TOMTOMalways in tune with what’s happening...

issue 4

April 2011

PLUS...

Greenwich School Library Book

Quiz

an interview with our new School

Business Manager

and lots more...

BABY GAR-GAR! a 1950’s feast for the eyes!

Italia e Bellissimo!sixth form students sample the delights of three iconic Italian cities!

Fashion Rocks!the 2011 Fashion show collaboration wows the audience!

Doing the right thing!PJ and Harry get rewarded for their tire-less efforts with mentoring at Tallis!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE...

GREENWICH SCHOOLS’ LIBRARY BOOK QUIZ

FILM & MUSIC • FSOR - MUSIC TO THE EARS

IDENTITY PARADE

SOUNDBYTES

BABY GAR-GAR!

BUILDING TALLIS FOR THE FUTURE!

A VIAGGIO IN ITALIA!

FASHION ROCKS!!!!

DOING THE RIGHT THING!

NEW SCHOOL BUSINESS MANAGER

threeHEADlines Mr Thomas’ termly column

four

five

six

seven

eight & nine

ten

eleven

twelve

thirteen

fourteen

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TALLIS MOVES PROMOTIONAL AD fifteen

SCENE FROM THOMAS TALLIS

GARGANTUA PRODUCTION

If you pass our new bulding on a regular basis, you cannot fail to be impressed by its

appearance. Many hours, weeks, months and years have gone into its planning and it is hard to believe that

we are now in the final straight, I was on an interview panel recently and one candidate asked “When will the new school be open?” to which I have my standard response “October 2011” at which point I was gently reminded that it was THIS October! All the effort which has been in put in to date will mean that we will have a beautiful looking building in which to learn together. However, more importantly, the interior will be both inspiring and a fantastic environment in which to learn. I had a tour recently and was amazed at the progress which has been made. We will be overwhelmed with space: large purpose built classrooms, wide corridors and huge recreational spaces. Our design is also very light, airy and a pleasant change from the cramped conditions we currently inhabit. Nonetheless, we will miss our old building; we have achieved much in it and most of us will take with us many fond memories! Much planning is taking place at present to ensure that we are ready for the move. Various teams of people are working hard to put in place a timeline which will help us manage the change. Some important dates for your diary are:Sunday 3 July with a celebration through the decades of our time in the present building and also the extra days when the

school is closed around the October half term to allow for the move to take place! The move has also given us a chance to reflect on what is most important to us. I have been carrying out a piece of action research with a group of students, staff, parents and governors to gather data about what people value most about our school. What should we retain and what could be improved? Thanks to all of you who have attended recent parents/carers’ meetings and contributed. We will use all the information to developa new shared vision. In this work, the process is at least as important as the end product. It hs a key feature of our school that everyone’s voice is important and that everyone can have their say - although this is not to be confused with everyone having their own way! It will be a challenge to reach concensus with potentially 3000 people contributing their views but it is a job that we are up to and one that is extremely important. I will keep you informed of the progress we are making.

Mr Thomas shares his thoughts with us on our vision for the new school and the fond memories we will take with us from our present building... it’s six months and counting!

“the new school will be an inspiring

environment in which to learn”

HEADTT April 11

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Greenwich Schools’ Library Book Quiz

Thursday 17 March 2011 wasn’t just St Patrick’s Day. It was also the inaugural Greenwich Schools’ Library Book Quiz which was held at Woolwich Polytechnic School. The six schools competing were Plumstead Manor, St Paul’s Academy, St Thomas More, St Ursula’s, Thomas Tallis and Woolwich Poly with each school having 3 teams of four students from Years 7 and 8. Questions about Myths and Legends, Heroes and Villains and Classics saw heads huddled together over tables and excited whispers when they knew the answer. The Mayor of Greenwich was amongst the visitors and got involved by reading out a round of questions. With the tournament consisting of 10 rounds there was a very well timed refreshment break half way through to allow for some food and drink to flow through and stimulate the brain cells ready for the final push. We continued onwards with our very own Ms Walsh

reading out the ‘Family and Friends’ section. After what seemed an eternity, waiting for the scores to be worked out and the winners announced....’the winners are... Team A from Thomas Tallis”. Cheers went up and an extremely proud group of four young people, Joe Powley, Bea Dyer, Maeve Thomas and Bronwen Onono, (not forgetting Ralph the Bear!) came up to receive their medals and get their

hands on the trophy. Reluctantly, the trophy had to be handed back but only to allow it to be engraved with Thomas Tallis as the winners and it should be arriving at school in the near future. Well

done to all the students who put their all into a fiercely fought competition. Finally, a special congratulations to Team A for winning and making everybody at Thomas Tallis so proud!

Tallis wins the first tournament and the trophy heads our way...

“We had the most fun as a team and the result was unexpected

but pretty good! We feel honoured and believe that Ralph the Bear who

was our mascot helped to secure us the win”

Winning Team A say it was unexpected but they feel

honoured

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MUSIC to the earsThomas Tallis is fortunate in the abundance of musical talent that regularly comes through our doors every new school year. My position as guitar teacher is ideal in helping to identify potential players and singers. Those students usually know others who either play instruments and/or sing, or want to do both, and they’re usually keen to get involved once they see their friends’ progress. After advertising around the school during the first term of 2009/10 for musicians who wanted to form Year 7 rock band, there was a flood of applicants. It was finally whittled down to nine: 2 guitarists (Ryan Sweet and Huck McKenna), 1 bass guitarist (Alex Tate), 2 keyboard/pianists (Shay Westlake and Will Nicholls), 1 drummer (Joe Taylor), and 3 singers (Maeve Thomas, Erin Williamson and Ellis Chittock). Alex recently left Tallis for another school, which meant a reshuffle of members. Will has moved effortlessly onto Bass Guitar, and Shay is now the sole keyboard player. As a first gig they were invited to play at a Year 7 Parents’ evening in the winter of 2010. It was a huge success, and served to fuel the band’s ambitions to play more events with ever-increasing musical accomplishment. Since then they’ve tried hard to ensure that they rehearse at least one lunch hour per week – something that’s not always possible when one considers all the other demands that school can make on a student’s free time. However, they’re a keen bunch,

and always enthusiastic when turning up at the rehearsal studio and getting to work. They practise hard, and the results are evident to anyone who is fortunate enough to hear them play. The band has gelled together as a unit, with sturdy mutual support and a strong sense of ownership of their project. By researching and choosing the music they want to play, and asking for help only as and when needed, they are also rapidly developing their individual musical skills. It was apparent at an early stage of the band’s development that they wouldn’t have to be coerced into doing the legwork required to make their performances work. Their strong sense of identity with, and attachment to, each other are proving to be incentive enough. In the year or so since the band was formed they have performed to al the Year Group assemblies in school on several occasions as well as receiving enthusiastic acclaim at several local primary schools in the area such as Brooklands and John Ball. They have also played an important part in last summer’s Tallis - Past, Present and Future Festival as well as beginning to record an album in the school recording studio. The next logical steps would be to perform at more events, both in and out of Tallis, and to start writing their own material. They are more than capable, and it could prove to be a very enjoyable exercise in stretching their potential.

The success of the Year 8 band has led to the forming of a new band from our current Year 7, and there is now a very healthy mixed crop of musicians and singers who rush to the rehearsal studio every Friday lunchtime to make musical havoc! They should be more than ready to play at in-school assemblies and hopefully some out-of-school events by the coming Summer term. It really is such a joy to see the rave reception our musicians get from Year 5 and 6 students, many of whom are destined to come to Tallis in the near future. There are quite a few other students in Years 7 and 8 who look at the current bands and would like to have a go themselves. Hopefully provision can be made in the next term to accommodate them, and they can then flourish. On another note, our senior performing band – the Motown Band – have been invited once again to play at the prestigious Education Institute in May, and are currently rehearsing hard to make sure that they are, at the very least, as successful this year as they were last. Several of the current Year 8 band musicians are successfully involved in the Motown Band, allowing them to work with and learn from students two and three years older than they are. Finally, I would like to say thank you to all the members of the Year 7 and 8 bands, and the Motown band, for making my job so enjoyable.Paul Challenger (Guitar Teacher)

FELI

X S

CH

OO

L O

F RO

CK

For those of you who haven’t heard of it, Felix School of Rock (FSOR) is an intensive music workshop who use Tallis as a venue. In return FSOR offer us bursary places for 10% of the normal £165 price tag for a four day session. The students are chosen on the basis of their application in music lessons whilst in school and their approach to learning in general. Priority is also given to those students who attend after school music activities. FSOR are responsible for running the sessions. I asked Sam Murray in the Music Department what he thought the benefits were for our students. He told me that he notices a phenomenal difference in the students who get the opportunity to attend the sessions. “They hone their life skills in a music environment and we see the benefits”. When asked about the likelihood of it continuing into the next school his response was that he really hoped that it would do so as the increased spaces and soundproofed rehearsal facilities would allow us to provide a better location which would mean an even better end product. Any students who are interested should contact a member of the music department.

IdentityParadeIn anticipation of moving into the new building, members of the school community have been considering the uniform as part of our identity...

The culmination of months of collaboration between students, staff and parents will be reached on Tuesday 10 May when our new school uniform is revealed. Those involved will witness their hard work alongside that of Alina Moat our school uniform designer when the new designs are modelled for the first time. So, how did this process begin? Volunteers were asked to be part of a focus group making decisions about where we wanted to go with the new design. Exercises involved saving energy, keeping costs down and using natural materials, bearing in mind the energy used to process these as opposed to man made fibres. This helped to influence the design brief. One of those volunteers, Jacci Dowling whose own children came to the school felt that she wanted to be part of the next phase. She initially thought she would like to see a more formal uniform with shirts, ties and blazers but as time elapsed, her opinions changed.

“Overall it was a really good process getting staff, students and parents involved. It’s been quite a learning curve for me about how a design is put together with a slightly more formal look but not going down the tie and blazer route”

How did you get involved in the design of our new school uniform?I got involved with the design of our new school uniform after being recommended by Helen Storey at the London College of Fashion. The original idea was to try and integrate the project of designing a new school uniform into one of the courses that the college offers. However, this proved to be too difficult and therefore I was suggested as the person to fulfil the task.

Have you undertaken anything like this before?No. This is my first time designing a school uniform.

What has the challenge been like for you?Huge! Really intense, exciting and fun! Working on this has been like opening a box of chocolates. Normally in fashion there aren’t many limitations but this has to last and appeal to the people wearing it as well as appealing to parents who need to wash it. The project has had so many levels to consider.

The materials are all from socially and environmentally sustainable sources? How difficult did this prove to be?It was difficult in different ways. The manufacturing industry in the UK has almost disappeared so it was hard. There were limitations

with fabrics. Using a sustainable and durable platform for the production was a hard task but we feel we have achieved it. The polo shirts are produced in India using windpower and water from the monsoons. All of their products are transported by road.

Are you excited about seeing Thomas Tallis students in the new uniform?What do you think? Every time I visit the school and see the students in their current uniform I think “Wow! In a year’s time they will be wearing the new design!”

“It’s such an exciting project to work on. And for

me as a designer it has been a dream

project.”

Question Time with Alina Moat, our Designer...

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SOUNDbytes

SCIENCEA group of Year 11 Science students went on a trip to Greenwich Observatory earlier this year where they were given a tour of the space galleries. They also attended a ‘Spectroscopy Workshop’ with a Physics Professor looking at different stars and seeing what sort of light they give out finishing off with a show in the Plan-etarium.Meanwhile, a second group visited Woodlands Farm Trust which is in Shooters Hill. This is an inner city farm and the students learnt many things, not least how much money the farm makes from sheep and selling logs!

ASDANThomas Tallis has achieved ten years of 100% pass rate for ACE and COPE groups which includes work-ing with others, improving our learning and problem solving skills. They have made documentaries, took part in music workshops and produced a video. Tak-ing responsibility for finding their own college and work placements, as well as learning sign language and achieving their St John’s Ambulance First Aid Certificate was also just ‘all in a day’s work’ for these hardworking groups. Well done to all!

ARTYear 7 have been on a ‘Who Am I’ Identity art trip to the Natural History Museum while Year 11 visited the V&A and Natural History Museum to research the theme of similarities and differences. This project including draw-ing and photography. Drawing gems and fossils, looking and the similarities and differences in bone structure and studying different pots from around the world were amongst the choices they made. Meanwhile Year 12 Fine Art went on an exam research trip to Tate Modern ex-ploring mystery and imagination using their drawing and photography skills while another specifically chosen group worked with Mike Shaw, our Artist in Residence on a screen printing workshop. Students were also fortunate to attend a Life Drawing workshop organised by Ravens-bourne. All in all, a busy time for the art department and our new Head of Art, Ms Hewett who has been teaching for many years in a number of schools. She has really enjoyed experimenting with different teaching styles.

CAREER ACADEMY GRADUATION 2011On 4 May a group of Year 13 Thomas Tallis Career Academy Students, graduated from their two year program at the Institute of Education, London. It was a very prestigious event with representatives from our Local Advisory Board and other organisations present. The Thomas Tallis Motown Band were invited for the 3rd successive year, to perform for both the afternoon and evening graduation event. They were amazing, and we received a lot of plaudits for our musicians perfor-mance. Thanks to Paul Challenger and Sam Murray who spent many hours supporting the school band and Ian Williams for his support of the Career Academy.

AN INVITE TO THE ROYAL WEDDING!PJ Thomas, Volunteer Police Cadet and also one of our Year 11 students was part of a 350 strong group who joined 5,000 police officers on duty at the Royal Wedding on 29 April. He is the spokesperson for the VPC and as such as followed round on the day by the BBC Crime-watch Roadshow. He was filmed speaking to members of the public about the event asking them how they were enjoying themselves and making sure everybody was safe. He was wearing a Met Police badge and a BBC badge which gave him access to the VIP area and so he was able to get a clear view of the Royals when they came through the arch at Horseguards’ Parade as he was standing only about 12 metres away.

GOT A STORY? Let us know about it! Send an email to

jcripps@thomastallis.org.uk

YEAR 8 COMPANY Y ENTERPRISE CHALLENGEThis year’s South East London Enterprise Partnership compe-tition took place at Christ the King 6th Form College. The task in hand was to pitch a business to a panel of ‘dragons’ similar to ‘Dragon’s Den.’ Scarlett Mollett, Edie Holland and Michaela Nicolaou presented their ‘Barell of Joy’ company while Selma Warsame, Jason Christy, Mory Koulibaly, Adhi Mohamed and Mustafa Nooh presented their Identity company. The two teams were up against strong competition from surrounding schools and ‘Barell of Joy’ did really well to be awarded a fan-tastic cut glass trophy for the best presentation. The students were a credit to the school and deserving winners.

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Baby Gar Gar!TT April 11

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Baby Gar Gar!Mini Mungus gets pregnant and is too scared to give birth so she holds the baby in for two years. When it comes out (a boy named Hugh) it is genetically mutated. The government decide to capture the baby and use its DNA to clone an army of super babies to defend the country instead of soldiers but before they can do so, he escapes and then eats all the people in the town, including his parents. Thomas Tallis School took part in the National Theatre Connections Festival alongside 200 other schools and theatre companies to put on a show by a new playwright. Invitations were sent to schools to choose which play they would like to perform. We were very lucky to get Gargantua as it was by the far the most popular choice. Actors aged between 13-19 were eligible to apply for the various roles which would be performed in the school as well as in a professional theatre which for us was the ‘Soho Theatre’. After weeks of endless preparation, with the cast getting involved in all aspects, the day finally arrived for the first performance which was attended by a member of the National Theatre staff, who met with the cast to ask questions. Our students spoke very articulately and did us proud. The cast were then given some advice and the time to rework a few areas before performing at Soho Theatre, Considering that Tallis started their rehearsals 6 months after some of the other participants, the students and staff worked tirelessly to achieve such a successful performance. Music and Drama only came together a week before the first performance, with the dancers being choreographed from a recording on a mobile phone! The projections were only available the day beforehand and when you consider that the projections were also the actors’ cues, it was a major achievement for everything to come together so well for the production. We are now waiting to hear whether we are going to get the opportunity to perform the play at the National Theatre. Indeed,

the comments made by the lady from the National Theatre were very positive...”the production was hugely life affirming, energised and fun. The ensemble threw themselves into it with everything they had.”...”the company played with commitment and pace, they grabbed the audience and didn’t let go until the lights went down”. With comments like that hopefully we have a good chance of making it through!

A member of the audience’s perspective“This production was a 1950’s feast of performance, visual, musical and multimedia delights. This talented bunch of performers had both venues buzzing with energy. Characters were made larger than life through the brilliant physical performances of all of the lead actors and I was particularly impressed with the slick timing of the chorus. Although this interpretation was not your general classical Greek tragedy, the tale of the humongous baby that eats members of the cast and tramples through Lewisham shopping centre cam with certain tragic elements. However, this was massively over balanced by the comedy which had the audience crying with laughter. Those audience members who had groupied the performance for the three performance events were even shouting out key lines of dialogue! The larger than life projections seemlessly integrated with the performers. The band totally in character throughout gave the play swing and conveyed the plot, and along with the polka dotted skirts and Teddy boy jackets, beautifully captured that 1950’s genre. Three great nights out for me and everyone who was lucky enough to get a ticket to see it. A big congratulations to all the staff involved in this production and of course the stunning cast and musicians.”

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Building TALLISfor the future!

“The new building was first mooted as far back as 2002. I became deputy headteacher in 2004 and took over the process of ‘Building Schools for the Future’. Our first completion date was September 2009. It was stressful but ever so exciting - a once in a lifetime opportunity. I would not have copied though without Jon Nicholl’s fantastic vision and support. We made a cracking team trying to involve every member of the school community in the project. There was always gong to have to be negotiation and we had to change expectations quite a bit along the way. A pot of money was allocated but it wasn’t a bottomless pit! Suggestions were made that classrooms would need to be shared but that we were happy to support spaces like staffrooms even though many schools were not including these kinds of spaces in their design. I have to say that now it feels a little surreal. I look at it and wonder whether I expected it to be that big, that bright, that beautiful. I am excited as I feel nothing can stop us now - just a little packing to get over!I believe it will make a huge amount of difference to learning at teaching at Tallis. The conditions for learning

will be wonderful. We will have space, resources and the environment to put learning first. I think students will feel there has been an investment in them and their local community and will, as a consequence, rise to the challenge of the expectations facing Thomas Tallis next year and for the next 20-30 years.”

Martin Dean, Assistant Headteacher is our BSF Champion and has been the school’s representative at lots of meetings to discuss a wide range of options ranging from changes to the exterior of the building to what colours the signs will be on doors. He has worked with curriculum leaders reviewing room designs, furniture, fixtures and equipment. Thanks to Martin, we have been able to organise visits to the site to see how it is progressing and making it seem for real for us all. Technology is a particularly exciting aspect as we will be pushing the boundaries so that

staff and students can use a variety of mobile devices such as iPhones

and iPads in their learning and teaching. We will also be using thumbprint technology for things such as buying food and

lending library books.

“Moving to a brand new

school is a once in a lifetime opportunity

and I hope that everybody makes the most of it”

As we enter our last six months in this school building and the excitement and anticipation of our move to the new building, let’s go back to where it all started as we ask Trish Dooley to remind us of those early days...

I am excited as I feel nothing can stop us now -

just a little packing to get over!

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A VIAGGIO IN ITALIA... For four A2 Italian students, a trip to Italy weeks before their final oral exam would have been a dream opportunity. Happily, this dream came true on the 23rd March 2011, when Rose Griffiths-Bonadio, Shreya Patel, Maya Thomas-Davis and Phoebe Demeger took flight to Bologna. Organised by Ms Martina Boggian, this would be four days of pure Italian culture, food and art, all the time speaking exclusively in Italian! It sounded like a challenge, but was completely worth it. The trip began with a two-hour flight from Gatwick, in which the students were seated scattered about the plane in order to get started on practising their Italian in public situations. They arrived in the city of Bologna that evening, where a taxi dropped them at the (less than glamorous) hostel that would serve as the base from which each day would start. The next two days consisted of very early starts, spurred on by a dose of Italian coffee, in order to catch the train into the breathtaking cities of Florence and Venice. Florence (or ‘Firenze’, as the Italians say) has been described as ‘the city of art’, which the students soon discovered to be absolutely true. Intricate architecture like the Battistero di San Giovanni, in which the author Dante was baptized; the sprawling Piazza della Signoria, where the students sat in the sun to admire and sketch the numerous statues; the Palatina Gallery, showcasing prime examples of Italian art through the years; and the majestic Gardens of Boboli, a beautifully designed natural zone complete with hidden statues and fountains. Aside from these

more obvious locations, every side-street held another lavish ice-cream shop, cafe, or pizzeria that was impossible to avoid. For most people, Venice (‘Venezia’) is the city that best characterises Italy for its romantic splendour – only accessible by boat or train across the lagoon, this is a place where the roads are swapped for canals, and cars swapped for gondolas. The students wandered endlessly over bridges and through street markets, attempting to process the fact that they were exploring, effectively, a floating city. Just like Florence, Venice also held its own architectural delights, such as the famous Basilica di San Marco, shimmering in the sun on the outside and lined with gold on the inside. Additionally, they visited the two most well-known bridges: the Bridge of Sighs, which was frustratingly obscured by giant billboards for Toyota as it was being refurbished; and the Rialto Bridge, from which they could view a sizeable stretch of the Grand Canal. A gondola ride seemed tempting, but €60 for half an hour was quite a turn-off! A couple of days spent in Bologna itself was very inspiring for these A2 students – the city boasts the oldest university in the world and a brilliant student atmosphere (keep this in mind, future uni applicants!) This was a day to relax, to wander around a huge street market, to listen to a band of buskers in the middle of the Piazza Maggiore. Things got a little busier in the evening, when the students discovered a mini student protest/street party taking place in another Square – it’s

always nice to find things that remind you of home!The final day was also spent in Bologna, before reluctantly getting back on a plane after a final meal to say “Arrivederci” to Italy. In all, the trip was a real eye-opener to the true romance of the country; behind every grand tourist attraction, all of which were beautiful enough in their own right, you could always find an equally perfect statue, side-street, or simply another place for a great coffee.

by Phoebe Demeger, Year 13 student

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After months of preparation this Visual Media and Performing Arts collaboration ‘wowed’ the audience with its audacious creations. Over 100 students have been involved in this year’s show including those from art and design, dance, media and music; taking part as designers, make-up artists, models, musicians, photographers and film crew.

Plastic bin liners, silver foil, cans and bottles blended with top hats and wings to the strains of ‘Respect’ (Aretha Franklin) and Crazy (Gnarls Barkley) performed superblyby the Year 12 BTEC Tallis Band. The audience were applauding enthusiastically at the masterpieces before their eyes, which wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Vivienne Westwood or Jean-Paul Gaultier runway. Part One just flew by as we delighted in the fruits of such dedicated workmanship whilst listening to sounds such as Forget You (Clo Green), Love Comes Down (Plan B),

If Part One had us entranced, then Part Two really blew us away as we were treated to the boys marching and saluting like robots-transformers with cardboard helmets and a Year 13 student in a gothic black dress with black roses complete with miniature top hat (almost a fascinator!) finished with a lace spider’s web covering one eye. Sci-fi also featured with dresses styled into cones and

light boxes on heads (previously seen in a Black Eyed Peas performance). Neringa, a Year 13 student gave us an absolutely incredible belly dance performance which received rapturous applause! What an incredible show! If you weren’t fortunate enough to witness it first hand, here are a couple of quotes from those who did which sums it up so well...

“Thanks for such a fantastic night. It was lovely to see so much wit, playfulness and irrepressible creativity. It was all so stunning - so many expert performances

and such skill and craft.”“As a member of the audience, I’d

just like to say how much I enjoyed the performance, the design, the

collaboration, the fashion, the fun and the creativity that was on show tonight.

What an achievement to get so many people across so many areas and year

groups working together in such a seamless manner.”S

TR

IKE

A P

OS

E!

There’s anticipation in the air; mingled with excited voices emerging from ruby lips adorned with glittering rhinestones. It’s five minutes until showtime!

Welcome to Fashion Rocks 2011!

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When PJ Thomas and Harry Edwards discovered that they were nominated for ‘Do the Right Thing’ Awards by Ms Beauchamp, they had no idea that they were going to be the worthy recipients of one of the five most prestigious awards presented...’Young Citizen of the Year’ no less! After hearing about the tireless work and energy they put into Peer Mentoring, both in school and in the wider community, more worthy winners I could not imagine.

Both PJ and Harry have been involved with the Peer Mentoring service for a number of years now; they benefitted from the system themselves and wanted to give something back to it. During this time, they have organised training days for other students and become Head Mentors themselves; a position previously only held by a member of staff. This shows the trust and confidence the school has in them both to be able to carry out such a responsibility. During last November, they ran the anti-bullying conference held at Charlton Athletic Football Club which was attended by approximately 350 students from primary schools in the area. They worked closely with Jonelle Bernesko who is the anti-bullying officer for Greenwich Children’s Services where they introduced the conference and

workshops as well as running a workshop themselves called ‘Bystanders’ about somebody seeing bullying taking place and whether they choose to ‘turn a blind eye’ or do something about it. As if this didn’t keep them occupied enough, they created competitions for which they were also judges and prize givers. They also work with the local primary schools running peer mentoring classes. In Tallis they organised the Year 9 Training Day and meet regularly with the Year 9

Mentors placing them in Year 7 tutor groups to continue the excellent work already achieved. Both boys are very protective of the Mentoring Scheme and are reluctantly allowing a couple of Year 9 mentors to keep their seat warm while they are busy taking their GCSE exams. Their plans involve returning to the Sixth Form and carrying on where they left off, workload allowing! I think we should all feel very proud of what PJ and Harry have achieved and congratulate them on such a well deserved award!

“I get great satisfaction in helping students to overcome real problems that they are

having. Getting the award has made me realise the work must go on to get a good service for

the Tallis community.”PJ Thomas

DOING THERIGHT THING!by Jean Cripps

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Getting downto business!We welcome Sheila Maskell, our new School Business Manager and chat to her about what this new role in the school involves...How have you found your first few weeks?Settled in very well, everybody has been welcoming. What are your roles and respon-sibilities?My role in the school has a lot of responsibility. This includes line managing support staff across the school, being responsible for human resources across the school both teaching and non-teaching, finance and also line managing the premises team. My immediate task is to assess support staff roles and respon-sibilities to ensure that it meets the school’s current and future needs.What else comes under your role?I am also involved in the BSF (Building Schools for the Future ) programme and in this capacity will be striving to achieve best value from the new contractors. I am responsible for Health & Safety and also negotiating with the managed service provid-ers to make sure the school can use the building outside of the normal school day as and when required, ie for drama and other productions.

What is different about this school compared to Woolwich Poly?I would say an increase in noise levels. Woolwich Poly is a boys’ school and were not in the building at all during break and lunchtimes. How do you feel about the prospect of moving into a new building?Mixed feelings really! I’m ex-cited about it but it’s also a bit of a daunting prospect because there are always teething prob-lems with this sort of experience. It’s also about encouraging those who don’t like change. We are going to have such state of the art facilities across the school, particularly in the art, drama and sports facilities which are outstanding. It will enable the professionals to do an even better job that they are already doing.When you arrived, what were your thoughts on the existing school building and how the school community copes with the problems it can create? I thought how sad it was to see such dilapidation in a building used to educate young people. From what I have observed the

staff and students cope very well. There is teaching going on all around the building and amazing performances taking place. It is a tribute to staff that they keep the students motivated and are still managing to raise attain-ment despite the poor working conditions for all. Can I add to a question you asked earlier about how I had settled in. Everyone has made me very welcome and made me feel very at ease - a special thank you to Jackie and Anne in the library who invited me to morning break and lunch with them in the staff room on my first day and introduced me to ‘grumpy corner’ (I think that is what they called the area where they sit)!

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FASHION ROCKS!6&7 APRIL 2011

A Thomas Tallis School Publication