Red Nose Day 2024 🔴

The children at Aston Lodge loved dressing up to raise money for Red Nose Day. 

They raised an amazing £110! 👏

Hazel Class Visit the National Space Centre 🚀

As part of their Science topic, Hazel class went on a trip to the National Space Centre. 

They learnt all about the life of an astronaut and many more interesting facts about space. The children also had the opportunity to see a real life rocket. 

A fabulous day was had by all! 

Children's Mental Health Week 🧠

As part of Children’s Mental Health Week, the children at Aston Lodge took part in a range of activities to celebrate ‘Speaking Up’.

They worked as a team in mixed year groups on the yard; they then returned to the classroom and thought about what compliments they could give people in their class – to use their voice in a positive way.

Well done Aston Lodge, for speaking up about how important mental health is! 🧠

WSSC Army Challenge Day 🥾

45 students from years 9, 10 and 11 had an exciting day with the Army. The visit was designed to allow students an insight into army life and the types of exercises they would have to undertake as part of life in the Army. As well as undertaking missions and various physical activities, the students had the opportunity to work with the Black Rats, under the command of Major Humphries and Sgt Major Littlewood from Catterick Barracks.

The students (and staff) enjoyed every minute of their day, and particularly enjoyed meeting Dragoons, snipers and the PT instructors. 

Y7 Effort Rewards Breakfast 🥐

We hosted our latest Headteacher’s Rewards Breakfast this morning. We were rewarding outstanding students in Y7 who have demonstrated consistently excellent effort this year. Our brilliant canteen staff provided a feast for our worthy winners. The winners also had a chance to discuss their school life with Mr Hardcastle over bacon sandwiches, croissants and hash browns. 

Drama Students' London Theatre Trip 🎭

Sixth Form and Y11 Drama students recently enjoyed a two-day trip to London’s South Bank and West End. The students saw two shows – the crime thriller, Witness for the Prosecution, and the spectacular stage musical, Mamma Mia!

The group also had a tour of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, learning about theatrical traditions in Elizabethan times and the history of the original Globe, 400 years ago. After this, the students took part in a practical workshop on The Merchant of Venice, which Y12 students have studied in lessons.

RCS Sports Leaders Assist First Sports Event 🏐

On Tuesday 12th March the Rotherham School Games team ran two Boccia festivals with the help of the Rawmarsh Community School Sports Leaders.

In the morning, 12 primary schools came down and played Boccia, with some playing the game for the very first time, and in the afternoon 5 secondary schools competed in the same format, against each other.

They School Games team would like to congratulate and give a big thanks to the RCS Sports Leaders who helped run their first School Games event. They we’re instrumental in helping run the events, through refereeing all the matches and making sure the children had a positive experience. 👏

RCS Snozone Trip ⛷️

On Thursday 7th March, 31 of our students visited Snozone to practice and develop their skiing skills before we take to the mountain in Passo Tonale, Italy, later this month. The more advanced students who have been before spent their lesson refreshing their skills on the main slope and were hitting the jumps and rails. Our other students who have never been before spent the lesson getting their first taste of skiing, learning how to fit their boots and skis correctly and practicing basic skills on the nursery slope.

All the students who attended made fantastic progress and should certainly be proud of their achievements. They were a credit to themselves and to the school and showed they were willing to take risks and rise to the challenge.

UK Youth Parliament 'Make Your Mark' Election 🗳️

Over the last few weeks, RCS Students have had the opportunity in form time to have their say in the UK Youth Parliament ‘Make Your Mark’ Election. Make Your Mark gives all young people aged 11-18 in the UK the chance to have their voices heard about the biggest issues facing them. 

Students had the chance to vote for the topic they cared most about (see attached list) and looked closely at the Youth Candidate Manifestos to then cast their votes. By taking part in an election, RCS students are developing their skills to become active participants in the political process in life after school.

We look forward to hearing the final results!

Easter Church Visit ⛪️

Fantastic behaviour from the Y3/4 children on our visit to St Mary’s Church, where we made an Easter chick and listened to the Easter Story. 

Den-Building with Mrs Westnidge 🏕️

Mrs Westnidge was lucky enough to have some free training as part of our outdoor grant from ‘Learning Through Landscapes’ based on den building. 

We put this training into practise and were busy making dens. The children have really enjoyed it and have picked up some wonderful new skills!

Y5/6 PGL Residential

Students from Year 5 and 6 visited Newby Wiske PGL recently for a residential trip. We took part in lots of brilliant activities including: archery, fencing, climbing/abseiling, obstacle courses, fire making and surviving in the wild.

All the children had an amazing time and showed great resilience and determination when trying new activities.

WPT Careers Adviser Achieves Level 6 Diploma 🎓

Congratulations to our Careers Adviser, Beverley Jones, for achieving her Level 6 Diploma in Careers Guidance & Development! 

Beverley’s role at the Trust includes conducting 1:1 Post-16 careers interviews with KS4 students, informing them of their Post-16 options and empowering them to independently research their options to help with next step decision making.

We're super proud of Bev for investing the time and work into her own career development - a fantastic achievement!

Join Our Team! 🧑‍💻

We have a few support staff and teacher vacancies across our Trust! 

Check out our new Recruitment Portal using the button below to find your next role!

We're on TikTok! 🎥

We're now on TikTok! Give us a follow to see the latest from WPT! 

@wickersleypt

RE Ambassadors Plant Peace Trees at Clifton 🌳

On February 22nd 2024 Ms Choudhry and the RE ambassadors at Clifton School were invited by Rotherham Faith Leaders and Green Spaces to join them in support of world peace by planting an Oak Tree at Clifton Park.

We arrived at the park and were greeted by Dave Homer who is a retired RE teacher and is a local Buddhist faith leader, we were really excited to be meeting members of so many different religions.  We helped the Mayor of Rotherham and other faith leaders plant the tree, we then planted some snow drops around the tree, this was really special as every year the flowers will bloom and it will mark our contribution and also help us remember where we planted the tree.

CCS Music Department Visit the University of Hull 🎓

On Friday 1st March Year 10 GCSE Performing Arts (Music) students and Miss Smales were invited to visit the University of Hull for a studio recording workshop with Dr Matthew Barnard. The students gained an insight into further education in Music, life at university, and had the opportunity to use industry standard recording studios and equipment. 

The students were an absolute credit to Clifton Community School; they were keen to get involved, engaged in every opportunity offered to them, and really embodied the Clifton Way. 

Y7 Visit the Madina Mosque 🕌

The Year 7 students at Clifton were all invited to attend a trip to the Madina Mosque. We all went together on a coach and this was a really exciting day.

We were all very impressed with our host Zahid’s talk to help us understand the Islamic faith further. A fellow student said, “I was very interested in the Holy Quran and how many languages it can be translated into.”  We learnt that the Quran is translated in almost every language but only the Arabic version contains the true meaning of God's words. 

WPT Y10 Careers Fair 💼

On Friday 8th March, we held another Careers Fair at our Cranworth Road site. It was Y10’s time to come down and gain insight into the Post-16 and career opportunities available to them, both locally and nationally.

Students from Wickersley School & Sports College, Thrybergh Academy, Rawmarsh Community School and Clifton Community School came along to network with colleges, universities, the armed forces, public sector organisations and private sector companies.

We even had our own WPT stand to help spread the word of the range of careers available within the Trust and education sector!

A huge thank you to the providers who attended the event and made it a huge success for our students.

WPT Students attend The Don Valley Festival 🎨

Last weekend (22nd-24th March), students from primary and secondary schools from across Wickersley Partnership Trust attended The Don Valley Festival!

The festival is a community event that has a strong emphasis on young talent and creativity in Doncaster and beyond. It celebrates the artistic abilites of children in South Yorkshire, in areas including art, photography, music and drama.

It's Not OK Week 🟢

On the 11th – 15th March, students across the five secondary schools in the Trust focused on “it’s not ok” linked to e-safety, consent and healthy relationships. They explored the different topics through the stories of characters who face some of these problems and used the excellent resources and advice of the NSPCC. 

We dedicated this time to raise awareness and promote the importance of safeguarding and protecting young people. It was all about fostering a safe, supportive environment where everyone feels empowered to speak up against any form of abuse or neglect.  

PING Partnership Careers in Golf Workshop ⛳️

On Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th February, a group of Y10 and Y11 Gainsborough Academy students were invited to participate in a ‘Careers in Golf’ workshop, hosted by The Golf Foundation and PING at Thonock Park Golf Club.

The workshop is a new initiative organised by Brendon Pyle, Chief Executive of The Golf Foundation, and is supported by Jack Cole, Careers in Golf Programme manager and Navigate, with aims to educate young people and take them ‘behind the scenes’ of the global golf industry whilst breaking down any negative barriers around golf. They hope to encourage young people of all backgrounds to consider a career in golf, even if they aren’t into the sport itself.

Y7 Theatre Trip 🎭

TGA took a wonderful group of Y7 students who have engaged well with our ‘Reading for Pleasure’ during form time to the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield to watch a production of ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’. 

This inspirational production wowed the students who all had a fantastic time and all arrived back to school with positive smiles on their faces.  

Taekwondo Champion 🥋

Cody (Y8) has been at the Stuttgart International Taekwondo Championships in Germany again recently. He only went and won the final 2-0. 

Well done Cody! We’re all very proud of you. 👏

Money Matters 💰

In our Money Matters lesson this half term we have been learning how important it is to keep track of what we spend and what we save. 

We recorded our withdrawals and deposits to help us learn how to do this. We worked hard and learnt that we have to take responsibility for our actions.

Easter Parent Workshop 🐰

Year 4/5 had a fantastic time with the clay, making Easter bunnies at their Parent Workshop. They worked hard, never gave up and are proud of their achievements.

A big thank you to all the parents who could attend our event!

Foundation Stage Celebrated Lunar New Year 🎇

Last month, Foundation celebrated the Lunar New Year. 

We enjoyed watching the dragon dancers and created our own dragon dance in our classroom! We had so much fun moving to the beat of the music!

Class 13 Learn About the Industrial Revolution 🌿

Class 13 worked with Pop’s Outdoor Education to learn a little more about the working conditions children would have experienced and the expectations that would have been placed upon them during their work in The Industrial Revolution.

The children worked together to complete a set of team challenges with the emphasis being placed on team work and communication.

Zara's Little Princess Trust Donation 💇‍♀️

A huge well done to Zara in Y2 for donating 30cm of her hair to the Little Princess Trust. 

We are so proud of you! 

Handa's Surprise Story Learning 📚

Last week we read the story Handa’s Surprise. 

We talked about all of the seven delicious fruits in Handa’s basket and we learnt all the colours of them too. 

LetGirlsPlay International Women's Day Football Session ⚽️

On Friday 8th March, it was International Women’s Day. As part of Barclays’ initiative #LetGirlsPlay, we hosted the biggest-ever football session, where all children across the school got the opportunity to take part in fun football games and matches. Teamwork, great skills, and most importantly, smiles were all on show. 

This term also saw the launch of girls-only football during Wednesday break times. We have been really impressed with the number of girls who have taken part in this new opportunity.

A Greener Future for Aston Hall ☀️

FS2 had a great chat with Dave, the Project Manager from Genfit who is responsible for installing solar panels on our school’s roof.

Dave explained how the panels would generate electricity for the school and showed us the excavator used to deliver the panels to the roof. We were amazed by how high it went!

A Visit from Gully Mouse! 🐭

Gully mouse and some staff from Gulliver’s Valley Theme Park visited as part of our monthly careers assemblies. They spoke about all the different jobs and careers that are needed for a theme park to run, and gave us a glimpse behind the scenes at the local theme park.

The children loved having Gully in school and told him all about their favourite parts of the park, giving plenty of high-fives as they left assembly.

Thank you to Gully and the Gulliver’s Valley staff for giving their time to visit us.

TA Complete the Army Youth Challenge Course 🥾

39 students from Y9 and Y10 completed the Army Youth Challenge Course at Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Strensall, York showing all the attributes of the Thrybergh Way to represent the Academy!

They completed the Obstacle Course, Communication Task, Logistics Command Task and Paintball Range followed by receiving an Army Careers Presentation.

The behaviour and attitude of all students was excellent and they enjoyed gaining valuable experience and knowledge of Army roles and potential career opportunities whilst speaking to serving soldiers on the Army camp! 

Peter Pan 🏹

What a week! What a show! Thank you to everyone who attended PETER PAN at Thrybergh Academy. 

The students worked tremendously hard and created a brilliant, hilarious show, something they should truly be proud of.  

Y9's Trip to Sheffield Lyceum Theatre 🎭

Y9 Drama students visited Sheffield Lyceum to see Mischief Theatre’s touring production of ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’.

All students thoroughly enjoyed the fast-paced, slapstick comedy as Peter and the Lost Boys endured technical hitches and flying mishaps, all to hilarious effect.

This was the first of many theatre trips in store for those pursuing GCSE Drama next year so keep your eyes peeled for more announcements!

British Science Week 🧪

For British Science Week, we have been Seismologists. We created our own seismographs and captured various movements using these.

We found out how these are used in the world today and how vital they can be within the study of natural disasters.

World Book Day Boogie 🕺

At lunch times we dance with Miss Roper in dance club on the yard. World Book Day was particularly exciting because we dressed up as our favourite book characters to join in with the dancing. 

We had some groovy moves! 

Rotherham Community Football Partnership ⚽️

Ashwood are really lucky to be working in partnership with Drew Russell from the Rotherham Community Football Trust.

Class 5 are working on their football skills over a period of weeks, developing their passing and aiming skills. 

Y13 Drama Performance Exams 🎭

Students in the Y13 A Level Drama and Theatre class recently performed their scripted pieces for examination. Monologue extracts from the plays Miss Julie and Immaculate were followed by a performance of a key extract from Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.

Congratulations to the students on their impressive performances.

Y12 Visit Oxford University 🎓

On Thursday the 7th of March, a group of our Y12 students visited the Magdalen College at The University of Oxford. They had a great day exploring the college and the city, as well as participating in sessions that introduced them to studying at a world-class university and gave them a taste of what it was like. 

Our students made us proud – by maturely presenting themselves and getting involved in all of the activities with enthusiasm and professionalism!

Y12 Geography Fieldwork Trip 🌾

Year 12 Geographers conducted the first of their four fieldwork days out in the Peak District. 

Students investigated the sequestration of carbon in peatland moors and Burbage Brook rivers. They worked alongside the Moorland discovery centre at Longshaw Estate, ran by the National Trust.