Cancellation of Year 8 Malham Trip

It is with great regret that we inform you that we have been forced to cancel our Biology/Geography visits to Malham Cove with Year 8 on Monday 25 June for forms 8AHH, 8KMB and 8NJS and Tuesday 26 June for forms 8RGF, 8RLP and 8SJL. 

 This is as a result of extensive roadworks carried out by North Yorkshire County Council in the vicinity of Malham which have made the area of Malham Cove inaccessible to coaches. The diversions put in place locally are not appropriate for coaches and we are unable to transport significant numbers of students to the visit by any other means. Though these measures were advertised locally, we have only just become aware of them. 

 As you know, we value educational visits immensely and we do realise that the students and staff who were looking forward to these visits will be very disappointed, but there is no means of rearranging the visits at this stage. As a result, the week commencing 25th June will now be a normal school week for Year 8. 

 Further communication will follow relating to financial reimbursement of parental contributions paid for the visit. 

Year 11 Book Return Day and the Sixth Form Induction Event which follows will now take place on Monday 25th June. Year 11 students should meet at 9.30am in the Swann Hall for instructions. School uniform will not be required on this date. Please see a list of resources to be returned below.

Year 7 Open Evening – Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st June 2018

The Head teacher will speak to parents about the school and admission arrangements at 7.30pm & 8.15pm. On both days there will be displays and demonstrations in all departments and teachers will be available to provide information.

Parents of children currently in year 5 are encouraged to attend.

The examination for 2019 entry -with take place on Monday 17th September 2018.

We have great pleasure in announcing this year’s house music competition. Everyone should consider entering in some capacity and we hope it will be a real showcase of the different musical talents we have in our school.

There are competition classes for various year groups and for soloists, ensembles, instrumentalists and vocalists. All abilities and all styles of music are welcome. We hope it will be a very musical competition that will give our judges some difficult decisions on the day.

We would also encourage students to enter our new Musical Theatre class.

This is open to all year groups to perform a piece from a piece from a musical, which may include costumes, props or dancing. Really consider the character, story and scene from the musical in your performance. You will be judged on how you have interpreted the music for this stage performance.

Any questions please speak to Mr Cole, Mrs Connell or your form tutor.

Entry forms are available to download below. Final Entries by Tuesday 3rd July, 3.35pm. It is very unlikely any late entries will be accepted.

General Rules & Regulations

• Entries are open to all students of the school in years 7 to 12
• Every entry obtains 1 point towards each house total.
• Further points are gained for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places (5, 3 and 1 respectively)
• Any student can enter into any age appropriate category, however, only ONE entry per category, per student is allowed.
• Any group ensemble item can only be made up from pupils in the same house. No mixed house entries of any sort will be allowed.
• If you require a piano accompaniment you must bring your piano music to Mr Cole before Tuesday 3rd July (preferably earlier if possible).
• If you require a ‘karaoke’ type backing track, please email Mr Cole with the full details of the song required (name of song, artist/band, album or show it is from, web link etc..) NOTE: except for the musical theatre class, no backing tracks with original singing on will be allowed.
• It is very unlikely any late entries will be accepted.
  The decision of our judges will be final.
  • Entry Form

Please see below a list of all the available booster sessions available to our Year 11 students currently undertaking their GCSE examinations. Please contact Mrs Hanson to book onto a session.

Study Rooms

Below is a list of the rooms available for Year 11 to study in school whilst on study leave. It is important that students use these rooms and are not wondering around school.

Each year, the Mathematics Department at the University of Manchester runs the web based “Alan Turing Cryptography Competition”. It begins in January and last for three months. Every week or so, a new code is released and they get progressively harder. Four students (Sharanya Chaturvedi, Lyndsey Hepworth, Naduni Mapatuna and Nipuni Mapatuna) from year 10 formed a team. They attempted all rounds and successfully deciphered all but one of the codes.

On 25th April, they were invited to the University of Manchester to compete in a live Cryptography Competition. They completed all the puzzles in the Competition and finished in the top fifteen out of around fifty schools from all across the UK.

They also went to a lecture led by people who work in Cryptography. This included finding out about cryptography in the military and its use in internet security.

And finally …

W XEC SAHH ZKJA KJ ZAYELDANEJC PDEO IAOOWCA !

The forecast was looking amazing and spirits were high. On Day 1 the group set off from Buttermere in good weather and they were heading to Borrowdale. The group made good time on the first leg and the next part of the route took them over Catbells.  It was a long walk that took them over the summit of Catbells before descending into the valley. They kept good time and they arrived at the campsite on schedule and in high spirits.

Day 2 they set off to ascend up to Watendlath and then over to Thirlmere.  This proved a difficult challenge for them. Although visibility was good it was a challenging route and they were relying on good navigation skills to carry them through. The weather was dry and warm and at times they travelled slowly due to the heat but they arrived at the checkpoint in good spirits.  They had a good lunch stop before heading into Grasmere where they treated themselves to an ice cream before carrying onto the campsite. They were treated at the end of the day to a night at Rydal Hall campsite with hot showers and beautiful views.

On Day 3 they set off early as it was to be another hot day and walked into Ambleside and over Wansfell to Troutbeck.  They were met again in Troutbeck where they stopped for lunch.  After this, navigation was relatively easy over to Kentmere. They camped in the grounds of a small Outdoor Centre in Longsledale for the night.

By Day 4 they were tired and looking forward to finishing.  Their route took them over from Sadgill to Shap.  Not particularly high but still a tough walk at points. They enjoyed a short break and  exploring the Bothy on Mosedale Common.  The cloud cover today did make it slightly easier for them.  They were certainly delighted to reach the end. Teamwork remained strong throughout and campcraft skills were good. They were organised and worked well as a team throughout.  This was a fantastic and highly successful expedition. Morale remained high throughout. Congratulations to the whole group. Well done.

Bronwen Brown, Lucy Crawshaw, Joshua Mithell,  John Ellis, George Webster, Hamish Dee, Adam Hassall

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