Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Friday, 25 April 2014
David Rutley MP
The Macclesfield Academy was delighted to play host to David Rutley MP on 28th March. Mr Rutley had come to congratulate students and staff on the Academy’s recent OFSTED report and to find out the secret of their success. He toured lessons in French, ICT, Science, Maths and Food Technology and saw for himself the impact of the Academy’s welcoming community, personalised curriculum and enriched education. He took the opportunity to talk with many students including some who had transferred to the Academy from other schools and who could speak first hand of the welcome they had received and the progress they were making. His visit ended with a meeting with our student leadership team who have played an important part in shaping the Academy’s positive ethos. As they discussed issues facing the Macclesfield community, it was clear that the Academy has several young politicians in the making.
David Rutley said: “It was a pleasure
to tour The Macclesfield Academy and see how far the school has come in such a
short period of time. It is clear that staff, students and governors are
working hard to make this a great place to learn. I was particularly
impressed by the student leadership team and the contribution they are making.”
Richard Hedge, Academy Headteacher,
added, “We were delighted that our MP was able to visit the Academy. Our OFSTED report spoke of the positive ethos
which pervades the Academy and I was pleased that, in meeting a full range of
our students from our SEN support group to the student leadership team, David
was able to experience this ethos for himself.”
Children's Author Jon Mayhew
Celebrations
for World Book Day kicked off at The Macclesfield Academy with a visit from the
children’s author, Jon Mayhew. His visit coincided with the Year 5 taster
day with over 200 pupils attending from local primary schools. Jon’s day
started in the hall with a question and answer session before working with
primary pupils in writing workshops. He later ran a short story writing
group with some of the Academy’s gifted and talented pupils from Year 8.
The
day was rounded off by Jon who gave a talk to a hall full of Year 7 and 8
students, where they gained an insight into how to become a published author.
Lucie-Ann Lawton, who is a great fan of Jon’s books, commented, “It
was a great experience.” Many students brought books in for Jon to sign
and he ended his visit by judging the short stories produced during the
workshops. The day was a fantastic success.
Saturday, 11 January 2014
East Cheshire Hospice Enterprise Project
MACCLESFIELD
ACADEMY STUDENTS WIN EAST CHESHIRE HOSPICE ENTERPRISE PROJECT
Back
in July 2013, The Macclesfield Academy were asked to enter a team in to a new
enterprise project set up by the East Cheshire Hospice, as part of their
on-going fundraising programmes. Six students studying GCSE Business Studies,
alongside their teacher, Mr Halsall, took on the challenge and started work on
putting together a pitch. The aim of the project was to design and manufacture
a product that could be sold at Manchester Airport. The team had to develop
their ideas and pitch their product to a team of ‘Dragons’, in order to get a
£100 investment to manufacture. The ‘Dragons’ consisted of both the Chaplain and Director of Manchester Airport,
an executive from Thomas Cook and a Superintendent of Manchester Police. The ‘Dragons’ were so
impressed with the innovative idea and the drive of the students that they
quickly handed over the cash and manufacture began.
The
‘Key-Koo’, as it has now been named, is an innovative key ring designed to make
the storage and use of keys easier. Selling day was the 28th
November, where all teams converged on the airport to sell their wares. The
team raised £70 on the day and students continued to sell the product in
school, in total raising over £215, representing over
a 100% profit margin from their investment.
The final of the competition was on Thursday 12th
December and The Macclesfield Academy Team picked up the award for the Best
Entrepreneurial Idea.
Mr Halsall commented that
“The drive and will to get the idea working has been great to see. Moving forward, a website has been mooted and
I think the lessons learned and experience gained designing and selling the
product have given all the students a taste for an entrepreneurial career”.
Our enterprise team consisted of left to right in the picture:
Luke Bwye
Arik Ross
Mikey Smith
Mr Halsall
Zak Dabbs
Will Windsor
Friday, 6 December 2013
GCSE Presentation Evening
On Thursday 5th December we held our GCSE presentation evening when students who left us in the summer were presented with their exam certificates. This year our special guest speaker was Kirsty Henshaw. Kirsty is a young business woman whose big break came after she appeared on Dragon’s Den where she secured a £65,000 investment for a 30% stake in her healthy food business. Her products are now being sold in all major supermarkets in Britain. The event was a celebration of the achievements of the students after all their effort and hard work during their time with us. As well as exam certificates, there were prizes for outstanding achievement in each subject, and awards for the students who attained the best results overall. This year the recipients of the awards for best GCSE results were Dominic Moore and Emma Sykes. Dom Smith and Lillie McGuckian received awards for their outstanding contributions as Head Boy and Head Girl. All of the students can be justly proud of what they achieved, in what was a record-breaking year for exam results here at The Macclesfield Academy.
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Friday, 22 November 2013
Lab in a Lorry
Lab in a Lorry, a mobile science lab for young people, visited The Macclesfield Academy on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 November to connect young people in the region to science. All Year 7, 8 and 9 students took part in organised visits to the Lab throughout the two days.
Designed to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers, Lab in a Lorry offers 11-14 year olds the opportunity to explore science through specially created interactive experiments.
The Lab in a Lorry programme consists of two 44ft lorries that have been visiting schools, youth organisations, major events, and communities free-of-charge across the UK and Ireland since early 2005.
Each lorry is fitted with three distinct lab areas where groups of up to six young people can take part in each of the fun and informative experiments. The programme is delivered by volunteers – all scientists and engineers – and with at least one volunteer mentor to every six students, everyone gets to try their hand at experimental science and think about the surprises and questions that arise.
Lab in a Lorry in the North West of England is an Institute of Physics’ initiative. The Schlumberger Foundation is a founding partner and volunteer assistance is provided by STEMNET. The aim of Lab in a Lorry is to encourage positive attitudes towards science and to make science and engineering more attractive to 11-14 year olds.
Institute of Physics spokesperson James Bamford said:
“Lab in a Lorry is a fantastic experience for young people. It generates excitement and curiosity in science by letting them explore experimental science for themselves with the help of expert mentors.”
Science teacher Mr Mitchell said:
‘’The day was a fantastic success. We managed to get all our Year 7, 8 and 9 students to have a go in the lorry. The experiments were really interactive, and the pupils loved it. I would gladly use the Lab in a Lorry again. The staff were excellent, and the volunteers certainly knew their stuff!”
Yzsnjoy Perez and Eliane Miralles, both Year 8, said:
‘’It was fun and we learnt new things in an exciting way. It was really hands on a
nd it made us feel like proper scientists."
Schools can invite Lab in a Lorry to visit them through the website www.labinalorry.org.uk which also contains information on how to become a volunteer.
Year 9 and 10 Students Blaze A New Trail!
When we opened The Academy two years ago, one of our core aims was to raise our students’ aspirations and challenge them to achieve more than they ever thought possible. This was the thinking that lay behind our radical approach to curriculum design: we wanted our students to work towards achievement in GCSE as soon as we felt they were ready. That is why our personalised curriculum allows some of our students to sit GCSEs in Year 9 and Year 10 in subjects at which they excel.
This year saw the first results from students who had taken one year GCSE options in Years 9 and 10. These students had been studying their specialist subjects for five hours a week - twice as much teaching time as a typical GCSE student - and have achieved some stunning results. Pride of place goes to four Year 9 students: Kymara Akinpelumi (Drama), Alex Brownjohn (Media Studies), Bradley Clarke (History) and Sebastian Freke-Morin (French) who, remarkably, have gained A* grades at the age of only 14. Their results are among 20 passes at A and above by Year 9 students.
Not to be outdone, our Year 10 students notched up 41 passes at A and A* in subjects as diverse as Biology, Drama, Art, French, Geography, History, IT, Media Studies, Music and Spanish, and a stunning 200 at C and above. These students have shown that it is possible to achieve remarkable things if we raise our aspirations and continually strive to make our best even better. They have laid the foundations which will enable them to do remarkable things next year and have set an outstanding example for the rest of our students as we encourage them to be relentless in their pursuit of excellence. We are very proud of them all.
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