March 2023
Headteacher’s Bulletin
Dear Parents and Carers,
Our Spring Easter Break is upon us – the past half term has flown by! Lots of exciting and inspiring things to tell you about in this bulletin but I have to say that the end of term assembly this morning was an absolute joy!
Following on from the amazing success of the past two nights of “We Will Rock You”, students performed some pieces to the whole school – they were really amazing! They have rehearsed and practiced so hard that it all paid off and the rest of the school were in awe! Please congratulate your child if they took part in this wonderful show!
Secondly lots of prizes (mostly Easter eggs!) and certificates were awarded by Heads of Year for outstanding students, LAMDA certificates were awarded to those talented Drama students who have achieved this award in their own time with Mrs Mrozinski, and sporting achievements were also recognised, especially the basketball and football teams who have won all their games across Trafford!
Perhaps the most poignant moment was when past winners of the Abdulla Hasan Award for Kindness were presented with a £50 voucher each thanks to a generous donation to the school from Abdulla’s father in memory of his son. Lilly and Lewis (both in Y10) who won the Award in 2021 and 2022 respectively were applauded by the whole school for being recognised for their kindness and also for being excellent role models to others.
Mr Hasan recently visited our school to present Lewis with his Award from last year. He also visited the olive tree which we planted in memory of his son.
We would like to thank Mr Hasan for his generosity at such a sad time for his family, and we hope that Abdulla’s memory will live on through this award for many years to come.
Our Inclusive School
A very important letter will be coming out to all parents and carers next term which includes an information gathering sheet. As you are well aware, we are an inclusive school which celebrates and champions the wonderful qualities of all our students, however to do this better, we would like an up-to-date record of students for whom English is not their first language.
We are hoping to capture this information from anyone who may have been an International new arrival or those who have lived in the UK all their lives but speak a different language at home. This is something we wish to celebrate!
We wish to work more closely with families from different cultural backgrounds in order to:
- Improve our provision for students with English as an Additional Language (EAL students)
- Upgrade our curricular offer to make it even more inclusive
EAL students in our school do remarkably well both academically and pastorally; they contribute so much as part of school community that I hope parents and carers really do want to share this information from us. Thank you in advance for your support.
Sporting Successes
Gymnastics
Back in February, Akyra R-P in Y8, was in another competition where she put on an amazing performance of gymnastics and finished in FIRST place AA, making her English Espoire Champion 2023!
Akyra also won medals on each piece of apparatus, gold on beam & vault, silver on floor and bronze on bars. Great preparation for the British championship! Congratulations Akyra!
Athletics
Also back in February, Eva A (Year 7) took part in the Welsh National Indoor Athletics Championships in Cardiff and won gold in the 60m sprint and gold in the 60m hurdles so is now a double Welsh Champion!
She already had the fastest time in the UK for 60m hurdles for 2022 and now heads the rankings for 2023 too! Well done Eva!
Girls’ Football
The ESFA Girls’ New Team Cup fixture t took place here at Altrincham College on Tuesday 14th March against St Peter's RC High School.
We managed to go into Full Time with a 15-0 win which has enabled us to go through to the next round.
“This team of young students were absolutely fantastic!” says Mr Geddes. They were:
- Eva A
- Halle-Jerri C
- Briony E-D
- Maddison F
- Chloe G
- Emily H
- Chloe M
- Jasmyn O
- Lily R
- Flo R
- Sienna S
- Katie T
Goal Scorers were:
- Eva A - 1
- Emily H- 3
- Chloe M - 1
- Lily R - 2
- Sienna S - 4
- Briony E-D - 1
- Katie T - 3
Well done girls! You’ve done us proud! The team will now play Churnet View Middle School from Staffordshire on 18th April 2023!
Boys' football
Our Year 9 team football team booked their place in the Trafford Schools Cup Final after a 2-1 victory against Wellington.
Here is the match report from Mr Hill: "This was a tense semi-final where only one goal separated the sides at half-time - a curved ball was whipped into Welly's box and the pressure from AC's attack forced one of their players to put it into their own net. The second half was tightly fought but Welly avoided the offside trap and equalised with 8 minutes to go. The AC heads didn't go down though and they continued to work hard. With 3 minutes to go, Ward, Jake and Kaleb worked a cute triangle pass, Kaleb forced a save from the goalkeeper but he was able to tap in at the near post to send the boys through to their first cup final."
DofE
Our Duke of Edinburgh students enjoyed a bike trip to Lymm Dam earlier this week. The students cycled over 30km and had a lovely time soaking up the spring sunshine, having fun along the way. Well done to Thom, Ronnie and Kaylem, who are pictured below with Mr Stephenson.
Rowing
The Chair of Trafford Rowing Club emailed me to share the wonderful news that Maisie K (Y11) has been selected to row for the North West at the Junior Inter-Regional Regatta!
Maisie and her crewmates won the Wj16 (Year 11) quad event at Northwest trials earlier this month and they have been selected from NW Rowing. The event will take place on 22nd April and see them compete against all the other regions in the UK.
Trafford Rowing Club and all at AC are very proud of their selection – well done Maisie!
Netball
A great effort from the Year 9s at the netball tournament on the 21st March. Despite their motivation and effort, unfortunately the team didn’t win any games but their spirit was not dampened and their support of each other was exceptional! The girls represented the school in a positive light. It was great to see Mrs Witchells supporting the girls on the sideline which gave them a boost of morale and showed the support network they have within school.
Well done to all the girls who participated because they commit their time to our netball team all year round!
Football Star to Radio Star!
Erin B-C (Y11) turned from footballer to commentator on Alty Radio recently, inspired by a visit to BBC Salford! Click here to listen to her amazing report as she talks about life within the media operation at Altrincham FC and her hopes for the future.
World Book Day
Thursday 2nd March saw our students being taught by a variety of famous book characters as staff dressed up to mark this year’s World Book Day. Lots of activities took place throughout the day, from quizzes and puzzles in the LRC, to a split story read by 5 different teachers, which formed part of each lesson.
Congratulations to Ms Diffley who won the prize for best dressed as ‘the Woman in Black’…scary!
Diversity Day of Culture
We had a wonderful day last week celebrating our inclusive and diverse community of
students and staff at Altrincham College! Everyone came to school in the dress of their own culture. This fabulous day, organised by our Y11 students, was the brainchild of Juri S and her friends! It featured cultural snack stalls, cultural music and henna tattoo stalls at break time plus a very special canteen menu of Asian food. Students and staff raised £500 for the Turkey-Syria earthquake disaster. A huge THANK YOU to everyone involved!
Maths Department
Our Maths department has been celebrating some fantastic results in the recent UK Senior Maths Challenge! Congratulations to students in Years 9, 10 & 11 for gaining their bronze, silver and gold certificates.
Students who gained the 'Best in Year' awards are: Evie and Jasmine (Y9), Oliver P (Y10) and Daryna (Y11). Oliver P also achieved the Best in School award - well done Oliver!
The Junior Maths Challenge for students in Years 7 & 8 takes place on Wednesday 26th April.
Sixth Form News
Our sixth form students have had a busy term with many trips and in-school events taking place!
Female Networking Event at UA92 University:
Year 12 students had the chance to network with female industry leaders from a range of fields, including Yvonne Harrison, the CEO of Women in Football. Yvonne spoke about her journey to success working in a male dominated environment. She encouraged students to work hard, make the most of every opportunity, and treat others as you’d want to be treated yourself – great advice!
Languages student Anna, from the University of Manchester, delivered a fantastic enrichment session for Year 12s, teaching them beginners Chinese and inspiring students to take up a language when they go to university – thank you, Anna!
Students also enjoyed a stimulating visit from Dr Leal, an academic from Brasenose College at the University of Oxford, who spoke to Year 11 and Year 12’s about how to make a successful application to the most competitive universities. He then delivered a bespoke workshop to our ‘Aspire 6’ Year 12 students, where he led a debate on the ethics of gender selection, as well as sharing some insight into interview preparation at Oxford.
Year 12 A Level History students had a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit Auschwitz in Poland as part of the LFA Project (lessons from Auschwitz). Student Megan wrote, "the most emotive experience was at Auschwitz – Birkenau. As I stood there it was as though I could actually hear the SS officers shouting commands, as dogs barked, and women and children screamed in pain and for their families.”
Y12 and 13 students studying Art and Fashion visited The Tate Liverpool recently to see the Turner Prize exhibition, which exhibits outside the capital every other year, and they all left feeling hugely inspired!
The Arts are alive at AC!
This week “We Will Rock You”, officially now the best ever musical production at our school, rocked audiences including students from some of our local primaries!
The Drama, Music, Art and Dance departments all worked together to put on this amazing show!
We saw some future stars in the making there, with a huge effort from everyone involved both on stage and behind the scenes! Thank you to all staff who worked so hard to ensure our students had an experience they will never forget!
Student Star of the Month
This month, all nominations were quality over quantity! They were:
Year 13
- Steph S and Charlie D for putting in time and effort in all things
Year 12
- Rowan D and Steph J for always being willing to have the courage to go outside their comfort zone
Year 9
- Billy Curtis for arranging the World Cancer Day raffle and for raising over £200 giving up so much of his time and for sourcing so many prizes
- Sasha B who joined us from Ukraine, for her outstanding efforts in learning English, working so hard and dancing in the school concert; she has really grasped all the opportunities on offer to her
Year 8
- Toby S
- Neave H
- Amelia S
- Archie W
All of these students have been nominated by Miss Duffy for always embracing school life, being polite and courteous and for generously giving their own time to get involved outside the classroom!
And the winner is……Maggy W in Year 9 who was nominated by Mrs Witchalls for embracing school life, excellent attendance and working hard all the time; she also plays netBall for the school team, is polite at all times and a joy to have at AC!
Many congratulations Maggy – you really are a STAR!
I would like to wish you and your family a truly Happy Easter and I look forward to welcoming everyone back on Monday 17 April at the usual time! Please make sure your child is punctual!
Thank you for your continued support of our school.
Ms K Earle
Headteacher
