Newsletter

Summer Term 2012

Bents Green School

Sheffield Childrens Festival 2012
This term the Year 9's have been working with visiting artist Lucy Coyne to create some large colourful day lilies for this years Children's Festival. Lucy started us off with a day workshop and we have continued in lessons to complete them. Those of you who came to the recent parent's evening will have seen one set of flowers displayed in the entrance hall. They created a wonderful, bright welcome to visitors. All the flowers will now be collected to be displayed with work from other schools in the Botanical Gardens from Monday 18th June. They will be there throughout the summer so look out for them when you visit the Botanical Gardens. Karen Oakland, Art Tutor

Sheffield Lord Mayor visits Bents Green School to meet Duke of Edinburgh Students
As part of the Duke of Edinburgh Expedition accreditation Bents Green School Year 10 pupils planned and trained for an adventurous journey in the UK. They completed their overnight expedition in Derbyshire, walking with rucksacks and map reading their way to a predetermined campsite. A distance of approximately 18 kilometres was covered over the 2 days. The students had to set up their own camp and cook for themselves on stoves. The Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Councillor Dr Sylvia Dunkley, visited the school on Friday 11 May and talked to the Duke of Edinburgh students who participated on the course.
Marie Gregory, DoE Co-ordinator

OFFICIAL SCHOOL OPENINGSATURDAY 16 JUNE

We hope that you will be able to join us for the school official opening on Saturday 16th June. The day is all about the pupils, for them to show off their beautiful new school but it is also to come and enjoy a day that has been tailored for them. We wanted the opening to be on a Saturday to enable as many of you to attend as possible. All activities on the day are free of charge for pupils and their siblings. Activities on the day will include a climbing wall, sports activity area, spa treatments, henna treatments, massage, face painting, stilt walkers, jugglers, live music and dance plus displays by the Army, Police and Fire Service. There will also be stalls selling various items and information for parents and students on life after Bents Green. We really want you all to come and enjoy yourselves, have a cake and a pot of tea and be part of a very special day. Sandy Warne, Community Governor

Bents Green School Website

We are in the process of building our school website to enable parents/carers to access information such as term dates, letters, trips, newsletters, termly school calendar etc. Please log onto: www.bentsgreen.co.uk. If you would like to feedback to us about any of the articles in this newsletter or pass on any comments or suggestions please complete the reply slip enclosed or send us an email via the school website.

Food Technology at Silverdale and King Ecgbert School

We are delighted that Quiana in Y8 is studying Food Technology at King Ecgbert School. Ellie (pictured), a Y10 student, is enjoying meeting new friends and following an Entry Level Food Studies course at Silverdale School.

Anyone for Table Tennis?

The Y10 and Y11 General Studies option groups have been learning about the Olympic Games and getting involved in the build up to London 2012. As part of this they have had the opportunity to learn an Olympic sporttable tennis. Shaun Alvey, a table tennis coach who trains youngsters all over the country, has been coming into school every Wednesday afternoon to give coaching sessions. He has helped us to acquire two good quality tables and our pupils have really enjoyed the sessions. Staff have been amazed at the progress pupils have made and some pupils are going to start attending evening sessions run by Shaun to improve their game even more. Julie Crookes, General Studies Tutor

Family Healthy Cooking Sessions

It was lovely to welcome more parents and grandparents to the Family Healthy Cooking after school sessions. Families enjoyed eating meals together, spaghetti bolognese, roasted vegetables and Yorkshire puddings were very popular.
Janice Gosling, Healthy Schools Co-ordinator and Food Technology Tutor

Girls Club
Georgina only attends Bents Green School on Tuesday afternoons. Her birthday was on pancake day and so we decided to celebrate in style by making and eating our own pancakes!

SEND MY FRIEND TO SCHOOL

In RE lessons some students have taken part in the Send My Friend to School campaign. They have created gold medal messages urging world leaders to keep their promise made in 2000 to get every child to school by 2015. We have sent them to local MP Nick Clegg. Visit www.sendmyfriend.org for more information.
Emily Whiteley, RE Tutor

National Festival of Music for Youth

Firstly, huge congratulations to the Post 16 students who wowed the audience and music adjudicators with their performance in March and have subsequently been asked to perform at the National Festival of Music for Youth. This is the ninth consecutive year that an ensemble from Bents Green has been asked to perform in the Nationals in Birmingham, a prestigious musical event showcasing the best musical talent from around the whole country. We are performing our own arrangement of music from the French film Amelie with the professional percussionist Mr Chris Bradley, who has become a regular visitor to the school in recent years. Good luck to them on Wednesday July 4th. We will have spaces available on the coach, so if you would like to support the group, and fancy a day trip to Birmingham then please get in touch!

This years musicians are: Luke Flowers, Joshua Scott, Luke Askham, Curtis Wright, Alec Murphy, Graeme Allen, Louise Allen and Mr Roger Simmons. (Isabelle Ingham and Mrs Sam Hall are missing)

Year 10 & Year 11 Pupils La Boheme Opera Experience

Y10 and Y11 pupils spent the day in London recently visiting the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden to see a fabulous opera by Puccini called La Boheme. Its one of the most popular operas in the repertoire with lovely music and a very sad and emotional ending, and yes, some of us had tears in our eyes at the end, but Im not telling you who it was! We completed the day with lots of sightseeing and a lovely meal out. For many of the pupils it was their very first trip to London and we are very grateful to Happy Days Charity who very kindly funded our train fares for the day. Judith Ennis, Music Tutor

Year 8 Safari Park Geography Trip

On the 28th March a group of Y8 students visited West Midlands Safari Park as part of their Geography work on the animals of India and Africa. We were really excited to see all kinds of different animals, these included giraffes, rhinos, leopards and many others. The students were particularly excited to see the unusual white tigers and lions. Some of the animals were actually very friendly; some of the students were even licked by a giraffe! Despite a very long journey home, all the students were exceptionally well behaved and a good time was had by all!
Diana Porteous, Geography Tutor

POST 16 NEWS
The Six Book Challenge: Some of the students in Post 16 have been taking part in the Six Book Challenge aimed at encouraging reading in adults. The scheme is run by The Reading Agency through Sheffield City Libraries. Students have enjoyed reading the books they had chosen and then reviewing and rating each one in a personal reading log. As a result of all their hard work, students will be getting a certificate book token and possibly meeting the Lord Mayor!

Pop Festival Date for Post 16 Student

Following his recent TV appearance on Look North, Under the Stars band member Sam Hayward will be appearing in Tramlines Music Festival in July. Sam is a percussionist in the band and says he is excited to be playing at Tramlines again.

Post 16 Students Visit Stockholm

On 5th March 2012, 6 Students and 2 staff members met at Sheffield Station to begin their journey to Stockholm, Sweden to take part in an International Seminar on Inclusion of Young People with Learning Disability. The school had been invited to take part in the event through contacts made by Post-16 staff member, Roger Simmons, who has been involved in international work with young disabled people for some 30 years. The Bents Green students joined young people from Sweden, Germany, Greece and Spain to stay in a hotel on the outskirts of Stockholm and to share experiences about their lives in each respective country. Each group made a presentation about their living situation and to what extent they were included in everyday life in their own communities. Bents Green students presented a Powerpoint slide show showing the City of Sheffield and the school itself followed by various displays and collages depicting their interests and activities. The 5 day event also enabled the young people to visit the City of Stockholm for sight-seeing and shopping. The final day was spent at the Linderparken Special School where everyone saw education Swedish-style as well as finishing off the day with a Farewell Party. And, just to make sure we knew we were in Scandinavia, the snow started just as we were leaving! Bents Green Students were a credit to the school and are looking forward to showing a slide show of the visit to their families and friends. The trip was funded by the European Youth for Action programme.

Posing with Swedish friends at Linderparken Special School, Stockholm

Stockholm City sightseeing with Greek friends and families

Date for your Diary

We are one of 2 Sheffield schools to be involved in a School Produce Sale, a joint project from Waitrose and School Food Matters. We will be selling our fruit and vegetables at the Ecclesall Road Waitrose store from 11am on Thursday 12 July. Please come along and support us. All proceeds will come straight back to school. The lovely fruit and vegetable plants arrived last week and lots of us were very busy planting them out! Hope to see you there!
Emily Whiteley, Land Based Learning Tutor

FRIENDS OF BENTS GREEN

Forthcoming Events Fashion Shows: 20 June and 21 November 2012Tickets 5 The FOBG stall will be in operation at the schools official Open Day on Saturday 16 June. Can we say THANK YOU: to the parent who raised 600 on a bike riding challenge. to the company who donated enough cream eggs for all our young people at Easter. to the parent who collects ink cartridges from Sheffield Hospitals for recycling. Please can you help us by donating: DVDs (age appropriate) CDs Rags Good quality books Unwanted gifts and bottles of wine for raffle prizes

Parent Governors at Bents Green School

The Governor election last November resulted in 6 new parents being elected to the governing body as Governors and Associates . There are several different types of governors: Staff Governors, Parent Governors, Community Governors and Associates, headed by the Chair of Governors and each governor and member of the governing body brings their own experience and knowledge to the role. The full governing body meets once a term and is attended by all Governors, Chair, Clerk to Governors and the Headteacher. All Governors are members of subcommittees and at Bents Green these are the Strategy, Teaching & Learning, Resources and Community Committees. Sub-committee meetings take place more frequently. Some governors will have additional link roles, for example Safeguarding, SEN, Health & Safety. The role of Governor within any school is to provide a strategic view, act as a critical friend and ensure accountability. The Parent Governor role is to represent and take into account the views of parents and to bring those matters to the attention of the whole governing body. Being a Parent Governor at Bents Green School presents a particular challenge - most children have transport to school, so the usual opportunities presented to Parent Governors to discuss matters and get to know other parents can be limited. As Parent Governors, we are looking at increasing our visibility and accessibility to parents in a number of ways. We will be available at parents evenings and other events, and are planning to use the school portal for communication in the future. We aim to give information about what is happening at the school, carry out surveys and create a discussion forum. You can contact Parent Governors by email on: governors@bentsgreen.sheffield.sch.uk We would love to hear what you think about the school any issues that concern you, what you think works well, and not so well, and of course any suggestions you might have. We are all parents of children at the school and want to work together to ensure the school remains a supportive and vibrant place for all.
Parent Governors:

Donna Buckingham

Michelle Cooke

Rachel Crowther

Laura Gillespie

Anne Gaydon

Janice Lowe

David Roe

Jayne Woodward