Here we are at the start of a new academic year and we are delighted with how well the students have settled in to their learning. We also must praise the impressive start made by our new Year 7 students who have made a real impression with their positive attitudes towards learning and their conduct around the site.
The Academy returned after the summer break on the back of a 10% increase in GCSE results on those of 2015. This means that Sandhill View has increased its examination results of students gaining 5 A*-C grades by 18% over the past two years.
This year we look forward to more stability across the school. Our uniform is worn with a sense of pride by the students, behaviour and rewards systems have been tightened and further improved, the building has undergone further re-decoration and improvement over the summer holidays to include an overhaul of student toilet facilities and I am also pleased to announce the addition of nine new members of staff joining us this September.
Over the past two years there has been rapid transformation taking place on all fronts within the Academy, but we look forward to the year ahead continuing to ensure that high standards of teaching and learning, high aspirations, high expectations about conduct and citizenship and high examination outcomes remain our priorities.
In this issue of the blog we cover features on Attendance, GCSE examination performance, school visits, Academy rewards schemes, our new student counsellor, KS4 careers information, Summer School memories, Art initiatives and we meet Mr Bunn, the newest addition to the Science department.
Richard Carr
Head of School
Outstanding GCSE Examination Performance
The Academy improved pleasingly by almost 11% in its GCSE outcomes compared with the previous year and congratulations must go to students and staff for their efforts and achievement. Special mention must go to the following students who have now left us and who all achieved 5 or more A* and A grades in the summer:
Chloe Anderson, Katelyn Cassap, Natalia Rooks, Jessica Taylor, Jack Wilson and Jessica Wilson. Jessica Wilson also achieved the highest Progress 8 score of all students who departed in last year’s Year 11 cohort. We wish all of our departing students the very best for their future.
Open Day 2016!
Thanks to everyone who attended and supported our Open Evening. A great deal of fun was had by all. It was great to once again see so many parents and pupils from across Sunderland and beyond joining us at our school to see the huge range of improvements we have made and take part in all the fun activities our enthusiastic staff had on offer. Also special thanks goes to our pupils who were great guides; welcoming parents and potential peers to our school.
Congratulations go to the following students who last academic year did not miss a single session of school and achieved a fantastic 100% attendance:
Year 9: Tiegan Lamb, Megan Lindley, Danny Parkin, Ben Priddle, Holly Savage, Josh Stevens, Alex Walton
Year 10: Kieran Barker, Andrew Drayton, Shauna Fisher, Ellis Fraser, Amber Hendriks, Lee Lewis, Ben Richardson, Layton Sutherland, Beth Wilkinson
Year 11: Robert Andrews, Christopher Elliott, Ciaran Gibson, Reyhan Onay, Beth Waterston
Derwent Hill Challenge
Over the years we have always had an amazing and rewarding time during our visit here with this year being no exception!
We did not have fabulous weather but the conditions were perfect for a good ramble through the countryside and when the heat was upon us, a cool down in a gorge or Derwent Water was just what the doctor ordered... We were able to venture out to the picturesque ‘Castlerigg’ stone circle, in the heart of Keswick and take a pleasant, leisurely evening walk, in the North Western Fells of the Lake District, up to the mountain top of ‘Castle Crag’, where the views were simply stunning. The photographs say it all….
This year pupils successfully completed a ‘Challenge Course’, including: Having the confidence to make new friends and in doing so were successful in developing team-work skills, improving self-awareness and increasing levels of personal responsibility, motivation, whilst increasing their appetite for learning, raising aspirations, learning to assess and manage risks and finally improving problem solving and meeting new challenges head-on!
Although we did not take part in the ‘John Muir Award’ this time, Derwent Hill have awarded each student with a certificate of achievement, thus ending our annual visit on a very positive note.
Thank you to Mrs L Cook, Ms K Ayre and Miss G Tucknut for their invaluable support and time during the visit and well done everyone!
It's Cool to have the Right Attitude
We are proud to announce the arrival of our newest addition to our ever-improving student reward scheme – ‘Sandhill Ices’.
Throughout each day the senior leadership team and key pastoral staff are issued with rewards tokens. These tokens are issued to students identified by teaching staff in lessons as demonstrating positive attitudes towards learning or good behaviour. Students then hand in their token at lunch-time at the Year 9 outer yard to claim their reward of a free ice-lolly of their own choice. The scheme is now in its second week and student feedback is proving very welcoming of the new venture. It is clearly having an impact and we will work with the students to further discuss how we can improve what we offer.
Wonders of the World Challenge
During the summer holidays, five of our students ventured to Costa Rica and Nicaragua for a challenging three week expedition of a life time. There first stop was to complete a five day community project in the Osa Pennisula, with the aim of conservation, helping with the reforestation of native species and to reclaim land previously used for farming.
From here they spent three days journeying north to Nicaragua, with a crater walk in the cloud forests as their first proper challenge. A sloth and the national tree frog greeted our students as they set off upon their adventure in the jungle.
From here our journey took us to the Northern Volcanoes and our final major challenge, a five day volcano trek. The students were nervous about how hard it would but after the first tough day they were sat at an open crater with plenty of energy left. After this the volcanoes were a breeze. During the rest of the trek our students got to take in the stunning views, dance into the night with local children and volcano board down the ashen slopes of the crater!
From there they went back to Granada for some well deserved rest and relaxation. A chocolate making lesson and to enjoy the local cuisine. For their final experience our students tried stand up paddle boarding on Lake Nicaragua before toasting their journey with a drink from coconuts.
All of our intrepid adventures were fantastic representatives for our school and we hope they share their experiences with their fellow pupils now they are back home in the North East.
What do you do at Sandhill View? I am Assistant Curriculum Leader for Science and STEM Co-coordinator. That means that as well as teaching Science I help to run the Science department with. Being STEM Co-ordinator means that I look for opportunities for our learners to engage in various activities that are designed to improve their interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Hopefully throughout the year we will be running lots of different STEM events, so look out for announcements!
Who was your favourite teacher at school and why? My favourite teacher at school was a teacher that was at Sandhill View until recently, Mr Palmer! He was my Physics teacher and really worked hard to ensure that I got my grade. He helped me to believe that I was good enough to get my grade and gave me the confidence that I needed to do well. He was also interested in films, just like me, so it helped that we sometimes talked about that, too. What do you like to do in your spare time? As I mentioned above I’m a bit of a film buff so I’ll pretty much watch any film that I can. I also like to play rugby and football, however I usually find that I’m injured so it ends up me just watching! I’m a season ticket holder at Newcastle (I know, boooo!) as well so I can usually be found in the Gallowgate end on a weekend, watching Newcastle win again!
Who is your favourite musical artist or band? It usually depends on my mood but my favourite bands are REM and Nirvana. My favourite solo artist is probably Bruce Springsteen. I’ve seen Bruce Springsteen live a few times but never had the chance to see either of my favourite bands live, something that won’t happen now as REM have split up and Nirvana finished many years ago.
What's the best thing about Sandhill View? So far I think the best thing about Sandhill View is the really positive attitude that seems to be present throughout the whole Academy. Everyone seems really happy to be here and seem really enthusiastic about the challenges that they encounter.
What's the one thing you could never be without? Well if you discount family then the one thing that I can’t be without is my motorbike. I find there is nothing better to help me relax on a weekend than going for a ride into the countryside. It’s certainly less stressful than being a Newcastle fan!
Breakfast Champions
Continuing the importance of celebrating student success and achievement, the Academy is once again rewarding the form group in each individual year group that has received the most praise points and least consequences in lessons across the previous school week. Winning form classes for their efforts are invited to receive a free breakfast along with their form teacher in a morning registration session.
The scheme proved highly successful last academic year and was so popular with students that its positive impact with students was clearly visible. It also leads to increased competition between year groups and also amongst form tutors who all strive to be champions for the week and hold bragging rights over their peers.
Careers Update at SHV
Year 11
The final year at Sandhill View Academy is an important year for our Year 11 students as they begin to make their final decisions about their career choices. To support our young people, each Year 11 student will have an opportunity to attend an interview with our personal advisor, Julia Robinson from Connexions. In addition, as part of our partnership with Connexions, students can also make an additional appointment to talk to an advisor from Connexions at their offices in the centre of Sunderland at the City Library and Arts Centre Building in Fawcett Street. The office is open from 1-5pm during the week and appointments can be made by telephone. (Tel: 0191 5617339). However, these appointments should be made for outside the school working day.
Year 10 Work Experience
All students in Year 10 will have the opportunity to participate in one week’s work experience at the end of the spring term 2017. It is an opportunity for students to spend some time with an employer or other organisation, allowing them to experience as far as possible the hours, working conditions and regulations they may encounter when they go to work themselves.
The dates of the work experience programme for this academic year are: Monday 3rd April – Friday 7th April 2017.
Parental consent forms should have been returned byFriday 23rd September 2016. Work experience placement forms should be returned byFriday 9th December 2016.
Over the three days they were given options of what they would like to do each morning and afternoon. They could choose from swimming, trampolining or football in PE ran by two of our PE staff. They also had a range of challenging recipes do make in food technology, or arts and crafts where they chose what creative area they wanted to work in each day.
They three days were a great success and all students and staff alike had a great time.
Our thanks go to Mr Blake for organising Summer School again this year.
Big Draw Returns!
Big Draw month is returning to Sandhill View next month! The theme this year is 'STEAM' where we celebrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths!
Tutor groups will become architects and take on the task of re-designing buildings to cater for the modern world! Watch this space to see the creations they come up with!
My role within Sandhill View Academy is Student Health and Well-being Coordinator. This includes first aid, medication, anti -bullying and raising awareness of mental health issues. I hold one to one student mentoring sessions where I am able to address a number of concerns students may have ranging from stress and anxiety to mental health and bullying. Sometime students just need someone to talk to so I also offer drop in sessions after school. I currently coordinate the first aid and medication procedures within the Academy. Part of my role is to train staff to address any first aid issues that occur day to day. I champion the anti-bullying campaign currently running, ensuring every student feels safe and happy within the Academy.
Mrs Helen Saunders
Our Goal Scoring Girls are Back!
Congratulations to the under-14 girls football team who have made a fantastic start to the new season. They were absolutely amazing in their first two football matches in the program. They are currently top of the league after a 5 - 2 win against St Anthonys and 4 - 1 win against Venerable Bede. They could not deserve there five praise points more along with their well earned new Sandhill View football strip for their ongoing commitment to the school team they are looking good!
Health & Art Go Hand in Hand
Last year we applied to take part in a pilot scheme with cancer charity 'Coppafeel'. As part of this Year 9 pupils took part in a survey to find out their thoughts about cancer (how to openly talk about this with family and friends, how to check yourself for signs of cancer and what can cause cancer).
Our Year 9 art students created work inspired by what they found out and used a graffiti art approach to portray their feelings about the issue. After completeing the project, students felttheir anxiety about cancer lowered as they found that they could speak more openly about this issue.
Students who took part: Neve Blyth, Jade Bryan, Charlotte Casey, Jack Cobb, Tanisha Cocoran, Andrew Drayton, Ellie James, Melissa Moir, Elle Newton, Charlotte Ross, Dane Scott, Tyler Smith, Bradley Vipond, Nathan Defty Wallace, Mark Warwick.
Thank you for your support with this, watch out for this work exhibited in a pop up gallery at some point this year.
Thanks for reading! We look forward to reporting on more stories from Sandhill View Academy in the new school year. Until then we hope you have a great summer!
