Welcome to Sheldon School

CAN YOU HELP "DIY SOS" HELP JAY?

DIY SOS, the BBC One TV series, is to embark on a project helping Jay Ryles-Jenkins' family. They will be adapting their house to allow Jay to return home from hospital. The filming is to take place between Monday 19th and Wednesday 28th April and the production team are looking for kind-hearted Chippenham people to help. In particular, they want carpenters, electricians, plumbers, plasterers and painters to help for a day or two or more. You can see their fler here.

SIXTH FORMERS PUT SHELDON ON THE CULINARY MAP

On Saturday 20 March, a group of Sheldon sixth form students will be running the first Chippenham Food Festival. The event is being sponsored by Sodexo and takes place at the school from 10am to 5pm. There is an action-packed programme throughout the day with the mayor opening the event, cookery demonstrations from TV chefs such as Peter Vaughan, competitions and cookery classes. There will be opportunities to try lots of free, local, unusual food.

The organiser, Ben Jones Year 12, says: "We are raising money for Camp Tanzania 2011. The festival needs the support of the Sheldon community to succeed. So please attend if you can, whether it is to do some food shopping or just to support the Sheldon team in the Ready, Steady, Cook competition."

Entry to the event is £3 for adults and £2 for under 16s.
Saturday 20 March 10am to 5pm

PUBLIC SPEAKING SUCCESS FOR SHELDON'S TEAMS

Sheldon's teams achieved first and second places in the Rotary Youth Speaks competition. The year 8 team of Amelia Cox, Laura Bailey and Susanna Jones won first place ahead of the Year 9 team of Isabella Smith, Robyn Fisher and Amy Waller. Robyn Fisher won the best individual performance award. Both teams now go forward to the district semi final in Frome on Thursday 11 February.

OFSTED VISIT

Sheldon received a half-day visit on February 4 from Peter Sanderson HMI to look at our science curriculum and advice to pupils. It was part of a fact-finding survey of schools to judge the impact of changes to the Key Stage 4 curriculum. Mr Sanderson said he was extremely impressed by the range and quality of science courses at Sheldon - as well as the results achieved by pupils.

MR MACMAHON APPOINTED NATIONAL LEADER OF EDUCATION

Sheldon's headteacher, Gerard MacMahon, has been made a "National Leader of Education". Sheldon receives the designation of National Support School as a result. It will mean Sheldon being funded to do more work to support struggling schools.
Read the Official Press Release

NETBALL INTERNATIONAL HONOURS FOR ALEYSHA

Aleysha Phillips of Year 13 has been selected for the England Indoor U21 Netball squad who play an indoor 5 –a-side version of the full game. Aleysha has been training very hard in London with other players from all over the country ready to play in an international tournament in South Africa. Congratulations and good luck Aleysha.

WILTSHIRE SELECTION FOR YEAR 9 BOYS

Sam Kershaw, Callum Harris and Huw Parks of Year 9 have had a busy few weeks training and taking part in trial games. After representing North Wiltshire Spitfires against other area teams they have been selected for the full Wiltshire Under 14 rugby squad. They will now train with the full squad and play in games in the new year. This is the first selection opportunity for them and by Under 16 level they could be representing England following in the footsteps of other Sheldon U16 rugby internationals – Sam Alford, Will Waldron and Tom Boreham.

ADMISSIONS CONSULTATION

The consultation period on the Sheldon's proposed Admissions Policy for 2011 has begun, it ends on February 28 2010. Details are on the admissions page. Sheldon continues to be the most popular comprehensive school in Wiltshire, but with a declining primary school population in Chippenham it looks as if all or most Chippenham parents will get their first choice of secondary school in 2010. So there are no significant changes being suggested by Sheldon's governors for 2011.

IMPROVING YOUR CHILD'S ATTENDANCE

Attendance rates at school by Sheldon's pupils is excellent: with both authorised and unauthorised absences well below national averages for all and similar schools. There has been a national campaign to inform parents of the importance of not missing school days and with this in mind we have updated Sheldon's attendance policy to clarify our rules and guidance. The key point is that we ask parents to maximise attendance and minimise avoidable absence through family holidays.

An informative set of slides about attendance can be seen here. The updated policy can be read here.

SHELDON ENJOYS EISTEDDFOD SUCCESS

On Saturday 28 th November the Sheldon School flautists and saxophonists performed in of the 63rd Devizes Eisteddfod – a competition in music, speech, art and literature – with some notable successes.

The Sheldon School Saxophone Ensemble achieved 91% Honours and were winners in the 17 and under ensemble class as well as being section winners. The ensemble comprised Jenny Fisher, David Knight, Robert Scoynes, Marcus Frost and Thomas Williams.

The Sheldon School Flute Ensemble achieved 89% Distinction and were runners up in the 17 and under ensemble class. The ensemble comprised Alex Buckland, Jacob Byrne, Jess Griffin, Ruth Knight, Katy Pugh, Leanne Scoynes, Katie Ellis, Breanne Murzyn, Lauren Jones, Elinor Read, Stephanie Moore and Lydia Hiorns.

Ruth Knight on flute was winner of the 17 and under woodwind class and was also section winner. Jacob Byrne and David Knight performed excellently in their classes (piano and woodwind) during the day.

Following their success in the morning, the sax group and Ruth Knight were asked back to perform in the evening winners concert. Ruth scooped the trophy for best woodwind solo.

Mr Tim Fosker, the flute and saxophone teacher, said “I couldn’t have asked for any more commitment, poise and sheer determination to succeed, they were all fabulous!”

SUPPORTING YOUR CHILD AT HOME

We are pleased to be able to offer parents the opportunity to take part in a workshop covering issues such as behaviour, homework and organisation. It is aimed particularly at parents of children who are receiving support at school with classwork or behaviour management. The workshop will be led by Barry Stay who is a behaviour consultant.
Download more information here.

JACOB IS CHIPPENHAM'S YOUNG MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

On Tuesday 20 October the annual Rotary Young Musician Competition took place at Hardenhuish School, with pupils from Sheldon, Hardenhuish and Abbeyfield Schools. The competition was adjudicated by Nicholas Keyworth and the pupils competed in two categories: Intermediate and Senior.

Sheldon was represented by Hannah Crocker (voice) and Robert Scoynes (piano) in the Intermediate category, with Jacob Byrne (piano), David Knight (saxophone) and Ruth Knight (flute) performing in the Senior category.

All the pupils gave superb performances to a large and appreciative audience, but the adjudicator placed Ruth Knight in second place for her performance of Poulenc’s Allegro Malinconico, and Jacob Byrne in first place for his “mesmerising” performance of Debussy’s Clair de Lune. Both Ruth and Jacob are A-level music students with aspirations to study music at university. Sheldon is very proud of all our excellent performers.

SHELDON BECOMES A UNESCO SCHOOL

Sheldon has been awarded the status of a Unesco Associated School. , UNESCO has a global network, founded in 1953, of some 8.500 educational institutions in 179 countries (ranging from pre-schools and primary to secondary schools and teacher training institutions), who work in support of quality education in practice.

WILFRED EMMANUEL-JONES PRESENTS AWARDS TO SHELDON'S WINNERS

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, well known on television as "the black farmer", was the guest of honour at Sheldon's annual awards evening on Thursday 8 October 2009. Mr Emmanuel-Jones is hoping to become MP for the new Chippenham constituency next year.

Mr Emmanuel-Jones made a great impression on pupils taking time to discuss all the awards and finishing the evening with an inspiring account of his experience of school in Birmingham and how he went on to become a successful farmer.

See the list of award winners in the Sheldon Standard here.

EXAM CALENDARS PUBLISHED

Exam calendars for summer 2010 are now available:

GCSE exam calendar summer 2010
AS level exam calendar summer 2010
A level exam calendar summer 2010

HAVE A BIG BREAKFAST ON FRIDAYS

Pupils (and staff) can start Fridays in style with a big breakfast in the main dining room. With three items for £1.25 and five items for £1.80, the breakfast menu is bacon, sausage, beans, saute potato, toast and fried egg. The meal is available from 7.45am to 8.20am.

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM TANZANIA 2009

In the summer Miss McCarthy, Miss Went and Miss North accompanied the year 13 expedition to Tanzania. The students combined voluntary building and teaching work in a school with a climb of one of Africa's highest mountains, a safari and time on Tanzania's beautiful beaches.

You can see some of their stunning photographs here.

CALENDARS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD

Parents can now download copies of the year group calendars for 2009-10.

SWINE FLU ADVICE

Nationally swine flu is now widespread, but declining, and the advice to schools is to stay open as normal. Children and staff who have flu-like symptoms should stay at home and everyone should pay particular attention to personal hygiene.
You can read the latest advice from NHS Wiltshire here.

SUPPORTING AMY'S KICHIJO ORPHANAGE IN TANZANIA

Sheldon pupils have decided to focus much of their charitable fundraising over the next few years on raising money for a project led by former pupil Amy Lambert, who is now 24.

The Kichijo orphanage in Tanzania is being run by a group of volunteers, including Amy. She has visited Sheldon and spoken at assemblies in every year group to explain her work and to discuss how pupils can help the orphanage. The response has been impressive with £1,000 raised already from the Olympic Fun Run.

You can see Amy's assembly presentation here.

Amy has recently been on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour to explain her work. You can listen to the interview here.

The orphanage's website, from where it is possible to make a donation, is www.kichijo.org.

SHELDON FROM THE AIR

See aerial photos of the school site.

Download a labelled aerial plan of the school.

CELEBRATING SHELDON'S DIVERSITY

Did you know that Sheldon's pupils come from 54 different countries and speak 35 different languages? Teaching assistant Lisa Henzl has produced two very interesting posters for "The World at Sheldon" display on the humanities corridor. You can download them below:
We speak 35 languages ...
We come from 54 countries ...

RECORDS TUMBLE IN FIELD EVENTS

Five school records, some very longstanding, were broken during the field events sports day on July 2. Two records were comprehensively smashed: Morgan Gascoigne jumped 4m 70cm in the year 10 girls' long jump beating Sarah-Jane Legg's record of 4m 46cm set in 1993; and Sam Wild threw 33m 25cm in the year 9 boys' discus, breaking Tim Sett's record of 28.98 set all the way back in 1978.

Deane Williams extended the year 7 girls' long jump record to 4.37m; Jamie Dagg raised the year 8 boys' high jump to 1.55m and Georgina Tucker raised the year 10 girls' high jump to 1.39m. We are looking forward to the track sports day on July 15 where more records may tumble.

SIX SHELDON PUPILS ARE COUNTY ATHLETICS CHAMPIONS

Sheldon pupils enjoyed great success in the county athletics championships in Salisbury on June 13. Six became county champions.

Year 9 pupils had outstanding success: Ryan Perry won the 200m with a personal best of 24.6 seconds; Alex Jones won the 800m with a PB of 2 mins 10 secs; Sam Wild won the discus; and Rhys Brown won 400m with a PB 53.4 secs which means that he has reached the national standard. In addition, James Green was fourth in the long jump and Alison Witts was second in the long jump (with a PB) and fifth in the high jump.

From Year 10, Morgan Gascoigne won the long jump and was fourth in the 100 metres. Rachel Sykes was second in the triple jump and third in the 800 metres.

Year 12's Connell MacQuisten won the pole vault with a PB of 3m 90cm.

From year 7, Ben Atkinson was part of the 4 X 100m relay winning team. Three pupils achieved personal bests: Ethan Jones finishing fourth in the 1500m, Olly Latham finishing sixth in the 800m and Deane Williams finishing second in the long jump.

From year 8 Kieran Witchard was seventh in the high jump and Lily Shaw Morris was fifth in the long jump.

SHELDON'S ADMISSIONS RULES ARE NOT CHANGING

Sheldon's governing body has decided to wait before making any significant changes to the school's admissions criteria.

In the last couple of years the school has been very oversubscribed and some Chippenham families have been unable to gain places. In 2009 over one hundred families have been disappointed, including fifty who live in Chippenham.

However, detailed analysis of the school's admission figures over four years has shown that the number of Chippenham children gaining places has remained unchanged. It is the increased popularity of Sheldon that has led to more families in the town missing out. Sheldon's governors want to see if the rising demand for places continues before making any big changes to their policy.

Sheldon had been planning to use random allocation as a "tie-breaker". Now it has been agreed that final allocations of places for 2010 will continue to be determined by distance from the school.

Sheldon and Hardenhuish schools have agreed to work on any changes together, with the aim of maintaining a common admissions policy. The schools' headteachers and governors have met to discuss possible reforms and agree a joint review process during 2009.

NEW sQUID ADVICE

We have produced a new advice sheet for parents about the sQuidcard. It features answers to the questions that parents have been asking recently.

A POSTCARD FROM THE TOP

The headteacher has received a postcard from Steve Munby, the Chief Executive of the National College for School Leadership. It read:

"I just thought I would tell you that I was in a taxi last week and asked the driver what Chippenham was famous for. She said it had one of the best state schools in the country - Sheldon School. It was such a superb compliment I thought I would let you know. I have since looked up the school's OFSTED report and I am deeply impressed. Well done.
Steve Munby, Chief Executive, NCSL"

Thank you, Mr Munby. And thank you, mystery taxi driver!

SHELDON AWARDED THIRD SPECIALISM IN LANGUAGES

Sheldon has been awarded a third specialism. As well as our existing first specialism in science and our second specialism in sport, we will now be a specialist language school.

The school will receive an extra £135,000 a year to fund activities in this area which will include:

more work supporting the language strategy in local primary schools;
greater enrichment opportunities in our language curriculum;
a greater focus on internationalism across the curriculum;
more resources to improve standards in languages; and
opportunities for parents and local businesses to take part in language learning.

Sheldon was awarded a third specialism because of the outstanding Ofsted report last March and the school's continued high standards of examination results.

SUPPORT THE SHELDON ENRICHMENT FUND

The Sheldon School Enrichment Fund was set up to enable parents and friends of the school to make a financial contribution in order to enrich pupils' experiences.

By joining the enrichment fund you can promise to make a small monthly or annual contribution to the school. The Inland Revenue will then add 25% extra to your donation.

Visit the Enrichment Fund page to join the fund or to see details of recent enrichment grants.

SHELDON IS "OUTSTANDING" . . . (IN EVERY WAY)

Ofsted has published its latest inspection report on Sheldon and has judged the school to be "outstanding". In fact, Sheldon was judged "outstanding" in all 38 categories that make up the new Ofsted inspection framework.

This is an exceptional achievement. Perfect Ofsted reports are very rare - in the first two years of the new system 1,500 mixed comprehensive schools were inspected in England and only six were graded "1" for every judgement.

GET THE SHELDON STANDARD BY E-MAIL

It is now possible to get the Sheldon Standard by e-mail. This should help the many parents who spend too long searching in vain in the bottom of school bags. Find out more ...

Order the Standard by e-mail here.