Site blog: Lodge Park Technology College

Community Cohesion Conference

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:20:44 GMT

by Student Voice.

Today both students from KS3 (Lewis Peddie, Lindsey Hunneman and Martyn Still) and from KS4 (Corey Briffa, Dean Goodall, Nicol McMeekin, Sophie McShane and myself) along with Mrs Ballard attended a conference held at Wicksteed Park to consider what community means to us as a school.

We were also asked to bring an item to sum up our school community along with an item we could each bring to show what made us individually unique! So to represent our school community we brought a collage of pictures to show 'Ambition'.

To begin with, everyone was asked to draw/write about "10 things that makes you unique" on an A3 sheet of paper - which was stuck on the walls around us and then we circulated around the room to see if we shared anything in common with any of the other students.

Afterwards we were given questions to review the links we have with our community, thinking about what groups we have within school and outside of school, and what a member of the community would think of our school.

We were then put into groups, along with one student from each of the other schools. We were firstly set a task to see who could build the tallest free-standing structure out of six pieces of A3 paper, and the tiniest amount of sellotape.

When the task was over we had to think of questions we could ask someone who worked within the community to find more about their role and inspiration for doing so. Then to our surprise members who worked within the northamptonshire community sat at our tables and we had to move around the room interviewing them using the questions to find out more about them.

From our research we then had to as a group, think of ways that we can express our community and make a collage to present this. The collage presentation was in a form of a jigsaw puzzle, with every group having one piece of the puzzle each. Once we had finished our collage all of the pieces were fixed together to complete the jigsaw.

Finally, we evaluated the entire day and we were each presented a certificate by the Mayor of Wellingborough to congratulate us for our work and returned back to school!

Maisie McInnes

SSAT Achievement Show!

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:22:43 GMT

by Student Voice.

Hello! Today we are at the Emirates Stadium and have just presented about 'Students Leading Learning Using Technology' are now 'chillaxing' in the words of Mrs B in the executive box! Maisie McInnes - the new Student Voice blogger. Along with: Corey,Dean,Lyndsey

Praise for Soul About Us

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 08:28:08 GMT

by Soul Band.

On Wednesday 9th June, Soul About Us were invited to perform at the Children's Workforce Development Council event in Corby. Soul About us performed a 45 minute set to primary and secondary students, teachers and other education professionals. The band were a big hit and the audience were very impressed with their performance. Here is just one of the many positive comments they received.

'Lodge Park had a massive impact on the conference and special thanks to the soul band who were really superb and talented.'

Congratulations to all band members and to Sarah McLean for her performance with band No Direction!

Pictures and videos of the performance to follow!

Miss Dorrian

Soul About Us to perform at Corby Carnival

Wed, 05 May 2010 10:02:49 GMT

by Soul Band.

It’s Soul About Us are still buzzing from the positive comments they received at the MfY Regional Festival in Bedford.Video’s of their performance can be seen below if you haven’t had the chance to watch yet! One of the great features of the MfY Regional Festival Series, (apart from performing to an audience and watching other student group) is receiving feedback from a panel of judges. As well as praising the positive aspects of a performance, the judges also offer suggestions of ‘future actions’ for the groups. One of the judges made the comment ‘You’ve got a good sound, you need to work on your presentation and choreography’. So not wanting to waste any time, ‘It’s Soul About Us’ have already started getting to grips with some choreography with the help of Miss Green and Miss Martin! A few pictures of the band in action can be seen below. We hope to record the all singing, all dancing routines later this term and upload these onto the blog! A date for your diary: It’s Soul About Us have been invited to perform at Corby Carnival on Saturday 10th July. The exact details of time and venue are yet to be confirmed however all information will be posted on the blog as soon as it becomes available. Miss Dorrian

It's Soul About Us video footage

Mon, 03 May 2010 20:06:58 GMT

by Soul Band.

It's Soul About Us video footage

Quicktime

Walking on Sunshine video footage

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:36:31 GMT

by Soul Band.

Video footage of Walking on Sunshine

Quicktime

Everybody Need's Somebody video footage

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:24:46 GMT

by Soul Band.

Video footage of Soul Band

Quicktime

Positive feedback at MfY Regional Festival!

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:14:36 GMT

by Soul Band.

On Saturday 20th March 2010, It’s Soul About Us went to Wooton Upper School in Bedford to take part in the Music For Youth, Regional Festival Series. We were entered into the ‘Rock, Pop and Urban’ category for the second year running!

After arriving at Bedford at we were given some time to warm up and see where we would be performing and before long it was our slot! Most of us were quite nervous as we had to perform it to an audience and adjudicators, made up of a panel of composers and performers, but it went exceptionally well! The songs that we performed were ‘It’s Soul About Us’ (our own composition – this went down a treat with the judges!), ‘Everybody Needs Somebody’ (by the Blues Brothers) and ‘Walking on Sunshine’ (by Katrina & The Waves). You can view the video footage of these songs on this blog!

After our performance we had a feedback session where we were given positive comments and also some constructive ideas of how to improve our performance. Here are two of the many positive comments we received; “Strong performance throughout. Loved it! (Put me off writing straight, sorry!!) Really enjoyed this number, keep composing!”, “The trumpets gave a ‘razzy jazzy’ feel!” When commenting on improvements and next steps for the group, one judge said “You have a great sound but to look at balance and choreography but well done!”

We all thoroughly enjoyed the day and feel that we have certainly improved from last year. Well done to all who took part and a special thanks to Miss Dorrian!

Callum Reilly – 10E

Preparing for Music for Youth's Regional Festival Series!

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:54:41 GMT

by Soul Band.

It’s Soul About Us have been very busy lately preparing for their performance at Music for Youth’s Regional Festival, to be held in Bedford later this month. Music for Youth (MfY) is an educational charity which provides free performance opportunities for groups of young musicians nationwide. Each year MfY hold Regional Music Festivals to celebrate and bring together musicians of all ages and abilities. It is an extremely valuable experience and adjudicators at the festival give groups feedback on their performance. Last year It’s Soul About Us received some great comments as well as some suggestions of ways they could develop their performance. The group have taken on board all of the comments received last year and are eager to impress the judges this year in their 10 minute set! The band have decided to perform (in no particular order!) Walking on Sunshine, Everybody Needs Somebody and an It’s Soul About Us original composition! In preparation for their performance at the Regional Festival, It’s Soul About Us will be performing a short set at Youth Club on Thursday 11th March! Please come along and show your support! Preparations are beginning to get underway for the production of an It’s Soul About Us album, which we hope to record over the coming months. As mentioned previously there will be opportunities for other students at Lodge Park to get involved with this exciting project. More information coming soon! Miss Dorrian

Read all about it, read all about it!

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:54:17 GMT

by Soul Band.

It's Soul About Us feature in an article about Music opportunities in Schools in today's (19/01/20) edition of The Evening Telegraph. The article looks at how music lessons and extra-curricular activities have developed over recent years. Lodge Park's Soul Band is an excellent example of how students are participating in such activities as a way of reinforcing and extending their knowledge.

http://tinyurl.com/ykflpmm

In other news, the band have started working on their first group composition! Already, after just one rehearsal, the introduction has been written, which is of course due to the hard work and dedication from the students! The lyric writing continues and I'm looking forward to hearing what the students will come up when we rehearse again next week! Watch this space for more information about the progress of this song and forthcoming events, including a performance at Youth Club. Miss Dorrian

Exciting times ahead!

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:53:57 GMT

by Soul Band.

It's Soul About Us are gearing up for an action packed 2010! Following on from their debut performance at Music for Youth's Regional Festival at The Asylum, Birmingham last March, It's Soul About Us have been successful in gaining a place at this years MfY Regional Festival which will take place in Bedford on Saturday 20th March! In preparation for Soul Band's performance at the MfY Regional Festival, they will be performing a set during Youth Club later this term (date TBC). During this week's rehearsal the members of Soul Band discussed the songs they would like to learn this term. They decided upon 'Drive My Car' by The Beatles and 'Superstition' by Stevie Wonder. It was also suggested by the band that they could write an original, It's Soul About Us composition - a first for the group! Manuscript paper, pens and rhyming dictionaries at the ready! Finally another piece of exciting news... There are plans to record an album later this year! More information about this and opportunities for you to get involved in this project will be revealed over the coming months! Miss Dorrian

It's Soul About Us

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:53:32 GMT

by Soul Band.

Welcome to the It's Soul About Us blog. Here you will find the latest news, inside rehearsal updates as well as details of forthcoming concerts.

The Student Voice

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:50:33 GMT

by Student Voice.

Here is the student voice blog. In this we hope to let you know what has been discussed and what we are doing to make ourselves heard in school.

Meetings so far!

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:50:15 GMT

by Student Voice.

We will be using this blog to write down what has been discussed in our meetings. every Wednesday, the KS4 student voice meet up to talk about how our school could be improved. In our meetings previously, we have been discussing, what could be done to improve the school toilet system. This is a subject we feel is very important. We have decided that change needs to happen, and action need to be taken, but first us as a student body need to prove that we can look after the toilets.

We will be talking about this more in tomorrow's meeting, and I will post more information as we discuss it

Nicole Devlin, 3/2/09

summary of the student voice meeting 18/3/09

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:50:00 GMT

by Student Voice.

The main areas for discussion this week were:

Uniform (lower school and sixth form)
Behaviour of students
Use of music in lessons.

Uniform: This was discussed by all attendees, there were many advantages and disadvantages to having school uniform. There has been lots of discussion amoung students about blazers and business wear for the sixth form. Nothing has yet been confirmed and student concerns are being raised with Mrs Pendrill.

Behaviour: The council have discussed the behaviour of a small minority of KS4 students. There were lots of ideas put forward of how the student body can help.

Music: At present iPods are not used in lessons and the council feel that this should be open for discussion as it fits with learning styles. This is to be raised with Mrs Pendrill.

Nicole Devlin, Andrew Gray. 25th March 2009

Overview of meeting, 22.04.09

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:49:28 GMT

by Student Voice.

This weeks discussion was very limited due to lack of attendees. As many of the year ten representatives were in Paris and the year eleven's had to be elsewhere it meant that we could not hold a full running meeting.

We have discussed some burning issues and personal suggestions we have thought of and we will be elaborating on this more in the next meeting.

- Nicole Devlin

Recently

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:49:11 GMT

by Student Voice.

Hello fellow students!
With mr york we discussed smoking and how we can help put a stop to it around school.
With Miss Ballard we decided that we need a Meeting with Mr Shearer before we can make any further choices.

An update on meetings from this year

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:48:51 GMT

by Student Voice.

On Tuesday 20 October, the active student voice members of years ten and eleven enjoyed a day of training on how to become a more successful voice. Hannah Taylor – ex student council member from Sheffield – came in to our school, gave us skills and helped develop our ideas for making us stronger in bringing change and new things in to improve our school. The day seen us doing various activities, such as, role plays - acting out an interview between Damien and Rajinder, in which we had to change things to fit in with the criteria given, improvising our way through a fake meeting about a pretend school disco for year 7s, and sorting out our roles as a council to make meetings far more productive. With a lot of tea drinking and fun activities we all left the day knowing a lot more about the next steps we need to take. Jack Mitchell said “I have gained a lot from this and it has been really fun!” and overall the thoughts from everybody were very high Going on from the meeting, we decided that introducing roles into the meetings that happen once every week, would help to make the upper student voice more active, efficient, and productive. We have decided that Jack Mitchell will, from now until the end of this term, chair our meetings. On Friday 6 November, Jack Mitchell, Annalise Cuthbertson, Colt Barratt And I, Nicole Devlin, went in to the lower school's student voice meeting, to observe how they're run and to see what they're talking about. The lower school have been speaking about bullying, and how to prevent it. They have come up with some ideas, that will be hopefully taken further in due course. The years 7, 8 and 9's have set themselves a target to help the school achieve the silver award for the anti-bullying, which would be added to the school letter head. Years 10 and 11 will meet on Wednesday, and more will be posted then Nicole Devlin, 11G

Loughborough

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:48:25 GMT

by Student Voice.

Hello! We're in Loughborough today, for an ICT conference. We are going to explain how technology has helped us to advance as a student council and connect with students, parents and any other concerned members of the public.

Nicole Devlin

Coming soon

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:51:16 GMT

by LP TV.

Coming soon