Murderous Maths and Magic Tricks

Year 7 and 8 students at were really excited as they waited for a visit from author, Kjartan Poskitt.

Kjartan Poskitt is an author and television presenter who is best known for writing the Murderous Maths children’s series of book.

During his visit he worked with the whole of Year 7 and then afterwards with Year 8.  He then worked with smaller groups where the students were shown how to make some ‘Maths Magic Tricks’ and learn exciting things about the times tables!   Students were totally captivated by the lively and enthusiastic author.  Later they waited patiently in the school library for Kjartan to sign the Murderous Maths books that they had purchased earlier.

Miss Payne, Head of Maths commented “It was a fantastic opportunity for staff and students to welcome Kjartan to the school, he really brought Maths to life for the students, they were totally captivated”.

Ofsted Monitoring Visit

The final report from the Ofsted Section 8 Monitoring Inspection on 9 October 2015 was published on the Ofsted website today. The report can be found in the School Information – Ofsted section of the website, or by clicking here.

The report states that ‘Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent Section 5 inspection in order to become a good school’. This is a positive and welcome endorsement by Ofsted that measures taken since the Section 5 inspection in May – when the school was placed in the ‘Requires Improvement’ category by Ofsted – are showing sufficient impact to put the school firmly on a trajectory of improvement towards achieving a ‘Good’ judgment at the next inspection.

Should you wish to discuss any aspect of the report, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Miss Mason, Principal

Making Your Mark – National Results

The start of things to come

This week marked the start of building work at Hele’s School.   Classic Builders started moving on site to break ground to build a brand new Post-16 block at the school.   Funding for this state of the art project was achieved through the EFA Academies Condition Improvement Fund and totalled £1.6 million.  The new block, which will be ready in September 2016, will include classrooms, self-study areas and a Learning Resource Room.  Today, several current year 11 students, who will be the first to take advantage of the new Post-16 Centre, joined the Principal for photos of this momentous occasion for Hele’s and remarked, ‘This is really exciting for us and we can’t wait to experience Post-16 next year with all its new facilities’.

Justine Mason, Principal at Hele’s School, commented, ‘This could not have come at a better time for us, what with 3 years of strong performance at A Level, a culture of high aspiration and challenge for our sixth form students and excellent progression rates through to University, training or employment for our learners.  The new build is causing quite a buzz amongst students, staff and parents alike.  With our Post-16 Open Evening just a few weeks away, those students and parents attending will be assured that when they choose to join Hele’s in 2016 we will be offering state of the art Post-16 facilities to complement the high quality teaching and learning we provide.’

Building progress will be posted regularly on the school website.

The reality of attending an interview

Year 11 students stood nervously waiting for it to be their turn to sign-in at the Careers Office reception for their interview. These interviews were made as real as possible; students were told to dress in the clothes they would expect to wear to an interview, to bring any relevant paperwork along with them such as their CV and any certificates and, most importantly, to arrive prepared and on time.

This event, aptly named ‘1:1 Interviews’ was held over two days and each student was interviewed by a representative from companies across Plymouth, who had generously given up their time to visit the school and help prepare the students for their adult working life. Companies such as Babcock, Bond Dickerson, Marjon, NHS, Vospers, Francis Clark, Interserve, Army, RAF and Devon and Cornwall Police, to mention just a few, put the students through their paces and went through their CVs with a fine tooth comb. This helped them to understand the importance of grammar, content and writing skills, all of which will be invaluable to the students in the future.

Mrs Moffitt, Careers Support Manager at the school commented ‘Everyone was nervous because they didn’t know what to expect. It was wonderful to see the students after the interviews and hear all the positive feedback. They all presented themselves well and acted in a professional manner. The two days were a great success’.

Grace, a Year 11 student, also commented ‘Throughout the interview I felt proud of what I was doing and didn’t feel nervous anymore. Hearing all the positive feedback from the ladies from Babcock was really good and at the end they said they would have given me a job which was amazing’.

Christmas at Hele’s 2015

No pens today please students!

October 7th saw our first ‘No Pens Day’ at Hele’s . Far from being a day where ‘we do no work’, as some of our pupils gleefully thought, we decided to have one day where we privileged oral literacy over written. There is a wealth of evidence which shows that if pupils have the opportunity to verbalise their thoughts before writing, their writing and understanding is dramatically improved. It also builds confidence, eloquence and helps pupils to find their voice.

It proved to be an overwhelming success, with staff and students alike! The many and varied ways staff found to teach key concepts was inspirational. From hand-made puppets in languages, to marching around ‘Constantinople’ in history to a liberal application of chocolate to solve maths problems, the whole school was alive with different activities.

Many pupils said they felt they had to concentrate harder because they could not write anything down. Others said how enjoyable and rewarding it had been to be able to look at their learning through a different lens. Our staff were overwhelmingly positive about the experience.

Principal, Justine Mason, was delighted by the energy and creativity demonstrated on the day, by both teachers and students. “The deep learning that was evident across a wide range of curriculum areas was a joy to behold. I’m a great advocate of the power of the spoken word in encouraging learners think for themselves, to listen and respond to others, and to develop their thoughts and ideas to solve problems. You get a real insight of a person’s understanding through listening to dialogue and observing the way they present to others, and of course you can give immediate feedback too.”

Plans are underway for another No Pens Day next year. No doubt, thanks to the enthusiasm and hard work of our staff, it will be bigger and noisier and more creative than the last!

Visit to the Annual Institute of Physics Lecture

Mr. Brady, Mr. Dorset and 15 A2 Physics students attended the annual Institute of Physics lecture at Devonport High School for Boys on the afternoon of Friday 2nd October.

This year’s lecture was delivered by Natalie Garrett, a Biophysics research scientist from the University of Exeter and was titled, “Beautiful Brains and Amazing Lasers”.

Natalie specialises in advanced laser imaging techniques with application to novel nano-particle drug delivery systems in biological specimens. The findings of her research will help the advancement of new medicines to treat diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

The laser imaging techniques make use of pulsed lasers to initiate special optical effects inside biological specimens. These non-linear effects allow the tracing of the path taken by certain drugs inside the samples. This will help to increase the understanding of how new nano-medicines work at the cellular scale, allowing the development of more effective treatments for diseases of the brain such as brain cancer and Alzheimer’s.

The lecture was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Demonstrations included the popping of a balloon with a laser beam and the ability of some substances to fluoresce in specific lighting conditions. It has opened the students’ eyes to the wide range of possible career paths that can be followed after studying Physics at University.

Natalie also highlighted the numerous conferences that she has attended around the globe as part of her work. It is hoped that it may be possible for some students to visit Natalie’s lab in Exeter, where she is making use of the latest technology in order to further her research.

Making Your Mark 2015 – Our Results

The buzz around the school over the last couple of weeks certainly got everyone talking about the ‘Make your Mark’ Ballot!

On Thursday 1st October, students took part in the annual ballot, which is the largest consultation of young people in the UK. Young people across the UK were asked what issues matter most to them, this would then help to determine what is debated by the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) in the House of Commons on 13th November 2015.

Ten topics were available to choose from on the initial Make your Mark ballot paper and the five most popular topics among young people will go forward to be discussed at the November debate. The debate will be chaired by the Speaker of the House of Commons Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP and broadcast live on BBC Parliament.

Mrs Smith, Head of PD said, ‘we wanted to make the voting as realistic as possible, so students were given time to research each issue, they were given a polling card and the Polling Station was open for one day. I was totally overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of both students and staff with around 600 votes placed throughout the day.’

The top 5 issues voted for were:-

1. Living wage
2. Transport
3. A curriculum to prepare us for life
4. Mental health
5. Votes at 16

Netball is all the craze!

Netball at Hele’s School seems to be going from strength to strength. Already a popular sport at the school in Year’s 7-11 it now seems that just about everyone want to take part.

There is a regular staff netball club every Tuesday, where both male and female staff at the school turn up to show off their skills! But, what tops that is a group of students that started playing netball together in Year 10. They are now part of the local adult league at Marjons and take the game very seriously, training three times a week.