News
SPONSORED SILENCE SUCCESS!
Congratulations to form 8SJJ who raised a whopping £852.44 following a ‘remaining silent during one lesson’ with Ms John. Gay Evans (pictured right, front row), community fundraiser at Treetops, went to collect the money and answer questions from the students. She said: “For one class to raise that much money is phenomenal and we are so grateful for their dedication. We rely so heavily on the support of our local community in order to be able to provide our services, and it’s great that a local school wanted to get involved.”
Ms John said; “they were inspired to fundraise for Treetops after watching a television news piece about the hospice. They were absolutely brilliant and I am really proud of their achievement”.
Drawing to Learn
In November we participated in a 'Drawing to Learn' Project with Nottingham Trent University. The results of that research project are now available and can be viewed here.
George Spencer Teaching School
We are extremely proud to announce that we have been successful in our bid to become a National College Licensee to deliver Leadership Development programmes. We are one of only three Licensees in the East Midlands to be awarded this Licence and this news coincides with the completion of our brand new Teaching School Conference facility.
Click here for further details
GEOCACHING AT TRENT LOCK
A group of students have helped Tracey Lloyd from Groundwork Greater Nottingham to create a new set of Geographical Geocaches on the Erewash Trail. The trail will be unveiled by the Mayors of the Boroughs of Broxtowe and Erewash on Saturday 31st March. If you'd like to try the new trail, download the flyer to find out more information about this event. You can read more about the trial and our involvement on the Broxtowe website.
SOFTBALL
We currently have a Softball extra-curricular club running on a Thursday after school on the Lower-School field. (3.30 - 4.30pm) All students from Years 7 - 13 are welcome. These sessions are run by external coaches with all the equipment needed for the game.
It is a great sport and we are hoping to start our own teams at the school so please come along and give it a go.
If you have any further questions please ask the PE team.
Mr Powell
GOLD PARTNER SCHOOL FOR YOUTH SPORTS TRUST
We are pleased to announce that George Spencer Academy has become a GOLD Partner School for the Youth Sports Trust. The Youth Sport Trust is an independent charity established in 1994 to build a brighter future for young people through PE and sports. As a Partner School, George Spencer will have the opportunity to become a strategic lead site for PE and School Sport and be involved in the delivery of some of their national programmes. Our validation was confirmed by Annette Montague, Education Director, today quoting: "I am happy to confirm your GOLD Partner School status because I feel that the strength of the school supports your PE credibility".
This follows our recent confirmation of being awarded Lead School status in PE/Sport by the National College as part of our Teaching School programme.
Mark Powell, Curriculum Leader for PE/Health Studies said: This is particularly special, since we are amongst the first to become a Partner School of Youth Sport Trust Partner without us being a former Sports College. It is a credit to the hard work and dedication of all the staff and students at the Academy, and comes at a time when we are in the middle of having a new sports hall built! We very much look forward to working closely with the Youth Sport Trust on a range of different programmes that will benefit us and other schools in the region".
FEBRUARY AT TRY A SPORT CLUB
Try A Sport club which runs after school on a Tuesday are pleased to announce the start of Table Tennis as our new Olympic themed sport! Tournaments and a mini-league will be held after school on Tuesday 31st of January, and the 7th and 21st of February until 4.30. Come along and give it a go!
CONGRATULATIONS TO..
- Honor Cantrell who has been selected for the England U15 Schoolgirls Football Squad. You can read more and see their upcoming fixtures at the ESFA website. Well done, Honor.
- All the students who visited Hagg Farm, we have received a letter from them praising the conduct and behaviour of George Spencer pupils.
- Michael Davis in Y11 who has received a cheque for £30 and has been invited to become a member of the Royal Geographical Society for gaining one of the highest examination marks in 2011 for his GCSE Geography. This is a great achievement by Michael. All winners will be announced on the Society’s website early in the New Year
TRY A SPORT CLUB
Try A Sport Club offers you the chance to try one Olympic sport, every month, during the London Olympic year. There will be up to four after school sessions per month, on a Tuesday, finishing at 4:30 (This may change for off-site activities) starting in January. You can come along to the first session, and, if you decide that the sport isn’t for you, you don’t have to go to the rest! You don’t have to try every sport on offer, just those that appeal to you.
Between January and July 2012, we will try to cover the following sports: (Dry) Triathlon, Hockey, Volleyball, Racket Sports Month (Badminton, Squash, Tennis and Table Tennis), Handball, Cycling (Mountain Biking) and Watersports at the National Watersports Centre.
January
Dry Triathlon Month-
Rowing, Cycling, Running… A fun Olympic themed event with three activities within it! Up for the Challenge? Want to try something new? Give it a go!
Starting on Tuesday 10th January 2012… Ending with a fun “Mini Competition” on Tuesday 24th January.
Contact:
You can email Mr Powell or go to the PE Office for a letter.
Congratulations to:
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6th former Sam Davies who will take part in Round 1 of the Maths Olympiad on Friday 2nd December. Good luck Sam!
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Susan Jowett, Mary Alice Lloyd, Jill Wilkinson, Caroline Arnold and Sue Richmond for reaching the final in the Enterprising Women's Excellence Awards 2011
- to the George Spencer Family of Schools for achieving their Quality in Study Support Award (QiSS) at Emerging Status November 2011
Record GCSE results 2011 for George Spencer Academy!
George Spencer Academy celebrates another bumper set of results, including a 7% increase of students achieving the highest grades including English and Maths.
100% 5A*C
71% 5A*C with English and Maths
100% 8 A*G
Principal Mrs Jowett said, “This is a fantastic achievement following record A level results announced last week. I am so pleased for the students and staff who really deserve this success. Such high performance is not achieved easily it’s the culmination of hard work, dedication and tenacity over many years”.
She continued “I would also like to thank parents for their support and working with us to achieve the best possible grades for their sons and daughters. Academic success is the best start we can give students because it opens so many doors and possibilities for future careers.”
Whilst today’s focus is quite rightly on academic success, George Spencer Academy takes a much broader view of education and the personal development of each student is at the heart of the school’s ethos. For example, over the holidays the Academy has organised a summer school of activities and a number of adventurous students seized the opportunity of an expedition to Costa Rica. The school has an extensive programme of trips, visits and extra-curricular activities throughout the year.
Star students, Connie Coles Garrad, Luke Howdle and Kit Owens, personify academic excellence ( a string of A* / A grades) and rich personal development. Connie has a great interest in languages and different cultures. This summer Luke took part in the British Youth National Swimming Championships and came away with two bronze and a silver medal whilst Kit has excellent acting talents.
Other star (A*) students include: Charlotte Ford, Stephanie Ivy, Jordan Olliffe, Caroline Andrews, Sarah Brown, Emma Jones, Jackson Kemp, Hayley Kinsey, Rhiannon Lee, Harry Mockridge, Liam Tighe, Joseph Wightman, Nicola Cheng, Joe Chima, Laura Fozard, Jennifer Hallsworth, Callum Henderson, Jordan Homer, Holly Radforth, Ben Sheard, Lucy Summerlin and Lauren Tang.
Congratulations to all our students who have worked hard and achieved their personal best!
Contact: Susan Jowett, Principal 0115 9170 100 or e-mail: info@george-spencer.notts.sch.uk
A Level Results
George Spencer Academy is celebrating its best ever set of A-Level results today!
Every Year 13 student passed every A2 course taken, so a 100% pass rate was achieved for the first time. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of our students on their fantastic results.
Over half of all A2 examination entries yielded a high grade pass: 52% of all exams taken achieved A*, A or B grade results.
And a record 29% of all results were at A*/A grade, an increase of 10% on the 2010 outcome!
Our top student is Rachel Armitage who attained three A* grades. Other stars are Marion Collishaw, Henry Curry-Taylor, Edward Sibert, Emma Walker, Christopher Ruddock, Amelia Lewis, Arsal Jabbar, Breanne Dilks and Eleanor Brennan to name but a few.
Head of Sixth Form, Karen Fawcett, is adamant that these record results are due to a combination of students working very hard, and staff improving their targeted intervention of individuals in need of support.
“We have closely monitored many students throughout their time with us, and our dedicated staff also mentored many individuals on a regular basis. This has raised everybody’s game, and meant that we left less to chance on the day of each examination paper.”
George Spencer Sixth Form is anticipating a high recruitment rate as students look to enrol on new AS Level courses next week, once GCSE and BTEC outcomes are known.
JUST LEFT SIXTH FORM? NOT SURE WHAT NEXT – SEE THE NEW EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES
Nottingham Trent University is now recruiting for their two BA (Hons) Management fully sponsored degree programmes in partnership with Experian and Barclays Bank.
The two opportunities include:
1. Working for Experian full-timewhilst studying for a BA (Hons) Management and Leadership (15 places);
2. Spending your first year studying at NTU and years 2 and 3 working for Barclays whilst continuing to study for a BA(Hons) in Business Management (in-company) degree. There will be a small incentive provided by the company for year one, but for years 2 and 3 you will have your course fees paid by Barclays and receive a salary (45 places).
Experian are holding an open day at NTU (Newton Building, City site) on Thursday 25th August. They will be outlining the opportunities that are available and how those interested should pursue an application. To book onto the event please email nbs.business@ntu.ac.uk .
For both opportunities contact Roya Gold at: nbs.business@ntu.ac.uk. Don’t worry if you can’t make the 25 August, NTU will email you an application.
Boots recruiting apprentices
THE BOOTS COMPANY is recruiting 20 full-time apprentices – Salary is £15k (plus allthe Boots benefits) in the following areas:
2in HR; 2 in IT; 2 in Operations (Retail and Pharmacy); 2 in Finance; 6 in Brand, Buying/Marketing and 6 in Supply Logistics (import/export, stock). To apply you will need at least 3 A Levels Grade C or above (excl General Studies). You will also be trained in Business Management equivalent to a Foundation Degree. The deadline for applications is 31 August 2011. There is also a presentation about the apprenticeships on 5 September. To apply: www.boots/jobs/graduates
If you are interested in finding out more on the above, speak to Mrs Wilkinson: jwilkinson@george-spencer.notts.sch.ukor pick up a leaflet from Sixth Form or Main Reception.
July 2011
VISIT TO FAITHFUL+GOULD
On Wednesday 13thJuly 2011, six students from Years 10 to 13 visited the offices of Faithful+Gould in Beeston. Faithful+Gould is a global company and part of the WS Atkins group. They offered our students the opportunity to sample workshops in the Professional Services within the Construction Industry including: Building Surveying, Quantity Surveying and Project Management and Health & Safety. They got to design a house for two adults, two children and a dog! They used their mathematic skills to cost out the ground floor ceiling and then finished off a Gantt chart estimating the amount of time to finish the house – coming within one week of the correct answer!
This was our first experience of the programme and Faithful+Gould extended a very warm welcome. David Pick, their Senior Director, managed the whole day and helped the students feel very much as part of their company. Their younger employees explained the different career routes they had taken to their employment - either through apprenticeship or via university, and senior staff then delivered the four workshops.
We shared the day with Trinity School (who sent all lower Sixth Form students) and all the students mixed together very well. It was impressive to see that our students, despite the age difference, mixing and tackling the tasks just as well as the older students – they are a credit to themselves and our Academy.
We would like to thank David and his staff for putting on such a practical and informative day. A couple of our older students will now have Senior Business Mentors that could lead to employment upon completion of their A Levels.
Well done to the students and again thank you to Faithful+Gould. We hope this fantastic link with industry will continue.
STEM Challenge Summer Project
Details for the latest STEM Challenge are now available on the front page of Moodle. We hope you'll get working on this one over the summer :)
Art Market and 6th Form Art & Photography Show
Thank you to everyone that was involved with or attended the Art Market & 6th Form Show on July 9th. The event was featured on the local news and we raised £410 for Cancer Research and various school projects.
London 2012 Olympics - pledge your support to George Spencer Academy!
We are registered with various initiatives to push London 2012 and the values that the Olympic games promotes. One of the initiatives provides us with a chance to win various prizes / accolades including the possibility of being involved with carrying the Olympic torch. If you have a minute to spare could you please register your support for the school on the following website
Thank you!
June 2011
On Thursday 30 June, we were delighted to host four Professors from the Georgia Southern University and Western Kentucky University as part of their UK tour. During their visit they met with our Principal to discuss the range of different school leadership models and effective practice, rounding off with a tour of the school where they had chance to speak to staff and students.
ICT OCR Nationals
Well done to students in year 9, 10 and 11 who have achieved their OCR Nationals qualification.
Almost every student in Years 10 and 11 achieved the OCR Nationals First Certificate (worth 3 GCSEs).
Despite having to contend with a new course, almost every student in Year 9 also achieved the OCR Nationals First Award, managing to complete an additional unit coupled with more rigorous grading criteria, compared with the same course last year. Congratulations to you all!
Uniform at George Spencer
Please be aware that the school uniform will not be changing for September 2011. Year 7s will however be sporting a new P.E kit. A new uniform will be introduced for Year 7 in September 2012 and this will have a roll-in period for students in Year 8 and Year 11. If you have any questions about the uniform please contact Mr Hagget
Reading Leaders Project
We are delighted to announce the success of our pilot Reading Leaders scheme which we delivered this year as part of whole school Literacy strategy.
The project involved externally training 16 of our Year 10 & 12 students to become Reading Leaders. Following the training, which was externally delivered by Reading Matters (a registered charity based in York that aims to improve reading ability in schools through this and other schemes), the Reading Leaders were partnered with a Year 7 student for a period of 12 weeks. During this time, Reading Leaders met with their Year 7 tutee twice a week during registration. They planned and delivered a variety of activities aiming to improve reading ability and comprehension.
We were able to measure the impact of the programme through the Salford and NFER reading tests taken by the Year 7s in December 2010 and then again at Easter. The success included 11 students improving their reading ability and comprehension, some students improved their reading age score by as much as 12 months in this short space of time. The Reading Leaders also gained accreditation for the training by NOCN and enjoyed being part of something so positive.
Year 7 students comments on the scheme:
I feel more confident reading in front of others now
My reading is better
It was good fun
I'd like to carry on doing it
Year 12 Reading Leaders comments on the scheme:
It's very confidence-boosting and rewarding
It's really made me feel good, like I'm doing something worthwhile
It's taught me to be more patient
Getting accreditation is a real bonus as it's just part of the programme so it wasn't really any extra work
I've had to be organised and I've enjoyed trying to think of creative ways to engage by buddy
Many thanks to all those involved in making this a success for our students. We will be running the scheme again in September and will be advertising soon to recruit another group of Year 12 students to become trained Reading Leaders. Watch this space!
Ms Seaton, Miss Cooke and Miss Aram
Holidays
The provisional school holiday dates for 2011/2012 are now available for you to download.
May 2011
Catering News
Our kitchens were awarded highest marks on the last Environmental Health visit, we can now proudly display our certificate as recognition for the hard work that it takes to keep the catering facilities at their best
Charity News
Thank you to all the students & staff who wore something yellow for 'Fruity Friday' last week. They raised £254 for the World Cancer Research Fund.
Cheeringleading Success!
Many congratulations to the GSA Cheerleaders who are now the KS3 County Champions. The girls (including the acrogymnastic team) also won the 'Spirit Award' for encouraging other teams and showing great sportsmanship. Well done girls!
Sporting Success!
Congratulations to the Y7 football team on their 8-1 victory against West Bridgford. They are now South Notts Champions!
This Friday is Fruity Friday!
Students can replace one of their normal items of school uniform with one yellow item. No dyed hair please!
All money raised goes to the World Cancer Research Fund.
Students can hand in their £1 during form time and learning managers need to bring the money over to upper site reception.
Our new logo!
Following on from feedback from students, staff & governors, we have a new logo! The new logo was designed by Haydn Bowley in Year 12.
April 2011
Download a PDF copy of the Easter George Spencer Academy NewsletterÂ
March 2011
Watch our BBC School Report from yesterday's event. The school Report Teams work was also featured on BBC Radio Nottingham. Well done to all involved!
George Spencer Academy are the iRail 2011 STEM Challenge Champions! Watch our award winning team of engineers on Central News . Many congratulations to Amy Langton, Abigail Maltby, Sophia Pancisi and Georgina Thompston
The School Report team have had a news story published on the BBC website.
Russian space expert Professor Alexander Martynov has visited the school to talk to students about space exploration, you can read more about his visit on the Nottingham Evening Post website.
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