Key Stage 3 have been busy learning about British Values and Democracy in tutor times over the last two weeks. We were lucky to receive a visit from one local pupil who was standing for Dorset Youth Parliament who came to talk to the pupils about her manifesto and ideas. Natalie from Emmanuel Middle School spoke about the need to reduce waste and recycle more, promoting equal pay for younger people and getting more support into schools for children who suffer with mental health conditions.
The pupils listened well and were keen to ask questions at the end in order to begin to make some informed decisions about which candidates they will be voting for this Friday.

The transfer process is well under way for all of our Year 8 pupils hoping to go to QE in September.
Below are some important dates to bear in mind throughout the year:

• Wednesday 24th April: QE Welcome Evening @ QE (timings to be confirmed) - This is when students will be informed of which House they have been allocated.
  

• Wednesday 12th June: Middle School Assembly @ CMS - assembly and small group chats with Heads of House: 8:45 - 10.20am
  

• Thursday 20th June: QE Taster Morning - Pupils will travel by coach to QE for a morning of tours and sample lessons before returning to school.                                                                                                                          (please note: pupils will need a packed lunch on this day in case we return late for lunch)
  

• Wednesday 3rd July: QE Meet the Tutor Evening @ QE (timings to be confirmed)
  

• Friday 5th July: Transfer Day - Pupils will travel on QE school transport or be taken directly to QE by parents, where they will spend the full day participating in lessons and upper school life.
  

We will remind pupils and parents of these dates as they approach. Please try and make every effort to attend these events as they will provide valuable information and experiences that will ease your child through the transition process.

Mrs Williams

HW: For Monday 14.1.19 (LH and CR) or 15.1.19 (MG).
Make at least four of your own top trumps cards using a search engine. Try and ensure that the research is recent (no earlier than 2013). Make your cards with a computer or by hand, talk to friends to make sure you don't do the same country; you can then play a better game.
You must include:
•Name of the country
•Population
•Death rate per 1000
•Birth rate per 1000
•Life Expectancy
•GDP per capita
For Greater Depth include
•Adult literacy
•Computers per 1000
•Doctors per 1000

Ten Sports Leaders were lucky enough to be selected to attend the Dorset Leadership Academy at Bryanston School in Blandford. After checking in and receiving their free Schools Games t-shirts, the leaders settled down in the theatre for the Welcoming address.
The speaker was someone who was familiar to many of the pupils who remembered Aaron Phipps when he visited our school as part of the Sky Sport Living for Sport initiative. His emotional and inspiring story was told with passion and a strong enthusiasm for 'smashing competitors out of their wheelchairs!'
Watch this space for more updates and photos throughout the day.

For more information about Aaron and his amazing story, please click on the link below:
http://www.aaronphipps.com/home

For Geography homework this week Year 8 need a map of China. Over half an hour, ensure that your map is complete: accurate and neatly coloured displaying five main cities, three main rivers, two mountain ranges, at least one desert and any other features you think are important (but not too many). Add facts around the map from your own research to ensure it is complete to serve you through the unit. Don't forget a title, key, North Sign and scale!

Make sure you bring your book back in for the next lesson, which will be on Monday or Tuesday.

History Homework: Make sure your essay is complete, self and peer mark. Make improvements!

YOU MUST BRING YOUR BOOK IN TO YOUR NEXT LESSON!

When you have finished see if you can add any more details to your timeline about Henry VIII's wives.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII - NOT IN ORDER!
Anne of Cleves - Henry wanted to make a 'good' marriage this time and decided to look all over Europe for a bride. He sent painters to paint any eligible brides so he could see what they looked like.  A picture was shown to him of Anne of Cleves and he agreed to marry her without ever having met her! When she arrived in England, Henry was very keen to meet her but she didn't speak any English and didn't know who he was. She was rather rude to the fat man that came to see her (Henry) and ignored him.   Henry stormed out shouting 'I like her not!' He is said to have found her repulsively ugly, and called her a horse! He couldn't break his promise to marry her but it only lasted six months. 20 days after his second divorce, Henry married his fifth wife.
Jane Seymour -Jane was from an old and noble family. She was gentle and modest and not grumpy like Anne. She gave birth to a son in 1537, Edward, who would become King after his father. Sadly 12 days later she died. It is said that Henry loved Jane the best of all his wives and he waited two years before marrying again.
Catherine of Aragon - First she married Arthur, Henry's older brother. But after six months, he died, and Catherine was engaged to Henry instead.  She was 17 and Henry was only 12!
They were married when he became King in 1509. She was older and wiser than him and often gave him advice on how to rule. She was a good and faithful wife for over twenty years. She had many children, but only one survived, Mary, who would later become Queen.
Catherine Parr - Catherine had already been married twice before, but both her husbands had died. She was really in love with Thomas Seymour (Jane Seymour's brother) but she was too scared to refuse the King (which was probably wise!). Henry was very very fat and ill by now and Catherine was as much a nurse as a wife. She was a kind woman and was the first wife to bring all three of his children to live together under one roof. When Henry died in 1547, Catherine quickly married Thomas Seymour (her fourth husband). Sadly he didn't love her as much as she did him and she was very unhappy. She died in childbirth a year later in 1548.
Catherine Howard - Catherine was a cousin of Anne Boleyn and was only about 16 when she came to court. No-one knows her actual birth date, but she was still a teenager when they married. (He was 49!).  She was lively, pretty, kind and a bit of a 'bird brain' but Henry thought she was perfect. However she was previously secretly engaged to one man and possibly a second one too. When the King found out he chopped both the men's heads off, followed by Catherine's in 1542. The following year he married for the last time.
Anne Boleyn - Henry fell in love with Anne when she was a servant in the Queens Household in 1522. By 1526 he was trying to get divorced from Catherine so that he could marry her. The head of the Catholic church, the Pope, wouldn't allow it, so eventually Henry broke away from the church in Rome, and declared himself the head of a new Church of England. He granted himself a divorce. He married Anne in 1533, and later that year she gave birth to a girl, Elizabeth who would grow up to be a strong Queen for England.  Henry soon got fed up with Anne, (apparently she was really grumpy!) so he accused her of meeting other men. There is a letter from Anne begging Henry to believe in her innocence but he didn't and in 1536 she was beheaded. Henry played tennis whilst she had her head chopped off! 11 days later Henry married this third wife.

With only a week to go until we reach half-term, I wanted to remind both parents and students that the deadline for applying to upper schools is October 31st 2018. All our local upper schools have now had their Open Evenings but, if you did not get the opportunity to attend, they would be happy for you to contact them to arrange a visit. 

Schools our Year 8 pupils have gone on to from CMS are listed below along with their website addresses in case you are interested in taking a further look:

Queen Elizabeth School, Wimborne: ​www.qe.dorset.sch.uk/
Ferndown Upper School: www.fernup.dorset.sch.uk
Dorset Studio School, Kingston Maurward (Agriculture/Animal/Equine/Farming): http://dorsetstudioschool.co.uk/
Leaf Studio School, Bournemouth (Stage & Screen): https://www.leafstudio.co.uk/


Dorset County Council have also sent us details regarding the application process for upper school places.
Please note that the deadline for applications is 31st October.
Please refer to the letter and poster below for more details: