The last few weeks of the summer term at Settlebeck were, as usual, frantic with activity.  There was the sponsored walk from Appersett (via Stone House and Dent) to Sedbergh the trips to Lancaster, Manchester and Carlisle for years 7, 8, and 10, a Learn to Earn Enterprise day for year 9, Art, Music, Drama, Sport and ICT/Business days and team building activities for our year 8 and 9 students as part of the Alternative Curriculum Week.  The excitement among the group of students preparing for their Norway Expedition rose exponentially in the last few weeks and the wonderful buzz of Sports Day on a sunny, blue skies summer day was the perfect tonic for all those students who were involved in exams during the summer term.
  Exams were, of course, a major feature for year 9 with their national tests (SATs) and year 11 with their GCSEs, but modular GCSE courses in maths and science mean that GCSE exams now crop up in the autumn, spring and summer term for year 10 and 11 students. 
  Year 9 students maths and science SATs results were very good once again Settlebeck students performed very well with 88% gaining level 5 or above in maths (79% level 6 or above) and 83% in science (57% level 6+).  These compare very well with the level 5+ national figures for last year of 74% in maths and 70% in science.  Congratulations to the seven year 7/8 students who gained certificates in the demanding UK Junior Maths Challenge and particularly to Harry Porter for gaining the prestigious gold certificate.
  Thank you to all those students and families who hosted our Zrecian visitors in May. It was, in spite of some very wet weather, a great success and we continue to deepen the relationship with the local school, its teachers and their students.
  Well done to all those year 8 students who took part in the experimental film making with the Cumbria Film Collective this term.  The director and the cameramen were knocked out by the enthusiasm, maturity and skill of our students and, after previously working in a number of schools in the county, they are now actively seeking funding to return to Settlebeck, where they felt the quality of our students' work was exceptional.  The film which year 8 made is due for a special screening on Border TV in the near future.
  This film project, sponsored by Aim Higher and Creative Partnerships, has brought over £4,000 worth of new digital video cameras, Apple computers and software into the school and nearly all staff have been given training in their use.  It is an example of the many benefits which have accrued to Settlebeck from the technology college status we gained 2 years ago as part of the Rural Academy of Cumbria ,which will soon be reflected on our new school sign.
  Over the last 2 years the use of ICT across the school has greatly increased, particularly in the technology college official subjects - Science, Design Technology and Maths, where the rooms have been largely refurbished to accommodate more computers.  However, over the next 12 months new state-of-the art computers are being fitted into our ICT suite, and banks of computers will appear in History, Geography, MFL and English.  In addition, digital projectors and sound facilities are being extended to every area in the school.  Thanks to the Rural Academy and our technology status, our student computer ratio will be at least 2:1 far outstripping the national target of 4:1.
  The Rural Academy has clearly been a tremendous support to our small school, providing the benefits of collaboration across a group of similar schools, but we must also recognise that Settlebeck gains too from its membership of the South Lakes Federation of schools.  It is from the Federation that much of our 14-19 curriculum development arises and enables access to a wide range of courses at Kendal College, including catering, childcare, hair & beauty, vehicle mechanics and construction have been greatly enhanced recently by the addition of young apprenticeships in catering and the performing arts as well as more opportunities for work-related learning.
  Through our membership of both the Rural Academy and the South Lakes Federation our potential isolation is greatly reduced and our students' opportunities enhanced.
  As always, we say some sad farewells at this time of year to staff who move on to new challenges in other places.  Kath Mather leaves us after 8 years as the Food Tech/Catering teacher at Settlebeck to join her husband in the D&T department at Keswick School.  David Graham leaves us after  5 years to co-ordinate music at John Ruskin School in Coniston and Nigel Banks leaves us after 2 years as a Drama and English teacher to return to Kent.  Angela Nicholas has now retired from her girls' PE teaching after 18 years but she will still be teaching some Geography at Settlebeck and will no doubt keep her hand in with supporting girls' sports.  All four staff will be greatly missed and we are very grateful for the enormous contribution they have made to our students lives at Settlebeck.
  In addition, Graham Ramsbottom has retired from his Science Technician post, Linda Wearing leaves our kitchen after nearly 10 years working as a cleaner and assistant cook and Nicky Willan leaves us as the Connexions careers advisor.
  Finally, we will be saying goodbye again to Judith Bush, who previously left after many years of dedicated service teaching Spanish, English, Music and Maths (you name it, Judith taught it) at Settlebeck only to return in the guise of a literacy support teacher for students with literacy difficulties.  So we are all set to miss Judith all over again!
  Next term we will be welcoming Joanna Brennan, teaching music; Suzanne Bennett, girls PE; Gillian Rea, English and Drama; Norma Tattersall, Catering in years 10/11 and Austin Sedgley,  Food Technology in years 7-9.  Jackie Dean will join us as our Lab Technician, Hayley Williams will join our Catering team as our Assistant Cook and Pete Armitage will extend his Connexions work to encompass Careers.
  We look forward to welcoming these new staff to Settlebeck and to a new year of challenges and enjoyment in September.
  We wish all of our students and their families a stimulating, active and hopefully a warm, dry summer holiday.
  This is the first year that the governors are not registered by the government to issue an annual report to parents.  Instead the report has been replaced by a much shorter 'profile' which will appear on our website by the end of term.  We are keen to have your comments on the profile or any queries so pleas have a look at it this summer.

Dave Smith

  Sedbergh and District Christian Aid Committee are very happy with this year's fund raising activities in the area and want to thank all those who have supported the organisation's work in such a substantial way.
  A grand total of £6,668.69 has been sent to Head Office for the year up by £126.31 on last year.  The Christian Aid week events raised £2969.23 on the door-to-door collections, sadly down by £211.09 but offset by a rise of £304.30 on the shop takings that totalled £1946.06.
  To find out more details about Christian Aid visit their website at:
www.christian-aid.org.uk
  There you'll find articles like this one below:
  The way we spend your money
  Out of every pound we receive, we spend:

• 52p on long-term development projects
  
• 17p on responding to emergencies
  
• 12p on campaigning and education
  
• 18p on fundraising
  
• 1p on administration
  

Listen up y'all … The Jamaicans are coming!
"Steel" yourself, to listen to the beat of a different Drum ... for the Jamaicans are coming with their Pans!!!!! to Sedbergh.
  We had never heard of Sedbergh before 2003 when someone suggested to us that "it is a very forward little town on the edge of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, close to the Lake District and not very far from the M6". We were hoping to find a suitable bungalow that would accommodate our four Jamaican dogs and us. When we asked for directions, we were told "Sedbergh is only a small town, you can't get lost". On our way, an interview was being conducted on the car radio with a well known Jamaican Musician, it was quite uncanny, that this interview should be taking place at that time, since I am a Jamaican. I felt fate was playing a major role! The bungalow seemed right for us, and within three months we were able to move from Windermere.
  We soon settled in dogs and all, and if we were a bit apprehensive about moving to a "small town", those fears were soon put to rest when we had a visit from one of the local vicars, on the day after we arrived. Most of our neighbours welcomed us, and it wasn't long before we realised that there was much more to Sedbergh than meets the eye. There are a few similarities between Sedbergh and Jamaica. The friendliness of the people tops the list, and there are people from varying countries and cultures. There is a love of foreign travel, but people are happy to settle in Sedbergh. When it rains it pours, but when the rain stops, the sun comes out. One may think that a strange similarity, but that doesn't normally happen in other parts of England. There are rivers and waterfalls and I like to pretend that Winder is a towering mountain that could be a miniature version of our lofty Blue Mountains, famous for the world's best coffee, and where we had our home prior to moving to the Lake District. The beautiful relationship enjoyed by Churches Together, and the support given by the whole community towards charitable causes. Added to all of that, is Sedbergh's love of music, not a bit unlike Jamaica. For a small town, one would have to go a long way to be able to fill two weeks with the quality of the programmes which thrilled audiences during the recent Music Festival. So too, Jamaica has had a long musical history, which stretches back many hundreds of years, and for a small island country, despite it's economic problems, it has given the world music of a different kind, including the well known reggae music made popular by one of it's most famous sons. Bob Marley, and most older music lovers can still remember another famous Jamaican, Harry Belafonte, singing his way into many hearts with songs like Yellow Bird, and the Banana Boat song.
  The similarities of caring, friendliness, spirituality and the love of music has prompted me to bring about a bond of my two homes, by inviting the Stella Maris Steel Band from Kingston, Jamaica's capital city, to make a stop in Sedbergh while on their mini tour of England. At present there are eighteen members, all West Indians including three men, who come from varying professional backgrounds. Among them a Nun, an Ophthalmologist, an Organ Tuner and Installer, a Priest, Accountants and persons employed in other high profile jobs. On Saturday September 2nd at 8 o'clock in the evening, they will perform at a concert at St Andrew's Parish Church, and on Sunday morning they will join in the service. Canon Alan Fell and members of St Andrew's along with others from the Sedbergh community have very kindly endorsed the visit, which will have a threefold purpose: (1) To glorify God with indigenous music, (2) To help to raise funds towards a Hospice in Kingston and (3) To help to bring about better race relations. Everyone from neighbouring villages and towns are invited to be a part of the celebration which is dubbed "The Soul Survivors", as a message of hope will be played out by this very talented group, which is also expected to be on Main Street on Saturday, as a grand finale of the Arts & Literary Festival.
  The Band was formed in 2002, many at that time had no musical knowledge, but were motivated to evangelise through the medium of "music on steel". At Easter last year they were invited by the Vatican to lead the music during the Pilgrimage at Lourdes, France, where they represented their Church and the Caribbean community. During their four years they have made a name for themselves and Jamaica by performing at major events. During their two weeks stay in England they have been invited to play at the Peace Mass which precedes the Netting Hill Carnival, Europe's biggest Street Festival. They will also give concerts in Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Gloucester, St Alban's, and in the Cathedral in Lancaster. I first heard this Band two years ago when I was visiting Jamaica, and my first thought was that everyone should hear them.
  Steel Band Music comes from the Steel Drum or Pan which is a unique instrument, and is said to be the only genuinely new invention in acoustic musical instruments during the twentieth century. It originated in the Twin Island Caribbean Country of Trinidad and Tobago, and is the rhythm that drives all Caribbean Carnivals.
  Tickets for the St Andrew's concert will cost £5 and can be obtained from the Tourist Information Office in Sedbergh, and the Sedbergh Office Services at 13 King's Yard. There will be a Jamaican Buffet starting at 6.30 p m. in the Church Rooms for an additional £5. Tickets for the Buffet will be limited and can be had along with any further information from Monica / Ernest Cousins on telephone (015396) 20008.