Feb 20, 2018 - in a VEX robotics competition. Before attending the event, they attended the Robotics STEM club on a Thur
Issue 20 - February 18
School re-opens Monday 26th February Message from Mr Mellen It is the last day of a busy half term today and we are off school for a week, returning on Monday 26th February. Thank you to students, staff and parents for your support so far this year and for all of the hard work that is going on in so many areas. Well done to Year 11s who have been getting in early and working hard for their mock exams - these Debate Mate continue after half term with English Language Paper 2 on Maths Trip Congratulations the first morning back. Breakfast will continue to be Half Term Activities provided from 8. One thing that I am not happy about this half term is the amount of litter around the academy at the moment. There are plenty of bins available around the site so there is no excuse for dropping rubbish at any time. This will start resulting in a C3 from now on. Please take some pride in our school and look after it in this simple and easy way. Environmental Student Leaders will be on the lookout for examples of good behaviour. Have a wonderful and peaceful week next week. Stay safe and we look forward to seeing you back on Monday 26th.
@ CedarMountHigh
Debate Mate We’ve been running Debate Mate sessions after school since last term – as the afternoons got darker our conversations got livelier. Last week saw 33 of our best debaters make the trip to Droylsden to take part in the first round of the Debate Mate Urban Debate League. Nerves battled excitement on most faces as we eyed up the competition – debaters from a number of other schools across Greater Manchester. With the announcement of the first motion, “This house would ban advertising to under 16s,” nerves turned to determination with only 15 minutes to prepare! The competition was fierce and the motion tough but three of our teams won their debates. The second round was no easier - “This house would give police complete and unrestricted access to personal data”. Again, we lost some, we won some but the level of debate was extraordinary. The organisers commented on our students’ poise, professionalism and resilience! One of our teams won both their rounds, so a special congratulation to Mollie Rolland, Mojisola Oladiti, Ahad Usman, Oscar Lam and A. Wanel Kamte Dzeukou! In addition, the Debate Mate Judges give special commendations to the best speakers they judge each competition; of the six awarded, five were for our students! Sahara Hayat, Daniel Quansa and Tafara Mbano all received one and Mollie Rolland was nominated by both her judges! Miss Robinson and I were incredibly proud of our students, as we always are, and we can’t wait for the next competition! A special thanks goes to Sheri at GM Higher who made this all possible!
Science - STEM Last week a group of year 8 students travelled to UTC Bolton to compete in a VEX robotics competition. Before attending the event, they attended the Robotics STEM club on a Thursday after school to build the robot. During the event they had to work together to show off their robotic skills and team work abilities. There were two competitions that they could enter; individual skills and team work skills. The students who attended were a credit to Cedar Mount and worked very hard on the robot. They demonstrated amazing team work by designating people for certain tasks such as, drivers, engineers, admin. After a fun filled and tense day it was time for the awards. Our year 8 students were over the moon to walk away with not one but two trophies. The first for their outstanding robotics skills and the second for their collaborative team work with Bolton St Catherine’s Academy. Winning the team work award means that our students have secured a place in the VEX National Finals held in Telford on March 1st. Please wish our students good luck in preparing for the final.
Maths Trip On Tuesday, 13 of our year 10 students went on a trip to Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). The trip was designed to help pupils improve their skills required for GCSE maths by providing them with interesting, different and sometimes difficult problems that they were unlikely to have met in the classroom. We arrived at MMU just before 9:45, along with two other schools from greater Manchester. The first session began with everyone getting into groups of 4 to solve some problems on fraction and number. Following a gentle start, the tasks quickly increased in difficulty up to some seriously challenging questions - typically aimed at A-level students! After lunch (and a room change) the students took part in some maths-based games, which they unanimously decided was the most enjoyable and useful portion of the day (aside from the free lunch!) As the day was such a success, there will be a follow up session in the summer term for the same 13 students to return to MMU and participate in some more engaging maths challenges!
