 LATEST NEWSMoorside Does it Again!
For the fifth year running, Moorside has achieved its best ever GCSE results.
A stunning 74% of year 11 students have gained five or more A*-C passes - a near 20% increase on two years ago.
Headteacher, Jonathan Morris, is justifiably proud of this achievement: "Warm congratulations are due to our outstanding staff and, of course, to the students. It's very rewarding to see them make such excellent progress."
Community Heroes Visit No. 10
Moorside sent two of its community-based staff to a reception at Number 10 this month, to celebrate their contribution to the community. Mel Parker, Parent Support Adviser, and Lindsey Bell, Extended Services Co-ordinator, met up with our local MP Hilary Armstrong at the House of Commons. After tea in The Pugin Room with Hilary and Pat Glass, the new candidate for North West Durham, Mel and Lindsey were treated to a tour of the House – including a visit to the House of Lords where the Bishop of Durham was speaking!
At 5.30pm they lined up with other community champions to meet Gordon and Sarah Brown at a reception a Number 10 Downing Street. “It was an incredible experience”, says Mel. “Hilary made sure we saw the all the rooms and gave us an understanding of how the Prime Minister’s residence works. We managed to get a quick chat with Gordon and Sarah before an official photo.”
Lindsey adds “Meeting the PM was amazing, but I think the tour with Hilary was equally exciting. I’d never expected to sit in the House of Lords, even for a few minutes! It was an experience I will never forget.” Mel Parker provides support for parents of students at Moorside and our partner primary schools. If you think she can help you with any concerns you have about your child, contact her on 01207 588 440 or by emailing mparker@moorsidecollege.org.uk
A Cut above the Rest!!!!
There’s along story to tell about the growth of hairdressing as a subject at Moorside.
You might know that cover supervisor, Niqui McConnell, is a qualified hairdresser and from very small beginnings in the old first aid room, Niqui and Karen Wilson, Assistant Head for Curriculum, have developed student interest in the subject. We reached the point last year where we were ready to lead one of the new diplomas in Hair and Beauty and
actually offer Niqui’s teaching to other schools. But we couldn’t do that in a room not much bigger than a cupboard. We knew that we didn’t have a spare classroom because Moorside is full to bursting. We even thought about borrowing a hairdresser’s shop premises for a day a week. However, when Karen saw how good the D 1-3 temporary classrooms are when they were installed, she asked me to find one for hairdressing. So over to Philip Archer, our Chair of Governors, who used his business networking skills to track down a company in Middlesbrough called Translift. In a very short time they provided a second hand demountable classroom, transported it and installed it and then proceeded to equip it with state of the art hairdressing equipment. The result is stunning. We now have a purpose built
classroom combined with industry standard salon facilities.
The official opening was a very happy event. Our hairdressing students were there, all of the Moorside people who had helped with the project and friends from CCSC, Derwentside College and the academy sponsors. And Hilary Armstrong
was there too, on what was probably her last visit to Moorside as our constituency MP.
And thanks again to Niqui and Karen for making this exciting innovation a reality. Just give Niqui a ring to book a hair do!
Real Care Baby Programme
Our first Real Care Baby programme started in September with a small group of girls. The girls attended ten sessions which included Child Care, Child safety, child protection and practical excercises how to care for babies and toddlers. However, the girls wanted the experience of looking after virtual babies. Ashleigh Carrick and Rachel Batley (year 10) applied to the Youth Opportunity Fund and were successful in securing £4,000 which paid for six real care babies, and
a curriculum pack to facilitate future sessions. The girls looked after the babies for a weekend to have a real experience of how demanding babies can be. Ashleigh Carrick achieved 100% care whilst looking after her baby.
The rest of the group did well also. As the pilot programme was a success we are going to run the real care baby project as a rolling programme throughout the year. We will be offering the programme to pupils in year 10 and above. Pupils will be interviewed to ensure that they will be committed to attending all of the sessions will which run on a Tuesday night in the Phoenix from 3.15 until 4.45 p.m.
Ashleigh Carrick will be helping to facilitate the sessions as a peer mentor and will also be involved in the interview process for new group members.
For further information please contact myself Lynn Walton (Community Worker) in the Phoenix Centre or speak to Ashleigh Carrick.
Recharging the Earth Project
Year 7 students are leading the way in our ‘Recharging the Earth’ project! Jenny Hall and Lucy Spence (Year 7 students) were at the press launch to represent Moorside and its partner schools who are taking part in this project.
Recharging the Earth is an environmental project looking at sustainable choices – what will our Earth be like in twenty five years if we make sustainable choices now, or if we don’t?
Year 7 students are learning about the issues with Miss Smith in science lessons, and then going out to seven primary
schools to teach younger students what they have learned. There’s a competition between the primary schools to produce the best project on this theme, and we’re all collecting used batteries for SANYO’s recycling process too!
Miss Smith says “This project is a great way for our students to learn about sustainable choices, and through teaching younger students they have the messages we all hear emphasised again and again. The competitive side of the project has really fired up the primary schools too!”
Our partner schools in this project are Castleside Primary School, Moorside Primary School, The Grove Primary School,
Delves Lane Community School (Federated), Consett Junior School, St Patrick’s RCVA Primary School, and Bishop Ian
Ramsey C of E School.
The project is led by the County Durham Development Company, SANYO and NET Park.
MOORSIDE WINS GOLD
Moorside students have struck gold in their 2008 GCSE results.
A stunning 57% of Year 11 achieved 5 or more A*- C grades including English and Maths which compares brilliantly with the college’s 2007 figure of 29%. Not only that but 70% of them gained 5 or more A*- C grades overall, compared with 56% in 2007.
Headteacher, Jonathan Morris, is justifiably proud of Moorside’s achievement: “Our results have improved every year since 2003, but these are our best ever. Our success is down to a simple formula of combining excellent teaching with positive, well motivated students. I must thank everyone at Moorside for the equivalent of an Olympic gold medal performance.”
MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT IN MATHS
Moorside Maths teachers have doubled their classes’ GCSE results.
In 2007, 33% of GCSE Maths students gained A*- C: this year that figure has rocketed to 62%.
Assistant Headteacher and expert mathematician, Jeff Allan, arrived in January 2008 to lead this surge in standards: “Obviously I’m very pleased to see such a quick turnaround. However, I couldn’t have done it on my own and I must pay tribute to the whole of the Maths team for rising to the challenge.”
Headteacher, Jonathan Morris, feels that the success in Maths is richly deserved: “In 2007, a one year blip in GCSE Maths led to us being unfairly publicised as a National Challenge school. We now look forward to a similarly high profile message of congratulation from government ministers for our 2008 results.”
MOORSIDE MEETS THE CHALLENGE
Our policy of stretching students, especially the more able, is one of the reasons for our exam success.
Deputy Headteacher, Barbara Salkeld, leads our enrichment programme for able and talented students. Two years ago she gained Moorside the prestigious National Challenge Award, making us the first secondary school in the north to win such recognition.
This achievement and now the 2008 GCSE scores show that Ms. Salkeld’s approach has been very effective: “Students of all abilities have done well at GCSE this year, but I’m especially pleased with the great increase in top grades: 42% of year 11 gained one or more A or A* grades.”
WE'RE A HEALTHY SCHOOL!
Inspectors have granted Moorside a prestigious national award for health education. After a rigorous assessment, we have been granted National Healthy School Status.
Director of Personal Development, Geoff Mallabar, has steered the college through the judging process: "This was a great team effort and reflects the high quality work we do in teaching our students to make the right choices in nutrition, exercise and relationships." |
Click here for the latest news on our iPod trial
