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27th March 2024
Make Your Mark 2024 - UK Youth Parliament

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The Academy recently took part in Make Your Mark 2024, which helps form leaders of the future.  It provides young people with a unique opportunity to let decision makers know the issues they’re most affected by. 

 

This year there is a Devon specific Make Your Mark alongside the National ballot.  This means the impact for young people and Devon will be much greater.

 

To help create the Devon ballot, young people were invited to suggest issues to be included on the ballot.   All ideas will be considered and the Devon Youth Council network will create the final shortlist of 10.  Once the results are in, they will be collated and an infographic of the results created and shared along with a short video.

The students were asked to vote on issues that they would like a new law surrounding.  The issues our students voted on were:-

 

1.       Ban single use plastic.

2.       Introduce stricter penalties for water companies who release sewerage into our seas and rivers and endanger our health.

3.       Ban vapes being targeted at young people and have stricter penalties for selling to under 18s.

4.       Ban dangerous prisoners from being eligible for early release from prison. 

 

The vaping law gained the most votes.

More information can be found on Devon Youth Council’s Instragram account which is @devonyouthcouncil and also on Facebook – devonyouthcouncil

22nd March 2024
Year 8 and 10 Rugby News

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A highly successful rugby season for our year 8 and 10s came to a close tonight.

The year 8s competed in the North Devon Schools' Rugby top tier Waterfall Tournament, finishing with one win and two losses.  A great season with lots of new faces and progress from year 7 and we're looking forward to a competitive season in year 9.  

The year 10s finally got to play their semi final today in the North Devon Schools' Rugby League against a very strong Kingsley School team.  They have competed exceptionally well this season but unfortunately bow out of this season's competition one step before the final.  We wish Kingsley the best of luck in the final.  

21st March 2024
North Devon Schools' Indoor Volleyball Tournament

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Congratulations to our Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 winners of today's North Devon Schools' Indoor Volleyball Tournament held at Pilton Community College.

Well done to Seth, Lyra and Leonee (Key Stage 3) and Isaac and Max (Key Stage 4).  

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19th March 2024
Year 7 and 9 Rugby Success

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Huge congratulations to our superb year 7 rugby team who competed in the top tier of the Year 7 North Devon Schools' Rugby Waterfall Tournament.  The boys played three games, winning all three and remain unbeaten in their debut season.  

Also huge congratulations to our year 9 rugby team who competed and won this evening at home against Ilfracombe Academy in the North Devon Schools' Rugby Semi Finals.  This team have enjoyed a lot of success this year and are hoping to add to their silverwares next week at the finals at Bideford Rugby Club.  

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18th March 2024
Two Counties' Swimming Championships

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Congratulations to all our swimmers who represented a number of different swim clubs in North Devon this weekend in Plymouth at the Two Counties' Championships.  

There are far too many amazing swimmers to mention everyone, but here we have Freya displaying her medal haul having won one silver, three bronze and two fourth place medals and achieving six new personal bests.  

Well done to everyone who competed.  

16th March 2024
North Devon Schools' Gymnastics Competition

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Congratulations to our Under 13 Novice Gymnastic's team Lily, Rosa, Mia and Lani who won the Under 13 Novice North Devon Schools' Gymnastic's competition at Kingsley School.  Well done to Lani who won individual silver and Rosa who won individual bronze.  

Congratulations also go to our Under 13 Intermediate Team who came second at the North Devon Schools' Intermediate Gymnastics competition.  Well done to Charlotte, Evie, Maisie and Maya.  

A big thank you to Miss Lane for preparing them and managing the team.  

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14th March 2024
Pi Day Cake Competition

The Academy held today a Pi Day Cake Competition organised jointly by the Technology and Maths Departments.  As the name suggests, the cakes had to decorated to reflect Pi and were judged by the staff on taste, texture and decoration.  A huge amount of effort was put in by the students and, after much deliberation, the winners were:-

1st - Ethan

2nd - Cara

3rd - Sienna

Runner up - Carys

Well done to all those who took part.  

13th March 2024
Gold Quality Mark

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We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded the Youth Sport Trust GOLD Quality Mark for 2023/24.

 

This award is “A NATIONALLY RECOGNISED BADGE OF EXCELLENCE FOR PE AND SCHOOL SPORT.”

 

In particular, the gold quality mark is a badge of honour. It demonstrates the value the school places on its provision and reflects the whole school approach and commitment to providing a high-quality physical education, school sport and physical activity offer for all pupils. 

11th March 2024
Football Success

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 What a week last week was for our very own superstar Issi representing England Under 16 Lionesses in an international friendly tournament in Turkey.


Issi was selected once again for the national team, playing in all 3 games, captaining the team against Ecuador, scoring, assisting and was player of the match for the game against Norway. 

Everyone at Braunton Academy is incredibly proud of Issi and congratulate her, her family and the team of coaches on an absolutely amazing achievement.

 

Well done and congratulations.

7th March 2024
'BookFace' Competition

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Key Stage 3 students were invited to take part in the 'BookFace' competition run by the School Library Service in celebration of World Book Day (Thursday 7th March). The brief was to take a photo so that you are part of the book design, or to draw or paint a picture of your favourite book character and take a photo of it in front of your face.

 

We were delighted to hear that our very own Rosie (Year 7) won against all the other local schools with her wonderful and very creative submission featuring the book Tyger by S. F Said.

Rosie won a book voucher and helped choose £100 worth of books for the school library.

 

Well done Rosie!

7th March 2024
World Book Day 2024

As well as the 'BookFace' competition run by the School Library Service, we also ran a whole school treasure hunt across the week, where students had to find book characters hidden around the school site (there were 20 to find!). The students with the most correct answers were put into a draw to win a Waterstones voucher, with Hetty (Year 7) drawn as the winner!

Even staff got involved with the celebrations, once again putting herculean effort into their World Book Day costumes. Maths and PE won the joint prize for best dressed department with their Mr Men theme, and Mr Langmead won best individual costume dressed as ​an Atlas, but I think we can all agree that everyone looks fantastic!
 

Miss Rockey

5th March 2024
Macbeth Film Premiere

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We are delighted to announce the Youtube premiere of the Macbeth film. The students and Expressive Arts Team will be in the Drama Studio from 15:05 on 5th March 2024, after school, if you would like to join us to watch the film. There will be some drinks and nibbles. 

 

https://youtu.be/CSMwf6YPDMc

 

After the film has played through, it will go public and be available to watch indefinitely on the Braunton Academy Records Youtube channel.

 

Attached are a few screen shots to whet your appetite.

4th March 2024
Routes into Languages Competition

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Five of our students, Charlie, Clodagh, Helena, Tom and Kitty, took part in the Routes into Languages Competition held at Pilton School on Monday the 4th March.  It was a hard fought competition and our students did a fantastic job.  

Well done to all of them.  

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March 2024
National Cross Country Finals 

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Congratulations to Carys who completed for Bideford AAC at the Year 7 National Cross Country Finals at Prestwolled Hall, Loughborough, recently.  

Carys competed against over 170 of the very best runners in the country coming in 80th place in absolutely horrific conditions as you'll see from the photo.  

Well done Carys.  

March 2024
Year 7 Netball Champions

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Congratulations to our year 7 netballers who were crowned Year 7 North Devon Schools' League Champions recently.  

The girls remain undefeated and finish the season with a 100% record.  

Well done and congratulations to all the players and coaches involved.  

March 2024
Trampolining Success

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Congratulations to Ollie who competed in the Trampolining South West Regional Challenge Cup Final at Bath University last weekend and won silver in the Double Mini Trampoline.  

Ollie has now been selected to be part of the South West squad and will go to a training camp in Poole in April and compete for the South West in July.  

Well done, congratulations and good luck at the next stage Ollie.  

1st March 2024
Exeter Chiefs' Debut

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Massive congratulations to Charlie who has been selected to play for Exeter Chiefs Under 16s.  What a fantastic achievement and testament to Charlie's hard work and dedication to developing and improving on the rugby field.  

The Under 16 Exeter Chiefs (including Charlie) play against Bristol today. 

 

Well done and good luck to Charlie.  

1st March 2024
Braunton Academy's Lioness

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Congratulations to Issi who captained the Under 16 Women's England Football Team against Ecuadfor this week, winning 3-0.  They play again against Norway today.  

Well done and good luck!!

February 2024
World Gig Racing Championships

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Congratulations to Mr Liversedge, Sicentce Teacher and Head of Year 11, who has been selected to row for Ilfracombe Gig Club in the veteran's crew at the World Gig Racing Championships to be held in the Isles of Scilly later in the year.  

Good luck!

February 2024
Under 12s North Devon Schools' Football League Champions

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Congratulations to the amazing Year 7 girls' football team who were crowned the Under 12s North Devon Schools Football League Champions recently.  

The girls beat South Molton 4-1 in the final held at Tarka Leisure Centre with a superb performance.  they remain unbeaten for the season.  

A big thank you to Miss Sayer for managing the team and Mr King, from Park Community School, for organising this season's girls' football league.  

January 2024
Speak Up - National Theatre 2023

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Since the beginning of the academic year, students involved in the National Theatre's 'Speak Up' programme have been meeting every Monday to discuss and explore issues important to them as young people and experience workshops delivered by local artists and creatives.  Students have created group artwork which reflects and addresses issues in school and in the wider community, and have created artwork expressing their views.  This artwork has been displayed throughout the school to carry the messages of these young people forward in a creative and constructive manner.  

As a group, they are growing in confidence every week and able to constructively articulate and discuss their ideas, thoughts and feelings about issues important to them, as well as take action as to how best to express their ideas.  

We have now entered a development phase where the group are experiencing a wide range of creative activities and workshops which will culminate in them deciding to share their work on a national scale via the National Theatre, Sellador Venues, and other North Devon schools in the programme.  This process of co-creation is an incredibly valuable experience for those involved, and we look forward to sharing with you the final work of the programme.  

January 2024
British Council Partnership News

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We are delighted to say that we have been awarded a partnership opportunity through our work with the British Council.  We have been partnered with The Government Secondary School, Gwagwalada in Abuja, Nigeria.  This is a fantastic opportunity to discuss a theme that covers climate change and its impacts within our localities.  It will involve an initial period of work between each school and staff representatives, before involving student work and various activities.  It will also allow us to enrich the curriculum across the school with opportunities where they arise.  Watch this space as we update you on how the link progresses.  

January 2024
Genrefication of the Library

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We have undertaken the huge task of changing from the old system of organising fiction by author surname to genre-specific sections instead.  Some of the former sections remain (quick reads, manga and graphic novels), but are now also accompanied by others such as fantasy, historical fiction, humour and romance.  This is a format most of us are used to when perusing selves in book shops and supermarkets, so hopefully it will remove barriers for students in finding and accessing books that they will enjoy.  We also completed a 'book weed' at the same time, removing books from the shelves that were no longer current or in good useable condition.  This is preparing us for the 140 new titles arriving with our termly book exchange.  Happy reading!

Miss Rockey, Librarian

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January 2024
Braunton Academy's MacBeth Makes News

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Braunton Academy are putting on a unique performance of MacBeth next month and below are two links to news articles regarding it.  

Devon Live article

North Devon Gazette article

Performances take place in the Isaac Hall on 7th, 8th and 9th February 2024.  Tickets are available to buy on Parentmail or at the Academy Reception.  

January 2024
Cross Country Success

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Massive congratulations to Freya, Amber and Carys who competed for Devon Schools over the weekend at the South West Schools' Cross Country Championships in Yeovil. 🏃‍♀️

Carys came 5th (1st Devon).
Freya 24th (3rd Devon)
Amber 54th (8th Devon).

Freya and Amber have now qualified for the English Schools' Cross Country Championships. 

As Carys competes in the Minor (Y7) age group, she is too young this year to go to the English Schools' Championships and will get another chance next year to follow in her older sisters footsteps.

25th and 26th January 2024
Oxford University and Bletchley Park Trips

On January 25th and 26th 40 year 9 students took part in a trip to Oxford University and Bletchley Park in order to widen their horizons and stimulate their minds.

 

We arrived at Oxford University, Exeter College at 10.30am on Thursday and we were shown around the college with its splendid old buildings and history before taking part in a Critical Thinking workshop. The students looked in detail at the most famous Shakespeare stage direction from A Winter's Tail, Act 3, Scene 3 when Antigonus is chased off stage by a bear. The students had to think at a very high level to formulate ideas and discuss this scene's meaning.

 

Following lunch, we then walked to the Oxford University Maths Institute where we were met by Professor James Munro, an amazing character who enthralled the students with his wit and obvious love of Mathematics. The students took part in a lecture on the Product Rule for Counting and how a knowledge of systems and patterns enables mathematicians to solve tricky problems. 

 

At the end of the afternoon, we walked to the Oxford University Natural History Museum where the students were free to wander and look at the huge number of fascinating exhibits in the collection.

 

Following an overnight stay in a hotel and, for a lot of us, a crepe breakfast we again boarded the coach for an hours journey to Bletchley Park, the home of the British Codebreakers in World War 2.  We had 5 hours there and during this time students took park in an hours workshop on codebreaking, Ciphers and saw up close and in use an original German Enigma machine. The students also had an hours guided tour of some of the park focused on the D Day landings with a really interesting cinematic presentation with numerous screens.  We explored the park, saw where Alan Turing worked along with his team and visited the shop before leaving at 2.30pm arriving back in Braunton at 8pm.

 

I will be running this trip next year for selected year 9 students with emails being sent in September.

 

Mr England

January 2024
Competition Winner!

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Congratulations to Lucy in year 7 who has won a Dryrobe, courtesy of Plastic Free North Devon, after her litter picking efforts with the Academy.  Lucy's name was drawn at random from all the volunteers who took part in Plastic Free North Devon's 'Cleanse & Clean' campaign.  

Well done Lucy - your win was well deserved!

24th January 2024
Eco Group Litter Picking

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Today Braunton Academy Eco-guerillas kindly volunteered to take part in a litter pick around Braunton.  This is the Academy's response to Plastic Free North Devon's Cleanse and Clean Campaign.  The litter pick took place at the bowl, along the Tarka Trail and the pump track.  

Well done to all those who volunteered.  Please see below some of the obscure objects we found along the way.  

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18th January 2024
Tree Planting by Eco Group

13 lovely Eco Club members braved the chilly weather to plant 70 more saplings at Yeo Valley Community Woods.  This is the second time we have planted trees here and it was lovely to revisit last year's trees and see how they have grown.  The plan is to lock 3,000 tonnes of carbon into this woodland for the next 100 years.  Well done everyone for their enthusiasm and willingness to learn. 

 

Mrs Moy

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5th January 2024
Football Scholarship

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Congratulations to one of our year 10 students, Leo, who has been offered a scholarship with Plymouth Argyle.  

Good luck Leo!

January 2024
Netball Success for Year 11

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The year 11 netball team had a great last season at Braunton Academy, coming runners up in the North Devon League.  They have been a pleasure to coach over the last five years and we hope they all continue to play netball when they leave school.  

January 2024
Year 11 Food Preparation & Nutrition Practical Tasks

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Food students are currently working really hard on their GCSE coursework task which is to plan, prepare and cook dishes that represent an event or celebration from around the world.  Students have selected Chinese New Year, Semana Santa (Holy Week), Christmas and American Independence Day.  So far staff have been amazed and impressed by the effort and commitment made by students to produce practical dishes of an extremely high standard.  Students are working towards their final practical task at the end of February, and all the staff wish them the very best of luck when they have to prepare three dishes in three hours.  

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January 2024
New GCSE Course for September: Creative iMedia

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We are pleased to offer students the KS4 OCR Cambridge Nationals in Creative iMedia.  This course will give students the opportunity to learn and apply their skills to work in the media industry.  

Have you ever wondered why brands use certain logos or colours, how websites are designed, or how to edit videos so that the audience is kept engaged?  These are some of the questions that we will answer over the two year course.  

The theory around digital media is fascinating: when you discover the media codes, it is like stepping into the other side of a mirror, offering a new perspective from which you will see marketing materials and other digital products very differently.  

We will study colour theory, typography, and logo-making for the first unit in year 10.  There will be lots of creative processing and idea generation, utilising Photoshop, DreamMaker and other software, as well as researching real life examples etc.  There is NO coding in this course.  There are two pieces of coursework to produce before sitting the exam in year 11.  The briefs are set by the exam board but give you lots of freedom in terms of interpretation.  We will do all the learning ahead of the coursework window so that you have plenty of material to use to support you in your independent work and your revision.

I cannot wait to start this course next September.  It is fun, creative and challenging.

Mrs Duthuit

4th January 2024
Welcome Mrs Duthuit

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We are pleased to welcome Mrs Duthuit as our new Computing Teacher.  Mrs Duthuit joins us from Park School where she has taught for a long time.  She is French but moved to the UK when she was 20.  She has lived on the North Devon coast for over 18 years.  

Mrs Duthuit really hopes to inspire girls to study STEM subjects, especially Computer Science.  There are so many opportunities for women to join in the coding revolution and you can really use your creativity when you are coding.  It is great fun!!

January 2024
Netball Success for Year 9

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Congratulations to the year 9 netball team who won the North Devon Netball Tournament, and then went on to compete in the County Round at Paignton.  

January 2024
Netball Success for Year 8

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Congratulations to the year 8 netball team who won the Netball League before Christmas.  They always work hard in training and matches and show determination to achieve.  

Well done!

December 2023
Snowsports Trip Pila, Italy

We had an amazing week over the Christmas holidays.  Snow was plentiful, the slops were quiet, so no queuing at lifts, and the sun was out all week!  This year we had 46 students; half snowboarding and half skiing.  Ability ranged from advanced to beginner with 7 groups.  What is great at Pila is the ability to regularly see all the different groups progressing throughout the day due to 'The Bowl' area being the ski area where the beginners and advanced crossover.  

Evenings were spent at a pizza restaurant, visiting the beautiful town of Pila (which boasts the largest Roman ruins outside of Rome), karaoke and bowling at the local games arcade.  A big thank you to all the students and staff for making the week a fun and memorable time.  

We have booked Pila again for next year, departing on the 28th December 2024.  All the information and details are on ParentMail.  As we are restricted to 46 students, please book a place by completing the form and paying the deposit as soon as possible.

Mrs Craig

15th December 2023
The Expansion Progress

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We are pleased to report that the build is still on time with 100% of the steel frame completed and the flat roof added.  The ground floor, first floor structures and both sets of concrete stairs have been installed. The block works and brick works in the Quad is almost completed and will be ready for students to use in their social times very soon.

 

We are looking forward to planting up the bedding areas, including an herb garden for the Food Technology department. 

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13th December 2023
Winter Concert

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This week we hosted the annual Winter Concert in Isaac Hall.  This year we were delighted to welcome the Southmead Primary Choir who sang three of their own songs before joining in with the Academy students for the first-half finale.  May I take this opportunity to thank

Ms Simpson for her hard work with the choir and helping students in our community take those all-important steps into their first musical performances.  It's wonderful for these younger children to get used to the stage and we hope they will become regular performers in years to come.  

There was a fantastic array of talent on display from all year groups and we are all very proud of them. 

 

Special mention to our year 11 students in what was their final Christmas Concert: Finley, Anna, Holly, Lily, Lola, Reuben and Amber.  All of these students have taken part in many concerts over the years, and we wish them all the best.  We know as musicians they leave Braunton Academy with something magical and special that will stay with them all their lives.  

Mr Street

13th December 2023
Charity Cake Sale

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Well done to Marnie and 8MS who organised a charity cake sale today in aid of Shelter.  They raised an amazing £110!!  

Thank you to everybody who donated cakes.  

11th December 2023
North Devon Schools' Rugby Cup Winners

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🏆 HUGE Congratulations to our Year 9 Rugby team who won the North Devon Schools' Rugby Cup tonight against West Buckland School.

 

They now qualify for the Devon Rugby Cup as North Devon winners.

In a pulsating final, held at Bideford Rugby Football Club, the score line ended 12-12 at full time in a highly competitive and even contest. 

 

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With the game tied and both tries and conversions even, Braunton Academy won the final after scoring the first try in the game, as per RFU rules. 

 

Tyler was announced player of the match, but every single player played their part, making their coach and Head of Year, Mr Ovey, very happy.  He had this to say, "One of the highest quality matches I have seen at school level". 

 

Well done to all the players and coaches on a fantastic win. Thank you to the referee and commiserations to West Buckland Sport who were absolutely fantastic. Thank you also to Mr Cooke from Great Torrington School for organising the event.

7th December 2023
Christmas Dinner Day

It has long been the tradition that the whole school sits down to Christmas Dinner.  This was lost for a few years due to the pandemic but has been successfully resurrected this year.  There are no many occasions in the year when we get to do something as a whole school, and especially in the darks days of December, so it was lovely to have an event where the school could come together as a whole community.  It is a bit of a logistical nightmare to get it all organised, but the catering team, led by Mrs Nash and the support staff, did an amazing job to organise everything.  The students and staff really enjoyed the event.  

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December 2023
Parliamentary Petition

As a school community we recently undertook an exercise in democracy to find out which new law our students would most like to see introduced by Parliament.  All tutor groups put forward a proposed law and then four of their ideas were shortlisted and turned into ballot papers.  The whole school was invited to vote for their favourite and this has now been turned into a live petition on the Parliamentary Petitions webpage.

 

Our students decided that a new law surrounding vapes was needed - specifically one aimed at reducing the marketing of vapes to children - and so the proposed law is: 'Ban all flavoured vapes'.

 

This is the link Ban all flavoured vapes - Petitions (parliament.uk) and it would be amazing if lots of you could sign it and share it on behalf of our young people.  10,000 signatures means we will get a formal response from government and 100,000 signatures will mean it has to be debated in parliament.  Please help if you can - it only takes seconds to sign.  Please also ask the young people in your household to sign it too as they have not had chance to do so in school.

November 2023
Climate Change Theatre Action Performances

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Students from the year 10 GCSE Drama class performed as part of the worldwide Climate Change Theatre Action Festival.  This event was part of an international programme of events with actors and artists from Alaska to New Zealand performing the same scripts as Braunton Academy students to raise awareness of the effects of Climate Change.  

Students shared the stage with professional actors from Multi Story Theatre Company and Theatre Workhouse to perform scripts from

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several international playwrights.  

The evening was a great success enjoyed by a well-attended audience.  The students performed with professionalism and confidence alongside more experience actors and were a credit to themselves and the Expressive Arts Department.  

Students also performed at Bridge Chambers in Barnstaple with the same company of actors and this audience was attended by local environmental stakeholders, councillors and the Chair of the Arts Council for Devon.  Again, the students were very accomplished and professional in their performances and the audience thoroughly enjoyed a thought-provoking evening about climate change and our response to it living in North Devon.  Mr Carroll would like to thank Beaford Arts for their significant support of both events and for making it possible for Braunton Academy students to participate in such valuable learning experiences.  

Autumn 2023
MESME Maths Circles Programme

We are delighted to announce that four students from year 7 have gained places on the prestigious MESME Maths Cirlces Programme with Exeter Maths School.  MESME's charitable purpose is to support high-attaining students to achieve mathematical excellence by participating in MESME Maths Circles, so that they go on to have a greater and richer range of future personal, employment and economic choices.  

In a MESME Maths Circle, a small group of students come together regularly with an experienced, knowledgeable mentor to grapple with intriguing questions, to discover and explore exciting ideas, and to learn to think like advanced mathematicians.  Maths Circles develop students' mathematical reasoning and expand their mathematical curiosity, as well as refining their technical knowledge and skills.  Students follow a precisely sequenced and carefully structured curriculum.  

These students will spend the next five years working online and face-to-face with teachers at the school to develop their maths to a very high level with a view to perhaps moving into A level in the future.

Well done to Maya, Harry, Rosie and Judah.  

November 2023
North Devon Schools' Climbing Competition

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Please congratulate all climbers (17 in all) who represented the Academy at the annual North Devon Schools' Climbing Competition. They were runners up in a highly competitive event.

 

Daisy placed 1st which is fantastic.  Well done Daisy!!!

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December 2023
Chess Competition

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Following 5 weeks of hard fought competition, we are down to the final of the in-school Chess Competition which will take place on Friday 8th December.

 

Finalists are:-

 

Ethan (year 9)  V Judah (year 7)

 

3rd place playoff:-

 

Brooke (year 11)   V  Louis (year 9)

 

In more chess news, congratulations to Rosie and Clodagh, two promising young chess players, that have been awarded the position of Captain and Vice Captain of Key Stage 2 chess. It is their job to assist with the club and encourage chess to be played across years 7 to 9. 

 

If you see any of the players, or our new Captains of Chess, please congratulate them and offer encouragement to the finalists.

November 2023
Exeter Chiefs DPP Academy

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Please congratulate Joel and Harvey who were put forward by their rugby coaches at Barnstaple Rugby Club to attend 2 training evenings as part of a selection process for the Exeter Chiefs DPP academy.  

 

Joel and Harvey were both successful in this process and will now continue building on their rugby skills at the Exeter Chiefs development academy.

21st November 2023
Eco Guerrillas Tree Plant

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Today the magnificent Eco Guerrillas planted 10 silver birch, 10 rowan, 10 wild cherry and 8 hawthorn saplings in order to increase biodiversity on the Academy site.  They were planted on the empty bank behind the athletics track.  The next idea is to get some wildflower patches planted up.  

Thank you to the Woodland Trust and Andy, one of our Governors, for providing the saplings.  

Well done everyone involved.  

November 2023
North Devon Cross Country Championships

Congratulations to 24 of our students who have been selected to represent North Devon Schools in Cross Country. 

 

To be selected, students have to finish in the top 16 of all runners in their age category at the North Devon Cross Country Championships held on Tuesday 7th November at West Buckland School. They now have all earned the right to represent North Devon at the Devon Schools' Cross Country Championships on Saturday 20th January 2024.

10th November 2023
Armistice Day

Several of our students joined in the Armistice Day ceremony in the village today.  As always, this was a very moving ceremony for everybody remembering and honouring our armed forces personnel who have lost their lives in conflicts.  

Our student, Charlie, played the Last Post prior to the two minutes' silence.  

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7th November 2023
Norway Calling......

Year 7R Geography had the pleasure of a video teams meeting today with our new partner school in Norway.  The school is based in Overbygd in Northern Norway within the Arctic Circle.  The partnership has been set up through the Humanities Department, working with the marine base in Chivenor, who undertake training regularly within the district surrounding Overbygd.  7R in their lessons have been looking at the geography of Norway and the Arctic Circle and have sent and received work about what the world looks like outside their window in North Devon and Norway!  From that they have developed questions they wanted to ask the Norwegian school students who also wanted to ask 7R questions too.  The questions ranged from topics such as the weather, school, uniforms, lessons, recreation and environments. 

 

It was a really exciting start to the partnership and more video calls are planned for the future.  Watch this space....!

November 2023
STEM Roadshow

We welcomed the STEM roadshow to the academy, with all of year 7 and 8 enjoying a fantastic interactive exploration from the depths of the sea to outer space.  Students learnt about rockets and propulsion, submarines and the planets while finding out about the wide range of careers that you can have as an engineer.

November 2023
Emerging Talent Trial for Leo

Year 10 student, Leo, has this week been informed that he was successful at his recent South-West of England emerging talent trial.  He has now been invited to St George's Park, the National training headquarters, for a further 3 day training camp with the end goal being to represent England. 

 

Well done Leo and good luck at the training camp.  

November 2023
Remembrance Wreath

This beautiful remembrance wreath was made by the staff and students at the Academy recently. 

 

It will be displayed at the front of school to honour and commemorate the armed forces members who have given their lives in the line of duty. 

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5th November 2023
Exeter Chiefs

On Sunday 5th November a group of our students went to Sandy Park, Exeter, to watch Exeter Chiefs against Bristol Bears.

It was a tense match with the Chiefs winning 29 - 20.  

The day included a tour of the playing facilities, coaching before the game, and a pitch walk at half time.

3rd November 2023
Design & Technology Trip

Despite much pleading by the class, this was not a trip to the golden arches or the chicken emporium, but in fact to visit two thriving and long-established businesses that are right on our doorstep.

 

Out first stop was to see the corrugated card creations of Atlas Packaging.  They create card packaging for many of the household brands you will be familiar with, as well as smaller, more unusual packaging requests.  They took us through the whole design concept stage, surface design development and finally production, via their impressive factory floor. For health and safety reasons we were not allowed onto the factory floor, but we got a real sense of the scale of their operations as we could view it from the design offices above.  We were given the history of their business, and what they produce now with a real focus on the sustainability of the materials they use, by the head of the business Jason, before being shown the design and production stages by two of his senior staff. 

 

Our next stop was just around the corner at North Devon Metal Craft. A long-established, but much smaller scale business, that embraces the new and old ways of engineering.  They are the go-to people for handmade car body parts for brands such as Jaguar, Bentley, Triumph, Porsche and Cobra.  Their workshop is a feast for anyone who is interested in engineering, stuffed full with car bodies at various stages of build, and the very traditional equipment they still use to get such a high-end finish. What they make is sent all over the world to car enthusiasts. Students were particularly fascinated by the English Wheel, used to form sheet materials into incredible curves for the very classic cars they build and restore. Part of their initial concept work is done using CAD so it was great for students to see how the old and new ways can be equally productive in today's very competitive markets.

 

We would all like to thank both companies for giving up precious work time to show us around their businesses.  It is invaluable for students to see design and technology in action as it really brings the theory we study in school to life. It also shows them there are many opportunities in our local area that could lead to a very fulfilling career.

Miss Britton

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