This week, Plymstock School helped to support primary school children and staff in Plymouth who have been taking part in the ‘Classroom to Moon’ school walking challenge.
The Plymouth-wide school walking challenge aims to collectively travel to the moon by the end of October. It’s all part of the ‘Plymotion Project’ which aims to get more people in Plymouth walking, cycling and using public transport and less people using cars. Primary schools have been encouraged to design a friendship flag and groups of children from lots of different schools take part in a big relay.
On Tuesday lunchtime we were visited by a wonderful group of students from Dunstone Primary, along with a teacher and two representatives from Plymouth City Council, as they continued on their walk to Pomphlett. The team were full of smiles, despite the grey and damp conditions.
This week also saw Plymstock School undergo its annual two-day Quality Assurance Review undertaken by our multi-academy trust – the Westcountry Schools Trust (WeST). A team of senior leaders from across WeST, led by an experienced reviewer (who works for Challenge Partners and is also a practising Ofsted Inspector), spent two days at Plymstock School observing lessons, interviewing staff, talking to students, reviewing work and analysing results. It was a very busy and challenging two days but I am delighted to say that the team saw so many great things, recognised the school’s many successes and could see why Plymstock School is one of the highest performing and most successful schools in the region.
One of our Year 8 students, Cameron, has become a bit of celebrity following a metal-detecting find with his Dad over the summer holidays in Salisbury. Cameron and his Dad found a Bronze Age gold penannular ring (known as a Celtic money ring) that is over 3000 years old. What an incredible historical find Cameron.
Congratulations goes to Year 10 student, Destine. She has just had a poem published in another anthology called “If I..”. Her poem was titled ” If I could change the world”, which could see her visit a Eurocamp next year, if she wins the overall competition! Best of luck Destine.
I’d like to commend one of our amazing young people, Year 8 student Patience, who did the 23km ‘Tour de Moor’ over the weekend with her Dad, in memory of her Grandad and in aid of St. Lukes Hospice. Patience managed to raise in excess of £400 for the charity. What an incredible achievement and in recognition of this, Patience is one of our students of the week.
This week our Under 16 girls football team played in a Futsal tournament at Plymouth Life Centre. This was a competition open to all schools in Plymouth but we were one of only two schools who were able to field a team! This is testament to our girls dedication and commitment to the sport and their understanding of how important it is to stay physically active. Despite the knowledge that they would automatically qualify for the next round they did not hold back and beat Stoke Damerel Community College by a whopping 10-2. Maddy scored 5, Amy 4 and Beth 1. It was a fantastic display of team work, motivation and individual skill, and Mrs Tyrrell was extremely proud to watch them play. Well done girls!
Our Year 8 rugby team have just started their season off with two strong performances at Stoke Damerel Community College. We narrowly lost to a very strong Devonport High School for Boys team, before recovering well to beat Stoke Damerel in our final game. Our standout players were William B and Maison R.
Our Year 9 team also kicked off their season with games against Eggbuckland Community College and Stoke Damerel. They came away with a draw and a loss but showed much promise for the year ahead. Rowan was our man of the match for his ferocious defence and rucking work.
Those of you who read the blog last year will recognise Judo star Max in our Sixth Form. Max who is the currently under 90kg British Cadet Judo Champion has just been selected by the British Judo Association (BJA) to attend the GB Futures Camp in Tokyo, Japan. Max has been chosen as one of only 12 young athletes from across Britain to be taken to the camp this October. This selection has come off the back of an amazing year for Max which has seen him represent England at Cadet Cups throughout Europe and culminating in his selection for GB at the European Championships held in Sarajevo.
Max is no stranger to training abroad having recently returned from a training camp in Lignano, Italy which he attended with a selected group of England squad players. He will also be flying out to Strasbourg as part of the GB heavyweight programme for a further five days training from 04 October. His busy period of international training camps this year will finish with this exciting and well deserved trip to the Kodokan in Japan.
Max’s younger sister Cordelia (also at Plymstock School) is also in the England squad and is currently Britain’s number one ranked cadet judoka in her weight and also ranked 19th as a senior. In 2019 we hope to see her join Max on the GB squad.
It is student of the week time.
Isabelle is our second Year 8 winner this week. She shows commitment, outstanding effort and high levels of motivation at all times. Consequently, she is currently leading the Year 8 Merit competition!
In Year 9, our winner is Sophie, who just embodies all the qualities we ask of a Plymstock Student. She is hard working, positive and kind to others.
Freddie is our Year 10 student of the week. This is in recognition of the huge improvements that Freddie has made in terms of effort, attitude and commitment. This has not gone unnoticed. Keep up the great work.
Our Year 11 winner is Shannon, who recently joined Plymstock School. She has really impressed staff with her hard work and incredibly positive attitude to learning. Shannon – you are a star.
