We have our next PTA meeting on Wednesday 29th January at 5.30pm until 7pm. New members are warmly invited. Come along for tea/coffee and snacks. We will be focusing on a plan for the Academy’s summer fete.
Duke of Ed
inburgh participants need to show a skill or do volunteer work as part of the programme. Roxy in Year 9, decided to show skill and built a model house. Having previously watched YouTube videos on this feat, she thought it had looked difficult but it was something she had wanted to try for a while. Her first plan was to make the whole house from cardboard, but this idea was scrapped as it was too flimsy, so it was the perfect solution when she found a basic 3D plywood model in a craft shop to set her off. The conditions of the skills test were she had to dedicate an hour a week for 6 months. Once finished, Roxy then had to pick an assessor to write a review of her handywork. She chose Hayle Academy Head of Art Alison Tranter. Who thought she’d done an amazing job! Asked what she had enjoyed most Roxy beams saying, “Painting the finished house. The most difficult part of the project was making all the furniture out of cardboard.”
About Eighteen months ago a group of Year 5 students, visiting Hayle Academy for the communication day, wrote letters to their favourite authors. This week one of the authors replied!
It was a long wait, but this author sent his replies all the way from Dakota, USA. The writer is the bestselling author Jeff Kinney who is most famous for the series of Diary of a Wimpy Kid which is so popular.
In the letters he apologizes for the delay and thanks the students for their letters. Each letter has some illustrations and has been personally signed. Students, who are now in year 7, were delighted to receive them. One student said: “I was so excited. I couldn’t believe he had actually written back.”
In January we will be restarting the school council. This council will meet once a month during tutor time and period one. In each meeting the council will hear from the different iCouncils about the work they have been doing and the council will also discuss important school issues. I caught up with the Head Boy, Tommy, to get his views on how this will help decision making overall.
“Within the old structure, there were 4 sub-councils iCare, iSite, iFit , iLearn, who sorted out the problems regarding their sector and reported their main problems to iCommunicate, who then dealt with these problems alongside those raised from within their group.
The new structure replaces iCommunicate with an overall school council, which will consist of our Year 11 leaders, but we are also looking for representatives from other year groups, ideally at least one boy and one girl from each year group. The School Council will deal with similar problems to iCommunicate and focus on Mr Mather’s new school agenda.This new arrangement should improve efficiency as we will have targets to meet and instead of just dealing with problems, we will be improving the school.”
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BENEFITS TO BE GAINED? This new Council should represent the student voice better due to the variety of students standing from each year.
WHAT IS THE PROCESS TO APPLY AND DEADLINE?
If you would like to apply to be on the council please write a letter of application. In your letter you need to discuss the following:
– Why you think having a school council is a good idea.
– Why you think you would make a good school counsellor – What are the main issues with the council should be looking at next term?
WHAT TYPES OF PEOPLE ARE YOU ON THE LOOKOUT FOR?
Reliable enough to turn up to all the meetings, hardworking, sensible and know if there is anything in their year that needs change or improvement.
HOW WILL YOUR ROLE CHANGE WITHIN THE NEW COUNCIL?
Eve and I will still be influential in the Council and bringing about change in the school, but Mr Mather will be leading/directing us more than in the old iCommunicate.
Students from each year are invited to apply for positions on the new Student Council by applying in writing.
Letters of application should be no longer than one side of A4 and can be written or typed. Please remember to put your name and tutor group on the letter clearly. Letters must be returned to Mr Mather by Friday 17th of January.
If you have any questions please do see Mr Mather. Good Luck!
At the end of November, Year 11 spent the morning completing a range of Global Values-based activities in preparation for life beyond Hayle Academy. One of the sessions was spent with Leon and the team from the Ronnie Richards Memorial Charity (RRMC) where students learnt how to perform CPR and use an AED (automated external defibrillator).
Paul and Liz Williams co-founded the Cornwall based charity following the death of Liz’s very close brother Ronnie Richards who sadly collapsed and died from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) whilst playing a game of football at Penzance Leisure Centre.
Across the UK 2,000 people die each week after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), which is the equivalent of one person every 5 minutes. This statistic includes one child daily in our schools.
According to the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) a shock by defibrillation administered within one minute increases the chance of survival by 90 per cent. Our students are now more confident that they would know what to do in such an emergency and our thanks go to Leon and the team for providing such a valuable training session.
For further information, please see https://www.rrmc.life/ or contact Miss Wilson.
This half term has been lengthy and exhausting but we have had much to celebrate, enjoy and learn from at Hayle Academy in this time. It was lovely to host so many of our year five students when they came to the school for a day to explore outer space. We were so proud of the four students who represented the major parties in the election, presenting to all students in assemblies and it was great that our students had the chance to place their vote in the school elections, learning much about what it means to live in a democracy.
We have also enjoyed some wonderful festive celebrations. The Christmas concert featured many of our students who performed brilliantly. We are very grateful to the PTA for organising a lovely Christmas fete in the school; we also enjoyed hosting the community Churches Together Christmas concert.
However, it is not all just been about having fun! This term staff and students have been working hard to ensure that standards of behaviour and conduct are as good as can be. Parents may have noticed there has been a strong emphasis on wearing the uniform correctly and all staff are ensuring that students work to the best of their ability in all lessons. We really do appreciate parents’ support in ensuring that students at Hayle understand we have high expectations of them. These expectations will serve them well through their education, careers and future life.
Finally, I would like to thank parents who have taken the trouble to contact us for whatever reason. Recently I was able to share some really positive emails from parents with staff and it does mean a lot to our team when they receive such warm feedback. Please, whatever the reason, good or bad, do stay in touch.
We wish you all a fantastic festive break.
MR DAN MATHER – HEAD OF SCHOOL
Please enjoy our latest newsletter here or download by clicking picture below
What a week in politics last week has been! Not to be outdone by the Westminster politicians, Hayle Academy went full steam ahead with our own Mock General Election. Four political parties were represented by students from the school:
Brexit Party – Luke Year 9
Conservative Party – Elias Year 11
Labour Party – Victor Year 11
Liberal Democrats – Julia Year 11
The parties campaigned in the run-up to the election and delivered their party manifestos during a series of assemblies.
Alongside this, all students looked at various elements of the democratic process during Global Matters sessions in tutor time. This included democracy and voting, government structure and roles, political parties, and how to take part in the electoral system.
The week culminated in a realistic mock election where all students and staff were given the opportunity to take to the polls on 12th December in our very own polling station.
The results were counted and were as follows:
• Labour Party – 226
• Conservative Party – 153
• Liberal Democrats – 55
• Brexit Party – 52
Whilst the results may not have mirrored the reality of the actual 2019 General Election, the experience within the school was very real.
Our young politicians were amazing ambassadors and conducted their campaigns with dignity and respect – they could probably teach a few politicians in Westminster a thing or two! Well done all of you!
On Friday 13th December it was a lucky time for those who attended the Christmas Fayre. Students and visitors enjoyed visiting a selection of stalls showcasing arts and crafts.
The PTA would like to thank all the volunteers from PTA, staff, parents, carers, stallholders, children and members of Hayle community for such a great Christmas Fayre this year, there was a lovely atmosphere overall and from the stalls, symbolising our spirit of community.
Thanks to all the vendors who delighted us with a varied mix of stalls, including Christmas wreaths, Pixie cove craft, Gwithian silver, Wild Reef, Leon Jewellery, Eloise Textile treasures and cakes, Mrs Clark’s Crafts Stall, Mrs Spence’s Handmade Crafts, Elaine’s Diamond Art.
The PTA is pleased with the amount we have made towards the shelter for the playground. A very big well done and thank you to all staff who supported us, whether through the organisation of the event, donations or attending. We raised £213.32 towards the playground shelter.
We wish you a peaceful Christmas and Happy New Year.
On Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th of December, Hayle Academy held Christmas carol concerts. In spite of the wind and driving rain, families attended in support of our talented students. The evening began with a catchy number from the Hayle Brass Ensemble followed by the Head of School’s (Dan Mather) welcome.
There were plenty of songs for the audience to join in with and great performances from soloist KC, a singing duet composed by Zailee and Ella, a piano duet performed by Nafisa and Peter, strangely called “Two Guitars”. The readings were poignant and beautiful singing provided by the Hayles Harmonics, Thursday Lunchtime Singers and 7B1 and 7B2 singers. Thank you to everyone
involved in making this great evening happen.
Hayle Academy and the PTA would like to extend a very big thank you to Dobbies garden centre Hayle who has donated us a beautiful Christmas tree for the foyer this Christmas.
We wish them all a Merry Christmas and extend many thanks to Hayle Academy PTA for decorating it.