MEMORIAL UNVEILED IN MEMORY OF PIERCE WILKINSON - Squarespace
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
June/July 2019
MEMORIAL UNVEILED IN MEMORY OF PIERCE WILKINSON
A fitting tribute was held by the Redhill community on
20 th June to remember and celebrate the life of Pierce
Wilkinson. The night of commemoration and
remembrance began with a gathering of family,
friends and staff. The evenings proceedings were led
by the new Head Boy and Girl, Ben Bishop and Rabia
Rehman who opened and welcomed all to the event.
Miss McGrail, Head Teacher, then gave a dedication
and spoke of the lasting memory the statue would
bring, ensuring that ‘it will allow people who were
close to Pierce to have their own memories of him ’ as
well as for those who did not, as it will be a
permanent structure within the school grounds for
many years to come.
The group were then addressed by some of Pierce ’s
closest friends (Tyler Smith, Sam Mannings and Sam
Thomas Year 10 students) who remembered their
journey through the creation process of the statue
with the sculptor, Luke Perry, before Mrs Beeston
(Pierce’s form teacher) remembered him as the
‘funny, caring and unique’ student that everyone had
gathered to honour.
Luke Perry, a former student himself, recounted the
creation of the sculpture from the very first meeting
with Pierce’s friends, family and Mrs Chamberlain-
Page. He wanted to show and reflect the life of a
young man who was ready to fulfil his education and
life of adventure and this is where one of the main
influences, the pursuit of adventure, manifested from
in his designs. For this, the sculpture encompassed a
model of the HMS Beagle, the ship that Darwin
explored the far reaches of the globe on for his book
‘On the Origin of Species’ as well as interlocking
scrolls with quotes from both Harry Potter and Lord of
the Rings to include more of Pierce’s greatest
interests and inspirations.
Pierce’s sister, Lydia, also spoke at the evening and,
with the sun breaking through the clouds to glint
from the fashioned sails of the Beagle, the memory of
Pierce was the strongest connection that bound all
those there together in one moment of reflection and
celebration.
James Jackson
WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAMME
In May 2019 all Year 10 pupils took part in our Work Experience
Programme. The one week placements took place over a wide
range of different employers from Accountants to Architects,
Fire Service to Florists, Hairdressers to Hotels, and Train Stations
to Theatres.
Jack Griffin completed his work experience at Prospect Coaches,
where he completed lots of varied tasks and experienced many
different roles within the coach company. Jack had such a great
week learning about the DVSA (Driver & Vehicle Standards
Agency), scheduling coach requirements, how to read digital
Tachograph, fuelling coaches, and how to calculate VAT
backwards, to name just a few! He enjoyed his work experience
placement so much he wanted to stay for another week.
The school received outstanding feedback about many of our
pupils willingness to learn, strong work ethic, enthusiasm,
politeness and punctuality. Year 10 did the school proud in how
they represented Redhill to the local community.
We are now launching Redhill’s Work Experience Programme to Year 9 pupils, so they can start planning where
they will complete their placement in May 2020. The earlier plans are worked on, means more chance of gaining
an opportunity with an employer that matches career aspirations such as Army, Veterinary Practices and Primary
Schools where places are very limited.
CAREERS IN ENGINEERING
On Tuesday 11th June, 32, Year 10 students had the opportunity to meet Adam from Next Gen Makers and
Jonathan from Foley Patterns. This was an informative and interactive Q&A session, where pupils gained an
insight to a career in engineering, various roles an engineer would have and routes in via local providers and
apprenticeship opportunities. Thank you to Adam and Jonathan for their time and sharing their expertise with
some budding future engineers.
Mrs Elwell
Follow what we are doing Exciting news, students in Years 7-11
on the @CareersRedhill can now register on fantastic Careers page at:
Twitter to keep updated
with our events, activities https://www.startprofile.com/
and opportunities.
The school access code is 49242
REDHILL’S GOODBYE TO CHRIS MCGRAIL
Chris started at Redhill School in September 1984 as a Head of Department for
Food Technology. In her own words, she said that she was ‘going to set the
world alight’ – well Miss McGrail, you most certainly have achieved this.
Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader… they set out to make a difference,
and for us at Redhill that is exactly what Chris has done. Her actions inspire
others to dream more, to learn more and to do more; she is, and always will be,
a true inspiration.
Chris is an extraordinary character, who is able to command great respect,
whilst offering warmth, courage and commitment to all that need her. She has
touched so many lives far and wide, and her work with us, as well as Sri Lanka
demonstrates the great depths of her reach; Chris by touching so many lives you
have changed the world… and we thank you.
Maya Angelou once said “people will forget what you said, and people will
forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” – that is the legacy that you leave us
with.
Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that we have to say farewell to our beloved Headteacher, Chris McGrail, who
will be retiring at the end of this academic year.
We wish you a long, happy and adventure-filled retirement. We will see you soon.
REDHILL PUPIL’S WORK PUBLISHED
Students at Redhill had the exciting opportunity to work with Read On EU and
Writing West Midlands to help write a story for an Anthology with Author Ken
Preston. Year 8 students met at workshops in the Learning Centre to discuss
plots, characters and story line development. Mr Preston then wrote a short
story based on these ideas to go into the book called ‘After Summer & Other
Stories’.
This book has been published and will be translated into four different
languages to be distributed to sixteen countries. Students attended the Young
Writer’s Awards Ceremony on Saturday 22nd June with Learning Centre
Manager Kate Dorrell and Head of English Cheryl Wakefield to receive
acknowledgement of their participation. Each student received a certificate
and a personalised signed copy of the book.
The students have been so proud to see their work in print and are so grateful
to Mr Preston for making such an amazing story with their ideas. This had encouraged our young writers to have the
confidence to develop their own ideas and to write creatively, as well as read more for inspiration.
Student Matthew Liptrot said: “I have recently had the privilege of working with Ken Preston and my other peers to write a
story for ‘After Summer & Other Stories’ which we called ‘Fall Deep’. We talked about our favourite genres which
unsurprisingly was Horror. My idea was to make it about people being trapped inside a videogame, and when we went on
the school trip with Mrs Dorrell I was ecstatic to hear that my idea was in the book! I’m so happy that we got this
opportunity.”
Mrs K Dorrell
INTER-SCHOOLS BOOK QUIZ
Students from Year 7 and 8 have been working hard over the last few
months reading four preselected books from Booktrust titles in the Library
with Mrs Dorrell. Six other schools from Dudley and Sandwell read the same
books and also researched the authors ready for the quiz at Dormston
Academy on Monday 1st July. The books covered a range of topics from the
suffragette movement, to a house with legs, the battle faced by refugees and
the ghost of a boy killed because of his race.
The students showed exceptional maturity, reading about the various topics
and worked so well as a team that they earned third place. Students
received a badge for their blazers, certificates and vouchers for all their hard
work. Student Thomas Trewick said “I’d love to do it all again”.
SPORTS DAY
Redhill’s sports day was held on Tuesday 9th July. Forms within year groups 7-9 competed against each other
to gain points. The results of the pupils efforts are below:
Year 7
First place - 7K
Second place - 7L
Third place - 7E
Year 8
First place - 8D
Second place - 8H
Third place - 8L
Year 9
First place - 9J
Second place - 9F
Third place - 9L
Redhill School, Junction Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY8 1JX.
Tel: (01384) 816355 Fax: (01384) 816356 Use the QR Code
Website: www.redhill.dudley.sch.uk Email: info@redhill.dudley.sch.uk to access
our Website
Follow the Redhill School is a member of Stour Vale Academy Trust.
PE Department on
Twitter Stour Vale Academy Trust is a Limited Company ~ Registered No: 07865663
You can also read
