We are thrilled to share the wonderful news that Year 11 student, Louie Hudson has secured a Rugby League Scholarship at St Helens Rugby League Club. Congratulations Louie from all the staff and students at Co-op Academy Swinton! We are delighted for you and very proud!

After hearing his amazing news, we spoke with Louie the get the story in his own words…

“I am Louie Hudson and I am an U16s St Helens scholarship player and I play in the position of scrum half. I play for my local club called Folly Lane. Being on a scholarship means a lot to me, at first I was on trial for six weeks in September 2022 and then I was able to obtain Scholarship Status. This is something I have been dreaming of since I was little and hopefully one day I will be playing in their first team. On 23 April 2023 I will be making my debut against the London Broncos. I am looking forward to this as it will be a new challenge for me but it will also be a day I will remember forever.”

Welcome to our third term of ‘Reading for Pleasure’. We’ve been providing our students with a recommended reading list each term since our return in September 2022 and the results have been amazing. We have seen so much engagement from the students and we’re excited to see this continue.

So here we have it, our Summer Term Reading List, packed with wonderful suggestions to inspire our students from every Year Group.

How can parents/carers help?

We would encourage you to help your child to find a book to read at home. To aid you with this, each half-term we recommend a book that is available from our school library for your child to borrow. These books have been carefully selected but there are lots of other great books to choose from in our library.

Why is reading so important?

Reading is not just something that children should do in school, it needs to be an everyday part of our lives and something we choose to do at all ages. There are plenty of benefits for those who enjoy curling up with a book. A report carried out for The Reading Agency revealed convincing evidence that reading for pleasure can increase empathy, improve relationships with others, reduce the symptoms of depression and improve wellbeing throughout life. Research has also shown that students who read more show greater language and literacy development. The study by academics at the Institute of Education, part of the University of London, found that reading had the strongest effect on vocabulary development but the impact on maths and spelling was also significant.

Our Summer Term Reading List

Year 7

Fight Back, by A.M. Dassu
When a terrorist attack fuels hatred in her area, Aaliyah begins wearing a hijab to challenge people’s perceptions in the inspiring and engaging middle grade debut from the author of the acclaimed Boy, Everywhere…

 

Year 8

Ghost Boys, by Jewell Parker Rhodes
It’s the last few days of her vacation in Pakistan, and Amina has loved every minute of it. The food, the shops, the time she’s spent with her family—all of it holds a special place in Amina’s heart. Now that the school year is starting again, she’s sad to leave, but also excited to share the wonders of Pakistan with her friends back in Greendale.

 

Year 9

When Life Gives You Mangoes, by Kereen Getten
Both a wonderful evocation of a Caribbean island childhood and a gripping mystery with a jaw-dropping twist, Getten’s debut leads us into the strange story of Clara who is desperate to regain the lost memory of what happened to her during a storm the previous summer.

 

Year 10

This Poison Heart, by Kalynn Bayron
Briseis’s control over flowers and plants wreaks dangerous consequences as she discovers long buried secrets in the garden of her rambling inherited home in this gripping, empowering fantasy from the author of Cinderella is Dead.

 

Year 11

Every Line of You, by Naomi Gibson

This twisty, dystopian AI thriller explores love, grief and relationship power games as one girl’s lonely project becomes so much more.

What a successful week we had for British Science Week. With so many Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths activities and competitions it’s been a tough job deciding on our winners but the results are finally in!

Well done everyone! BritishScienceWeek #STEM

Congratulations to our poster competition winners for their fantastic designs:
Georgina Knight, Molly Tilston, Brooke Shannon, Zara Gordon-Hall and Oliver Markendale

This week, Manchester United Foundation Officer, Adele Howarth took some of our Year 10 students to the Growth Company Skills Centre to take part in a ‘One Day Painting and Decorating Workshop’.

The group were able to learn several techniques to painting within the trade and were also able to create their own painted piece, with some of the group deciding to paint pieces just in time for Mother’s Day!

“I’ve had a lot of fun with what I’ve done today. The freedom of not being in school and being able to achieve what we have was amazing, something different rather than writing in lessons.”

Year 10 student, Liam Hemmings

 

How absolutely amazing do our new Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 football kits look? Especially when they are expertly showcased by our mean and moody professional models, Callum Farnie and Sylvester Kisula!

We are extremely grateful to have received sponsorship from a host of generous and supportive local businesses, eager to help our football teams succeed.

Huge thanks to our sponsors:

Moore Security Solutions, Tel 01706 412302

Ian McNicholas Carpets, Tel 07870 543977

ServiceCal

Optima Dev

Our Manchester United Foundation Hub Officer, Adele Howarth, has worked tirelessly for months sourcing these sponsors and raising money to enable us to purchase these desperately needed new kits. Our student teams are absolutely over the moon with them. We’re sure our teams will look even better now when they hit the pitch for their next match…and get that all important winners picture!

Thank you Adele, we are really grateful.

Just before February half-term we launched a competition to students from all Year Groups to create an inspiring and informative poster about an acclaimed Scientist.

The posters had to showcase how the chosen scientist has contributed to the scientific community, with a minimum of 100 words and illustrations to support this.

Mr Jones and our Science staff have had a tough time decided on winners from all of the wonderful entries we received but we finally narrowed it down to these brilliant submissions…

Year 11, Mika Eaton
Year 10, Aleena Zahra
Year 9, Hayden Thorpe
Year 8, Kate Jones
Year 7, Tayla Brodiak