TuxfordTopics

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Issue No. 67 • Spring Term 2011

Enterprise Day on 15th December2010 gave all Key Stage 3 studentsthe opportunity to develop theirenterprise skills. The students hada day off normal lessons toconsider the concept of enterpriseand the importance of enterpriseskills for success in school andfuture life.

They undertook a range of tasks,from making a square out of ropewhile blindfolded to preparing apresentation about how TuxfordSchool could become ‘greener’.Problem solving, initiative andteamwork were encouraged.

Some of the comments made bythose involved include…

“I have learned that by combiningideas you can perform better in ateam.”

“Enterprise involves taking risks.”

“Today I have realised that I can dothings I wouldn’t have done in thepast. I can stand up confidently infront of other people.”

“When I want to go to universityor get a job, I will need enterpriseskills.”

“I’ve learned today that sometimesyou need to take risks, you haveto believe in yourself andcommunication is important.”

“Teamwork is about how toco-operate and communicatewell with other people you areworking with.”

New Gallery Opens

Tuxford Topics is the official termly newsletter of Tuxford School, Marnham Road, Tuxford, NG22 0JH

www.tuxfordschool.com

Tuxford Topics

EncouragingEnterprise

The Clumber Gallery was officiallyopened on Wednesday 3rd November2010 by Samantha Dumoulin,Chairman of the school’s ParentTeacher Association.

It is just over three years since thenew school building opened, but inthat time the numbers on roll haveincreased steadily and dining space hasbeen under pressure. We have alsocome to realise that the original designfor student reception areas next toexternal doors was not satisfactory.

By enclosing an open space under themusic classrooms we have created TheClumber Gallery. It addresses all theissues: not only do we gain a newcorridor connecting the two wings ofthe school, but also a new dining areaand an area to display student art work.

Students asked for dining areas thatare more attractive and for an eating

environment that is welcoming. Tobe honest we have not been able todeliver that until now becausedemand for school meals is so great.It is good that they are popular, butour facilities have been stretched.Dining should be a leisurely andsocial occasion - and we have notbeen able to offer that experienceuntil now.

The invitation to the PTA toperform/attend the official openingof the Clumber Gallery was madein recognition of the valuablecontribution that PTA members, pastand present, have made to the life ofTuxford School. Without theirgenerous donation of £11,200 theschool would not have gainedtechnology status in 2002. Their gifteffectively released one millionpounds of additional governmentfunding over the following eightyears.

A team of four sixth form students, ChrisBills, Peter Eskdale, Mike Hutchinsonand Connor Robb took part in the UKMTChallenge on Wednesday 17th Novemberat Nottingham University. The competition isrun each year by the Further Maths Networktogether with Leeds University to give the bestmathematicians an opportunity to compete.

For a second year running, we weresponsored by the Tuxford PTA who kindlydonated the special polo shirts the ladswore with the theme of “pi”.

A brilliant effort was made by all. Thequestions are highly challenging and theevening is (surprisingly) really exciting -especially as competitors watch themarks add up and the positions areannounced regularly. Tuxford was firstequal out of twenty schools after thefirst two rounds, but then slipped alittle to finish in a highly reputable 6thposition.

Well done to all the lads... they were acredit to the school!

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Tuxford’s Got Talent 2010

The fourth final of ‘Tuxford’s Got Talent’,our annual talent show based on the populartelevision format, was staged in the last weekof the Christmas term. Twelve acts broughta wide range of talents to the stage fromrock music to Irish Dancing. Again, theschool hall was transformed into a venuewhich resembled a TV studio, complete with‘live feed’ video screens, thanks to the talentsof ex students Dom O’Connell and DanPhillips. Each act performed beyondexpectation with family & friends providingfirst class support for all.

After a wonderful evening of music anddance, the student participants waitednervously as votes were counted. Onreturning to the stage, the winner was

announced - 11 year old saxophonist, DavidMafullul was delighted with his victory,particularly in the context of such stiffcompetition. A popular choice, Davidwooed the audience once more with hisrendition of the timeless jazz classic, ‘TakeFive’ by Dave Brubeck. David received awinner’s cheque of £100 and was able todonate a further £100 to the charity of hischoice, Links International, a charitydedicated to providing third-world countrieswith simple resources such as water andeducation.

David’s motivation to start playing thesaxophone was sparked when he was simply‘flicking through the channels’ on his TV andhe discovered an inspiring live jazz band

performance. After playing the saxophonefor just two years, David was encouraged byhis family and friends to audition andcompete with many other talented studentsof Tuxford. David says that he thoroughlyenjoyed his participation in Tuxford’s GotTalent; his nervousness didn’t impede hisperformance, and he truly impressed thecrowd with his stunning solo piece.

David hopes to keep the saxophone as ahobby in his future years and is enthusiasticto pursue the music grades, a musicalachievement based on both music theoryand performance.

Former Tuxford teacher Michelle Buckbrought a party of students and staff fromValley School in Worksop to the show. Theywere visiting on a fact finding mission beforelaunching their own version of the format.

Thanks go to everyone involved in this year’sevent, from the PTA to the studentcommittee who organised all stages of theaudition process. Head of Music Jeff Evasondeserves much praise for co-ordinating aquality show at the end of a very tiring term.

Winner: David Mafullul

2nd place: Becky Mowforth 11 OST -piano and vocalist Becky sang ‘Run’ by LeonaLewis and accompanied herself on the piano.Becky has not had any lessons for singing orpiano - she is completely self taught. She alsoplays the guitar which again is self taught. OnWednesday evenings, she sings and plays thepiano at a pub in Nottingham and alsoperforms at other events.

3rd place: Ruth Colclough 11ATR- vocalist Ruth sang ‘Maybe I Like It ThisWay’ from Andrew Lippa’s musical ‘TheWild Party’. Ruth loves singing but onlystarted having professional lessons sixmonths ago.

UK Maths Challenge

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Bishop Paul of Southwell visits school

The Bishop of Southwell visited TuxfordSchool on Monday 8th November.Tuxford is a Church of England affiliatedsecondary school within his diocese, so hewanted to have a look at the school and tomeet some of the students and staff.

Sixth formers, Jon Priddle, Poppy Richards,Emma Raynor and Jess Dumoulin met theBishop on his arrival and showed himround the school. After meeting staff in thestaffroom the bishop visited Creative Artsand Technology lessons accompanied by

Head of Creative and Expressive Arts,Mark Coalwood.

The Bishop met various students from allyears before he concluded his visit withlunch.

On Thursday 18th November 2010, theannual Paul Andrews Charity Fair took placein the school hall and the fantastic sum ofover £2,000 was raised for various charities.There were 25 different stalls at the fair, oneof them being the famous Teddy Tombola

stall run by Pete and Linda Andrews. Whentheir son Paul left school in 1998, he joinedthe PTA and started the Teddy Tombola.On 18th August 2000, Paul aged 18, wastragically killed in a car accident. FollowingPaul’s death, the school’s annual charity fair

was renamed in his memory and inrecognition of all his hard work.

Some of our P16 students organised stalls atthe 2010 Fair to raise money for Darfur, acharity close to Tuxford School’s heart.

Other charities represented at the Fairincluded Action for Children, Traidcraft,Tuxford Scouts, Beaumond Hospice, GuideDogs for the Blind, RSPCA, Aegis Trust,Garden of Gifts, Samaritans, Diabetes UK,St John Ambulance, NORSACA, Dogs’Trust, Chink and Bassetlaw Hospice.

One charity which was going to berepresented for the first time wasParkinsons UK. Unfortunately Steff Lowewasn’t able to attend on the day; however,since then Steff has brought her homemadecard collection to Tuxford School to sell tomembers of staff. They proved to be a greatsuccess and a total of over £50 was raised -and a further donation of £50 was madefrom Charity Committee funds to help hergood cause.

2010 Paul Andrews Charity Fair is a great success

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A Tuxfordian at Cambridge

When former Post-16 student Jade Lanecalled in to the school, we took theopportunity to ask how she was finding lifeas a Cambridge University undergraduate.Jade, from Sutton on Trent, had spent justone term at Jesus College so she could stillview the place as a newcomer.

Jade has embarked on a four year degree inFrench and Spanish at Jesus College. In herthird year she will spend at least three monthsin France and/or Spain to practise the language.As a first year student she has a large room incollege - next to the chapel so she is woken bybells. Her room is on Staircase 2 of ChapelCourt. The shower room is on one floor andis used by three or four students; the toiletsare on another floor. The rooms are allocatedto either sex so Jade shares a kitchen withmen students whom she finds untidy. Sheinsists that her room is always neat and tidy.A lot of the students have come from publicschools and many live in the Home Countiesso they have commented on her curiousMidlands accent - but Jade is adamant thatthere is no snobbery because everyone haswon a place on merit. Living in the next room

is the Bishop of London’s son. Anotherstudent is a millionaire in his own right.

Jesus College has about four hundredstudents and approximately half arewomen. The college is small enough to bea community and many clubs and societiesoperate on a college rather than universitylevel. Jade can hardly believe that she hasjoined the college rowing club and so getsup at 6.00 in the morning to go rowing: “Itis addictive and it keeps me sane.” She alsoplays in a mixed netball team in which mostof the men are Australian.

Most students wear jeans and academicgowns are only required if they choose toeat the formal three course college dinnerat night. The academic staff wear eithersuits or tweed; none of them wear denim.Jade has discovered that they are rathereccentric: either flamboyant andexaggeratedly extrovert or “closed up”and withdrawn. They speak to students asif they are already experts, making noallowance for age or level of knowledge.Jade finds that she has to look up wordsafter a lecture to understand points fully.

There is a very competitive atmosphere atCambridge and very bright students whohave always been the top of their class atschool find that they are quite ordinarywithin the university. Everywhere thereare posters and notices cautioning peoplenot to become stressed.

Terms are short - just eight weeks - but Jadefeels that twelve weeks of work is expected.An essay is required for each subject everyweek and there is very little direction by staffbecause students are expected to beindependent. Jade is up very late writing theessays. The six week breaks between termsare essential because so much backgroundreading is required. Jade has a supervisor forFrench and another for Spanish. Tutorials arecalled supervisions. Then she has “oralsupervisions” to practise spoken language

with native speakers. Time has to be devotedto preparation for these.

Before students start they are assigned“college parents” from second year studentswhose job is to help them settle in. Jade’smemories of her first day include arriving withfar too much luggage and clothes that she willnever wear at university. Parking on thefootball field was permitted. She took herteddy bear with her as a mascot and reminderof home. The students’ union publishes aGuide to Cambridge that is given to all newstudents before they start to explainprocedures and terminology.

Jade has broken the rules just once by notobtaining a party permit because normallythere should not be more than five people inthe kitchen near her room at one time. Sheand the other transgressors had to line up infront of the dean. He was very severe andcould have banned them from the collegebar or from formal dinners as a punishment.The dean is responsible for college discipline,but the head of college is the master. Thereis also a senior tutor. All are men.

Jade doesn’t use the junior common roommuch where she has a pigeonhole and shegoes to formal dinners rarely. She eats inthe “Caff” most of the time, the cafeteriathat serves school quality meals threetimes a day. Most messages for staff orstudents are sent by email these days.

The college porters keep an eye on studentsand help to sort out problems. When Jadehad an accident with hot water a porter calledfor first aid and arranged for a taxi to take herto hospital to be checked. The cleaners whoclean student rooms are called “bedders”.

Jade spoke about the university withenthusiasm: “After two months it felt likehome.” The work is hard, the standards arehigh, but Jade assured us, “It can bestressful, but there are so manyopportunities that it is all worth it.”

Applied Business trip to Linney Group, Mansfield

On Friday 24th September, a group of ASApplied Business students visited LinneyGroup in Mansfield to gain an insight into howteams, enterprise and marketing help thebusiness to achieve its aims and objectives.The chairman, Nick Linney, provided aninspirational talk about the firm and thefactors he finds most important in being aworld class print and design organisation.

The talk was followed by a tour of thefactory and finally a question and answersession. Linney has contracts with manywell-known organisations such asMcDonalds, Yamaha and Boots. Several ofthe students were keen to further theirresearch by visiting McDonalds at theirearliest convenience to view the print mediathey had seen being created in the factory.

Mr Linney rounded off the visit with amarketing activity that will make thestudents remember this organisation fora very long time - he gave them each a £5note. The students were sceptical tostart with; after all, this is a printingcompany! However, it demonstrated tothem just how varied, and basic,marketing can be.

Over 220 Year 11 students venturedinto the ‘World of Work’ during the firstweek of October. They enjoyed learningnew skills and taking on responsibilitiesnot normally part of their daily routine.Pictured on this page are just a few ofour students in their work bases. Theyreflect the wide range of businessesoffering placements to our students.

Work Experience is a compulsoryelement of Work Related Learning atTuxford School and introduces studentsto a work place situation. It continuesto provide the most effective way ofgiving students a practical understandingof the world of work as well as offeringthem scope for personal challenges.Students undergo a thoroughpreparation programme including healthand safety awareness, interview skillsand screening.

Tuxford School and its students wouldlike to thank employers for all theirtime and effort that goes into makingWork Experience a success. Withoutthis support Work Experience wouldnot be possible. James Calverley

Tarkan Kemalzade

Harvey Marsh

Indra Davies

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Year 11 Work Experience 2010

Launch of Junior Town Council

A new Junior Town Council has been setup at Tuxford School. The Council ismade up of 13 students who live inTuxford, along with Peter Hill and LisaHills, who are members of Tuxford Town

Council. The Council has been set upwith the purpose of promotingcommunity issues in school and ofcapturing student views on real-lifeissues.

The first meeting took place on Monday 8thNovember. Meetings will be held at schoolonce a term and will be run in a formal,structured manner that will provide insightsfor the students’ citizenship studies.

In November the Music department took24 students from Years 10, 11, 12 and 13to the Lakeside Arts Centre toexperience a Jazz trio - ‘The Bad Plus’.

The band play high octane pop and rockinfluenced jazz and our students enjoyedthe opportunity to hear something a littleout of the ordinary.

Music students visit theLakeside Arts Centre

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Creative & Expressive Arts Events

As part of the new Creative & ExpressiveArts curriculum, Year 7 students visitedRufford Country Park on 21st and 22ndSeptember and took part in variousworkshops. Activities included singing in theabbey, creating environment/land art andworking in a musical theatre workshop.

Students utilised personal learning andthinking skills to create work in each

specialism. The day acted as an introductionto the skills which will be further developedthroughout Key Stage 3 in Creative &Expressive Arts.

The trip was a huge success and enjoyedthoroughly by both students and staff. TheYear 7 students’ behaviour and work wereexemplary. They are a very talented yeargroup and show great promise for the future.

Year 7 Trip to Rufford Country Park

On Tuesday 14th December 2010, our SeniorChoir took part in the Nottinghamshire Music

Service Christmas Concert at the RoyalConcert Hall in the city. All choir members are

veterans of Tuxford School productions andthey excelled themselves not only in theconcert but also throughout rehearsals.

They were joined on stage by Notts CountyYouth Choir and by students from Grove,Portland and Southwell Minster schools in aprogramme of both traditional andcontemporary Christmas favourites.Accompanying the singing were variousCounty ensembles which also includedstudents from our school.

The event added to the considerableperformance experience of participants. It wasan occasion to remember in one of the bestconcert venues in the country before a capacityaudience of around 1500 people.

The Art department has formed a newcreative partnership with Rufford Galleryand Craft Centre. Education and Outreachofficer for the centre, Helen Ackroyd, spentthree days in the department observingclasses with a view to assessing wherecreative links and activities could beorganised.

Ceramic Artist Andy Mason led two fullday sessions with the Year 10 artists inschool to provide three dimensionalexperiences. Students created ceramicsculptures in week one and then finishedthe works using a variety of complexglazes.

Ninety Year 10 students visited the Galleryand Craft Centre in the grounds of RuffordCountry Park on Friday 8th October.Three activities were experienced inrotation: a tour of the gallery to viewprofessional artists’ work, exploration of aSculpture trail and observation of theirsculptures being fired by artist Andy Masonin the woods through ‘Raku’ Kiln.

Creative Partnershipsupports GCSE Art

Drama VisitsDuring the October half term, the Dramadepartment took Year 11, 12 and 13students to Warwick Arts Centre inCoventry to watch a performance of ‘TheRed Shoes’ by Kneehigh Theatre Company.

‘The Red Shoes’ is based on the traditionalfairy tale of the same name and follows thestory of a young naive girl, who becomesobsessed and eventually all-consumed by apair of red shoes. Overall, it was anexcellent evening and will directly benefitstudents’ creative work.

In November, the Drama department took

Y10 and Y13 students to Hull TruckTheatre to watch the thirty year anniversaryperformance of ‘Teechers’ by John Godber.This play follows three ‘disinterested’students who, using their newly acquireddrama skills, tell the story of their schoolyear in the form of a performance withinthe performance. With only threeperformers, each actor played a range ofcharacters, each as hilarious as the next.Students gained a great deal from theperformance, particularly with regards tothe characterisation process. The piece wasextremely funny and a great evening washad by all.

Tuxford School Choir sing in the Royal Concert Hall

Luke Burns of Year 13 has gained ASLevel PE in school and he is currentlyworking towards BTEC Sports Science.However academic qualification is only partof his story. He is also a community sportsleader, a paid multi skills coach and a sportsleadership ambassador for the county.

Luke has always enjoyed sport. He playedfootball for Sutton on Trent primaryschool and is currently goalkeeper for thevillage U18 team at Great Gonerby nearGrantham. He has not been a seriousathlete, but he goes jogging and he ran ahalf marathon with his mum atNottingham last year. “I had to wait aboutan hour for her to finish!” he remembered.He also plays for the 2nd XI at WorksopHockey Club.

It took Luke about thirteen weeks togain the community sports leaderqualification in school with the help andencouragement of visiting coach BrettFrost. The course focused oncommunication and coaching skills.Having gained the qualification, Luke hasfound employment during school holidayswith Bassetlaw Sports Development. As amulti skills coach he works with groups ofyoung people (mainly primary school age)in community halls throughout Bassetlawincluding East Markham, Elkesley andRampton. He organises obstacle coursesand other fun games to develop theparticipants’ skills. “It can be challengingsometimes because they get so excited,”he admits, “but I have learned a lot aboutcommunicating with young children.”

Luke saw an advert for the role of sportsleadership ambassador. He had to writean application to explain what he wouldbring to the role. He was successful inhis application and he has attended anumber of conferences so far. He will bevisiting other schools to help recruit

new sports leaders and will take part inpromotional events.

Luke had the opportunity to visit ourpartner school in Brazil and he saw forhimself the important role of sport indeveloping countries. For several people itoffers an escape route from poverty. Hestill keeps in touch with friends he madeduring the visit.

Another highlight of his sporting career sofar was being invited to umpire at thenational girls’ hockey tournament at

Cannock last year. He had to umpire asemi final match for U16 teams. “It was aprivilege to be umpiring at a nationalevent,” he commented, “but I was alsonervous about getting it right.” Theconcentration required is intense.

Luke enjoys competition and the sense ofachievement he gets from sport. He alsofinds that sport helps him to meet peopleand to make friends. He would like to turnsport into a career as well as a hobby andso he hopes to become an instructor inthe army - and to play for army teams.

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Profile of a Community Sports Leader

On Wednesday 24th November parentsand students from last year’s Y11gathered for a celebration of achievementin the school hall. Awards were given tostudents for attendance, effort, progressand exam results during Y11 at school.

Titanium Award winners were: Shannen Ellis, Angus Coverdale,Rebecca Brett, Nathan Birkett,Russell Moore, Holly Higgins, JamieStevens, Olivia Caputa, GeorgeStrawson and Jasmine Beeby.

The students who received a Diamond Awardwere: Kadie Walters and Chelsea Munro.

The guest speaker for the evening wasformer student, Ed Mosley who attendedTuxford between 1999-2006. After leavingschool, Ed studied Applied Sports andExercise with Sports Coaching atNorthumbria University, Newcastle duringwhich time he played for and coached theUniversity Rugby team. For threesummers, he had experience in working inAmerica and in 2009 went to Africa on a

UK Sports Development Programme. In2010 Ed worked in Vancouver, Canada atthe last Winter Olympics.

“Spectrum” a group of dance students inschool performed various differentroutines. Sixth form students Olivia Caputaand Anna Godfrey sang two solos - ‘Makeyou feel my love’ was sung by Anna and‘Feeling Good’ was sung by Olivia.

At the end of the ceremony, coffee and mincepies were served in the Clumber Gallery.

Annual Celebration of Year 11 Achievement

Several Tuxford students havedistinguished themselves in sportingcompetitions at county, EastMidlands or national levels. One ofour rising stars has attractedattention for his speed, agility andexceptional enthusiasm in theswimming pool. Kieran McGinley ofYear 10 is the current Midland juniorswimming champion for the 100mand 200m butterfly stroke. He haswon several awards and titles sincehe began to swim competitively atthe age of 13, but one of hisproudest achievements was a record-breaking swim in the relay event atthe 2009 National Championship foryoung swimmers.

Kieran swims for Bassetlaw Nova Cluband regularly competes againstswimmers 2 or 3 years older than him.He is fairly confident about reachingthe national swimming competition inJuly 2011 and his long term ambition isto reach the Olympics one day.However, he is fully aware of thechallenge he faces because he told us,“With swimming there are moredisasters than achievements.”

Kieran powered his way through theofficial swimming levels, jumping fromlevel 3 to level 10 in no time at all. Heis now putting in hours of training andhas ambition to succeed so we wishhim every success.

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Kieran secures National Swimming title

Operation Christmas Child

In December, Tuxford School sent 720shoe boxes to Operation Christmas Child.Each year we collect shoe boxes for this

venture. Last year we got 650 so this yearwe are proud to have beaten that number.2 groups of only 20 students and their

teachers collected more than 150 boxesbetween them... so there was a bit of acompetition going on here.

Sally Richardson, a fundraiser fromDoncaster and Bassetlaw HospitalsBreastcare Unit in Worksop, came toTuxford School on Friday 17thDecember 2010 to meet some of thestudents and accepted a cheque for£1,000 on behalf the breastcare unit.She congratulated the students on theirhard work.

To raise the money studentsparticipated in a non uniform “PinkDay” on Wednesday 13th October.They each paid £1.00 and many choseto wear pink outfits in support of thecharity.

The school’s Charity Committee (staffand students) arranged a number ofadditional events on the day. Bake Saleand Nail Painting took place at break timeto help raise funds. Tickets were sold fora ‘Pink’ raffle with prizes such as pinkchampagne and pink plants for the adults,and various pink chocolates and goodiesfor the children.

All students participated in the annualRemembrance Day service at TuxfordSchool on Thursday 11th November. Theday was extremely poignant and moving aswe remembered those who have giventheir lives for the freedom we enjoy today.This year there was also focus on theanimals that have lost their lives whilstserving their country each receiving theDicken Medal (Animal Victoria Cross).

The following students represented fallenheroes and read passages to the audience:Ryan Sampford, Ben Knowles, FrancesThorley, Nick King and William Wishart.Drama students Oscar Conlon-Morrey,Nathan Foad, Grace Cook, Olivia Caputa,Harlee Howarth and Frances Thorleydevised and performed a short piece oftheatre about the different effects war canhave on people. Their two performanceswere absolutely stunning and were a fittingand appropriate reflection on the theme ofthe day. The school choir sang theemotional wartime song ‘We’ll Meet Again’.All services were led by school chaplainReverend Colin Wall.

Members of the British Legion werealso invited into school. Formersoldiers who attended included: WO1(RSM) Dave Salter, WO1 (RSM) RobertFox BEM, Major Dunstan, BernardHayes, Greg Holmes, Gerry Holmes,Tom Champion, Ken Hoody and LewisRenshaw DSO.

The students were really inspired bytheir stories. Year 12 student GraceCook said, “I learnt a lot from talking tothe gentlemen. It was quite sad andmoving to think about what they hadbeen through. I really enjoyed the dayand it made me appreciate the world welive in today.”

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Remembrance Day

Presentation of £1000 to Breast CancerAppeal

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Tuxford has been proud of its trainingschool status, awarded in 2007, and itsreputation as a centre of excellence forprofessional development has grownsteadily since. Tuxford staff, both teachingand support, have shared expertise withcolleagues across the country andcolleagues from other schools havevisited Tuxford to learn how weapproach school improvement and staffdevelopment.

The school has played a prominent rolein Nottinghamshire in setting up andsupporting networks of senior staff toimprove educational standards for all.The Raising Achievement (RAN) andGood to Outstanding (GO) networkshave had a great impact on practice - andTuxford’s status has been enhanced byits contributions.

The training school quality mark is tobe axed as a cost saving measure inhard economic times, but the school’scontribution to raising standards ineducation will not be affected. Tuxfordremains a National Support School andthe east Midlands Hub for Leadershipand Innovation.

We have a reputation for high qualitysupport for trainee teachers. We workwith five universities to offerplacements to students and they findthe positive environment at TuxfordSchool to be the perfect introductionto the profession where they candevelop their skills within ourclassrooms. Similarly, we have workedwith university partners to steerseveral people to Qualified Teacherstatus through the Graduate Teacherprogramme.

A major benefit of helping to trainteachers is that school staff keep up-to-date with teaching practice. We recruitnewly qualified teachers (NQTs) mostyears and they are very well supported intheir early years as staff.

Training School status brought us somemoney to develop programmes and itenabled us to forge links with otherschools. With these now firmlyestablished and with other initiatives inplace, the loss of training school identitywill not be greatly missed. The workgoes on.

Tuxford School began its role as the leadschool for Leadership and Innovationacross the East Midlands in September.Assistant Headteacher Dave Vernon isthe LIA Hub Coordinator and he is verypleased with the take-up of Hub coursesand programmes across the region.Events are run at several locations, andTuxford School has hosted some of them.

61 delegates from 34 different schools(Secondary, Primary and Special) haveattended a Middle Level leadershipprogramme organised by the Hub. Fourhave been offered so far. 87 peopleattended a Midlands Middle LeadershipConference led by Mike Hughes. ALearning 4 Life conference has been runat Tupton School near Chesterfield.Sixteen Cover Supervisors attended thefirst ‘Being a Successful Cover Supervisor’course hosted at Tuxford.

“We have seen great success in engagingschools across the East Midlands region,”commented Mr Vernon. “All events havehad really positive feedback especiallywhen the events have been held atTuxford.”

One piece of feedback from someoneattending a Middle Leaders programmesuggests that the work of the Hub ishaving an impact:

“In my career it has been one of the mostvaluable learning activities I’ve ever done,I even liked visiting all of the otherschools - I felt I needed an ‘On Tour’T-Shirt at one point!”

Executive Headteachers Chris Pickering,Andy Burns and Trudy Brothwell arecurrently constructing a Senior Leadersprogramme to be launched in September.

Leadership & Innovation, East Midlands Hub

A Training School, but no longer a“Training School”

Along with Mr Simpson and Mrs Powell, ninePost-16 students from Years 12 and 13 attendeda Polish exchange during the first half of theautumn term. Over the course of 12 days, thestudents made many cultural explorations;ranging from the local school of the Polishstudents to sight-seeing historical monumentsand making expeditions into the country.

The group stayed in a hostel located inKrakow to begin with, but stayed at thehomes of the exchange students for themajority of the trip. During their stay, theTuxford students were shown around thehost students’ school where they were giventhe opportunity to view a Talent Showpresented by the students. They visited manyRoman Catholic churches, trekked up amountain in Zakopane and were shown theformer Auschwitz-Birkenau concentrationcamp and other sites associated with theSecond World War. During the evenings,students from both schools gathered to takepart in activities such as playing snooker inorder to get to know one another better.

The last few days were spent in luxury in ahotel in the centre of Warsaw. All studentsconcluded that sight-seeing in the capitalwas “the perfect way to end a perfect trip.”

Poland - A trip worththe Trek

Students raise £100 in a car wash!

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A group of Tuxford students rolled theirsleeves up last term to run a car wash in aidof charity. Twenty members of form OCBraised over £100 for Babworth AnimalRescue Kennels by cleaning the cars of staffand Post-16 students.

Despite icy weather and very cold water, thestudents from Years 7 to 12 workedtogether impressively to achieve their goal.Lydia Stennett (Year 10) led the group, fromoriginally developing the fund-raising idea,right through to collecting the donations.

90 kilograms of food were bought with themoney raised. It was officially collected byAmelia Bovill, a Year 10 student at Tuxfordand part-time worker at the kennels.

Snow Closure in December

In common with most secondary schoolsin the region, Tuxford School was closedfor four days at the beginning ofDecember due to the adverse weatherconditions. A few staff continued workingin order to keep parents and studentsfully informed. Updates on the situationappeared on the school website.

The decision to close the school was nottaken lightly by headteacher, Geoff Lloydbut was influenced by factors outside ofhis control including:

• Cancellation of school bus services on some routes and the closure of some rural roads

• The inability or unwillingness of catering suppliers to make deliveries

• A concern for the safety of people on site as paths could not be kept open

• A concern that insufficient staff would be available to supervise students

• Weather forecasts suggesting that more heavy snowfalls could be expected

Eventually Balfour Beatty managers wereable to bring in a digger to clear the sitebut until then cars were unable to accessthe car park.

Students were encouraged to useeducational websites to keep up withschool work and many did so. When theschool re-opened it soon settled tobusiness as usual. The students are to becongratulated for their maturity at thetime.

On Tuesday 21st December 2010 staff,former students and their guests gathered tocelebrate the achievements of TuxfordSchool’s summer 2010 Post-16 leavers.Special Awards were given in memory of staff,past students and friends of the school, as wellas prizes for high achievement, success atindividual subject level and for students’commitment to the pastoral life of the school.

Guests were entertained by an excellentCornet solo from former student MattHollingsworth, now studying Archaeologyat university, and a brilliant performanceby Year 7 saxophonist David Mafullul, thewinner of the previous evening’sTuxford’s Got Talent competition.

The recipients of the Special Awardswere as follows:

The John Parker Award - given to atalented Scientist - is named after aformer head of science in the school.Philippa Edwards

The Mick Jones Award is given to‘Most Improved Student’ and namedafter a former chairman of governors.This year it went to the student whomade the most improvement in gradesbetween AS and A2 through a realdetermination to succeed.Luke Greengrass

The Liz Adey Award is given to atalented English student in memory ofLiz Adey, a former Post-16 student whowas tragically killed in a road trafficaccident whilst in the sixth form.Olivia Lowe

Governors Commendations forCollege Presidents: Tom Whitesmith, Rebecca Breen,Matt Dixon, and Dom O’Connell

Governors Commendation forfilming around school: Josie Houghton

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SEPTEMBER

07 Y12 Parents Induction Evening

17 Wrates Photographers in school

21/22 Y7 Creative Arts trip to Rufford

24 AS Applied Business trip to Linney Group, Mansfield

28 Y12 Parliament trip

OCTOBER04/08 Y11 Work Experience Week

05 Fire Drill

06 Y12 Careers Fair, Nottingham

07 National Poetry Day

07 Open Evening

08 Curriculum day:Y10 students in workshops at Rufford Country Park

13 Non-uniform day

15 Polish Exchange

22 Wrates Photographers in school

NOVEMBER03 Official opening of The

Clumber Gallery

08 Bishop Paul of Southwell visits school

08 Launch of Junior Town Council

11 Remembrance Services

17 UKMT Maths Challenge

18 Paul Andrews Charity Fair

24 Y11 Celebration of Achievement Evening

DECEMBER06/10 Y7 Academic Tutorials

14 School choir sing at The Royal Concert Hall

15 Curriculum day: ‘Enterprise Day’

16 Tuxford’s Got Talent Final

17 Presentation of £1000 to Breast Cancer Appeal

21 Y7 Pantomime trip - ‘Sleeping Beauty’

21 Post-16 Awards Evening

21 Post-16 Christmas Party at ‘Ye Olde Bell’

Last Term in Brief

TuxfordSchool

Excellence Through

Teamwork

Open Evening 2010

Welcome to the English Department!

Post-16 Annual Celebration of Achievement Evening