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@ PCSA
Spring Edition 2015
The Principal’s Post
Dear Parents and Carers,
Once again welcome to our Spring newsletter. As you may know we send
out three of these per year. You will find here information from all subjects
and from all year groups. Please do contact us if you need any further
information.
EVENING SCHOOL LAUNCHED – Year 11s 2015
We have a new development this year with the launch of the PCSA Evening
School – PCSA PLUS. This runs at PCSA from 6 - 8pm each Monday,
Tuesday and Thursday. It is fully staffed and gives Year 11s a chance to work with teachers and support staff
in a ‘longer school day’. There is no doubt that attendance at this over the next six weeks will significantly
boost grades.
Often parents say to us that it is hard to know what students are
doing when they are ‘revising’ at home. The PCSA Evening School
gives an opportunity for Year 11 to have an additional 6 hours
study support per week. The focus will be on past exam papers
and especially English, maths and science. This is completely
voluntary. During the first week over 60 Year 11 students
attended. Many Year 11s are taking the opportunity to go home
at 2.55pm or after Period 6 and then return at 6pm for Evening
School.
EXAMS 2015 – good wishes
As always, at this time of year we are focusing on Year 11s and
Year 10s who have GCSE exams this coming May and June. Yet
again students are working hard and taking all the advice offered.
Many are using Period 6 (after school) and Period 0 (before
school) to boost their grades. Teaching and support staff are
continuing to work very hard to enable the students to get the very best grades they can – many are again
‘going the extra mile’. For example, we will again be running the PCSA Easter School – Mr. Shopland, one of
our Assistant Principals, is arranging these sessions this year.
Students recently received the annual English Literature results. 60% of Year 11 achieved C+. This was down
on last year’s level, which was 72% C+. We did have 6 A* and 16 A grades and many students clearly made
good progress. However, some students were disappointed with grades and we hope this will now be useful in
the final push in the vital first English Language exam on Tuesday, May 5th.
MATHS
Maths exams are in June and students can use the PCSA website to structure their revision and practise as
many maths questions as possible. We have told students the very best maths revision is completing past
papers – all of which are on the PCSA website. Practise, Practise, Practise.
PCSA Year 11
Exam results over time - 5 AC with English and maths
2011 - 69% (national average 59.0%) + 10%
2012 - 70% (national average 59.4%) + 10.6%
2013 - 75% (national average 59.2%) + 15.8%
2014 - 67% (national average 53.4%) + 13.6%
2015 - ?
NEW INTAKE
On Saturday, March 7th we held the ‘new intake’ Community Breakfast. This is the one where all the Year 6s,
who have a place at PCSA for September 2015, join us for a familiarisation morning. We had 352 first choice
applications this year with only 256 places available at PCSA. We certainly do not wish to turn people away
but we only have physical space for 256 new students. When we have 256 in all year groups we will have
1,280 students. This is up from 1,110 in 2002. We aim to expand to 1,500 in due course in a managed way
but we can only do so with a new capacity and a new science block. We hope to be able to provide this for the
2017 entry to PCSA.
SCIENCE BLOCK
We will learn at the end of May if we have got the £5million needed to build a new science block. We have
made an application for funding to Government through what is called the ‘Condition Improvement Fund’.
Children at school will name the new block after a famous scientist. We have received outline planning
permission and once again we will ensure the building is in keeping with the area around PCSA.
CHARITY 2015-16
Normally we choose our charity of the year in the summer term but this year we have decided that we will
support the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. This follows the news that one of our ex-students has recently undergone a
double lung transplant due to this disease. Thank you for your support with the Red Cross this year. At the
time of writing our 2014-15 total stands at around £7,000.
SCHOOL PRODUCTION 2015
In the summer term our Creative Arts faculty will be producing the
wonderful musical Grease – further details to follow. Just last week
our wonderful student Hannah arranged an excellent Acoustic
Showcase. Well done to all involved in that evening.
Lastly, due to the General Election the Year 9 Parents’ Evening has
been moved to Thursday, April 30th.
Best wishes and thank you for all your support,
Neville Coles
Principal
Ex-students – Josh Caulfield and
Curtis Langdon have both been called
up to the England U18 Rugby Squad.
Curtis made his debut for England against
France for the U18 and Josh, who
previously reperesented England at U16
and U17 level made his debut for the U18
against Scotland.
Both boys will now travel to the South of
France on a 12 day tour.
Fantastic Achievement – Well done
boys
TOP STUDENTS IN EACH YEAR GROUP FOR POSITIVE SIMS
ACHIEVEMENTS - From September 2014 to time of publication
STARS - a fantastic achievement
Year 7
Lucie ANTOINE 7A1
Neve CHAMBERLAIN 7A1
Maisey CHARLESTON 7A2
Ben FRYER 7A1
Lily GRANT 7A1
Sebastian HAYWARD 7A4
Kayley MONELLE 7A6
Eleanor ROBERTS 7A1
Amelia SEATON 7A5
Jack TAYLOR 7B4
Charlotte WIGLEY 7A6
Year 8
163
173
153
176
178
165
153
165
181
159
181
Cameron ALFORD 8B6
Ellie BURGESS 8B1
Amy KATTANA 8B3
Macie KENDRICK 8B6
Alexander LEEKS 8B2
Lucy MAINE 8B5
Ella MINTY 8B1
Hannah STEER 8B4
Jordan WALTERS 8B5
Dylan XANH 8B2
Year 9
203
212
203
187
207
186
207
212
163
198
Jessica AGNEW 9B1
Tasin Ahmed 9A2
Natasha BRYANT 9A3
Rebecca CORLETT
Taylor DREWER 9A4
Blessing DUBE 9A6
Kerry KATTOU 9B1
Lucy MACKLIN
Jessica SMITH 9A1
Tyler WRIGHT 9A4
TOP 10 STUDENTS IN YEAR 10 AND 11 FOR POSITIVE SIMS
ACHIEVEMENTS
Year 10
Emily ASHFORD 10A1
Isabella FEBRY 10B5
Joshua GARDNER 10B4
Breen HARVEY 10B1
Phoebe KENNEDY 10B5
Benjamin LEWINS 10B5
Emily MILLARD 10A1
Jessica PALMER 10B1
Suzanne REEP 10B5
Danielle RUSHTON 10B2
Year 11
96
106
89
98
98
92
95
103
97
94
Paige BROWN 11A1
Jasmin-Jordan COE 11A3
Carleton HAM 11B1
Jack HUGHES 11B3
Patrick JEFFRIES 11A1
Thomas MURDIE 11A1
Jaden SADIQ 11B3
Joshua SMITH 11A4
Joshua TROWBRIDGE 11B6
Bryn TURNER 11B4
82
83
127
88
106
98
123
103
93
85
131
123
152
129
125
135
131
122
122
122
TERM DATES 2014 -2015
TERM 4
TERM 5
TERM 6
Starts
Monday 23rd February 2015
Ends
Friday 27th March 2015
Starts
Monday 13th April 2015
Ends
Friday 22nd May 2015
Starts
Monday 1st June 2015
Monday 20th July 2015 school is closed to students – Staff Training Day
Monday 20th July 2015
Ends
TERM DATES 2015 -2016
TERM 1
Starts
Wednesday 2nd September 2015
Wednesday 2nd September, Thursday 3rd September and Friday 4th
September is closed to students with the exception of Year 7 who will come
in on the morning of Friday 4th September 2015
All students to return to school on Monday 7th September 2015
Friday 23rd October 2015
Ends
TERM 2
TERM 3
TERM 4
TERM 5
TERM 6
Starts
Monday 2nd November 2015
Ends
Friday 18th December 2015
Starts
Monday 4th January 2016
Ends
Friday 12th February 2016
Starts
Monday 22nd February 2016
Ends
Friday 1st April 2016 -Please note: Friday 25th March is Good Friday – Bank
Holiday and Monday 28th March is Easter Monday – Bank Holiday
Starts
Monday 18th April 2016
Ends
Friday 27th May 2016
Starts
Monday 6th June 2016
Thursday 21th July and Friday 22nd July 2016 school is closed to students –
Staff Training Days
Ends
Friday 22nd July 2016
CURRICULUM UPDATE – Mr. Edwards
How do reforms to GCSEs affect students at PCSA?
Curriculum change continues to happen at a great pace! It has been well
documented in the media that there are many changes in education policy
that are impacting on schools. Recent years have seen changes including:
reforms to vocational courses, the removal of modular exams, new rules
to discourage schools from allowing students to re-sit exams, the
introduction of Progress 8 (a new measure for judging a school’s
performance) and an increased focus on spelling, punctuation and
grammar. Currently A Level and AS Level courses are being updated and,
significantly for PCSA, GCSE syllabuses are also undergoing reform.
This article looks at how the reforms to GCSEs are going to affect our students at PCSA. Should you have
any further questions about this or any aspect of the curriculum at PCSA please feel free to get in
touch at any time ([email protected]).
The reformed GCSEs will not affect students in Years 10 and 11. However, students in Years 7, 8 and 9
(during their Upper School) will follow a mixture of the new, reformed GCSE courses and the outgoing, old
style GCSEs. This affects all schools and it is because reforms to GCSEs are being phased in over several
years. Students completing Year 11 in 2017 (our current Year 9) will sit reformed GCSEs in maths and
English. By 2018 (current Year 8), in addition to English and maths, students will sit reformed GCSEs in a
range of other subjects. These include computing, French, geography, history, religious studies and Spanish.
A third phase of reform will see other subjects updated for first examinations in 2019 (affecting current Year
7).
One of the most noticeable changes to GCSEs is the nature of the grades that will be awarded. Currently
students are awarded grades A*-G. The new courses will see awards of grades 9-1. A grade 5 will become
the new standard for a Level 2 pass (currently a C grade, although the grade 5 will be equivalent to a current
C+). Under the new system, it will be harder to achieve the top grade (grade 9) than it is currently to
achieve an A* grade.
Other changes will see coursework and controlled assessment removed from most GCSE courses. The main
type of assessment will be exams and we are told to expect more and longer exams. At PCSA our three-year
Upper School will allow students to take exams in one or two subjects in Year 10 to avoid having all
assessment take place at once, at the end of Year 11. It is likely that some controlled assessment will remain
in GCSE Science.
With the exception of maths and English, we are still awaiting details of what reformed GCSEs will look like.
New information is becoming available all the time but, at this stage, it is still provisional and provides just an
outline of what new courses will look like. This means that information about courses in the Year 8
Preferences Booklet this year is subject to change. However, it is known that developments will include:
•
English Language will require better reading skills and an emphasis on good written English
•
English Literature will encourage students to read, write and think critically; it will assess students
on challenging and substantial whole texts and on shorter unseen texts
•
Maths will provide greater coverage of areas such as ratio, proportion and rates of change; it will
require all students to master the basics, and will be more challenging for those aiming to achieve top
grades
•
Science will cover new content, including the human genome, life cycle analysis and space physics,
and will be more mathematically challenging
•
History will require students to study more historical periods; it will cover 3 eras - medieval, early
modern and modern - and will concentrate more on British history
•
Geography will require pupils to use maths and statistics, and will concentrate more on UK
geography; it will also require students to carry out at least 2 pieces of fieldwork
•
Languages will be more demanding and most exam questions in modern languages will be asked in
the respective foreign language
At PCSA we are, of course, already working hard to meet the challenge of preparing students to succeed at these
new courses. Staff are working closely with exam boards to implement the changes. As ever, striving for
outstanding teaching and learning at PCSA should stand our students in good stead. Furthermore, our threeyear Upper School allows us generous curriculum time to work with our students in preparation for these new
challenges ahead.
PERIOD 6 UPDATE – Mr. Phillips
Larry Special!
Hi, my name is Larry and I am the recently appointed Chief
Litter Picker at PCSA. As well as supporting Mr Coles and his
team in maintaining an outstanding learning environment for
the students, I am also fortunate enough to take part in
many of the activities available at PCSA. Below are some
photographs of my highlights of the year so far. Please follow
@LarryPCSA on Twitter to keep up to date with my work. I
can also help with any general enquires about the school.
All the very best,
Larry
NEWS FROM YEAR 7
–
Mrs. Brace
7A1 have had a great term in design technology,
this term they have been working in food. They
have learnt new skills for cooking and shown a
positive attitude to working safely. They have
created some beautifully presented work and
proudly taken home their cooking.
Throughout the school they have been working
well collecting lots of positive comments and are
showing a mature attitude when working with
adults, several students in the tutor group have
received student of the week, well done 7A1.
Neve Chamberlain and Katie Brook with their
Greek salads.
7A2 - Another fantastic couple of terms for 7A2 racking up a
huge amount of 2160 positives. Tutee Jodie Crump currently
has an amazing 143 positives and has been out in the lead
for many weeks now with other tutees trying to catch up with
her. Tutor rep Charlie Hathway has been given the
responsibility of representing his whole year group on the
student council.
The tutees that have represented the school in sport these
last couple of terms are Tom Marnock in sports hall athletics
and Virag Somosi in hockey. The tutor group attend a variety
of P6 lessons including home learning club, ICT and Leah
Creak and Harry Day are also involved in the drama p6 club.
A well done to Sam Redington who was chosen for the Year 7
football B team. Keep up the great work 7A2.
7A2 looking great in their Christmas jumpers helping to raise money for charity at Christmas.
7A3 - have been working very hard this year and have been
very welcoming to us as new tutors. Beth Bateman-Sim had an
audition for Les Mis for the Re-Act Theatre Company. Beth will
find out later in the year if she has been successful. Tom Burge
has been enjoying a successful season with Weston Rugby Club.
Beth Bateman-Sims, Tom Burge,
Anya Fairhead and Naomi Turner
Tom plays for the under 12s and has so far scored 35 tries and
has been awarded ‘Man of the Match’ on four occasions. Anya
Fairhead, a member of ‘The Dance Company’ (TDC) recently
took part in a competition in Bristol. Anya was very successful,
bringing home a large trophy. On top of this massive
achievement Anya has also enjoyed a modelling photo-shoot
with ‘Beautifully Woman’
Naomi Turner continues to take part in Cheerleading competitions, the last being in Exeter. Her Cheerleading
team, ‘Weston-Supernovas’ didn’t manage to bring home a trophy, but taking part in such a large
competition was its own reward. Well done 7A3, keep up the good work!!
7A4 - have been producing lots of high quality work and thrashing through the positives on SIMS. This has
led to them achieving a record 203 positives in just one week! We have also been awarded tutor group of the
week not once, but twice in recent weeks! We hope this continues as we progress through the remaining 2
terms. One of 7A4’s big highlights has been Ashton Salway being featured in the national magazine ‘Sea
Angler’ having caught a cod that was almost as big as him! 7A4 have seen success in the inter tutor/house
sports competitions with wins for both the boys and the girls! -Well done 7A4.
7A5 - Laura participated in the scary story competition and
Amelia has got over 150 positives. Georgia takes part in a
period 6 orchestra, Zoe and Ellie enjoy period 6 art club and
Charlie, Sam and James play football for A team in period 6.
Leo enjoys PE in the health and wellbeing centre, Jamie is
enjoying dodgeball and Antonia has fun in netball. Conor
looks forward to cooking in DT and Lauren made a
particularly good apple crumble!
Ellena and Bethany enjoy drama, especially learning about
physical theatre! Alex is progressing really well through the
phonics programme! Out of school Liam won a district drill
comp for T.S. Weston sea cadets and Jake won a badminton
tournament. Also, James’ team, Winscombe RFC, are
unbeaten for 2 seasons, Sam’s team, North Somerset FC,
haven’t lost this season! Cam and Harvey are helping to save the planet by riding on scooters to school every
day! 7A5 is epic!
7A6 - have continued to thrive as a tutor
group since the last newsletter edition.
Congratulations to Pascal, Louis, Ashleigh,
Kayley, Rachael, Charlotte, Ross, Kyle,
Owen, Josh and Toby for achieving student
of the week during this time which is
fantastic.
7A6 have continued to make the most of
the P6 activities on offer at PCSA attending
a mixture of sport, ICT, music and IT
activities.
7A6 have also been joining in with all the
tutor time activities with full effect including
wearing Christmas jumpers on the last day of term to raise money for the school charity. I look forward to
more fun activities as we head into the summer terms.
7B1 - have had a great year to date. We have managed to accrue a total of 2411 positives since starting in
September. We have also managed to exceed the School target attendance figure of 97% as a total group.
What a fantastic achievement!
We have had several students represent the school at various sporting competitions including football and
netball. I hope to see more of our group participating throughout the academic year.
Students are currently working towards their short ghost stories for the writing competition and are enjoying
being as creative as they can, I am looking forward to reading them. We have been attending period 6 with
the raspberry pie group being a firm favourite. Well done 7B1, you are all working very hard!
7B2 have had a great term both in and outside of
PCSA. The tutor group has now accumulated over
2000 positives across all subjects. Students are
proud of their achievements and improvements in
PE, science, art, cooking and maths. Outside of
school Mel has created a band with her best friend
Poppy – called PM, we are looking forward to their
first album. Daisy has improved her gymnastics
skills and is proud of her roundoff back walkover.
Katie is improving in trampolining at the High Fliers
club at Hutton Moor.
Gowri performed Bollywood dancing at the Winter
Gardens in January whilst James was picked for the
North Somerset schools football team and has recently scored against Bath. Amber has been successful in
Drama and is going to be performing in front of a local primary school soon. Everyone is working really hard,
already over half way through the year, and looking forward to the coming challenges and opportunities next
year.
7B3 - have had some fantastic achievements this term, with Chloe, Kaydee, Holly, Kacey, Callum and Dylan
all on over 100 achievement points each! It was great to see Sophia win the spelling bee, and Harvey, Finley,
Jamie and Ben working together to win the poetry slam. Well done to Kacey and Yohanna for making fantastic
progress in maths, and to Lewis and Corey for their great effort in English.
It has been great to see so many students
developing their skills in cooking, with Dan, Beth
and Brennan making fantastic Greek salads. Well
done to Oliver for focusing on developing his
artwork throughout year 7, and to Tristan for his
brilliant effort in geography. Rianne has been
developing her skills in basketball and hockey, and
Fibi has been doing brilliantly in advancing her
French speaking skills. It has been great to see
Darcie collecting yet another 100% attendance
certificate, and to see Ryan collecting three
achievement points for his excellent letter in
English! Well done to all members of 7B3 for some
outstanding achievements, I look forward to seeing
many more in terms 5 and 6.
Tristan Walser, Oliver Shaw, Brennan Godwin
and Dylan Way completing number work.
7B4 - we have made a great start to 2015! - Elena, Jess, Kezia, Daisy and Chili will be part of the chorus in
the Grease production in the summer term. We can’t wait to go along and support them. In other music
achievements, Poppy is the lead singer in a band and also plays the piano, Lydia is playing the didgeridoo in
her music performance and Daniel plays guitar.
Beau and Holly are excelling in art, while James, Megan and Mia think drama is great!
We are quite a sporty bunch and our sporting commitments have continued this team; Erin, Sadie, Chili,
Daisy make up the best part of Priory girls Hockey team. Jake is our sporting superstar attending football,
rugby and fitness P6 activities. Leo and Taylor love their PE lessons, Ryan and Adam are part of the football
team. Jack is enjoying keeping fit in the brand new gym. Jess got a score of 9.1 in bleep test - best in year 7
girls.
Zak enjoys ICT and Louis is attending ICT P6 and really enjoying making a cartoon.
The majority of the tutor group have well over 100 positives which demonstrates the hard work each of them
have put in this term. Very well done!
Members of 7B4
Kezia Povey and
Beau Lloyd testing
their landing crafts
in science.
7B5 - Our tutor group has gained over 1903 positives since the beginning of the school year, demonstrating
their efforts and enthusiasm in lessons. Our current top learner is Faye who holds the highest score of
positives (over 135 positives), followed closely by Aimee and Lizzi. 7B5’s commitment to learning is also
represented by their high attendance level as Jack, Molly, Libby, Will, Max, Danielle, Faith have 100%
attendance at time of writing. Aimee and Devon have made an enormous contribution to our learning by
leading the Thought of the Week sessions every Thursday in tutor time. We are delighted that Aimee, Faye,
Jack have been made students of the week in the past terms.
7B5’s enthusiasm and energy is reflected in their involvement in
period 6 activities. Jack, Riley, Jakob, Jackson, William, Joseph,
Libby, Aimee, Mollie, Faith, often participate in period 6 sport
activities such as athletics, football, rugby, hockey, netball,
badminton and basketball. In addition, some students play sports
outside school such as Jack, Lizzi, Scott, Riley, Keaton, Sarah, Molly,
Libby and Max. Additionally, our tutor group also has a particular
interest in drama as Brandan, Jake, Danielle, Mollie and Aimee are
involved with the school’s play.
7B5 are currently planning their charity fundraising scheme in the
hope of making a good contribution to the community. Keaton and
Sarah have taken part in a charity run. Aimee is raising money for
the homeless by taking part in a drama play.
7B5 completing their kung-fu punctuation.
7B6 - have been busy writing ghost stories. They are improving their literacy skills and are all entering a
national short story completion.
Ebony Jones-Simmons has achieved her creative badge at cubs which involved her wood-carving sculptures.
Pippa Lowe has met the Mayor with her guide group and Jennifer Lee has completed a reading challenge for
North Somerset.
We have been rewarded tutor group of the week for
receiving the most positives in a week. We were so
pleased to receive this from Mrs. Brace.
The tutor group are planning cake sales for charity
week in term 5 so will be getting their chef hats on. We
are working on a project with science attempting to
make crystals to sell.
Well done 7B6!
7B6 with their stories and books they are
enjoying reading.
2015 has been a very exciting year for Year 7. It has seen our students being picked for school teams,
becoming outstanding learners in the classroom and
obtaining many life skills.
One group of students were able to complete their level 3
bike ability course, delivered through Sustrans Active
Travel in partnership with North Somerset Council. This
course saw the students being taught how to be safe on
the road and encouraging them to cycle more. They had
their bikes serviced by a mechanic to check for road
worthiness, all of this was free to our students. Yemnah
Tamburino was lucky enough to win a mountain bike after
signing up to complete her course.
I am hoping to run this course again later in the year for
current Year 7s and for it to be available to next year’s
Year 7 students.
Year 7 Bike Ability Students
I am very proud of the students who are all working very hard and continuing to grow into outstanding young
people.
Mrs. Brace
STUDENTS FIRST
NEWS FROM YEAR 8 – Mr. Johns
2015 has been a fantastic year so far for Year 8 with some outstanding highlights. As all Year 8s have chosen
their options for year 9 all the students are really focused on their futures at PCSA. We look forward to
graduating into upper school and celebrating this with the London rewards trip in term 6. Keep up the good
work and continue to work towards your goals and dreams.
8A1 - have had a brilliant term overall, also gaining a new member Rebekah
who has settled into the group well and is enjoying being a new student at
PCSA. Jemma-Louise is leading the way so far with a total of 166
achievement points/100% attendance! Freya Crinson is close behind with
161.achievement points/0 negatives and 100% attendance. Both students
have achieved most of their points through 'excellent effort' and constantly
demonstrating a positive attitude toward learning in all aspects of their
school career. 86 achievement points were collected as a tutor group in the
last week alone! Jemma-Louise Cooper has been spending her recent
Saturdays raising money for Dogs Friends, a charity based in Portishead.
Jemma and a team of others have been collecting with charity boxes in
Matalan and raising a general awareness. This is an excellent example of
how students at PCSA have been helping the wider community. Ethan Nairne
is currently taking part in an international professional level judo competition
in Croatia and is likely to come home with several new medals for his efforts!
8A2 - We are collecting sweets for next term's Lower
School charity drive, selling bagged sweets throughout
the term in a bid to better last year's charity total.
Other charity efforts include Katie Crowther's efforts for
the Fuchsia charity. Katie raised thousands of pounds
last year for several causes. Emily Few has been doing
what she loves best - dancing in shows at the Princess
Hall, Burnham, to help a foundation taking singing to
sick children. Several of the tutor group have been
invited to do Triple Science for their preferences: well
done to Aaron, Charlie, Taylor, Emily, Harry, Beth and
Katie Crowther. Others have gone above their target
grade in maths: well done to Jack, Harry and Liam.
Caitlin Spittle surpassed expectation in her last science
test with a 5.5. Tiegen has become a flier in the senior
cheerleading squad, Shadows Elite, which trains at
PCSA.
Charlie and Harry Palmer's North Somerset
Football Team are currently unbeaten in the Junior Premier League. Jade has enjoyed camping in winter in
cold temperatures and cooking for themselves in teams of six. Mitch and Luke did a brilliant performance in
drama and two students, Taylor and Aaron are learning German and Japanese at home!
8A3 have had a great term with lots of fantastic
achievements, especially the amount of times they've
won Student of the week. George Flack won it for his
painting of the Eiffel Tower which is now displayed in
the school. Agata won Student of the Week twice,
firstly for her great humanities home learning on
Desmond Tutu and then for her English project on
identity. Ellie and Leonie won Student of the Week for
a video they made on stereotypes in English. Damian
and Alicia were rewarded for their work in maths.
Finally, Oskaar Boyce was one of the Students of the
Week for his great work on parents evening.
Ellie-Mae, Agata, Esme and Alicia also made some
wonderful floats in their carnival project for art and
they presented to all staff. Kelly Perrett, among
others,
has
produced
some
brilliant
assessments beating her target in RE, history and
maths.
8A4 - have had a fabulous term, with students involved in a wide range of activities both in and out of
school. Within school Danny and James were Students of the Week for helping at Parents evening and Ellie
and Imogen took part in a parliament workshop and taught our tutor group all about it. Two of the tutor
group moved up sets in maths after 3 successful terms, well done Jasmine and Callum. Also in maths Adam
was given a surprise test paper, and gained the equivalent of a B in a GCSE paper. Chloe has been working
hard on her guitar, look out for a future music star! The tutor group are sporting crazy, Imogen made it to
two bowls finals and was asked to play in the National finals. Both Bens, Bradley, Reece, Leo, Joe and Callum
have all been hard at work with their football training and some have competed for the school. Imogen and
Jade played rugby in a tournament, and along with Amy have also represented the school at hockey.
Adrianna has just competed in a football tournament with her scouts group. Ellie gained her purple belt in
karate and Amy entered another gymnastics competition coming 4 th. Well done 8A4
8A5 - It has been an exciting start to the new year for
tutor group 8A5, there are a number of students who have
gained over 100 achievement points, including Toby
Maleham who has 127 achievement
points
and Paige
Vowels who has 116. 8A5 are very excited about making
their preferences choices for next year and they are
also looking forward to the summer rewards trip.
In extra-curricular news two of our group members,
Rhiannon Stott and Eleni Hannam are taking part in The
Gang Show, Bugsy Malone and Salad Days - they are
performing in these shows at the Playhouse theatre and
also Grease in the school production, both are very excited
as well as being a little nervous! Sol Midgley and Lloyd
Chudley are regular team players for the Hornets and are
developing their skills with every session - they have some
crucial matches coming up soon so keep an eye out for
them!
8A6 - It has been a fantastic start to Year 8 for
8A6. Mrs Petrou and I are extremely pleased with
the way our students have settled in to the New
Year. So far this year, we have achieved over
2,000 positive points and have an average
attendance above the 97% target. We have been
working together to prepare ideas for term five
which is our charity term where this year we are
raising money for the International British Red
Cross. Last year, we managed to raise an
impressive £110 for Weston Hospicecare. We have
had many sporting successes with Maisie Squire
and Elleanor Atwell competing in athletic
competitions, Rebecca Howard entering dance
competitions all over the country and Markos
Panagiotopoulos continuing with his taekwondo in
which he has a black belt.
8B1 - There's been a lot going on for the students in 8B1 especially with
out of school activities.
As well as gaining nearly 200 achievement points, Ella Minty won gold in
a sugar craft competition, Mary Berry watch out!
Lauren Bishop won a drill competition with her sea cadets, she'll be
marching us all about soon!
Ellie Burgess is nearly up to 200 positives, which is amazing and Alex
Weynbeg is nearly on 100 positives.
Ben Hughes has really turned his behaviour around and has only
received a couple of negatives recently which is a massive achievement,
well done Ben.
The group have been so kind welcoming new student Charles Dyer this
term.
As usual a positive term for all of the group and Mrs. Best and Mr. Boyce are very proud to be their
tutors. Well done to all.
8B2 - are sad to say goodbye to a member of our tutor
group, Poppy Murphy who was very friendly and always
helpful. We would like to wish her all the best.
They have started to raise money for the schools
chosen charity (the International Red Cross) and have
raised £108 so far though various charity events they
have run. They are hoping to beat their record from
last year of £332.02p. Some of the charity events they
have taken part in so far are sponsored silences, bike
rides and selling gummy bear hearts on Valentine’s Day
to whoever the sender desires!
Congratulations to Dan Reid who won the Beach race
on Sunday 15th February! The Weston Mercury
published a full page on Dan’s fantastic achievement.
Overall, 8B2 have over 2000 positives which is fantastic, keep up the good work.
8B3 - have had a brilliant start to 2015. Their attitude, attainment and effort have been fantastic and this
has been evidenced by the number of positives they have achieved. Our highest achieving girl is Amy Kattana
with 198 positives, no negative, no lates and 100% attendance which is one of the highest in Year 8. Our
highest achieving boy is Karik Childs with 89 positives, no lates, no negatives and 100% attendance. Natalie
Branton, Gracie Chamberlain and Freya Moore have also achieved 100% attendance, no negatives and no
lates which is excellent.
Gracie Chamberlain has been Student of the Week and Oliver Harris and Tom
Searle represented the tutor group during a Parliament Education workshop
and as a result will be leading a tutor group session to share their
experience.
We have also been in charge of the student day programme, where each day
two learners are given the task of delivering important messages to staff and
students throughout a school day.
8B3 have currently been
having their individual IAG
sessions where we have been
discussing their options for
year 9 and I have been
impressed by their careful
considerations and maturity
when dealing with these
important decisions.
A great year so far, well done.
8B4 - had a busy term 3, they started to think about the
options that they would like to take in year 9. Alisha Hunt
and Lottie Lewis have maintained 100% attendance Hannah
Steer has stormed into the lead with 196 positives, followed
by Immy Talbot who is on 145.
Hannah Steer has also just landed herself a main part in the
play Cats and will be playing Tallulah in Bugsy Malone during
March. Lottie Lewis recently landed herself the position of
centre-back for North Somerset girls' football team.
All in all a great term 3 - well done 8B4!
8B5 - It has been a very productive term for 8B5.
I’m really impressed to see Jacob Anderson, Megan
Carmichael-Coombs,
Milena
Merrifield,
Sammy
Owens and Jed Stansfield continuing with their 100%
attendance.
Also, Lucy Maine, Sammy Owens, Jed Stansfield and
Jordan Walters have already gained over 150
achievement points.
Jess Gough consistently models exemplary literacy
skills and has been nominated by our tutor group to
be our student voice representative. She will be
delivering ‘thought of the week’ which links to politics
for young people.
Furthermore, she has entered the ‘ghost story’ competition and has already impressed Ms Aaron with her
ability to create tension in her writing.
We have seen an increase in extra-curricular
activities and high quality home-learning. Firstly,
Greta Kociubaityte and Katie Davis have been
attending P6 Photography and shown some very
creative qualities during these sessions.
Also, Lucy Maine, Milena Merrifield, Megan
Carmichael-Coombs and Gemma Ashbee have been
working extremely hard in sport during school
sessions and outside school with their respective
sports.
Finally, I have been very proud this term to see
outstanding home-learning from Jake Stone, Jacob
Anderson and Holly Kent and Anna Barrett. These
students carried out detailed research into the
Buddhist religion and produced fantastic results for
Humanities.
8B6 - The last few terms have been
busy for our tutor group. There have
been students moving up sets in
maths lessons.
Issy Vucicevic has been chosen to
represent
Great
Britain
in
gymnastics.
Harry Winstone has been steadily
improving at his extra-curricular
swimming club, and Macie Kendrick
and Louie Webber have been busy
representing the tutor group on the
school council and the school at
Options Evenings.
As a group we have had a successful year so far with many students improving on their achievement point
totals from last year. Our top learner with almost 195 achievement points is Cameron Alford, closely followed
by Macie, Harry and Kyle Williams!
The student showing the most improvement is Robyn Campbell whose current total already exceeds last year
with more than two terms remaining. We also have three students who are still yet to miss any school time,
so well done to Oliver Kossmann, Jemima Montgomery and Sophie Howe. Our top learner over the last few
terms is Brad Browning who has shown maturity and skill in many of his lessons including a dramatic
improvement in science. Well done Brad.
NEWS FROM YEAR 9 – Mrs. Thompson
It has been another fantastic couple of terms for Year 9 - busy but great. The students have settled well into
the upper school and there have been some incredible achievements which I am sure you will enjoy reading
about below. Many of our students attended the ski trip to Bormio and I am told had a fabulous time. I am
currently planning the Year 9 reward trip with the students input and we are discussing suitable venues! As
usual this will take place towards the end of the summer term. If you have any ideas please do not hesitate
to contact me. Attendance at the moment in Year 9 is good and currently 95.4% - however we would love to
get it closer to the school target of 97%. Please do not forget to telephone student services if for any reason
your child is off unwell. Due to the General Election we have had to bring Year 9 parents’ evening forward to
Thursday April 30th – please note this important date in your diaries.
9A1 – Mrs. Cornish/Miss Green
9A1 have continued to make excellent progress across
the school. This is reflected in the impressive number of
positive logs everyone has achieved. They have a very
positive attitude to learning and there have been some
really excellent Praising Stars outcomes as a result of
this. As usual, many have been involved in lots of
activities both during P6 and at clubs outside school.
Emma Byrne recently achieved bronze in the South
West gymnastics competition and Sophia Johnson has
continued to play for the Winscombe U15s girl’s rugby
team which has been very successful. Keep up the good
work 9A1!
Sophia and the U15s Winscombe rugby team!
9A2 – Miss York
Hello we’re 9A2 and this is what we’ve been up to
recently.
Gabriel and Matthew took part in the school’s
production of Grease, as Vince Fontaine and TBird. Ben conducted a 4 hour charity collection at
Tesco’s in aid of Children’s Hospice South West,
raising over £100 and Will is working hard towards
his brown belt in karate. Finally, Mia’s amazing art
work made it to the atrium gallery and she
painted a brilliant water colour piece which is
pictured
opposite.
9A3 – Miss Naznin
9A3 have been extremely impressed with Eleanor Breakspear Hughes’
constant commitment to training in the North Somerset Athletics
Academy. She has been preparing and training for upcoming county
competitions in North Somerset. I am proud to say she was awarded
Athlete of Weston-super-Mare and received the annual trophy. Well
done Eleanor! We also had members of our tutor group (Will Bailey,
Matthew Ogborne, Joseph Morrish, Jack Bishop and Alex Harris) attend
the ski trip to Bormio, Italy. We had the privilege of listening and
seeing their exciting adventures in Bormio. This has encouraged many
of the tutor group to join in in the escapade next year.
Joe Morrish enjoying himself on the ski trip!
9A4 - Miss Rolls
9A4 have had another wonderful term at PCSA. They've worked really
hard to raise money for our school's charity, The Red Cross. A group of
the girls managed to raise a brilliant amount of money by organising and
running a candy cane delivery run during break and tutor times. This
allowed students to send candy canes to their friends for a small cost.
4 of the tutor group recently went off to Italy on the Ski trip and had a
wonderful time. They were all really proud of the new skills that they had
learnt and on their return, created impressive projects about their
experiences.
9A4 have worked hard this year to increase the amount of positives that
they earn. Currently Taylor Drewer is leading the girls with 121 positives.
Followed closely by the boys with Tyler Wright having earned 118
positives.
Another brilliant term 9A4 - Well done!
Taylor Drewer
9A5 – Mr. Keyse
Having only joined PCSA at the beginning of January, Term 3
was Mr. Keyse’s first term as Tutor for 9A5 and already there
are celebrations within the group. Mary Read has won three 1st
Place Awards in Cheerleading Competitions as well as being
awarded two medals and a certificate.
Alysha Wilmott won a swimming award for speed and distance
and Lewis Neal has played in the school football team every
game so far this year. Celebrating the positives further, Jordan
Coombes, Lucy Macklin and Chloe Walcot have all achieved
100+ positives this year so far, with Lucy Fletcher and HollieAnn Alsop in hot pursuit.
Mary Read
9A6 – Mr. Garner
9A6 have made an excellent start to their journey through upper school. They quickly became used to
wearing the PCSA black jumpers and have already racked up some impressive achievements as they begin
laying the foundations for their future success. I asked them to think of the one thing they are most proud of
achieving since the start of Year 9. Here are some of their replies:
“I have studied hard for BTEC sport and passed my first four tests,
thanks to lots of encouragement from my teachers.” Brandon Harvey
“I achieved a C grade in my physics assessment.” Jake Wood
“I achieved an A* in my French speaking assessment.” Elliot Ridsdale
“I became the Year 9 representative on the School Council.” Blessing
Dube
“I really enjoyed the ski trip!” Leia Ward
“My team won the £15 prize on Enterprise Day.” Saskia Trowbridge
Blessing Dube – School council representative
9B1- Mr. Pye
Last term we raised the most money for our charity out of the whole school, we raised the money with a tuck
shop that we set up and ran. In total we raised over £200. The money was put towards ‘The Red Cross’.
We are very proud at the moment as we have the largest amount of positives in our year (2137) with only 35
negatives leaving the tutor group with a staggering 2102 net points. Rebecca participated in a ‘Junior Chef’
competition and has now qualified through to the next round; she made fish cakes.
In the term three house matches Holmes (our house) came 3rd in rugby, 1st in netball and 1st basketball
placing Holmes 1st overall.
9B2- Mrs Bowen
9B2 are making great progress towards their targets and are looking forward to very positive outcomes at the
end of the year. Attendance is above the school’s target and everyone has gained and continues to gain, an
amazing number of positives with the majority of students maintaining 0 positives.
Term 3 continued to be a busy term for 9B2 culminating in a successful end to our fundraising activities
where we raised over £90 for PCSA’s chosen charity. A special mention must go to Reece for his enterprises
contributing over £45. Reece continues in his roles as both tutor group rep along with Isabella and as year
group rep, a fantastic role model for the rest of the year group. As part of their duties Isabella and Reece
successfully launched and conducted a survey across the year group to support the school’s plan for
continuous improvement.
Three students from 9B2 took part in the recent Raspberry Pi trip where they showcased their amazing
projects to the staff at Hewlett Packard. The students were Reece Coombes, Isabella Caine and Ross
McKenzie. They also took part in a meeting to discuss innovation and enjoyed an excellent day with a
delicious lunch!
9B3 - Mr. Symes
Firstly I’d like to say a big thank you to the students in the tutor group for making my start at PCSA so
enjoyable. It was also great to meet parents and carers during Target Setting Day and I’m looking forward to
working with students, parents and carers in the near future. It’s been a fast and furious period for 9B3 with
many sporting and academic successes to mention.
Chloe Carchrie has received honours in karate (silver medallist in Central England competition) and was also
part of the school netball team which reached the County Cup Finals along with Pattie Kokoftopoulou and Erin
Norris. Jack Evison has also completed a Grade 7 ballet exam whilst Ryan Hill and Sammy Hemmens have
experienced success with their football teams.
Sinead Hayward helped raise over £800 for a local charity and was also part of the Raspberry Pi Club trip to
Hewlett Packard alongside Rhiannon Hayward, James Dewhirst and James McLaughlin. As a tutor group, our
focus will remain raising attendance levels where we are currently making good progress. Well done to all
students for this alongside their continued hard work and dedication towards subjects and extracurricular
activities.
9B4 - Mr. Sherring
It has been a very productive couple of terms for 9B4, with some
really pleasing achievements:
Mike, Rochelle, Olivia and Tom all successfully presented their
outstanding Raspberry Pi work to HP. They were all highly
commended for their confidence, knowledge and enthusiasm.
Aimee was a key member of the PCSA netball squad who finished
3rd in the West of England netball championships. Robyn made truly
outstanding progress on the recent Italy ski trip. She went from a
genuine beginner to confident 'red run' skier in the space of a week!
Evan has recently qualified for the English Nationals, Swimming
Championships in the 200m Breaststroke. This is an amazing
achievement that has come from hours and hours of dedicated, hard
work. His weekly training schedule involves 12 hours of swimming
each week!
Evan Brunsdon
A number of the tutor group have achieved really pleasing grades in their recent subject tests, reaching 3, 4
and even 5 levels of progress!
9B5 – Mr. Hall
It’s been another sporting term for 9B5 with tutees taking part in county netball, rugby and athletics
matches. In the lead up to Christmas the tutor group managed to collect over £140 for the school charity.
A special mention to Reece Collins and Ronnielee Griffin who set up a charity food stall in the courtyard at
break times!
Every member of the tutor group has now achieved over 50 positives, with Megan Barrett, Jaz Hurrell and
Alex Lee achieving over 100 already! Well done to the whole tutor group for a truly fantastic effort.
9B6 – Mr. Webb
9B6 have made a really good start to their GCSE year. The class have adopted their new main tutor Mr Webb
and he has steered them to improving their general organisation around the school and positive attitude.
Students have responded well to the weekly structure with insightful discussions from these inquisitive
students, leading new learning of world histories, events and cultural understanding.
In term 2 the tutor group rallied together raising almost £90 for the International Red Cross. Special
consideration goes to Samantha Sleeman, James Hodkinson and James Coglan for raising a sizeable
proportion of the grand total.
Weekly instalments of the tutor groups sporting achievement are often a focus for discussion with many of
the boys competing for the school and club on a weekly basis. Samantha Sleemen will be back in action on
the equestrian circuit soon, after recovering from ankle injury and finally Vaughan Clarke has had continued
successes within Weston-super-Mare Swimming Club Water Polo Team.
Mr. Webb and 9B6
NEWS FROM YEAR 10 – Miss Roberts
10A1 Ms Winsborough
Over the last two terms 10A1 have been hard at work preparing for exams and organising work experience
placements. We will be running the gamut from Beauticians to Train Station Managers, Engineers to Event
Managers. Well done to everyone for getting their forms in before the deadline. The last two terms have also
been our fundraising terms and we’re really proud to have raised over £100 for the school charity; our best
total so far. Here’s to even more next year!
10A2 - Ms Harding
10A2 have had a great year so far! Within school we have
academic superstars who have very high attendance and
positive acknowledgments from staff; Joe, Ryan and Dan to
name a few.
A big well done to the whole group who
exceeded the target for their charity in term two; they were
helpful members of society raising money by completing tasks
for neighbours and family, we had students who carried out
sponsored runs and sponsored silences too. Outside school
10A2 are very active with their sporting abilities from
Gymnastics, Cheerleading and Football which are making them
well rounded individuals. Keep up the good work!
10A3 - Ms Reveley
10A3 have had a busy term organising their work experience placements.
The tutor group will be visiting a wide range of different employers in the
summer term including; Bristol Honda, St Marks Primary School, Quayside
Trampoline and The Gym Club and Click Spares Ltd to name just a few.
Some members of the tutor group have also been supporting Year 8 for
their Preferences’ Evening in making choices for their future GCSEs. A
special thanks goes to Tom Budd for supporting in catering and cooking
some delicious savory scones for our visiting parents. We are also proud of
Jasmine Nutting for coming third in the regional trampolining competition,
which takes her one step closer to the Regional finals and Nationals.
10A4 Ms Nicholls
10A4
have
achieved
some
amazing
achievements this year. I, as their tutor, am
very proud of each of them. Here is just a
snapshot of some of their achievements over
the past term. Opposite are some fantastic
artwork by Melissa Garfield and Lauren
Sinclair. Casper and Jacob are part of the Year
10 football team, who are currently district
champions. Sophie and Gabija supported the
hospitality team at Year 10 Parents’ Evening.
Liam, Callum, Toby and Aaron raised money
for the school charity by organising and
running a successful charity games’ night after
school with a variety of games on offer. Gabija
has completed Ten Tors training and will be
taking part in the charity event again this year
and I am proud to say that Elly has
successfully achieved her green/purple belt for
karate which I know she has worked incredibly
hard to achieve. Well done 10A4!
10A5 – Ms. Mawford
The tutor group came together to take full advantage of the wonderful
fitness center at Priory and decided on completing a Charity Stair Climb
in aid of the school’s charity The British Red Cross. Successfully
climbing the Sears Tower, that’s 2232, steps up and 2232 steps down
they achieved a grand total of 4464 steps! Whilst raising £195.77 for
this years school charity. During their challenge they showed great
team spirit and determination to raise money for a worthwhile cause
and I am extremely proud of their achievement.
10A6 – Mr. Rowlands
10A6 did a fantastic job of fundraising for the school’s chosen charity
during term two. Sammi Brown assisted by a number of other students
organised two staff vs. students dodge ball games and raised around
£100. This together with other funds raised by other members of the group brought the total to £120, a great
achievement. The tutor group have also been busy completing work experience applications and have started
preparing CVs for college and work applications later in the year.
10B1 - Ms Jones
This year we have seen students taking more of an active role in
leading tutor time with student-led ‘Thought of the Week’ sessions
and Student Voice representatives holding discussions about ways
in which we can improve the running of the school.
Outside the tutor group many of the tutees have begun to immerse
themselves in their own pursuits, including Connor Bradley who has
now performed for numerous audiences at PCSA, for primary
schools in the local area and the general public at The Blakehay
Theatre.
Other pursuits include Robert Colman, James Easterbrook and Sam
Terry-Short attending evening classes at Weston College to learn
new ‘hands on’ skills in the building and construction industry and
Sophie Mitchell securing a sought after work experience placement
at Weston General Hospital. This is not to mention Jake Middleton
recently playing for the Somerset under 15s a team against Devon.
Earlier in the year a group of girls, including Breen Harvey, Bethan Saunders, Sophie Allen and Jessica Palmer
hosted a film night at school to raise money for charity and various other students sold goodies at school to
top up our charity total. All in all, 10B1 are learning to become more independent so as to ready themselves
for the challenges ahead in Year 11. You’ve come a long way since I first met you all at the beginning of Year
9! Well-done 10B1.
10B2 - Ms Harding
Austyn Harling, Ellis Andrews and Aidan Ingham are
three boys who can always be relied upon to volunteer
their services in helping to raise funds for the school
charity. Never ones to shy away from a challenge,
every year the boys always offer their support when
raising money for the school’s nominated charity
International British Red Cross. Austyn, Ellis and Aidan
always go that extra mile!
This year the boys took up the challenge by cycling
from Worle to Cheddar Gorge and rose between them
£60. This is a fantastic achievement and one they
should be proud of.
Thank you boys, you are amazing.
10B3 – Mrs. McKenzie
One of the first tasks the group had to undertake in Year 10 was to elect our new Tutor Representatives. The
boys are represented by Mitchell Ballard and the girls by Jess Silverio, along with the support of their deputies
– Josh Taylor and Courtney White. Being a Tutor Rep has involved them attending tutor group meetings,
carrying out presentations during tutor time and to providing the tutor group with the results of the student
voice survey – what a great set of skills to be able to their CVs.
Many of the boys in the group represent the school in football or rugby matches however a special mention
should go to Harry Smith who secured himself a training place with a Bristol football club every Thursday well done Harry, a promising start to your potential career.
Mitch Ballard was selected to attend a 5 week taster course at Weston College, which involved trying out
various aspects of their Construction course. The rest of the group have been very busy preparing CVs and
writing letters of application for their work experience week – well done to those who managed to meet the
deadline. I can’t believe we are almost at the end of the year already!
10B4 – Mr. Thompson/ Ms Russell
It has been an extremely exciting time for 10B4 recently. They
have made their first steps into the world of work by creating
their applications for their work experience placements. This
giving me, as their tutor, some very exciting places of work to
visit, I can’t wait to see them all in action! Whilst making their
arrangements for work experience the group have also been
busy preparing their final option choices for Year 11, whilst
some have even given up their spare time to help out at the
Year 8 Preferences Evening, sharing their own experiences with
some of our younger students. With the Year 10 Preferences
now complete it has been a pleasure to watch the group sculpt
their education for their remaining time here at PCSA. This is a
pivotal period in the group’s education and they have truly
embraced the opportunity to take on new skills and
qualifications. I wish you all the best with your choices and hope the curriculum pathway you are on is the
perfect match for you. Finally, I would like to once again congratulate and thank the tutor group for being
such an amazing group of young adults.
10B5 – Mrs. Bell
10B5 have been making a positive contribution to their studies this year with positive moves towards their
target grades. 10B5 are making great preparations for their exams in the summer and are developing
revision strategies as part of their IAG targets. They have been working towards organising their work
experience placements and these have included working in a solicitor’s office, an engineering firm, Weston
Power and Weston College. Well done 10B5, I look forward to seeing you all on placement. I can’t believe it
won’t be long before you are being referred to as Year 11. How time flies!
10B6 - Mrs. Phelan
It has been a busy term for 10B6 with PPEs, preparation for work
experience and Year 11 options to think about.
Students have been encouraged by their PPE results and this has led to the
majority taking as many as 4 GCSE exams this year. As a consequence,
these students will be making choices about new subjects to study in year
11 and are asking many questions after the option choice process was
launched in their assembly. It is a pleasure to see them embrace what is to
come next for them in their final year at PCSA.
10B6 have also been busy arranging their work experience placements and
I am pleased to report that students have been successful in their
applications. We have a range of exciting and challenging placements
arranged ready for the group to take their places within the workplace.
These include working at Heathrow Airport, computing design, agricultural
farm work, hair and beauty, accounting, hospice care and working in the Town Hall. I am looking forward to
visiting them and seeing how well they engage within a work related environment.
There are two success stories to report this term. Sol Gallacher has been selected to play football for
Liverpool's youth academy and Sam Chattwood has been shortlisted to play badminton for the English youth
team. Well done to both and well done to all 10B6 for their positive attitude during an academically
challenging term.
NEWS FROM YEAR 11 – Mrs. McBride
It’s the time of year that Year 11s come to school in their leavers’ hoodies and we realise how fast the year is
flying by.
As ever exams are looming. I am pleased to report that Year 11 conducted themselves beautifully during the
recent Pre Public Exams and I have the highest hopes for them all in August on our annual success day. With
this in mind I am delighted to announce the launch of Priory Evening School. This is another initiative to
ensure our students get every opportunity to be prepared for their final exams. I am really thrilled to say over
30 students turned up within 20 minutes of the first session. The vibe is great and students are working really
hard.
The students regard it as a great way to extend their learning day ……..
“Look how many people turn up. It shows how valuable we think it is” Rebecca Dinsmore
“The calm environment helps me to concentrate” Tom Stephens
“The staff are really super! Extremely helpful” Callum Abraham
“I love it!” Owen White
“I actually do work instead of watching Enders and Corrie!” Kirsty McKenzie
Students at PCSA are outstanding and enjoy embracing and learning new skills in and out of the classroom.
Here are a few of their successes for you to share:
Emily Watkins has been selected for the Great Britain Development Squad 1 in water polo. They have been
training throughout the year and she will be representing GB against Spain or Hungary in July 2015.
Sam Voyle led a youth event service at Milton Baptist Church on the 25th January, which went really well. He
has been asked to lead another event in April.
Our musicians: Ryan Upward, Jack Hitchins and Ayrton Lennie have all secured work at the Fleece & Firkin
pub in Bristol, performing live over the past few months. A further well done to Ayrton for excellent effort,
attitude and progress all year … and for getting a C in his Maths PPE! Fabulous achievement.
11B5 and 11B4 went bag packing on Saturday and made £294.31.
Becky Fletcher - for excellent effort and work ethic - and for getting 1 for effort in all subjects for PS2 superb report.
Several tutees from 11B3 created a rota and sold these friendship bracelets to students of PCSA at break and
lunchtimes to raise money for the school charity of International Red Cross. As a tutor group we raised over
£100. Special mention to Lucy Edgar, Isabel Worrall and Lucy Clarke.
Tarryn Selway-Joseph and Lucas Elliman were selected to play football for Somerset. We will watch their
soccer careers with interest.
Jodie Fieldhouse 11B4
who has been to Spain
riding at a motorcycle
academy. It was an
amazing achievement to
be selected.
This year the prefects have been doing lots to contribute towards the school and the students, working within
their separate groups to do so. There are four teams; the Peer Buddies Readers; Careers Ambassadors;
Charity; Student Voice. Peer Buddies/Readers have been in tutor groups every Tuesday morning to help
struggling year 7s with their reading ability, and have so far read the book Mr Stink by David Walliams and
have recently started reading Matilda by Roald Dahl. They have also been tutored by Miss Gough to help any
year 7s and 8s with issues such as friendship worries, to help support them and help them.
Careers Ambassadors have been helping mainly the Year 10s and 11s with ‘moving on’ decisions such as
helping with College applications, giving advice in assemblies to Year 10s focusing on upcoming work
experience and how to make the most of your time, and have also helped out at the Winter Gardens’ careers
convention.
Charity Team have committed time and energy to the school charity, The International Red Cross. Each tutor
group has had a ‘Charity Prefect’ assigned to them to help promote their tutor team’s charity work.
Finally the Student Voice Prefect team are carrying out an extensive student survey with the aim of
revolutionising PCSA student voice. They meet before and after school and have contributed to assemblies
and Thought of The Week in their tutor programme.
NEWS FROM ENGLISH – Mr. Garner
Lower School
Over the last term our focus in Lower School has been on our novel studies. Year 7 have been studying the
heartbreaking Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo about the Peaceful brothers who sign up to join the
army and end up fighting on the Front in the First World War. Students have been incredibly moved by this
novel and we have even seen a few tears as we read the tragic end. One brother did not make it home and
students were kept in suspense until the very end. This novel study is a part of our cross-curricular study of
the First World War and students will be learning about the history of the war, how trench warfare worked
and the French language skills that the soldiers needed to get by as they fought in France. This will lead to us
taking 90 students to France and Belgium to walk in the Peaceful brothers’ footsteps at the battlefields of
Ypres.
Year 8 have also been studying a novel, either Holes by Louis Sachar or Animal Farm by George Orwell
and have had many spirited discussions about the issues and themes raised by these books.
Year 8 Homework showcase photos below:
Lucie Maine Alex Leeks Gracie Chamberlain and
Ella Minty
* STARS*
Year 9
After spending the first term honing their Personal Learning and
Thinking Skills, Year 9 have been whizzing their way through
the complexities of ‘Of Mice and Men’, via awe-inspiring pieces
of travel writing to the dark and grotesque world of Gothic
literature and on to the drama of ‘Blood Brothers'. Having
submitted their own ghost stories to a country wide competition
run by Young Writers, we wait with baited breath for August to
see whether any will be successful and be published in a
national poetry anthology. Fingers crossed!
Year 11
Our hard-working Year 11 students have been
incredibly busy since September. They began their
final year at PCSA by focussing on the skills and
knowledge required for success in their English
Literature exams. Close study of John Steinbeck’s
famous novel “Of Mice and Men” and a play text
(either “A View from the Bridge” or “An Inspector
Calls”) was coupled with intensive revision of the
poetry anthology. These efforts culminated in the two
English Literature exams, which took place in January.
With the English Literature exams complete, the focus
then shifted to English Language. This qualification
covers a broad range of reading and writing skills,
from close analysis of the effects created by a writer’s
language choices to creating a vivid description or
short story under exam conditions. Two rigorous PrePublic Examinations have were completed between
December and February, the results of which have
allowed every Year 11 teacher and student to identify
and focus on the key areas of learning that will ensure
success in the final exams.
As if all that wasn’t enough, our Year 11s are now in
the process of completing the Speaking and Listening
assessment which counts for 20% of their final
English Language grade. This kicked off at the start
of Term 4 with a launch event in the Hall, hosted by
Mrs McGough and PCSA’s Head Boy, George Grant.
The assessment requires each student to prepare a presentation on a topic of their choice and we have had a
fascinating range of subjects, from the performing arts to the Girl Guides, from water polo to Star Wars!
Our sights are now set on the summer exams and we wish all our students every success.
NEWS FROM MATHS – Mr. Phillips
Welcome to our newest members of staff in the Maths Faculty
Mrs. Crouch
I’ve always enjoyed maths and linking it to everyday life. Having
worked on STEM projects, I like enabling students to discover the
links between maths, science, technology and engineering. I have
been made to feel really welcome by both staff and students since
starting at PCSA. I have responsibility for whole school tutor time
numeracy. I’m really looking forward to working closely with
everyone at PCSA. Outside school my hobbies include rugby, roller
blading, swimming, baking and my youth group.
Mr. Symes
Thank you to both the students and parents/carers for making me
feel so welcome in the short time I have been at PCSA. I am
excited to be joining an engaging and successful faculty with the
responsibility of leading Years 9 and 10 mathematics. I am also
looking forward to working with the students, parents/carers and
staff here at PCSA. I particularly enjoy making links between
mathematics content covered in the classroom to the mathematics
which we use in our day-to-day lives. Outside work my hobbies
include playing football and kickboxing alongside having a keen
interest in Middle Eastern food and home-curing.
KS4 Update
The maths department are currently reviewing the way in which mathematics is delivered and assessed in
Year 9 in light of forthcoming assessment and curriculum changes which come into effect from the summer
of 2017. In taking a proactive approach; we are ensuring that the department has the best knowledge in
place to ensure that all students at PCSA continue to make the outstanding progress which has been
commonplace in recent years. We have been regularly liaising with book publishers and attending exam board
conferences over the last few months to assist our decision making and will regularly keep parents/carers
informed regarding any changes.
New exam specifications will include a broader and deeper mathematical content. Higher tier content will
include questions which will stretch the most able students. Foundation content will focus on core
mathematical understanding and skills for our students to encounter. There will be a greater focus on
problem solving in GCSE examinations and students will now sit 3 exams at the end of Year 11.
The GCSE grading system will also change from the summer of 2017. The existing alphabetic grading
structure will be replaced by a numeric structure. The equivalence of qualifications is shown in the diagram.
Broadly speaking a Grade 4 will be equal to a C Grade, a Grade 8/9 will be equal to an A* and a Grade 1
will be equal to a Grade G.
If you have queries with regard to these changes then please email Mr. Symes – [email protected]
NEWS FROM SCIENCE – Mr. Commander
science faculty are extremely excited to be taking another group of Year 10 thrill seekers to experience the
Recently in Science
Year 7 have been busy working on their Big Practical Projects. The students
were provided with a design brief: ‘To design a spacecraft with the capacity
to overcome gravity and land safely back on Earth’. Students were asked to
design and create landing crafts as part of home learning, ready for testing
and evaluation during their lessons. Beau Lloyd even created a rocket that
could take off independently using denture tablets as fuel!
Year 8 have been busy creating some wonderful pieces of home learning for
their biology and physics lessons. Miss Kinsey has created a fantastic wall
display to showcase students’ efforts. Well done especially to Kezia Povey,
Darcie Hall, Jacob Fieldhouse and James Parrott for making it on to the
display! In other lessons, students were asked to provide information about
the International Space Station either as a talk or creating posters to display
information. Sammy Shaw and Kaci Williams decided to make a very nicely
decorated cake to go alongside their presentation which was appreciated by
their classmates at break time!
Beau Lloyd
Excellent example of Year 7
home learning.
In Year 9 students have taken
to the GCSE course very
quickly and have been busy
learning
about
renewable
energy. Practical work from Mr
Dewer’s class has included
investigating the effect of light
intensity on the production of
energy using photocells and
wind direction on the efficiency
of wind turbines.
Year 9: Lauren Black (left) and Alex Lee (right)
investigating the effect of light intensity on
the voltage produced by a photocell
Period 6
Following the success of pre-public exams in January, the faculty will be busy preparing Years 10 and 11 for
their exams in Terms 5 and 6. Triple science revision is being delivered every Wednesday in the Hall in the
form of a seminar in order to give students a taste of life during higher education. Mr. Rowlands is running
additional science revision every Thursday with a specific focus on practising exam technique and Miss Kinsey
and Miss Garland are running BTEC catch up every Tuesday. Students attending these sessions regularly will
receive a £10 shopping voucher as a reward for their hard work and diligence.
Looking Forward
Looking ahead in the faculty we have the names and
places ready for the Paris trip run by Mr Dewer. Also in
the pipeline we have a trip for Year 9 girls to attend a
Skirting Science event at Broadoak Mathematics and
Computing College in June. The aim of this is to
encourage the next generation of female scientists,
engineers and mathematicians. The girls will take part in
a series of workshops run by science professionals from
all areas of the subject. We have run this trip in previous
years and have received fantastic feedback from
students, one girl said: ‘It has definitely changed my
opinion; I didn't know that so many different things were
to do with science. I learnt that it's a valuable skill to
have in any job.’
Paris trip 2014: students enjoying themselves in the sunshine at Disney Land.
NEWS FROM HUMANITIES – Mr. Markoutsas
As we are approaching the end of Term 4 our main priority is the preparation of all of our exam classes, both
in years 10 and 11. The Humanities Faculty is responsible for the history, geography, psychology, sociology
and business studies outcomes. Despite having an excellent judgement during our Ofsted visit all staff show
no complacency and we want to make 2015 another record year for the faculty. For this reason, we are
delivering 10 different Period 6 sessions in order to provide opportunities for all of our learners to achieve
their real potential. Additionally, there will be 6 different Easter school days organised by the Humanities
staff.
In Lower School, we are carrying on with our new
curriculum model, based on the changes to the new
National Curriculum. Students have the opportunity
to learn in a new, exciting and creative way that
enhances their knowledge and skills. Anna Barrett
and Holly Kent have produced an outstanding
home-learning for humanities. They have used their
creative talents and knowledge of the Buddhist
religion to create a unique outcome. They have
shown fantastic collaboration skills.
The 45 Year 10 and 11 students who went to
Berlin in March 2015 for the history trip were a
real credit to the school. They visited lots of
historical
sites
including
Sachsenhausen
Concentration Camp and the Berlin Wall. It
provided a real opportunity to reflect on events
so recent in our history and put what we have
learnt about in the classroom into real-life
context. The students also were tasked with
producing some reflective projects about their
experiences.
Furthermore, we have organised an exciting trip
for July 2015 for our Year 7 learners. We are taking 90 students to the Battlefields and cemeteries of France
and Belgium in a cross curricular trip between the
Humanities and Languages and Global Understanding
Faculties.
Finally, we had the opportunity to hold two excellent
workshops for our Year 7 and 8 learners about
Citizenship. Rosamonde Birch, from the Parliament
Education Service, visited PCSA on 4th March and
delivered a fantastic workshop/presentation titled,
“Introduction to Parliament, Making Laws, Elections,
Voting and Debating.” This linked excellently to our
“Thought of the Week” from Miss Smith. Term 4 and
5 focuses on Democracy and Parliament and the
forthcoming general elections in May.
NEWS FROM PE – Mr. Sherring
The 2015 football season is proving to be very frustrating, with the weather leaving our games few and far
between. Having said this, we already have a North Somerset title under our belts and have had some
really pleasing cup and friendly results. Fingers crossed we can get a run of games at the end and finish the
season in style.
The Year 7 boys have shown incredible passion towards football
this year, with over 50 attending training!
This has transferred positively to the pitch, with a recent,
convincing 5-2 victory over Worle School – Goals coming from:
Seb Hayward, James Macklin, Harrison Williams and Will Maskell.
James Dean and Harrison Williams (left) have both further
enhanced their positions in the North Somerset squad and are
regularly putting in high quality performances.
The Year 8 football team has been working hard to develop their footballing skills. With new players joining
the squad, the team has developed a new formation - Playing 3 at the back, trying to crowd midfield
allowing the wing backs a free role to get forward.
Once again, Harry Thomas-Barker has led the team fantastically, forming a solid partnership with Callum
Manaton in defence. Tyler Frost and Ben Weston have also started to form a great partnership in the
middle of the park, creating many opportunities for the ever impressive Charlie Palmer and Aidan Rickards
up front.
The Year 9 football team has been playing expansive football
Congratulation must go to Josh Coombes, Harry Palmer, Charlie Palmer and Aidan Rickards who were all
during their fixtures this season. This is due to recently adopting a
selected
for the North
very continental
3-5-2Somerset
formation.schools team.
There have been some great displays but unfortunately they fell
short on a few occasions due to not capitalising on their new found
attacking set up. The boys took part in the North Somerset Schools’
annual football tournament in which their inability to convert
numerous fantastic opportunities left them languishing in the group
stages, however we did come away with lots of positives. Once
again the lovely British weather had its strong grasp on our fixture
list, with many succumbing to the terrible conditions.
I would like to congratulate: Mitch Laughton, Ryan Pugh and Sam
Parkinson on their participation for various academies including
Clevedon Town, North Somerset and Southampton.
After successful runs in the national and county cup, our
Year 10s went into the North Somerset tournament with
bags of confidence. The tournament was well run by Weston
College and placed Priory in a group with Broadoak, HansPrice, Churchill and Backwell.
The team was missing talismanic midfielder, Harry Smith
(away with Bristol City) so we decided to re-shape our
formation and opted for a 3-5-2, with the emphasis on
being compact and hard to break down. Our midfield,
consisting of: captain, Cory Thomas-Barker, Charlie Camper
and Mitch Wring dominated most games and they worked
tirelessly to break down possession and move the ball
quickly. Casper Harriott also played a pivotal role, as a
sweeper with Adam Wooley, moving from centre forward to
centre back, and Ryan Hastewell either side. Our wing
backs, of Carter Box and Sam Grant were relentless down
either flank and offered the team quality going forward and
made the pitch as wide as possible. Jacob Manning and Matt
Morteo held the ball up well and brought our midfield into
games.
YEAR 10
We started off against a tough Backwell side with neither
team creating many opportunities. We had a chance to win
the game, only for the Backwell keeper to make a great
save. We then had convincing wins over Broadoak and
Hans-Price and finished off the group stages with a win over
Churchill.
Year 11
Nailsea topped the other group but had to leave the
tournament early, which left a final between Priory and
Backwell. It was a competitive game in tough conditions and
much like the earlier game, finished 0-0. This forced the
game to penalties. Bailey Ellis-Barker stole the show by
getting hands on all 4 of Backwell’s penalties, saving 3,
which relieved the pressure on our penalty takers to win the
shootout.
Our Year 10s will now be playing in friendly fixtures against
other local schools where all our boys will be given the
chance to represent the school.
Due to poor weather and a disappointing lack of interest from other schools, the Year 11 football
team has not played any games this year!
The team looks forward to a rearranged local derby against Worle on 12th March.
Despite this lack of games, Captain, Lucas Elliman and Antiguan international, Taryn Selway
Joseph have recently represented Somerset School Football under 16s in a 2-2 draw against
Hampshire.
Year 7 Hockey
The period 6 hockey club which has been running twice a week
since term 3, has been attended by 32 committed girls who show
up rain or shine. Due to the amount of girls who are dedicated we
have been able to produce a couple of teams. Therefore, they
have had the chance to play a few games against other schools
which have been of a mixture of results. Some wins, draws and
losses. Players of the match Grace Clifford and Georgia Dale have
been recognised across the matches played. However, they are
now eager to play in the North Somerset hockey tournament. The
PE faculty wish them the best of luck.
Year 7 & 8 Rugby
The period 0 rugby club has been running on a Wednesday
and Friday morning during Terms 3 & 4. There was not a lot
of time for training before the North Somerset rugby
tournament, yet we still managed to enter 2 teams of
enthusiastic students. The tournament fell on a lovely sunny
day and was a successful afternoon with the PCSA contact
team achieving 3rd place. Both teams also gained recognition
for the school who showed the best team work and were
given a certificate. Well done to both teams.
Year 8 Hockey
The Year 8 Hockey Squad have made a great start to hockey
again this season winning both matches they have played. A 4-0
victory over Sidcot with Amy Green (2), Eleanor Atwell and
Milena Merrifield finding the back of the net and a 3-2 win at
Churchill. Scorers for this game were Imogen Cracknell and
Milena Merrifield (2) with Milena picking up player of the match.
Year 9 Hockey
Year 9 Hockey Squad has been training hard on Tuesdays and
Thursdays after school. The girls have performed well but
unfortunately lost their first game 2-0 to a strong Churchill
team, but a much improved team performance saw them draw 1-1 with Sidcot. Chloe Bearsby was awarded
player of the match.
Both the Year 9 and Year 8 Squad continue to working hard and are looking forward to the North Somerset
Tournament where they hope to do well again this year.
Year 10 Netball
This season’s Year 10 netball squad has welcomed a wave of new players from previous seasons. It’s fantastic
to see this new found enthusiasm for Netball which started in core PE and has transferred to P6. The girls
work extremely hard during period 6 training, particularly match play to music which is really enjoyable!
Being a newly established team, the girls were nervous facing their first fixture against Sidcot. Jelly babies at
the ready, they fought a good fight reducing their score every quarter but unfortunately Sidcot’s quick play
was too tough to break down and the girls came away with a loss. Congratulations to Chloe Cox, GD, who
was rightly nominated player of the match; she worked so hard against a well-trained GA. The girls and I
were very proud of her performance and first ever appearance in representing the school in sport, proof that
at Year 10, it is never too late to start attending period 6.
Determined as ever the girls continued to train during
period 6, practiced set pieces in both attack and defence
and were ready for our next fixture against Churchill.
However, the girls hit a devastating blow with half the
squad being unavailable, this did not deter the others
who drafted in help from two other students to get the
match played. Using the new set pieces was difficult
considering the last minute changes but the girls
performed brilliantly to adapt. Fantastic attacking play
and defence working their socks off, the girls deservedly
gained their first and very convincing win 22-3.
Congratulations to Leah Woodman for achieving player of
the match.
Year 11 Netball
The Year 11 netball team have started from scratch and have
a brand new team of girls. Regular 7-9 girls have attended
the extra-curricular club made available to them on Tuesdays
between 4-5pm. They have shown commitment to attend this
and have been a pleasant group of girls to work with.
In both games that the girls have played, they have shown
potential in their ability, especially against an extremely
strong Clevedon team. The girls never gave up the fight and
worked until the final whistle, but sadly lost. The Churchill
game was closely fought and evenly matched with Nicole
Flourentzou and Lucy Edgar working hard to play the ball up
court. The game finished with a draw and Lucy Edgar being
awarded player of the match.
The squad includes: Olivia Love, Nicole Flourentzou, Sophie Griffiths, Chloe Marshman, Lucy Edgar, Summer
Davis, Emily Henderson, Emily Donald and Teana De-Sousa Trowell
Friday Morning Fitness
Our ‘Friday Morning Fitness Club’ has been taken to
the next level by the completion of the new ‘Priory
Health and Well-being Centre’. Students have been
able to improve their cardiovascular endurance on the
treadmills and cross trainers, whilst the upper school
learners have been attempting to shape up for
summer by working on their strength in the
resistance section of the gym. This new use of space
and facilities has meant that the students can
personalise their own training, whilst also learning
about different components of fitness and types of
training.
You can follow the PE Faculty through our
well-established Twitter site: @PCSASport
On here you will find; match reports, photos, videos, results, challenges and a whole lot more.
NEWS FROM CREATIVE – MR.WHITE
Art
Throughout terms 3 and 4 students in Year 8 have been researching different aspects of Brazilian culture
including Rio de Janeiro’s carnival, costumes and headdresses. As part of the course the students were asked
to create a carnival float on a theme of their choice.
A high number of students have created some amazing home learning.
Some of the themes were the Olympics, Graffiti and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory.
The students made some fantastic creations and some of them will be on display in the Atrium for everyone
to enjoy!
Some examples of their amazing home learning.
Year 7 Project - Mythical Creatures
We welcome Miss Hawkins, a fantastic new addition to the Art & Design team this term, throughout terms 3
and 4 students in Year 7 have been researching Ancient Greek Myths and Legends and have been creating
imaginary creatures and monsters.
As part of their course, students were asked to write a mythical story which involved their created monster,
they were asked to write the stories with a younger target audience in mind and they had to contain images
and illustrations. We have received some fantastic entries.
Family G & T Group
Over the last few months The Family G & T group have been working on a multi – media project based on the
work of talented artist Montse Bernal. Creating their own designs using decoupage, sketching, watercolours
and even embroidery!
Music
This year the music department, have been performing “Gorilla Gigs” in local primary schools and nursing
homes. They have been playing live acoustic music to young students and residents. The gigs showcase the
school orchestra, rock bands and solo artists. Many of the acts play self composed songs.
So far they have visited Baytree, Castle Batch, Becket and St George’s Nursing Home and hope to be visiting
other venues in the near future.
The students are also currently practising hard for their Summer Concert that will be held in June which is
always an event to look forward to.
On the 10th March, Hannah Flannigan in Year 11 organised an “Acoustic Showcase” as part of her Gold Arts
Award. Lots of students took part and there was also a special guest appearance from Mr. Day and his
fabulous band!
Period 6
Choir practice is open to all and is jointly run by Helen Howard and ex pupil Morgan Rooke.
Flamenco Guitar band and Orchestra are both run by head of music Mr. Day. The orchestra at PCSA is a
particular strength in the school.
Drama
It has been a busy start to the year with Grease rehearsals now in full swing. Our T-Birds and Pink Ladies are
all busy getting into character and we are very fortunate to be working with The Dance Company, who are
providing the most fantastic choreography.
January welcomed a new member of staff Mr Hussey, who has quickly made a fantastic impact on our KS3
learners and drama club. It is fantastic to see the department flourish with his dramatic expertise.
Year 10 are about to finish their BTEC course, with each learner expected to perform two contrasting
monologues based on the theme ‘Discovery.’ This is the final unit of their two year course and is assessed by
an external moderator. We wish them all the best.
Drama club is going from strength to strength, with many of our KS4 learners now planning and leading the
sessions. One example of this is Bethany Swann (picture) who gave a fantastic lesson based on using
different stimulus in drama.
NEWS FROM COMPUTING AND DESIGN
- Mr. Pound
Computing
Raspberry Pi project with Hewlett Packard
In February our Year 9 Raspberry Pi project students successfully presented their
projects to Hewlett Packard employees. It was fantastic to see our students
presenting their projects in a professional working environment.
The following project was created by James Mclaughlin and Ethan Farmer and involved turning the Raspberry
Pi into a digital radio using Python coding.
Our more able Year 9 computing students now
have experience of the full systems life cycle
and real life industry style show and tell
presentations. If any Year 8 or 9 students are
interested in using the Raspberry Pi computers
please come along to the Raspberry Pi
programming club in IT2 on Tuesdays with Mr
Pound and Mr Evemy.
Mr Pound, Mr Borthwick, Mrs Gibbon and our
Year 9 students with our friends from Hewlett
Packard.
Digital Leaders – Genius bar
Wednesday 4th of March saw the launch of the Digital leaders ‘Genius Bar’.
The Digital Leaders take on or develop leadership roles which provide advice
and guidance as to the effectiveness of technology and they make sure that
fellow students and their teachers have the skills to use those technologies
effectively.
We created the ‘Genius bar’ with the sole purpose of giving the Digital
Leaders a base. This would in turn allow staff and students alike to know
where they could regularly obtain help and advice.
GCSE ICT and computing intervention sessions
In half term Mr Pound and Miss Reveley hosted a Year 10 and 11 computing intervention session for
controlled assessment. Nineteen students spent a day improving their controlled assessment work to target
grade plus. It is hoped that the extra intervention will lead to another set of excellent results for our Year 10
and 11 students in the summer. There are also intervention sessions at the following times throughout the
week. Please encourage your son or daughter to attend if they want to achieve the very highest grades for
GCSE ICT and computing.
Tuesday 3pm to 4pm
Wednesday 3pm to 4pm
Thursday 3pm to 4pm
GCSE ICT with Miss Reveley in IT1
GCSE ICT with Mr Pound in IT1
GCSE computing with Mr Pound in IT2
Design
Family Breakfast
The design faculty participated in the family breakfast.
Students learnt some of the skills that they will be
experiencing in Year 7 when they make fabric monsters.
Families were invited to take part in finger puppet
making. Here they used laser cutting techniques in felt
to cut and form their puppets. They then put these
together using hand-sewing skills.
Textiles Fashion
The textiles room has had a fantastic new refit. A new workroom and equipment have been fitted which
enhance the provision of fashion and textiles at PCSA. New displays
provide inspirational design ideas to students to make and create
their own clothes and accessories.
Literacy@design
Literacy has always been a focus in Design. This has been further
enhanced with some excellent ideas provided by the team on our
literacy noticeboard. Students work in the department is supported
with the use of reading strategies, writing frames, paragraph
drafting and opportunities for improvement.
Wow! What an honour to be asked to write a newsletter page for
Catering! Even more so I feel privileged to have an opportunity to
share some of the amazing work that has been produced in DT Food
and Catering over the last few months.
The hardest part is to decide how to fit all the fantastic work into one
page!
Year 9 Catering….Well, what can I say? A busy time is an
understatement. Both Year 9 groups have been working relentlessly
over the last two terms but their sheer enjoyment and enthusiasm has
shone through.
One of the most recent projects was to create an ‘Afternoon Tea’
event where the students had the opportunity to experience a ‘real
life’ situation within the food industry which involved making food
products and selling their ware to members of staff during breaktime.
All students excelled in a professional manner working independently,
researching, planning and meeting deadlines and the race against
time to make the project successful.
I’m sure all members of staff who had the opportunity to attend and
taste the Year 9’s ‘Afternoon Tea’ offerings would agree that the
results were phenomenal.
Weston College Enrichment
Weston College offered an opportunity for 3
students to take part in a Catering Enrichment
programme
which
consisted
of
committing
themselves to attending the Catering College made
up of 4 evening sessions over the space of a month
to learn and further develop their catering skills.
Over the 4 sessions the students experienced a real
industrial situation where they made starters, mains
and desserts.
In the final session parents/carers (and Teachers!) were
invited to the college to be served a three course meal
that our students had produced. The WOW factor was
evident!
Congratulations to Vaughan Ridsdale, Rebecca Corlett
and Molly Squire…… a true inspiration to us all! Well
done.
NEWS FROM LANGUAGES AND GLOBAL
UNDERSTANDING – Mrs. Parsons
It is with great pleasure that I write my first newsletter entry at the
end of a busy term, as the new Central Leader for Languages. I am
very excited to have joined such a fantastic department, and I am
looking forward to lots of great events in the coming months.
Year 7
Year 7 are gaining in confidence in their language learning
experience and are beginning to develop their speaking and writing
skills. I was particularly impressed with Miss Scott and Mrs
Douesnard’s French class, who recently conducted some
outstanding presentations of themselves this term. Special
commendation goes to Jessica Knight, James Dean and Jack Taylor,
whose performance was truly first class! July will see Year 7
involved in the Battlefield trip. More details on this will follow next
term.
Year 8
Year 8 have had a very important term, choosing their preferred
subjects to study at GCSE and we were delighted to welcome Mr.
Philip Campana, tutor at Bath Spa University and speaker for Routes
into Languages South West. Mr. Campana gave a very informative
presentation to Y8 students about the importance of languages. This
was a great presentation, during which students even learnt to count
to 10 in Japanese!
Year 9 and 10
Students in Year 9 and Year 10 French have been working towards a
speaking Controlled Assessment this term. Students are encouraged
to practise as often as possible in order to ensure they are fully
prepared for their assessment. Year 11 students are busy getting
prepared for their final exams and staff are running P6 sessions to
support students with this. All students are encouraged to attend.
Speak to your Languages teacher for more information.
PGCE students
The LGU faculty was very lucky to welcome 2 trainee teachers
during the course of this term. Miss E. Mallon, and Miss A.
Tooby, respectively from University of Bristol and Bath Spa
University have both been working closely with PCSA colleagues
to plan and teach exciting lessons. They have also recently
jointly set up a Spanish club during P6, which we are sure is
going to be increasingly popular with students. Contact a
member of the LGU team for more information about this.
NEWS FROM CAREERS & WORK RELATED
LEARNING – Mrs. Davis
EMPLOYABILITY MASTERCLASSES
Over 30 keen Year 10 students arrived in school every Friday at 8am to take part in the 6 week Employability
Masterclasses, which were run by Shane Dean – The Purple Sheep - 'You're Brilliant Now Let's Tell The
World'(Motivational, Positivity and Publicity Training), with the aim of helping students learn how to stand
out from the crowd!
This course also included visits from a variety of employers who gave up their time to speak to students
about how to achieve their career goals and be successful in the work place, as well as encouraging them to
reach their full potential. Employers included Sam Clark and Oli Ballard from The Ascot Group (creative
publishing & digital marketing business) and Beth Evans, a Journalist with the Weston Mercury. The
photograph pictured left was taken by Chloe Cox whose ambition is to become a professional photographer.
PERIOD 6 CAREER SEMINARS
A series of Aspirational Career seminars were organised by Leeza Cuthbertson our new Careers
Officer. The talks were delivered by a range of professionals from the Avon & Somerset Police,
Avon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service, South West Ambulance Service Trust, Bristol City Football
Club, Access to Music, Babcock International, The Army and six professionals from Weston Area
Health Trust including a Midwife, Doctor and Nurse.
UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
TASTER DAY
50 Year 11 students spent the day having a taste of life as a University Undergraduate, they took part in
team building activities with University Ambassadors, a guided tour of various faculties including the Wills
Memorial Building, lunch in the student Refectory as well as being able to take part in a lecture.
OPTIONS CHOICES – For students in Year 8, 10 & 11 - Students across the school have been making
some important decisions regarding their future option choices and attending a wide range of events to help
ensure they make the right decisions!
MORE CAREERS INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND ON THE PCSA WEBSITE
THE ”WOW” EVENT (World of Work)
THE ”WOW” EVENT (World of Work)
This event was open to all students, parents/carers of PCSA and was held in conjunction with Weston College.
The evening attracted over 200 people with the aim of finding out about the wealth of opportunities open to
our young people in the future. All College Faculties were represented from Animal care to Forensic Science.
Staff from the new North Somerset Engineering & Technology College, were also on hand to highlight all the
opportunities that they are able to offer students.
SPECIALIST TRAINING PROJECTS FOR STUDENTS IN YEAR 9 & 10
We have been able to offer students in Year 9 & 10 the opportunity to take part in specialist training projects
that have been run after school at Weston College. Year 9 Students took part in a 5 week Catering project
and Year 10 students have just completed a 6 week Construction project, the students were able to have a
taste of a variety of construction trades including carpentry, brickwork, electronics, civil engineering and
motor vehicle. The next project will be in Hair & Beauty Therapy.
Pictured above: Mitchell Ballard, James Easterbrook, Sam Terry-Short & Robert Colman. The College were
very impressed with all the students and would love to welcome them back on a full time basis!
YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE
22nd – 26th JUNE 2015
Competition for placements has been tough this year but many Year 10 students met the February deadline
for confirming their work placements and have worked hard, with the help of their friends and families to
secure some great work placements opportunities for June, with some travelling far and wide. The deadline
has been extended to enable EVERY student to take part!
This is for many students the only chance they will have during school time to experience the World of Work
and we don’t want anyone to miss out! Not all schools offer this opportunity but at PCSA we appreciate and
greatly value its impact on students, not only to inspire their future career choices but also to gain confidence
and an understanding of employer’s expectations in the work place.
EXTENDED Application Deadline for Local Work Experience placements only! - See Mrs Davis for
details.
Need help to find an employer?
Look on Veryan Webview http://lpw.learnaboutwork.org (all links are on the PCSA website)
Year 11 Students Taking part in Extended Work Experience Placements
So far this academic year 36 students in Year 11 have taken part in an extended work experience placment
as part of their chosen school timetable. Students are working in a wide range of vocational areas and all
have had glowing reports.
Its a fantastic opportunity for students to gain the valuable experience that all employers are looking for and
also to get a highly regarded reference for the future.
A number of students
have been offered
part-time jobs and
some have even
secured full-time
apprenticeships when
they leave school in
September. An
outstanding
achievement by all
our students and a
huge thank you to all
the local employers
that support this
amazing programme.
IMPORTANT DATES FOR YEAR 10 STUDENTS
1st July 15
WESTON COLLEGE TASTER DAY - Students have the opportunity to try out a
course of their choice and experience what college life would be like. All Post 16
options choices should be selected by December 2015!
13th July 15
WORK AWARENESS DAY - Preparation for the world of work with, writing letters of
application, CV’s, scenarios in the work place, interview technique, preparation &
practice.
14th July 15
MOCK INTERVIEW & PERSONAL FINANCE DAY -Students in Year 10 will go
through the process of applying for a job, this will include a letter of application and
CV, as well as taking part in a mock interview with an employer from the world of
work. This is always an excellent day with students coming in to school ‘dressed to
impress’. The day also includes a range of workshops on personal finance matters
such as credit cards, buying a car, understanding utilities and paying tax!
NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY – Mrs. Harris
Thursday 5th March 2015 was World Book
Day. This was the 18th year that the world
had celebrated books, authors, illustrators
and most importantly the absolute pleasure
of reading. World Book Day’s aim is always to
encourage children of all ages to read and
through the £1.00 book tokens allow children
to own their own book
Each and every student at PCSA has had the opportunity to have a £1.00 World Book Day voucher. These
vouchers were to be exchanged at participating book sellers such as Waterstones, W.H.Smiths and Tesco
supermarket against one of the ten £1.00 books that were available specifically to celebrate the event. They
could also have been used to save £1.00 against any book or audio book costing more than £2.99.
The list of books available this year included Goth Girl And The Pirate Queen by Chris Riddell, Best Mates by
Michael Morpurgo and How To Be A Dork by Rachel Renee Russell.
The tokens are valid until Sunday 29th March 2015. Happy reading!!
This amazing creation was donated to the Library by one of our Year 8
students Max Corrigan. Max made this with only a little help from his
mum and has very kindly donated it to the PCSA Library. It has been
created by following a template and folding over the corners of each
individual page of the book. The effect is truly stunning and it is now
proudly on display on one of our bookcases. Well done Max!
As always, the Library/Learning Resources Centre is open 3pm- 4pm
Monday through to Thursday for Homelearning and Catch Up.
Computers, ipads and books are freely available to help our students
with any of their school work and we really do encourage students to
come along and take advantage of the resources available.
We are currently in the process of surveying all our students to find out
what sort of magazines they would like to see in the Library. Every student has been asked to make a
recommendation. All the results will be collated during term 5 and we hope to introduce at least 8 new
magazines to our reading material in September.
If you haven’t done so already please follow us on Twitter @PCSALRC
NEWS FROM STUDENT SERVICES
Student Services is the place to go to in school if there are
enquiries about Attendance, First Aid, Timetable or Lost Property.
Our team here will help you out if you have any issues with
uniform, we have a lost property shop and a shoe loan facility. We
can even provide pens and rulers etc., from our small stationery
shop.
Our Extended Schools co-ordinator, Daniele Nattee, has taken up
a new position at King Alfred’s school in Somerset and we wish
her well. We are in the process of recruiting a new team member
who will be joining us shortly and will look after the administration
of Extended Schools and Attendance.
Our Family Liaison Officer, Jo Anderson, will be taking the lead on
our Extended Schools work and has lots of exciting ideas for fun
activities for children to participate in with their parents during the
school holidays.
Student Services
Student Services is the place to go if students have any questions about the following:
First Aid – Student Services is the first point of call if students are feeling unwell or if they
have hurt themselves.
Lost Property – Jo Anderson, our Family Liaison Officer, maintains a Lost
Property Swap Shop. Any items of lost property will come to Student
Services where it will be returned to its rightful owner if it is named or
claimed. Any items left unclaimed after a twelve week period will be recycled to our Lost
Property Shop.
Support – If parents or children feel that they need additional help then Student Services is
the place to go. We will help with any issues where we can and our Family Liaison Officer can
signpost families to where they can get the help that they need.
Attendance – The whole school attendance continues at an
impressive 96.6% and is supported by our period 6 catch
sessions and home tuition services.
up
General Enquiries – We can help with timetable/room enquiries.
Shoe Loan – If students don’t have the right footwear on they can
come to student services for a loan pair.
Stationery – We have a small stationery shop here where you can buy pens, pencils, rulers etc.
Meet the Team
Rachel Drury
Jo Anderson
John Boden
Sean Haberfield
Caroline Rowlands
Kate Ruddock
Twitter
Attendance/Student Services Manager
Extended Schools Co-ordinator/Family Liaison
Education Attendance /Safeguarding Officer
Student Services Assistant
Student Welfare Officer
Attendance/Student Services Assistant
Follow us on @PCSAStudentServices
NEWS FROM PSHE & CITIZENSHIP
– Mrs. Bowen
At PCSA, PSCHE and Citizenship encompasses PSCHE (physical sport
and Health education), Careers eduation and Citizenship.
The 2013 OFSTED PSCHE education report highlights the relationship
between a school’s PSCHE provision and overall effectiveness. Our
recent whole school OFSTED inspection where we achieved an
outstanding grading will have taken into account whether we provide
our pupils with a “broad and balanced curriculum that promotes
their good behaviour and safety and their spiritual, moral, social
and cultural (SMSC) development.” OFSTED make a very clear
connection between PSCHE development and SMSC so when looking for
evidence to make a judgement on SMSC OFSTED is more than likely to look at PSCHE provision too.
Why is PSCHE so important?
PSCHE education equips children and young people with knowledge, understanding, attitudes and
practical skills to live healthy, safe, productive and responsible lives. It encourages them to be
enterprising and supports effective transitions, positive career choices and responsible financial
management. It also enables children and young people to reflect on their own values and attitudes, and
explore the many complex and conflicting values and attitudes they encounter elsewhere.
It provides opportunities for students to learn about:
 Relationships: developing and maintaining positive relationships; dealing with negative relationships,
which may include bullying and sexual violence.
• Health: healthy lifestyles; healthy eating and exercise; mental and emotional health; drug, alcohol
and tobacco education.
• Personal finance: savings, debt and budgeting.
• Risk: financial and career choices; personal safety; internet safety and violent incidents.
• Career choices: enterprise, business and finance.
• Change: managing transition, adversity and developing resilience.
• Loss: bereavement, separation and divorce.
At PCSA PSCHE is taught discretely through the curriculum and through tutor time activities and is supported
by curriculum enrichment throughout the year.
Since September the National Curriculum revised programmes of study for Citizenship include requirements
for us to teach:
•
•
•
•
•
•
explicitly about democracy and the political system in the UK including how it is developing and
the role of political parties
about the law and the justice system and the role of international law and human rights
the key elements of the constitution and the roles of parliament, citizens and the free press in
holding those in power to account
financial education including the functions and uses of money in society, budgeting, managing risk
and how public money is raised and spent
different forms of taking responsible and informed action to contribute positively to communities
including through volunteering
skills to use a range of research strategies, think critically, weigh evidence, take part in debates and
make informed and persuasive arguments.
Citizenship is taught as part of the Humanities’ curriculum and supported
by curriculum enrichment opportunities.
To date PSCHE education is not statutory in secondary schools whilst
Citizenship is. The PSCHE Association is continuing their campaign for
statutory status for PSCHE education in 2015, which is of course an
election year. Across the country the campaign has overwhelming
support from pupils, parents, teachers and business leaders, while 100
leading organisations have now joined up in support. The PSHE
Association continues interpreting Government priorities relating to PSHE
such as character development and British values.
Log into www.gcsepod.co.uk
OFSTED NOVEMBER
2014
The atmosphere around the school is calm and orderly. Staff and students show
genuine warmth towards each other and students’ individual achievements are
recognised and valued.
The behaviour and safety of pupils – the behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
Attitudes to learning and the behaviour of students are exemplary. They respond
extremely well to their teachers and take a full part in their learning.
The quality of teaching – the rapid progress made by students of all abilities and in
all year groups indicates that the quality of teaching is outstanding.
The achievement of pupils – students express confidence that the school will help
them to reach their challenging targets. They were keen to tell inspectors how much
they are encouraged and supported by teachers communicating the belief that they
will do well. Students know their targets and are constantly encouraged to strive for
the highest grade.
Leadership and Management – The Principal, supported by the senior leadership
team, is relentless in his drive to ensure that the progress made by the students and
the high quality of teaching are sustained and improved even further. All leaders have
created an ethos in which students take pride in their success and where they can
grow in confidence and develop their talents and interests.
The early years provision – Children demonstrate high levels of security and selfesteem when they are at pre-school. Adults know children extremely well and this
ensures their individual needs are met to a very high standard. There are very secure
attachments between the adults and children and this fosters children’s emotional
security.
Well done to all our Students, Parents, Carers, Staff, Governors,
Partner Primary Schools and our wider Community – Fantastic
Achievement to be OUTSTANDING