Big Draw Week

During the month of October the Art department launched the Big Draw. This is a national event to promote drawing. The whole school were involved in different art activities ranging from, drawing with straws to building dens.

There was also a competition for all students in Years 7, 8 and 9. The theme was STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths). The response was fantastic with some extremely creative work. The overall winners were Joshua Knight, Maria Rondon and Connor Baxter who all  produced some amazing work. Well done to all those who took part.

Billy Elliot in the South Leeds Life

The South Leeds Life came to the dress rehearsal of Billy Elliot and filmed some of the rehearsal as well as interviewing some of the cast members.

CLICK HERE to watch the Billy Elliot cast video for the South Leeds Life.

We look forward to an article in the January edition!

Christmas Charity Jumpers!

The School Council requested that we support different charities throughout the year so the non-uniform day at the end of term was to support both our own charity, The Kyle Asquith Foundation and Cash For Kids (click here to see flyer).  The event is sponsored by Radio Aire who celebrate their festive Cash For Kids Day . The School Council will present a cheque to Cash For Kids in the New Year to a member of the Radio Aire team.

Christmas Charity Cakes!

Christmas Cakes – Congratulations to Miss Harper and Mrs Sheard in the Design and Technology department who sold delicious Christmas cakes to members of staff. They raised £100 for the Kyle Asquith Foundation.

Billy Elliot Mannequin Challenge

The cast and crew of Billy Elliot worked hard to market and advertise their show. Their mannequin challenge video was shared with all of the students in the school and helped to ensure that the show sold out and was a great success.

Click here to watch the Billy Elliot Mannequin Challenge!

Girls Rugby Team fighting to get into the finals

The Year 7 girls rugby team played amazingly well in the champion schools qualifying rounds. All the girls showed great resilience, team work and pride in their team. They finished joint first with Corpus Cristi and Temple Moor schools. Only two schools go through so there will be a rematch to see who is crowned winner and will progress to the next stage of the competition.
Well done girls keep it up.

Poetry Competition Finalists

We are very proud to announce that Year 7 Cockburn students have been successful in the recent Leeds Peace Poetry Competition 2016.

Two classes: 7LF and 7LF2 wrote poems based on the the subject of refugees. Cockburn was selected twice to be in the finals: firstly, as secondary school class contribution and secondly, Declan Smith and Aminul Chowdhury as individual finalists.

The two boys, their families,  Miss O’Toole and Ms Firth attended the awards ceremony in the Great Hall at Leeds University.

Well done Declan,  Aminul and the two year seven English classes; we are very proud of you!

Year 8 Rugby Winners

Congratulations to the Year 8 Boys Rugby League team for winning the Leeds Plate.

All students were outstanding on and off the pitch and it was a real team performance to beat an excellent Menston St Mary’s in the final 12-8.

The coaching team were very proud of the resilience and attitude of the team.

Cockburn students shortlisted for poetry award.

Two of our students, Declan Smith and Aminal Chaudhuryt, have been selected to be finalists in the Peace Poetry competition. They have been invited to attend the award ceremony in the Great Hall in the University of Leeds on Wednesday 23 November. (The announcement of the winners of the different sections will be made by chief judge Malika Booker on the night.)

‘The Leeds Peace Poetry Competition is a truly fantastic event, which has proved to be a catalyst and inspiration for some amazing pieces of work by people of all ages over many years.  With the theme of the 2016 Leeds Peace Poetry Competition being ‘refugees’, I am really looking forward to reading and hearing some of this year’s entries, which could be some of the most interesting and thought-provoking yet.’
Leader of Leeds City Council, Councillor Judith Blake   June 2016

Year 7 Liverpool Trip

On the 13^th October, Year 7 visited Liverpool Albert Docks for their English, History and Art studies. They were tasked with creating a profile of a passenger on board one of the famous Liverpool ships (The Titanic and a slave-ship). The profile was to include a historical report, descriptions and sketches.

Throughout the day the students visited three museums where they researched about the passengers and practised their all-important sketching skills. The Merseyside Maritime Museum held an exhibition that displayed actual recovered artefacts from the sunken Titanic and had recounts of the disaster from real survivors that had been recorded. Students also got a chance to experience life on board the ship, dressing up along the way.

In the Slavery Museum, recounts and stories were brought to life through a recreation of African villages, recreations on board the ship and real stories in the form of newspaper articles. Life on board this ship was not as pleasant as the Titanic.

Across the docks, in the Tate Liverpool , students practised their sketching skills by drawing a series of possessions in their latest exhibitions. On a variety of floors, students saw what possessions were valuable to people and which are less so; they thought back to the Titanic passengers and the slaves on board the ships.

The students displayed Cockburn’s Values and Expectations throughout the day, often being noted by other visitors in the museums. One elderly gentleman from London commented on how it was refreshing to see students in a rich learning environment and gaining so much pleasure and information from the experience. Students also showed museum staff and guides all of their interesting research. Well done everyone!

Cockburn's Police Pioneers

West Yorkshire Pioneers has been piloted at Cockburn School for children interested in the Police with a view to supporting development of the Police Cadets. The scheme involved a lot of varied sessions. This included learning first aid with West Yorkshire Ambulance, a visit from the West Yorkshire Police Dog Support Unit and seeing the Police helicopter.

Click here to read more about this project and more stories from the October issue of the South Leeds Neighbourhood Policing Team News.

Sports Roundup

Sports teams have got off to a flying start this year. Over 100 students train on a Tuesday for football, 30 for rugby, plus many more for all the other teams. 2016/7 is going to be one to watch for winning a few big events! There are super strong football teams this year in all year groups.

So far the Year 7, 8 & 9 girls rugby teams are working hard on being crowned champions of their game. The Year 9’s have stepped up to represent the Year 10 team with Chloe Denison and Chelsea Leigh Hall, in the regional rounds of the champion school qualifiers. Years 7 & 8 are hoping to join them in their upcoming rounds.

A number of students have helped out after school, with refereeing rugby fixtures against other schools, and acting as sports leaders for the primary schools athletics events. A tremendous start to 2016!

It’s like watching Brazil play... in Beeston!

What a fantastic start it’s been to the new season for our KS3 football teams. Three wins in the first week of October, two of which were in the cup have kick started the season for our boys. It all started with a thumping 10-1 win over Morley for the Year 9’s. Mr Burnell’s extra training session paid off with a great team display described by Mr Boxell as ‘the best performance I have seen in years from a Cockburn team’. Goals from Eliel Zouogbo, Newton Conde, Kian McCormack and Corey Williams gave Cockburn a comprehensive victory.

Year 7 played their first game for school and were very impressive in their cup match against West Leeds. Goals from Andy Twun, Ted Kenworthy and Jibraeel Gani gave the team a 3-2 victory. Year 8 completed a trio of wins with a well fought 3-2 win against local rivals Woodkirk. After leading 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, they fully deserved their win. The goals came from Coby Whitaker and a brace from Joel Neto. Could silverware be coming to Cockburn this season? Let’s hope so!

St George's Crypt Visit

A group of Year 11 students visited St George’s Crypt in Leeds on a fact finding mission ahead of The World Homelessness Week. One of the students said that “The experience touched us all and we could not believe what happens on our own doorstep and the work of the people at the crypt.”

Positioned in the heart of Leeds, St George’s Crypt provides an award winning 24/7 emergency accommodation for men and women who are homeless or  sleeping rough.

During the course of the last 88 years St. George’s Crypt has developed into an amazing safe haven for hundreds, if not thousands of people who, often through no fault of their own, suddenly find themselves without a home or a place to live.

Growth Mindset

Cockburn School has launched a new focus this academic year Growth Mindset. Based on the international research by Professor Carol Dweck, staff and students have learnt about the power of ‘Not Yet’ and the proof that learners are more successful when they believe that practice and process are key to success rather. Fixed Mindset learners are resistant to feedback as they see it as negative criticism. We are encouraging everyone to see that ‘failure’ is really just that necessary struggle called ‘learning’.

Please do not reply to texts.

A reminder to parents/carers that emails and text messages sent by Cockburn School come from an automated service and cannot accept replies. If you wish to get in touch further to an email or text message please telephone the school office on 0113 2719962 or email info@cockburnschool.org.

Year 9s by the sea!

In October, 114 Year 9 Geographers travelled to Hornsea and Bridlington in order to complete their GCSE fieldwork. They had a successful day investigating long-shore drift and tourism at the coastline.

They even had time to grab some rock, an ice cream or some fish and chips! Or in Mr Cattrall’s case all three…

CALL OUT FOR ALL UNUSED INSTRUMENTS!

The Music Department at Cockburn School is calling for an instrument amnesty. If anyone has any instruments of any type (literally anything) unused in a loft/shed/store cupboard or even a garage, we are asking whether you wouldn’t mind donating them for use in the department. We have lots of exciting ideas for bands and groups, but instruments are expensive!

Please contact Miss Crowther in the Music Department if you are willing to help! info@cockburnschool.org

National Poetry Day

For National Poetry Day, Liz Cashdan who is a published poet with over five collections of published poetry anthologies visited the school and held workshops with Year 7, 9 and 10 students.

She performed some of her most famous poetry, including the poem ‘Salt’ and this was the stimulus for the poetry workshop in which students had to imagine leaving their place of birth (Beeston or Yorkshire in most cases) and if they could capture any memories, smells, sights, sounds and associations, what would they place in a bottled jar to always treasure and cherish. I have included some of the best selections of Year 10 students who were particularly recognised as producing exceptional work in the double lesson. Liz Cashdan also presented the students with a signed copy of her most recent collection of poems entitled ‘Things of Substance.’

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In case I never return
By: Joshua Marsden

In case I never return:

I’m taking a jar filled with the scent of my father’s steak and ale pie, straight from the pan. The scent of Guinness and steak.

The droplets of rain against the pavement, taps and drips, soothingly sounds me asleep at night.

Memories of football in primary.

The goals, the fallouts and celebrations.

I leave it all behind,

I stop. Shed a tear, and move on….

Best Results Ever!

Students from Cockburn achieved excellent results this summer against a national and local backdrop that saw exams get harder and a fall in the number of students achieving the top grades. We are celebrating getting our highest ever exam results with almost 58% of students achieving 5 A* – C including English and maths. Progress students make at Cockburn is exceptional and continues to be much higher than national averages. The Government’s new measure of school performance is Progress 8 and current calculations indicate that it is likely that yet again, the Department for Education will recognise Cockburn for the excellent progress compared to other schools nationally.

Some students in Year 11 achieved above and beyond with grade A* – A in at least 8 subjects this year. Special congratulations go to one student in particular, Nadia Begum achieved A* in 9 GCSE qualifications.

Dave Westwell, Chair of Governors at Cockburn School wrote to the staff at Cockburn praising their “true team effort in producing these results”. He went on to say “Thank you once again on behalf of all those young people who have benefited greatly by being a part of Cockburn for the past five years. I’m very confident that your commitment and effort on behalf of the next year groups coming through will be just as great”.

Praise for Cockburn students in the community.

Our students have been praised by members of the local community for their conduct. The Residents Association sent a message thanking students: “We are extremely impressed with the way that Cockburn students behave in the community. They are smart, polite and respectful. Many years ago we would complain about litter and poor behaviour but this has changed. Congratulations!”

One local resident made contact via our website to say that “I was driving up Gypsy Lane, to South Leeds Golf Club, shortly after students from Cockburn School were going home at the end of the day. They were a credit to the school: smiling children, walking sensibly, looking happy, no silliness and running over roads. Further, students who were going home up Gypsy Lane moved aside for cars needing to get to the golf club. My overall impression was that these were polite children, and they are a credit to themselves and to the school.”

Application for new free school makes front page of South Leeds Life.

The South Leeds life ran news of the Cockburn Multi-academy Trust’s application to open a new free school in the inner south Leeds. Click here for more information and to register your support via our online survey.