Regents Review Spring '16

The Regents

Review

Regents park Community College Newsletter SPRING 2016

England Rugby open training session See page 18

Unity 101 Award winner

Maths and a balanced diet

Musical talent

Regents Park ‘Bake Off’

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

WELCOME

Headteacher’s Welcome

Welcome to the Spring 2016 edition of Regents Review.

Year 10 – new specification GCSEs to be sat in English (literature and language) and Maths (graded 9 to 1);

I was pleased to be advised that Regents Park is the first choice for many parents wishing to send their child to secondary school in September and we are full, in fact we have been asked to additionally students into Year 7. I believe this is testament to the progress the school continues to make. The DFE performance tables indicate that student progress is again in the top 15% nationally and place us 2nd overall within Southampton. I hope you have an enjoyable and safe Easter break and look forward to an exciting Summer Term ahead. I am sure you would like to join me in wishing the Year 11 students the best of luck in their GCSE examinations that start soon after we return. Jonty Archibald

Although this has been a short half term, there have been lots

remaining GCSEs graded A*-G Year 9 – students to sit new

events going on across the school community; I hope you enjoy reading about all exciting opportunities that Regents Park students have both in and out of the classroom. We are encountering a period of significant change in the world of education and I am conscious that it is not always easy for parents to keep abreast of the latest developments so a brief overview of the assessment framework for each year group is provided below: Year 11 – final year of sitting old specification GCSEs which will all be awarded grades A*-G

specification GCSEs in humanities, science and languages as well as English and maths (graded 9 to 1) in 2018 Year 8 – students to sit new specification GCSEs in all subjects (graded 9-1) Year 7 – introduction of assessment without levels; students assigned a ‘flight path’ based on their prior attainment Keeping parents fully informed is vital in securing positive and constructive partnerships with us here at school, please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have a query.

General News

Farm School A new opportunity for students has presented itself in the form of attending sessions on Mrs Rogers’ farm. Lauren Rebello and Abi Flynn were keen to share their experiences of Farm School: Mrs Rogers takes a group of people to her farm with Miss Ruberry for Farm School every other Tuesday. When we get there, students have the option to choose between looking after the dogs or horses. Looking after one of the horses is good for therapy because the horse is calm and you have to be calm and cautious around them, which takes a lot of patience. The students who don’t like horses or who feel nervous around them have the option to look after the dogs. When they do this they get to take one of them for a short walk and feed them. Looking after animals is proven to be good for anxiety and make people feel happier. Horses are big and friendly but it takes effort to look after one. Dogs are energetic and fun to play with. Mrs Rogers and other staff make sure we are

confident and safe around the animals. Instructions are given clearly before we get to the animals, however if the students don’t listen they are banned for a session. Farm School makes us feel better about coming in to school because it gives us something to look forward to. Also, we know that we’ve achieved something because we’ve earned a privilege. When we are at Farm School we are surrounded by people who understand our troubles so it makes it easier to go. We are all very happy and grateful to be able to go to Farm School.

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

General News

Welcome to the first update from the Shadow Governing Body

The Shadow Governing Body (SGB) has now been in operation since September 2015 when the Interim Executive Board (IEB) disbanded. Some of the governors who sat on the IEB have stayed on as part of the SGB which has given us a level of continuity and stability. However, in April, the SGB will need to re-constitute into a Governing Body so we have followed a process of advertising and recruiting teacher and parent governors to join the new Governing Body. Since September, the SGB has held a number of meetings. The full governing body meets twice a term where we receive updates from the Headteacher. Mr Archibald and his colleagues provide reports and tell ‘Unity 101’ Award Winner Niraj Savjani was the winner of the ‘Unity 101’ award this year. He has worked on producing the show and also providing technical support in the studio to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Niraj is also the Head Boy at Regents Park and has a lot of extra responsibilities in this role so must be congratulated for his dedication to the school radio station. The annual awards ceremony took place in January and the award was presented to Niraj by Mr Archibald. Well done for all your hard work Niraj.

us how the school is progressing. This covers a wide range of topics, from how groups of students are progressing in their studies to updating us on new ideas or ways of working within the school. We are also given numerical data, which we consider and ask questions about to understand where the school may need to improve.  There are two distinct committees and meetings are held at least three times a year. All governors belong to one of the committees. The Teaching and Learning Committee considers pupil attendance and behaviour, the curriculum and keeping children safe. The Resources Committee considers the finances of the school, personnel,

the buildings and health and safety. These meetings are held with a smaller number of people and look at agenda items in detail. However, it is not all meetings for governors! We also attend school performances, such as musical evenings and we also support open evenings and awards presentations as well as visiting the school regularly in the day. These are all excellent ways for us to engage in school life, to see students as they go about their learning and to really get to understand how the school runs on a daily basis. Beverley Higlett

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

General News

Regent Park Bake Off To combat the winter blues, the senior prefects organised the inaugural ‘Regents Park Bake Off’ in January this term. It promised to be a fantastic event as the buzz from students and teachers spread around the school like wildfire. It was to follow a similar format of the well-known TV show and the whole school would have the opportunity to enjoy the results. After an exciting build up, the big week finally arrived. Twenty teachers and support staff from across the school were to go 'head to head' in one of the most competitive events Regents Park has ever seen. Three winners from each round were to go through to a 'winner takes all' final. The cakes and biscuits were to be sold in a bake sale and the whole event was going to be televised on the big screens. Round 1, biscuits and flapjacks, was a tense affair with some big players hoping to intimidate the competition. Some of them, Mr Strange and Mr Archibald, brought their own equipment and some of them used other more clandestine

methods to disrupt their opponents. Mr Brown thought that distraction techniques might work best as he set about exploding popcorn and burning the worktops. Miss Hocking was not impressed. Happily though, three worthy winners were judged through to the Final. Mr Archibald was declared ‘Star Baker’ with Mrs Rogers and Mr Strange in hot pursuit. In round 2, cakes were the order of the day. Again it was a competitive atmosphere, punctuated regularly by yelps and exclamations from the ever-present Mr Sinclair who was the victim of many attempts at sabotage. Happily, he and two other excellent bakers, Mrs Moussa and Mrs Ruberry, sailed through to the final. The grand final was a real master-class in baking. All of the judges agreed that the entries were outstanding and it was a very hard decision choosing the

champion. However, after considerable debate, Mrs Rogers beautiful dessert won the day and she holds the coveted and extremely well deserved accolade of being Regents Park's first ever ‘Bake Off’ winner. Special praise and mention goes to Dominic Green who edited the whole competition together into a 30-minute show for the whole school to watch. It really was a fantastic occasion and showed off the strength and breadth of talent that the staff and students at Regents Park possess. The whole event would not have been possible without the hard work, dedication and organisational skills of the Senior Prefect Team and I want to thank them for their commitment to making this happen. I am extremely proud of them. Mr Holloway

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

GENERAL NEWS

World Book Day As mentioned in the English Department news, World Book Day took place on March 3rd and staff at Regents Park relished the challenge of choosing an exciting book character to dress up as. Thank you to Mrs Cox for promoting this event. It was safe to say the students had a giggle whilst guessing who their teachers were dressed as. Can you guess who these members of staff were dressed as?

Book corner Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah

RPCC’s Apprentices I was very fortunate to be invited to Southampton’s Apprenticeship Celebration of Achievement at Southampton O2 Guildhall on the 2nd November 2015 which was opened by Mayor of Southampton Councillor Linda Norris. The event was designed to celebrate and promote Apprenticeships. It was a celebration for the Apprentices, their parents, providers and their employers and also an opportunity to raise the profile of Apprenticeships in general and engage new employers and learners Well done to Miss Bennett (LSA), Mr Evans (School Reception) and Mr Towgood (Science Technician) on passing their Level 2 Apprenticeship in their chosen subject. Mr Makepeace (PE Technician) was also in attendance as an Ambassador for Apprenticeships, promoting these across Southampton.

‘Refugee Boy’ follows the plight of Alem, who is a refugee from Ethiopia. A young Alem and his family are caught up in a civil war, in which his mother and father are from opposite sides. His mother is Eritrean and his father is Ethiopian,

causing all kinds of problems for the family. Eventually, his father takes him to London where he leaves him to return to fight for the peace in their home country. Alem feels abandoned and alone. As a minor, he is placed with a family and an application for asylum submitted by legal representatives. The way the story is told is very matter of fact and the reader learns a lot about how life in England might be for a refugee. This is particularly interesting, given the current political situation in the UK and provides a real insight for the reader. It is also accessible to the younger reader as it is aimed at young adults and written in quite a simple style. Sadly life has a lot of heartache in store for Alem as he learns his mother has been killed in the conflict. Later, Alem’s father returns to the UK to submit his own application for asylum and this causes even more upheaval for Alem. As usual, the author, Benjamin Zephaniah, is sympathetic in his portrayal of this kind of story and it is interesting to follow the predicament of this young boy and his family. Mrs Ukahi

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

GENERAL NEWS

Year 7 The Year 7s are now over half way through their first year and they are continuing to settle in to secondary school life well. Routines are now well established as they continue to get to know their tutor and fellow tutees. Most have become well practised at navigating the different school buildings to reach their lessons on time and adhering to high learning behaviours. They are experts at managing their time to complete homework and of course handing it in on time. The standard of some of the homework has been amazing to see. Mrs Barnes – Deputy Headteacher – regularly displays outstanding homework on her homework display board and cabinet. The Year 7 attendance is the best in the school, which highlights Year 7 students want to attend school at Regents Park and are keen to do well. Well-done Year 7! Keep it up! Each tutor group has presented in assembly on a number issues such as hidden disabilities, fair-trade and the power of a good story. All students have delivered in front of their peers with aplomb, which is fantastic when you consider students have only been together a short time. We have had the first data collection and first of many reports which have been sent home in February. This is the first indication of Year 7 academic progress. There will be further data to be sent in the coming months to inform parents of how students are progressing in all subjects. In addition there is a Year 7 subject review on the 28th April where parents will have the opportunity to speak directly to specific subject teachers. Daniel Chester had this to say about his time at Regents Park so far:

Regents Park such as going on a History trip to Porchester Castle and travelling to France for a day. There’s also a Science trip later in the year, which I’m also looking forward to. The thing that I liked the most was in P.E when I went up against my friends in table tennis seeing who was better at winning games.’ I have really enjoyed my time at Regents Park so far it is hard to believe that we more than half way through Year 7! I was worried about what the teachers would be like but they are all really nice. I have enjoyed all my lessons they are always fun and different. My favourite subject is Science because my teacher is nice and makes lessons fun and interesting. I also really like to do the experiments! My favourite experiment was when we mixed things and saw what happened. I have really enjoyed P.E as we do lots of different sports. My favourite one so far is swimming but I have enjoyed the other sports as well. I really like that we get VIVOs when we have completed good work. When we get enough we can buy things with them. I think this was a good idea as we can pick the rewards and if we don’t have enough VIVOs then we would have to try harder to get more. Another Year 7 student, Trinity-Rose Crane added:

‘So far there has been a trip to Porchester Castle and soon there is going to be a trip to the Winchester Science Museum. Then after that there is the trip to France and also a skiing trip. In Music I have been learning to play the trumpet, which I have

enjoyed, even though I found it very hard. I have also learnt to play on the piano. My favourite has been the piano because it makes a nice sound when you play it. In Geography we found out what places in the school had a high or low phone signal. I found this really interesting.’ I am proud to be their Head of Year and I wish all Year 7 students to continue to strive for high standards of behaviour and academic progress. Mr Sinclair Head of Year 7

‘My time so far at Regents Park Community College has been really good. I have done lots so far that I like. This includes Science practical experiments, such as: looking at real lungs; learning about your body and things like finding out much energy a crisp has by burning it and heating water.

In P.E I have had lessons in swimming, football and table tennis. There are so many other opportunities to learn at

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

GENERAL NEWS

Year 8 It has been an excellent term for Year 8. Students behaved impeccably throughout their examination period and some very promising progress was shown across the board. Attendance in Year 8 is very good and is currently on 96%; we are striving to achieve 97% across the cohort. Rock Challenge was a huge success with many Year 8 students joining in with the annual event. It is great to see a group of students so keen to participate in extra-curricular events and this makes me very proud of them. College Council is well and truly up and running with Josh Thomas and Evelyn Pybus chairing the meetings. Students have given great suggestions for moving the school forward, as well as a lot of positive comments about the school so far. College Council will be creating a unique video to share with the feeder schools in the Summer term – this will be a great asset for the school as it aims to showcase the highlights of life at Regents Park. As part of encouraging the year groups’ progress, we have started to have

for having the best behaviour across Year 8 – well done to the whole tutor group. Also a big congratulations to those in the tutor group with 100% attendance, Aimee Cartmel, Luke Day, Emily Fraser, Hannah Grave, Noah Hunt, Lewis Jones, Katie Scott and Annmarie Wilcox. Branson LC are pleased to be welcoming Georgy Sunil Idicula into the tutor group as well as Miss Woodward who has taken over as tutor. A massive well done to Harriet Baker, Megan Ebbutt, Josh Hill, Lleyton McIntyre, Lewis Nott, Yazmin Simmons, Georgy Sunil Idicula and Callum Totten who have achieved 100% attendance so far this year – keep it up! Good luck to Lily Cross and Mia Breedon who are taking part in Rock Challenge. As you can see, Year 8 is a hardworking and focused year group and I would like to wish you all a happy Easter break. I’m looking forward to seeing all students for the final term of Year 8. Miss Bishop Head of Year 8

competitions to motivate students within their lessons; so far we have had ten students on motivational report and we are hoping to introduce more. News from Year 8 tutor groups Rowling HW is delighted to welcome Marcos Gesteira and Heaven Leigh Monces. Rowling HO have continued to excel in terms of their commitment to life at Regents Park, both in and out of lessons and are regular winners in the year group for the number of VIVOs they have been awarded.  Branson CD have continued their success into Year 8 with several of it’s tutees winning the Raymond Brown competition (reported in last edition’s newsletter) and maintaining a high attendance figure. A big congratulations to Josh Thomas on being made Vice-President of the Year Council and a friendly welcome to our newest members of the tutor group; Mike Marques Antunes, Emily McLachlan  and Kacper Gagatek. Parks ML welcomes new members of the tutor group from across the EU. They need to be congratulated

Year 9 This term Year 9 have been focusing on the future. We have been looking in depth at careers, life goals and aspirations that will help us to shape our lives and achieve our goals. During PSHE and in assembly time the students have been exploring their dream jobs; pathways to successful lives and their individual hopes and dreams. The cohort also sat Year 9 examinations and this has helped to familiarise them with the exam process and developed their revision techniques. The students found the examinations very constructive, with great comments from College Council on teacher feedback and support.

College Council have had a very positive term and have successfully launched music on a Friday at lunchtime; been busy planning charity fundraising events and supporting school development. KS4 Information and Guidance evening was very successful with many parents and students looking at the different options available. The pathway process has fully launched and students are currently meeting with Miss Hocking, Mr Henderson and Mr Brown to discuss their options and future. Exciting times are ahead!

Miss Hocking Head of Year 9

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

GENERAL News

Year 10 Year 10 is a challenging year:

Rock Challenge On Wednesday February 24th, approximately 90 dancers, stage crew and staff went to the O2 Guildhall Southampton to take part in the 3rd and final heat of UK Rock Challenge, along with 8 other local secondary schools and colleges. Rock Challenge is an event that students can take part in to allow them to achieve a ‘natural high’ without the use of drugs, alcohol or cigarettes and it is now in its 21st Year in the UK. Our piece this year was based on people living with dementia and the effect it has on those around them. Our introduction was: ‘I’m in this home. They put me here. Don’t know the date. Don’t know the year. I sit, think, reminisce, Of the days gone by, total joy and bliss. But confusion sets in and I start to panic. Medication wears off, it makes me erratic. My body is here, my mind is not. So please, I ask... Forget Me Not.’ After a long day of watching each other teams rehearse; dancing, singing and seeing Miss Jones take part in an epic air guitar competition, we settled down in our changing rooms to get ready for the evening performance. Lots of hair styling, make-up and costumes later we were ready to perform. The students threw everything into their performance and it was the best they had ever performed the 8 minute piece.  As we performed about halfway through the evening we had a long wait for the rest of the show to finish and the judges to make their

students are facing up to the fact that they have now embarked on their GCSEs. This can be a challenge for both students and parents. A chance to meet with teachers is fast approaching as the Year 10 subject review evening will take place on March 10th, from 4-7pm. We’re looking forward to meeting with you and discussing how we can work together to take our young people forward. After the success of our Work Experience programme, teachers have noted an increased maturity in our students. We have a small group attending a career-focused training programme with Bond Dickinson – one of the UK’s leading law firms – in Southampton, and we’re looking at other ways to make students aware of the possibilities that are out there. For example, in January, we invited the RNLI to our weekly assembly and students heard about the brave work they do; our assistant prefects are now shadowing our prefect team and being trained for their duties next year.

Mrs Jarvis, HOY Support, and I have met with many parents over the last few weeks to discuss attendance and the impact of missed lessons on a student’s learning. We hope this will help improve the attendance of students to allow them to be confident in their learning and to meet their potential. Finally, we have Rock Challenge! Lots of Year 10 students are involved with this and it is great to see the vibrancy and energy emulating from

rehearsals. Mrs Neale Head of Year 10

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GENERAL News

• Miss Woodward, Miss Croud, Mr Branford, Mr Makepeace, Miss Jones, Mrs Selfe for general assistance and support leading up to and including our Rock Challenge event.

Year 11 It has been another amazing term for Year 11. The progress and attainment predictions for the year group have continued to improve and, as a school, we are feeling more and more confident and about having some impressive results in August. Part of this confidence has come from the ethos that Year 11 students are currently developing. Everyone can see how hard they’ve been working and how much they want to maximise their potential. It is a credit to each and every one of them as individuals and it makes me very proud. As their GCSEs draw ever closer, students are being made aware of the multitude of options for support. decision. It took over 45 minutes but finally we had the tense moment when we heard the results. No matter what the results were, we were all immensely proud of the piece and the way the students had performed. The reactions from both the other schools during the rehearsal and the audience was amazing and we knew we had represented Regents Park well. We then found out we had won Awards of Excellence in choreography, performance, concept,  drama skills, visual enhancement, entertainment, performance skill and performers choice award which is nominated by all of the other schools and colleges. This was our highest amount of awards ever. set design and function, stage use, stage crew, lighting, video To top off all of these amazing awards we had been awarded 4TH PLACE!

These include: a variety of breakfast clubs before school and revision sessions for all subjects on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. I would urge students to take all of the support that is on offer as they prioritise what is important over the coming weeks.  Students should be thinking about revision plans and setting aside time for home study and some sacrifices will have to be made. However, it will be worth it in the end when that, all important, Results Day finally arrives in August. In addition to the amazing effort that Year 11 are making with their studies, it is worth congratulating the Senior Prefect Team who are managing their studies as well as doing a fantastic our 50’s style dresses and Miss Flynn for hand making all of our underskirts. Mrs Selfe for making our headpieces; It was a fantastic day and evening and the students of Regents Park did us proud. The staff and students from many other schools were going past our changing room after the show congratulating us and telling us we should have won and when we went outside afterwards lots of parents from other schools were saying the same. Although we were pleased with the place we came it was lovely to know that other people thought so highly of us.  Special thanks this year go to: • The Rotary Club for their generous donation towards our fundraising; • Bramdean Developments for their generous donation of wood for our scenery and Mr R Self and Miss Woodward for giving up their time to build it; • Miss Jones for hand making all of

job of organising other students and events around the school. Recently they delivered the ‘Regents Park Bake-off’, which saw 20 staff competing in a cooking competition. The cakes were sold and the school was offered the opportunity to watch the competition, which was edited and produced by the talented Dominic Green. It was a truly memorable occasion and raised over £260 for their Prom. You can read more about this story in our ‘General News’ section. Well done to you all! It leaves me to wish the whole year- group a fantastic half term holiday and the very best of luck with your studies and revision. Mr Holloway Head of Year 11

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Departmental News

English

Key Stage 3 Jasmine Atkins, Tia Douglas, Tegan Earle. Regan Foreman, Lilly Frimpong, Julia Niemczyk, Charlie Parnell, Mary-Lou Stocks, Marni Welch, Liam Woods, Anelka Yossef along with Mrs Collis have been out and about this term. Not exactly ‘marching in’, more like ‘mini-bused in’, on a trip to St Mary’s Stadium, the home of Southampton Football Club. Met at reception, the students were escorted to the Mike Channon Suite, to join the other schools participating in the launch of The Premier League Football Club Project. After initial introductions one of the highlights was a tour around the stadium. Unfortunately because it was the day of a match, there was no visit to the changing rooms. However, this was not as disappointing as the trip to the prison holding cell! The team leader, James, promised that on the next visit, both areas would be available for inspection. The day was not all fun and frivolity as the idea behind the project is to give the Year 7s a chance to use numeracy and literacy in real life situations. Even Mrs Collis got in on the action when it came to creating a Dream Team of past and current players, using the value per player and the clubs limitations on cost. The students, who the day was all about, were excellent ambassadors for RPCC, and this wasn’t just praise from their proud teacher. The group were awarded the prize for the best behaved and team players by the events’ organisers of the day: match tickets for the game against Watford – which, by the way, they won 2-0!

Key Stage 4 Exam time!

Pre-public Mocks This term has been a very demanding one for Year 11. With the Pre-public mock examinations at the beginning of March, students spent a lot of time revising and preparing for these. Every student in Year 11 was issued with a revision guide for ‘Of Mice and Men’, courtesy of the English Department to aid them in their independent studies. Many students attended revision sessions with their teachers to develop their skills and understanding – not just for the free pizza! With GCSEs imminent, revision is the key to preparing for exams. Here are some tips from your English teachers to help you prepare for your language and literature GCSEs: 1. Re-read the key texts you have studied. This will mean you are familiar with the plot and will also help you with finding quotations and your own extracts. 2. Use revision websites such as BBC Bitesize – they have information on plot, characters, relationships and themes. 3. Make sure you know to only reference the context in your ‘Of Mice and Men’ literature exam. You do not need to write about the context of your other literature text.

It has been an especially busy time for Year 9 students who have already sat their English examinations for the year. This required students to write a transactional piece – a skill they will be required to use in their actual GCSE exams in 2018. All students handled their English exam with maturity and were committed to doing well. ‘Even It Up’ Some Year 9 classes engaged with the ‘Even It Up’ poetry challenge created by The Poetry Society’s Young Poets Network and Oxfam. Students were inspired to find their voices and speak out about global inequality and gender inequality in the form of poetry. In conjunction with this, we also explored non-fiction pieces that demonstrated inequality. Students studied extracts from ‘I am Malala’ by Malala Yousafzai, learning about her experience of schooling as a female student in Pakistan in a region with a heavy Taliban presence. Students produced some fantastic poems that contrasted their experiences in the UK with a person who does not have the same luxuries as them.

Spoken Language This term Year 10 have focused on Spoken Language Endorsement; a qualification in speaking and listening. For this, students had to give a formal presentation to the class for a minimum of five minutes. In addition to this, they also needed to respond to questions asked by members of the class and their teacher. This seemed a very daunting prospect to many of our Year 10 students, who were not overly familiar with this kind of task – however they grasped the challenge with both hands and everyone delivered their presentations. Year 10 came up with some very interesting topics, for example eating disorders, personal experiences, the relevance of feminism and police brutality.

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Departmental News

BBC School Report On Thursday 10th March the BBC held their annual School News Report. 8BX took on the role of journalists in their English lessons and researched school, local and national issues to report on. They learned about effective interview techniques, research methods and the importance of giving a balanced story. Some reporters explored the school's interest in ‘Rock Challenge’, while others looked at opinions on changing the time of the school day. One group even covered the topical issue of the EU referendum and were lucky enough to speak to a local MP about their attitudes towards this.

Library news The ‘Accelerated Reading’ programme is going well with the new racing cars up on the board. Each student completes a test to give them a reading level; their names are then allocated to a racing car, reflecting their current reading ability. As they read more books, get better at reading and pass more quizzes, their cars will speed up and their names may overtake their peers as they race to the finish line. The following students are to be 7BX Annalise Foley 7BY Charlie Parnell 7BZ Kacper Czarnecki and Arash Najd 7GX Taylor Brindley-Dymott 7GY Abdulkarim Khan 7GZ Ashley Ali 8BZ Summer Dobbing and Filip Tyszka 8GZ Emily Curry and Anthony Walczak most of the teachers dressed up as book characters. The English Department took on ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ Tutor groups completed a range of activities during the week such as an A-Z book quiz, book Dingbats and discussions on why reading is so important. congratulated on their results Moving up the most levels: World Book Day World Book Day took place on Thursday 3rd March and, to celebrate,

Most number of correct Quizzes passed: 7BX Lydia MacLean 7BY Hannah McArthur Money raised also goes towards buying books and sending helpers to children in hospitals. In addition, we also launched Readathon, where students raise money by reading books for UK charities: CLIC Sargent Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity Together for Short Lives

7BZ Mathilda Parker 7GX Caitlin Murphy 7GY Trinity-Rose Crane

7GZ Klaudia Reczka 8BZ Marcos Gesteira 8GZ Anthony Walczak The Library has a new range of

magazines available. The new titles include Star Wars, Film 2016, Games and The Official Jacqueline Wilson Magazine. Many new books and DVD’s will soon be in stock including ‘I am Malala’ and the latest Hobbit film: ‘The Battle of the Five Armies.’ It is important that students return books to the library on time to allow everyone to enjoy the range of titles available. Sadly there are a large number of books overdue. Please search at home and bring them back as soon as you can. You won’t be charged or penalised in anyway for bringing these books back. Mrs Andrews Librarian

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Departmental News Mathematics

Year 11 continue to raise their game in Mathematics

Intermediate Maths Challenge – February 5th 2015 The UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) is a registered charity whose aim is to advance the education of children and young people in mathematics. The UKMT organises national mathematics competitions and other mathematical enrichment activities for 11-18 year old UK school pupils. It was established in 1996 and last academic year over 600,000 pupils from 4000 schools took part in the three individual challenges, the UK's biggest national mathematics competition. Sixty students from Year 9 and 10 (9BW Mr Hayward; 10BW Mr Wharton) were chosen to represent our school in this competition, answering 25 challenging questions set by the University of Leeds and the Actuary Profession. Congratulations to all our students who were chosen to sit the paper and we look forward to receiving the results!

Maths teachers: present and future? As part of our aim to increase student led learning, Mr Wharton has been encouraging students to lead parts of lessons, thus promoting peer to peer explanation. One such student is Mateusz Burek (pictured below) who has a real talent for teaching aspects of Mathematics which the students have now named ‘Maths with Matti’.

Following the improvements made in the October 2015 mock examinations, our Year 11 have continued to shine, making further gains in their December examinations, increasing the pass rate to 61%. We still have a long way to go to beat 2014’s record- breaking 79% pass rate, but we know Year 11 can do it! The majority of Year 11 are nearing the end of a seemingly never ending list of topics and will soon be sharpening their focus on examination technique through a number of walking talking mocks as well as a Pre-public examination in March. We ask students to ensure they are working independently outside of lesson time to work on their individual areas of weakness and recommend the following

websites to this end: www.mymaths.co.uk

www.corbettmaths.com www.hegartymaths.com www.mathsmadeeasy.co.uk

Intervention With the lighter mornings that February brings, we were pleased to restart our popular breakfast revision ‘Pi club’. Well done to all students who come along on these mornings for revision (and a hot chocolate with a pastry or two!). Pi club for Year 11 will continue to run from 7.50am – 8.20am until the public exams in the summer. Mr Keenan and Mrs Keenan have designated times to meet individually with students needing practice on their examination technique and/or key topic areas. Every available moment of time is utilised, including tutor time, to boost students’ confidence and attainment in mathematics and we are very appreciative of the many positive comments we receive from students and parents.

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Departmental News

Maths and a balanced diet With an increased focus on problem solving in the new GCSE (2017), our aim is to make sure students can see how mathematics can be applied to real life situations. This makes maths more tangible for students and provides opportunities for fun for students (and staff!). Miss Jones has been investigating the amounts of sugar in a variety of drinks and foods.

ICT and Technology Catering

On 2nd February Year 10 catering students spent the day at the Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton. The students met the General Events Manager and had a tour of the hotel, followed by a question and answer session with the hotel’s Executive Chef Alex. He was kind enough to offer free cookies and pastries as the students toured the kitchen area and met his staff. After the tour the students then experienced their own afternoon tea. With endless cakes, scones and sandwiches, the students were

impressed and very full! The students were perfectly behaved and their table etiquette was impressive. The day was a total success with students benefitting from the primary research experience for their Unit 1 examination.

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

Departmental News

Humanities History Last term, the History Department took a group of students to watch the film ‘Suffragette’. Mrs Blake had this to share: Having taught this topic for many years I was intrigued when I heard that a film had been made about the cause of ‘Votes for Women.’ I was concerned at how the plight of the suffragettes may be portrayed. My fears were misplaced! This was a film that portrayed the passion of the suffragettes whilst accurately showing the history behind the cause. The cast were excellent in their roles especially Carey Mulligan in the lead role as Maude. Her heart-breaking story

was told with aplomb. There may even be an Oscar nod for her! Overall, I really enjoyed the film and would recommend it highly!

Modern Foreign Languages Spanish trip

French Epiphany The ‘galette des rois’ is a cake traditionally shared at ‘Epiphany’, on 6 January. It celebrates the arrival of the 3 wise men in Bethlehem.

On January 13th, Year 10 Spanish students were invited to attend a show called ‘Primera Cita (Onatti Productions)’ being delivered in Spanish at Taunton's College. They were accompanied by their Spanish teacher, Mrs Jahouel. The students found the experience to be very interactive and exciting as they, as part of the audience, were invited to

Composed of a puff pastry cake, with a small

take part in the show too. Upon returning to school, they all agreed enthusiastically, that it had been an enjoyable trip.

charm, the fève, hidden inside, it is usually filled with frangipane, a cream made from sweet almonds, butter, eggs and sugar.

To celebrate ‘Epiphany’, Mrs Loubier baked quite a number of galettes allowing students to have a taste of this traditional cake and the experience of becoming the king or the queen of the day. The winners got to escape the weekly spelling test to their great pleasure!

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

Departmental News

Science Year 11 revision

Science Museum trip We had a fantastic time taking Year 8 students to the Science Museum last November. Students watched an IMAX movie about the future of robots, explored the museum, and of course, explored the gift shop too!

As mentioned in the last edition of the Regents Review, we have continued with a good turnout at our Science breakfast club. Starting at 7.45 on Wednesdays, students have been arriving to get some breakfast and work with staff and students from the University of Southampton to revise key concepts ready for the exams in May and June. Last year, Mrs Porter and Miss Crowe issued loyalty cards for our revision sessions. For those students with their cards full of signatures for attending breakfast club – our badges have arrived! Take your loyalty card to Mrs Gould in S2 to collect your amazing Science badge. If you haven’t yet made it to one of our breakfast club sessions, pop along next week! Also available for Year 11 students is our revision club on Thursdays after school. Every week, a member of the Science team has an hour reserved for working with Year 11 students. Come along for general revision, ready for the exam, or if you have a key concept that you would like some help with! Staffing At Christmas, the Science Department said goodbye to Mrs Porter and Miss Crowe as they moved onto new endeavours. We welcome Mr Grainey who has joined us as Assistant Curriculum Leader for Science, with a main focus on Key Stage 4. Mrs Griffiths is now acting Curriculum Leader for Science. Science week We will be celebrating British Science week at Regents Park again this year during 14-18th March. Students will have the chance to carry out a range of exciting experiments during lessons and lunchtimes. These include: firing trebuchets; exploding film canisters; investigating the colourful creations caused by sweets and chemicals; forensic analysis of crime scenes; investigating the viscosity of fluids… and many more! Also, as part of this activity week, tutor groups will compete to create super speedy cars and watch them race to the finish line!

Winchester Science Centre trip Miss Cooper has arranged a very exciting opportunity for Year 7 students to visit Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium on 17th March. Students will be able to take part in K’Nex building challenge, watch a show in the Planetarium and get hands-on whilst exploring the museum. We look forward to sharing photos in the next edition of the Regents Review! Science Club In Science Club this term, our amazing students have been hard at work creating structures and bridges with only sweets or chocolate as materials.  With the help of volunteers from the University of Southampton, students also designed and raced their own cars (powered by balloons), inspired by the record breaking Bloodhound Supersonic Car. Students had great success with their balloon rockets.  Students have also been inspecting and making fossils, as well as completing a tomato challenge whereby students competed to create the best (and least messy!) transportation for the tomatoes. Science club continues to run every Wednesday 2.40-3.40, led by Miss Groves – come and give it a go!

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

Departmental News

Creative Arts Department

The Weird and Wonderful World of Musicals!

On Thursday 19th November 2015 the creative students of Regents Park Community College came together to perform an entertaining evening full of musical wonders on the school stage. Many talented performers took to the stage such as Eleanor Hartley, a Year 7 student, with a voice so powerful that she took the audience by surprise with her talent. Eleanor sang the song ‘The Wizard and I’ from the musical ‘Wicked’. Miss Bishop speculated that she wouldn’t be surprised to see Eleanor as a star on the West End in the future. Another performer was Crystal Turner-Brightman, Year 10, who boldly sang ‘Memories’ from Cats’ by Elaine Paige. She is also singing this song for her GCSE Music piece and was accompanied by Mr Barron, her GCSE music teacher. As well as soloists we had many amazing duets such as ‘Have a Little Priest’ from Sweeney Todd. This was performed by Dominic Green and Emma-Louise Webster, who are both in Year 11. Their voices worked wonders together and it was very entertaining. Another trio included Hakuna Matata performed once again by the talented Dominic Green along with Sam and Nicola. These three have done most of the musicals together since joining Regents Park Community College and have been a great team. In addition to the musical numbers, GCSE Dance and the Rock Challenge team came down to show the audience a taster of what they will be doing this year! The dances

were moving and very enjoyable; we’re all excited for what’s to come next! It is clear to see that Regents Park has a lot of musical talent and our future performers were shining bright. Overall, a massive well done to everyone who took part – on stage or behind the scenes. A thank you must be afforded to Dominic Green. This show wouldn’t have happened if not for him. With the help of the Creative Arts teachers, he scripted and directed the performance for his Gold Art Award. Congratulations to him as the show went smoothly and entertained many people. Sadly, this was the last show for the Year 11 students and we even had tears backstage. We wish them the very best for the future and hope they keep doing what they love.

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

Departmental News

Photography On the 19th January, Year 11 Photography students spent their lesson in the city centre taking snaps of street life. The students’ current project focuses on the ‘Art of everyday life’; they have been looking in depth at Henri Cartier-Bresson and other street photographers like Eric Kim, aiming to take inspiring photographs of the busy everyday lives we lead. Some examples of the students work are below:

Art Ambassadors March saw another visit to Foundry Lane by Year 9 students from our school. This time students demonstrated their clay skills and supported Year 3 classes to create clay relief tiles reflecting aspects of nature. Some beautiful textural work was created and will eventually be displayed in the garden at Foundry Lane. Our students were outstanding ambassadors to our school and showed growing confidence in this role.

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

Departmental News

Physical Education England Rugby open training session Regents Park was invited to attend the England Rugby training session at Twickenham in the build up to the 2016 RBS 6 Nations. It was an excellent opportunity to see how the new England coaching team approached training before the first match against Scotland at Murryfield. Fourteen students from Year 7 and 8 attended the trip; all of whom have represented the school in Rugby. It was an early start to beat the rush hour traffic to London but no one seemed to mind as they all were excited to watch the England Rugby Team train and the possibility of meeting a few players. Once we arrived and settled down to watch the training session, it was evident that England were working on quick ball from the breakdown and passing it wide to stretch

defences. The quality of the movement and passing was amazing to watch. Once the session had ended students had the opportunity to get signatures from the England players including England’s new captain, Dylan Hartley. All students thoroughly enjoyed the training session and I hope they picked up a few tips too! Mr Sinclair Student report My alarm went off at 6AM. I got up, got ready for the day and left the house at 6.50AM! I remembered to pack Rugby items to get signed if I got the chance. When I got to school, I met up with all my friends and got on the mini bus. We left school at 7.10AM and began our journey to London. When we arrived at Twickenham stadium we wandered around the England Rugby Store to get out of the bitter icy wind. After a good look about, we entered the stadium, which thankfully was less windy. We managed to get seats in the West Stand beside the players’ tunnel; this was fantastic. The team trained for over an hour practicing on passing, kicking, lineouts, scrums and plenty of running. It was fun to watch the actual England team train. As soon as the session was over the players stayed out and everyone ran to the front to meet the players and to collect signatures. I was so excited when I got the chance to meet Chris Robshaw, the former England captain and to get his autograph. After the players all left the field, it was time to walk back to the mini bus and head back to school. We arrived back at school just as the bell went for the end of the day and we went home. What an exciting day! Isaac Maddock

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The Regents Review Spring 2016

Departmental News

32 of our students have had the opportunity to put all of the skills and knowledge of effective leadership they have acquired into practice. In the process of achieving a ‘Sports Leaders UK’ Level 1 qualification, they have all demonstrated excellent preparation and delivery skills of their very own planned Physical Education lessons at Banister Primary School. They all did an amazing job and received praise from the students, their teachers and qualified sports coaches. Huge congratulations to them all! The forthcoming term is an extremely busy one with all of the Regents Park Football teams returning to action. The Year 7, 8, 9 and 11 teams are all still in contention to win their respective leagues. We wish them all the best and hope they can produce some top performances to win some silverware.

Sainsbury’s Active Kids 2016 Sainsbury's have just launched their Active Kids 2016 campaign and there is now a collection box just outside the student reception. Please can we ask that if you collect/have access to them, that you would kindly donate them to the school by putting them in the box so we can replenish our equipment stock for next year! In the past, the Physical Education Department have managed to purchase a range of equipment to be used in lessons.

PE Champion Day 2015 Results from this year’s inter-tutor group Dodgeball and Water Polo tournaments are:

Dodgeball

Water Polo

Year 7 Results

Swimming Gala

1st Parks

Rowling

2nd Rowling 3rd Branson

Parks

Branson

Year 8 Results

1st Rowling 2nd Branson

Branson Rowling

The annual swimming gala took place on Wednesday 2nd March. It was run using a similar format to last year and was enjoyed by many. Please look out for results and images in the next edition of ‘Regents Review.’

3rd Parks

Parks

Year 9 Results

1st Rowling

Branson

2nd Branson/ Parks

Parks

3rd

Rowling

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