An Outstanding Maths and ICT Specialist School
I am very pleased to announce that Richard
Woodland has been appointed as Headteacher
of Coombe Dean School from 1st September
2015. We are genuinely excited for Coombe
Dean School as this represents the start of the
next stage of our evolution. We are absolutely
convinced that we have the right leader in charge
of our outstanding teaching and support staff and
confident of facing down the challenges that lie
ahead for the whole School community.
Hanno Payne
Chair of Governors
Coombe Dean School is a unique and special
place, without doubt the best comprehensive
school in Plymouth. The very special feel in our
classrooms and corridors, as well as when our
community ventures beyond our gates on trips
and activities, has been built over many years by
the fantastic staff and students who have worked
together to achieve success for all. I recognise
the huge contribution that Pattrick Frean has
made to that and consider it a privilege to be able
to continue to work alongside him through the
transition period of the next few weeks.
I also wish to reassure you that the core values that make Coombe Dean special
have been those that I have held to long before I first came here 5 years ago as a
prospective Assistant Headteacher. As such they will remain at the centre of my
vision for our school - to provide a welcoming, inclusive learning environment in
which every student can maximise their full potential both inside and outside of
the classroom.
Richard Woodland
Last Thursday evening I as well as other members of staff
had the privilege and pleasure of attending a Duke of
Edinburgh Award presentation evening at school where
all the successful participants were presented with their
certificates.
Receiving the award was the culmination and recognition
of over 12 months or more of concerted effort and
commitment, so very well done to the following recipients:
Bronze Award
Joseph A
Hannah A
Toby B
Jessica B
Helen B
Ivan C
Edward C
Radu C
Jane C
Amy C
Joseph C
Alice D
Emily E
James E
Lydia G
Poppy G
Owen G
Olivia H
Iain H
Scarlett H
Cameron J
Danielle M
Jade N
Bethany P
James R
Rhiana R
Grace R
Nathaniel R
Lucy R
Jacob S
Jack S
Joseph S
Josef S
Nicholas S
George T
Alena T
Caitlin T
Taylor W
Seresha W
Dylan W
Lucy W
Silver Award
Samuel A
Zena A
Aliyah B
Joshua B
Bethany D
Lauren F
Molly G
Sam G
Ellen M
Iona P
Emma P
Holly S
Ryan S
Eleanor S
Rebecca T
Scout W
Gold Award
Angelina B
Amrit-Pali K
Haneefa T
S Payne
The termly meetings of the Governors’ Audit and Finance Committee took place on
Wednesday 18th March.
Audit Committee

Reports from Internal Auditor were considered by the Committee.
Finance Committee

Financial reports had been distributed and were considered by the Committee. Mrs
James, School Business Manager, was thanked for preparing this documentation.
The Committee also asked for thanks to be passed to Catering and Sports Centre staff
for their work.
Our next meetings will be held in June.
E Cranstone
Friday nights are ‘sailing nights’
available for all students during the
summer term.
All students will be involved in rigging,
launching, crewing and helming a variety
of boats based at the Plymouth and
Devon Schools’ Sailing Association’s
Commercial Wharf, on the Barbican.
Experienced sailors can practise and
develop seamanship skills such as
anchoring, tidal awareness, knot work,
sailing backwards and capsize recovery.
The sailing programme counts towards
an RYA sailing qualification.
The focus of each session is down to
you, so if the wind is light why not go
kayaking?
If you are interested in sailing on Friday
nights or Saturday mornings, come along
to E3 on Friday lunchtime for more
details or see Mr Bennett for more
information.
N Bennett
Last week Pi fever swept the Maths department at Coombe Dean School. This year was
particularly significant as it is 2015, so the date on the 14th March (Pi day) was 3.14.15,
which is the first five digits of Pi. Students across Key
Stage 3 have been competing to see who can
memorise the most digits of Pi. These Pi battles have
been taking place in their Maths lessons. The most
digits memorised was 141 by Filip S in Year 9. This
was closely followed by Peter C and Matthew C in
Year 7 who memorised 114 and 101 digits
respectively. Full results are below:
Year 7
Peter C 114
Matthew C 101
Year 8
Chloe H 70
Daisy M 54
Year 9
Filip S 141
Emily B 85
As well as memorising Pi, students have been busy
baking Pi pies - or cakes for those of you with a sweet
tooth! The Pi pies (and cakes) were thoroughly
enjoyed by their classes and some even sold them to
raise money for Comic Relief. Our top three Pi pies
were baked by Safia W, Jamie V and Jess.
J Hunt
Next Week’s Classes:



Monday 30th - Kettle Bell Exercises - 6-7pm
Tuesday 31st - Pilates - 8-9pm
Wednesday 1st - Thighs, Bums & Tums - 67pm

Wednesday 1st - Zumba - 7-8pm

Thursday 2nd - Kettle Bell Exercises - 6-7pm
This weekend I competed in the last round of the British
Youth Climbing Series at Undercover Rock Ltd, Bristol.
The Youth Series is made up of 3 rounds and happens
once a year.
The country is split into all the different regions, including the South
West, South East, North and East London, Wales and the Midlands.
Within these regions you are split into your age categories, depending
on what year you were born in. These categories range from 7 years old
(cat E) to 16 years old (cat A). You are also split into gender categories,
male and female. For each round there is a top 3 podium, and if you
make the overall top 3 at the end of the 3 rounds then you are eligible
for National Finals which are held in Edinburgh's Ratho International
Climbing Arena. This round was the hardest of the 3, consisting of 3
roped routes and 3 boulder routes. These increase in difficulty as you
go along. In the other 2 rounds I placed joint fourth and first, so I knew I
had to do well to make the finals along with the South West team.
After my first boulder I felt nervous as it was considerably harder than the
previous rounds. I was apprehensive on what was to come, but I knew that I
just had to give it my all and hope for the best. The second problem was
more my style, and I almost topped it. The third problem was definitely way
out of my league so just gave it my best attempt. After this we had lunch, and
I started to feel really ill. I thought that would have been the end of the round
for me and I would have just missed out on finals. This made me even more
determined to carry on until the end of the day.
I completed all 3 routes, averaging about 2nd/3rd on each. I just had to wait
to the end of the day to find out whether it was good enough to make finals,
representing the South West.
I didn’t make top 3 on the day,
but I did make overall top 3,
meaning I’m going to finals!
Alice M-C, Year 12
Main Dishes
Dishes
Main
Beefburger in
in aa brioche
brioche roll
roll with
with salad,
salad, cheese,
cheese, spicy
spicy mayo
mayo
Beefburger
and fries
fries
and
Pizza margherita
margherita with
with fries
fries and
and salad
salad
Pizza
Cod fish
fish fingers
fingers with
with chips
chips and
and peas
peas
Cod
Proper Cornish
Cornish pasty
pasty
Proper
Panini selection
selection
Panini
Cheese and
and ham
ham
Cheese
Goats cheese
cheese and
and beetroot
beetroot
Goats
Brie and
and cranberry
cranberry
Brie
Tuna melt
melt
Tuna
selection of
of homemade
homemade cakes
cakes and
and biscuits
biscuits
AA selection
Hot and
and cold
cold drinks
drinks
Hot
Children’s portions
portions available
available
Children’s
Tickets have been booked for the following shows at the Theatre Royal:
Barnum
Thursday 4th June
7.30pm
Students £10
Adults £40.50
Stalls
Dirty Dancing
Thursday 18th June
7.30pm
Students £10
Adults £40.80
Stalls
The Bodyguard
Thursday 16th July
7.30pm
Students £10
Adults £32.80
Upper Circle
Annie
Thursday 10th September
7.30pm
Students £10
Adults £35.30
Stalls
All payments must be made via Parent Pay. The deadline for payments is 12th April.
Please note members of staff do not always attend these events and it is the
responsibility of parents/carers to ensure that their children are transported to the theatre
and collected afterwards.
If you require any further information please contact the school library.
S Davey
This week I have chosen to show you which languages are the
most spoken around the world. The estimates used for this list
are those of Nationalencyklopedin and is based on estimates published in
2007.
Whilst Romance languages total up to being the second biggest group of
languages spoken by Native speakers, can you guess which individual languages are the 10 first ones?
Fill the first column of the table with the languages below:
Japanese, Arabic, Bengali, Spanish, English, Punjabi, Mandarin, Russian, Hindi,
Portuguese
Name of
language
Native
speakers (in
millions)
935
(955 in 2010)
387
(407 in 2010)
365
(359 in 2010)
295
(311 in 2010)
280
(293 in 2010)
204
(216 in 2010)
% of the
world’s
population
Mainly spoken in...
14.31%
China, Taiwan, Malaysia,
Singapore
5.85%
Hispanic America, Spain, United
States, Equatorial Guinea
5.52%
Australia, Canada, Ireland, New
Zealand, United Kingdom,
United States, South Africa,
Singapore
4.46%
India
4.23%
3.08%
North Africa, Western Asia
(Middle East)
Angola, Brazil, Mozambique,
Portugal
Bangladesh, West Bengal
(India), Tripura (India), Assam
(India)
202
(206 in 2010)
3.05%
160
(154 in 2010)
2.42%
Russia, former Republics of the
Soviet Union, Mongolia, Israel
1.92%
Japan
1.44%
Punjab region (Pakistan, India)
127
(126 in 2010)
96
(102 in 2010)
Take your entries to E6, the correct ones will get prizes...I’m looking forward to
seeing you!
M Quentel-Watson
I look forward to receiving your entries; please don’t be shy - prizes are sweets!
We strive hard at Coombe Dean to maintain a high standard of appearance
amongst all our students and we receive many favourable comments about the
‘business like appearance’ of our students from visitors to the school. From time
to time however, a student will let us down by claiming ignorance of the uniform
regulations and come to school in incorrect uniform. This is where we need your
support.
If you are replacing items of uniform over the Easter holiday then please ensure that it
conforms to the uniform regulations as found on pages 7 to 9 of the Student Planner, and
you are not persuaded by the ‘it will be alright, everyone wears it’ argument that
teenagers can use so convincingly. Please take the time to read the extract from the
planner below and if you are unsure about the interpretation of the policy, please contact
the school.
Uniform
You are expected to conform to the School Uniform Policy and to present a clean, neat
and tidy appearance. If you are unable to wear any item of your school uniform, you must
ask your parent/carer to write a note of explanation in your Planner.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Plain white shirt with collar and school tie for boys.
Pale blue revere short sleeved blouse for girls.
Black trousers for boys in wool terylene, polyester type material.
Black skirts or trousers for girls in wool terylene, polyester type material. Skirts must
be knee length.
Black ‘Ziggy’ jacket which is available at the National School Uniform Shop, or black
jacket. A black cotton V- necked jumper may be worn under the jacket, but not
instead of the jacket.
Sensible black shoes which do not come
above the ankles.
Black or white socks (or tights for girls).
PE kit as specified.
Navy or black scarf if required.
A Plain black or navy waterproof coat to be
worn on top of the black jacket (but not instead
of)
Trousers or skirts must not be of a jean, cord or
canvas type material.
Nail varnish, acrylic nails and make-up must
not be worn.
Hair must be of a natural colour and of a style
that is appropriate for school.
Please label all items of your uniform clearly
with your name.
Parents will be expected to support the School Uniform Policy.
If any parent is uncertain as to the policy's interpretation they
should contact the school before the uniform is purchased.
Please help us to maintain a high standard of appearance by checking that your
son/daughter is wearing correct school uniform at all times and is leaving the house
every day wearing their school jacket (and that it is not screwed up in a ball in their bag)
and black shoes. ‘I’ll change out of my trainers and into my shoes in school’ is an
unacceptable excuse.
May I take the opportunity to remind you of the regulations regarding the wearing of
jewellery, which have again been taken from the Student Planner:
One pair of small stud earrings is allowed if ears are pierced, but other types of earring
must not be worn. A single signet ring is also acceptable. Nose studs are not allowed,
nor any other form of body piercing. The school accepts no responsibility for loss of
clothing or jewellery. Jewellery that infringes the school code will be confiscated.
Parents will be asked to collect these items. Alternatively, they will be returned at the
end of the school term.
Thank you for your support.
C Pearson
On Monday 16th March, Year 5 Primary School pupils came from across the city
to take part in this year’s Maths in Motion Challenge.
Students pitted their mathematical knowledge against each other to create a Formula
One car to race at the end of the day. After 4 hours of incredible team work and tactics
the cars were ready. It was a great race in which all cars finished, for the first time
ever!!! One team had created a car Red Bull Racing would have been proud of, leading
from the start and keeping the lead for 50 of the 51 laps.
Congratulations to this year’s winners, Pomphlett Primary School.
P Brewer
13/04/15
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Roast beef
with
Sweet & sour Yorkshire
chicken with
pudding &
rice
horseradish
sauce
Sausage
casserole
Battered
fish
served with
lemon
Main Meal
Spaghetti
bolognaise
Vegetarian Meal
Vegetable
curry with
rice
Vegetable
lasagne
Cauliflower
cheese bake
Vegetable
pizza
Chinese
vegetables
with egg
noodles
Sub special
Chicken
temptation
Meatball
marinara
Spicy Italian
Chicken
tikka
flatbread
Bid beef
melt
Hot Wok
Chinese vegetables with egg noodles seasoned with ginger, garlic &
chilli
Pizza
Roasted
vegetable
pizza
Tomato &
basil pizza
Margarita
pizza
Jalapeño
chilli pizza
Red pepper
pizza
Jacket Potato
Choice
Bolognaise
Ham
carbonara
Cheese &
coleslaw
Tuna mayo
with
spring onion
Beans &
cheese
Vegetables
Mixed salad
Mixed salad
Fresh
carrots
broccoli
florets
Potatoes
Jacket
wedges
Sauté
Roast
Dessert
Mixed salad Mushy peas
Baked beans sweet corn
Jacket
wedges
Creamed
Apple pie
Jam turnover Treacle tart
with custard with custard with custard rice pudding
with jam
Chipped
Fruit salad
Congratulations to the following students for achieving MFL awards:
Bronze:
Jacob H, Jack l,
Ellie W and
Reece M
Silver: Kaiya W
and Charli M
Many thanks to Louis B and Katie B from 8
NED who were extremely busy,
helpful Student Receptionists last
week.
The following students were fantastic
ambassadors for the school during recent
interviews:
Adin B, Anna C, Sam W, Beth P, Lewis S, Isla
H, Chloe H, Jacob H, Matthew C, Isabel
H, Hannah R, Lewis C and
Sam I
https://www.facebook.com/
coombedeanschool
Friday 27th March
Last Day of Spring Term
Monday 13th April
https://twitter.com/CDSAcademy
https://www.youtube.com/
coombedeanacademy
https://itunes.apple.com/apps/
...and search for ‘Coombe Dean’
https://play.google.com/store/
apps/
...and search for ‘Coombe Dean’
First Day of Summer Term