Sponne School is very proud to announce that Thomas Judge (Yr 12 A level Music Student) has been successful in his  double bass audition for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.  Huge congratulations - a tremendous achievement! On receiving the news Thomas said:

"I am completely honoured to accept my place into the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in the Double Bass section! To say I am excited for what the next year or so has to offer would be an understatement. From performing live at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in summer to doing various concert tours of the UK and overseas, it’s safe to say the next two years are going to be extremely busy. I’m particularly looking forward to working with the incredible film composer Danny Elfman (whose work includes: Batman, Nightmare before Christmas and the Simpsons) and performing in the world premiere of his new work, which was written especially for the NYO

I applied for the NYO in April this year and was fortunate enough to get moved straight to the 2nd round of auditions. After months of preparation, I was finally invited to the Royal Academy of Music in which I had a weekend assessment, consisting of various creative workshops and as you can imagine A LOT of playing! A couple of weeks later I got an email confirming I had gotten the position. 

The NYO has an outstanding reputation of being the world’s leading orchestra for young people and thanks to the help of our phenomenal Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Sarah Alexandra OBE, the orchestra has become well linked with some of the greatest musical influencers and organisations in the industry, and has performed to many thousands of people as well as regularly performing for members of the Royal Family.

I am incredibly happy to have been given this amazing opportunity and I am very proud to get the chance to represent Sponne School on a National level."

The new science block extension is starting to take shape and is due for completion by December 2021. This will house 3 new classrooms, a faculty base and improved toilet facilities, allowing for much more space in the science department. This is a great investment for the school and will be hugely beneficial for both future and current students.

 See below for some designs on what the build will look like and remember to check back for updates as the project progresses.

If you missed our announcement on the build click here for more information:  Science Block Extension

Due to road closures all pupils who board at The Old Stables in Blakesley will be collected from Seawell Grounds.  The closure is due to remain in place until 4th November 2021.

Please see images below for the updated school bus timetable.

GCSE Examination Results 2021

Students and staff at Sponne School in Towcester are celebrating another excellent set of GCSE results this year with many individuals achieving outstanding grades. It has obviously been another challenging year with the cancellation of the summer exams for students and results being produced by teacher assessed grades with external moderation from exam boards. Overall results have remained very similar to previous years and most students continue to achieve the highest grades available.

Among the many elated students celebrating today were James Lecoche who achieved eight grade 9s and one grade 8 along with Ellina Hickman, Lucy Minns and Lotty Dawson who all gained at least 9 grade 8/9s.Seb Nelson, Phoebe Anderson, Joseph Buckley, Emma Glanville, Madison Kingston, Eleanor McConnell, Josie Muggeridge and Elliot Woodward gained eight grade 8/9s. In addition Daniel Davies, Joe Furlong and Angela Morales Malagon achieved 6 or more top grades. Many others achieved multiple grade 8/9s within their results.

Headteacher Mr Iain Massey said: “I am tremendously proud of the achievements of all of our students at Sponne School. No matter what their starting point when they arrive, the majority have made exceptional progress, despite the disruption of the pandemic and along with all my staff and Governors I would like to congratulate them for working so hard and gaining what they deserved.”

Year 11 Progress Learning Leader, Mr Hollamby said “Congratulations to our Year 11 students on a fantastic set of GCSE results! We are extremely proud of them all and these results reflect their hard work, resilience and ability to learn during an immensely difficult time. They have been a brilliant year group and we wish them the very best of luck as they progress into their next steps!”

{gallery}GCSE Results 21{/gallery}

A Level Examination Results 2021

Students and staff at Sponne School in Towcester are celebrating another excellent set of A Level results this year with many individuals achieving outstanding grades. It has obviously been another challenging year with the cancellation of the summer exams for students and results being produced by teacher assessed grades with external moderation from exam boards. Overall results have remained very similar to previous years and most students continue to achieve the highest grades available. 55% of students gained the very highest A*-B grades and almost a quarter of all grades were either A* or A.

Amongst the many delighted students today were Iona Mackenzie(A*A*A*A*), Jude Khaliq (A*A*A*) who will be studying Veterinary Medicine at Nottingham University and Eloise Middleton (A*A*A*) who will be going to Plymouth University to study Anthropology. Both Matthew Martin (A*A*A A) and Abigail Tonkinson (A*A*A*) will be going to Durham University to read Chemistry and Biological Sciences respectively. Alex Williams Goldman (A*A*A) will be going to study Chemical Engineering at Birmingham University whilst Amy Clarke (A*A*A) will study Modern Languages at Exeter.Tayla Lowe (A*A*A) will be more local studying Criminology at Oxford Brookes University, whilst Emily Moore (A*A*B) will travel north to study Biomedical Sciences at Sheffield University. Many other students gained multiple A grades in their set of results. Congratulations to all of them.

Headteacher Mr Iain Massey said: “We are really proud of our students who have done so well in gaining these excellent results in what has been exceptionally difficult circumstances in the last eighteen months.The grades reflect the hard work that students put in and the outstanding teaching and support provided by the staff at Sponne School. Well done to all our students”

Miss Whitmore, Head of Sixth Form from Sponne, said: “I am delighted that so many students have secured a place at their first choice destination. I want to congratulate all the students on their hard work and resilience in what has been a difficult year due to the pandemic. I wish them all the best in the future”.

Celebration of Sport Leaders at Moulton College

A fantastic day was had by all - Our Sports Leaders were an absolute credit to us running different events for both Primary and Secondary School competitions and the sun shone down on us to add to our smiles!

• 8 girls umpiring the Y7/8 Rounders competition
• 8 boys & girls running the Y3/4 Tri Golf competition
• 4 girls running their own KS1 Get Active festival which they have been working towards all year with the County Active sports Leaders Academy

Well done everyone - you always make me so very proud!

KS1 Festival

Mia Black (Y9) Ella Mortimer (Y12) Ellie Alphonso (Y9) Becky Brown (Y10)

Rounders Umpires

Scarlett Wheeler (Y9) Grace Stanger (Y9) Georgie Parslow (Y9) Phoebe Boyle (Y9) Grace Goram (Y9) Hannah Goram (Y9) Evie Turner (Y9) Olivia Anderson (Y9)

Tri-Golf Officials

Toby Ayres (Y9) Harry Pritchett (Y9) Zak Toms (Y9) Jimmy Clarke (Y9) Jedan Stewart (Y9) Katie Taylor (Y9) Dom Barrett(Y9) Emily Echezarreta (Y9)

Congratulations to Matt, our Impact Food Group Executive Chef here at Sponne, who is now through to the national finals of the Laca School Chef competition! The regional finals were tough, but Matt came out on top and we’re extremely proud!

Criteria of the competition was to showcase a Quorn product and have a dessert with 50% fruit, at a total cost of just £1.40!

Matt cooked up tandoori Quorn fillet with bhaji bon bons, cumin flatbread and mint yoghurt dressing. Followed by a coconut pancake “samosa” filled with black cherry compote accompanied with whipped coconut cream and chocolate syrup.

The national finals will take place in October and more info on the competition can be found here laca.co.uk/scoty

Y9 Sports Leaders KS1 Festival - 1st July

A fantastic day was enjoyed by all as we hosted a KS1 festival here at Sponne for our local Primary schools:
Activity Leaders took responsibility for setting up their activity, demonstrating it to each team and encouraging and recording their performances.
Team managers looked after their team, ensuring they were warmed up, had food and drink, knew what to do at each activity, sorted grazed knees and tears, and cheered them on throughout the afternoon
Results were given and medals presented...then it was clear up time (their least favourite part of the day!!)
Thank you to all of the leaders, you were AMAZING!!

Harmful Sexual Behaviour in schools

Sexual abuse, sexual violence and sexual harassment in any form are abhorrent and it is vital that reports of abuse are appropriately investigated and victims supported and protected.

At Sponne School we take our safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously but the “Everyone’s Invited campaign” has reminded us that there is more we need to do.

On 31 March, the Secretary of State announced that he had asked Ofsted to undertake a thematic review into sexual abuse across state and independent schools and colleges. The review was published on 10th June 2021, and looked at the processes in place within schools to allow pupils to report concerns freely, knowing these will be taken seriously and dealt with swiftly and appropriately.

A dedicated NSPCC helpline is now available to support anyone who has experienced sexual abuse in educational settings or has concerns about someone or the issues raised. The dedicated NSPCC helpline number is 0800 136 663 and more information is available at: Dedicated helpline for victims of abuse in schools NSPCC.

Statutory safeguarding guidance and advice are very clear on our schools legal duties and the policies and processes already in place to safeguard children.

Part 5 of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE 2020) provides schools with detailed guidance about child-on-child sexual violence and sexual harassment, including responding to reports of abuse and protecting victims. Part 5 also signposts to the wider specialist support that is available to us as a school.

Alongside this, recent government guidance documents supports us to understand what child-on-child sexual violence and sexual harassment looks like, how to prevent it, how to respond to reports of it, and how to support victims. The Safeguarding team refer to this document in all reported cases.

National guidance is very clear on how we as a school should work with our local multi-agency children’s partnerships as a relevant agency and how any concerns about a child should be referred. We will always look to contact our local multi-agency children’s partnership as well as the police for further advice and support when needed.

The curriculum for Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) has included this topic for both Key Stage 3 and 4 this term. At Sponne assemblies have and are continuing to take place with this in mind, and we have included the most recent assembly here for your information.

We always have and will continue to take these matters very seriously. The Everyone’s Invited campaign has rightly served to focus our minds on the need to continue to work together to protect children.

If you have any questions, or wish to discuss this further, please make contact with the school Designated Safeguarding Lead - Miss Harris.