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We are very excited to bring you the news that we have managed to secure the services of Norman Randall who will join us on Tuesdays in September to coach some of our students in the sport of fencing.
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Norman is the Director of Coaching Education & Management for England Fencing and has over 30 years of coaching experience in the sport. We are really looking forward to giving students the chance to try something completely different.
Fencing is a fast and athletic sport, very different from the films you see at the cinema or on television. It is highly challenging physically and also suits individuals who are able to make quick and effective decisions under pressure. Rather than swinging from chandeliers or jumping off balconies, modern fencing takes place on a 14m by 2m strip. The action is so fast that it is judged electronically rather than by eye.
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We are hoping to invite some youngsters from our feeder primaries to have a go at mini fencing in the mornings, with safe foam foils (the proper name for the sword!) before letting some of next year’s Y10 students loose on the real thing. We are also considering an after school club and there is even talk of a community session, that would allow parents the chance to see how nifty they are with a sword!
As with all the activities we are planning, we are keen to build in an element of sustainability. With this in mind, at present there is no fencing club within the Mansfield area and we are hoping that if things go well, we would be able to establish one at The Samworth Church Academy! On Guard!
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After well over a year of hard work and planning, the preferred contractor for our new building has now been selected by Nottinghamshire County Council. We are delighted that Kier Group PLC has been declared as the preferred bidder for this project.
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The Kier team have produced a fantastic design that we are confident will help us deliver the ambitious vision of the Academy. The design reflects our five school structure, but most importantly, the designers have really taken on the vision and ethos of the Academy. Representatives from Kier Group PLC will be making a presentation to parents at our Parental Communication Event on Wednesday, 25th June.
We will now be working very closely together in order to prepare the important planning application. If everything goes to plan, we expect work to begin very early in the New Year with the building completed in the summer of 2010.
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The cost of our new facilities are over £20 million with almost £2 million being allowed for the most up-to-date information technology system. Gary Wintersgill, Senior Framework Manager at Kier said: "We are absolutely delighted to be named as the preferred bidder for The Samworth Church Academy project. We are joining a team of people who are totally committed to creating a world-class Academy, we want to play our part in helping to provide world-class facilities that will support the broader aims of the Academy. We can bring our specialist support to a team of education professionals who are of the highest quality."
We are absolutely delighted with this appointment, it was very important to us that our design and build contractor becomes part of our team in helping us to turn our vision into a firm reality. We have absolute confidence that Nottinghamshire County Council have made an outstanding choice and that Kier Group PLC are now part of our team.
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As part of our Outdoor Education Programme all our Year 7 students will take part in a 5-day residential trip to the Outward Bound centre in Aberdovey, Wales in the first week of November.
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The Outward Bound course we have chosen focuses on building effective teams, creating a common bond for pupils from different feeder schools and developing the skills and confidence to meet new challenges and opportunities. Our students will gain confidence and develop a sense of achievement which will be carried throughout their teenage years.
Our Year 7 residential trip to Aberdovey is just one of the opportunities we will offer as part of our Outdoor Education curriculum. We are particularly excited about working with the Outward Bound team who have tailor-made our trip to Aberdovey to suit the needs of our students and will deliver an exciting programme of learning whilst maintaining the aims and ethos of our Academy.
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The decision to link up with the Outward Bound organisation was a key factor in helping us to achieve our main educational goal, that of student achievement. It would have been easy to arrange an outdoor education residential experience for our students with any number of providers. Outward Bound, however, are unique in their approach to the outdoor experiences that they bring to children and are committed to developing young people through an educational process based on action and reflection. Experiences are intentionally designed, presented and reflected upon so as to instil value and promote the development of skills that we will continue to use throughout life. The co-founder of The Outward Bound movement, Kurt Hahn, dedicated his life to the development of young people through experiential education. Kurt Hahn also founded Gordonstoun School in Scotland, with whom we are already developing our partnership to ensure that our students have the opportunity to experience the widest range of outdoor activities.
Through these experiences we will embed some of the key skills and competencies in our young students, that will enable them to grow in confidence and independence and achieve their full potential.
For full details of the Outward Bound residential trip to Aberdovey click here.
For links and information about Aberdovey click here.
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