Headteacher's Corner
Dear Parents/Carers
What a speedy half term! Easter feels but a blink of an eye ago. However, as this bumper edition of the Froghorn attests, so much has happened and, of course, it’s also an exciting moment to start looking ahead at what is still to come this year…
Our year 11 students have now already completed two weeks of exams. We know they are very much ready for a half term break so that they can rest and regroup. After half term, they have just a few weeks left and then they have the long wait to see the results of all of their hard work in the summer. No doubt, they will soon be really starting to look forward to their leavers’ assembly, prom and a long summer holiday with no homework!
We have now begun the process of visiting primary schools to meet the students who will be joining us in September. Later in the term, the whole school always looks forward to meeting them all for the first time on the transition day.
I am delighted to be able to report that we have recently been given the green light on making some necessary improvements to the site over the summer. Hampshire County Council have agreed to support in the refurbishment of two of our science labs, which will no doubt enhance teaching and learning in this vital subject. Hampshire have also agreed to contribute towards a project to improve our main toilet block. This is something that student leaders have been championing (indeed, they themselves raised over £1,000 towards this earlier in the year). More details about this project will be published after half term and I know the PTA are keen to get involved in raising additional funds for the finishing touches that will make the toilets a much more pleasant environment for students to visit. Watch this space!
Of course, year 7 students can legitimately now start getting excited about Tile Barn. We know it is always such a great week for the year group to bond and cement those new relationships they have been building so successfully throughout the year.
Then there will be sports day, the GCSE art show, the key stage three awards evening and so many other events. Most imminently, though, we can all look forward to a sunny Spring Bank Holiday and a restful half term break.
Thanks for your continued support.
Chris Vaudin
Headteacher
We have a full calendar of events throughout the year, click the link below to view them.
Year 11 Exam Timetable
Ormond Charity Day
On Friday 15th May, the Ormond student leadership team raised over £850.00 for Great Ormond Street Hospital. At break, an ice cream sale was held with the help of Sam, Olivia and Abi, all year 9 prefects. Lunch was a chance for students to get revenge on their teachers, they had the chance to throw a wet sponge at a teacher’s face. Throughout the week, students had had the opportunity to vote for their victims. These teachers included; Mr Barfoot, Mr Tuney, Mr Birch, Miss Reed and Mr Ash. Christine, Lucy, Samantha and Abi all helped collect votes. Harley, Jade and Bella all helped with the lunchtime activity. Thank you to everyone who donated or helped us with all of our events. The money we raised for Great Ormond Street Hospital will help them to continue their vital research and work for children around the world.
Lily Moore Year 10
Science Club News
The summer is here and our allotment is being well attended to by our science club members. It is looking very neat and colourful. Thanks to everyone involved for all your hard work.
Art News
Library News
Into Film Club runs every Thursday in the library from 3pm-5pm. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to watch a curated collection of films, write film reviews and be a part of the national Into Film Club. All students will receive a membership card and access to Frogmore’s online film club, and snacks and drinks will be provided at the film screenings. In order to take part students need to return a signed permission form, letters are available from the library. If you would like to know more, please visit the Into Film website; https://www.intofilm.org/ or speak to Miss Livingstone in the library.
What’s On:
Thursday 6th June: The Incredibles
Thursday 12th June: The Incredibles 2
There will be no Film Cub on Thursday 20th June due to the Tile Barn Trip.
We are recruiting!
If you would like to join our team of Pupil Librarians, we are looking for enthusiastic and hardworking students of all years. Application forms are available from the Library, and interviews will take place the first week back after half term.
Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2019
The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is once again open for submissions. This is a really exciting opportunity for all our budding writers, here’s some more information from their website: “The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is the biggest award for writers aged 11-17. It welcomes poems on any theme and any length. It is completely FREE to enter for anyone aged 11-17 in the WORLD. Poems must be in English or in BSL (do contact if you have queries regarding any BSL entries). For more information please speak to Miss Livingstone in the library. There are also a selection of previous winning anthologies in the library that you can look at for inspiration. Please also take a look at their website, just click on the link below https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/foyle-young-poets-of-the-year-award/
Six Of Crows is a fantasy YA book written by Leigh Bardugo, set in the same universe as her previous trilogy, Shadow and Bone. SoC starts slowly, but builds up to an intense climax and drags the tension between characters throughout the whole book. The characters and the relationships they have with each other are clear and at times, frustrating, but play a key part in the main story.
The story itself is very well written and detailed, the book includes maps for ease of access but without them, I think most of the book is easily understandable. Initially, the story begins with an incident at a councilman’s home, which leads to Jan Van Eck offering Kaz Brekker a job that would mean thirty million kruge (the fictional currency of the book) or a lifetime in the world’s most secure prison if they fail. He recruits the help of his secret keeper, Inej; a skilled marksman, Jesper; a demolitions expert, Wylan; and a Grisha Heartrender, Nina, to break a man out of prison to assist them in this task, Matthias. The story then proceeds with the group infiltrating the Ice Court, the most secure building in the world in order to find and retrieve a scientist responsible for creating Jurda parem, a drug that would increase a Grisha’s abilities exponentially, but would be addictive in as little as one or two doses. The plan succeeds, with a few small hiccups of the scientist already being dead, while his son tries to continue his work, and the group return to Ketterdam, where they started. Then, while trying to turn in the job, they find than Jan Van Eck had tricked them and wasn’t intending to pay them, and stole Inej after not getting what he wanted. This forced Kaz to turn to his rival, Pekka Rollins, right as the book ends.
Kaz is one of the most interesting characters of the book, being the mastermind behind the heist plan and the boss of an entire group of people at age seventeen. His story is slowly revealed throughout the book, and his relationships with each of the other main characters are well developed at times, and at other points vague and bland. The most prominent relation throughout the whole book, other than Matthias & Nina, is between Kaz and Inej, who Kaz saved from a brothel to work for him and “steal secrets”. By the end of the book, it’s made well known that they have some feelings for each other that has built throughout the book, and although they don’t get a happy ending by the end of SoC, their dynamics are fun to read and enjoy.
Inej is by far the strongest female lead in this story, given that there are only two, and the trials she had to face were possibly the toughest any of the characters had to go through. We learn of her misfortune of being sold by slavers after being kidnapped by them while on a trip with her parents, and her efforts to pay off her debt to Per Haskell in order to leave and return to her family. For most of the story, she’s injured physically or struggling through trauma, or having to endure harsh conditions in order to complete the job. Her development and character arc is one of the more satisfying ones of this book, as we see her struggling to walk past the brothel she was sold to in the beginning, to wearing the silks on her own terms and even confronting Tante Heleen, the woman who ran the brothel, at the end of the book. We also see her feelings for Kaz change throughout the book, though it’s much more of a subplot than anything, and is only briefly touched upon until one of the final scenes, where Kaz’s emotional weaknesses, something rarely seen before in him, is the cause of Inej’s capture.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and its characters, even if some of the narrative choices were questionable to me. I know of a prequel trilogy that exists, but you don’t need to know anything from that series to understand this book in it’s entirety, Leigh Bardugo does a wonderful job of subtle world building while avoiding halting the story to do so. I highly recommend this book to someone interested in high fantasy action adventure; it’s an absolutely fantastic read.
By Quinn Taylor, Year 10
If you are interested in having your own Book Review in the Froghorn, please pass on any pieces to Miss Livingstone.
Medication and the Hayfever Season.
Please may we remind you that students are not allowed to carry their own medication on them during school time. If your child needs to take any medication whilst in school, a parent/carer needs to sign a form and provide the medication, which should be clearly marked with their details. The medication should be handed into reception and it can then be administered and subsequently recorded.
The only exceptions to this are epipens and asthma inhalers. Any child who requires an epipen has to provide two whilst in school. One of these will be kept safely in the medical room and the other must be kept on the student at all times. With regard to inhalers, they must be clearly marked with the child's name and need to be kept on them, at all times. On no occasion should students ever share their medication.
As the hayfever season is upon us, please can we remind you that should your child need to take anti-histamine tablets, they should do so before coming into school. If they are likely to need medication during the day, you will need to follow the procedure as outlined above. Thank you for your support with this matter.
Notice from our Child and Family Support Worker
We would like to make you aware of a new app being used by some students called Tellonym . We have some information below and also a link to click on for further information from the NSPCC
https://www.net-aware.org.uk/news/anonymous-messaging-apps-whos-asking/
Tellonym advertises itself as “ the most honest place on the internet. See what your friends think of you, answer anonymous questions and ask others the things you have never dared …”.
The app is available as a free download on the Apple App Store and Google Play store and is not regulated.
People share their Tellonym link with others through social platforms like Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram, and wait for friends to reply to questions anonymously.
Users can follow each other and send each other anonymous messages. Like most social media-like platforms, a home feed displays all messages addressed to a user, and push notifications alert users whenever a new message or “tell” is delivered.
Users can block and report people who send hurtful or harassing messages and can set a filter that recognizes words the user determines.
Age rating: Tellonym says you need to be 16. The Apple App Store says 12 is the right age. If you read the terms and conditions, you’ll become even more confused since it is not consistent.
This has come to our attention, so wanted to share this information with you. Whilst we are aware that students use social media for positive interaction, we ask that you be mindful of their online activity.
Fundraising News
Easyfundraising: Did you know you could be raising a free donation for Frogmore Community College every time you shop at detailers such as Amazon, John Lewis and Sainsbury's who will donate a percentage of the amount you spend? It's really simple, and it doesn't cost you anything!
We have now raised over £1158 since joining this scheme!
Please sign up and help us raise even more.
All you have to do is:
1. Go to http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/frogmorecomcoll
2. Sign up for free
3. Get shopping, donations will be collected and automatically sent to us. It couldn't be easier! There are no catches or hidden charges and we would be really grateful for your donations. Thanks for your support.
Recycle toners:
The College is now recycling empty printer cartridges, so please send in your used cartridges and we will send them off to be recycled and also make some money!
Milk bottle tops:
Please send in your washed, clean milk bottle tops as we can raise funds with these too!
Rag Bag :Don’t forget to put all your old clothes in the Rag Bag!
Also we are continuing to collect textiles in our recycling bank in the car park opposite the leisure centre. This is a great way to raise money for the college, with minimal effort. Please donate your bagged clothes, paired shoes, hats, bags, belts, towels and bed linen in the recycling bank.
The Rag Bag has raised £2323 over two years.
Other News
Credits:
Created with an image by Soorelis - "cosmea flower blossom"