Swine Flu Advice Leaflet

http://www.greenswardacademy.org/sports-day

The photograph below shows the biggest fish caught last year. 

James also took the opportunity to present a Personal Achievement Certificate to Francesca Coveney (Year 11) who is off to train at the British Racing School in Newmarket very soon.  Francesca was chosen from over 200 applicants and once she has completed this training will return to the stables of Mr Cumani where she completed her work experience last year to train as a flat jockey.  She then hopes to be put forward for her jockey licence where she can race alongside famous jockeys like Frankie Dettori. 

The students said they were really inspired by James and those who had a particular interest were allowed to remain to ask him some more personal questions and, of course, to ask for his autograph. 

The students were outstanding, demonstrating their skills and expertise in terms of teamwork, time management, marketing and design, project management and overall entrepreneurial skills.  They had a catchy slogan "this isn't just golf, this is swing a ding golf".  The team will next present their design and advert to all staff at their briefing on 22 July. 

http://www.greenswardacademy.org/year-11-prom-2009

If you have any photos you would like to publish on the website, please email them to Mrs Wheeler (swheeler@greenswardacademy.org). 

Twenty three Year 12 Business Studies students took part in the challenge to produce a brochure advertising the Academy's Training School.  The standard of brochures produced was excellent.  The winning design was chosen by the panel which included Greensward's very own Sir Alan!  The winning team "Elite" comprised of Joe Thurogood (Project Leader), Christina Gadsden, Rhea Kanani, Emily Huttley, Jessica Lamb and Joel Robinson.  Their design will be published and used by the Academy.

Well done to everyone who contributed and supported this very successful event. 

Greensward News and Media Throughout the whole day, a team of year 10 students, supported by Mr Phil Bourne from the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, worked together as journalists to report on all of the day's activities. With the technical assistance of Mr Richard Sparks, the editorial support of Mr Mike Bailey and the photographic guidance of Mr Roger Young, the teams were sent out to interview and photograph all of the visitors to our school.   Six of the students were given responsibilities as chief editor and technical controller, and they performed in a very professional and effective manner, delegating, supporting, encouraging and leading.   As you can see, journalistic articles were written for each activity and despite a number of technical hitches the students managed to meet the extremely tight deadline.   We hope you all enjoy reading about the day's events as much as we have enjoyed writing about them.
Essex Police In EG04, PC Paul Copland was working with the students helping them to solve a crime. The students did this by working within a group and also discussing how to solve the crime by using clues. The students were engaged in working out the crime scene by writing up clues from a video. The reasons why PC Copland was teaching the students about solving crimes was to show the students how the police work. Everyone appeared to enjoy the process and were challenged by trying to figure out the clues.
Ford Motor Company The engineer who volunteered to help the students was Leah Bruce from Ford Motor Company. In C104, the students were learning how to communicate, work as a team and process information. Leah explained that this exercise was important because she wanted to teach the students that engineering isn’t just about mathematics. The students learnt this through processes which are in place in the real world everyday, and not just in engineering. They were engaged in problem-solving games which represented real engineering problems and they were forced to think for themselves.
Textiles Inc.   On Industry Day two women from Southeast Essex College, Sherry Lewis and Jo Stringer, came to our school to demonstrate fashion alteration. They were making bags from fabric by using sewing machines and they had materials like feathers and clothing. This was in DG13 where we also spoke to Charlotte Kerridge and Abbie Foster from year 10 who were really enjoying themselves. Thank you to South East Essex College for donating the materials and their valuable time.
Keymed On Industry Day 2009, Keymed were stationed in DG03. The students participating in Keymed were looking at a range of equipment used in activities like Key-hole surgery and car-crash incidents. This included the use of dummies, cameras to look inside the body and safety airbags. When asked about the presentation, Mrs Young said how excellent it was and how interesting the subject is. She remarked how students seemed to like it and how it was a good experience using all of the equipment. Freya Noad, year 10, said how seeing the equipment and using it has given her a greater understanding of how key-hole surgery and cameras are used throughout the world. She also said how interesting it was and how all students would enjoy parts of the presentation. All the students enjoyed using the equipment and said how much fun it was.
	Royal Bank of Scotland RBS were operating in GG02 and the instructor was Barbara Norris. She was teaching the students how to run a business in the form of organizing catering for a tennis club along the theme of the Wimbledon tennis finals. Mrs Vale commented on the dedication of the students to the task in hand. After a creative and well-designed brief the students were engaged on the big activity of organising the catering.   Liam King, year 10, was one of the many hard-working students in the group. He understood and was following the brief and had learned a great deal of business techniques. Liam said that the instructor was very thorough and was very impressed by Mrs Vale’s presentation. He was excited by the organization of the event and the ideas involved in its creation.
Haynes the Florist On Industry Day 2009, Friday 5th June, Haynes the Florist participated in the event. Mrs Goodman and Mrs Wigglesworth were doing a fantastic job. This activity took place in the class room EG01. This group was creating corsages out of flowers and gutter tape; they were doing this by threading a wire through the flowers and leaves which hold them in place. They then wrapped the gutter tape so that the wire could not be seen. They were making corsages which are generally worn at weddings and proms. Once the corsages have been worn they can be kept as they dry out, aiming for them to be kept for one or two years afterwards. The pupils that we spoke to seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. One student commented on the activity: “it is good and I am enjoying it.” Once they had finished, every student took their corsage home and every student got to create one.
	HSBC On Industry Day of 2009, Sally Felton and Gavin McAllister from HSBC had volunteered to work with the students. They did this in GG05 where they explained to the students how to handle their money in the future. They were also informing them about equal opportunities and telling them that they should not be racist about peoples’ appearance and their religion. They delivered this message by a wonderful PowerPoint to the students, who really valued their work, particularly as Sally and Gavin are experts in training the thousands of staff who work at HSBC.
Sport in Action The year 10 students doing the Sport in Action were engaged in a warm up, followed by skill co-ordination, game development then feed back. The reason for the activity was to improve practical skills and learn new teamwork skills. The students had to move around and got very sweaty!   Mr Butterworth, the teacher that was telling them what to do said that it involved a lot of moving around.
	Waters and Stanton Waters and Stanton, the electrical engineers, were in DG15, and showed students how to solder pieces of electrical equipment to circuit boards. Will Moss, year 10, said he had chosen to do Waters and Stanton because, “I was interested in Water and Stanton as I live so near to it so I wanted to know a little more about it.”   When asked what he was doing he told us, “I am making an LED tester. I am working here because I would like to work as an electronics’ engineer when I get a job.”   In the technology room there was a lot of soldering going on and putting LEDs onto circuit boards. The Waters and Stanton employees said that it takes a lot of work to be an electrical engineer so let’s hope Will is up to it!”
The Plane Company The plane company were in CG02. We interviewed Andrew Hawker about the reason he was doing the plane company and this is what he had to say: “I like planes a lot because they help us travel and they are very important. We are going to make, design and test paper air planes.”    They were testing them in the c block ground floor corridor and had a lot of different coloring equipment to customise their airplanes however they wanted.
Hairdressing Academy On the 5th June 2009, the Hairdressing Academy participated in Greensward Academy’s Industry Day. The girls doing the hairdressing were curling, blow-drying and conditioning people’s hair with different treatments. Most of the students who were participating do not take hairdressing for a GCSE themselves, but relished experimenting with the tools on offer such as curling tongs. Three girls were curling volunteers’ hair. They said how they enjoyed styling hair outside of school, and wanted to produce some styles in school. One person remarked how she likes cutting hair but couldn’t do it herself! All of the girls really loved what was happening in the activity. Mrs. Milner and Miss Pickett said how talented the girls were at straightening and curling and how successful the activity was.
	Royal Air force The RAF was stationed in GG02. The Instructors were Miss Goodman and Mr Aitken. They started off their session by having a question and answer time. They were participating in team building exercises including the groups trying to climb through a net without having anyone touching it.  They were using communication and teamwork to successfully complete the challenges that were given to them.   An interview with a student showed that she was very happy with the exercise and thought it was a very successful team exercise with good people participating in the group and the instructors were very friendly and made her think about what she had done. From what we saw the Royal Air Force really encouraged team motivation.
Dive Odyssea Dive Odyssea were instructing year 10 students in the swimming pool with P.E. teacher Mr Turner. They were trying to teach the students the basic skills of SCUBA diving. When asked about Dive Odyssea, Mr Turner said he had been doing it for a year, that he loved to dive, and that he thought that this group was going to be very promising. Tommy Watson in year 10 was particularly enthusiastic at Dive Odyssea and mentioned all the equipment that was involved. He had learned that SCUBA diving was very exciting, intriguing and required a lot of equipment, and that he would definitely consider taking it up as a long term hobby. Everybody who took part recommended the activity whole-heartedly.
	Essex fire and Rescue and Essex road safety campaign On industry day at Greensward academy the Essex fire and rescue team, along with the Essex road safety campaign, visited and gave students the opportunity to work with them. They gave up their time to show us what it's like to be cut out of a vehicle and showed a 3 minute video of a car crash, explaining the dangers of not being aware whilst on the road. The members of the Essex fire and rescue team were Nick Tomlinson, Corieen Fox and Ricky Jones, whilst the members of the Essex road safety campaign were Dan Carling and Dean Wright.
Easy Eating Easy Eating was stationed in DG12. The instructors were Mrs Bearwish, Mrs Dixon, Miss Callan and Mrs Milner. They started by prepping the kebabs and salmon using various catering techniques. The students and staff are cooking to feed 100+ people who are hosting the activities on industry day. Mrs Bearwish commented on how well the students had coped with the pressure of cooking at this scale.   Harry Ryan was a particularly enthusiastic chef who liked contributing to the team's efforts. He said that he would like to do this as a part time job.
	The Army On Industry Day, the army soldiers, Gavin, Paul and Adam, came to Greensward Academy to make different challenges as a change for the students of our school. There were two different tasks the students had to complete. One of the tasks was to arrange a set of tyres in numerical order in 20 minutes. There were strict rules for this challenge as the students could only move one tyre at a time and they were extremely heavy. The second task was that they needed to form two wooden platforms across a gap, held only with a rope, to allow each other to pass from one platform to the other without touching the ground with their feet.
Bob the builder  The year 10 students doing the Bob the Builder activity were making cement in the Construction room so that they could build a wall. The reason for them to make cement is so that the bricks will stick together. The students learnt that the bricks stuck together because the cement contained fairy liquid and plastecene, and the good side of the bricks always needs to be facing outwards.   Mr. Cornell was the gentleman that was demonstrating what the students had to do so they did not make any mistakes that could not be fixed later. Cheryl Frehmen and Caitlin Burles explained that turning the cement over ensured it wasn’t too thick and that it was partly liquid so that the bricks could sit level on the top.
	Prospects and ATC Lasham Another activity that made an appearance at Greensward Academy’s Industry Day was Prospects and ATC Lasham. Students were given an insight into the aircraft industry as an engineer. Mr K Bailey, who was assisting with the activity, said how two companies were working together to make an interesting presentation on the aircraft industry. Prospects College is a training provider whereas ATC Lasham are the employers for the engineers. Mr Bailey said how delightful the students were when making parts of a plane. Jordan Randall, year 10, said he enjoyed his time in the activity as he would like to do the same kind of work when he is older. He believes it is an activity all students can relate to and should happen every year.

Mike is currently taking his A level exams and hopes to gain a place at York University to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics and so this experience will be invaluable for his future studies and career aspirations.  Mike retains this role of Global Fellow for the next year attending other events throughout this time. 

Liam King and Bobby Lloyd in Year 10 are among 24 young students from across the UK who have been selected to be part of the crew on a special Sailing Academy on board two ocean-going Challenger yachts, run by the Tall Ships Youth Trust and funded by the HSBC Global Education Trust. 

The crews joined the yachts on Thursday and underwent a day's training alongside learning safety procedures and yacht familiarisation.  They set sail for the Solent on Friday and return to Portsmouth today (Monday) for a prize giving ceremony to mark their achievements.  During the five day voyage sailing from Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, the students will get the opportunity to gain the RYA Competent Crew Certificate - the first qualification on the RYA sailing ladder. 

Whilst learning the fundamentals of sailing, they will develop important soft skills, such as teamwork, leadership, communication and problem-solving.  As well as getting to grips with living in the close confines of an ocean-going yacht, students will set and stow the sails, haul the ropes, steer the yacht out to sea under the expert tuition of experienced Tall Ships crew.  The HSBC are supporting the Tall Ships Sailing Academies because they want to make a positive difference in the communities in which they operate.  They have seen how sailing can be such an inspirational experience outside the classroom and the Academies will develop important life skills that young people can take back into their community, school or job. 

They reached the final after victories in the earlier rounds of the competition against local rivals Great Baddow and Shenfield, followed by comprehensive wins against St Mary's of London and Honiton from the West Country. 

It is an incredible achievement to win this accolade for the third successive year and a testament to the hard work the girls have put in throughout their time at Greensward Academy.  We are incredibly proud of every single one of the girls and particularly those students in Year 11 who will leave the Academy this summer and who have had to balance their studies and sporting commitments. 

Greensward Academy are indebted to their close links with the Southend Swifts Basketball Club who accounted for six of the squad members involved. 

Mrs Vingoe and her family and members of the local community were invited to unveil a commemorative plaque, cut the ribbon and enjoy student displays of gymnastics, kick boxing, dancing and singing. 

Mr D Triggs, Principal of Greensward Academy and Mrs Vingoe

Photograph courtesy of Mr B Guyett

Mrs Stokes, Head of Education, Su Harrison, Essex FM and Harriet Fulcher present the cheque to Judy Kuhl, GOSH

As part of the Essex Jiangsu Festival, Greensward Academy and Signals Media Arts teamed together with Chinese filmmaker Xiaoxiao Sun to work on a series of films based on the Chinese philosophy of the five elements – metal, wood, water, fire and earth.  Year 9 students were selected to storyboard the initial concepts and were then given the opportunity to become fully involved in the production as film crew and actors.  The final, edited version was screened at a number of venues across Essex and London.

 
On Wednesday 19 November Abigail Peppiatt in Year 11 and Samantha Brown in Year 8, accompanied by Mr Bailey and Miss Ring, attended the Green Pledge Awards Ceremony at Colchester United Football Stadium, where they were proud to be presented with three Green Star Awards for all their work in the Eco Club at Greensward Academy.

It was a superb event, attended by over one hundred students from schools all over Essex. They were treated to a personalised tour of the brand new football stadium which has been designed and built with minimal ecological impact, met three footballers from Colchester United who signed autographs and had photos taken, planted acorns with the Woodland Trust, made costumes out of recycled materials and listened to a presentation all about the recycling of plastic bottles.

The Green Pledge is an Essex-wide ecological initiative, launched by the Young Essex Assembly and coordinated by Essex County Council. Greensward Academy signed up to the pledge last year and we have been working towards a ten-point action plan to reduce the environmental impact of the school. Five Green Stars are awarded to any schools meeting all ten points on the Pledge so Greensward still has much work to do.

If you would like to join the Eco Club, please speak to Mr Bailey. 

 
 
36 of our Year 10 students participated at the ‘Interschool Young Enterprise’ competition held at The King Edmund School on Thursday. They walked away having won absolutely everything.  Greensward students made up 6 teams of 6 with similar numbers from two neighbouring Business Enterprise Schools - The King Edmund High School and Cecil Jones.

It started with Hannah Lebeze astounding everyone with her general knowledge and winning ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’.  Later in the morning the teams had to compete to build the biggest,sturdiest tower out of newspaper with no sellatape etc allowed.  Despite a few attempts to be creative with the sticky name badges, Greensward again picked up the top prize winning hands down with a fantastic feat of paper engineering!  The winning team comprised Alex Gilbert, Michael Arnold, Sam Easton, Lee Morgan, Dan Thurogood and Matthew Lennox.  Then the teams were set the challenge of using recycled goods with a few buttons, glitter, and glue thrown in to create a product and the marketing for said product. There were 4 heats, with each having a mix of the schools represented – Greensward won every heat! Therefore ensuring, that all 4 finalists were in fact Greensward Academy teams. Of course we went on to win with ‘The Gold Diggers’ who had created his and her jewellery aimed at the children’s market to be sold for under £10. The winning team were: Dean Brown, Kelby Warner, Craig Hedges, Marcus Spremulli, James Dunford and Callum Mclean.

The runners up were the Garden Gnomes Desk Pal and Credit Crunch Money box.

 
 
We are delighted to announce that Miss D Godwin has recently gained the Careers Teacher of the Year Award.  This is a tremendous accolade and a testament to her support and hard work with the students over the last twelve years.