Weekly Newsletter - 158 – 10 March 2010

TThe French Exchange group leaves on Wednesday 17th March at 05.45 am (ouch!). Meet outside the Recreation Centre to load the coach and ready fro a prompt departure at 6 am. The group will arrive in Graulhet at approximately 2.30/3 pm (French time).

Any passports not collected will be with Mr Rual, who will also carry the EHIC cards for the duration of the trip. Please be reminded that check-in luggage must be no heavier than 15 kilos and to pack gloves for ice skating whilst in France.

Library News

Big School Read: The Big School Read of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne is still being promoted throughout Neston High School and the wider community. There are forty copies of the novel available in the library!

Big School Read Day is coming up on Wednesday 17 March. On that day, a number of different subjects will be structuring their lessons around themes from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as a way of getting students more involved with the book.

This day will be followed by The Big School Watch of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. All members of the school and local community are invited to come and watch the film version of the novel, complete with popcorn and soft drinks to make it a real cinema experience. The film starts at 6 pm with doors open from 5.30 pm. Entry is free, tickets are available from the library. Do come along and get involved!

Copies of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas are now for sale in the library. The book will be on sale at £6.99; however students will be able to use their World Book Day voucher to get £1 off the price of the book until the end of March.

World Book Day: As part of World Book Day on Thursday 4 March we held a Catch Your Teacher Reading Challenge. This involved students finding 18 teachers who were hiding around the school reading during the lunchtime break. The following students were the first to find the most teachers in the fastest time and won an Easter egg each:

Charlie Bennett Year 7, Becky Fleetwood and Adele Tarbath Year 7, Daniel Sherwood and Josh Williams Year 8 and Eva Turner Year 8.

Well done to everyone who took part!

Drop it and Read: The next Drop it and Read event will be taking place on Friday 26 March, during morning registration, 8.45 – 9.00 am This is a brilliant opportunity for the whole of Neston High School to stop and read for 15 minutes. Please encourage your child to take part by making sure they have a book ready!

Library Tip of the Week – Get your child reading – take part in the Big School Read by getting a copy of John Boyne’s Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas to share amongst your family. You could read together or read separately and discuss your favourite part of the book!

Visit to Geneva

Last week Mrs Allport and 6 year 13 Physics students spent 3 days in Geneva. During this time they were able to visit the Large Hadron Collider at Cern in Switzerland. This fantastic opportunity was, again, part funded by Liverpool University and the Institute of Physics. Our thanks go to them for their continued support.

Parent Governor Election - March 2010

The result of the ballot is as follows:-

Ms F Matthews 136
Mr K Taylor 107
Mr C Boynton 91
Mr S Cope 74
Mr D Tighe 74

Congratulations to Ms Matthews, Mr Taylor and Mr Boynton who are therefore elected to serve on the Governing Body from March 2010.

Thanks to all for standing as candidates.

Community News

Advance Notice
From 12 – 15 May, the Neston Players will be performing ‘Shadowlands’ at Neston Civic Hall.

‘Illusion’ – 19 March
The above disco/club night has been put together by young people with help from Connexions and the Cheshire Constabulary. Look out for further information.

Sport Relief Mile in Neston!
Neston Cricket Club invite you to run The Sainsbury's Sport Relief Mile. Bring the whole family and enjoy a great afternoon out. You can walk, jog or run the 1, 3 or 6 miles in the grounds of one of the Northwest's premier multi-sports clubs, situated in Parkgate on the banks of the scenic River Dee. If you still have energy to spare, all entrants can try their hand at tennis for free as the Tennis Section are hosting an Open Day event in the afternoon. The run takes place on Sunday, 21st March 2010:

The run takes place on Sunday, 21st March 2010:
1 mile events 2.00pm
3 mile events 3.00pm
6 mile events 3.00pm

Full details and how to enter can be found HERE on the Sport Relief website.

Over 200 pupils from Ellesmere Port and Neston schools have worked together to create their very own MATHS TRAILS at two popular visitor locations (the Ellesmere Port Waterways Museum and Chester Zoo).

The Education Improvement Partnership and Liverpool University Maths Outreach have supported the project which was funded by the National Centre for Mathematics. The project involved Year 9 pupils from Neston High School and The Whitby High School writing the maths trails at the two sites. These were trialled by Year 5 pupils from Our Lady’s, The Oaks, Christ Church and Parkgate primary schools. The final products will be available for ALL SCHOOLS to download from websites next month. The trails can also be enjoyed by families.

Martin Nield, Chair of Ellesmere Port Education Improvement Partnership said: “This is an innovative project bringing primary and secondary students together to enjoy creating learning opportunities for all to share. We are grateful to school staff and to Liverpool University outreach team for their support in all aspects of this initiative. ”

400 Club Winners

December 2009
1st Prize S J Weir
2nd Prize J F Boyle
3rd Prize Marshall & Seed

January 2010
1st Prize G & D Wilkinson
2nd Prize T J Conway
3rd Prize J Cook-Scowen

February 2010
1st Prize S Dool
2nd Prize E A Sim
3rd Prize M & H Washington

March 2010
1st Prize Rigbys Ltd
2nd Prize C J Barnes
3rd Prize BD & J L Barnett

MFL Exam Booster Classes

Success

Thank you to all those people who contacted us in response to Uwe Carl’s letter last week. He has now been put in touch with the Cartwright family and is absolutely delighted to have tracked them down.

Music Department News

There is a ‘Hootenanny for Haiti’ concert on Friday 19th March starting at 6 pm and finishing around 9pm in Stewart Hall for any school Rock Bands, Pop Bands or other ensembles. Tickets will be sold from the Music Department office in advance only on a strictly ‘1 per person, in person’ basis and all bands and audience must be made up of Neston High School students (or their parents).

Ticket sales will commence Wednesday 10th March, with a limit of 200 being sold.

Dates for the Diary

12 March
January 2010 exam results

18 March
Year 10 Parents’ Evening

22 April
Year 12 Parents’ Evening

19 August
A/AS results

Tuesday 24
August GCSE results