Newsletter
Issue 26 | 17 January 2025
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"You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think"
Christopher Robin
Dear Parent/Carer
It has been a wonderful week at Applemore, with so many of our fantastic students receiving certificates and prizes for their attendance, effort and progress in different subject areas. Taking every opportunity for positivity and praise is fundamental in building confidence and developing a growth mindset. I was also fortunate enough to attend a workshop with some Year 11 students on dealing with exam stress this week. Students learnt about different strategies for keep everything in perspective, from being organised, prioritising sleep, eating healthily, adding some exercise and most importantly the power of believing in themselves. This is the first of our school values and contributes hugely to success, in whatever format that might be for our young people. Have a lovely weekend.
With very best wishes
Clare
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Mathematics
This week, some students in year 7 have been learning about financial mathematics, including how to read bank statements and the difference between credit and debit. They have absolutely smashed it!
In Year 10, students have recently been learning about Transformations. Students from Mr Salzman’s class have done a fantastic job of solving these transformation puzzles, which he has proudly displayed in his classroom!
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Art
The year 7 artists used printing inks for the first time this week to create mark-making designs. These will then be used to produce collaged animals, responding to the work of Clare Youngs. Mrs Lowe and myself were so pleased with the results, which we think look amazing!
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Positive Debut for our Basketball Teams
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Our U16s team started their season away at Ballard earlier this week. The team played exceptionally well against an organised team, and after a slow first quarter, we pulled ourselves back into the game narrowly losing 39-29 points. Special mention to Zak and Darragh for playing their first basketball game ever! Player of the match = Kade!
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In their first ever basketball match last week, our U14 Basketballers lost narrowly by 2pts to Ballard School. It was an exceptional performance from the team, who demonstrated great determination throughout the whole match. Player of the match = Elsie!
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The Science Department have been making their Year 11 revision lessons fun this week by introducing food to model electrical circuits and symbols. Now that's one way of 'digesting' their learning ha-ha!
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In the last few months, Mr Kemp has been busy looking at ways of injecting some colour into the interior spaces of Applemore, and give exterior building facades/structures a facelift. Through consultation with Ms Williams, and utilising the graphic design expertise of Mr Mills, we can share some mock-ups with you all on where we could be heading in the coming months - the eagle-eyed of you may have noticed our first mock-up at the top of this newsletter.
Prior to Christmas, it was wonderful to receive responses from parents/carers volunteering to help paint or do a spot of horticulture - Mr Kemp will be in touch with those lovely volunteers in the next week or so once we have finalised plans. If you are keen to get involved too, please contact Mr Kemp on j.kemp@applemore.hants.sch.uk
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Dates for your diaries folks! Mr Poole will be sending out full details via ClassCharts about each of the day's to parents/carers in the coming weeks.
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Maths Events - Coming Up!
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Year 7 and 8 Assessments
Students in Year 7 and 8 will be sitting their second Mathematics assessment during lesson time in the week beginning Monday 20th January 2025. It is a non-calculator assessment. Students will need a pen, pencil and ruler; these will not be lent by their mathematics teacher. We have produced a revision list attached to support students in preparing for their assessment, which has been sent out via Class Charts by Miss Markham-Smith. Each topic is linked to MathsWatch, our online learning platform, which provides revision videos and practice questions. If students don't know their log-in information, they should ask their mathematics teacher. This assessment is based upon the last 4 units of work this academic year, along with a few topics from assessment 1. The assessment is nothing to worry about; it is the students’ opportunity to show us how amazing they are with the maths they have learnt in lessons.
Intermediate Maths Challenge
Wednesday 29th January sees a number of our mathematicians in Years 9, 10 and 11 participating in the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge. This challenge, run by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency to make students think. The challenge is undertaken by the top mathematicians in hundreds of schools around the country, and students who perform particularly well will receive a certificate and may be invited to complete in follow-on rounds too. Good luck to everyone taking part – we can’t wait to see how you get on.
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Lexonik Programme Yielding Results
Spring Term has seen our literacy programme continue, with all year groups closing literacy gaps and develop the skills needed to succeed in all subjects. The programme is based on research and experience in literacy, dyslexia and phonology, with results showing in lessons already.
Access Reading Tests
Over the past two weeks, students in Years 7-10 have been taking their assessments to accurately identify their reading skills, gap/strength analysis and targeted/personalised interventions. Content covered in the assessments include: literal comprehension, inference, vocabulary and analysis. The data will enable our teaching staff to create more impactful lessons using data-driven decisions focusing on identified areas.
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Want to go further in Science?
Looking at studying Science after Applemore?
Interested in a career to do with Science?
Take a look at the resources signposted on our Science Curiosity Sheet.
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A massive thank you to the Ambitious for all Foundation who donated money to buy some new books for our reading for pleasure scheme. We look forward to bringing in some brilliant new books that the students have recommended to Ms Charrett. We have some fantastic Reading For Pleasure Challenges coming up - look out for next week's issue!
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Southampton and Solent University trip - Choosing your GCSE Options
On Tuesday this week, a group of year 9 students had a fantastic action-packed day at both Solent University and Southampton University, where they had great workshops, tours, demo and games/quizzes. The day was full of information around GCSE Options and pathways, our students enjoyed their tour around the Hospital Section where they got to work on a computer casualty. Thank you to Ms Papachristu for organising such a brilliant trip!
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Fantastic Inaugural 'Future Fridays'
This week we had the wonderful Maggie Moss delivering a fantastic workshop on Apprenticeships! As you can see, it was a very popular session with students attending from a variety of year groups.
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Other Notices
- College Applications: A reminder to get you College Application in as closing dates are fast approaching.
- Work Experience: Anyone still needing help with Unifrog or work placements please speak to Ms Charrett. Also after school Careers Club is back running from Tuesday 21st January.
- Apprenticeship Evening: A reminder that the Apprenticeship Evening is being held on Wednesday 5th February (5pm-7pm).
For more information about our Careers Guidance, click the button below.
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Artist of the Week
Each week, Mr Wheatley shines a spotlight on an artist and this week's artist uses a touch of textiles in their work.
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FREE TICKETS for this weekend's game at St Mary's - maximum of 8 per person available!
Click the image below to head to the booking page!
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For a full and up-to-date list of our enrichment programme & activities, click the image below to visit our website enrichment page.
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Mr Saunders
Head of Year 8 & Head of Humanities
I have had the pleasure of working with many parents through the various roles I have been involved in at Applemore but if I haven’t met you, hello I am Mr Saunders. I have been at Applemore since September 2017 and love being part of the Applemore family; supporting your child, working with yourselves as committed parents and being surrounded by a great team of colleagues and with the wider Applemore community. I love being Head of Humanities and leading on all debates around History, Geography, RE & Sociology! Who doesn’t love academic debate with such a breadth of study? Our Humanities motto is "Learn it, Love it, Live it" and I work hard to put into practice what I preach and that is why I love seeing your child successful within their Humanities lessons. Additionally, I have the pleasure of watching House Points grow! Some say geeky, I say passionate about student success, but love being involved in House events and assemblies promoting a culture of students believing in themselves and seeing real success.
More recently, I have undertaken the task of Head of Year and couldn’t be more proud of the students within the year group and all the hard work they are doing. It is great getting into lessons and seeing determination lived through their learning. Some of you might have seen in other roles at my time at Applemore such as Monsieur Dark (Beauty & the Beast) or Lurch (Addams Family) as I love getting involved with anything community driven and that is why I am also otherwise known as Cllr Paul Saunders with my role on Fawley Parish Council! I like to keep myself busy!
Highlights of my time at Applemore so far are always the extra curricular activities I have either lead or been involved in. Taking 32 students to Africa to volunteer in Zanzibar. Annual Year 8 visit to Norfolk for our Geography residential, our annual Christmas Panto trip, various GCSE fieldtrips, reward visits to Thorpe Park and our previous Sicily trip. The question is… where shall I plan for our next trip?!
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With 22% of its billion-strong userbase being between the ages of 13 and 17, the popularity of TikTok among the younger generation is indisputable. Providing entertainment in the form of a stream of short-form video content, while allowing its users to post videos of their own, the app has skyrocketed to prominence over the last few years, becoming a fixture in young people’s digital lives.
Of course, with a platform as popular and gargantuan as TikTok, it can be intimidating trying to figure out how best to safeguard children and young people using the app. That’s why this NEW guide to TikTok is a vital read, detailing the main online safety concerns and suggesting strategies to reduce these risks for the app’s younger users.
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For all the latest events coming up, visit our calendar
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