The Kimberley School Newsletter October 2014 | Page 3

LRC News All Year 7 students have now chosen their free book, as part of the Bookbuzz scheme, and we eagerly await the arrival of the books after October Half Term. The aim of Bookbuzz is to inspire excitement about reading and discovering new books and authors. We hope all our Year 7s enjoy their Bookbuzz book and that it encourages them to continue reading. To find out more about this year’s titles and other good books, do visit the website where you can also find useful links about reading and writing, and fun writing activities to do at home. www.bookbuzz.org.uk ICT Technician Apprenticeship Scheme The Kimberley School a double qualification in Edexhave employed their cel BTEC Level 3 Diploma in first apprentice! ICT Systems and Principles Top Readers! All Year 7 and Year 8 students take part in the Accelerated Reader (AR) program as part of their English lessons and homework. After they have read a book, students take an online quiz in the LRC to check their understanding. If they pass a quiz, the computer counts the number of words they have read. Congratulations to the TOP TEN students from Year 7 and Year 8 who have done the most reading as part of the AR program so far this term:Ella Foster Year 7: 11 quizzes 5 quizzes 5 quizzes 5 quizzes 4 quizzes 2 quizzes 4 quizzes 2 quizzes 3 quizzes 2 quizzes 844,258 words 423,654 words 401,199 words 323,854 words 265,142 words 201,314 words 165,835 words 100,043 words 95,679 words 72,015 words Elinor Harby 6 quizzes Emily Giddings 10 quizzes Florence Orme 6 quizzes Edward Hibbert 3 quizzes Georgia Morgan 4 quizzes Jack Lamb 6 quizzes Aleigha Glover 4 quizzes Martha Lubczynskyj 4 quizzes Keisha Dunkley-Ross 8 quizzes Rebecca Matthews 3 quizzes 623,108 words 532,909 words 496,139 words 366,800 words 361,560 words 338,555 words 248,405 words 247,673 words 224,541 words 205,693 words Elizabeth O’Donnell Joshua Skinner Amelia Hardy Eve McGrenaghan Emily Clarkin Niamh Shortt Katie Walker Morgan Hallam Paige Wilson Year 8: Who will be our first Word Millionaire? Gilthill French Day A group of eleven GCSE French students from Year 10, spent the day at Gilthill Primary School helping run their annual French Day. The morning started off in true French style, with a delicious breakfast in the school hall. We assisted the dinner ladies in serving the Gilthill pupils croissants, baguettes and fruit salads. A vacancy arose in the ICT support department for an ICT Technician. We used this opportunity to investigate an apprenticeship scheme to help young people gain experience in ICT. The idea was to advertise the role of an apprentice technician to the Sixth Form students, which we did through the Sixth Form bulletin and an advertisement on the whiteboard in the Common Room. We had 3 applicants apply, who gained vital experience in filling out an application form and went on to interview stage. The candidates all performed well in the interviews and the successful candidate was Lewis Johnson. Lewis started with us on the 21st of July 2014. His first 17 weeks will be 1 week at NiTP academy and 1 week with us and he will be assessed by NiTP academy for a further 12 months. If Lewis is successful in his studies and work placement, he will gain It was a very enjoyable way to start the day particularly as, after everyone had eaten and the hall was cleared, the whole school came together in the hall for a special assembly. We all sang songs in French and the pupils from the reception year showed us all their rendition of the well-known children's song 'Sur le Pont d'Avignon'. Next, the school split off into year groups and we - being The Kimberley School students - paired up and joined a year group. Emily Walters and I joined the Reception pupils and helped them in undertaking many French themed activities, including making flags and paper chains in bleu, blanc et rouge. Afterwards, the whole school was reunited on the field for a picnic lunch. In the afternoon, the school (this is the classroom qualification) and Edexcel BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Professional Competence for IT and Telecoms Professionals (this is the workplace qualification). The job title for Lewis is ‘Apprentice Technician’ (systems and support). He will work across 2 departments, ICT and Resources. Lewis will gain vital work experience in the following areas: data cabling, fault finding, upgrading desktop machines, VLE/ website, networking, windows client and server operating systems; this is just some of the experience Lewis will gain. Lewis has made a good start from being a student to now being a member of staff. We also asked for feedback from NiTP and this is what they have said: “Lewis has settled extremely well and is submitting work of a high standard for assessment. He is well respected in the group and does not get over involved in situations that do not concern him directly. Very focussed, quiet and confident. Basically he is one of the better students.” We look forward to being able to share with you furt