Parents' Forum
The Parents' Forum Evening will be held on Thursday 5th March 2015 at 6pm. All Parents and carers are welcome.
New b_line proposals
Derbyshire County Council propose changes to the b_line travel scheme.
Tilly Simpson, the Derbyshire Youth Councillor for Eckington School, reported on the proposed changes. Here is a summary of the findings:
Y11 Raising Achievement Evening
The Year 11 Raising Achievement Evening has been rescheduled for Tuesday 3 March 2015. The evening will include a presentation from a GCSE maths examiner.
The event runs from 6.30-8.15pm.
Remembrance Poetry competition
Last November our Y7s and Y8s entered a Remembrance Poetry competition and we recently received certificates for those who took part. Here's an excerpt from the letter which accompanied it:
"I have great pleasure in enclosing the certificates to be awarded to your students who entered the Loughborough University Poetry Competition. In particular congratulations go to Jasmine Bushell who was the Runner up in the Year 7 category; this was a huge achievement and Jasmine should be very proud of her success.
The competition was open to all Key Stage 3 students in the East Midlands. Over 1000 entries were received and the judges enjoyed reading all the poems and had a tough time deciding the winners."
Year 9 English students get creative in writing workshop
After the successful visit of Carnegie winning children's author Melvyn Burgess last year, Mr Andrews invited Bali Rai (author of 36 books, including GCSE text 'Rani and Sukh') to lead a creative writing workshop with a group of Y9 students.
The day was a great success; pupils very much enjoyed the freedom to 'let themselves go' and be creative.
Thanks to The Sitwell family for funding and watch this space for more great news.
Georgia Murray wins place at Vanderbilt University
Sixth Form student Georgia Murray has won a place and a financial aid package to study at Vanderbilt University in America after participating in the Sutton Trusts US Programme run in partnership with the US-UK Fulbright Commission.
Georgia competed with 2,200 applicants to win one of 175 places on the programme and will be the first in her family to go to university, and is the first from Eckington School to apply to study in the USA. Well Done Georgia!
New Hope Food Bank
Eckington School recently collected a huge amount of food to donate to the New Hope Food Bank at Killamarsh.
The Food Bank provides emergency food to individuals and families who are in short-term crisis, to help them during their time of need, and also works to help people who find themselves in difficult situations by directing them to relevant help and support agencies.
Well done to everyone involved in the donating, collecting and distributing of food to this very worthy cause.
Everybody reads at Eckington School!
Congratulations to the following students who have achieved their Gold Reading Awards: Eleanor Chesterton, Georgia Davies, Archie Holmes, Beth Clarke, Ella Taylor, Leah Brooks, Emily Dene, Emily Goodwin, Becky Howsham, Brandon Lindley, Hannah Spencer, Aron Grimbley and Hannah Brown.
It's the platinum badge next and all platinum badge wearers are entered into a prize draw at the end of the year for a massive, mystery prize!
Students visit Derbyshire Times
A lucky group of students visited the Derbyshire Times offices as part of an after school course run by the Inspire Media Academy.
Students had the chance to improve their literacy and gain new skills at the event, which ran in conjunction with Chesterfield FC.
Photo by Derbyshire Times.
"Everyone Sang"
On the evening of November 13th 2014, two days after Remembrance Day, a performance took place to tell an audience of the bravery and sacrifice during the First World War.
A group of our sixth form students and teachers captivated their audience, transporting them back to 1914. The performers sang beautiful songs and read, flawlessly, the letters our local heroes had written during this time.
An exhibition was also displayed to show audience members the medals of local soldiers, hand written letters to their loved ones and even old photographs. All monies raised from this event will go to the British Legion. Members of the British Legion were present and enjoyed the night thoroughly. It was a wonderfully emotional night, filled with patriotism. A salute to all of those involved in this special evening.
The Merchant of Venice
On Wednesday 12th November 2014, 21 students from the Year 9 GCSE Drama group took part in a production of The Merchant of Venice at The Montgomery Theatre in Sheffield.
Students had been working on their performance since September and have put a lot of effort in to the process; taking part in a workshop run by the festival and attending numerous after school rehearsals.
The performance on the day was a great success, with great performances from Jack Godfrey as Bassanio, Jade Coyle as Portia and Ben Higgins as a particularly nasty Shylock! The festival organisers said they were very impressed with the way the group worked as an ensemble and the students who took part were a credit to the school.
The Dahlicious Dress Up Day
Eckington School was brimming with Oompa-Loompas, Willy Wonkas, Crocodiles, Matildas and a rainbow of yellow in the biggest ever Roald Dahl dressing up day for charity that we've ever had.
The Dahlicious Dress Up Day took place on Friday 26th September 2014. The children kindly donated £1 to dress up as their favourite Roald Dahl Character to raise vital funds for Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity.
Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity believes that every child has the right to a marvellous life, no matter how ill they are, or how short their life may be. The charity provides Roald Dahl specialist children's nurses, supports families in financial crisis caring for their seriously ill child, and helps to pioneer nurse-led research.
A huge thank you and well done to all of the pupils and teachers who helped to make the day a great success. We raised a splendiferous £409.58.
Eckington School's Narrowboat Naming Ceremony
Warm September sun shone on the lock; three years of hard work coming to a close. Eckington School's Narrowboat was officially named "Madeline" on Sunday, 28th September 2014 after a pupil who sadly passed away the year the boat came to the school.
Madeline's family and so many others were present on this emotional day. "Madeline would be proud and honoured that this beautiful boat bears her name; to be enjoyed by future students." said head teacher Mr Cummings, in his heart-warming naming speech.
Gill Parker, involved in the project from the outset, is keen the boat be used for exciting educational trips. Students can experience the life of a real helmsman.
The event marked the end of a rewarding journey for the many volunteers of the school who built "Madeline". Dazzling, hand painted in school colours and floating serenely on the lock, "Madeline" is clearly the First Lady of Eckington School.
GCSE Results 2014
The headteacher, Patrick Cummings, congratulated the large number of Eckington School students who did so well in their GCSE results. Amongst the highest attainers are those listed below:
- Beth Rhodes (6 A*S, 5 As)
- Joshua Mowbray (2 A*s, 6 As, 3 Bs)
- Roma Patel (5 A*s, 5 As, 1 B)
- Matthew Nutt (2A*s, 4 As, 4 Bs, 1 C)
- Rachel Pack (4 As, 7 Bs)
- Oliver Staples (2 A*s, 7 As, 1 C)
- Thomas Mayos (2 A*s, 3 As, 4 Bs)
- Ethan Johnson (5 As, 6 Bs)
- Emma Hartley (3 A*s, 4 As, 2 Bs)
- Hannah Sheldon (1 A*, 3 As, 5 Bs)
- Jack Thickett (1 A*, 5 As, 1 B, 3 Cs)
- Alexandra Hennessey (1 A*, 3 As, 5 Bs)
A Level Results 2014
The Headteacher of Eckington School, Patrick Cummings, congratulated students on their excellent achievements at A level and AS level. The outcomes continue to rise year on year and once again, almost all of our students will gain entry to the university of their choice.
Some high attainers at A level were: William Goulden (A* history, A* mathematics, A English Literature); Thomas Thickett (A mathematics, B further mathematics, B chemistry, B physics); Jordan Walker (A* geography, A geology, B history).
At AS level some of our best performers include Daniella Dunn (A history, A English Language, A psychology, A English literature); Georgia Murray (A history, A English Language, A French, B English literature); Hailey Pun (A English language, A mathematics, C Law); Emily Rhodes (A geography, A history, B English language, B geology); Brooke Woolley (A product design, A sociology, B English literature, C geography).
Sports Day 2014
Students and staff alike enjoyed beautiful weather last Thursday (17th July 2014), as Ennis-Hill house won the day. Congratulations!
Further pictures will be published in the near future.
Narrowboat Project Launch
Madeline was launched into Staveley Town Basin on Thursday 26th June 2014. From the first moment, she was the centre of attention on the water. A variety of students and staff have already enjoyed their travels on the Chesterfield Canal.
- Click here to see pictures and read the latest project update...
- Click here to see the archive of Narrowboat Project updates...
- Click here to go to the Chesterfield Canal Trust website...
What OFSTED says about Eckington School:
In November 2011, our school was inspected by OFSTED. The outcome of the inspection was inspiring with the report stating that "Eckington School is a good school that is continuing to improve." The inspectors were clear that Eckington School has "Good teaching" and "Outstanding care, guidance and support."
Confucius Classroom Opens
Eckington School's Confucius Classroom was officially opened at a ceremony on July 2nd.
The classroom, situated in the Modern Languages block, will be a base for the teaching of Mandarin Chinese to a range of students at Eckington School, to our primary feeder schools and to the local community.
Click here to see pictures and read more about the Confucius Classroom...
Anti-Bullying Project
Eckington School has recently taken part in an anti-bullying project called "I Am Not Scared", in collaboration with hundreds of other schools across Europe.
We have written a case study of how we deal with bullying incidents and have offered advice to other schools on different approaches they could have taken. If you are interested in seeing the similarities and differences in how bullying is tackled across the continent then you can read the case studies on the following website:
http://iamnotscared.pixel-online.org/case_studies.php
Is 93% Attendance Good Enough?
Normally, a mark of 93% in a test or examination would be considered very good. Excellent, even. However, in attendance, it means missing just over one day every three weeks...
Click here to read the rest of this article about attendance...
Parent View
Parent View gives you the chance to tell us what you think about Eckington School.
Parent View asks for your opinion on 12 aspects of our school, from the quality of teaching, to dealing with bullying and poor behaviour. OFSTED uses the information you provide when making decisions about which schools to inspect, and when. A screencast demonstrating how to register and complete a survey on Parent View is available on the How to use Parent View page.
By sharing your views, youll be helping our school to improve. You will also be able to see what other parents have said about Eckington School. Or, if you want to, view the results for any school in England. (adapted from the Parent View website)
Google apps for Eckington School
At Eckington School we try to use the most suitable technology to enhance teaching and learning. Some of our classes are using Google apps, which allows students to collaborate on their work and support each other in their learning. Learn more.
Last updated: Friday, February 27, 2015