Don Valley Academy

Year 8 History students recently visited Leeds Armouries to support their class work on the English Civil War and Warfare Through Time.

Students had the opportunity to try on authentic armour and uniforms from different periods of time. They also handled artifacts, examined weapons and were even put through their paces in pike drill!

A good day was had by all!  

Best School Award
Winner: Don Valley Academy & Performing Arts College

Don Valley Academy and Performing Arts College had cause for celebration in 2011 as year 11 pupils received phenomenal examination results. We are the joint most improved school in Doncaster and our five A* – C results have doubled over the last three years.

The school prides itself on being very creative and on finding new ways to challenge and develop its students as young people both in and out of the classroom.

We have fantastic extra curricular activity opportunities which are led by staff willing to go the extra mile whether it be at lunchtime, after school, evenings or weekends which has resulted in many pupils excelling with their talents especially in the Performing Arts and Sport.

Community Impact or Involvement Award
Winner: Mrs Hopson

Our school librarian Mrs Hopson is absolutely passionate about promoting the enjoyment of books and reading among young people, and enthusiasm goes way beyond her ‘day job’.

 In 2004, she came up with the idea of the Doncaster Children’s Book Award (DBA), a scheme that would promote reading and libraries, encourage social interaction among children from all areas of Doncaster and, importantly, give them a voice about what they like to read.

In the first year of the awards, children from 15 schools took part. Through the hard work of the award’s organising committee the event has grown massively and now has 70 primary and secondary schools involved, although all Doncaster children can access the scheme via public libraries and the DBA website even if their school is not involved. The thousands of votes that the children send in are evidence of how much they enjoy the award scheme.

 Within school, her work helped Don Valley Academy win the National Literacy  Trust ‘Reading Connects’ School of the Year in 2009/10 and she has been named a ‘Reading Ambassador’. The school is currently featured as a best practice case study for promoting reading for pleasure in the resource section of the OFSTED website.

 To conclude, Mrs Hopson has worked really hard to create a positive and large community of young readers within Doncaster. As reading and literacy is crucial to the educational success of Doncaster’s youth, she is without doubt a worthy winner.

Don Valley Academy and Performing Arts College are proud to present
their Festival of Christmas

Lower School Hall - Wednesday 14th December at 7:00pm.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Available from the Performing Arts Office.
Parents can also purchase tickets from Reception.

£3.00 for Adults and £1.50 for Concessions.

The disruption created by the planned industrial action and the need to have regard for health and safety of pupils, has caused the school to decide whether or not to remain open.

After careful consideration and in the best interest of the pupils, we have decided to close due to the numbers of teaching and support staff in school who are affiliated to the unions which have voted for Industrial Action.

Students will be expected to return to school on Thursday 1st December 2011. We regret any inconvenience this may cause.

This was jointly organised with Miss Hicks from the English Department.  Year 7 are currently starting to read the novel ‘Cry of the Wolf’ by Melvin Burgess.  We decided therefore that we would hold a day-long workshop on Monday 7th November to explore the novel.  Six students from each Y7 form were invited to attend.  The idea was that they would feed back to their form as a whole their ideas about the book and do a short presentation. 

Dave Cryer led the workshop, with library staff assisting.  He began by speaking about his own writing and the process of creating a novel, encouraging those students who might be interested to think about keeping a diary, or even a notebook, where they could jot down thoughts/ideas for stories.  He then spoke about Melvin Burgess, and explained that ‘Cry of the Wolf’ was his first published novel.  There was then the opportunity for some questions and discussion, with one student asking about the process of getting a novel published.

The students then split up into class groups to practice a drama piece based on this scene.  They worked really well in their groups, thinking of ways to use physical theatre and sound effects to create the scene and give it more impact.  When the time came to volunteer to perform, every student took part. 

To finish the day, the students were asked to write a short piece on what they thought the book is all about.  This was to be a chance for them to think about the main themes, so as to be able to talk about them to their form.

The workshop was interesting and enjoyable and the focus and hard work of the students would suggest that they also enjoyed it.  Dave Cryer was very impressed with the level of responses in the discussions and with the quality of the performances, which showed how well the students understood the characters and the story.

Mrs Hopson
Librarian

The History students of Year 12 recently took a 3 day trip to London to help them develop their history on Parliament. On the first day we took a tube ride to the BBC and went on a tour around the studios and dressing rooms. We saw a variety of celebrity comedians; a highlight was when the group were stood right next to the presenter of ‘Mock the Week’, Dara O’Briain. We managed to see the news rooms, empty studios and the old Blue Peter set. We also learnt about the technology used on the weather reports and even watched a pre-recording of ‘Never mind the Buzzcocks’.

 The next day was followed by a tour of Parliament, where Miss Bond knew more than the tour guide! I found the tour of the House of Commons very interesting and also the exercise on how Parliament and the voting systems worked. This really helped with our understanding of British Politics and how our votes would be calculated in the future. We then went on an audio guided tour of Churchill’s War rooms, which helped develop our knowledge on Churchill’s Conservative government during the Second World War.

 We had a tiring couple of days in London but it was definitely money well spent. A big thank you to the staff that went and made the trip as enjoyable as it was!

 Year 12 Student

This year, the Doncaster Book Award was fortunate enough to be offered a visit from the wonderful Cathy Cassidy.  Danum School offered to host, and students from Don Valley Academy, The Armthorpe School, Hexthorpe, and Plover primary schools also attended.

Cathy began by telling her audience that she believed her main talent at school was as a daydreamer!  She also pointed out that many of her teachers did not see this as a talent, and on occasion were not too happy about her tendency to drift off in class.  However, the elaborate stories and fantasies she constructed in her head were to stand her in good stead in later years when she began to write her very successful books.

Cathy read aloud an extract from her latest book, ‘Marshmallow Skye’, one of the ‘Chocolate Box Girls’ series.  The extract she chose features an encounter between a boy and a girl that was very funny and decidedly unromantic! 

When talking about the actual writing process, she explained that it is the ideas which matter when writing, and advised any of the students listening avidly that the very best thing to do is to write as often as possible, to get your ideas down on paper as they come, and then work on things like plot construction and character development later.  She also said how important it was to think through roughly where you want your story to go, so that although this might change slightly as the story progresses and you get more into your characters, it gives a structure to your work.

When it was time for questions and answers, loads of hands went up, and some of the questions were really insightful.  The talk finished all too soon with some book and autograph signings. 

Everyone attending thought that it was a great morning and several said they’d love to meet Cathy again.

Mrs Hopson
Librarian

Don Valley Sixth Form has never looked so ridiculous as students decided to come in their most silliest clothes in order to raise money for Children in Need. From the Umpa Lumpas, to the Blues Brothers; the students were determined to raise awareness and money for such a deserving charity. The Sixth Form managed to raise £250 from their efforts; I would like to thank anybody who contributed to the day. I would also like to thank the Sixth Form for putting such an amazing day together and making us very proud!

Mrs Keighley-Beddows
Temporary Year 12 Learning Manager

Monday 5th December 2011

7:00pm ~ Lower School Hall

Starring Year 10 and 11 BTEC Dancers in their debut performance!

With special guest performers Fantastic Funk

TICKETS ON SALE NOW - Available from the Drama Office during break times

Adults – £2.50  Concessions – £1.00

On Friday the 11^th of November we were involved in an event called Question Time along with other Year 9 students. This was a day where we could meet a panel of speakers from different professions including Prison workers, Priests and a member from YOT (Youth Offending Team). We had a chance to question them about what they did and how they found their work. We then debated about the topics ‘It’s my body and I can do what I like’ and ‘It’s my world and I can do what I like.’  

A student in form 9GHE said “I think today was really good. I liked debating when in the big group because everyone was really involved. The things we were discussing were interesting. I learnt some shocking things like 80% of young offenders re-offend.”

The day was really enjoyable and thought provoking. Another Year 9 student said “It was a really good day because it was interesting to talk to people from different walks of life and what their jobs were like.” 

We would gladly take part in this day again.

Article provided by two students in Form 9FRS