Year 8 Options Information Evening
The Year 8 Options Information Evening took place on Thursday 12 April 2018. Thank you to everyone who attended. Students and parents met with subject teachers and explored the expanded range of options choices available.
If you were unable to attend, the options booklet can be downloaded on the right and the presentation from the event is available to download here.
.Exciting changes at Eckington School
Eckington School is delighted to announce it is due to join LEAP Multi Academy Trust on 1st April 2018. This follows a consultation period and governor approval. It means that LEAP will be the employer of the staff team and is responsible for supporting the school on its improvement journey.
LEAP Multi Academy Trust
LEAP (the Learner Engagement and Achievement Partnership) is a Trust currently comprising two 11-18 secondary schools in Rotherham: Brinsworth Academy and Dinnington High School. LEAP's mission is to support students so that they can "achieve excellence".
LEAP has already been providing informal support for several areas of the school in recent months, and so there are already some established working relationships between a number of key colleagues.
LEAP has a Chief Executive, Mr Andy Riches, an Executive Principal, Mr Wayne Barsby, and a team of colleagues who can be deployed to support teaching, leadership and administration roles.
Ms Burgess (currently Deputy Headteacher) will become Interim Principal upon the retirement of Mr Cummings. Mr Barsby will be the Executive Principal for Eckington School and will be based here from Easter.
LEAP will fund some additional staffing for the new school year in a number of subject areas in order to help students "achieve excellence". Moving forward, we will keep you informed of the exciting changes and benefits that joining LEAP will bring for our students, staff and community.
Eckington students quiz top BBC journalist Nick Robinson
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Eckington School welcomed the leading BBC Journalist, Nick Robinson, on Thursday 8th March for a Q&A session with one hundred Year 11 students. The event focused on politics and journalism and was organised by UK Charity Speakers for Schools. The aim of the event was to raise aspirations amongst students. Read More
National Champion
Ruby S, a year 8 student at Eckington School, won the National Indoor Athletics U15 800m event on Saturday 24th February 2018. The competition proved tough yet Ruby's talent shone through.
Ruby is the new national U15 800m indoor champion, with a winning time of 2:14:36s.
This is an exceptional result for Ruby, particularly with her being one of the younger athletes in the age group. Well Done Ruby - everyone at Eckington School is extremely proud of you!
Activities Week:
Please note: The final payment for all trips is due on Thursday 22nd March. Final payments must be paid into the Finance office before 3.15pm on this date. If you require a copy of our activities week booklet and booking form, click here to download.
Waste Watchers
On Tuesday 30th January Year 8 took part in a fun-filled workshop all about waste. The Waste Watchers programme was delivered in school by live theatre company Gibber. Students explored issues around waste and recycling. The motto of the day was the three Rs; Reduce Reuse Recycle!
Cern Trip
On the 20th November 2017 thirty-two post-16 students set off for a three day trip to Geneva to visit CERN, Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire" (European Council for Nuclear Research). The visit was to enable the students to see real-life science and scientists at work. The trip opened with students landing in Geneva where they quickly adapted to a well-established public transport system - it truly does run on time! Students settled in well and got to know their surroundings; they visited Lake Geneva and absorbed the atmosphere. Read More
New Hope Food Bank
Students and staff have been busy throughout December collecting donations for the New Hope Food Bank in Killamarsh.
The food bank is a community-based mission of New Hope Community Church and serves to support the local community. New Hope Food Bank provides emergency food to individuals and families who are in short-term crisis, to help them during their time of need.
Mrs Sandford and Mrs Towndrow delivered 40+ boxes of non-perishable goods to New Hope Food Bank's Michelle Taurins on Thursday 15th December with the following students:
Mrs Sandford said: 'The students were a real credit to the school. We had lots of interest from students wanting to get involved delivering food bank items this year. Thank you to everyone involved in the donating, collecting and distributing of food to this very worthy cause.'
Health Day
Chartwell's Fay Yeng was back at Eckington in December, delivering the gift of health whilst dressed as an elf for Health Day with YR8. Each class was divided into teams and challenged to create their own recipe for Christmas Bliss Balls.
Following the basic recipe idea that incorporates a balance of the major food groups: an oaty base, selection of dried fruit and seeds, they worked together to produce these tasty, no cook, protein-packed snacks.
Students had the option of eating the goodies themselves or gifting the healthy treat to someone they thought needed an energy boost to get them through the day. To make sure the students were having the healthiest day possible there was also the chance to make themselves a pedal-powered smoothie!
The Ultimate Cook Off
Students were asked to enter recipe ideas for a chance to take part in the Ultimate Cook Off On Your Marks, Get Set, Cook brought to you by Chartwells fun foodie Fay Yeng. Two teams of students and teachers then went head to head against the clock to follow their recipe, or create one on the spot from a variety of fresh ingredients.
Teams were judged on their teamwork, presentation and how well they had followed guidelines from the Eatwell Guide. Competition winner, Amelie made her family recipe for Smoked Salmon and Cream cheese Pasta with zingy salsa but there was much intrigue and support for the green teams' German Style Stir Fry!
Geology High-flyer
Congratulations to Y13 Geology student Daniel B! We have just been informed that Daniel scored the second highest mark nationally in AS Geology. Well done Daniel. Your excellent efforts have been rewarded!
DofE Gold
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Two groups of Eckington students had an early and exciting start to the new school year.
The students formed two groups who took on a challenging walking route over 4 days in the Snowdonia National Park to successfully complete their DofE Gold expedition. Ascending to over 3000 feet and battling through swollen streams they spent most of their days and nights in the rain whilst remaining self-sufficient. The assessor was amazed at their resilience and tenacity and complimented them on their group morale.
Well done to Jade S, Mika P, Jo C, Curt F, Will R, Rebecca Y, Sam B, Rachel C and Sam B.
Next stop St James Palace.
"Nine go to Borneo"
This summer nine students from Eckington School have taken part in a trip of a lifetime. Our students joined others from Dartmouth to become a team carrying out project work in the Sabah region of Borneo. This included tasks as diverse as digging footings and laying foundations, painting murals on the side of a village school and even building a toilet block out of recycled plastic bottles!
Other environmental projects included beach cleaning and one that we are particularly proud of was helping to plant 55 trees that will help to reestablish an area of rain forest. The students stayed in amongst local communities getting involved in their day to day lives. This allowed them to learn a little Malay, help prepare and sample local food, take part in teaching English to the women and children, learn traditional dances, have a go at local crafts and compete in sports days, including having to battle in the national sport of tug of war!
Five days were spent on the beautiful Gaya island where the students had the opportunity to learn to scuba dive and take their PADI open water qualification. The group have stayed in a range of accommodation from traditional Malaysian long houses to hammocks suspended above the mud in the rain forest. They have experienced beautiful beach side camps sites and rain of biblical proportions, but one thing is for sure they will never forget their month in Borneo.
Eckington will be once again be working with Camps International to provide students with the opportunity to take part in an expedition in 2019.
GCSE Results 2017
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The Headteacher of Eckington School, Patrick Cummings congratulated his year 11 students on some excellent GCSE scores. For a typical secondary school cohort on entry to school, our students did exceptionally well and matched national scores in English and mathematics at A*-C (on 9-4 as they are now called). In Science, our A/A*and A*-C results exceeded national results. Across all subjects our total awards at A*/A jumped to nearly 20%. Particular mention should be made of some of our high-flyers:
A Level Results 2017
Eckington School's Headteacher, Patrick Cummings, commended his year 13 students on their A Level and BTEC examination results. As in previous years we expect that almost every student will gain the university place of their choice. Some of our high-flyers include:
Among our students who followed vocational courses, mention should be made of Ellie Wake, Leah Robinson, Jessica Pidcock and Elise Allen, all of whom scored triple distinction star (the equivalent of three 'A' grades at A Level) in the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care.
Chartwells Launch their new exciting food menu
Chartwells have launched their new menus and they are going down a storm with students and staff. The catering company was awarded the contract to provide the catering services for our pupils at Eckington School from September 2017.
The 7-year contract includes significant investment in our services and the promotion of healthy, homemade food.
The new menu can be downloaded here.
If you have any comments or feedback on the new menu please email: comments@eckington.derbyshire.sch.uk.
Literature Quiz 2017
Y8 students' knowledge of literature was put to the test in a quiz organised by English teacher, Mrs Johnson. The students had spent time researching the classics of fiction, poetry and drama through the ages and answered questions on Shakespeare, Dickens and a host of other writers.
A closely fought contest was decided by a tie-breaker question on the total number of words in a novel! The quiz was run in competition with students at Heritage School, resulting in a one point defeat for Eckington School. Better luck next year!
Mia eyes the Ladies Amateur Golf Championships
An Eckington student is excelling in ladies golf. Mia Eales Smith, a junior at Lindrick Golf Club, played in the national schools final in July. On paper, Mia is sixth out of twenty-four young golfers.
Mia missed the cut for the Ladies Amateur Golf Championship by two shots, her previous handicap was 5.4, now it's 4.6. Well Done Mia!
Alumni News
Congratulations to ex-student Joe Dean who has qualified for the British Golf Open!
Well Done to England national midfielder Millie Bright on her performance at UEFA Women's Euro 2017!
Progress 8
The summer series of GCSE examinations is now complete. Good Luck to all our students who sat their exams this summer. If you wish to find out more about progress 8 and the new mark scheme, please click on the Progress 8 presentation for more information.
Eckington Election
Over 350 students voted in our mock election on Thursday 8th June.
The results are as follows:
Labour increased their share of the vote by 24% with UKIP polling 18% less than the last election in 2015.
In 2015 the results called for an unlikely coalition, whereas the votes this year show a clear win for the Labour Party.
Year 9 Chocolate by Design trip
The Year 9 GCSE food group had a very enjoyable trip to Chocolate by Design in Chesterfield. The students took part in a workshop in which they learned about the science and history of chocolate as well as learning about the production of high quality chocolate products.
During the workshop the students saw how some of the very exclusive and high quality chocolates are made (some of the students were able to help with the production of these!!) and they then had the opportunity to make their own chocolate designs. Of course throughout the morning there was a lot of tasting their chocolate creations!
"Alice Gets Gold"
Eckington Schools swim star Alice did exceptionally well at the British Swimming Championships at the end of July, achieving personal bests in every event she swam in. She received a Bronze medal in the 200m freestyle, a Silver medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay and a Gold medal in the 400m freestyle.
Alice this is a huge achievement and we at school are all immensely proud of you. Congratulations on being a British Champion.
Y12 Project: Dronfield Hall Barn
Eckington School Post-16 Centre is delighted to be working with the Dronfield Heritage Trust to provide a unique enrichment opportunity for our Y12 students.
Using original oak beams from the Fifteenth Century Dronfield Hall, a team of Eckington Post-16 students will be working with our Design Technology department and friends of Dronfield Hall Barn to create a scale model of the Medieval manor house.
The students will be responsible for the entire project: from the design stage through to building the model. The finished model will then be exhibited at Eckington School, at Dronfield Hall Barn and eventually in Dronfields twin town of Sindelfingen, Germany. To find out more visit www.dronfieldhallbarn.org or return here for updates.
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)
Last updated: Friday, April 13, 2018
