Who do we want? THE WANTED
July 2010

More swarming girls at the Academy today as The Wanted delivered two fantastic performances. Get all the info about these boys on their website here.

Their evening performance was supported by JMA bands Static Fire and Silvalite who have been coached by Reading Rock Academy over the past 4 months. Our bands were brilliant and attracted a large crowd, watch this space for more performance dates.

Have you NUMUed yet?
July 2010

The Academy Music Department are pleased to announce the launch of their new NUMU webpage, showcasing the talent of display in the music department. NUMU is a new, innovative online portfolio which allows schools to create their own individual record labels. Artists can upload tracks and a running blog updates visitors on the current activities within the music department.

NUMU also allows students to compete in charts and online projects. Music Teacher, Jeremy Masson, states “NUMU is an exciting new addition to the music provision at the Academy. It will allow the department to upload recordings of the student's work which can also be accessed by parents at home, further strengthening the home/Academy link. The use of the online element will stimulate and engage young learners to aspire to make their recordings sound professional and worthy of being showcased.”

The department will be running a competition to name each year groups’ artists page early in the new term….watch this space!!

To keep up to date with the music department’s activities, and hear the weekly upload of recordings, log onto www.numu.org.uk/jmaarts

The Whitley Arts Festival
Coming in October 2010

Held during the last two weeks of October the Whitley Arts Festival should be a whole lot of fun. Shine, a free annual music and dance event is part of this and this year it will host fundraising events for music workshops for people from the Whitley area. It will take place on Monday 25 October at 6:30pm at South Reading Youth and Community Centre, iyou would like to get involved in the fundraising, please contact sheila.tibbenham@reading.gov.uk

Arts Week 2010
22 – 27 March 2010

MONDAY

Planting party
The students and staff with assistance from Groundwork’s Community Officer Ruth Hutchinson planted 300 primulas in a spiral around a tree to mark the start of Arts Week 2010.

Drumming Monday
At break time on Monday the drumming crew banged out a rhythm in the restaurant and the school.

Romeo and Juliet
Hot from their success in Oxford the Year 11 Performing Arts students performed Romeo and Juliet.

Silvalite
After reaching the finals of the Reading Rock Academy battle of the Bands, Academy rock band SILVALITE, performed a set of old and original songs. ROCK!

Exhibitions
This year the Academy put together four art exhibitions. A student exhibition that included work from the whole Academy, a photo exhibition that was a combination of photos from Drama, Art and Media, a graffiti art exhibition  which showcased the intergenerational work Year 7s have been completing and finally a staff exhibition (with a few surprises!)

TUESDAY

Trees
The trees around the Academy site were set aside for decoration. Each department were allocated a tree and told to decorate it in the style of their subject. This included wind chimes, footballs, masks and a pair of y-fronts!

Quotes
In the second tutor time concert of the week Reading Band Quotes played to a packed hall. They performed for 45mins and gave away CDs, t-shirts and signed autographs.

Paradox
The 6th-form performing arts group performed an original play called Paradox. The play is a time travel thriller with a twist in the tale!

WEDNESDAY

Radio Station
At 7:30 on Wednesday 24 in the restaurant the Academy Radio Station burst onto the air waves! We are hoping this will become a permanent fixture to the life of the Academy so keep an ear out!

Dance
The students at break time were surprised to find themselves part of a dance. The Rock Challenge cast gave an impromptu performance of their dance that will be shown in full at Rock Challenge in April. Missed it? Don't worry check it out on YouTube here.

KIXX
Day three of our tutor time concerts. Today was KIXX an acoustic rock band. The students seemed to really appreciate the change to their normal tutor time activities and are looking forwards to the BIG event on Friday!!

THE DOOR!
For the past 14 weeks Year 8 have been producing a horror film called THE DOOR! Today saw the international premier! The screening also included the premier of an animated short by our animation club specially made for Arts Week. The film will be out on DVD very soon.

Music Concert
At 6pm the drama studio was full of songs and tunes as the many music students showed of their newly learnt talents to friends and family. We have over 100 music students at the Academy (and counting) so this event can only get bigger, and louder!

THURSDAY

Festival of The Dead
The Academy was full of skulls, skeletons and grim music, no it wasn’t BCG jab day it was Festival of the Dead! The Year 9 students had been working on this project for the past 6 week and had made banners, clay skulls, a giant skeleton and big heads. They were paraded around the school to the sound of drumming.

SOS
A bit of R'n'B came to the Academy hall this tutor time in the guises of SOS a three piece R'n'B  boy band. Very popular with the girls... apparently

Awards Evening
The second annual Arts Awards evening was finally upon us. Over 100 awards were given out to our very successful Art students. Awards for Music, Drama, Media and Arts were given to a range of students from all years for their continued hard work. The award for Artist of the year went, very deservingly, to James Rolfe. He has consistently achieved in the Arts for four years and is now of to University to study Drama and Media. Good luck James and thank you. 

FRIDAY

Karaoke Lunch
The stage was set up and the microphones plugged in. Its KARAOKE LUNCH!

Fugative
All week this had been the buzz. Girls had combed their hair and the boys had looked on... confused. As soon as he had arrived the academy went NUTS. You would have thought the Beatles had arrived! He performed twice to the whole Academy signed autographs and filmed us for his Blog! Not seen enough of Fugitive? Check out the YouTube clip of his performance at the Academy here.

All in all a very successful second year!

What did you do and what did you see? Check out our monster photo page here.

BBC School Report
March 2010

We made it! Investigating, reporting and broadcasting the news for real was no easy task but the students had a great day, which snowballed rapidly from early in the morning. First BBC Radio Berkshire broadcasted live from our media room, then at lunch the local newspaper arrived, followed by our live TV broadcast on South Today which was aired at 6.30pm. You can watch on their website: here We will also feature in the Reading Chronicle next Thursday.

Our news will appear on our dedicated Microsite which you can access by clicking the School Report icon or following this link.

Year 7 Intergenerational project

Year 7 arts are currently involved in a national intergenerational project being run by Generations Together. The project is a way for our students and older residents to engage with each other by sharing stories and memories of Whitley. The project has been given £9000 worth of funding which has paid for artists, cameras and recording equipment. We are producing a large mural based on the history of Whitley, the mural will be in two parts, one a traditional “Lowry” style and a the other a graffiti style. We have employed a graffiti artist to come to the school and teach both our students and some older residents how to do real graffiti!

To start the project some students visited both Whitley Wood Community Centre and Tanfield Care Centre. While they were there they interviewed some older residents and asked them what it was like in their younger days. The students found out that the area used to be a farm, and an RAF camp. They also learnt about trams, rationing, school  and that most people didn’t have electricity! One of the best stories that they found was about the cows living on the pasture (where AcademySport Leisure Centre is now), apparently the children used to let them out and ride them down Northumberland Avenue!

The students really made the school proud and were a credit to themselves. They made tea, provided cake and a good listening ear.

For further information about this project contact Mr Robinson on 0118 9370200

Our very own Miss Chefs
March 2010

Congratulations to Year 10 students Emma Godfrey and Danni Opara who were awarded third place in the KS4 final of the CBEBP (Central Berkshire Education Business Partnership) Young Chef Competition. This competition was open to all schools in Berkshire and this year over 300 students took part.

Emma and Danni won the school heats back in November 2009 and having made it through the second elimination round, they reached the final which took place at Thames Valley University on 1 March 2010.

Their menu of Stuffed Peppers followed by grilled duck breast served with a spring onion mash, braised red cabbage and apple, broccoli and a redcurrant and orange sauce and a ‘Trio of Berry Delights’ for dessert was judged by professional chefs: David Cavalier – Food Innovation Director of Charlton House, Bobby Gilbert – Head Chef at Restaurant Associates and Ashley Palmer-Watts from The Fat Duck Restaurant.

Thank you to all students who participated in the competition at both KS3 and KS4 and we look forward to another excellent competition next year!

School of Rock
January 2010

Fabulous news for Academy band SilvaLite, who made it through to the final of Battle of the School Rock Bands.

Our students had an amazing experience at the competition, they spent the day being treated like real musicians. They were interviewed, photographed, filmed and sound checked. The standard of the 8 bands was very high, Silvalite rocked their socks off but unfortunately it wasn't enough to scoop the ultimate prize. But... watch this space for next year's competition.

For more about the event and its celebrity judges click here.

Oh yes they did! Tuesday saw our Year 10 GCSE Drama students entertain the children at Geoffrey Fields Infant School with an afternoon of pantos.

Our group produced two pantos: 'Little Red Riding Hood' and 'Cinderella', however being our students they decided to add a little twist . The Pantos were based on Roald Dahl's revolting Rhymes, along with a few little adjustment that included references to The  X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing.

The audience really enjoyed the shows and laughed,  clapped and made lots of noise!
Gareth Davidson fulfilled a life-long dream and got himself dressed up as a rather dubious Red Riding Hood. The highlight of the day was seeing him tottering across the school car park to the amusement and bewilderment of the waiting parents!

Frrrrrosty the Snowman
December 2009

On Sunday a small number of our students braved the cold and sang Christmas carols outside Marks and Spencer in Reading town centre. They were part of a whole day fund raising event for the Reading Single Homeless Project. During the day a number of choirs and individuals sang and entertained the Sunday shoppers.

Once our students finished their set they were invited to sing along with another choir and, as always, gave it their all. The organisers of the day said that although our singers were few in numbers they more than made up for it in enthusiasm. The Elf and the Snowman agreed

A star in our midst
December 2009

Congratulations Nathan Hamblin who spectacularly won the GTI Music Academy competition last year and who's cover of Michael Buble's 'Home' has been released on iTunes this week.

Support Nathan by clicking here
to buy his track.

If you want to check out Nathan's talent live then come along to the Academy Christmas show: 'At Star's End' on Wednesday 16 December where, among our other talented performers, you can catch him playing the innkeeper. The show starts at 7pm in the Main Hall and entry is free.

On Thursday December 3, forty-five Yr 8 and 9 students and four teachers left the Academy at the crack of dawn for an activity packed day trip to the beautiful city of Lille in northern France.

Students had the opportunity to visit a large fresh food market, complete a town trail and get some Christmas shopping done in the covered shopping centre of Euralille. The highlight was a visit to the Christmas market with over 80 stalls and a spin on the Grande Roue (Big Wheel) for those brave enough! A great day was had by all.

Children in Need bonanza.
November 2009

Academy students organised a day of fantastic fund-raising events in aid of Children in Need. To begin there was a guess the weight of the giant gummy bear which went into most classrooms and Academy events during the week, including a parents’ evening. This was followed by a “Homeless Sleepover” on Thursday. Mr May bravely offered to run this, to show students what it would be like to be out in the cold without a proper bed. The students slept in the main hall overnight.

On Friday we had a non-uniform day and staff stood at the gates collecting £1 from each student. Friday afternoon’s tutor time hosted cake and sweet stalls and raffles and tombola. There was also Karaoke, which was very popular. The fit and the not so fit, took on a sporting challenges at the penalty shoot out and staff versus students basketball competitions. Mr Merreywether, who was not at all well, got soaked by having wet sponges thrown at him. The Technology Directorate sold miniature Pudsey keyrings and photo frames. By far the most popular, if painful event, was the leg-waxing of four male members of staff – Mr Beer, Mr Dore, Mr Twigger and Mr Rees. Our thanks to them for coping with this ordeal – as it raised a bucketful of money! To close the day The Mission District, an up and coming band, played, at the disco in the Main Hall.

Thanks to all the staff and students, through innovative fund-raising activities we raised £1740 and are hoping to do even better next year!

We wore it with pride.
November 2009

On Wednesday 11th November 2009 the John Madejski Academy held its first ever open air, whole-Academy Remembrance Day Assembly. The assembly was introduced by two year 10 GCSE History students: Stephanie Harris and Steph Kelley.The students began by explaining why we should all wear our poppy with pride. Using a large screen projection in the Agora a short video created by staff and students in the Anthropology Directorate was then shown. The focus of the video was to highlight different individuals reasons for wearing their poppy with pride and featured a whole host of staff and students at the Academy. Near the end of the very moving assembly, the Academy respectfully observed two minutes silence.

Sue Isaac, Reading Schools Sport Partnership, Partnership Development Manager was impressed with the whole gathering. 'Thank you for a really moving assembly under the Agora. I think it was much more effective on the senses holding it there and strangely hearing the distant noises of everyday life still going on in Whitley during the 2 minutes silence, seemed to make it even more ‘silent’. I thought the whole mood of the body of the school was one of genuine respect; the sound of the Last Post really helped get the mind-set right, so well done.'

Students have horse power!
November 2009

A group of Academy students have taken up an exciting new hors-riding challenge at Hall Place Equestrian Centre. After initial hesitation the rather nervous group of 16 teenagers began to improve and thoroughly enjoy the training.  This sporting activity is completely different for the students and also involves ‘hands on’ care of the horses. Some of the teenagers are so keen they have joined the Hall Place Helper Training Scheme in their own time at weekends. This voluntary scheme provides extra riding and training in horse care.

BHS qualified instructor Sarah Hamilton-Allen commented ‘There has been a remarkable transformation in the student’s confidence and skill. I and fellow instructors Gillian Elliot and Wiola Grabowska feel very rewarded after every training session to see these children gaining in self-assurance and enthusiasm’.

The Mission Disctrict calls.
November 2009

Canadian rockers The Mission District played at the Academy on Friday the 20th November.

The 4-piece band played an extended set consisting of a variety of their own tracks, including their new single "Just Dont feel the Same" and a selection of cover versions. The crowd went wild! The performance was part of the Children in Need extravagaza at the school and donations were taken at the door to help out with the fund raising.

The Band also took part in a year 10 GCSE Music class and showed off their skills and instruments to the class. The Mission District are currently on a UK and Ireland tour and are likely to be supporting Lady Ga Ga on her tour later in the year.

Sing, choirs of angels.
November 2009

Members of the John Madesjki Academy choir were recently invited to sing at John Lewis in Reading. The evening event was part of a special shopping evening for the elderly and disabled organised by Reading Council Mobility Service.

The choir sang a variety of Christmas favourites to a group of old people and their carers. The event took place in the John Lewis restaurant and was attended by the Mayor of Reading and his wife, who alongside some staff from John Lewis, also got in on the act to sing with the choir.

The students were brilliant and really did the school proud, and with lots of applause, thanks and mince pies from the staff and audience. They went home with a sense of Christmas inside them, and a few frost bitten fingers!

It's... HANNAH!
November 2009

Estonian pop star Hannah visited the Academy today, she has sold millions of copies of her debut album in her native Estonia and is set to repeat that pattern here in the UK. Her single,  Shadow on the Wall, is currently in the UK Dance Charts top 10 as well as being number four in the US dance charts!

Half of the school came to the hall and were treated to 3 songs from her new album as well as a question and answer session. We also found out a little bit about Estonia and its beautiful Islands.

Fun AND educational?
Yes that's right the Year 8 Carnival was both!
October 2009

Three professional tutors were drafted in to give students the choice of learning circus skills, Samba drumming or Samba dancing and for seven weeks the Year 8 students took over the school with their enthusiasm and industry.

They made masks, banners and bunting. They banged drums and shook shakers. They span plates, juggled balls and acted like clowns. They even organised a special Carnival menu for the restaurant. And to top it all they danced the Samba. On Thursday 15 October, all of Year 8 dressed as brightly as they could, and started  with a Welcoming drum procession then, with an explosion of colour and noise, the Carnival began.

Kingsley Campbell, had a great time with "Friends, fun, face painting and costumes!" and Gavin Armstrong said that "The Carnival project was the best experience ever, since I was 6 years old... Everyone was joining in and most of all I had FUN!

After school over 50 sets of parents were invited to the second performance and the students delighted in giving it their all.

This is the second of our Arts project days, next on the list is The World. So keep an eye out for didgeridoos!

Songs from the shows!
October 2009

An Evening of Songs from the Musicals was an informal gathering of some of our best singers. Highlights were a tear-jerking performance by Lucy Dutton of 'One Hand, One Heart' from West Side Story, and the emergence of new talent from Year 7, the aptly named, Katie Voyce, who sang 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' from The Lion King. Fantastic!

See how she leans her cheek upon her hand.
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek !
Romeo and Juliet 2,1
October 2009

For this year's Shakespeare Schools Festival we took our performance of Romeo and Juliet to Oxford. Our BTEC Performing Arts students from Year 11 performed, what was also for them the final practical element of their exams, to a warm audience and rousing applause. The SSF co-ordinator giving feedback to the group described our performance as: "A powerful but simple production that used Brechtian elements to show a stripped down performance where the words became important. The relationship between Romeo and Juliet was honest and sincere showing real emotion and depth"

The students were very excited after the evening and even those that showed a lot of nerves before the lights went up were begging to perform again.

Mr Robinson, Director of the play and Lead Teacher of the Arts, was very proud of the performance and was keen to talk about the positive effects of teaching Shakespeare at the Academy.

"On the face of it, it would seem unusual for a school in Whitley to be performing such a classical piece of theatre. However Romeo and Juliet is our fifth Shakespeare play in three years. I think its important that the students in this school get as many experiences as possible. They watch Eastenders, play video games and spend so much time on computers, sometimes its good to remind them that the feelings they have and see around them everyday are much older than they believe. Shakespeare gives them the opportunity to shine and show everyone else that they can do the very best they can.

Curriculum Enrichment Week 2009
July 2009

Curriculum Enrichment Week July 2009 ( CEW ) saw the launch of the first full activity week at John Madejski Academy. Over 4 days in July there were over 70 activities available to students ranging from a 5-day, outdoor education programme in a very, very, very wet South Wales to Caribbean B.B.Q. catering and Origami. There were some memorable off-site adventures to Thorpe Park, paintballing in the wilds of Berkshire and go-karting.
Lead teachers showed military precision in organising the activities which was quite something to behold! The feedback from staff, students and parents was really positive and it looks like we have no option but to organise CEW 2 in July 2010. Look out for some new proposals - Sailing, Film Crew 2010 and the IT extravaganza.

What did you take part in?
Check out our monster photo page here

It's a musical extravaganza!
July 2009

The 60s, now that's when it was all happening: Dusty Springfield, Diana Ross, The Carpenters, Elton John - oh yes! The ambitious Arts Directorate summer show certainly showed us the swing from the Swinging Sixties. Their biggest vocal performance yet, it involved over 40 students in the choir and a 7-piece band performing a collection of songs from the 1960s.

Also from the Arts Directorrate this month, the BTEC Performing Arts students put on Groove Lounge, an evening of music and poetry with help from GCSE Music and Drama students. It was an informal and relaxed evening. Groovy.

Earlier this term, music GCSE students went on a Vocal and Beatboxing trip to South Hill Park in Bracknell, they had a great time and were taught the basics of beatboxing by MC Zany and Hobbit.

National School Sports Week at the Academy
June 2009

National School Sports Week at the Academy saw various, high-energy activities take place for all year groups.

Over 100 students from year 8 took part in an inter-School, mini-Olympic tournament. Individual events included: athletics, rounders, kwik cricket, football, basketball and tennis.

In the face of soaring temperatures, our Year 8s really did us proud, with maximum effort and remarkable staying power. A really big thank you to all the year 11 students who gave up their time to help marshall the whole tournament.

Later in the week students and some teachers of Apollo, Artemis, Athene and Elysium took part in the PE Challenge. Allowed only four team members on the track at any one time the challenge was to run as far as possible as a team over a given time period.

Numbers at the start of the challenge hit around 90 and several students got inspired throughout the event to come and join in. Starting out strong and leading from the start were Elysium who managed around 28,000m. Despite a small team of only 5 members Artemis pushed to reach a respectable 8,000m. The determination from Apollo students at the end was amazing and they were among the last of the students on the track totaling around the 32,000 mark. However no School was quite as determined as Athene who were unwilling to stop even as they passed the other schools totals. Reaching for new targets after every lap the Athene team managed to reach an amazing 65,000m, which was close to running from Reading to London!

Scoring high in the glamour stakes was the annual ‘So you think you can dance?’ inter-school competition. Students came from all years and formed groups as well as individuals.
From over 100 auditionees of students Miss McKillop whittled them down to 14 acts who would all perform on the ‘So you think you can dance?’ finals evening.

At 6.30pm the dancers were all sitting nervously waiting for Mr Fogg to announce the first act and get the show underway. Miss McKillop, Miss Isaac and Miss Carter formed the judging panel and after much deliveration chose a winning selction from which the audience voted for their favourite. Congratulations to the winners Megan Maynard and Jadina Pocock who performed an outstanding routine including elements of gymnastics and cheerleading. Special mention to Josh Springer for his rendition of 'Bump 'n' Grind' by R Kelly which was Mr Fogg's highlight.

University of Reading recognises Academy project workers
May 2009

Katherine Allum and Sarah Woods have been working with us at the Academy for the last two years, initially through the Streetlaw project, and then through the debating competition. They have also worked with focus groups throughout the whole school on a range of subjects, such as drugs and crime. Both Katherine and Sarah have dedicated a huge amount of time to the Academy and built up strong relationships with a number of students. Both girls were recognised for their hard work and dedication by the University of Reading, in the Student Community Awards, eceiving praise for their sustained commitment. The Academy would like to say thank you for all their work, and wish them both the best of luck for their final exams.

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