Somervale has been awarded First Prize in this years Chairman’s Education awards. The award focussed on the chairman’s theme of Grow your own Food.

 The awards were in 2 categories, Primary and Secondary.

 “The School that has shown the greatest commitment to growing their own food and improving their school and local environment through gardening”

 Judy Allies, the Council’s Healthy Schools Co-ordinator assisted in the judging of the entries along with an Officer from BANES Parks Department.  

 Areas to be considered included:

•  Allotments and gardens in school which are planted and maintained by the pupils; 
• Untidy and unsightly areas both in and near the school which the pupils have helped to transform; 
• Links with wildlife; 
• Links with the community; 
• Eco-friendly projects; 
• Links with healthy eating. 

 Somervale managed to show considerable progress in each of the areas above.

 Mr Benfield says ‘The students have put in so much enthusiasm and hard work. They are truly dedicated and deserve the recognition. We were delighted to be awarded first prize’. Students have decided to purchase a composting wormery and a large heated propagator with the £250 awarded. This will enable them to increase their growing season.

 Councillor Brian Chalk will be visiting students and gardens at Somervale on April the 29^th to discuss the students involvement and future plans for the project. 

Somervale has been awarded First Prize in this years Chairman’s Education awards.

The award focussed on the chairman’s theme of Grow your own Food.

The awards were in 2 categories, Primary and Secondary.

“The School that has shown the greatest commitment to growing their own food and improving their school and local environment through gardening”

Judy Allies, the Council’s Healthy Schools Co-ordinator assisted in the judging of the entries along with an Officer from BANES Parks Department.  

Areas to be considered included:

·        Allotments and gardens in school which are planted and maintained by the pupils;

·        Untidy and unsightly areas both in and near the school which the pupils have helped to transform;

·        Links with wildlife;

·        Links with the community;

·        Eco-friendly projects;

·        Links with healthy eating.

Somervale managed to show considerable progress in each of the areas above.

Mr Benfield says ‘The students have put in so much enthusiasm and hard work. They are truly dedicated and deserve the recognition. We were delighted to be awarded first prize’. Students have decided to purchase a composting wormery and a large heated propagator with the £250 awarded. This will enable them to increase their growing season.

Councillor Brian Chalk will be visiting students and gardens at Somervale on April the 29^th to discuss the students involvement and future plans for the project.

Witches! A Musical Comedy
written by Jeremy James Taylor & David Nield

Jezebel, High Priestess of the Pendle Coven of Witches, divides her time between plotting against Police Chief Perceval Plodthwaite and his intrepid force and provoking the Witches’ latest recruit Belinda – who only joined them because of a spelling mistake! When Jezebel hears that the celebrated Music Hall star Sandy Castle is lampooning her in his act, she declares war on him too and the broomstick squadron set off for Blackpool. Chaos ensues and everyone finally meets in direct conflict on the stage of the theatre, on August Bank Holiday, 1930. There is a mad frolic and a happy ending!

Tickets for ‘Witches’ are now on sale from the school office for performances on the evenings of  9^th, 10^th and 11^th March at a cost of £5.00 each (£2 for senior citizens and children under 16).  Telephone 01761 414276 for more details.

The award focussed on the chairman’s theme of Grow your own Food and were in 2 categories, Primary and Secondary. 

“The School that has shown the greatest commitment to growing their own food and improving their school and local environment through gardening” 

Judy Allies, the Council’s Healthy Schools Co-ordinator assisted in the judging of the entries along with an Officer from BANES Parks Department.  

Areas to be considered included:

• Allotments and gardens in school which are planted and maintained by the pupils;
• Untidy and unsightly areas both in and near the school which the pupils have helped to transform;
• Links with wildlife;
• Links with the community;
• Eco-friendly projects;
• Links with healthy eating.

Somervale managed to show considerable progress in each of the areas above.

Three pupil ambassadors will attend a presentation ceremony to receive a certificate and National Garden Vouchers to the value of £250 on March the 10^th at the Guildhall in Bath.

Assisting David Evans in the launching of the project has been Zoe Threlfall Community Engagement Coordinator for Her Majesty’s Court Service.

The project was divided in three stages. A visit to the magistrates court in Bath, a session called “You be the Judge” based on real cases where the teenagers have to put themselves in the position of magistrates and justify their verdicts and a visit to the school by an ex offender. The pupils then evaluate the course and on completion are awarded a certificate highlighting that they have successfully completed the course.

David Evans was delighted with the pupils feed back which had been very good. The pupils appeared to have learnt a lot from the project and it had been a successful launch. He hoped it would encourage more and more young people to avoid getting caught up in the Court system.

Entries should be given to Mr Benfield on memory stick or CD/DVD. All pictures should be named with student’s name and tutor group.

More information and entry forms are available from the ‘Publications’ area of the school website, or from Mr Benfield in the Science Department.

Prizes awarded to KS3 and KS4 winners.

Closing Date is the 25th February 2010

 The competition sponsored by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Communities and Local Government aims to raise the aspirations and enterprising outlook of young people.  The team had to focus on areas such as sustainable energy, ecological design, wildlife mitigation and environmentally sustainable building materials. In addition to this the design had to include the needs of citizens from different social groups and landscaping of public spaces. If the team are successful on the 10^th February they will be invited back to London for an Ambassador’s Day where they will meet with politicians and businessman to discuss their models and design ideas.

Quote from Mr Benfield (Science teacher and competition mentor) ‘I am extremely proud of the enthusiasm and motivation with which the students have approached this challenging task.  They have spent a lot of time and effort on this project and they deserve the chance to show the judges their innovative designs. The students exemplify the sustainable ethos we have at Somervale.’

Students worked to a normal timetable but all lessons in all subjects were themed around personal reflection or creating artefacts to display in the school hall around the theme to fit the subject’s content.

David Campbell, the Head of Humanities, who organised the days, explained the reasons behind the event: ‘we are keen to provide the opportunity for our students to reflect and respond individually and to join with millions of other people across the world in a time of remembrance, in the hope that we educate the next generation so that such events will never happen again and so that the world can be a better place.’

 The event culminated in turning the school hall into a place of remembrance which all Key Stage 3 students visited during the afternoon school on the Wednesday where their work was displayed. The centre piece was a tree of hope which the students had decorated with flowers and messages. Peter Beaven, the Headteacher when visiting the final exhibition said, ‘the hall had been turned into a quiet place of reflection and the students came and looked through the huge variety of photos, written work, films and presentations with great interest and with great respect. The tree of hope filled with luggage labels and flowers representing those who had lost their lives in the holocaust were particularly poignant.’

These two theme days are part of an extended enrichment programme the school provides to enhance students’ responsibility as local and global citizens.

Yr 8 pupils had some codes to break that led to a message. The Enigma Code breaking machine developed by the famous mathematician Alan Turin led to the war ending early and potentially saving many thousands of lives.

Yr 7 looked at the Star of David investigating its Mathematical properties and learning how to construct it accurately, as you may know the Jewish people were forced to wear a star to indicate that they were Jewish.

All pupils said that it was a good start to the week and in their following lessons looked at calorie intake for food rations and the proportions of each countries population that were exterminated.

Mark Kenny, Deputy Headteacher said, ‘it’s always a pleasure to have the Maths students with us and every year there seems to be more of them which is great for the profession. The students responded really well to the extra help they were given and enjoyed the challenge within the lessons. The work linked really well with our Holocaust Theme Days.’