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Whether you are starting at 

HOLMESDALE TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE

or

THE MALLING SCHOOL,

we hope you enjoy your first day with us 

and wish you every success.

Important Notice: There will be some important works done to the VLE over the next few weeks.
From Friday 6^th August the VLE may be inaccessible for a period of 1 week due to unavoidable circumstances.

To access your email during this time please click one of the following direct links.

HOLMESDALE USERS  -  https://mail.holmesdale.kent.sch.uk

MALLING USERS - https://mail.themallingschool.kent.sch.uk

Everyone will be notified when normal service has been resumed.

There will be hundreds of scrumptious cupcakes on sale today at reception at break time.   Please come and choose one.  All money raised will go towards  Mrs Irving’s chosen charity, The Oncology Unit at Maidstone Hospital.

Thames, Dover, Wight, South Westerly 4 or 5 increasing 6 at times – decreasing 3 or 4, Thundery showers, Moderate or Good……..  This was the shipping forecast for Saturday 17^th July 2010 when 23 students and 6 staff met at 05.45 to travel to Portsmouth for a day’s sailing in The Solent.

Hardly awake we travelled by coach to Port Solent, had a bacon buttie breakfast and by 0900 we were aboard the five yachts we would be using for the day. Each yacht had five students, a teacher and a Skipper. After being issued with lifejackets and briefed on safety procedures we were taught all the basic procedures we would need to sail the yachts.

There was for most of the group a whole new language to learn! Port (left), Starboard (right) Sheets (ropes), Heads (toilet)….. A fairly gentle sail took us from the Marina out into Portsmouth Harbour past The Spinnaker Tower, HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, a RN Supplies ship and then out into The Solent (that’s the sea between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight). By now the wind had become much stronger and the sea was lively and students were putting into practise the skills they had learned in the Marina! 

After lunch we took part in a proper race which required each crew to work together and follow instructions from the Skipper. The winning crew was Bea Vaus, Kelly Morley, Melissa Mann, Alannah Martin and Chloe Joslyn.  Hair raising!  Exhilarating! Awesome! Fantastic! Amazing! Certainly a day to remember! Tired and very weary we returned to school – I don’t think we’re quite ready for a Round the World Yacht Race (yet!)

Lesley-Ann White (Trip Leader)

Yesterday was the last cooking club session of the year. Three year 8 students Richard Goddard, Tom Kember and Kai Cooper, who have been attending the club, made a delicious Summer Strawberry Chocolate Gateau. Well done Lads!

Shine Week has finally come to an end. Thank you to the guests, staff and pupils who made this amazing week so enjoyable. Please enjoy the final video of the week made yet again by the Media Team.

Yesterday about fourty Year 9 pupils took the most eventful trip of the week! The BBC was amazing but it was a journey from your nightmares! It started fine. We left 10 minutes earlier than planned, after spending all our lunch break in the hall being sorted out. After then it went distasterous…

We spent 3 hours on a coach journey that should have taken 2 hours tops. We went to the wrong BBC studio building, even though the driver had a Sat Nav! We got off at the wrong building and after we got back on the coach, the door refused to shut!

It was worth the nightmare journey as the 30 minute tour was fantastic. We saw Doctor Who’s Tardis, the Prank Patrol van, CBeebies rehearsals and ‘The Weakest Link’ and ‘BBC Weather’ studios. I also saw Kim Cambell from Waterloo Road! But the coach was still waiting for a repair so we had to sit in the reception until 7pm until it was fixed!

We were STARVING! So at 8:00pm, we got back on the coach and went to McDonald’s to get some food. After a long day, I fell asleep on the coach! We then got back to school at … Dun Dun Duuuuuunnn….9:30pm! We made it back…finally!

Mickala Coates and Brogan Hayward – Year 9 – Media Team

In the Media Team it has been such an enjoyable week. We have been very happy that we have had the opportunity to go around seeing what everyone has been up to and reporting on the weeks activities. The Media Team have all had fun improving our photography and writing skills. We all learnt new things, reporting, photography, interviewing, video recording and planning. We would like to say thanks to everyone who took part, the authors, poets, play writers and comic writers who came through the school gates inspiring our minds with new ways to make story writing easier! Also, a big thank you to Mr Craig, Mr Earl and Mrs Young for bringing us together for creating a special and inspiring Shine Week. And how could we forget the lovely Mrs. Tivey for the delicious cakes that she has put her soul and heart into. They were utterly scrumptious!

Thank you for making this shine week possible and unforgettable!

From everyone in the Media Team

Breis is a London based Rap artist from Nigeria who came to visit our school today to talk to us about believing in yourself and how he comes up with his raps. He wasn’t like most rap artists these days, his raps reflect on his life and feelings. Breis was very entertaining and really grabbed everyone in his performance! Thank you for coming and I hope you come next year!

Stuart Mussellwhite – Year 7 – Media Team

Simon Mole came into today to speak to the Year 7’s and 8’s about poetry. He made and performed some raps and poems to the Years and also made it fun by being interactive with the students, getting them into the beat and involving them in his poems. He is a very talented writer and wrapper. Every one listened and joined in. They very much enjoyed themselves.

Emily Westlake and Jack Reeder-Peyto – Media Team

Year 7 students from Both of our schools took part in a CITV show called “Skillicious” last week. The show that our year 7 students were in, will be on CITV at 10.30 in the morning and 4pm,  from 27^th July to 3^rd September. The show will be repeated throughout the summer.

Over 100 students from The Malling School were awarded prizes last night for outstanding effort and achievement at the annual awards presentation evening.
Antarctic explorer, Felicity Ashton, was there to hand out the prizes and also to give an inspiring presentation about her polar adventures.
Congratulations to every one of our prize winners!

On the fourth day of Shine Week, a massive audience of three eager students turned up for a master class with Andy Briggs. It was a rare opportunity for a one-on-one session with the man who worked on the Spiderman movie with Stan Lee, and is currently modernising the classic story of Tarzan.  The session gave us a chance to find out the big secrets of the movie industry, including the angled windows to stop reflections and the back lots so you can travel to a different city skyline in a matter of minutes. Overall, it was a great experience for the three students, Sophie D, Dani L and Ashleigh W, as well as Ben Conway, and it gave great insight into future careers.

By Danielle Lee, Ashleigh Wright and Sophie Damerum

Your daily dose of Shine is now available! Check out the video to see if your picture is featured!

Today 15^th July Andy Briggs came in to Holmesdale and gave 3 writing workshops with Years 9 and 12. I watched Andy during period 2 and managed to get an exclusive interveiw. During this interview I asked him some personal questions about how he got where he is and what Paramount Studios are like. Enjoy!