Miah runs the Virtual New York Marathon

Congratulations to Miah Blackburn in year 11 and her father Ric who completed the Virtual New York City Marathon on Saturday 24th October. Swapping views of Central Park and Manhattan for the Forest Way, the pair had to complete the 26 mile run over a 24 hour period, and share to the organisers via the exercise app Strava.

Starting at 6am in the morning, they were able to finish the run in just under five hours – a highly creditable performance.

Miah has so far raised over £1000 for Teenage Cancer Trust, the MS Society, Guide Dogs for the Blind and the QVH Charity. 

Well done to both of you – let’s hope half-term brings some rest!

Our sixth form open evening will be virtual this year, on Thursday November 5th – expect fireworks! Students and parents will be able to join up to eight subject-based Zoom presentations, starting every quarter-hour from 3.30pm. Joining codes for these presentations will be posted here on the Thursday morning.

Full information about courses can be found in our online prospectus. A presentation by our sixth form staff and student leaders can also be viewed in advance of the evening.

We look forward to offering a warm virtual welcome to all students both those already at Sackville and those thinking of coming for years 12 and 13. You will not be disappointed!

Sports stars shine at delayed awards

We were delighted to hold two sports awards ‘evenings’ in the run up to the half term break. Our Sports Awards Evening is usually a centrepiece of our spring term, replete with pizza and chips for the participants, a full complement of parent visitors and a famous sportsman to present the awards.

This week we held two half-hour sessions after school for years 10 and 11. The awards were valued by the participants as highly as they ever were. Students who have represented the school at three or more sports received school colours. Those who have played at county level or similar received full colours.

One special award each year is the Matt Cox Memorial Award for the outstanding cricket performance. This year it went to Liam Dawes for his big hitting exploits at the crease. Well done everyone!

Live theatre returns to Sackville

On Thursday 22 Ocotober live theatre returned to Sackville, albeit with an audience respectfully socially distanced. Our year 13 drama students put on a mesmerising performance of Jim Cartwright’s Road. The play itself is a desolate depiction of deindustrialising Lancashire, and the students gave it added force by interpreting in the style of Brecht.

Congratulations to Aislinn Goss, Leah Griffiths-Ellis, Jack Charlton Nevitt and Madeleine Matthews.

Sophie Taylor is Arkwright scholar

Congratulations to Sophie Taylor in year 12, our latest Arkwright Scholar. Sophie underwent a rigorous application process whilst in year 11 to achieve this prestigious award. The scholarships are awarded to high-calibre 16 year-old students through a rigorous selection process and support students through the two years of their A levels. There are none with higher calibre than Sophie – you may remember she achieved a full suite of grade 9s in her recent GCSEs!

Sophie will be sponsored through her scholarship by the Institute of Engineering and Technology, and will be able to take part in a number of activities to support her planned route into studying engineering at university.

Sackville COVID measures get excellent report from Health and Safety Executive

On Wednesday 14th October we hosted a visit from the local Health and Safety Executive Team, who had come in to inspect our system of controls for dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. 

We are delighted to say that the team were very pleased with the systems we have in place. In their words ‘It was great to see the control measures you have installed for COVID-19 on practice‘ and ‘we did not find anything during the inspection that required improvements‘.

There remain significant challenges to life in school of course, and we are extremely grateful to the way our staff and students are working together to ensure that so much good learning is taking place in these difficult times.

Steven involved in BAFTA nominated film

We were delighted to hear from former student Steven Sayell (class of 2015/2017) who was inspired by his film A level to try to get a career in the industry. Last year, he was assistant producer on ‘Wings’ now available on Channel 4, a story spanning six-decades about two land girls who met during World War Two. The film stars Miriam Margolyes and Virginia McKenna, and has won awards in LA, Chicago, Atlanta, Texas, Arizona, Sydney and here at home. All together (so far) it has won 12 awards and is up for selection for another 18. Amongst these is the Iris Prize, the world’s largest short film award. Nomination for this automatically puts the film in contention for a BAFTA too.

On a more recent project, working on Sky Atlantic‘s ‘The Third Day‘, Steven even got to share a Kit Kat with Jude Law!

Sixth formers virtually in parliament

While trips out of school are difficult in the current climate, our A level law students managed to visit the Houses of Parliament without having to leave the classroom. The Parliament Education Team hosted a virtual visit so the students could learn about how laws are made in Parliament.

They even shared how the MPs have been keeping their social distancing in the chambers with images of the Commons and Lords before and after the Covid secure guidelines. Students were encouraged to think about who they would nominate as a life peer and what laws they would debate if they had the opportunity. Our students were interested in the possible removal of the sanitary tax, and found out that it would in fact be removed after we leave the European Union next year.

It was a very useful hour but students did miss out the beautiful architecture of the building. On the other hand they didn’t have to grapple with public transport and the tube, and they were able to attend their other lessons that day.

We would like to thank Mrs Fleming for organising the visit.

Lauren’s off to the National Newcomers’ Finals

Congratulations to Lauren Keetley in year 11 who has qualified for the National Newcomer Championship Final with her pony this week. Over the last 18 months Lauren has trained the pony from novice to one of the best 50 in his class in the UK. This requires unswerving dedication and drive, and this week’s event is just reward for her efforts.

Normally the championships are held as part of the Horse of the Year Show in Birmingham, but arrangements are slightly different this year of course! We are hoping to use TV footage of the event as part of Lauren’s GCSE PE evidence.

Well done and Good Luck Lauren!