The Academy saw the first snowfall of the winter at the end of last week and the students were to be commended for their conduct whilst on the school premises as they continued to demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning, despite the risk of distraction of the winter weather.

As we approach the Christmas holidays, Year 11 students have earlier this week concluded their mock GCSE examinations and now eagerly await their results.  Elsewhere, in this edition of the Blog we receive updates on the recent Year 7 Bookbuzz event which helped us promote literacy even further amongst students, we see how Year 8 students faired on their visit to the Hatton Art Gallery and we gain a report of the visit to the academy to deliver training on CPR by the British Red Cross.

The Blog also covers the Year 11 student experience as they attended the first Southmoor 6^th Form Open Evening event of the year as well as how Year 13 students found the launch of the North East OxNet Hub which promotes applications from Sunderland students to Oxford University.

Fifty-five students visited Nissan recently and we hear their views on the experience.  Elsewhere, we hear about Sandhill View hosting a NEATEN Art event for fellow teachers and governors.  We are also pleased to feature Miss Ward, recently appointed as a Deaf Instructor in the Hearing Impaired provision here on site in our regular ‘Staff in the Spotlight’ feature.

As we move towards the end of term and in to Christmas, Year 7 are attempting to locate a number of elves around the school, we re-launch ‘Advent Attendance’ prize draw for those students with 100% attendance in December and we promote the up-coming Christmas Performances which staff and students have been working hard to prepare and which run from next week.
We hope that you enjoy this version of the Blog.

Richard Carr
Head of School

Every year the Academy takes part in Bookbuzz. Bookbuzz is a reading programme that supports schools by encouraging reading for pleasure, it celebrates independent reading choice and works to develop a school reading culture.  Every Year 7 pupil gets to choose a book from a selection of 12 books which are all free. Our Year 7 were spoilt for choice this year, with many of them being very excited about receiving their book.

Year 8 pupils attended the Hatton Gallery in Newcastle to explore and respond to the Pop Art Exhibition. They were inspired by the impact these famous artists had on the North East art scene and found out that some of them even taught at Newcastle University! A favourite among the pupils was the Warhol ‘Marilyn’ series.

Our 'Attendance Advent' has returned! Each school day in December we are automatically entering pupils who have attended for the whole of December into prize draw for a £10 voucher. There will also be a bumper prize draw for £100 on the last day of term for those pupils with 100% attendance from the 1st to 22nd December. Good luck!

Please may we ask for your help in improving Sandhill View Academy?  We are constantly trying to improve the education that we offer the students of our Academy and are now at a stage in the academic year where we need you to tell us how well you think we are doing and how we can improve the things that are important to you.
 
Your child has been given a questionnaire for you to complete.  Please spare ten minutes to fill in the questionnaire and tell us what you think.  By completing the questionnaire you will be telling us how you think we should be spending our time and resources to make our Academy the best that it can be for your child.
 
Don’t forget to complete the reply slip so that you are eligible for the prize draw which will take place on Monday 11^th December 2017.

Some of our Year 7 & 8 pupils have recently completed CPR training with the British Red Cross.  Our students were given the chance to learn these valuable skills in the hopes that it would give them the confidence to step in during a crisis.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at Southmoor Sixth Form for their Open Evening on Wednesday night. There was a fantastic turnout, with students from across the city as well as Southmoor and Sandhill pupils joining us to see what we are about. Don't forget about our next open evening on Wednesday 24th January 2018 as it is a great chance to speak to representatives from local and national Universities. See you there!

Thank you to Dame Lynne Brindley, Master of Pembroke College, Oxford for speaking to Year 11 students on our honours programme. It was a pleasure to host her and her colleagues at The Sixth Form to coincide with the launch of The Sixth Form at Southmoor as the North East's first 'OxNet' hub. The launch event was held on the previous night to Dame Brindley's visit, at The National Glass Centre. Delegates from schools from across the city heard from so many fantastic speakers from the University of Oxford, Durham University & University of Sunderland, who were all excited about the 'Ordered Universe' project collaboration that is part of the programme. We look forward to working with Oxford University as part of OxNet and helping deliver exciting projects and opportunities to students in our region with the goal of increasing access to world class institutions such as Oxford.

Car Crazy at Nissan

55 of our students from Year 8, Year 9 &Year 10 visited the Nissan Sunderland plant to see for themselves the careers available in the advanced manufacturing industry.  They had a tour of the plant to see how the Nissan Juke and the new electric Nissan Leaf cars were built.  The students watched the production line staff complete a variety of roles before watching very closely how the robots fitted the rear windows.

Afterwards the students went to the classroom and raced against time to build a car and complete a variety of engineering and construction tasks. Our Year 8 students worked so well as a team that they beat the Year 9 & Year 10 teams!

Students learned for themselves that to become an engineer they need to achieve good grades in their STEM subjects and have the enthusiasm to learn new skills.

Former Student Success

Mr Carr was very pleased to bump into one of our Year 11 students who left us in the summer.  Lee Holliman was a member of staff providing hospitality at the annual ‘Sunderland Work Discovery’ dinner event at Sunderland City Campus Bistro at which Mr Carr represents secondary Headteachers. 

Since starting the catering and hospitality course in September, Lee informed Mr Carr that he has benefitted from learning about how businesses operate and the importance of ensuring high levels of standards and service to members of the public.  As well as learning about customer care, Lee has studied health and safety as well as diet and nutrition.  Lee and the staff catering the event were an excellent example of young adults having left school going on to further their own education, whilst also gaining invaluable experience of the workplace.

We wish Lee every success as he works towards the completion of his course.  We also intend to share further updates of what our former students have progressed into after leaving Sandhill View in future editions of the blog.

A Crafty Christmas

On a very snowy evening, the SHV Art Department hosted a night of craft, printing and Christmas creativity for local teachers, students and governors. Teaming up with local art network NEATEN, SHV taught printmaking skills which allowed participants to get ready for Christmas!

Wooly Winter Wonderland

On Friday 15th December we will be donning our Christmas jumpers and festive headgear to raise money for Save the Children. Students wishing to take part should pay a donation of £1 to their tutor group teacher. All other school uniform (including a tie) must be worn on the day however students can substitute their blazer for a Christmas jumper if they take part in the fundraising.

Going Baltic 

Year 11 Art and Photography students are currently featured in an exhibition in Gateshead which celebrates the impact of art education in the North East! Posing in front of the “all school should be art schools” sculpture at our trip to YSP in the summer. The exhibition runs until 10^th December on level 2.

Hunting Elves on Shelves

As we approach Christmas, Sandhill has been visited by a shelf elf, who is getting into mischief around school. Freddie the elf appeared on Friday but wasn’t spotted by our eagle eyed Year 7s, as he was helping Mrs Johnston with marking. On Monday he was finally caught out as he was found swinging from the light fittings in the drama shed, spotted by Kenzie Allison (Year 7), who received a chocolate orange for retrieving the mischievous elf. Freddie will continue to find his hiding spots around the school on the run up to the end of term, with prizes being handed out to the first student who reports him to Miss Scott. Happy elf hunting!

My favourite childhood book is ‘Come to the Circus’ by Enid Blyton which follows the life of a young orphan who has to go and live with the relatives in a Circus.  It is a real journey of discovery focussing on a girl who embarks on a journey of lacking in confidence, unable to trust others and feeling quite alone - to a character who becomes resilient, compassionate and confident.  I found this book inspirational as a child because it teaches us that many people face challenges but it is how we deal with those challenges that make us ‘warriors’.  

Invention for me would have to be windshield wipers. It is something so small but so important for road safety. The first manual windshield wipers were invented by Mary Anderson in 1903. 

This would make it safer driving in rain and snow. Rather than pulling over to clean your windshield. Charlotte Bridgwood, then went on to invent an automatic version with an electric roller in 1917.With the weather forecast showing snow in the next few days I felt this invention would be perfect to talk about. 

What do you do at Sandhill View?
I am Deaf Instructor in RBD (Resource Base for the Deaf)

Who was your favourite teacher at school and why?
My favourite teacher was Mrs. Gray because she always encouraged me to understand the work.  I went on lots of different work experiences to help to build my confidence in the hearing world.  Mrs. Gray believed that I could go on to achieve a lot when I left school, which has turned out to be very true. 

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to go swimming and walking with my dog Pippa.

What's the best thing about Sandhill View?
I really enjoy teaching Year 10 BSL lessons, it's a fantastic way to give an insight into the deaf world.

What's the one thing you could never be without?
That would have to be my mobile phone because I can contact my families and friends (it's much better without using textphone).  I also love to use the Pinterest app to help me to create things and gather lots of ideas.