Health and Production,
cementing a passion that has grown
over the years. To top it off, I am now
married to a Welsh farmer and spend
my time off happily herding sheep!”
After A Levels at Fallibroome I
immediately
started
full
time
employment as a receptionist at a
promotions company in Wilmslow.
I even had to take a day off to
collect my results! I was promoted
again and again before leaving as a
Production Exec. I briefly worked as
a PA and a sales co-coordinator for a
telecoms company before returning
to the promotions world working
for MOFILM as a PA/office manager
dealing with everything including
stroppy Hollywood actors.
This former student and talented
musician who left 15 years ago,
can currently be seen playing the
viola on the new daily gameshow
‘1000 Heartbeats’ as part of the
accompanying string quartet.
I’ve now been a full time mum for
3 years to twin boys, but hope
to return to part time work again
soon... probably back in the world of
promotions!!
Sarah has had a really successful
career since leaving Fallibroome
playing for several orchestras up
and down the country, including
accompanying stars like Elton John
on numerous occasions.
Spring 2015
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Individual Sporting Success
Fallibroome students have been selected to represent the following teams:
Ted Heywood U16 England Hockey
Amy Carter
U16 England Netball
Lucy Burrows U17 GB Equestrian Team
Chloe Turpin North West Netball
Individually, Fallibroome students have achieved the following:
Pat Swallows Third in the U16s Table Tennis County Championships
Morgan Frith Won Gold in the Northern Athletics U13’s Championships,
setting 2 new PB’s and 2 new Championship Record in
the 60m Sprint. His 60m sprint time was 8.04 seconds,
moving up to 2nd in the UK rankings for the 60 Metre sprint.
Morgan is ranked 1st in the UK for long jump with a distance
of 5.04m
Lara Crawford Year 7 Cross Country County Champion
Alex Holmes and Claire Robinson
Both have been selected to be on the Advanced Apprenticeship
in Sport Excellence at England Hockey.
Lucy Burrows (Year 10)
Spring 2015
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Champions
of England
The Fallibroome Academy U16 Girls’
Netball squad triumphed at the
English Schools Championships at
Ellesmere Port last weekend.
The squad qualified as North West
Champions and included several
girls who reached the final last year,
when they lost by one goal to Leeds
Grammar School.
This year was a very different story as
the girls breezed through their group
stage unbeaten, seeing off challenges
from regional champions, including
Millfield from the South West and
arch rivals Leeds Grammar.
Coach Mountford delivers another inspirational team talk!
Spring 2015
A tense semi-final against Tonbridge
Grammar required all the girls’
experience as they fought back from
a 3-7 deficit at half time to record a
10-9 victory, setting up a rematch
with Leeds in the final.
This time there was to be no
disappointment as the Fallibroome
team secured the trophy with a
comfortable 13-9 victory.
Fallibroome Principal Peter Rubery
said: “We are immensely proud of
the girls’ achievement. They have
represented the Academy with
distinction for five years and to be
crowned Champions of England in
their final game together is a fitting
tribute to their skill and determination.”
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The squad was coached by PE
Teacher Louise Mountford and
comprised of the following girls:
•
Amy Carter
•
Amber Panton
•
Taylor Turner
•
Alice Nelson
•
Josie Heron
•
Erica Jones
•
Mary Nelson
•
Chloe Turpin
•
Ellie Kirk
Fallibroome was ranked as the 15th
best sports school in the country last
year by the School Sport magazine.
This latest success should see them
ranked even higher when this year’s
list is published.
Spring 2015
Amy plays for England
PE Teachers, Mr Dale and Mr Fitzgibbon, travelled to the U17s
European Netball Championships to observe GCSE student, Amy
Carter, debut representing England.
Amy earned her first international caps, playing Centre/Wing
Defence in an exciting display of netball showcasing the investment
England Netball has had in recent years to develop the game. The
English athletes dominated, retaining the champion’s title with an
impressive athletic performance.
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Spring 2015
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Netball
The U14 Squad gained much experience playing for
the first time at regional level. They really excelled
and rose to the occasion.
They beat Chetwynde 15-6, Wirral Grammar 9-6,
Cheadle 7-6, and Westholme 12-6 which resulted in
them winning their section. They then faced Christleton
in the semi. After normal time the score was 7-7 so the
match went into extra time and they battled hard but
again the score was drawn at 8-8. At this point, golden
goal was called by the umpire with the Christleton
shooter holding the ball under the post. She shot and
scored and broke the girls’ hearts!
The girls picked themselves up and went into the 3rd/4th
place off against Wirral GS and pulled off a great win
after such a crushing defeat, beating Wirral Grammar
7-6, finishing third in the North West.
All three age groups qualified this year to represent
Cheshire at the North West Finals. This is a huge
achievement in itself!
Squad: Aurnia Barlow, Jasmine Langley, Rachel Carter,
Emily Tighe, Eva McBride, Alice Rowley, Hope Murray,
Grace Dempsey, Josie Elliott.
Spring 2015
The U19 squad played some fantastic netball during
the morning beating Sedburgh 8-5, and Range 14-1.
However, they came across some testing opposition
just losing out to Cardinal Newman 8-9 and Loreto 9-11.
The girls were placed third in their section.
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Loreto and Cardinal Newman went on to qualify for the
England Finals so the girls should be extremely proud of
their performance.
Squad (left to right): Becky Sidwell, Jess Whitworth, Steph Luckman,
Esther Horton, Natasha Studds, Phoebe Sym & Hannah Brocklehurst.
(Not pictured but in squad: Lydia Sym)
Spring 2015
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Rugby
Again the weather has frustrated
our rugby players as a number of
fixtures had to be cancelled due to
the cold weather.
To further increase the number of
students who take part in rugby some
Year 7 girls were invited to a contact
rugby taster session. They learned
the techniques and skills needed for
contact rugby and all the girls who
attended thoroughly enjoyed it. We
now hope to organise some fixtures
for them in the future.
Spring 2015
Football
Our girls’ football teams have had
mixed results this term.
Our Year 7s finished county runners
up in the Indoor 5-a-side competition,
but they were recently knocked out
of the ESFA U12s Football Cup after
losing 6-3 to Blythe Bridge.
Our U16s are still awaiting the result
from the other quarter final in the
Schools Cheshire Cup to find out
who they will play in the semi finals.
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Spring 2015
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Cricket
Orienteering
We have had a lot of success in the indoor Cricket
competitions with our U13 and U15 boys winning
the Macclesfield and District Tournament.
Our orienteering teams have continued their
fantastic performances and have maintained their
first place position in the Macclesfield and District
competition at all age groups.
They will now go on to represent Macclesfield in
the County round. Our girls’ cricket team were
unlucky to lose in the final of the Girls Indoor Cricket
competition and finished in second place.
They lead the group by 9 points and are now aiming to
be crowned champions.The team has won Cheshire
and Merseyside for sixth time in a row.
Spring 2015
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Best Engineered Roller Coaster in Cheshire
Thomas Wood (7S), Oliver Clough (7C), Alex Pegg (7C), Oliver Howard (7F) & Mitchell Hodgson (7S)
Spring 2015
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Congratulations to our Year 7 students who fought off tough competition from over twenty other teams from
across the region to win the annual Siemens Rollercoaster Challenge.
Our team, ‘The Void’ took their space themed rollercoaster to the final at Congleton Town Hall and really impressed
the judges. The boys are quite rightly proud of their success, particularly as the majority of teams entered contained
older students. Now what shall we spend the prize money on….?
Mr Jones
Spring 2015
Solar Eclipse - 20th March 2015
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Spring 2015
Fallibroome woke up to an overcast day and
there were many wishing the clouds away.
Students arrived at school with heads tilted
towards the sky.
At 8.30am ‘first contact’ was spotted. All students
marched to the tennis courts and astro turf to
witness the event. Luckily the clouds started to
thin and, wearing solar glasses, everyone was
able to get a great view. It was the moment
everyone was waiting for. All eyes were on
the skies. We counted down to 9.32am when
the moon covered 90% of the sun. The light
dimmed and it became noticeably colder.
There was a hushed silence and the crowd
then became excited by this fantastic sight.
Thanks to Mr Billington for organising such a
spectacular event.
If you missed it, then you’ve got a long wait as
the next partial eclipse will take place in 2026.
The next total eclipse is due in Macclesfield in
2090. Year 7 students will be 87 years old!
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Spring 2015
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Fallibroome Scientist Shines
Molly Padden, Year 13 was recently
awarded a Gold CREST Award for
her project work completed during
her Nuffield Research placement
last summer.
CREST is a project-based awards
scheme for the STEM subjects
(Science, Technology, Engineering
and Maths) run by the British Science
Association. She has been selected
as a finalist for the UK Young Scientist
of the Year Award.
“Last summer, as part of a Nuffield
Research Placement, I spent six
weeks participating in research at The
University of Manchester, School of
Pharmacy. I took part in an innovative
study based on the cognitive deficits
exhibited in schizophrenia. Using
the sub-chronic administration of
phencyclidine on a preclinical animal
model, my research team discovered
that there was a reduction in the
number of Kv3.1b voltage gated ion
channels, in the temporal cortex of
the brain, when suffering from this
psychiatric disorder.
This knowledge can now be utilised
to expand the understanding of
this complex organ. Through the
completion of a report on my research
I received a Gold Crest Award, which
involves over 70 hours of project
work. I am also a finalist for the UK
Young Scientist of the Year, the finals
being held at the NEC in Birmingham
as part of the Big Bang Fair in March,
where I will be showcasing my
research to a panel of judges.”
Molly Padden
We wish her all the best. Dr Burgess
Spring 2015
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Spring 2015
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Splendid Silks
Exhibition
On behalf of the Art Department, I was lucky enough
to receive an award from the Mayor of Macclesfield,
Cllr Janet Jackson, for the links made between
Fallibroome Academy and the Silk Museum last year.
These links were developed through our Year 9 Art
students’ involvement in the 'Splendid Silks Exhibition',
organised by Macclesfield Decorative and Fine Arts
Society.
I received the award alongside Molly Ellison and
Natasha Koop, two Year 10 Art students who were
involved in the exhibition last year.
Also receiving an award were Beech Hall school,
where the commemoration took place. Beech Hall
worked along side us in creating the exhibition, which
ran from June to September of 2014.
Mrs Ankers
Art Teacher
The Mayor of Macclesfield Cllr Janet Jackson, John Clayton of Macclesfield
DFAS, Molly Ellison 10P, Natasha Koop 10P, Mrs Ankers.
Spring 2015
Amy Warburton
Congratulations to Amy Warburton in Year 11 on her appointment
by the Children’s Society as a Young Advisor. Amy will be
representing young people with disabilities in Macclesfield with
the option to work in other areas in Cheshire.
Amy will be looking to seek better services within the local area
to include transition from Children’s Services to Adult Services, as
well as social activities available to them, eg. youth groups, and the
accessibility to activities such as Amy’s favourite pastime, horse
riding lessons.
Amy is hoping to study Psychology, Sociology and Health and Social
Care, in the 6th form, with the intention of securing a career in
Mental Health Nursing.
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Spring 2015
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Year 13 Design and Technology Students
Spring 2015
Students visit
Halewood
In February, Year 13 students from
Design and Technology and Business
Studies took a tour of the Jaguar/
Land Rover factory near Liverpool.
The students are currently studying
approaches to manufacturing that
mean products can be made quickly
and efficiently.
The factory, which makes the Land
Rover Evoke and the new, as yet
unreleased, Discovery Sport, gave
us a masterclass in ‘Just in time’
manufacture, taking us on a whistle
stop tour of the 48 hours it takes to
make a car. Students were able to
see concepts learnt in the classroom
happening right in front of their eyes.
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Spring 2015
Junior Futurechef
Congratulations to Nathan Poole and James
Hallworth who took part in the recent Junior
FutureChef competition at South Trafford College.
Unfortunately after some tough competition they
did not make it to the regional stage, however they
got the opportunity to work in a commercial kitchen,
gaining some valuable experience!
Nathan made cod wrapped in prosciutto with roasted
vegetables and a strawberry cream tart and James’
dish was glazed chicken and a cucumber salsa and
the dessert was mandarin trifle.
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Spring 2015
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Spring 2015
Year 7 Students Explore Chester Zoo
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Spring 2015
The annual Year 7 visit to Chester Zoo took place in January.
The visit to Chester Zoo gives the students an opportunity to observe animals
and see how the zoo seeks to imitate its natural habitat.
One of the options on the homework menu was to design and make a zoo
enclosure and an information board for an animal of their choice. We were
able to see some of the animals we had made enclosures for.
We were also able to look at the birds and bats as some groups had been
looking at flying animals.
Over the two days our students took hundreds of photographs and , of course,
no trip to Chester Zoo would be complete without a visit to the Gift Shop!
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Spring 2015
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Chinese Club News
This year, in Wednesday afternoon
CEP lessons, Fallibroome sixth
formers
have
been
studying
Mandarin Chinese and learning
about the culture of the Chinese
people.
Lily and Sue from the Cheshire
Mandarin Academy have brought the
lessons to life, and the students have
enjoyed learning some calligraphy,
how to use chopsticks, how to count
to 10 on one hand, how to do the
New Year lion dance and many other
skills.
An important part of Mrs Smith’s
course has been teaching the sixth
formers how to set up a club for
younger pupils, and how to deliver
what they have learned to others.
As a result, during the spring half
term, small groups of sixth formers
have held Mandarin Chinese Club
every Wednesday lunchtime. The
club members (including some
members of staff) have learnt
greetings, numbers, songs and
stories, calligraphy and how to pick
up skittles using chopsticks (very
hard as they are so slippery and there
was some cheating going on in the
end!!).
Mrs Smith welcomes in Chinese New Year
Spring 2015
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The grand finale was a cooking
session when sixth formers Lauren
and Hannah showed how to cook
and roll ‘spring rolls’ and how to
make a messy chocolatey dessert,
all of which was great fun, and Mrs
Smith was relieved they didn’t burn
down the school!
Some sixth form students organised
the promotion of the club, designing
the posters and powerpoints, and
Matthew Cross has designed the
club’s own website. Take a look on:
www.fallibroomemandarin.
wordpress.com
Leyla Harputlu and Megan Francis
Spring 2015
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Chinese New Year
Extravaganza
Continuing the Chinese theme, Stockport Plaza
recently put on an afternoon of amazing performances,
including lion dancing, tumbling pandas, feet and
head juggling, acrobatics and mask magic.
Mr Donald thought it was very enjoyable, showing
amazing skills, breathtaking and amusing in turns and
it was quite incredible what people can achieve. He
would love to see it again!
The general consensus was that the foot juggler was
the most impressive as she could get the vase and the
table spinning in so many different ways and she never
looked like dropping any of the objects.
Spring 2015
We really enjoyed the hat juggling they did it so fast that we couldn’t
even see a moment when they didn’t
have a hat on their heads.
The dancing dragons that opened
the show were spectacular. They
lent an authentic Chinese New Year
atmosphere to the production.
I might have to add some of the skills
to the club agenda - especially the
hat juggling, which looked the least
painful!
Mrs Smith
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Spring 2015
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Community
Events
This term has seen another action
packed timetable of sporting events.
The level of participation for these
events has been brilliant and we
would like to thank everybody who
has either taken part or come along
to support their Community.
Some highlights include the Sixth
Form table tennis event where Red
Community triumphed and the Year
8 basketball competition where the
Green Community came out on top.
We have also seen Year 7 compete in
football matches and Years 9 and 10
compete in netball matches.
James Allmond-Smith and Esther Houghton
Spring 2015
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Spring 2015
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Jaffa Cake Challenge
Week of Love
Before Christmas all tutor groups were provided with a
giant jaffa cake tube to mark the start of the challenge.
The Community Team was extremely happy with this
year’s Week of Love.
It required each tutor group to fill the tube with as much
small change as possible with the chance of winning
jaffa cakes!
A large number of students got involved in the event
by either helping to run the stalls, volunteering to sing
or just through purchasing raffle tickets, sweets and
serenades.
With just over two weeks to collect the money £779.95
was raised for East Cheshire Hospice. This really is a
fantastic total and well done to all those who brought
change in. The challenge was organised by the leadership
and sixth form community councils.
All of the money raised will be going to the Community
Charity which this year is East Cheshire Hospice. The
highlight of the week’s events was definitely the Friday
morning serenades. All of the volunteer singers were
incredible!
Serenading Sixth Formers
Spring 2015
Superfan of TV’s Mythbusters, Harvey Osborne
(Year 8), contacted the show. Consequently, the
Mythbusters producer
visited Fallibroome and
guided the students through how they go about
selecting their myth and how they prove or disprove
the myth through a step by step process. The students
got involved and had lots of excellent ideas.
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Singer-songwriter Coral Roberts (Year 7) was this
year’s winner of Fallibroome’s Got Talent. Coral
delivered a stunning vocal performance of one her
own compositions, accompanying herself on piano.
Runner up was Tom Passingham who sang an
emotional ‘Where is Love?’ from the musical “Oliver”.
All of the performers were tremendous!
Spring 2015
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Creativity Week
This year’s Creativity Week saw
Fallibroome produce a variety of
incredibly innovative, exciting and
imaginative responses to the theme
of ‘Flight’, providing opportunities
for cross-curricular work and a
range of activities from subjects,
including; airport roleplays in MFL,
‘Around the World in 80 Days’ in
Geography & English, animal flight in
Science, flying students in Graphics,
fantastic flying books in the Library
and much, much more…
This year our very own Year 7 Drama
club performed a devised version
of ‘Icarus the Boy Who Could Fly’ at
the presentation evening. This piece
was brilliantly directed by sixth form
student Samantha Wells, and was
very well received by a supportive
audience, made up of parents,
friends, staff and students.
The presentation evening had a real
sense of occasion and we received
plenty of positive feedback regarding
the high standard of work we have
come to expect from our students.
A huge thank you to everyone who
supported throughout the week and
congratulations to all those involved.
Mr Hogden
Spring 2015
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Spring 2015
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French in
Creativity
Week
Year 7 French classes interpreted
the theme of ‘flight’ by creating
airport role plays. The pupils
brainstormed vocabulary and learnt
useful phrases, to enable them to
dress up and act out entertaining
scenes from an airport.
The pupils also made their own
passports ‘en Francais’ for the role
plays, and made the flags of the many
different francophone countries
around the world, which were later
included in the main school crosscurricular display.
Magnifique classe 7P de Madame Smith
Spring 2015
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Treacle Club
Would you like to learn how to
use the Laser Cutter? How about
selling your own creations at the
Macclesfield Treacle Market? Then
join Treacle Club every Wednesday
Lunchtime in the Project Court!
Join our team of budding designers,
learn to use professional software
and design and make a range of gifts
to sell at our own Treacle Market
stall. Help us raise money for the East
Cheshire Hospice on our stall in May
and show Macclesfield your skills!
See Miss Owen for details.
Spring 2015
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National Connections Production
‘Hood’ by Katherine Chandler
Spring 2015
The Drama department was thrilled to work with a
talented cast of 39 students from Years 8-10, and an
extensive production team as well, many of whom
used the experience towards qualifying for the Silver
Arts Award.
It was exciting to work with so many students who had
never been in a school production before, and who
rose to the challenge like true professionals! It has
been great to see these students with a new-found
confidence around school, as well as hearing how
excited they are about the opportunity to perform on
a professional stage at the Lowry Theatre Manchester.
We felt that the story of ‘Hood’ was relevant on so
many levels and would also challenge our students
and the audience to consider the kind of hardship that
some families have to deal with every day. The style
of the piece also offered a directorial challenge for us,
particularly the art of effective puppeteering!
The fact that the play allowed us to cast such a large
company was a definite selling point – we wanted this
project to be fully inclusive and allow anyone who
wanted to commit, the opportunity to be involved.
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Spring 2015
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We had good audiences on both
nights and some really positive
feedback about the quality of
the ensemble work and depth of
character delivered by the lead roles.
We are proud to announce that after
the success of ‘Angels’ last year, we
have been billed as the festival closers
at The Lowry and have been allocated
the prestigious Quays Theatre as our
performance space, a step up from
The Studio last year!
If you didn’t manage to see this
production first time round, tickets
are available through the Lowry Box
office to see our production of ‘Hood’
on Sunday 3rd May.
The Drama department
Spring 2015
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Spring 2015
Performing Arts London Trip
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Spring 2015
The Performing Arts London Trip was simply
AMAZING!
Sixty two students had two jam- packed days of
West End shows, backstage tours, musical theatre
workshops with the cast from ‘Miss Saigon’, dinner at
the Hard Rock Cafe and we even managed to squeeze
in time for a little shopping in Covent Garden.
This popular trip was a fantastic experience for all of
the students involved, and we were so lucky to catch
two of the most prestigious shows currently on in the
West End, ‘Matilda’ and ‘Miss Saigon’.
This was a weekend not to be missed, and we are
thoroughly looking forward to offering this experience
to our students again next academic year.
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Spring 2015
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Teenage Cancer
Trust Concert
Our Year 12 Silver Arts Award
students hosted a concert in support
of the Teenage Cancer Trust in
February.
As part of their award, they are
involved in the Runway on the
Runway fundraising project with the
charity.
They are aiming to raise £2000 by
the deadline of 27th March when
they will be involved in the high
profile fundraising fashion show with
11 other local schools on the catwalk
beneath Concorde at Manchester
airport.
Guest speaker: Olivia Cork
There was a variety of performances
from students across the school years
interspersed with videos about the
Runway project and the work of the
charity in the North West. They also
welcomed the young inspirational
speaker, Olivia Cork who is now in
remission after losing a leg to bone
cancer who spoke about her firsthand experience of the work of
Teenage Cancer Trust.
This hugely successful event which
was completely organised by our
student raised £618. A huge thank
you to everyone who supported the
event and well done to the students
who organised a great concert!
Spring 2015
Tobias Ward
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Guest Assistant Ciara Allen & Year 12’s
Louise Claffey, Jaymie Newton & Jack Burlison
Spring 2015
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Year 10 Drama Menai
On the 23rd of January our Year 10 GCSE Drama
group embarked on a magnificent weekend at the
Conway Centre in Menai. Using the theme of ‘Fear and
Misery’, we explored many aspects of performance
such as musical theatre, physical theatre, script work,
set design, immersive theatre and shadow work.
During the weekend we stepped outside of our
comfort zone and attempted new things with the help
of professional artists, who we were privileged to work
with. Performing alongside fellow Drama students from
Poynton and Alsager, not only did we broaden our
performance skills, but also expanded our friendships
and shared new ideas. This theatrical weekend has
left us with many memories and increased our skills
both on and off stage. We thoroughly enjoyed this
opportunity and would highly recommend it to the
next year’s GCSE Drama students!
Spring 2015
Little Shop
of Horrors
It was certainly an exciting start to
the year as we visited The Royal
Exchange with our A-Level students to
see a highly entertaining and creative
production of Little Shop of Horrors
directed by Derek Bond. This really
was a spectacular version of the scifi musical comedy, cleverly staged
in-the-round, including imaginative
puppetry, stunning lighting effects
and incredibly slick musical direction
and choreography.
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Spring 2015
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Shrek at the
Palace
We were thrilled to take students
from Years 7- 9 to see the fantastic
musical based on the award-winning
DreamWorks Animation film at the
Palace Theatre in Manchester.
The students thoroughly enjoyed
seeing the story of the unlikely hero
and his loyal steed, Donkey, as they
embarked on a quest to rescue the
beautiful (if slightly temperamental)
Princess Fiona from a fire breathing,
love-sick dragon. It was a fantastic
evening’s entertainment and a great
opportunity for our students in the
lower school to see this great show.
Spring 2015
Lion King
Theatre Trip
Students from Years 7-9 had the
opportunity to come on this amazing
theatre trip to see the Disney classic
‘The Lion King’ at the Palace Theatre
in Manchester.
We were completely in awe of the
fantastic puppetry and amazing
costumes in the show, and could not
believe the talent of the young actors
who played Simba and Nala. The
set was stunning and the students
thoroughly enjoyed their theatre
experience.
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Spring 2015
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The Hunger
Games
Just under a year ago, Miss O’Connor
and I starting talking about an
alternative approach to the annual
Dance Show. We both love the
work of Matthew Bourne and his
re-working of classical ballets into
contemporary dance works - but we
wanted something more accessible
for our students; something that
was more within their point of
reference and so we finally agreed
on “The Hunger Games”.
Spring 2015
The film, originally a book by Suzanne Collins,
has everything that you would want to see in a
contemporary dance performance: the wealthy
ruling class controlling and manipulating the poor
‘underclass’, combat, fighting, general guts and gore,
a love triangle and, against all odds, the undercurrent
of resistance and moral debate of right over wrong.
“The Hunger Games” was the obvious choice and one
that excited us!
Our production of “The Hunger Games” in January of
this year featured students from every year group in the
school - from students who spend most of their lives
dancing, to those who are just starting out and take
part in the weekly dance clubs. We were immensely
proud of all of them. Their commitment and creativity
was clearly evident in this year’s Dance Show.
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Spring 2015
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Spring 2015
The Great American
Songbook
For our fifth ‘acoustic evening’ we explored the back
catalogue of great American music - not just the classic
‘songbook’ era of the ‘40s and ‘50s but also songs from
the early pioneer and work songs of the 19th century
through to the work of some of America’s greatest
contemporary songwriters.
What started as a germ of an idea once again rapidly grew
into a fantastic evening of outstanding performances
by some of our upper school and Sixth Form students.
Much of the material was selected by the students who
impressed with their thoughtful selections that included
everything from songs by Dolly Parton through to those
by Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder.
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Spring 2015
Whilst
some
performances
remained true to their original
versions, some students chose
to completely reinvent the song
and interpret the music and the
lyrics in a new and original way.
What held the evening together
though were two things - the rich
vein of narrative and storytelling
that weaved through the history
of song and, secondly, backed by
a fantastic band, the wonderful
artistry of our music students
who yet again performed at an
outstanding level.
Congratulations and thanks to
all those involved for yet another
memorable evening.
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Spring 2015
Samantha Etridge
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Matthew Robertson
Spring 2015
Melissa Leak
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Liam Roberts
Spring 2015
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Ski Trip 2015 to the Dolomites
Forty-six pupils and five staff ventured
into the snows of North East Italy at
half-term.
We had the opportunity of visiting
Venice at Carnival time and we saw
the good citizens of Venice parading
around in some strange and stunning
costumes.
Skiing in Italy seldom disappoints: the
snow conditions were good and the
weather was fantastic. Miss Parker
strove to keep up with the top skiers,
despite some obvious work required
on her jump technique and inability to
stop at times.
impressively alongside her group. I
managed only a couple of days after
a near death experience on piste
involving a certain Year 11, who shall
remain nameless*.
Miss Mason elegantly glided the slopes
with her group (and managed to avoid
the trees again this year) and Mr Jones,
with reasons best known to himself,
dressed as Captain America. Miss Ellis,
on her first ski adventure, progressed
In the evenings, there were movies, a
quiz, sledging, a huge snowball fight
and our traditional awards evening on
the Friday.
* Forbes Hunter 110
Spring 2015
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Spring 2015
On the Water Ferry into Venice
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This year the awards were won by the
pupils named below, the criteria being
team spirit, determination, progress
and general awesomeness.
•
•
•
•
India (Determination) Rawsthorn 8F
Josh (No Fear) Dixon 10I
Forbes (The Destroyer) Hunter 11O
Dulcie (There’s a hole in my leg but
I’m going to ski anyway) Whadcock
10F
A mention in dispatches has to go to
Matt Styth 10S, who dusted himself
down and got back to the slopes after
a bit of a nasty bump.
We got feedback from the instructors
that our group was one of the best
groups they have ever had – high praise
indeed. I’d like to add my thanks to the
pupils for being good ambassadors for
the school and for the sterling help of
the other teachers, to make Italy 2015
another unforgettable ski experience.
Start saving for next year...
Mr Donald
Spring 2015
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Spring 2015
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Library News
Author Phil Earle made a welcome return to school
to talk about his latest book, ‘The Bubble Wrap Boy’.
Phil encouraged students in years 7-9 to reflect on
the opportunities for storytelling that our everyday
lives present and led a creative writing workshop for
English Language students in Y12.
Competition winner Lucy Bradley (Year 7) meets Phil Earle
Matt Dickinson achieved the not inconsiderable
feat of speaking to nearly all students in the school
during his day with us; however this proved to be
an easy challenge for an Everest mountaineer! Matt
spoke to students in Years 7-9 about the first book
in his new series of teen reads, The Everest Files,
and entertained them with tales about the extreme
conditions encountered by climbers. He then gave
an inspiring talk to Geography and PE students from
Years 10-13 about the physical effects of climbing
such terrain and how mountain tourism impacts on
the region.
Spring 2015
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Matt Dickinson and competition winners
Spring 2015
Harry Potter Book Night
The Library took part in the first ever national Harry Potter
Book Night on February 5th with an after school celebration
attended by students from across all year groups.
After being sorted into the four Hogwarts houses, the teams
were ready to test their knowledge of the Harry Potter series.
It was a close run contest with the students displaying an
impressive awareness of the finer details of the plot and
characters from the books. Hufflepuff were eventually
declared the winning team by just half a point and were
rewarded with gold coins from Gringotts!
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Spring 2015
Target Jobs – National Schools
Challenge 2015
Students were invited to take aptitude tests and benchmark themselves
against thousands of students from schools and colleges within the
region and across the UK with the grand-final taking place at Wragge
Lawrence Graham & Co, Birmingham in March.
Congratulations to Ben Mortishire-Smith for achieving number 21 and
Edward De Sousa at 47 on the Northwest leader board out of over 95
students that took part.
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Spring 2015
Sixth Form trip to
the Foreign Office
A group of sixth formers visited the Houses of
Parliament, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
and had their picture taken outside 10, Downing Street
on a day organized by former Fallibroome student,
Jamie Oarton.
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Spring 2015
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After arriving at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and having lunch, we went on a tour of the building after its
grand renovation, followed by a Q&A with Her Majesty’s Ambassadors from Sri Lanka and Belize. This was definitely the
most interesting part of the trip as we heard real life accounts of people living all around the world for about four years
at a time and being paid to learn some of the hardest languages in the world.
I didn’t really know what the FCO actually did until I got there and spoke to them, however due to everyone being so
friendly I soon found out. Their work includes receiving government funding for international development such as
schooling girls in underprivileged parts of the world, and even rebuilding a school that had been trampled down by an
elephant in Nepal!
We took a detour through the news and crisis room, which really did look like a TV set with multiple huge screens
broadcasting live news from all around the world. Finally, as a bonus, Jamie had secretly arranged for us to go just
around the corner and have our picture taken outside 10 Downing Street. We weren’t allowed to take pictures when
the door opened as it is a working building, however we did get some cool selfies outside it.
Georgia Burgess
Spring 2015
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Pupil Safety at School Open and Close
The Academy tries to make sure all pupils are as safe as possible while they are at school. To this end
we would like to remind parents and carers that we do not expect them to come onto site to drop
off and pick up pupils. This significantly reduces the amount of traffic on site whilst large numbers
of pupils are moving around the site. We ask parents and carers to use the leisure centre or park
elsewhere.
On a related note, Macclesfield Rugby club have requested that parents and carers be reminded that
access to their site is for members only (or parents of members) as they are becoming overwhelmed at
school closing with traffic.
We also remind people that parking illegally on the double yellow or white zig-zag lines outside school
increases the risk of a traffic accident occurring with pupils as they enter and leave the site and should
be avoided.
Spring 2015
Our Thanks and Best Wishes to...
Mrs Manley
is leaving the Sixth Form Office due to family commitments.
Mr Hammond
is leaving his Teaching Assistant position at Fallibroome for an HLTA position at Ashdene Primary in Wilmslow.
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