ESB excellence
Just before breaking up for the Easter holidays, pupils in Forms 2 and 4 completed English Speaking Board (ESB) examinations that tested a range of their speaking and listening skills. The children, parents and teaching staff worked hard to prepare these very challenging and exacting exams; each child is judged by an independent assessor whose standards and expectations are phenomenally high! We are delighted to report that the two year groups posted a wonderful set of scores with all children passing with flying colours! Indeed, 52% of Form 2 pupils and 58% of Form 4 pupils achieved a Distinction, the Board’s highest level of attainment! The assessors told us afterwards that this is an unprecedented level of achievement so well done to all for their hard work and commitment in producing such an excellent set of results. The photograph shows the children who achieved the level of Distinction in their ESB exams.
Dazzling designs from DT
Every year Mr Coates and his DT students put together some fantastic work in their GCSE classes and this year is no exception. Tom Dicken had everyone dazzled with his design and production of an impressive, fully functioning guitar. Josh Hall created a fully functioning Art Deco radio and other designs included a gun cabinet, (Sam Youmans) A Table, (James Green) A Chair, (Morgan Gray) and a superb Dog Kennel (Harry Hodgson). All of these amazing designs will be on display soon for all to see. Well done guys, great work!
Duke of Edinburgh Silver Practice
On Friday 24th April, eleven Thornton students set off for the edge of Dalby Forest, with their bikes, ready to complete their practice silver expedition. The first night was spent relaxing and enjoying the luxurious campsite; there was even time for a quick game of duck, duck, goose! Then, early on Saturday morning the teachers were woken up to sound of Sam and Harry merrily cooking themselves bacon for breakfast in preparation for their journey ahead. By 7:30am all of the students were on their way to Goathland, unaware of the steep hills which were lying in wait for them. They all conquered these and still managed to have huge smiles on their faces! Unfortunately the temperature plummeted at the end of the second day and that, coupled with the heavy rain, meant that we all set out for Whitby in search of chips and somewhere warm to shelter. By bedtime the smiles had returned though and the students had an early night ready for day 2. Day 2 was far more eventful and eventually led to all of the students realising that the moors around Whitby are not suited to an expedition on bikes! Chains were broken, gears and brakes failed, and there were more punctures than the cyclists would care to count. However, still this did not dampen their determination and spirit, and all of them seem raring to go for the real expedition which will take place in June. Well done Thornton
Form 2’s Highlights at Low Mill
Form 2 enjoyed their fun-filled adventure at Low Mill near Askrigg. We took part in an exciting programme which included canoeing, caving and abseiling as well as two very beautiful evening walks. The skilled instructors and cooks kept us safe, happy and extremely well fed. Highlights included putting our faces in the lake to ask the fish for permission to canoe, squeezing down the natural underground slides when caving, and dangling off the edge of a viaduct like Spiderman whilst abseiling. Many thanks to everyone who helped make the weekend such a success.
New Life in Reception
Children in Reception have welcomed some visitors to the classroom! Currently resident in Mrs Jones’ room are an abundance of tadpoles and 5 very tiny but very hungry caterpillars! The children are studying the topic of ‘Growth’ and are eagerly awaiting the transformations into frogs and butterflies!
Early Years Garden
The children of Nursery and Reception took advantage of the sunny weather and got busy in the garden. The children dug and weeded the flower bed, then worked together to plant Pansies and Primroses. They then took turns to sprinkle some spring flower seeds and water the garden. The garden was then decorated with some brightly coloured windmills and a couple of garden gnomes.