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Musical Talent Shines Through

in NhS Competition
hannah Stephenson, Teacher of Music at the College, has
every reason to be proud of her daughter, lucy, as musical
talent definitely runs in the family. lucy is currently in Year 6 at
a local primary school and will be joining the College next
year. She recently won the national ‘Step Into The NhS’
competition for primary schools with a song that she wrote
during lockdown.
lucy said, “I’ve always loved writing songs and I usually write
the lyrics and sing the tune and then my mum shows me how
to add chords on the piano. I can’t wait to go to Ivybridge Community College because my mum works there
and I’ve been having violin lessons at the Music hub at the College.”
“I’m really proud of lucy’s achievement,” said hannah, “She worked so hard on this project during lockdown
and to have her hard work recognised in this way has been amazing. It was a lovely way to say thank you to
the NhS staff who have been working so hard in a time that has been very challenging for so many. She also
sang her song live on Radio Devon on the first Saturday of half term and although she was nervous you couldn’t
tell.”
What a fantastic achievement for lucy, especially against such strong competition. We are looking forward to
welcoming her to the College next year to continue to develop her musical talents.
News 5

Shane is TeenStar Finalist!

Year 11 student, Shane Brierley, progressed through to the grand Final of
the TeenStar Competition in November, where he performed an original
song. 8,000 singers entered the competition and he made it to the final 23
acts, but unfortunately Shane just missed out this year. he was however
placed 4th in the 13 years and over category and selected as a
Showcase Winner, entitling him to a special showcase meeting with music
industry professionals to discuss further developments for his music career.
earlier this year Shane took part in a ‘24 hour Charity Singing Marathon’ to
raise money for Motor Neurone Disease, Plymouth. he started off the
marathon with 45 minutes of singing and they raised over £1000 to be able
to buy a stair lift and funding towards speech therapy.
We wish Shane every success and we are also very proud of his dedication
towards raising money for charitable causes.

Supporting World Mental health Week

Staff and students at the College have celebrated World Mental health
Week 2020 where the theme this year was ‘Kindness’. Students had a
CPShe session looking at why we need to shine a spotlight on mental
health and to encourage them to consider their own mental health.
We joined the ‘hello Yellow’ campaign and staff put icons up in their
classrooms to demonstrate that they, and the Wellbeing Ambassadors
at the College, were open to conversations about mental health should
students wish to talk to them.
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The kitchen staff also got involved by making yellow cakes, the learning
Resource Centre promoted books that have a mental health or wellbeing theme, and finally,
the Sixth Form students, who have been focusing on developing their mindfulness, encouraged
others to take a mindfulness break at 12.00 pm.
helen Ryder, Wellbeing lead at the College, said, “Those were some examples to give you a
flavour of what we have been doing to support Mental health Week.”
Thank you to our staff who grew ‘Movember Moustaches’ in support of male mental health.
It’s important that we raise awareness of male mental health issues, especially at this time
where loneliness is at a peak.