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CURRICULUM DAY

The Victorian Operating Theatre at St Thomas' Hospital		On Tuesday we held a very productive Curriculum Day, where pupils were involved in a wide range of exciting activities. Pupils in Years 11 and 9 attended a range of GCSE/SATs booster sessions aimed to help them in the exams they will be taking later this year. Year 7 pupils spent the day in school investigating the literary heritage of `A Christmas Carol' and developing their drama
		skills,while pupils in Year 8 spent the day taking part in a variety of stimulating activities in Modern Languages, Drama, Art and Music. A very varied programme was on offer for our Year 10 pupils, including in-school activities in Psychology, ICT, PE and PSRE. In addition for Year

10 there was a Geography field trip to Walton-on-the-Naze and a History trip to the Science Museum & St Thomas's Hospital in London, while pupils studying Dance spent the day at Pineapple Studios in London before going on to the Sadlers Wells Theatre to watch `Swan Song' by the Rambert Theatre Company.

ICT SAFETY

Pupils acting out an ICT safety role play

On Wednesday we held an ICT Safety event for pupils in Year 8. As I am sure you are aware, there has been a great deal in the news recently about the dangers of internet chat rooms, MSN etc., and it is vital that parents are vigilant at home. We will produce some guidelines for parents during the course of the year. However, it is worth reinforcing the following points to your children:

1. Never reveal personal information about yourselves on-line

2. Avoid webcams uploading personal images which can be accessible to strangers

3. Never agree to meet up with someone you do not know

4. Don't always believe what a person in a chatroom tells you.

Any concerns or worries should be reported to the internet service provider as soon as possible.

You may find the website www.childnet-int.org of interest.

PARENT GOVERNORS

We currently have three Parent Governor vacancies on our Governing Body. The Governing Body plays a vital part in school life in that it oversees the running of the school. The job is unpaid, however, it is a very worthwhile role. Governors are expected to attend a Full Governing Body meeting once a term and to join at least one of the four sub-committees (Finance, Premises, Personnel and Curriculum). Parents prepared to stand will have to be prepared to undergo a CRB check.

If any parent is interested in becoming a Governor, please write to me or telephone to express an interest within the next week so I can provide you with more information. If four or more nominations are received, there will of course need to be an election.

Tania Dickens (Head of MFL) reporting

As well as the learning that goes on in the classroom, pupils in languages have a number of opportunities to use and extend their skills outside the classroom. We had an excellent start to the year in September when 12 Year 11 pupils took part in a residential trip to Normandy in France. Our languages clubs have also been going from strength to strength this year. As well as the Chinese club, the Spanish and Italian clubs have given our pupils the opportunity to learn not only a new language but also to learn more about >Spain and Italy. Curriculum Day on Tuesday for Year 8 pupils was also a great success. It focused on Germany and German customs and traditions. The highlight for many of our pupils was the food tasting !

LE CHÂTEAU

Daniel 11TWO reporting.

Bonjour ! At the beginning of October eleven other students and I went with Mr Woolnough and Mrs Dickens to Normandy. During the trip we experienced many activities including fencing, rock climbing, an assault course, orienteering/ map reading and not to mention speaking French to French people! It was all good but I enjoyed the map reading the most. We all eventually tried snails! They tasted of garlic covered mushrooms. We all didn't want to leave!

Luke Woolnough reporting

Château de la Baudonnière is situated in the region of La Manche in Normandy and is about 90 minutes from Caen and Cherbourg. The whole idea of the centre is that pupils have the opportunity to practise their French and listen to French being spoken at all times while doing a huge variety of activities. I was delighted by the way our pupils tried to speak French at every opportunity and I think they were impressed at how their confidence in speaking French had improved as a result of the visit.

If you are in Year 9 or 10 and are interested in taking part in the Château trip next year, please see Mrs Dickens for information.

IN OUR OPINION!
(Á notre avis)

Mithal Law reporting

Year 9 have been learning how to justify their opinions with reasons, in French. As part of a home learning competition they burnt a CD of their favourite tunes and created the accompanying CD covers displaying the song details, a decorative front cover and an inlay sheet with sentences in French stating the reasons for their choice of songs. Katherine Haggerty and Harriet Welch showed outstanding effort. Well done girls!

CURRICULUM DAY

Jack & Harry 8NVA reporting

Guten Tag !

Our German Curriculum Day was really fun. We learnt different facts about Germany and tasted German food eaten at Christmas. We tasted Lebkuchen and Spekulatius[biscuits], Stollen [a kind of cake] and we drank Apfelsaft.

We learnt, for example, that Berlin used to be the capital of Germany before the wall went up that divided East and West Germany. 28 years later it was the capital again when the wall was knocked down. During the time in which the wall was up Bonn was the capital. We are really looking forward to the next German Curriculum Day. Auf Wiedersehen !

Lebkuchen

Stollen

Spekulatius

Some facts about Germany that I learnt on Curriculum Day

by Kathryn 8NVa

1 Germany is divided up into 16 different states called `Land' in German.

2 The highest mountain in Germany is called Zugspitze and it is 2,968 metres high.

3 The currency in Germany is the Euro but it used to be the Deutsche Mark.

4 The German name for their flag is `Fahne'.

NI HAO (HELLO)

A lively Chinese Club runs after school on Tuesdays in the languages department. Every week pupils of all ages and levels of skill are able to get together to learn about the language and culture of China. Recently they have practised writing Chinese characters, found out about Chinese food and even written and performed their own play in Chinese. Club members hope to be able to visit >China next year to meet pupils from our partner school, Xin Hua Middle School in Yangzhou.

I go to Chinese Club and it's fun. I find it interesting to learn another language. (Mandarin) Catherine 9RCh

Last term languages teacher Christine Jarrold visited our Chinese partner school to meet headteacher Mr Zhang and teachers and students in the English department. They discussed setting up a scheme for Sweyne Park pupils to exchange letters with Chinese penfriends and looked forward to perhaps planning a visit in the future.

LANGUAGES CLUB

Spanish Club ~ ML1 ~ Wednesday at 3:15pm

Italian Club ~ ML3 ~ Friday at 3:15pm

Chinese Club ~ ML2 ~ Tuesday at 3:15pm

The judging for this year's Peace Poster Competition took place at the Civic Suite in Rayleigh on Saturday 10th November. The judges were the Chairman of Rochford District Council, and the Chairman of Rayleigh Town Council. The work produced by Sweyne Park pupils was of extremely high quality. Kerry 9NSm created the winning entry, which will go forward to the district level of the competition. Faye came second & Matthew 9PGa was third. Congratulations to all Year 9 pupils involved including Sammy, Harriet 9NSm & Suzanna, whose posters were `highly commended'.

I thought the day was great! I had a fab time doing what I enjoy. I would like to thank Miss Smith for such a brilliant day. Oakley 9NWe

The day was really good and Miss Smith helped me with new techniques. The peace poster turned out to be really good and I really enjoyed it. Suzanna 9MAt.

We really enjoyed participating in the event. We are really proud of our final products and feel really proud of our achievements. It was a great day! Thank you Miss Smith and the Art department for such a fun day. Josh 9NSm and Rachel 9JMa.

I had to paint a masterpiece based on peace around the world. The day went very well with loads of positive comments from Miss Smith. When I was planning my piece I didn't expect it to be as good but it was. We used acrylic paint, which was different because in many of my Art lessons I don't use acrylics. The day was 10 out of 10! Thamanna 9PGa.

SHADE'S CHILDREN

By Garth Nix

On your 14th birthday, you're dead meat! Chilling Sci Fi adventure from bestselling author Garth Nix. In a futuristic urban wasteland, evil Overlords have decreed that no child shall live a day past his fourteenth birthday. The mysterious Shade — once a man, but now more like the machines he fights — recruits the few children fortunate enough to escape.

With luck, cunning, and skill, four of Shade's children come closer than any to discovering the source of the Overlords' power — and the key to their downfall. But the closer the children get, the more ruthless Shade seems to become!