Last week saw a busy week at the academy.

Year 7 had a visit from a team from ‘Good News for Everyone’ during Collective Worship.  They learnt some wonderful facts about the Bible and heard the story of the Prodigal Son. They also learned how to use the stories and wisdom from the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs to help with depression, anxiety, decision making and friendship issues.  The team from Good News for Everyone handed out mini New Testament Bibles to each student at the end.

We are really excited about our new Boccia club. Mr Gillion is coaching the team ready for an upcoming tournament. The club is a great place for our students to build confidence and enjoy some competitive play in a relaxed and calm environment.

We have transformed our Inclusion Centre, making it welcoming and warm.

Duke of Edinburgh is up and running with members of the Duke of Edinburgh team joining us during enrichment to support with projects.

It is really exciting to see the numbers in our clubs so buoyant. Football club on Monday with Mr Brown and Mr Hemmings was very popular and full of excitement.  With fixtures on the horizon, the students are honing their skills and match play in preparation for this.

Reading club continues to encourage a quiet time to read and reflect.

The fitness suite offers independent training for those wanting to flex their muscles and improve their fitness levels.  It is also a time to spend with friends working out and to release some endorphins after a tough day in the classroom.

The dance group are preparing for the Christmas production and have already memorised the first part of their routine.  Miss Philips is doing a great job of choreographing the routine and ensuring they stay in count.

Dodgeball is an hour of action.  The noise of enjoyment echoes through the school proving it’s popularity.

We are really excited about our new Boccia club which we have opened up on an invitee only basis.  Mr Gillion is coaching the team ready for a tournament that we hope to be part of soon. This is a great place for our students to build confidence and enjoy some competitive play in a relaxed and calm environment.

Debate club was busy this week looking at the pros and cons of AI. Students discussed it’s ability to help people but also the potential risks it could bring in the future.

Year 7 had a visit from a team from ‘Good News for Everyone’ this week during Collective Worship.

They learnt some cool facts about the Bible and they heard the story of the Prodigal Son. They also learned how to use the stories and wisdom from the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs to help with depression, anxiety, decision making and friendship issues.

The team from Good News for Everyone handed out mini New Testament Bibles to each student at the end.

Tuesday afternoon is table tennis time!

This Tuesday was very busy indeed with the capacity exceeded for the club. Next week will be on a first come first served basis so students will need to arrive early if they want a place. If you want to improve your table tennis skills Mr Lewis and Mr Hemmings are the people to see.

Drama club are in the process of planning a Christmas production, no spoilers from us but all will be revealed in time for Christmas.

First week of debate club with Miss Birtles, the hot topic for the week is “should the legal age for smoking increase each year”. The enthusiasm and opinions of the debate group were great to see and hear.

Netball club was back running thanks to Positive Futures running the session – shooting was the order of the day lead expertly by the team.

Stem club took to the field to launch rockets, one clear winner of over 75 meters! Mr Everett was very pleased with his work.

DT club are focusing on sewing and creating pin cushions as a starting point, a lovely calm environment after a busy day at school.

Congratulations to Vivian Pimentel and Lewis Atilkan on their appointments as Head Prefects, and to Kelsey-Lee Bignell and Archie Soper on their appointments as Deputy Head Prefects.

The staff at West Grantham Secondary Academy combined their baking talents to raise £100 for MacMillan Cancer support, a charity that helps many living with cancer to live life as fully as they can.

Thank you all for your support and contributions.

We are pleased to present our team of Prefects for this year.

Congratulations to all of our new Student Leadership Team and good luck in your interviews for Head and Deputy Head Prefect.

Chess league has begun in earnest in the library this week. After some heavy defeats for Mr Butt last term, the rumour is that serious practice over the summer holidays may see a better performance against our year 8 grand masters!

There was a lovely atmosphere in the library as Miss Jackson’s book club started their first book ‘Bone Sparrow’ today. Pop along and listen to the story unfold.

The fitness suite was very busy again, remember to bring PE kit and turn up early as the sessions are getting full.

Drama sessions started again, remember to get yourself on the register to attend. Drama will be building up to a Christmas production and you need to attend if you want to be part of it.

Dodgeball was again the loudest club of the week, Mr Brown will need ear defenders by Christmas!

Tonight sees the first Boccia club, like Boules but with bean bags. Photos to follow next week!

Years 7, 8 and 11 have been entered for the FA Schools Cup and our football clubs have been a well-attended activity, both before and after school this week. Year 11 were in at 7.00am to be put through their paces to prepare for the cup. Fixtures will be announced as soon as they are confirmed.

Wednesday afternoon in the fitness suite was very busy as students worked out under the supervision of Mr Brown, who also supplied the soundtrack! The gym club in the fitness suite is a huge success with clubs on a Wednesday and Thursday now full.

Dodgeball has been highly competitive and the noisy excitement led to Mr Hemmings going home that evening with ringing in his ears!

Miss Phillips’ dance club is proving popular with our year 7 girls. Next week drama club are looking to start preparations for our Christmas production.  Attendance at the club is is a condition if students want to take part in the production.

If your child would like to attend any of our clubs please book them a place via your MCAS account.  New clubs are being added throughout this term.

The first full week of the new term and clubs have started to run. We are pleased to have new sports clubs running including KS3 boys and girls’ football, Tag rugby, dodgeball and table tennis.

The fitness suite has proved popular alongside Wednesday’s Drama club.

Next week the Stem club are running the ‘egg drop challenge’ and a busy Monday expected in football and dance.

With the success of football fixtures last year, year 11 will be back in training early in the morning to resume competitive games.

Students in year 9 enjoyed taking part in National Manufacturing Day by visiting three local engineering companies.

Viking Signs, Pentangle and BGB opened their doors to our students so that they could gain an insight into the world of work in manufacturing.

Students enjoyed a tour of the sites and talks from professionals as well as a sneak peek into three local employers, all of whom employ apprentices as part of their work force.

This work place experience is one of many that students at the West Grantham Secondary Academy engage in that help us to ensure that we are meeting Gatsby benchmark 6 of our Careers programme!

A huge thank you to all of the staff at each of the companies who helped make this a fabulous day.

We look forward to working with you to extend this experience to more of our students.

We are looking forward to welcoming our students at the start of the new academic year on Wednesday 6 September.

You may have seen recent media coverage regarding Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).  The government has issued guidance for the identification of this material and there is no evidence to indicate that it is present in the school, as is the case for the overwhelming majority of schools in England.  As such, we are looking forward to welcoming pupils/students/children as normal.

Arrival times for the first day back are:

• Year 7 at 8.30am
• Years 10 and 11 at 10.00am
• Years 8 and 9 at 12.00pm

All year groups should make their way to the hall for a welcome assembly.

There was great excitement at West Grantham Secondary Academy today as students collected their GCSE results.

Notable results included Rhys Howe who achieved 11 GCSEs at grade 8 to 6, including a grade 7 in further maths.

Clare Barber, Principal, said that she is incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication shown by all students and staff at the Academy.  She notes that “their hard work and impressive ethos have paid off and the school is delighted to be able to celebrate such significant success.”

Student Selina Ambrose-Leigh  (10 GCSEs at grades 9 to 7) “The teachers have gone above and beyond in helping me with extra work, support and encouragement.  Staff are dedicated and to get results like this is amazing!”

Student Kevin Witkowski (10 GCSEs at grades 8 to 6) said “I’m really pleased with my results.  I’ve really enjoyed my time at WGSA and thank all the staff for their support.  I’m looking forward to studying A-Levels with these great results.”

English Teacher, Lucy Jackson, said “We are incredibly lucky at this school to have such motivated, hard-working students and all students have bright futures ahead.”

Pupils have gone above and beyond in showing our academy values throughout the year and we have celebrated those who have gained the most amount of positive points in each category.

Well done to Lilien Lang in 9SS who has achieved the most amount of ‘Ambition’ points, Kelsey-Lee Bignell 10KM for the most amount of ‘Belief’ points, Gracie-Sue McGibbon 7AV for the most amount of ‘Courage’ points, Ted Davison-Allott 7AV for most amount of ‘Integrity’ points and, both Holly Bradley 7RD and Teliah Evans 7AV who gained the most amount of ‘Love’ points. Well done to all!

As part of our careers programme, the Army have put our Year 10 through some recruitment exercises to demonstrate the importance of resilience, problem solving and working as a team.  The highlight of the session was Year 10 navigating an assault course and avoiding capture in the cargo net.

Year 10 had a brilliant time – a big thank you to the Army for a really informative and fun session.

The Academy is delighted to have been recognised as being School Food Standard compliant in being awarded the School Food Standards certification from Lincolnshire County Council.

As part of our ongoing commitment to the health of our students and staff our Head Chef, Laurent Six, has been working alongside the Lincolnshire County Council Food Education Team, to review our menus so that they are compliant with the government’s School Food Standards.  We are very proud of this achievement, being one of only a few secondary schools in Lincolnshire to be certified in offering nutritionally compliant menus.

Feedback on our new menus from our students is 100% positive – filling the dining room to capacity every lunchtime.  Firm favourites are the weekly roast dinner with all the trimmings and fish Fridays!

Every day we also provide a free breakfast of bagels, cereals and milk to all students, further showing how committed we are to ensuring our students have a healthy balanced breakfast to start their day.

The Food Education Team praised Laurent on his home cooked menu, using seasonal produce from local suppliers, and congratulated him in demonstrating that the School Food Standards can be met by producing quality and nutritional home cooked food.

Our Wool Warriors have been really busy in their enrichment lesson.  Collectively they have crocheted blankets to donate to St Barnabas Hospice.

The Hospice were incredibly grateful and we are very proud of students in their support of the patients.

This week our Year 8 students have enjoyed a trip to the birthplace and home of Sir Isaac Newton – Woolsthorpe Manor.

Students were hands-on with some of Sir Isaac Newton’s most famous experiments and toured the house where he lived. They learnt about life in Newton’s day and what he was like as a person.

After learning about Newton’s theories on gravity, forces and light they saw the famous apple tree which helped Newton understand gravity.

Miss Slack said, ‘The students loved being able to put Newton’s name into context and look at his work from a historical, as well as a scientific, perspective.’

This year for Refugee Week, Year 8 took part in a Writing Workshop in association with the National Literacy Trust. In their English lessons, they looked at three short stories by children’s author Tom Palmer and explored the journeys made by migrant refugees through the 20^th century. All tutor groups also looked at a fourth story, set in the 21^st century, and informed meaningful discussions across the school.

As the theme for this year’s Refugee Week is ‘Compassion’, the students discussed together the reasons why some people might have to leave their homes in search of safety. The students responded to the stories of hardship and turmoil with great maturity and empathy, expressing often how ‘we are all human’ and deserve a place of safety, no matter where we have come from.

The goal of this week’s workshop was not only to learn about the reality of migrants’ struggles but also to create their own short story. Some students chose to research real refugees, taking inspiration from history to inform their writing. Others used what we had learnt in class about the World Wars or their own knowledge of more recent conflicts or natural disasters. Though some stories surely required a certain suspension of disbelief, the imagination and creativity on display was truly wonderful!

We hope that all those involved in Refugee Week this year have taken to heart the stories they have heard, and we are proud to say that Year 8 have embodied the school’s values of Love and Integrity throughout our discussions.

Our new Year 7 for September 2023 are having a fantastic week at the Academy as part of our transition process.

The Academy traditionally holds a full transition week covering all areas of our KS3 curriculum.

We’re really enjoying meeting our new Year 7 and look forward to them joining our school community in September.

The KS4 football team made the journey to Magnus Academy for their first fixture of the season. They had been in training the previous week under the watchful eye of  Mr Martini and showed real commitment by arriving at 7.00am on Monday and Friday mornings.

After a brief warm up and discussion of tactics, Magnus won the coin toss and the game started at a furious pace. Magnus broke the deadlock after 2 minutes with a fine run and excellent shot over the goalkeepers head. The early running and pressure from Magnus created wave after wave of attacks and chances, and after 20 minutes Magnus had established a 4-0 lead. Connor Whitfield helped keep the score line down and was denied a goal by a fantastic save from a point blank range header.

West Grantham grew in confidence and began to establish a foothold in the game, some poor discipline from the Magnus players led to an enforced substitution before half time and the tide turned.

The second half, prompted by a Mr Martini inspired team talk and tactics overhaul, saw wave after wave of Leonard Cloxton left wing attacks, and excellent link up play with Archie Soper. The Magnus goalkeeper made 5 top draw saves to keep out West Grantham.  West Grantham learned from their first half performance and improved in every area of the pitch. All credit to the team, they showed commitment and never once let their heads go down and were rewarded for the their efforts 5 minutes from time by a clinical finish from Leonard Cloxton.

Stand out performers  from the game were:

• Ryze Page – brilliant handling in goal
• Archie Soper – captained and encouraged the team throughout
• Leonard Cloxton – excellent runs and cool head
• Connor Whitfield – Headed anything thrown at him
• Lewis Atilken – Kept their star player at bay in the second half
• Logan Codd – A bundle of energy
• Keanen Burnett – Busy in midfield
• Titas Aleksandravicius – Took a physical battering for the team

Final score 5-1

Second half score 1-1

We are delighted to offer two new clubs to students, Dance and Dodgeball, alongside our established Fitness sessions. These clubs have been introduced to develop co-ordination skills and are already proving to be very popular.

Our new Dodgeball Club is already seeing an increase in students wanting to take part.  This week the students played in teams of 6 against 6, compared with 4 against 4 last week.

The Academy is celebrating success at the Kesteven School Sports Association Athletics Championship and Trials.

Our Year 7 boys team won their event by a clear 5 points and are the new Area Athletics Champions in this age group.  A truly fantastic achievement – well done to all in the team!

Seven students have qualified for the County Championships.  Good luck to all who will be competing.

Students from across year groups visited The Guildhall to watch the famous play ‘Macbeth’ performed by The Dickens Theatre Company. The Dickens Theatre Company have been creating exciting stage adaptations of literary classics, specifically designed for young people studying and revising for their GCSEs. This unique performance not only provided students with an excellent retelling of the play but provided clarity and comedy at appropriate moments. We look forward to our next theatre trip!

Martin Doughty, from Harlaxton Engineering, came to deliver an assembly to our Year 10 and 11 students to promote careers in Engineering.

Martin spoke about the range of apprenticeships available and how important it is to achieve a good GCSE grade in Maths and Science.

This week students at the academy have been exchanging their well-earned positive points for a reward of their choice.

Students have taken part in either an afternoon of Easter themed arts and crafts, a fitness session in our well-equipped gym suite, or an Easter egg hunt where students solved puzzles and clues to win an Easter egg.

Ms Archdale, Pastoral Lead and organiser of the rewards’ week, said it has been a lovely week watching the students enjoy their well-deserved reward.

Students at the academy have welcomed three guests to speak at their ‘Women in Industry’ event, aimed at inspiring female students to aim high in their career goals.

Clare Barber, Principal, said she wants students to overcome both real and perceived barriers in their future careers. “We want our KS4 girls to attain the confidence to achieve their rightful place in society and the world of work. This might be overcoming low self-esteem for example, which can lead to the incorrect assumption that the top jobs are for ‘other women’.  As a school, we want to ensure that West Grantham girls are given the opportunity to listen to women who have achieved extraordinary things in business.  This fits in with three of our core values: courage, belief and ambition, and is also part of our vision.”

The academy’s vision states, ‘Place no limits on what can be achieved, ensuring opportunities are not restricted by self-belief or circumstance’.

The three visitors were Zoë Blake, CEO of CareLoop Health, Slava Barber Head of Human Resources UK and EU at Soloprotect, and Helen Waite, Deputy Director at the Department for Education. The guests were given a tour of the school and then met small groups of students to tackle subjects covering educational choices, resilience, and imposter syndrome amongst other topics.

Additionally, as a Ukrainian national, visitor Slava Barber was also able to spend some time speaking to two of the academy’s younger Ukrainian students.  All three reported that they thoroughly enjoyed speaking in their mother tongue about their shared culture, and what they miss about home.

Zoë Blake is CEO of CareLoop Health and formerly CEO of Kooth. She attended the event and was able to work with the year 10 and 11 students. She said, “It was an honour to be invited to West Grantham C of E Secondary Academy, and to meet the Year 10 and 11 girls.  The school has a lovely welcoming atmosphere.  I found the teachers and the pupils to be warm and engaging.  During our conversations, the girls asked insightful questions and demonstrated they were genuinely interested in understanding the role I do today and how I got there.  I wholeheartedly support Miss Barber’s initiative to bring women in industry into the classroom to help young girls to aspire to careers they may not have thought of or thought possible.”

Student Elly-May Cooper said the event was beneficial, “It was really useful, and I enjoyed it a lot. It gave me an understanding that you can do anything you put your mind to.” Fellow student Sophie Copeland agreed saying, “It was reassuring to hear and will help motivate me for my future.”

Another guest speaker was Helen Waite, who is a Deputy Director at the Department for Education. Helen said she enjoyed speaking to the students about her own career and experience within the civil service. “It was fantastic to take part in an event designed to raise the aspiration of girls.  The civil service offers jobs at all levels right across the country, including a whole range of apprenticeships.  It was great to be able to share that information and some of my own career journey in the civil service.” Helen said she enjoyed touring the academy during her visit.   “Two things really stood out for me at West Grantham C of E Secondary Academy, -the calm and organised environment, and the commitment and positivity of the staff team.  Both are critical foundations for bringing about positive change for young people.”

Students reported that they learned that with hard work and focus, no matter your background or starting point, it is possible to achieve your goals. Student, Selina Ambrose-Leigh, said, “It was really well done with a wide range in jobs. It helped to reassure me to aim for high performing jobs. I think the school should definitely do this workshop again.”

Student CJ Davidge said, “The workshop was very enjoyable, and it reassured me.” Fellow student Mabel Howard said, “It taught me more about what opportunities are open to me.”

Summing up what she learned at the workshop, student Georgi-Lea Askew had words of wisdom, “No matter what your background is, you have the power to turn it around at any moment. Your worst enemy is often yourself.”

Principal, Clare Barber said she felt the event was a great success. “Listening to students break down the reasons that foster low self-esteem or low aspirations means they now grasp how to overcome those barriers. We will continue to support all of our students to aim high in their life ambitions, and hope that events like this are overturning the myths and historical impediments that have meant that many women do not fulfil their potential. I would like to thank Slava, Helen and Zoë for taking the time to show our students that with hard work and ambition, and a brave outlook, that they can achieve anything.”

Today is the festival of Nowruz for our Afghan and Iranian students.  It is a festival based on the Spring equinox and involves a lot of feasting and celebrations.

Additionally, some of our Muslim students will begin the month of fasting – the Holy Month of Ramadan – on Wednesday 22 March.  This is a month of fasting between sunrise and sunset, prayer, reflection and community.

The academy will be supporting the students as they adjust to the rhythm of fasting during a busy school day.

Our Careers Lead, Hannah Lines, has been very busy organising careers events for our students.

Sara McKenna from the NHS Talent Academy has come into school to deliver a workshop to our Year 10 students on how to improve their interview skills.   Students learnt about the range of different types of interviews they may face and had a chance to put any new skills they gained into practice.

Nigel Rivers, from Pentangle Engineering, came into school to deliver an assembly to Year 8 and Year 9.  Nigel spoke to the students about his career journey as well as all the different roles that exist within engineering.  Nigel went on to speak to the students about apprenticeships and how they can help budding engineers to progress in such an exciting field.

Year 9 students have also attended a talk with Grantham College and learnt about the range of apprenticeships that exist and how to apply for one.  Students tested their knowledge after the talk with a true or false quiz.

For more information on our careers programme, please click here.

This month students have been learning about LGBT+ History month.

LGBT+ History Month aims to promote equality, diversity and inclusion by increasing the visibiity of LGBT+ people and the history, lives and experiences locally, nationally and internationally of LGBT+ people.

LGBT+ History Month promotes awareness, representation, inclusion, equality, diversity,  safety, wellbeing, harmony and happiness.

The reason LGBT+ history month is in February in the United Kingdom is because it marks the abolition of Section 28, now twenty years ago, which was a law which forbade the promotion of the LGBT+ community.

Today, massive, positive, legal strides have been made as people show respect, understanding and empathy for one another, truly living out the values of equality, diversity, inclusion and respect.

This progress, and care,  must, and will, continue, as it must, and will, continue against all prejudice, discrimination, disrespect and hate.

Thank you to St Wulfram’s for welcoming us for our Christmas Carol Service.

All students and staff attended a lovely service at St Wulfram’s.  A special thanks go to Mrs Milligan for arranging the service.

Year 7 and 8 students have joined the Hope Cafe Community to sing Christmas Carols.  We have a long standing relationship with the Cafe Community and were delighted to be invited once more to bring festive cheer before the annual Christmas lunch was served.

Thank to you Grace and Andrew Morton for inviting us, the students had a great time!

Year 7 students have welcomed Sinead and Ian, our local Asda Community Champions, to the Academy.

Year 7 took part in discussions about wellbeing following a presentation by Sinead and Ian.  After the presentation, students were asked to create masks to express the different wellbeing emotions and to fill in a booklet to show how they manage their own emotions.

Thank you Sinead and Ian for supporting us, the students really enjoyed your workshop.

Year 7 and Year 8 students have gathered to sing Christmas carols and bring festive cheer to the residents of Red Court Care Community.

The students presented the residents with crocheted blankets made by the Academy’s ‘Wool Warriors’ enrichment group and handmade Christmas cards.

The residents had a lovely time joining in the singing and sharing their Christmas memories.

Thank you Red Court for inviting us, our students had a wonderful time.

The Academy is proud to present its very own production of ‘Cinderella’ on Thursday 15 December.

Families and friends are invited to come and watch our festive pantomime, telling the story of Cinderella and her determination to go to the Ball.

The pantomime starts at 5.00pm.  There is no charge for tickets but donations are welcome to help fund our summer drama productions.

In support of the Grantham Kesteven Rotary Club, students from all year groups have been adding gifts to shoeboxes destined for children of all ages living in disadvantage and poverty in Eastern Europe in time for Christmas.  A huge thank you to all who have donated.

This morning, The West Grantham Secondary Academy proudly took part in our annual Remembrance service.

All staff and students gathered outside to remember the lives of all who have been lost and continue to serve in protection and justice for our nation.

Head Prefect, Kevin Witkowski gave a moving rendition of ‘In Flanders Fields’ whilst our uniformed army cadets, Tiffany Martin, Lucy Lorne Wood And Hollie Hibbitt, laid wreaths at the foot of our academy lectern.

All students did an amazing job and our student photographers, Annabelle Dawson and Riley Searle, did a great job capturing the moment.

Year 10 have visited the University of Lincoln as part of their careers programme sponsored by LincHigher.

Students experienced university life whilst touring the campus and accommodation, as well as attending a lecture about dystopian writing with senior lecturer Dr Amy Lilwell.

On Thursday the Academy welcomed Belgian students on an exchange programme at Harlaxton College, University of Evansville.

The students are experiencing life and culture across the UK and came to the Academy to see what life is like in a UK secondary school.

The students spent time with some of our year 10 and 11 students attending their lessons, followed by a tour led by Mrs Atkins.

All enjoyed a doughnut after an enjoyable morning!

Students in Years 7 and 8 have spent the day exploring and learning at The Natural History Museum in London.

From mammals, to dinosaurs and insects, the students were inspired and intrigued to learn about the world around them.  The questions and enthusiasm shown by our fantastic students would have made Charles Darwin himself very proud!

Thank to Miss Slack for organising such a successful day out for these students.

Congratulations to Selina, Rhys and Sophie who have received awards in Biology, Chemistry and Physics at the University of Lincoln Science Ceremony.

We are all really proud of them.  Well done!

Today saw the launch of our new enrichment programme.  Every Friday, on a rolling six week programme, the students will take part in a number of enrichment activities.

Throughout the year, students will be able to take part in a variety of activities; learning to play golf, write songs, develop their photography skills, develop their fitness in couch to 5k, yoga and high intensity interval training and many, many more.

Year 9 welcomed Ian, Asda Grantham Community Champion, to give a presentation of food waste and the effect on the environment.

Ian’s presentation was very informative about how we distribute and package food in the UK, and how ASDA recycles plastic, cardboard and food waste.

Students took part in a short engaging quiz about the amount of food suitable for an adult and a child – students were interested in learning some new facts and were shocked by some of the findings.

Before Ian left, he presented students with fruit to make their own ‘fruit kebab’ – these went down a treat!

For more information please click here.

Year 9 students, supported by the Inspirational Learning Group and Natwest’s Dream Bigger Programme, were challenged to create their own social enterprise to address a common issue affecting their daily life, their school, their family or their local community.

Working in teams, the students considered what it means to be entrepreneurial before considering what steps they could take to address the issues they have identified. Students created their own social enterprise company, considering not only how their company would operate but also how they would market and promote their products or services to their target audience before pitching their business proposal to the judging panel.

The challenge helped students to develop their business and entrepreneurial skills as well as promoting key skills such as creativity, teamwork and communication.

Year 9 took part in their last KS3 drama lesson today. They used skills that they have been building on over the last three years to create short performances for their peers. They also practiced their stage combat and sword fighting skills!

A big thank you to Mrs Hicks for all her help with rehearsing the performances.

Our Science Ambassadors had the amazing opportunity to meet with Dr Shirley Spoors, a consultant biochemist from the NHS.

Shirley belongs to a group of staff called Healthcare Scientists who work in the NHS (alongside doctors and nurses) and plays a vital role in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a huge number of medical conditions.

The students heard an exciting presentation about this field of work and had the opportunity to ask Shirley questions about her career.

This incredible opportunity was made possible by STEM Learning, through which the science department have made connections to numerous professionals who work in the STEM field.