Falinge Park High School

Falinge Park High School

Well done to George Axford-Hawkes, Sara Hadfield and Elisha Blomfield who are the winners of the ‘I Love Music’ Competition. Each of the winners receives some chocolate, stationery and a certificate. Well done to everyone who took part. Our next two competitions; ‘I Love Art because…’ and ‘I Love Dancing because…’ are issued to learners in the next few weeks.

Letters for our Family Quiz Night on Thursday, 7 February have been distributed to tutor groups and letters can be downloaded from our school website. The evening features questions from a range of topics and a special section devoted to the Arts. Tickets cost £4.00 for a team of four and should be booked in advance. If you are unable to form a full team then don’t worry as we can make up teams on the evening. For more details, please contact Mr. De Courcey or the CEPA Office.

We were delighted with the number of learners who attended our ‘Dressing Up at Lunchtimes’ Session last Friday. Over fifty costumes were available for trying on and the session runs every Friday lunchtime through January in F5 with a different set of costumes each week. The event is open to all years and mirrors are available. We promise not to take too many photos! For more details, see Mr. De Courcey or Mr. Morley.

The latest copy of the ‘Create!’ termly Arts newsletter is issued this week and can be downloaded from the school website. Copies are issued to each tutor group and are available from school on request. The twelve page newsletter features articles and interviews and information about forthcoming projects and showcases.

Year 7 CALL classes have been regrouped this week and start a new topic titled ‘No Easy Answers’. All previous topic work is now in folders and learners should have a careful look to see if they have earned any extra merits. CALL learners will each receive a family quiz night letter this week and will have shorter but more frequent homework tasks this half term.

A visit to see the hit musical, ‘Hairspray!’ in February has been organised by Ms. Wystawnoha and Ms. Williams and letters are available from the CEPA Office at breaktimes, lunchtimes or after school. The visit is open to all years and places are issued on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. The trip costs £21.00 per person and letters and money should be returned promptly to the CEPA Office.

Ms. Rogerson has been working with Gifted and Talented Year 7 CALL learners this week as they attended a special writing and publishing workshop led by the well-known author, Tommy Donbavand. The writer led a series of intensive sessions and the day long workshop will ultimately lead to published material by our Year 7 children. Tommy Donbavand is known for his books, ‘Scream Street’ series and a forthcoming Doctor Who BBC Books title published this year.

Fifteen Year 7 CALL Learners are to be given the opportunity to present a radio programme, learn how to produce radio material and use radio equipment in a special term long project set up between FPHS and Crescent Radio. The sessions which will begin after half term, following a special workshop will lead to some exciting opportunities for our learners. For more details, please see Mr. De Courcey.

Pupils participating in the SPIRIT Reading Project were treated to a Christmas Party and a trip to a local shop, Bright Books where they could choose any title they wanted as a reward for their fantastic efforts with reading. The following pupils also managed to achieve their Ready Reader Certificate: Arousa Parveen, Arifah Siddika and Aysha Siddiqi.

Your next goal will be rewarded with a Geocaching treasure hunt activity outside school. You can find out more at http://www.geocaching.com/

Thank you to our Gifted and talented Year 9 pupils who joined staff to mentor and support pupils in Years 7 and 8 with their reading. Your commitment to the SPIRIT Reading Project has been invaluable.

Year 9 and 10 Parents Evening takes place this Tuesday, 22 January, following last week’s Year 11 Parents Evening. Please ensure that you have booked appointments with your child’s teachers and allowed sufficient time to see everyone you wish to see. Letters with appointment schedules and locations of staff have been distributed to learners in tutor time this week.

In the event of recent poor weather conditions, please visit our school website in order to check for updates of school closure and other important information. The website is updated regularly and we will ensure that you are kept informed.