Morecambe Community High School

Skip to main content
17th May 12

News in Brief...

|

Latest SchoolBYTES - MCHS Newsletter

Sport Relief - Three World Records in one hour?

On Friday 23rd March students took to the school field to try to break the world records for:
Egg & Spoon Race – Current Record 1308 participants
Three-legged Race – Current Record 1004 participants
Piggy Back race – Current Record 322 participants.
Well done to all who took part, we are awaiting official results in anticipation.

Thank you

...to all the parents and extended family who support the students at this school in all their extra curricular activities. It does matter that you are at the side of pitch or that you are a member of the audience. But of course the unseen taxi service you provide or additional kit/costumes required also make a massive difference to the quality of their commitment.

Training with a smile

As anyone involved in work knows training can be and often is a chore. Schools are no different in that the whole school community needs training and refreshing about aspects of education. Over the last four years there has been a serious and sustained focus in Morecambe Community High School on the science/art of teaching and learning. Essentially this has been a school community listening to itself and in particular to its own experts in the classroom. This week the second of our Twilight Inset Sessions was held. In some ways it was an unpromising topic with a focus on ‘plenaries’, that is, the way students and staff review and reinforce the learning that has taken place within a lesson. And what brilliant training it turned out to be. Ten staff delivered to the assembled staff in the Library then we split into four groups. Videos of lessons were shown and alternative, radical plenaries were created by staff. It was funny, engaging and relevant. It brings great credit to the staff of this school that it can produce such dynamic, realistic and unforgettable training – not a chore at all just a privilege to be there.

Gymnastics on Display

I visited Wigan on Sunday 5th February to watch the school Gymnastics team compete in the North West Championships. It was great as usual to witness such passion and dedication. Sometimes the days can be very long, and feel longer, when you are waiting to complete the piece you have practiced and practiced over and over again. Mel Gardner was the coach who had moulded very enthusiastic individuals into teams with a mix of club gymnasts and those from the school who were new to the experience of competition. The mixed pairs team of Chloe Macklin and Dom Hart made it through to the National Finals. Chloe also came a respectable second in the tumbling competition and qualified for the National Finals. One of the U13 team managed a creditable third place against tough opposition. Continuing the Gymnastics theme the interform Year 7 competition was held in the Studio on Thursday 9th February when an extraordinary twenty students competed in the event and for many of them it was the first time they had ever given an individual floor display. The spirit was great and the camaraderie exceptional. I am sure that Gymnastics can only go from strength to strength with such enthusiasm.

'We Will Rock You'....

...was an outstanding success. It was sold out over three nights and people had to be turned away at the door for the final evening. The next whole school musical production is ‘Back to the Eighties’ which is being performed at the school on Wednesday 1st February, Thursday 2nd February and Friday 3rd February. I have seen some rehearsals and it will be a blast from the past for those who remember leg warmers, headbands and some exceptionally fine music. I still remember the surprised looks from my female staff when one of our sixth form bands (all male) decided to present their version of ‘I will survive’ to a packed assembly. A 1978 classic repackaged for the twenty first century.

'Broadway Backstage'

Later in the term at the end of March the school is also presenting its second full Dance Production after the success of ‘Broadway Backstage’. This time the theme is ‘Magic at the Movies’ and again I have watched rehearsals of this for some time and it will be a brilliant night. It is not just the enthusiasm of so many dancers but their confidence and commitment that needs to be witnessed by enthusiastic audiences. Of course both productions are staged in the new Performance Studio which provides an additional intimacy for each performance.

Latest #9E2020
RSS
Subscribe to this RSS feed

Welcome

There is no more impressive sight than turning away from a game of rugby and football on a Saturday morning and gazing at the main building of Morecambe Community High School. It has a majesty and solidity that reaffirms why education was important in 1937 and remains important 75 years later. The school is justly proud of this legacy. From Morecambe Grammar School through to Morecambe Community High School it reveals a commitment to high quality education for all in this area. It still insists upon the notion that education is much, much more than simply one snapshot of attainment. The school believes that education is about the whole person and thus recognises its responsibility to deliver wide ranging and formative experiences that are academic, social, sporting and cultural.

Yet Morecambe Community High School is a school for the present with an eye on the future. It is a campus that has been transformed to deliver a twenty first century education for students who need to be equipped to shape that future. State of the art technology matched with traditional values. When I tour the school with visitors, which I do many times each week, I note how often they tell me that it is clearly a happy, purposeful school. Nearly fifty students have joined the school since October 2011, many from local schools, and they confirm that they are pleased to be part of such a positive, confident and thriving community. And so the legacy is passed on from generation to generation.     

John McNaughton - Headteacher

School Calendar