Goffs Academy Newsletter

As we draw near to the end of term, and look forward to our Easter break, it is pleasing to look back over a very busy and productive term. Much has been achieved, some of which you will read more about below.

A particular highlight was the visit of Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor of the Economist who presented to over 100 Year 13 students, as well as a number of interested Year 11 and Year 12 students. Prior to his talk, Daniel was given a tour of the school where he noted the positive learning environment and how impressed he was by our Sixth Form students, commenting on the ‘University feel’ shown by the independence and pride the Sixth Formers take in their studies.

Daniel’s “The World in 2050” presentation was highly engaging and looked at the opportunities and issues we may face in the upcoming years in terms of demography, politics and technology. Students commented that it was a “very interesting and inspiring talk.” They had many questions which they wanted to discuss with Daniel afterwards and felt “lucky to have opportunities to meet such successful professionals.”

A second highlight was the Broxbourne Youth Awards on the 9th March. I am pleased to share with you that we had nominations for Inspirational Teacher of the Year for Carla Ball (PE), and for Youth Project of the Year for our OAP Christmas Dinner event in conjunction with CHEXS. Whilst we did not win, it was great for both Carla and our staff and students to be recognised for their fantastic work.

Finally, I am pleased to share with you that SSAT (the School, Students and Teachers Network) have awarded us an Educational Outcomes Award for achieving "in the top 20% of non-selective schools nationally for attainment in the 2017 end of KS4 examinations." Whist it was a little while back now, it is great to receive more recognition for the massive amount of work and effort put in by students and staff to achieve last year's excellent results. Judging by the focussed attitude of our students and the large number of revision sessions running over the holiday and weekends leading up to the exams, I am confident that we are on track to achieve more fantastic outcomes again this year.

I hope that you have a peaceful Easter.

Ben Pearce

Principal

I am very pleased to be able to say that our Multi Academy Trust continues to grow, develop and strengthen. Goffs-Churchgate is now firmly established as a school in the Goffs model, just on a smaller scale, reflected in it being full for the September 2018 Year 7. The current Year 7 is already full with a wait list, and the school is seeing increasing numbers of students asking to transfer into the Trust and Goffs-Churchgate. Tom Sparks, Principal, and all of the Goffs-Churchgate staff are to be commended for the outstanding work undertaken to date. It is a genuine pleasure to see the school growing and thriving. Goffs continues to perform extremely strongly, and is again significantly oversubscribed for September 2018, with a lengthy wait list. The calibre of staff at both schools is one of the Trust's greatest assets and I am very grateful to each of them.

Restructuring to create centralised Trust roles in key areas such as oversight of the facilities on both sites is complete. Linked to this, Chris Turner, the former Site Manager at Goffs, will be moving on to new opportunities. Our thanks go to Chris for his years of service at Goffs, and we all wish him every future success and happiness. Following Chris's departure, we anticipate demolishing and levelling the house at the front of the Goffs site, with conversations being well underway with Trustees regarding a replacement facility that will both support lettings at Goffs, plus generate further income. I will update you on those plans once they are finalised.

As Ian Denchfield notes in his financial update, the Trust's income generation work is reaping essential rewards in terms of ensuring financial certainty at a time of ongoing reductions in school funding. While messages from central Government are that school funding has increased, this is not the reality on the ground, with pay, pension and National Insurance increases being put through with absolutely no additional funding given to schools to cover these costs. As such, we are incredibly grateful to our Income generation Director, Kevin Yardley, for his truly outstanding work ensuring that the facilities at both sites work hard to generate additional income for each school.

Staff and students at both schools are now deep into the final preparations for examinations. We wish each student across the Trust every possible success as they move into a period that will determine what their next steps and future opportunities are. As such, I know that they are aware that the Easter holiday needs to be one of extensive work and revision. The time for thinking that exams are a long way in the future is gone. The time to act and secure their futures is now.

I wish everyone a peaceful, and hopefully snow free, Easter.

Alison J Garner

Executive Principal

Generations Multi Academy Trust

With our brand new facility, the recently refurbished Astroturf at Goffs and the appointment of our Director of Income Generation, Kevin Yardley, both schools have seen a dramatic increase in lettings to a myriad of community users with activities ranging from Aerobics to Zumba and everything in between. The schools are now truly at the heart of the community not only for educational provision, but also for these evening and weekend activities. For a full list of what is available, or if you are interested in hiring any of our facilities, visit our website: http://www.goffs.herts.sch.uk/907/hire-our-facilities.

The Trust has, and will continues to take, these deliberate steps to seek alternative sources of funds as a result of the financial pressure created by funding from central government failing to keep pace with increasing costs.

Ian Denchfield

MAT Chief Finance Officer

Earlier this term saw another exciting Curriculum Enrichment Day. These CED days give students a vital opportunity to experience guest speakers or examine our PSHE curriculum taught in ATM sessions in greater detail.

Julie from https://www.excite-ed.co.uk/ came in and delivered an engaging and interactive talk on internet safety to Year 7 and 8. The talk was well received by students who reflected on their own internet practice and how they can avoid putting themselves at risk online.

The Year 9s had a full day of Religious Education. RE is a core part of KS4 and taught in ATM throughout the year, and these days allow us to examine the fascinating and relevant topics covered, such as morality and war, in greater detail.

Year 10 had their ever popular careers fair. In addition to activities such as CV writing, the students also had practice of 1-2-1 interviews, to help them develop the vital skill of interview technique. The students also attended the careers fair and had the chance to meet potential employers and next step education providers, such as the University of Hertfordshire, a football academy and the Royal Navy. Students had the chance to listen to what the courses or careers offered are really like and ask any questions they may have. Huge thanks to all the volunteers who gave up their time to support our students at this event.

Year 11 had a return visit from the Fix Up Company. They visited last year’s Year 11 and were so popular we invited them back. The Fix Up Company are a group of motivational speakers whose aim is to help students focus on what they want to achieve and the actions they need to take to make this possible. The students spent the day moving between interactive workshops and as ever feedback was hugely positive.

Phil Ellard

Assistant Principal

On Thursday 8th February, the Drama department hosted the annual Goffs Got Talent competition. After a week of merry auditions, the field was whittled down to ten talented finalists who displayed their wonderful talents, which included singing, dancing, comedy sketches and karate displays. Performers displayed their talents to an excited and supportive audience in the main school hall, whilst our judges, Mr Taken, Miss McBride, Miss Ball and Miss Myers fought it out over who would be crowned this year’s champion.

After intense deliberations the three winners were announced as:

Elliese Brown (Year 8) 1st place (Falcon house)

Ashlyn Harrington and Jasmine O'Shea (Year 8) 2nd Place (Hawk and Phoenix)

Ben Pinnell (Year 7) for his Karate sequence 3rd Place. (Hawk House)

This was another great example of the wonderful community we have here at Goffs. All finalists and auditonees were well supported and congratulated on their efforts and talents.

On Friday 9th February, Year 11 got to experience life for a WW1 soldier in the trenches! David and Richard from FrontLine Living History helped the students to explore the realities of trench warfare – from a simulated gas attack to taking a wounded soldier through the ‘chain of evacuation’. The session helped students revise for their upcoming Medicine Through Time GCSE, ensuring they will be confident and successful in tackling the ‘Western Front illness and injury’ component of their exam.

Cheryl Poag

Associate Assistant Principal/Head of History

This year our current Year 7 football squad have had a really good run in the National Cup Competition. From the first trial, we had over 75 boys turn up for our two Year 7 teams, which is an unbelievable effort from all of the boys. However, we had to narrow the numbers down to roughly 24 for both the squads and with the standard being so high, this was a tough task for Mr Spaul and Mr Bell.

The Year 7 squad that entered the national competition consisted of the following boys: Riley Warmerdam (Captain), Hayden Gray, George Hilder, Alfie Smith, Anwar Moutawafiq, Mason Rolfe, Jake Simpson, Kaya Hay, Lemachi Nwanna-skeet, Leo Holland, Joby Smith, Reef Cole, Tommy O’Brien and Henry Steed.

Our National experience began with a fortunate bye into the second round of the competition. We were then drawn away against UCL Academy in Regent's Park; this saw the team win very comfortably 9-0, with some outstanding football being played in the middle of the park between Hayden Gray and Riley Warmerdam. This win took us into the 3rd round where we were drawn at home to Glenthorne School. It was another dominant performance, seeing the team win 8-2. Star performances came from our superb striker Mason Rolfe who terrorised their defence all afternoon, and the creative Kaya Hansson-Ramis was brilliant throughout.

Into the fourth round we were drawn away to Davenant Foundation; in difficult conditions we won 4-0. Excellent defensive performances from Alfie Smith and Anwar Moutawafiq kept us strong at the back, and gave the opportunities to Jake Simson and Tommy Patrick O Brien to really score a stunning opening goal in this win.

We were then drawn at home to St-Martin's School in the 5th round. Every round was getting harder and harder as there were so many good schools remaining in the competition. Goffs started slowly and St Martin's started well, testing the in-form George Hilder between the sticks. George pulled off a couple of fantastic saves to keep Goffs In the game within the opening 15 minutes.

However, the momentum changed towards the end of the first half with the ever improving Reef Cole bursting down the left hand side, who found the strong and powerful Lemachi Nwanna-Skeet at the back post for the easiest of tap ins. Goffs grew from strength to strength after that opening goal, and this mainly came from the brilliant Joby Smith with his excellent work rate throughout the whole game, driving the team on in the second half to secure the second goal, putting Goffs through to the 6th round of Nationals.

The 6th Round saw us at another home tie against Shenfield High School. The boys knew how big this game was, especially being so close to reaching a final of a National Competition. The boys didn’t start particularly well, with signs of nerves across the team, and before we knew it we were 0-2 down at the end of the first half. Changes were made at half time with Leo Holland and Henry Steed coming into the game, and it wasn’t long before both players made an impact on the game; a great tackle by Leo Holland led to a counter attack along the left hand side with Henry Steed, who played in Mason Rolfe who scored with a superb strike. Shortly after, Goffs equalised with some superb work from Captain Riley Warmerdam playing in Lemachi Nwanna-Skeet who calmly placed the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the goal: 2-2.

The game went into the final minutes of the game. Goffs had plenty of opportunities to grab a winner but were wasteful in front of goal. Then the inevitable happened: a Shenfield corner was crossed and not cleared properly and the opposing player struck from the edge of the box to seal the game for Shenfield 2-3.

The National cup journey had come to an end but the desire and work rate these boys have put in since the 1st round has been exceptional, and they have been a credit to Goffs Academy. Mr Spaul is very proud of what the team have achieved this year and will be determined to go further next year.

What we did:

When we went rock climbing with our GCSE PE class, we firstly had an introduction lesson about what we would be doing and what we should achieve. We then went on to learning different commands and techniques used during rock climbing, before going on to learning how to fit our helmets and harnesses properly. After being taught how to use our equipment properly and safely, we began rock climbing. We started off with a quick activity, before we started belaying for each other and climbing the wall. We looked at different parts of the wall, such as the overhang, and then we went on to learning techniques such as foot jams, bridging and lay backs to improve our performance.

What went well:

I think that we had a good understanding of what we needed to do to be able to achieve top marks before we started physically rock climbing. Also, we started off the rock climbing with a quick activity which was to walk around the wall with the aim of getting all the way around without falling off. This was beneficial because it meant we were able to have a small preparation activity to get us ready for the more complicated activities.

In celebration of World Book Day, on Friday 9th March we were visited by Leo Hunt, author of "13 Days of Midnight", "8 Rivers of Shadow" and "7 Trees of Stone". The story follows a sixteen year old boy called Luke, who inherits a large sum of money after his estranged father unexpectedly dies. However, as well as the money, he also inherits a host of ghosts who were in servitude to his father – and would now love nothing more than to also see Luke dead.

Leo delivered a talk to Year 7 and Year 8 and discussed what it means to be a writer and the importance of reading. He also shared what his influences for his stories were, exploring the role of ghosts and monsters literature; from your famous 'sheet ghosts' to the fearsome Japanese Yokai. At the end of his talk, he held a Q&A session where students really engaged and questions such as how long it takes to write a novel, what challenges authors face and what tips he would give an aspiring writer were asked. At the end of each talk, Leo also held a book signing where we quickly sold out of the books!

To sign off, I want to say a big thank you to all students who participated in the talks, as well as the teachers who came to listen. Finally, a huge thank you also goes to our Literacy Coordinator, Sophie Everist, for helping to organise the event.

Rebecca Grant

Learning Resources Manager

The Science Department celebrated National Science Week by running a series of activities during lunchtime. Students were invited to participate in a series of showcase experiments throughout the week, where they were given the opportunity to hone their practical skills and techniques. From flame tests to making gun powder, the students’ curiosity was definitely 'ignited'!

In addition, students were enthralled by a series of awe-inspiring experiments, presented to them in assembly by Mr Hopwood. Students were shown how to make their own homemade slime, how hydrogen burns explosively and how to make objects move without touching them.

There is a lot of '3D action' in the Art department this month! Students have been working hard using a variety of mediums to create some fantastic pieces:

• Kai Moonesawmy’s clay portrait of ‘The Grinch’ (BTEC Art & Design)
  
• Dogan Gok’s modroc bear head (GCSE Fine Art)
  
• Isabel Andrews wire and clay bug (A’Level Fine Art)
  

A mixed 11-18 comprehensive Academy with approximately 1350 students on roll, including a thriving and successful Sixth Form. Our Academy is extremely popular in the local area, with an average of over 800 applications annually for the 240 places available, and significant waiting lists for places across the year groups.

Email: admin@goffs.herts.sch.uk
Website: http://www.goffs.herts.sch.uk
Location: Goffs Academy, Goff's Lane, Cheshunt, United Kingdom
Phone: 01992 424200
Twitter: @GoffsAcademy