The latest news from Thomas Tallis School

The latest news from Thomas Tallis School.

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Number: 06 | 24 October 2016

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On Thursday, artist Dafna Talmor visited Tallis to lead workshops with Year 13 and Year 11 photography students. Dafna spoke about her practice, her interest in landscape, memory and the history of photography, before encouraging the students to experiment with cutting and collaging vintage transparencies. These were projected and re-photographed, much to the delight of the participants. We would like to thank Dafna for her expertise, creativity and skill. I am sure that the students will remember the day for a long time and, hopefully, it will have inspired them to experiment with a wider range of techniques and processes in their own developing practice.

Jon Nicholls, Director of Arts & Creativity

In this newsletter
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Head's message
Tallis Habits focus
Calendar
Year 7 News
Parent View
GCSE Pod
Drawing Conclusions
Manipulated Landscapes
Amy Winehouse Foundation

Hello
Despite a crackly tannoy system, we tried to mark the minute’s silence being held for the 50^th anniversary of Aberfan on Friday morning at 0915.

For those of you too young to remember, 144 people were killed in the welsh mining village of Aberfan on October 21st 1966. 116 of those were children, killed in their classrooms when the slag heap (a mountain of coal waste present in every mining community) slipped onto the village and buried the school. Among the 5 staff killed was Michael Davies, a young teacher in his second year, who died with his class. The Headteacher was killed in her study. It was the Friday before the half-term holiday.

The television report of Aberfan is probably my earliest memory of news. I was also taught in a Victorian primary school, just like the one in Aberfan, and was very familiar with slag heaps. It was terrifying. Many of the health and safety protections and counselling and trauma support structures that we take for granted now, but are so ridiculed by the ignorant, stem from this single, terrible disaster.

I wrote a couple of issues ago about us looking for two new parent governors to join our Board of Governors. The letter asking you to consider nominating yourself was sent home with students on the last day of the half term. The letter can also be viewed on the website if it has gone astray, as these things occasionally do! Please have a read through it and if you feel you could contribute to our invaluable team of Governors we would love to hear from you. Closing date for applications is Friday 4 November.

Carolyn Roberts
Don't forget that you can engage with us via email, on Facebook and Twitter and using the Contact page of the website.

Our Tallis Habits focus for next half term is on becoming more collaborative. We really appreciate the collaboration we have with you in supporting the education of your children. Thank you.

CALENDAR
Half Term
24 - 28 October

We return to school at the normal time on Tuesday 1 November. It will be a Week B.

Year 7 news

This has been an excellent first half term, with our Year 7 students collecting over 4000 positive reward points. Thank you to each and every one of them who has contributed to this total – it is staggering and I am very proud.

I am really pleased about the way that Year 7 students have settled into Tallis and have thrown themselves into becoming members of our large, complex and diverse community. I want to thank parents for their support and for helping to ensure that Year 7 attendance has been excellent.

So far this year, tutor groups have nominated their ‘Tutee of the Month’ twice and I am pleased to announce that the winners have been:

September
Daisy Wells (7GI)
Ruby-Rose Stone (7RZ)
Jason-Junior Sunnassee (7HO)
Caitlin Griffiths (7HW)
Robyn Steele (7HY)
Chloe Smith (7TR)
Madeline Plaskitt (7PY)
Evie Camp (7CB)
Malandra Kobong (7RJ)

October
Antonio Daley (7HW)
Connie Golden (7HY)
Macy McIntyre (7CB)
Jaden Baldie (7TR)
Jacky Ren (7HO)
Kai Smith (7PY)
Moritz Hamm (7RJ)
Fausta Kiburyte (7RZ)
Theo Powers Bird (7HW)

On a separate note, I just want to share some excellent Year 7 English homework, from 7TR, who created objects that told me about them (see below).

Have a restful holiday everyone.

Thanks
Jo Rawlings (Head of Year 7/English teacher)

Dear Parents/Carers

As part of our community ethos we are committed to listening to your views and experiences of Tallis to inform the development of the school. One way of communicating this feedback is to use the Parent View weblink below.

https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk

The Parent View website is also used by Ofsted to consider what parents value about Tallis. If you are able, please take time to log in and complete the evaluation.

Many thanks

Shaun Brown, Deputy Head (Inclusion)

Particularly for parents of students in Years 9 to 11,

The school has bought into supplying the software “GCSE Pod” for another year. From November last year our students downloaded or streamed over 31,000 pods in their own time, and we are keen for this to be become a regular method of students supporting their own learning at home. The idea is that students can access this software anywhere, on their phone, tablet or computer. They can either stream pods live or download them to listen to them in their own time. The pods are short videos that explain a particular concept or idea which is an essential part of the subject they are studying. This is particularly good for improving their understanding in an area where they feel they need it, or in terms of general revision for tests and exams. In some cases, staff may also use this to set as ‘flipped learning’ where students need to find out about something before the next lesson for homework.

Admittedly, the podcasts are aimed at GCSEs, are better in some subjects that others, and some of the pods are currently being updated to support the new GCSE specifications. However, in the main, the GCSE Pod software has been really well received by students and something we all should certainly encourage them to use! We also have other online resources in some subject areas; for instance Mathswatch and the PIxl maths app are used more in maths.

Thank you in advance for encouraging the use of this at home.

Kind Regards

Ashley Tomlin, Deputy Headteacher (Curriculum)

GCSE Pod Student Quick Start Guide

Drawing Conclusions ...

This week, students and staff have been taking part in ‘The Big Draw’ an annual event and the world’s biggest celebration of drawing. We have been busy highlighting the importance and purpose of drawing and using it to help us think about who we are as a community.

Eileen Adams, an Educational Leader in the national campaign for drawing, believes that you can both ‘learn to draw’ and ‘draw to learn’. She says that there are four main purposes of mark making or drawing:

Perception – personal view, understanding, observing, recording, analysing...
Communication – maps, diagrams...
Invention – designs, ideas, artworks...
Action – charts, plans, tables...

We agree with the campaign that visual literacy is important for young people and that is why our art curriculum starts with a focus on mark making and drawing in all years. It activates parts of the brain that words and numbers don't and helps us to make connections. We have been reminding ourselves that it is hard to imagine a world without drawing. Somebody somewhere has drawn everything that we use, from road markings and maps to our toothbrushes and mobile phones.

The highlight of the week was when forty year 9 and year 10 students ran a drawing workshop in the Visual & Media Arts corridor for year 7 students during lunch. We will be continuing this line of inquiry over the coming weeks so watch this space.

Sarah Phillips, Visual & Media Arts

On Wednesday, Year 12 BTEC Art and Design students used their paper map cutouts to experiment with shadow projections in the broadcast studio in order to develop ideas for their manipulated landscapes brief.

Gina Braden, Visual & Media Arts

Parents and Carers are invited to a presentation by the Amy Winehouse Foundation on 12th December 2016 6:00pm - 7:15pm.

This forum will help parents understand substance misuse and the support which is available.

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