NEWS FROM THE ACADEMY - Thornhill Community Academy
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NEWS FROM THE ACADEMY
Welcome to News from the Academy We have gathered together a collection of news stories from the past year which we hope that you enjoy reading and find informative about the many activities and events that we run at Thornhill Community Academy. Please be aware that the news stories relate to events taking place at the Academy prior to COVID-19.
Flying Along to Mars
Although it will be years before the first humans set foot on Mars, NASA is giving the public an
opportunity to send their names — stencilled on chips — to the Red Planet with NASA's Mars 2020
rover, which represents the initial leg of humanity’s first round trip to another planet. The rover is
scheduled to launch as early as July 2020, with the spacecraft expected to touch down on Mars in
February 2021.
The rover, a robotic scientist weighing more
than 2,300 pounds, will search for signs of past
microbial life, characterize the planet's climate
and geology, collect samples for future return to
Earth, and pave the way for human exploration
of the Red Planet.
The opportunity to send your name to Mars
comes with a souvenir boarding pass and
"frequent flyer" points. The Micro devices
Laboratory at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
will use an electron beam to stencil the submitted names onto a silicon chip with lines of text smaller
than one-thousandth the width of a human hair (75 nanometres). At that size, more than a million
names can be written on a single dime-size chip. The chip will ride on the rover under a glass cover.
"As we get ready to launch this historic Mars mission, we want everyone to share in this journey of
exploration," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate (SMD) in Washington. "It’s an exciting time for NASA, as we embark on this voyage to
answer profound questions about our neighbouring planet, and even the origins of life itself.”
Our Year 7 students have had a series of lessons on the topic of Space and the Mars Rover. These
were led and organised by Miss Shires, a Science teacher at the Academy.
Miss Shires told us: “I would like to thank all of the
students for their enthusiasm and zeal for the
subject. Many of them have chosen for their name
to go up to space in advance of maybe one day
setting foot on Mars.”
Well done Year 7, the Science team are very proud
of you!Academy Wins Good Diabetes Care Award
We are delighted to have won an award for providing great care to children and young people with
Type 1 diabetes.
We have been chosen for the Diabetes UK ‘Good Diabetes Care in School Award’ for the second
time, because of the support that we provide to students with the condition, the help that we offer
them to manage their diabetes safely, and the care that we take to include them in all school
activities.
Type 1 diabetes is a serious, lifelong condition where blood glucose levels are too high because the
body can't make a hormone called insulin. No one knows exactly what causes it, but it’s not to do
with being overweight and it isn’t currently preventable. It is treated by daily insulin doses – taken
either by injections or via an insulin pump.
People with Type 1 diabetes need to check their blood glucose levels using a blood glucose testing
device several times a day. This is important because over a long period of time, high glucose levels
in the blood can lead to the development of complications. But with the right treatment and care,
the long-term effects of diabetes and high glucose levels can be managed.
The recognition scheme aims to raise awareness of the vital role good diabetes care in school plays
in keeping students safe, supporting them to achieve full academic potential and promoting their
personal development.
Mr Burton, Headteacher, told us: “We are
delighted to receive this award − it’s not
only recognition of how seriously we take
Type 1 diabetes at the Academy, but also of
our commitment to ensure all children and
young people have access to the same
opportunities, no matter if they have a long-
term health condition or not.”
“We work very closely with the parents,
staff and the students themselves to make
sure that the right care is in place so that
they can participate in all activities and reach their full academic potential.”
Clare Howarth, Head of the North of England at Diabetes UK, said: “Congratulations to Thornhill
Community Academy for doing a fantastic job of supporting students with Type 1 diabetes. We urge
all schools in Yorkshire to follow their example so that children and young people stay healthy and
get the best from their education.”
“Every child and young person with diabetes deserves to have the same opportunities as their friends
and their parents should be confident they're looked after properly in school.”SMSC Days Provide Academy Students with a Well-Rounded Education We have had a great run of Drop down days throughout our academic year and have welcomed some absolutely amazing and inspiring guest speakers from across the country. As a school, we are very lucky to have access to a wide range of external agencies who travel to deliver sessions that are tailored to meet students’ wants and needs. This term we have welcomed agencies including: Health Watch Kirklees; Kirklees Prevent Team; Change, Live, Grow; Dove Self-Esteem Project; Bilal Talks; Career Ready and Stop Hate UK. All these agencies lent their expertise on different life issues that our students may encounter on their journey to becoming young, independent adults. Health Watch Kirklees showed our students how to engage with appropriate health services within the UK. They showed the importance of using the correct agencies and also highlighted new resources for our students that they can access both easily and confidentially. This is a new pilot scheme within Kirklees to try and highlight the importance of keeping young people healthy but also reducing the stresses placed upon our NHS services. Kirklees Prevent team brought real-life stories surrounding Radicalisation and Extremism into the classroom. Students were asked to think critically about extremism and intolerance in whatever forms they may take. This involved questioning and understanding the motives and pressure linked with radicalisation and extremism. They were asked to recognise the shared responsibility to protect their community from extremism and report any concerns they may have. Change, Live, Grow led a session on Risky Behaviour linked specifically to Drugs and Alcohol use. Students took part in interactive tasks to help them understand terms such as ‘habit, dependence and addiction’ in relation to substance use and how to access support. The session focused on the harms of illegal substance use including the effects on their personal safety and the different support networks that are available if they require them. Dove Self-Esteem Project saw our guest speaker travel from Devon to deliver his session. This is part of a country wide campaign to encourage young people to become more confident and happy individuals. The session encouraged students to recognise, question and manage feelings about the media’s portrayal of the human body and the effects it may have on mental health and body image. We welcomed Bilal from Bilal Talks to lead a session to our whole Year 10 cohort. Bilal is a motivational speaker who encourages students to raise their aspirations. He uses real life stories and quotes from inspiring people to encourage students to become more confident young people, to work hard and to believe in themselves and their ability. Bilal then hosted a working group with some of our targeted Y7&8 pupils to drive engagement and raise aspirations. Career Ready brought two industry experts to inspire students about the world of work. We saw guest speakers from Clipper Logistics and DHL, speaking to students about the expectations of a workplace. They looked at the skills required for different roles within the industry and what potential employers will look for within an applicant. We can’t thank our guest speakers enough for taking time out of their busy schedules to talk to our students.
West Yorkshire Fire Officers Inform Students
of the Danger of Water
During a visit to the Academy Officers from the West Yorkshire Fire Service spoke to Year 10
students in a special assembly about the dangers of water.
Each year people are seriously injured or lives are lost by those who take to bathing in open
water during the summer months. In their talk the Fire Officers highlighted the dangers that face
those who are tempted to take a cooling dip. They also spoke about what students should do
should they find themselves or someone else in such an emergency situation were they to
unexpectedly fall into deep water.
The information
provided by the Fire
Service is shown
below. We
encourage all parents
and students to take
care near water and
f o l l o w t h e
information provided
by the Fire Service
should an emergency
situation arise.
In this current hot
weather people are
often tempted to
cool down by taking a swim in our reservoirs. However, cold water can be a killer and we'd like
to raise awareness of these risks amongst young people. Cold water shock can lead to
hyperventilation, increased blood pressure, breathing difficulties and heart attacks plus water
temperatures remain just as cold in summer as in winter.
We are promoting the ‘Float to Live’ safety message from the Royal National Life Saving Institute
(RNLI). In their hard-hitting video, they deliver advice on how to react should you become
stricken in cold water.
Everyone who falls unexpectedly into cold water wants to follow the same instinct, to swim hard
and to fight the cold water. But when people fight it, chances are, they lose. Cold water shock
makes you gasp uncontrollably and breathe in water, which can quickly lead to drowning.
If students find themselves unexpectedly in the water, the message is to float until the cold water
shock has passed and they will be able to control their breathing and have a far better chance of
staying alive.Year 5 Taster Days Taster days for local junior school pupils were recently held at the Academy. Through these Year 5 pupils were given the opportunity to discover for themselves what it is like to attend Thornhill Community Academy and see what life in high school is really like. During the two days over 200 pupils from Overthope C of E, Thornhill J & I and Headfield Junior School visited the Academy where they were able to experience high school lessons and take part in various activities. Lessons especially arranged for the visitors included; Maths, Science, Computing, English and Languages. The children taking part had the opportunity to work with Year 5 pupils from other schools in addition to Academy Prefects who provided supported in each lesson by acting as group leaders. In thanking the Academy for the visit, one of the teachers told us: “Today has been most enjoyable for our pupils and they have had a very successful day in preparing for high school.” A Year 5 pupil commented: “I had a wonderful day at Thornhill Community Academy and I’m looking forward to coming here when it’s my time to come to high school.”
All the Fun of the Book Fair We were once again delighted to host our annual half price Book Fair for students in the Academy’s Library. Brought to students by Scholastic Books the fair transformed the Library into a vibrant book store with cases packed full of fabulous new titles. Running over four days the fair gave students the opportunity to visit during lessons as well as in their own time where they could grab themselves a high quality book at a bargain price. The collection featured a wide range of books for young teens and adults, including mystery and adventure novels, fantasy series, sports guides, graphic novels, and the latest bestsellers from more than 100 publishers. The event was organised by Mr Naylor, Academy Librarian, in order to promote reading for pleasure and as a means of encouraging students to choose books that they would like to have at home. Mr Naylor told us: “The fair was hugely successful. I was really pleased that it was so well received by our students.” Our Student Librarians also helped to run the book fair and selected some new books for the Library. We are extremely grateful to all parents and students for supporting the event and hope that everyone who bought something enjoys their purchase.
Resourced Provision Summer Garden Party Students from the Academy’s Autistic Spectrum Condition Resourced Provision organised and ran a Garden Party. Despite the poor weather spirits were not damped. Stalls were held inside the Resourced Provision and a break in the weather enabled students to give visitors an escorted tour of our peace garden. Both students and staff had been working hard to bake goodies to sell at the Garden Party. Visitors were able to enjoy scones, cakes and chocolates along with refreshing cold smoothies, tea or coffee. There was a range of craft items on sale including hand decorated stones, sun catchers, handmade soaps, bee bouquets and seed bombs. All of the items have been made or packaged by our students. Students from the Provision did a fabulous job in making the products, running the stalls and enjoyed the opportunity to serve customers whilst raising funds for their sensory garden project. The event was extremely well attended by staff, students, parents and friends. Thank you to everyone who came and supported the event making it a huge success.
Inspirational Talk by Engineer
Faye Banks
We were delighted to welcome Faye Banks to the Academy to speak to students about her career
and personal journey to success within the engineering sector.
Groups of students visited the library throughout the day where they were able to hear Faye speak
about her work and discover more about the roles and training opportunities available to those
wishing to pursue a career in engineering.
Faye who is a trained electrical engineer has worked in various national industries including Yorkshire
Water and the National Grid. She currently works as a consultant for the UK Government where
she is involved in analysing the electricity system.
In her talk Faye explained to students how new learning and skills development had led to her building
a successful career. She also informed the students how achieving personal change requires continual
learning which gives opportunities in life.
Faye told the students how she had left school with few qualifications and found herself working in a
local factory doing a job that she did not like. She took the opportunity to retake her GCSE’s by
going to evening classes at her local college. This enabled her to train as an electrical apprentice. She
then undertook a degree in electrical engineering followed by a masters’ degree. Her qualifications
and experience enabled her to become a chartered engineer and enabled her career progression.
The event was organised by Miss Horner at the Academy so as to inspire students to work hard and
achieve good qualifications which are necessary to achieve success in employment. Further, students
were able to discover more about the wide range of opportunities within the engineering sector.Language Students get a real
flavour for their studies
Students in Year 9 who study French or
Spanish were treated to a “European Picnic”
by their teachers as part of their studies.
Staff brought in an array of specialty foods
that are typical of either country so that
students could try them out.
The picnic gave the students the
opportunity to sample real dishes from the
countries whose languages they are learning.
They were also able to develop and practice
their language skills when requesting items
of food or drink from the picnic table.
The picnic table featured a large selection of
both sweet and savoury products that
visitors would frequently find in France or
Spain. Even cooked snails were on the
menu, which some students dared to try!
Students also tasted Alsacienne tart, Turron,
olives, chorizo, French cheeses and some
students even showed off their cookery
skills making crêpes for their fellow linguists.Students Gain Confidence in Talk the Talk Workshop A group of students from Year 9 took part in the Confident Communication for Life workshop led by Mike and Chris from Talk the Talk. For some students speaking in front of others can be quite a daunting task. The workshop was provided in order to develop the skills and confidence of students enabling them to become better communicators. Speaking in front of others is an essential skill for all of our students preparing them for examinations, further education and employment. During the workshop students were taught how to overcome nerves, speak with confidence and clarity and engage their audience. By the end of the day each student was able to deliver a presentation to their peers and each participant took away a workshop pack containing information to help them to continue the development of the skills learnt on the day. One of the participants told us: “Today’s event has been really useful in helping me to grow in confidence. It felt like a great big push to take part in the activities but this gave me the confidence to stand up and speak in front of others, which I had been unable to do before.” The event is one of several workshops organised by English teacher, Mr Crosby as part of the Academy’s work to prepare and equip students with essential life-long skills. Mr Crosby told us: “Today’s event was really useful for some of our quieter students who lack confidence. Having started the day in some cases terrified it was a triumph that Mike and Chris helped everyone perform a speech by the end of the day.” As the workshop drew to a close each student received a certificate acknowledging their participation and progress.
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