Syston Town News » Syston Young Peoples Page

Wreake’s Got Talent

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:07:39 +0000

Our picture above shows the panel of judges with one of the competitors taking part in the show.

For the third year running Wreake Valley College held its annual Wreake’s Got Talent competition on Thursday 15th December.

It has been going from strength to strength and this year we have staged two shows in contrast to one show last year.

This has lead to us raising over £450 for our designated charity ‘Rainbows’.

The shows have been a massive hit with both the students and the staff of the college. Acts included solo singers, groups, west end celebrities and stand up comedians. It was a wonderful example of the talent within our community.

The top 3 were:
First Leonie Petch and Millie Chamberlain,Year 9.
Second Grace Longland, Year 8 and
Third Tamsin Pegg, Year 7.

Winners of the Christmas Wordsearch

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:07:28 +0000

The winners of our Christmas wordsearch competition are Alex Evans aged nine, Irina Nistor aged 11 and Edward Grey aged six all receive a Selection box and chocolate Santa courtesy of Tesco, Syston.

Well Done and thank you to Tesco for providing the prizes for this competition.

Look out for the Easter one!

Applications open for Positive Activities for Young People

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:20:31 +0000

£50,000 is up for grabs to increase the availability of positive activities for young people aged between 10 – 19 (or up to 25 for those with a learning difficulty) in Charnwood in 2012/13. This year, over 15 local projects benefited from the funding.

Charnwood TwentyTwenty received money towards Love4Life, activities and support for girls designed to build confidence and improve relationships, health and wellbeing.
“I learned to express my feelings and find the inner me and who I am and that there are nice people in the world” said Katie, 14 after getting involved in sessions including healthy eating, physical activities and team challenges.

Shepshed’s Police Officers received a lower than normal number of complains on Saturday’s due to PAYP supported activities. A programme of sporting events in Glenmore Park and a chance to revamp the youth centre through a graffiti workshop was provided during the summer by Shepshed’s Passion Youth Club.
“If you guys weren’t here I would have been drinking this evening and would probably be drunk by now” commented one youngster who developed a new-found enjoyment in competitive sport during the fun tournaments run by Passion and their many local volunteers.

Birstall Youth Café are attracting around 35 teenagers every Friday night which, in partnership with the local Police, has significantly decreased concerns regarding anti-social behaviour in the area over the past two years. The regular youth workers have built links with parents to tackle behaviour, ensuring that poor conduct is challenged both at home and in the community.

Charnwood has led the way in developing innovative ways of allocating Positive Activities for Young People funding, a pot devolved from Leicestershire County Council. Charnwood Youth Councillors and senior managers from local services have an equal say in the assessment of bids, whilst trained Young Inspectors provide snapshot feedback by ‘mystery shopping’ the sessions.

The Positive Activities for Young People grant application process for 2012/13 will open on 16^thJanuary and applications must be in by 1pm on 6^thFebruary. Application forms and guidance notes can be downloaded from http://www.charnwood.gov.uk/pages/positive_activities_for_young_people

Contact Liz Ryley on 01509 632591 or
liz.ryley@charnwood.gov.uk

Wreake Valley Students Support World’s Biggest Coffee Morning

admin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:08:10 +0000

On Friday 30th September, Wreake Valley’s post sixteen students arranged to take part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning in order to raise money for the Macmillan nurses. To coincide with the theme of the coffee morning, at break time the sixth form area was turned into a café, selling coffee, tea and hot chocolate with delicious cakes. Teachers were invited to join the students to be waited on by members of the student council.

In addition to the café, staff and students were asked to bake their own cakes, ready for an auction in the afternoon. Just fewer than thirty cakes were baked, ranging from large Victoria sponges to cupcakes, with people bidding up to £15 per cake. The day was a success, raising just over £345 with the entire sixth form working together in order to raise as much money as possible. As a sixth form we are very pleased with our contribution to the charity and hope to raise even more money in future events.

Lucy Harper

Mr Pinnock: A New Chapter At WVCC

admin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:06:40 +0000

In September, students at Wreake Valley Community College started another year. Welcoming them back after a long relaxing break was Mr Tony Pinnock, the new Principal who succeeded Mrs Helen McDermott at the end of last term.

Mr Pinnock himself returns to Wreake Valley after a long absence; he used to be a student here and one of the reasons for choosing Wreake Valley was because he wanted to give something back. I asked Mr Pinnock what his impressions of Wreake Valley were when he arrived for an interview several months ago. He told me that he was very impressed with the effort that has gone into putting classroom displays together and, in particular, key words being posted on the walls. He also felt that the students were well-behaved and well ordered.

One of the greatest challenges that schools around the country are facing is how to continue improving standards with a tight budget. Certainly, this is what Mr Pinnock feels is the greatest challenge facing him during his time at Wreake Valley, however, he believes that Wreake Valley is up to this challenge.

There is a lot of potential at Wreake Valley, says Mr Pinnock, and he is looking forward to watching the students achieve their potential and ambitions, which is what Principals up and down the country long for. He was also attracted to Wreake Valley College because of the type of school it is; an 11-19 secondary school which is unique in Leicestershire.

Mr Pinnock has a ten year vision and he believes that in this time, Wreake Valley College will continue to improve and that its place in the league tables will reflect this; his vision is to be at the top of those tables and to have a college that is oversubscribed in terms of pupils applying.

In its last OFSTED report, Wreake Valley achieved ‘good with outstanding’ and Mr Pinnock says that it would be great if that report became ‘outstanding’ throughout. Needless to say, a great deal of change is to come at Wreake Valley, but I believe that these changes will benefit the whole school and get it the recognition it deserves.

Success at Wreake Valley College

admin — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 04:05:27 +0000

Students and staff at Wreake Valley College celebrated excellent results at Advanced Level again this year. In many subjects, including Performing Arts, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, and Travel and Tourism over 50% of students gained Grades A*, A or B and overall the pass rate was 98%.
A large number of students achieved 3 or more passes at the highest grades, including Charis Jones, Angeliki Dwyer, Arushan Mahendrakumar, Meraj Ondhia and Jasmine Smith. Of particular note are the achievements of Head Girl and Boy, Esther Nwanuforo who achieved 4A*s to secure a place at Cambridge to study veterinary medicine, and Ryad Chebbout who achieved 3A*s to study medicine. Esther will be joined at Cambridge by Deborah Merry who achieved 3A*s and a grade A, she will also study veterinary medicine.
As a school we are delighted with the increase in the top A* grades this year, having trebled the number achieve last year.
New Principal, Tony Pinnock, said “I am delighted that so many students have achieved the grades they need to be able to continue their studies at university. I would like to congratulate both staff and students, who have continued to raise achievement levels at Wreake Valley”.

Raising the status for Early Years!

admin — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 04:02:12 +0000

The Early Years Professional Status, launched in 2006, represents the gold standard in early years practice.
Early Years Professionals (EYPs) are experts in the development, care and learning of under fives. Local practitioner, Adell Mason, has recently been awarded this status, which is great news for children of Syston. Besides working in a local pre-school, Adell also volunteers leading local parent and child group ‘Make & Play’ which meets at Syston Methodist Church on Monday and Friday mornings, term time only.
Adell was initially awarded her honours degree in psychology in 1998 and decided to pick up the study books once more to work on the ‘long pathway’ to EYPS, which meant 15 months of hard work.
Was it all worth it? Adell believes it was. ‘Recent research shows the positive impact of having graduates as lead practitioners within early years settings.
Learning begins from birth, and it is reported that 90% of a child’s brain connections will have been made by the time they are five years old. It is therefore crucial that we offer quality learning experiences to our young children. Many early years practitioners are already dedicated to offering quality provision for the children in their care, and I would wholly recommend this course to them.’
EYPs are considered as agents of change for supporting and mentoring other practitioners and improving outcomes for the children they work with.

End of an Era at Wreake Valley Community College

admin — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:09:09 +0000

After sixteen years of being a principal, Helen McDermott is retiring from Wreake Valley Community College. Her replacement, Mr. Tony Pinnock, will start after the summer holidays.
Mrs. McDermott’s career as a principal began when she was the head teacher at another school. She then became vice-principal at Wreake Valley, a position that she held for around five years. At that time, Wreake Valley was much smaller than it is today with the Sixth Form only consisting of a hundred students, now numbers have swelled to over three hundred and fifty and staff numbers have increased to more than two hundred.
Throughout the early years of her reign as principal, Mrs. McDermott faced numerous challenges. One of these was continuing to improve the school and driving the high standards that have made Wreake Valley the school it is today. There was little pressure from Ofsted inspections as these were rather uncommon when she took over as principal. The greatest pressure came from recruiting students and staff as very few students were joining Wreake Valley from other colleges, such as Roundhill Community College. With hard work and perseverance, Mrs. McDermott has made Wreake Valley the first choice of many students looking to study GCSEs and A-Levels.
Mrs. McDermott says that every day is a new challenge and that her greatest challenge is continuing to reach the targets that schools are being set each term. She also states that continuing to recruit staff is an ongoing task.
I joined Wreake Valley in 2005 and am now starting the second year of A-Level, A2. There have been several changes made to Wreake Valley in this time, most of which are for the better. One such change was the refurbishment of the library at Wreake Valley, which now has thirty computers as opposed to around eight, which has allowed students to access a computer easier and more effectively.
Another change that stands out most for me and many other students is the introduction of shelters in various parts of the school. These shelters are found at the front of the school, at the back of the Sixth Form area and over an eating area. As a result, students can eat in comfort outside, regardless of the weather.
There have also been numerous changes with the school uniform during Mrs. McDermott’s time at Wreake Valley with Years seven to eleven all wearing uniform, which now includes black shoes.
Sixth Form students can wear non-uniform, a change that I feel is one of the best as students can be individuals and have the opportunity to express themselves.
Mrs. McDermott says that she will miss everything about Wreake Valley when she retires, but most of all, the students and the staff and the routine of running a college on a daily basis. Undoubtedly, she has many highlights but the one that really stands out, unsurprisingly, is the last Ofsted report; Wreake Valley received a ‘good with outstanding’ report, one of the best in the school’s history. As a student at Wreake Valley, I cannot disagree with that report.
I also met Mr. Pinnock when he was at Wreake Valley to be interviewed for the post of Principal. He seemed to be a friendly person and I hope that he will continue the great work that Mrs. McDermott has already started.
Daniel Burton

Daniel Proud Art Graduate

admin — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:08:56 +0000

Daniel featured in the STN back in November 2010 when he won Best in Exhibition at the Syston Art Exhibition. We asked him to let us know when he graduated so that we could let everyone in Syston know how this talented young artist is getting on.
Well he has now graduated with a 2:1 in Fine Art. He was one of a hundred students who held their degree show on Friday 17th June at De Montfort University and the picture above shows a sample of Daniel’s work at the exhibition. The show exhibited a range of work from Fine Art to Fashion and Footwear Design to Photography.
Daniel’s work exhibited under the title of Illuminate, showed eight large format prints that were divided into two compositions, which featured a single location of a field. They consist of long exposure light drawings taken at night; this use of light is his way of manipulating and responding to an environment. Each photograph in the series shows a different position and shape of the light drawn, and presents a different story or feeling behind it. The use of a natural setting creates a startling contrast between the light drawings and the organic environment. His decision behind choosing the location of the field being displayed is because he feels that the photographs present a combination of man-made structures of light and nature which creates a fragile quality and in turn these help to provide a space for the presentation of the light drawings.
His work uses performance in the creation of the work as he moves around the composition to perform for the viewer, showing movement and also guiding the eye around it. Daniel describes the work as temporary artwork because in the process of making it he is unaware of the outcome of the photograph until processed. The light drawings only exist on the photograph and do not mark the environment, hence making the work temporary and only available to view in a pictorial form.
Daniel now plans to take a gap year from education so that he can expand on his experience of becoming an artist and photographer, he then hopes to return to either train to become an art teacher or take his master degree in fine art.
Daniel is spending the summer volunteering with Mencap at Melton Mowbray providing art therapy sessions as part of their summer scheme. He will be working with children and young people up to the age of 18 years who have special educational needs. Daniel said that he is looking forward to working with the young people over the summer as he is considering entering teaching and so this would be valuable experience.
If you are interested in contacting Daniel about any of his work or if you would like to commission him, you can contact him either by telephone on 07975 819 909 or email: daniel_proud@hotmail.co.uk and visit his website at www.danielproud.co.uk

Art Exhibition At Wreake Valley CC

admin — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:03:39 +0000

On Wednesday 13th July Wreake Valley Community College held it’s annual exhibition of students work from GSCE to A Level. The quality of the work on display improves every year and this was no exception. The attention to detail in some of the pieces was incredible and we certainly have some very talented young people in our town. As we walked around the displays we were serenaded by the recordings made by music students, which added an extra dimension to the event and gave them a platform for their work.