Hall Park Academy

nEWSLETTER

Summer 2023

Read our Summer 2023 newsletter which includes all the amazing things our students have been doing this half term.

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A Message from

Mr Crossley

As the school year draws to a close, it has been another busy term at Hall Park Academy. There is much to celebrate this term, which you will find in the pages of this newsletter. There have been many successful trips including a STEM club trip to Aston university, a trip to 200 degrees coffee as part of the Aspirational Programme for Year 8 students, a Sixth Form PE trip to Nottingham Trent University, and another phenomenally successful residential trip to Belgium to visit important site from the First World War.

We are tremendously proud of the Duke of Edinburgh programme at Hall Park. This term sixty-seven students have taken part, successfully completing their expeditions and training. Well done to them all and to the fabulous team of staff who give up time at the weekends to support them.

It has been a particularly busy term for the Expressive and Performing Arts Faculty who have successfully hosted a number of events including Hall Parks Got Talent, a Pitch and Piano Evening, and Art exhibition. At the Performing Arts Celebration Evening we recognised students who have made great progress or excelled in drama and music. It was a fantastic evening with the audience enjoying many great performances.

Each house has also hosted a celebration event for students who received commendations from different students for their effort and progress.

In sports, students represented their Houses in our in-school Sports Day during which over 400 students competed, and records tumbled. Many students represented the academy at the Broxtowe Athletics Championships, with some qualifying for, and then competing in, the county championships.

Our students have been successful in academic competitions, achieving high places in events such as the UKMT Maths Challenge and the Redhill Trust Languagenuts competition.

Year 6 students joining us after the summer enjoyed a day at Hall Park as part of our transition process, and we look forward to welcoming them in September.

We have staff for whom 25 July will be their final day at Hall Park Academy.

Miss Waterhouse (Teacher of English), Miss Murphy (Teacher Training),

Mr Wright (Head of Science), Mr Mee (Head of DT), Mr Bailey (Teaching Assistant) and Mrs Murphy (Assistant Cook) are leaving us for pastures new. I am sure you will join me in sending them our best wishes for the future.

We will be joined by some new teaching colleagues in September: Mr Grainger (Head of Science), Miss Marriott (Head of DT), Mr Arden (Teacher of Maths), Miss Powell (Teacher of English) and Ms Lintern (Head of MFL). We welcome to our support teams Miss Doxey (Kitchen Assistant), Miss Webster and Mr Smith (Teaching Assistants).

Finally, I want to wish all students, families and staff a great summer break and we look forward to seeing you rested and well in September.

Headteacher commendations

At Hall Park Academy we look for opportunities to celebrate and reward excellent attitudes to learning. A Headteacher’s Commendation Award is awarded to students who have shown outstanding work and exceptional progress and achievement in their lessons.

A massive well done to the exemplary students pictured below. Their teachers nominated them for a variety of reasons and they've now each received commendation from Mr Crossley for their hard work this half term.

As we come to the end of another school year, our house teams got together for one last time to celebrate student achievement at our House Commendation Evenings.

Students received commendations from their teachers for their excellent work and efforts during lessons. The Heads of House and their tutor team also presented awards to their "Tutee of the Year", awarded for a range of reasons from displaying Hall Park Learner characteristics, engaging in school culture and contributions to charity.

Over the 4 evenings over 500 awards were given out, with record high turnout seen across the board for every House.

We'd like to say a huge well done and congratulations to all of our students who received their deserved praise!

Year 6 students joined us for their final transition day prior to starting at Hall Park in September. They sampled a range of lessons from across the curriculum, toured the school site, and attended an assembly on Hall Park Learner. Break time (not ‘play time’!) was a valuable opportunity for students to make new friends before the summer break. Teachers were thoroughly impressed with the hardworking nature of Year 6 who were fresh from completing their SATs.

We would like to wish our new students a lovely summer and we are really looking forward to welcoming you back in September ready to kick start your Hall Park journey!

Big Quiz Finalists

5 of our students attended the Trust Final of the Big Reading Quiz at Bolsover School. Our students were a credit to Hall Park, representing the school brilliantly and finishing in 5th place out of 10 schools.

The students selected to go to the finals were the top performers in the whole of Hall Park, getting through the independent round, the tutor group round and the house round to secure their place in the final!

The students also took part in a creative writing workshop with Trust Patron Author Lisa Williamson, who they are pictured with here.

Tuesday 18th July saw the first EPA celebration evening with performances from music, drama and displays from our art students to a capacity audience.

This was a chance to celebrate the students’ contributions within the faculty and their work across the year. Certificates of merit, Awards for engagement, Key stage 3 and 4 progress awards, overall key stage winners were announced before we crowned EPA’s student of the year.

A wonderful evening of music, drama and art which showcased the high standards our students and staff strive for."

Hall Park's Got Talent

On Friday 26th May Expressive Performing Arts featured its annual Hall Park’s Got Talent lunchtime concert. From a strong initial field six finalists wowed the crowd with song, guitar solos and tap dancing.

Mr Thompson (Simon Cowell) and Mrs Birkett (Amanda Holden) were our respected judges. By a unanimous decision our eventual winner from Lawrence House was crowned 2023 Hall Park’s Got Talent Winner. Mr Thompson commented on the polished and sophisticated nature of the performance.

A fantastic way to finish a wonderful half term of Music, Drama and Art.

Hall Park’s Expressive and Performing Arts department were very pleased to once again offer their students the opportunity to perform to an audience at their ‘Pitch and Piano’ concert, held in the school theatre. The concert was a fusion of soloists, the Glee Club and performers from the recent inter-house piano festival.

The concert was well attended by enthusiastic family members and friends and they were treated to an array of performances of an exceptionally high standard from all the performers.

On the 13th July we held the auditions for the bi-annual school

musical: Matilda. 30 students auditioned, with several more volunteering their services backstage, helping with costumes and being part of the successful tech team. It promises to be an amazing show with an amazing cast. Rehearsals will start in September, ready for performances in February.

Save the date: 7th & 8th February 2024

DH Lawrence Drama Workshop:

On Monday 22nd May, the DH Lawrence workshop delivered by Nottingham University returned for those students in year 9 taking drama GCSE next year. This was a great opportunity to introduce students to Lawrence's work, with students working on extracts from A Colliers Wife. The students will create an ensemble piece as a mixture of scripted work and devised performance. Miss Mason and Lawrence experts will be directing the piece which will form part of the DH Lawrence Festival culminating in a performance in October.

On Wednesday 5th July the Expressive and Performing Arts Faculty debuted a new event. Artwork created over the course of the year by Year 7 through to Year 13 examination students was exhibited throughout the art department for public viewing.

Mrs Murphy’s team of students led the tours and helped with refreshments and nibbles with ambient music from one of our Year 11 GCSE music students.

The work was very well received by parents and Year 6 parents who were visiting the school. A high standard of work was evident throughout and will remain on display to inspire our current and future pupils at Hall Park.

This year has been very busy for our Duke of Edinburgh Award programme.

The purpose of the Duke of Edinburgh Award is to help young people build resilience, confidence, leadership and team building skills. In addition, the award aims to provide students with the ability to build self-confidence, support them to take on their own challenges, follow their passions, and discover talents they never knew they had.

For the first time in the last 10 years, students in Year 12 were provided with the opportunity to complete their Gold award.

Overall we have had 42 bronze, 22 silver and 3 gold students successfully complete their Duke of Edinburgh Awards this academic year, which is a monumental achievement.

The bronze qualifying expedition explored the Derbyshire countryside, where students started at Shipley country park and walked to Drumhill campsite where they camped before returning to Shipley on their second day.

The silver qualifying expedition took place in the Peak District, with students facing incredibly challenging weather conditions. Their routes started at Dovedale stepping stones with students walking along Biggin Dale to Biggin where they camped for the first night. Their second day saw students exploring the villages of Alstonefield, Wettonmill and Warslow before camping at Hulme End. The final day students walked through the picturesque village of Hartington and along the Tissington Trail to the finish in Sheldon.

The Gold students completed most of the Edale skyline on their 4 day qualifying expedition. On day 1, the students scaled Kinder Scout, before descending into Edale and camping in Bamford. On day 2, students walked up to Alport Castles before returning down the valley alongside Ladybower Reservoir. The 3rd day, was a circular route, with students starting and finishing in Edale. They completed the following peaks Grindslow Knoll, Brown Knoll, Lord's Seat, Mam Tor and Hollins Cross. The remaining peaks of the Edale skyline were completed on the final day of their expedition, with students walking up and over Lose Hill, Win Hill and along Bamford Edge before finishing their final Duke of Edinburgh expedition.

As a school we are incredibly proud of the achievements of all students on this Award and it is a pleasure to watch them develop and become self-sufficient across all 3 levels. We hope to see our current Bronze and Silver students’ progress to the next level next year!

If you wish to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh award next school year, look out for announcements in the tutor notices, tutor time assemblies or speak to our Duke of Edinburgh team; Mrs Kelly, Miss Bradley and Mr Dolman.

On behalf of the Hall Park Academy Duke of Edinburgh team, we want to extend our thanks to parents, staff and the school for the continued support of this prestigious award.

This trip goes from strength to strength – this year we took 54 Year 9 students to the battlefields and sites of World War 1, and added an extra day. The gods were smiling and sent us cool, and mainly dry, weather and saw us breeze through Dover so that we were in Belgium by early Friday afternoon.

There were many highlights: our extra day exploring the events of the Battle of the Somme, the beautiful cemeteries that gave us all time to reflect on the cost and futility of war, the chance to remember family members as some of our students laid poppy crosses at relative’s graves, the gorgeous Belgian chocolates that never disappoint and of course the inter-school football match on Friday night in which Hall Park triumphed.

Huge thanks to Mrs Matthews, Mr Simpson, Mr Sirmon, Mrs Goodfellow and Ms Haysum who gave up their weekend and a lot of sleep, and to Neil Matthews who guided us. And to the year 9 students who listened, asked questions, had fun and made us want to do it all again next year. Watch this space!

Celebrating Outstanding Achievements in the

UKMT Maths Challenge

We are thrilled to announce the remarkable achievements of our students in the UKMT Maths Challenge. Their hard work and mathematical prowess have led to impressive results.

The UKMT Maths Challenge is an annual competition designed to foster mathematical thinking and logical reasoning. Students are tested on various aspects of mathematics through multiple-choice questions. It provides a platform for students to showcase their abilities and nurture their passion for the subject.

Congratulations to Beatrice W for securing the prestigious Gold certificate and earning a merit in the Kangaroo Junior maths challenge. This is a historic milestone for our school, and we couldn't be prouder of her accomplishment.

We would also like to recognise all the students who received Bronze and Silver certificates. Your dedication and problem-solving skills are truly commendable.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all our talented mathematicians for their outstanding achievements. You have inspired us all and reinforced our commitment to academic excellence.

Below are our Gold, SIlver and Bronze winners!

Year 10 STEM students from Hall Park embarked on a school trip to Aston University.

The students used the university laboratories to synthesise aspirin and analyse the sample they had created.They used a variety of analytical techniques to determine the purity of the aspirin.

The students also learnt about the importance of chemistry in solving many of the big challenges we face today and into the future.

A great time was had by all including Mrs Paulson (our mini bus driver)!

Our Design and Technology department have a working relationship with local company Advanced Designs.

Advanced Designs have kindly donated materials for projects that are completed in lessons.

We’d like to thank them for their kind donations.

Pictured are some of our Year 7s using the materials for their own creations.

A Level PE Nottingham Trent University Trip

This term our A level PE students visited NTU's Clifton campus for a Sports Science degree taster day. They took part in 3 taster sessions in exercise physiology, sport psychology and human movement.

Within the physiology session, students worked in groups to measure the percentage of oxygen consumed at rest compared to exercise. The students used laboratory based equipment such as Douglas bags and oxygen level monitors.

The sport psychology lecture was led by a current professor of Psychology who leads on the delivery of the module in Year 1 of the Sports Science degree. The pupils were encouraged to mix with students from other schools and undertake a Stroop test. This was to test and challenge their levels of mental fatigue.

The students adapted well to working in mixed groups and contributed well to the group discussions. The final session of the day took the students to the Biomechanics performance lab. Here, the students got to see some of the innovative new pieces of equipment Elite sports performers were using to identify reasons for recurring injuries or to tweak existing techniques.

All of the activities were applicable to current A level teaching and gave them a fantastic degree level experience.

Hall Park students descended on the local athletics stadium at Harvey Hadden to compete in this year's Broxtowe Athletics event.

There were some fantastic performances on the day with 10 of our students qualifying for the county finals later this summer.

We are also delighted to announce that for the first time in Hall Park history , our Year 9 students came out overall winners of the Junior section!

A huge well done to all of the athletes who gave it their all , we are very proud of your achievements !

On Tuesday 4th July, we held our annual sports day, run by the PE department. Luckily the weather was dry and all students were highly anticipating which house would win; would it be Collier, Astle, Lawrence or Erewash?

In the morning students from Years 7, 8 and 9 came down to take part in their chosen throwing event of either shotput, discus or javelin. We saw some tremendous efforts from all students as they battle for the top spot and to win points for their house. Some performances were so successful they set new school records. In shotput the Year 8 boys record was broken by Quinn T with a score of 9.80m, as well as the Year 9 boys record by Ashton D that achieved 11.70m. In Javelin the girls Year 9 record was broken by Millie M with a score of 21.75m.

On completion of their throws, students were split into teams within their house to compete against the other houses in games of zone ball. Participation from all students was fantastic with everyone having the determination to help their house.

In the afternoon, Years 7,8 and 9 came down together to take part in the track events. The first event was the 100m. With over 3 races being ran for both boys and girls per year group, everyone wanted to test their speed and see if they could set records. One record that did go was the year 9 boys to Ashton D, with a time of 11.35 seconds. Following the 100m’s students had the option to take part in the 800m’s with double points for all those who participated. Again our students responded fantastically as they filled the track to take part running in waves.

The relay is always a highly anticipated event and as the students cheered on their houses from the banks there were some neck and neck races for each year group. But Collier, Erewash and Astle were all successful, with the fastest relay being ran by the Year 9 Erewash boys at 56 seconds.

The overall winners on the day, for the 5th time in a row, were Erewash House! The atmosphere of the whole day was brilliant. Students showed a competitive attitude with high levels of sportsmanship supporting their own house and students competing for others. Well done to all that competed and supported on the day.

Students from Year 8 attended a coffee roasting experience day at the 200 Degrees Roastery in Nottingham.

Throughout the day, students got to see how a roast would be completed from start to finish in an industrial setting, right through to the grinding and packaging of the finished product. They also got to try their hand at making coffees as a part of a Barista School session, with some interesting, if not impressive efforts!

Hall Park Academy would like to extend a massive thank you to our friends at 200 Degrees Coffee for making the day possible!

Students from Year 8 visited Nottingham Trent University as a part of our Aspirations Programme. Students had the opportunity to learn about University life and tour the City Campus, followed by the creation of posters to summarise their learning & experiences from the day.

Year 10 and 12 students visited Loughborough University this week.

The purpose of the visit was to give students an experience of a higher education setting and to receive information about Post-16 / Post-18 routes in education.

Pictured are some of our students enjoying a tour of the campus and a taster session on Sociology and Criminology.

Our Year 13 students celebrated the end of their Hall Park journey with a party at the prestigious venue Eastwood Hall.

They certainly dressed to impress and enjoyed a night full of dancing and laughter.

We want to wish our Year 13 leavers the best of luck with their future plans, we are so proud of all of you and we look forward to seeing you on results day on August 17th.

The following co-curricular activities have taken place throughout the week at school this summer term. Keep an eye out for the new co-curricular timetable launching in September.

This term Warhammer club has started at Hall Park Academy, allowing students to build their own armies and battle against other students.

Warhammer club is a tabletop war game set in a fantasy universe where two or more players can compete against one another. Games are decided based on strategy, risk taking and luck.

As part of this club, students have had the opportunity to build their own models and choose which faction they want to play with, whether that is the courageous space marines or the undying necron legions. Some students have also brought in their own armies, giving them an opportunity to play with their own models.

The club has big plans for next year, with a professional painter coming in for a painting tutorial and a Warhammer league being created to see which student can win the most matches.

Warhammer club meets on Tuesdays after school and is open to everyone.

Reminders

Class Charts

Last year we introduced a new online system called Class Charts. It allows parents/carers access to their child's live behaviour and attendance information, as well as giving students a place to organise their homework.

The app also allows communication between school and home.

We have had lots of positive feedback from staff, students and parents.

From September we will be increasing our use of Class Charts for communications, information and updates about school. it is therefore useful that all parents sign up.

If you are yet to log in to Class Charts and would like help to do so, please contact our IT support team at itsupport@hallparkacademy.org.uk or ring the school reception. You can also click here for a guide on how to use Class Charts.

the school drive

As you may be aware, our school driveway can become congested very easily at peak times due to the single lane entry and exit which presents a significant health and safety risk to students. Please may we remind parents/carers that it should be pre-agreed with school before you make your way down the drive at the start and/or end of the day.

As an alternative drop off location, Morrisons kindly allow the use of their car park which is just around the corner.

We have some students and parents who require access to disabled parking. Please only use these parking bays if you have blue badge.

Thank you for reading

Don't forget, you can catch up with all the latest Hall Park Academy news by following our social media pages.