JT News - April 2019
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Magistrate Mock Trial Competition
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Stage Crew Trip to London - March 2019
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Rosliston "Greatest Form in this part of the World" Competition
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Y8 Team Win the Salters Festival of Chemistry Competition
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Stars of the Week
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All - Donations Wanted - boys school trousers
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Grease - Lower School Production
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Y11,12,13 - No 'Lend' facility in the Canteen
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Community Afternoon Tea
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World Book Day Book Swap and Book Sale
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Potato Book Characters Competition
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Y7 Coventry Cathedral visits
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Scholastic Book Fair
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Bali Rai Author Visit - Thursday 14 March 2019
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Intermediate Maths Challenge
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Y3+4 Indoor Athletics Festival
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Y12 - Developing Employability Skills
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BTEC Business Film & Fun Night raises over £100 for Footprints
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Young Sporting Ambassadors - Y3 and 4 Athletics Festival
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Young Sporting Ambassadors present primary school assemblies
In March, a team of thirteen year 8 and 9s took part in the Magistrate Mock Trial competition at Derby Magistrates' Court. Since Christmas, the team has been working hard to prepare their case: the defendant, played by Phoebe, was accused of snatching a mobile phone whilst riding a moped. Phoebe was defended by Harriet and Jess who created a robust defence, arguing that the prosecution were not even able to establish that it was actually Phoebe's character on the moped at the time. The prosecution, Maisie and Mathilda, retaliated by arguing that this was nonsense: it was Phoebe's bike; she had no alibi for the time of the theft and she had a clear motive for stealing the phone. Witnesses, played by Kelly, Juliette and Esmee, withstood fierce questioning to put across their side of the story. Our Usher, Shreya, ensured that the entire court room ran smoothly and Harry, our Legal Adviser, advised the Magistrates, Harriet and John, on points of law. On the day, our defence and prosecution teams went against the opposing teams from other schools. It was tense and nail-biting but our team performed brilliantly and were praised by real-life Magistrates on the day for their knowledge of the case, their outstanding questioning and ability to stay calm under pressure. Well done, Magistrate Mock Trial team 2019; we are very proud of you!
Ms Budge
Jane Budge
[email protected]
Very early on Saturday 23rd March 2019, 14 members of the JTHS Stage Crew, Mr Sears and Miss Liechti assembled at Lichfield Trent Valley station for the first ever Stage Crew trip. At 0705 we boarded the train bound for London Euston.
Upon arrival at the Piccadilly Theatre we met Mr Sears' high school friend, David Stone, who is head of lighting and video for 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.' David gave us a tour backstage at the theatre and showed us two of the moving lights up close. He also showed us the LED grid and how it works alongside projections as a major part of the show’s visuals. Backstage there was a full model light up train set practical and we were all surprised that no pieces ended up in Mr Sears' rucksack.
For lunch we went to Covent Garden. A small group was taken to Waterloo Bridge to catch a glimpse of the London Eye and the pile of scaffolding that was Big Ben at the time. We ate hot dogs and drank hot chocolate along with any remaining breakfast snacks.
The show itself was breathtaking and an emotional rollercoaster. There were very few props involved in the show, so the show relied very heavily on technical effects and projection. The main character in the show had a pet rat called Toby. At one point his carrier was opened to show the audience the rat. The carrier was then swung around the stage throughout the rest of the scene. This left Mr Sears, Abbie and Sarah with one burning question; was the rat real? (It turned out yes, but there was a mid-scene sneaky carrier swap.) For many of us, however, one highlight of the show was a cute puppy at the end.
Before we knew it, it was time to go home, which was when we discovered that, while physicists can get us to the moon, they can't necessarily get you to the train station. Rosie, our Y13 geographer, was very distressed by Mr Sears' map reading skills. The tube to the station was particularly packed due to the well-timed Brexit march on the same day. As we left the tube station we spent a few minutes listening to a monkey puppet rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody - a nice end to an amazing trip.
The forms in Rosliston House have been competing against each other to find out who is the ‘Greatest Form in this part of the World’. Each form was asked to list all the achievements of their pupils from different years and then the forms competed against each other.
The final took place in assembly, with R03, Mrs Stevens’ form against R08, Mr Hulley’s form and R02, Miss Sears’ form.
After five rounds of votes throughout the students of Rosliston, R02, Miss Sears’ form were voted as the eventual winners.
They won the ‘Greatest Form in this part of the World’ trophy.
The activity is part of the “Rosliston Victory Lap”; a series of activities and events that Rosliston forms will be taking part in to celebrate three years of Rosliston vertical forms.
Four Y8 students took part in the Salters Festival of Chemistry Competition at the University of Birmingham. Throughout the day the group carried out practical tasks in one of the university’s laboratories. The Salters Challenge included carrying out chromatography on inks found at a crime scene in order to identify the ink present in the suspect’s pen. The group performed very well and came first in the competition. The day ended with a Chemical Magic Demonstration and prizes being handed out to participants.
We are all very proud of the achievements of these four students in a very competitive environment. Well done! Mr C Fogarty and Team Science.
If you have any boys school trousers, in good condition, U20 would be pleased to have them. Please send them into school so that we can loan them out when needed.
Thank you.
In March, audiences were ‘wowed’ by the amazing talent displayed by students in Years 7,8 and 9 who took part in the Lower School production of Grease. Over three nights, the students, accompanied by the Thomas Russell Junior School Choir, performed to big audiences. The feedback was fantastic. Well done to everyone concerned - cast, crew and staff alike!
Here’s Sandy’s account of the experience:
“I think I speak on behalf of the cast when I say that ‘Grease’ has definitely been the highlight of high school so far and it has certainly been an experience that I will never forget. Lower School productions are a great way for younger years to express their talent. Also, the effective lighting and set made the show professional and exciting. ‘Grease’ has been a big confidence booster. I built strong friendships which allowed me to feel comfortable and confident whilst performing. Doing these shows also opens doors and can show you what your true passions are.
‘Grease’ has been one of the best things I’ve ever done. It’s a massive commitment with all the rehearsals but in the end all the hard work definitely paid off.”
Christina
Would parents please make sure your child's Lunch Account on ParentPay is topped up as there will be no lend facility in the canteen, after the Easter holiday. Thank you.
On Thursday 14th March, John Taylor Sporting Young Ambassadors continued their legacy of the Olympic games by having their second Community tea of the year. Invitations were left in Barton Library and sent via word of mouth. Approximately 26 ladies and gentlemen from the local community came to the school and enjoyed a few hours together in the hall. Sporting activities on offer and the superb catering by the Y10 Catering class made the afternoon a great success, not forgetting the piano entertainment by pupils, Dominik and Sebastian.
The next Community celebrations will be on sports day on the school field, which this year will be on Wednesday, 10th July. Make sure this date is in your diary for the retired folk of Barton under Needwood and surrounding villages. (by Mrs Berry, SSCO)
A selection of the specially produced World Book Day books were made available in the LRC for students to exchange their £1 tokens on World Book Day. The most popular titles were "Nought Forever" by Malorie Blackman, "Snap" by Patrice Lawrence and "Greg Heffley's Best Friend" by Jeff Kinney.
We also ran a Book Sale/Swap throughout World Book Day week, which raised £9.25 for Book Aid, a charity which helps improve literacy in the Third World. Thank you to everyone who donated their old books or bought items from our sale.
Mrs Collier
[email protected]
Our individual competition to celebrate World Book Day was to make a book character from a potato. We had a small number of entries this year, with prizes going to all five entrants.
Mrs Collier
[email protected]
On the 4th, 5th and 8th of March, Year 7 visited Coventry Cathedral. The visit was to focus on and investigate the symbolism within the Cathedral. During World War 2, the city of Coventry was bombed and the cathedral burned with the city, having been hit by several incendiary devices. The ruins still stand today and are in perfect view from the new cathedral, symbolising the idea of remembrance and forgiveness.
Students learnt about the cathedral being a worldwide symbol of reconciliation and forgiveness. A major part of this ministry is the Community of the Cross of Nails – an international network of over 200 organisations in 60 countries all committed to reconciliation work. The Cathedral aims to encourage working together to achieve peace and students carried out activities throughout the visit to understand the importance of this, for example, ‘The Golf Ball effect’ in the Chapel of Unity represents continents working together to achieve peace in the world.
Well done Year 7 for representing JTHS in such a mature and positive way! Feedback has been very positive!
We held a Scholastic Book Fair in School from 19 to 26 March to end our World Book Day celebrations. The fair was open every day at break and lunchtime and allowed our students and staff to browse and buy some of the latest titles available, plus use their World Book Day tokens to receive £1 off a book of their choice. Sales from the fair raised over £300 which gave the school £70 to spend on books for the LRC.
Leicestershire author Bali Rai was in school on Thursday 14 March to help us celebrate World Book Day. Bali inspired our KS3 students in talks about the power and importance of reading and education, plus the inspiration for his writing. He also ran three creative writing workshops with selected KS3 students which were thoroughly enjoyed and found very useful by the attendees. At a drop-in session in the LRC at lunchtime, Bali was surrounded by our students asking for his autograph and advice on how to improve their writing.
Bali very kindly agreed to judge our Short Story competition entries whilst he was in school and selected C06's story as the winning entry.
Mrs Collier
[email protected]
Well done to all the pupils who entered the Intermediate Maths Challenge this year. This is a national competition, which is performed in exam conditions, and uses very interesting puzzle style questions. All of the pupils that chose to take part in the challenge should celebrate their effort and attitude. A list of the certificates won is below:
Best in School |
Gold Ollie, Ben and Jamie |
Silver Henry, Safi, Anabelle, Joseph, Charlotte, Kirsten, Shelly, Aleksander and Robert |
Bronze Emma, Louis, Emily, Jamie, Jack, Amelie and Max |
Recently, the Y9 Young Sporting Ambassadors delivered, for the first time, an Indoor Athletics Festival for All Saints Rangemore, Needwood, Mary Howard and Walton primary schools. Approximately 40 pupils came to the sports hall and our eldest Young Ambassadors, Noah, Jack, Tess and Charlotte, led the event. Nerves were apparent but as they grew in confidence the event ran smoothly enough. After talking about ways of improving the event in the future, they will be running the same event once more, to Thomas Russell Junior School.
Well done to those leaders who took charge of the evening but also to the other 12 Young Ambassadors who helped the primary school teams and also lead the track and field events. (by Mrs Berry, SSCO)
JTHS has successfully facilitated the delivery of employability skills development to two cohorts of students with Professor Jo Andrews through the MEDaL course. MEDaL is an Employability Skills Programme specifically designed to provide students aged 15 – 19 with the generic skills that every employer would want to see in a new recruit to their organisation. The programme seeks to develop these essential skills through workshops delivered off site, for example in a hotel function room, where training can take place away from the school and refreshments be provided. Consequently, the programme is named MEDaL – Meet, Eat, Drink and Learn.
The workshops were delivered in a structured but informal and highly interactive manner. They were delivered as two half day sessions with a period of reflection time between the sessions. This aspect of our school provision is increasingly important as more and more of our 6th Form students seek to move into Higher Level Apprenticeships or employment upon completion of their A-Level studies at John Taylor High School. The Employability Skills explored through basic principles, examples and case studies were:
- Communication and Presentation Skills
- Team Building and Team Working Skills
- Leadership Skills
- Managing Projects and Managing Events
- Constructing an original personal statement and CV
- Interviewing for Success.
The ability to organise these training days has been achieved through the generous sponsoring of the course by the Barton and Dunstall Key Trust for our first cohort and Punch Taverns for the second co-hort. We would like to extend a huge ‘thank you’ to these two organisations, without which, these courses could not run. We look forward to further collaborations later in the year.
On Friday 22nd March, the Year 13 BTEC Business students organised a Film & Fun night after school for Thomas Russell Junior School children in Years 3 to Year 6. Around 55 pupils attended, raising approximately £115 for Footprints. Three of us previously attended TRJS, but for the other members of the team this was their first visit.
To organise the event, we first met with Mrs Sharp at the primary school to gain permission. We made sure we were prepared by taking a list of potential films, details about the charity and what the event would involve. Following our meeting we waited for our plans to be discussed by the Governors, to select a film and a date.
We promoted the event by visiting TRJS to give an assembly about the film and fun night and Footprints. The pupils were excited about the event and we sent out letters to parents and organised sponsorship from Morrison’s and Raja Brothers, so that we could spend as little as possible to maximise the amount we could donate.
At the event we set out the hall, seating areas and our refreshment stand. Our event involved showing the film UP! followed with a quiz with five different prizes to be won. Most children got all the questions right so it went through to the Tie-breaker.
The Primary School pupils had an excellent time (88% agreed) and were able to relax with their friends whilst snacking on popcorn, chocolate and squash, included in the entrance fee of £2 with all proceeds going to Footprints."
Sharon Prosser - John Taylor High School
[email protected]
In the Sports Hall, after school on Wednesday 27th March, Yr 8 and 9 Young Ambassadors led the Y3 and Y4 Indoor Athletics Festival for Thomas Russell Junior Schools pupils.
The event was run totally by the Year 9 Young Ambassadors, Tess, Noah and Jack along with help from a further eight Sporting Young Ambassadors. A thorough warm-up for the forty pupils was taken by Liv and the pupils enjoyed this lively activity. The pupils then went onto obstacle races, then running and jumping and throwing activities were completed by all the pupils who attended.
All the equipment used that evening was kindly donated by the PTA a few years ago and once more many pupils had a fun and active session using this great equipment.
Thank you to all the Young Ambassadors who helped that evening as without you these events cannot happen. Mrs Berry, SSCO
In recent weeks, Sporting Young Ambassadors have been to Walton and Mary Howard Primary schools to present assemblies on netball in general and the Netball World Cup, which is being held in Liverpool in July. Also the Women's Football World Cup which is being held in France, also later this year.
All Ambassadors are now growing in confidence and can confidently answer questions about the sport they have chosen to speak about.
All Young Ambassadors have prepared a presentation and over the course of the year will be attending a number of primary schools delivering their assembly with passion, explaining the importance of sport and why they want others to enjoy it as much as they do.
Many sporting events that are happening this year have been researched and delivered. The Women's Football World Cup. the Men's Cricket World Cup and the Men's Rugby World Cup, which will be held in Japan later this year. These sports are just a few of those on offer to the younger pupils. (by Mrs Berry, SSCO)