Another busy issue of our blog much of which inside is focused on the future that we are trying to secure for our young people when they leave us. We encourage you to talk to your children about the future and we offer advice on a full range of options. We are particularly proud of our links with the Sixth Form at Southmoor which has been hugely successful in generating great results and setting many students on the road to fantastic careers through all the top universities across the county. Read on and enjoy...
Dr P. Ingram Acting Headteacher
Breakfast is Served
Today we launched our new School Breakfast Programme in our school restaurant. From 7:45 - 8:15am we will be serving a FREE breakfast of bagels, porridge or cereal for every student who wishes to start their day with a healthy meal. All year groups are welcome. Last servings will be at 8:15am.
Year 10 in the Workplace
As part of Sandhill View Academy’s work-related learning curriculum our students in Year 10 are taking part in work experience every Wednesday afternoon. Students have organised the placement themselves and are experiencing as far as possible the hours, working conditions and regulations they may encounter when they go to work themselves. They are working in retail, education, business and admin, health and fitness, building and construction, hair and beauty and in many other organisations.
We still have some students without a placement. If you are able to offer a work experience placement, please contact our school office.
Medical Marvels
As part of our Careers curriculum, a group of Year 10 students visited Sunderland University to find out about the range of careers available in the medical profession. All students found it a really interesting and informative event and it was a very much an interactive workshop. The university have a range of suites replicating the facilities and equipment of ambulances, general wards and theatres where the models were incredibly life-like. Students prepared infusions for drips (and with a well-known brand of coloured sweets!) dispensed medication. Using very life-like dummies, they learned how to do CPR and the Heimlich manoeuvre. All students were a real credit to themselves and to Sandhill View Academy.
Careers Fair 2018
We will be once again holding our annual Careers Fair tomorrow (Tuesday 13th November) in our sports hall.
This is the Academy’s second Careers Fair and we are looking forward to running this every year as part of our commitment to raising aspirations and helping our young people to make informed decisions about their future careers. We have invited representatives from further education, forces, universities and apprenticeship providers in the north-east to meet our students and their parents and carers to discuss the education and training opportunities available to our young people when they leave Sandhill View Academy.
Students will visit the Careers Fair during the day with their teachers and will have the opportunity to ask questions and obtain information about a course or an apprenticeship in which they may be interested as a further career pathway. For those students who are still unsure about their future plans, it is an opportunity to see the options available to them.
All parents and carers are invited to visit our Careers Fair from 3-4 pm and Y11 parents/carers may join their son/daughter 2 pm onwards.
Pupils at the Palace
Congratulations to Year 7 students Ella Crossley, Natalya King, Aiden Brunton and Jamie Stubbs who, along with other pupils from our region, won a competition to perform as part of a choir group that sang at Buckingham Palace. The four took their trip to London last week where they performed and then received special Remembrance Day badges as part of their prize for their participation. Well done!
Crime Solving Sandhill Scholars
The Southmoor and Sandhill Scholars experienced their first lecture by Peter Beveridge, who worked with the students to re-enact a crime scene investigation and challenge their thinking throughout the process. Students had to imagine the roles of victims, perpetrators and police investigators to unfold the complexity of a murder.
Hitting All the Right Notes!
Singing rehearsals are well under way with the school choir. If you like to come along, rehearsals take place on a Monday lunchtime. We are also introducing our Sounds of the Caribbean, with our new steel pan band playing hits from the charts. We are currently practicing for the Christmas Show. Rehearsals take place on Tuesday Lunchtime for any student wishing to join the fun! Last, but not least, Keyboard Orchestra is currently on Tuesday after school for any student who would you like to learn to play the piano/keyboard and also play as part of a group.
Any student who is interested in learning to play an instrument or joining one of the music clubs please see Mrs Mckenzie in the music department.
James Cook Mini-Medical School
Over the first part of term, aspiring doctors in Year 12 have attended a 'Mini Medical School' lecture series at James Cook Hospital. Topics included: 'Medicine at the Sharp Edge' with Dr Jeff Doran, 'Exploring General' Practice with Dr Hugh Alberti and Dr Adedoyin Also, and 'Painting a Picture of the Skin; Warts and All' with Dr Rob Ellis.
Pondering Personality
David Hodgson, creator of ‘The Buzz’ personality quiz, visited our Year 12 students. He helped them to think about their different personality types based on different criteria such as where they get their energy from, how they take in information, how they make decisions and their attitude to life. Each student was given an animal to match their personality type which will help them work out the best pathway in terms of university and careers.
Having Fun with Photograms
A group of students attended the Northern School of Photography at Sunderland University last week, for a workshop producing ‘Photograms’. The chance to use traditional photography dark room and chemical processing of the images was a unique experience for our students.
I have really fond memories as a child of reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis. When I was a child it transported me to a fairytale land that existed through the back of a wardrobe, where some weird and wonderful people lived, Mr Tumnus being my favourite. Since reading it again with my own children I realise what strong reference they are to the war and to Christianity, but when you are a child reading it, its nothing more that a fairy story. The whole idea really sparked my imagination as a child, I just love the idea of a wardrobe that leads to another world!
My favourite invention is ceramic hair straighteners. This is because previous types of straighteners (normally aluminium plates) would never straighten hair properly and caused damage. Ceramic plates break down the Keratin protein (which is extremely strong) in hair, smoothing the structure of the hair strands. Ceramic also has naturally occurring negative ions which eliminate static build up in hair. Ceramic has an even temperature throughout the plates and no hot spots (unlike predecessors) which cause minimal damage to hair. It's taken around 100 years since straighteners were first invented to get to the evolved product we use today. I could not be without my ceramic straighteners!
What do you do at Sandhill View? I’m a teacher of Science.
Who was your favourite teacher at school and why? I had a few teachers whose lessons I really enjoyed. The one that really stands out to me was my History teacher in Year 8. He made his lessons so that it felt like we were detectives discovering things about the past.
What do you like to do in your spare time? I like to spend time with my family and friends and reading. I also love to travel to new places to explore whenever possible.
Who is your favourite musical artist or band? I don’t think I have a favourite band overall. I have a really eclectic taste in music, depending on what mood I am in. At the moment, one of my favourites is Mumford and Sons.
What's the best thing about Sandhill View? The sense of community. Being a new teacher that joined at the start of the year, it didn’t take long for me to feel part like a part of the Sandhill family.
What's the one thing you could never be without? My family (and chocolate).
