Private School News

£10,000 in one week – RGS Worcester Haiti appeal clock starts ticking

A major charity appeal for the Haiti disaster, with a deadline of just one week to raise £10,000, was launched today by The Royal Grammar School in Worcester.

The pupils at RGS Worcester have been set this target to help Save the Children’s work in Haiti, providing safe sanctuary, food and water for the thousands of orphans on the island. The situation has been made incredibly dangerous, as over 4,000 prisoners are at large on the island, since the jail was demolished by the earthquake.

No warning was given to the pupils before they received a presentation at their morning assembly. Simon Howells, who is Head of Drama at RGS, is leading the project and has set the very stiff target.

“The scale of this disaster is so great as to be almost unbelievable,” said Simon Howells “and I felt that we, as a school, should make the greatest possible contribution. By limiting the time to just one week it concentrates our efforts. It means that pupils and staff will have to work hard, using innovative fund-raising ideas, knowing that the clock is ticking.”

Almost within minutes of the appeal announcement to the school, ideas for raising money were instigated. “Running to Haiti’ will see pupils running, walking, rowing and swimming a combined 4,070 miles, which is the distance between Haiti and Worcester. Another involves a Nail Bar being set up within the school and there will also be an auction during the week.

The appeal runs 8-12th February. RGS will open a bank each break and lunchtime to collect monies that have been raised, with the running total advertised each day.

Wartime experience for Stonyhurst St Mary’s Hall

Year 5 pupils from Stonyhurst’s prep school St Mary’s Hall went on a school trip with a difference this week. Dressed as evacuees from the Second World War, complete with gas mask boxes, they visited Stockport Air Raid Shelter. The staff at the shelter were also ‘in role’ and the air raid warden told the children that there had been a near-miss the previous night, and that the bomb had left a crater outside. “The children’s eyes were like saucers,” said Mrs Joy Twigg, their teacher. “The ‘crater’ had actually been made by the gas board digging up the road but it made the experience very vivid!” To add to the excitement, one of their teachers, Mr Ogarrio, was immediately recognised as a ‘spy’ and arrested!

The children were given a full tour and sang war-time choruses such as “Run rabbit, run ” as they made their way around the labyrinth of tunnels. At the height of the air raids, there was room for 7000 people, often bussed in from Manchester.

“The children learnt a lot of new facts about the second World War and had a great time ‘living’ their history” said Mrs Twigg, who was also in costume.

Photo:the ‘evacuees’ in the air raid shelter.

Jack hits the right note!

A ten-year-old boy from a Derbyshire school has been chosen to sing in the prestigious Northern Cathedral Choir.

Jack Wilkins, in Year Six at Barlborough Hall School, was selected for the 200-strong choir after impressing during a tough audition in Harrogate.

Jack, who is a treble, has been part of the school choirs since he was five and regularly sings solos. He also performs with his local Church of St James choir in Barlborough and recently received a Bronze singing award from the Bishop of Derby.

Later this year, Jack will travel to cathedrals and churches across the North of England with the Northern Cathedral Choir, including venues in Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle.

The choir, which is made up of pupils from various schools, spends much of the days rehearsing before singing in evensong performances.

Elizabeth Savage, Head of Music at Barlborough Hall School, said: “Jack is a very talented boy and everyone at Barlborough is delighted he has been selected for the Northern Cathedral Choir.

“This is a wonderful achievement and it will be an absolutely fantastic experience for Jack to be part of one of the finest choirs in the country.

“We know he will do the school proud when he performs.”

Photo: Choirboy Jack Wilkins

Bedford Modern School Waterpolo players continue to make waves

Bedford Modern School Year 10 students, Jason Attwood and Ruaidhri Meghen are following on from last year’s waterpolo success by having been selected for the England Talent Group for Boys born in 1995 and 1996.
Jason, along with Year 12 students, Matt Leydon and Ben Jarman, represented the East Region in the National Division 2 Championships recently. All played well with Ben Jarman managing to net twice in the Tournament and Matt Leydon making a string of fine saves in the goal. The Region finished 4th, winning one and losing three games. BMS Master in Charge, Tim Whitwham, was the Team Manager.
The Girls’ Waterpolo Competition will be taking place over the weekend of 13th and 14th February. The Region’s team boast three Bedford Modern School girls in Year 10 students, Billie Scholten, Holly Rooney and Ros Latham and two former students in Amy and Rebecca Ennion who learnt to play waterpolo at BMS. Tim Whitwham has been invited to coach the team.
All the players have been, or are presently involved in, the National Development Programme run through the Regional Training Centres. Bedford Modern School hosts one for the Region and the scheme is part of the build up to and legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games

Photo: Some of the BMS Waterpolo players who have been making waves

Bedford Modern School student, Hannah Hurley, wins Robert Luff Medical Scholarship

Bedford Modern School Year 12 student, Hannah Hurley, is delighted to have been awarded this year’s Robert Luff Medical Scholarship. Overall nine students from Bedford Modern School entered the competition with Year 12 students, Susannah Odell and Christien Fortune, finishing as runners-up.

The Scholarship, which offers £1,000 per year remission of fees in the Sixth Form, was set up by former pupil, the late Robert Luff CBE. It is open to any BMS student in Year 12 intending to pursue a career in medicine or an allied discipline at University and is decided by an essay competition. Hannah’s winning entry, entitled “The Next Great Plague”, was set and marked by Mr Crispin Southgate. Mr Southgate is a Consultant Surgeon and attended BMS 30 years ago.

Winning entrant Hannah, who only joined BMS in September 2009 said, “We had to prepare a 1,500 word essay on one of three subjects. I chose The Next Great Plague as this seemed a more scientific option as opposed to the other two options which were “If I could cure just one disease” or “What would Aneurin Bevan think of his health service today?”

“As part of my composition I considered the possibilities of what the next plague might be including a flu pandemic, a malaria pandemic or an HIV pandemic. My essay discussed the likelihood of each eventuality, how serious each pandemic might be and the projected death rates.”

Hannah says that in order to prepare for her winning essay she spent months reading various scientific journals and periodicals to compile a good research base. “I was really excited when my name was announced as the winner of the 2010 Robert Luff Medical Scholarship, as I didn’t expect to win and it still hasn’t sunk in,” she said

Ultimately, Hannah would like to go on and study Medicine at Cambridge University.

Photo: Bedford Modern School student, Hannah Hurley, winner of this year’s Robert Luff Medical Scholarship

Old Mountaineer presented with prestigious White House prize

A former student at Mount St Mary’s College has been presented a prestigious White House award for his outstanding contribution to the American world of science.

Dr Craig Brown, who was educated at the Derbyshire school in the 1980s, has received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

It is the highest honour bestowed by the United States government on young professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers

Dr Brown, originally from Sheffield, is an instrument scientist for the Disk Chopper Spectrometer at the NIST Centre for Neutron Research (NCNR) in Maryland, where he researches science underlying future energy technologies.

President Obama announced his name amongst a list of more than 100 other early researchers who were presented with the award at a special White House ceremony, which he attended with his wife Yamali and children Nicole and Luisa.

Dr Brown said: “It was a wonderful occasion and the award is recognition of the support I have benefited from whilst working at the NCNR. It reflects upon the creativity and abilities of all of my collaborators as well as the education received at Mount St Mary’s.

“We started the day with a tour of the White House East-wing before the actual ceremony, which was hosted by Dr John Holdren, Science Advisor to the President, who presented me with a certificate and letter of congratulations signed by the President.

“After the reception, the award recipients were whisked off to the White House to meet the President. It was inspirational to hear him speak about his support for education, science and technology.”

Dr Brown excelled in sciences during his time at Mount St Mary’s and went on to read Natural Science at the University of Cambridge. He will return this year to meet staff and students and to give a talk on his career successes.

Mr Laurence McKell, headmaster at Mount St Mary’s, based at Spinkhill, said: “Craig’s success is a tremendous example of how, at Mount St Mary’s, we help each student to develop their talents both in and outside the classroom. Everyone at the school is hugely proud of his achievements. Craig is a fantastic role model and we look forward to welcoming him back to Mount St Mary’s later this year.”

Mount St Mary’s College is an 11- 18, co-educational, boarding and day school, which is proudly non-academically selective and sees many of its students go on to top universities.

Photo:(L-R)Dr John Holdren, Science Advisor to the President (Office of Science and Technology Policy), Dr Craig Brown, and Dr Patrick Gallagher, Director, NIST, Department of Commerce.

U16 NETBALL TEAM QUALIFY FOR NATIONAL FINALS

Bromsgrove School’s Netballers represented Worcestershire in the West Midlands finals last week (Saturday 28th January).

The U16 team from the Worcester Road school beat Ludlow 12-4, Hereford Cathedral School 20-1, Streetly School 15-4, Walton High School 10-4 and Bablake 13-1.

Bromsgrove went through as winners of that pool which meant they faced Newcastle-under-Lyme in the semi-final which they won convincingly, 14-4. In the final they then faced King Edwards Camp Hill and cruised to a 17-10 victory to become West Midlands champions.

Mrs Emma Buckingham, Head of Girls’ Games says “Yet again we have an outstanding team in the National Finals. We look forward to the finals on 20th March at Rodean School, Brighton and hope to capitalise on our success”.

Bedford Modern Junior School pupils raise funds for Haiti Earthquake Appeal

Bedford Modern Junior School pupils wanted to try and do something to help the people of Haiti after the recent earthquake that struck the country on 12th January 2010. The devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake occurred approximately 16 miles from Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti causing a humanitarian crisis. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world and more than half of the country’s 9.6 million people are under the age of 21.

Junior School pupils decided to spend the weekend of 16th and 17th January raising money for the Haiti Earthquake Appeal by offering to undertake a variety of jobs around the home.

Several Junior School pupils explained what it meant to them to be helping raise money for the people of Haiti. Year 3 pupil, Maisie McIntyre said, “I offered to wash up after dinner and did lots of housework. I raised £10.00 and it felt good to have helped.”

Year 3 pupil, Edward Forrester said, “I donated my £5.00 pocket money to the Haiti Appeal and my Mum matched this amount. I also earned £10.00 by doing some jobs at home over the weekend.”

Claudia Johnson, a Year 6 pupil commented, “I helped by changing the beds at home and putting on new sheets. It was good to get some sponsorship money and put this in the envelope to send to someone who is struggling.”

Year 6 pupil, Talis Harris added, “I did lots of jobs including cleaning my room, emptying the dishwasher and walking the dogs. I was very proud to be able to help people who are not so lucky.”

Alice Inskip, Year 5 pupil, raised money for the Haiti Appeal by washing all seven of the family cats whilst Year 6 pupil, Rohan Kumar tidied his room and carried out some gardening tasks.

Bedford Modern Junior School are extremely proud of their pupils who managed to raise the sum of £1,014.42. The money raised will be distributed through the SOS Children in Haiti / Haiti Emergency Relief Appeal as they are a well established charity in Haiti.

Photo: Bedford Modern Junior School pupils who have raised money for the Haiti Earthquake Appeal

RSPB Little Schools’ Birdwatch at Hurst Lodge School

Littlehurst Nursery, which is based at Hurst Lodge School, Ascot has been taking part in the RSPB Little Schools’ Birdwatch. It is designed to educate and inspire three- to five-year olds about the birds that share their outdoor space and links well to the Early Years Curriculum. Young children have a natural curiosity in the world around them, so we used our outdoor area to hopefully spark a lifelong interest in nature and wildlife!
To encourage the birds into their playground the children made some bird seed cake. They enjoyed rolling their sleeves up, mixing the lard and seed together, then pushing and squeezing the mixture into pots before hanging them outside.
The children then watched the birds that came to visit and recorded their findings by putting a picture of each species of bird seen into a box.

The first hour brought along a number of blue tits, wood pigeons and rooks.

Everyone who took part thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the children loved to see how their efforts had attracted the wildlife.

Brian Ashton puts Stonyhurst through its paces!

Brian Ashton, MBE, the former Head Coach of the England national rugby team, visited Stonyhurst College last week. He gave a talk to pupils at Stonyhurst’s prep school, St Mary’s Hall, in which he described the atmosphere among the England players as they prepared to play World Cup matches, and talked about some of the many top players he has coached. After taking lots of questions from his spell-bound audience, he then coached the rugby teams. “It was an awesome experience, being coached by Mr Ashton,” said Gabriel Strain (13), “and his talk was amazing.”
Brian Ashton taught rugby and history at Stonyhurst for 8 years in the 80’s, where his pupils included Kyran Bracken and Will Greenwood who both played for England.