Plymstock School – Plymstock, Plymouth, Devon

Friday 4th December 2020

In this week’s blog we get a sense that Christmas is on its way as we celebrate the work of all our students.

We would like to thank the whole community for their support this week; working within a pandemic was never going to be without disruption.

It’s testament to our staff and students that they are doing their very best to ensure no one is disadvantaged when we are affected by this situation.

What is overwhelmingly true is our students are working as hard as they can; whether in school or at home as our students of the week have shown.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate Year 11 on the way that they have undertaken their mock exams. Mrs Harris and Mrs Smith simply say they are all students of the week.

“The whole year group are students of the week because of their hard work and resilience during their mock exams. They have set a school record for no one needing a calculator for the Maths calculator paper. This speaks volumes about their commitment, organisation and conduct.
Awesome – the whole team are very proud of them”

I thank their parents and carers for their partnership and support, and also their tutors and teachers for the help which they have given them.

Simply superb Year 11.

Well done to them all.

Year 7 Christmas Wreath

This week, I had a real surprise when Cameron, Lyle, Jason and Kaiden asked to see at breaktime accompanied by Mrs Matthews and Mrs Pullen.

They presented me with this fantastic wreath for my office and a hand made card. It was incredibly thoughtful and the boys should be very proud of their hard work and resilience.

Christmas has come early for some Year 12 students!

Due to a very generous donation from a parent of an ex Plymstock Sixth Form student we have managed to purchase some laptops to be given as gifts to a small number of Year 12 students. The students who have received these now have the opportunity to be completing work and research from home, and will also benefit from being able to use these in their future studies even when they have left our school. The students who have received a laptop are all extremely worthy and grateful of the gifts – and pass on their thanks too. They will be put to good use!

Thank you from Miss Monelle too who enjoyed being able to give these students the laptops and help increase their ability to complete independent work and study.

Joyeux Noël

December is here and the countdown to Christmas has started. Let’s kill two birds with one stone and have an advent calendar helping us improve our French in a cheerful way!

This is a task for all French learners, especially GCSE students and curious parents! Joyeux Noël!

Quizlet Live

Miss Ellis wanted to do a shout out to her 9xFrBern dual linguists and say well done for working hard at home. We look forward to seeing them back.

Below is a screenshot of the students who joined quizlet live. Fantastic effort

New Build

This week the scaffolding came down on our new extension to the maths and modern foreign languages block. You can see some pictures before and after. It’s really moving at a pace and we can’t wait to move in at Easter and enjoy the 5 new classrooms and ICT suite.

REAL STORIES

‘Real Stories’ is a new online gallery of images submitted by military-connected families to reflect family life today. They are inviting members of the UK Armed Forces Community (anybody who is related or in a partnership with somebody who is serving or has served in the Armed Forces) to submit an image and take part in the virtual exhibition.

Details can be found here:

There’s also an opportunity to include a written contribution to go alongside your submission about what the image represents or means to you, which will be presented in the Reflections booklet (comments can remain anonymous if you wish).

While contributors need to be 18 years old or over, children are encouraged to submit images via adult teachers/parents/caregivers. Please do feel free to share far and wide with friends and family in the military community.

Mrs Wilkins

The Golden Ticket

Each week this event brings real excitement. Weekly winners will be notified by their Head of Year.

We’d also like to give a special mention to the Year 8 Pastoral Team. Miss Robb explains

“Year 10 threw down the gauntlet for creating a Christmas Golden Ticket box and this is what the Year 8 team have come up with (not that we are competitive!). Special thanks to Mrs Rice for creating the elf. ”

However, Sue Bettison has up the stakes for the Year 10 pastoral base team again with this nativity scene

Students of the week – Lots of nominations this week!

Well done to all and an absolute delight to meet you and present your certificates
All our winners have demonstrated Endeavour, Resilience and Empathy; Plymstock School students striving to “Be the best you can be”

Our winners include:

In Year 7

Reuben has been nominated by Mr Foot for his contributions within EPiC lessons which have been brilliant. He is always willing to share his thoughts and opinions regardless of the topic. He shows a keen interest in each lesson and can engage with other students to show many different opinions
Charles has been nominated by his Head of Year Mrs Kirk for kindness and empathy.

In Year 8

Ashton has been nominated by the staff in the DEN for his dedication to learning. He was presented with a certificate for his efforts with his reading.
Jacob, Abigail and Mia have been nominated by Mr Surridge as they achieved excellent presentation, clarity of communication, and a high success rate while self-isolating. They did this despite finding the work challenging.
Grace has been nominated by Mr Foot for her fantastic work within EPiC lessons. She is always keen to raise her hand and share with the class. She challenges opinions or scenarios put forward to the class, which identifies her ability to be empathetic and show understanding.
Levi, Luca, Sophie, Daniel, Amber, Ava, Sam, Ollie, Jess, Ella and Mia (2nd nomination – well done Mia) have all been nominated by Ms Birchnall for their wonderful demonstrations of practical science done at home.
Ella and Mia have been nominated by Mrs Kent for attending every French lesson on Teams with her as they were self-isolating. She has just had a lesson with them both and they completed a French speaking pair work through Teams. It was fantastic!
Daisy, Jasper and Joe have all been nominated by Ms Robinson as they are the only three remaining members of her tutor group (the rest are in self-isolation). They have been great company in registration – cheerful, uncomplaining, and just getting on with school, despite being away from their friends in the group.

In Year 9

Jess, Danny, Matthew, Zoe, Freya, Amelia and Laura have all been nominated by Miss Cohen for their recent poetry work completed in lockdown and general effort.
Lucy, Lewis, Poppy, Jakob, Necti, Charlie, Gabriel and Tallon have also been nominated by Miss Cohen for their excellent classwork/homework on the war.
What fantastic effort and work by the students in Miss Cohen’s classes. Well done to all.

In Year 10

Natasha and Lilia have been nominated by Mr Bellamy as they are always punctual and respectful at all times for registration and they need to know how brilliant they are.
Annie has been nominated by Mr Dott for her kindness to others (staff and students alike) and always looking out for her friends.

Post 16 nominations

In Year 12:

Photography: Noah has been nominated for a super start to the A level Photography course, with consistently high quality outcomes and work rate.
Theatre Studies: Ethan, Destine, Lucy, Jordana, Kayleigh and Ed. They completed their first performance monologues, and they were all superb, even though there was no audience to see them.
Maths: Kate and Jenson for always working hard and helping others when they need it.
Applied Science: Charlotte for continuing to work hard and stay focused despite having a turbulent time outside of school.
David for exceptional progress in all aspects of the A Level so far.
Pippa for her perseverance and excellent communication to obtain support so that she can maintain her excellent progress

Biology:

Nathan for quietly excelling in Biology
Wikotoria for persistent dedication to progressing in A level Biology. She produced a beautiful anagrams activity sheet (pictured below) which was used by the class for a starter to recap knowledge.

Post 16 nominations

In Year 13:

Gaia for managing a challenging situation and engaging with it through her creative work.
Aliya for resilience and writing new exam answers and taking all feedback into account!
Summer for improving work (exam answers) greatly and listening to feedback!
George for consistent and excellent effort in all aspects of the course.

Biology:

Emma for quietly excelling in Biology
Jacob for always being willing to take a punt on an answer in Biology – and usually being correct!
Georgia for huge leaps in progress made in Biology
Eva for her ongoing dedication to progressing in A level Biology
Mia for the ongoing dedication to progressing in A level Biology

This week’s TEACHERS OF THE WEEK:

Ms Graham – for being a great teacher and really funny (Lily and Isabelle yr8)
Mr Bellamy – for being the nicest and funniest PE teacher (Soul yr8)
Mr MK Taylor – for making PE more enjoyable
Mr Davies – for being helpful and supportive with career choices (Grace yr8)
Mrs Kent – for her contribution to staff wellbeing (Anonymous)
Mr Wyatt – for being a really good teacher and going above and beyond when the boy’s toilet flooded. (10SSO)
Mrs Whitehead – She has stayed behind to help him after school with revision, coursework and other work needs. She is always helpful and supportive. (Brandon)

and by no means least ….

Gemma Grenney – for the lovely Friday newsletter she has been running.