COLLEGE GAINS PRESTIGIOUS TEACHING SCHOOL AWARD

Kingsbridge Community College has become one of the first schools in the country to be designated a National Teaching School a new designation entitling it to lead the training and professional development for staff.  Only 100 schools out of 23,000 across the country have been given this prestigious new designation for an important new role aimed at further raising standards.

As a National Teaching School, Kingsbridge will work with Ivybridge Community College and the University of Exeter to lead an alliance of secondary, primary and special schools in the South West in order to raise standards for all students.  Teaching Schools will help to develop new approaches to initial teacher training, promote professional development for staff, nurture future school leaders and help support schools that are in challenging circumstances.

Designation followed a rigorous selection process.  The College had to demonstrate how it has worked to raise standards in other schools, how it had trained staff in other schools, and how it had led teacher-training.

Principal Roger Pope said, “We are delighted once again to be in the forefront of national educational developments.  Schools can gain huge amounts by working in collaboration with others and we are looking forward to working for the benefit for our own students but those across the whole area”.

The National College has responsibility for the designation and quality of the teaching schools programme, working closely with the Department for Education (DfE) and Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) as the national network grows to 500 teaching schools by 2014.

Steve Munby, Chief Executive of the National College, said: “To take on this role, teaching schools like Kingsbridge Community College need to be among the best in the country - outstanding in their own performance and have a track record of raising standards through school-to-school support.

“Over time teaching schools will harness the finest teaching talent in the profession to drive school improvement, and bring real benefits to pupils. Trainees will learn from the best teachers in action and those who want to step up to more senior leadership positions will be exposed to excellent practice within and beyond their immediate school.”

The first year of the programme will be a design and development phase. As they develop, teaching schools working with other schools and universities will help to provide a strong supply of new teachers, develop leaders and the next generation of heads, and support schools in challenging circumstances.

For further information contact:
Roger Pope, Principal

For more information about the National College’s role in the teaching schools programme visit: www.nationalcollege.org.uk

KCC GAINS PRESTIGIOUS ICT MARK AWARD

Students at Kingsbridge Community College are at the forefront of using information and communications technology (ICT) to enhance their work, and that’s official!

Following an extensive external assessment the College has been awarded the prestigious ICT Mark.  The award recognises the College’s success in developing the strategic use of ICT in both administration and across the curriculum. Parents will have proof that their children are attending a school at the forefront of modern technology.

Roger Pope, Principal, commented “We are delighted to be awarded the ICT Mark. It recognises our positive approach to ICT and the benefits it is bringing to our students. We believe that ICT can be used in every aspect of learning and that it is essential that students are equipped for the modern world.

Adrian Green, Assistant Principal, who put the bid together, said: “I am really pleased that the presentation of this award shows recognition of the excellent ICT work that is taking place at our College.  Applying for the award really brought into focus the ICT work that we are doing each and every day.  All the students and staff deserve credit for this achievement.”

Bernadette Brooks, Naace General Manager, said “Kingsbridge Community College” thoroughly deserve the accolade of an ICT Mark accreditation. They clearly demonstrate how important it is to take a whole school approach to using ICT in schools.  We look forward to working with the College to demonstrate how ICT can have a substantial impact on learner outcomes in the future.

Year 7 Art Day

The whole of Year 7 have been involved in an inspirational two day Art Project called ‘Flow’, working on site specific ceramic sculptures for the college. Students had the opportunity to work with two ceramic specialists, Dan Chapple and Sarah John who began the day talking about their professional practice and giving demonstrations.

Taking the college environment and textures as a starting point, students explored textures and natural forms, embedding shapes into moulds and using coloured slips and oxides. They worked on individual pieces as well as working together on others. The finished pieces will be displayed in the college grounds.

Some of the comments from students were:
‘I enjoyed everything’
‘I have learnt new skills and have had lots of fund’
‘Awesome!’
‘Thanks for a fantastic day’

The project was funded by the Crafts Council as part of their national ‘Firing Up’ programme to raise awareness of the importance of clay and ceramics in everyday lives and in world culture.

A Photography Exhibition

Once again this year’s fantastic AS and A2 Photography Exhibition has just been on display in the Sixth Form Centre at Kingsbridge Community College. Over 40 Year 12 and Year 13 students exhibited a wide range of projects including ‘The Celebration of Devon’ as well as their examination work. All the exhibits reflect the huge amount of creativity, hard work and talent of the students.

The spectrum of work ranged from traditional dark room black and white photographs to the clever manipulation of digital images which, for some, followed conceptual ideas in a thought provoking way. Photography teacher, Hilary Cartwright, said, “All students are encouraged to work in an individual way and experiment with a variety of media and to incorporate different techniques into their photography”.

Roger Pope, Principal, said, “Some of these photographs would not look out of place in Vogue. Many of these students are going to go on to do wonderful things”.

It’s a chuffing good idea

Sixty year ten Scientists from Kingsbridge Community College were the first students to tour the new biogas plant at Langage Farm, near Lee Mill. This facility, which was only commissioned in the last few weeks, takes food waste from Plymouth and South Hams and turns it into methane gas. This methane gas feeds a 500kW electricity generator, that provides electricity for the farm itself and the ice cream making plant and exports the remainder onto the national grid

Students were shown the huge hopper used to collect the waste as it is trucked into the plant, and the pumps used to move the waste into a pasteurisation unit where plastics are separated from the biodegradable material. The biogas itself is produced in three huge concrete tanks where special bacteria, found in the guts of animals like cows, break down carbohydrates, proteins and fats into the gas. Other byproducts include solid and liquid fertiliser that is used to add essential minerals needed for plant growth onto surrounding farms, reducing the need for fossil fuel derived artificial fertilisers.

Andy Pemberton, Science teacher at the College said, “The next time you chuck your old curry into the brown bin, feel slightly better about yourself. If your waste ends up at the biogas plant it could be recycled and end up in an ice cream near you! Thank you to everyone at the plant who gave the students such a valuable lesson in turning waste into a useful commodity”.

Primary Singing Day

Over 200 children from the Kingsbridge Learning Community came together at Kingsbridge Community College for a Singing Day last week.

The day was the culmination of singing workshops delivered by Sharon Mitchell, Head of Music at KCC, over the course of the academic year. Students were taught a selection of music including a medley of songs from The Lion King and then invited to Kingsbridge Community College to perform all together.

The day started with a physical and vocal warm up followed by singing through the songs with a live band comprising of KCC students and professional musicians. Drama teacher, Amy Stevens, introduced movement and the finishing touches were added as the children’s faces were painted as a lions and tigers.

Families were invited to attend a performance in the afternoon where the children gave a spectacular performance.

Sue Jezard, Head Teacher of Stokenham Area Primary School and Malborough with South Huish Church of England Primary School said: ‘Everyone sang with obvious joy, enjoyment and enthusiasm - with all of the children being proud to be part of such a superb performance. I am sure that all of those parents who watched the performance couldn’t help but be really moved by the children’s voices, actions and beaming faces!’

Sharon Mitchell, Head of Music at KCC, said ‘I have thoroughly enjoyed visiting the primary schools and it has been amazing to bring all these children together to form one choir. Every single child has been totally committed and worked incredibly hard. We look forward to making this an annual event.’

The schools taking part were:

• Kingsbridge Community Primary School
• East Allington Primary School
• Loddiswell Primary School
• Stokenham Area Primary School
• Aveton Gifford Church Of England Primary School
• Malborough with South Huish Church of England Primary School
• Salcombe Church Of England Primary School

Cooking up a Storm

Kingsbridge Community College Catering GCSE Students have cooking up a storm with their Task 1 practical assessments.

Students had to produce four dishes based around fruit and vegetables within a two and a half hour time limit.

Students selected a wide range of dishes to make which included some very high level skills. Among the variety of dishes cooked were soufflés, ratatouilles, roulades, risottos, soups to name but a few!
During Year 11, students will complete their next practical which will make up 60% of their overall grade. Well done we are really proud of you!