One student, Megan Moore, achieved an astonishing five A* grades to confirm her place at Cambridge while Tsemaye Bob-Egbe, Sophia Barros-Curtis, Holly Thomas, Lan Luo and Michelle Ma achieved all of their grades at A or above.
Megan was photographed (right) here at the end of term when the Upper Sixth students dressed up to show their future career paths.

Exceptional results were gained in Mathematics and Further Maths and Geography, History and Religious Studies.
The Principal, Mr Bernie Routledge, said that the results reflected the fantastic ability and also the hard work that the girls had put into their studies, and he was absolutely delighted that the dedication of students and staff had been rewarded with such a wonderful set of results.

The largest ever cohort of 139 students in the Upper Sixth Form at Caterham School achieved an outstanding performance in this year’s A-Level examinations breaking all the School’s previous records.

~ 9 students achieved three or more A*
~ 28 students achieved four or more passes at A*/A grade
- of which 8 achieved 5 and 1 achieved 6
~ 25% of the grades were A*
~ 66% of the grades were A/A* up from 60% ‘A’ grades last year
~ 92% of the grades were A*/A/B up from 85% ‘A/B’ grades last year
~ 100% pass rate at grades ‘A – E’

Headmaster Julian Thomas said ’’I am thrilled that all the hard work by this year’s Upper Sixth students has enabled them to achieve the best A Level results ever recorded by Caterham School. With university places at a premium this year, it was more important than ever to achieve strong results, and I am delighted that the students and teachers rose magnificently to the challenge.’’

Mr Thomas added ‘’Whilst we can celebrate the successes of the exam results today I would not want to lose sight of the fact that these pupils have also made an outstanding contribution outside the classroom. This is a very important aspect of their education. We believe that a truly excellent education is about more than academic achievement alone and we seek to ensure that our students leave with a breadth and depth of experiences that will have helped to prepare them for life at university and beyond.’

Photo: (L-R)Alex Clark, Matthew Fenton, Headmaster Julian Thomas, Hannah Wright, Emma O’Brien
The four students all achieved 4A* grades

GCSE records were smashed at the King’s School Ely where 59 per cent of all exams were given the top A* and A marks and 99% of pupils achieved five or more passes graded A*-C.

The East Anglian region’s oldest independent school prides itself on developing the best in pupils from a broad range of abilities and backgrounds

The Head of King’s, Mrs Sue Freestone, said: “We are so proud of these young people. It is a real pleasure to know that they have done themselves and their teachers justice.”

Twenty-one students passed in GCSEs in ten subjects all graded A* or A.

At A-level, one in nine students achieved straight A* or A grades. Among five who got A* or A grades in four subjects was David Wallis who celebrated his 18th birthday on results day and whose results confirmed his place to read chemistry at Exeter College, Oxford. Overall, 89% of A-level results were graded A*-C in a total of 31 subjects, and the overall pass rate was 98%.

The results cap a year in which King’s Ely has achieved the prestigious Challenge Award from the National Association for Able Children in Education – the first independent school in Cambridgeshire to receive the award.

The Head, Sue Freestone, said: “These results bear testimony to the hard work and commitment of the young people concerned and the staff who have taught them.”

Photo: from left, Oliver Diss, Isaac Oliver, Bradley Fulford, Sally Cheng, Joshua Townson, Rebecca Rowson, Noah Von Heimendahl, Theo Ogier; front left, Lydia Crussell and Beth Rowson

A and B grades are up again to 51%, with 35% securing A* and A grades.

Leading the way were Head Boy and Head Girl James Proudfoot and Victoria Coe with 1 A* and 2 As and 3As respectively. James, 18, has already secured his place at Durham to read law and Victoria, 18, is about to embark on a gap year and confirm her intention to perhaps read medicine.

Eighteen-year-old Naseem Sharif, Deputy Head Boy at Mount St Mary’s, said: “I got two As in Maths and Biology and two A* grades in Physics and Chemistry and now I’ll be off to study medicine at the University of Manchester.”

Deputy Head Boy, Richard Duggan, 18, achieved an A* grade in Religious Studies, an A in English and B in History. He said: “I’m really pleased and I want to say thank you to the school because it has been a great pleasure to come here and they have really helped me to achieve my grades. I am going to go off to Newcastle to do law and hopefully go on to be a barrister.”

With three As in Biology, Chemistry and Maths, Deputy Head Girl Frances Oliver, 18, said: “I am hoping to take a gap year and then study veterinary medicine in 2011. I have loved being at Mount St Mary’s, the teachers are brilliant and I have had the best seven years of my life so far.”

Laurence McKell, Headmaster at Mount St Mary’s, said: “Congratulations to all our pupils on a truly outstanding set of A-level results. We are incredibly proud of all our pupils for the hard work they have put in and the excellent attitude they have shown to study and learning.

“Credit must also go to our talented staff team for the support they have shown preparing and guiding students over the last two years. Although we are a non-selective school, these results demonstrate how we continue to achieve high standards and help pupils to fulfil their potential.

“At Mount St Mary’s, our ethos is focused on developing well rounded young men and women, and these results reflect our commitment to ensuring they leave school ready to face whatever challenges and opportunities lie ahead.”

Photo: (L-R) Mount St Mary’s A-levels pupils Frances Oliver, Naseem Shariff and Victoria Coe celebrate their results.

Daniel was put forward to take part in the prestigious event, for which places are highly competitive and selective, by his Physics teacher Peter Hortor, after he achieved excellent AS results, and demonstrated a superb attitude towards his physics studies. He also took an online maths and physics test.

The challenge consisted of a range of lectures, practical lab activities and ‘life in Cambridge’ experiences such as punting. Daniel also met top physics students from around the country.

“Only top physics pupils from around the country are eligible to take part in the five day event” says Peter Hortor “and Daniel thoroughly deserved his place in this select group.”
The Senior Physics Challenge, SPC, is a university access initiative directed at AS physics students, or equivalent, in schools across the UK. It aims to demystify and make physics more accessible to a wider range of students.

High heels, floor length dresses and tuxedos were the order of the day at the Prior Park College Palladian Ball.

The Ball is held annually in July to celebrate the achievements and bid farewell to the year’s upper sixth form. Students, parents and teachers dressed for the occasion and danced until dawn at the prestigious Assembly Rooms in Bath. Attendees included Professor Eatwell, Dean of Faculty, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Bath and David Medlock, Pro-Chancellor of Bath University.

Prior Park College is the only school in Bath able to hold its Ball at the Assembly Rooms and always makes for a special evening.

The hundreds of pounds raised from the Ball raffle have been donated to the charity, ‘Crohn’s and Colitis UK’.

Prior Park College Headmaster, James Murphy-O’Connor, comments:

“The Palladian Ball is always such an enjoyable evening, with lots of laughs, good food and plenty of dancing. We are very privileged to have access to the beautiful Assembly Rooms for our special event. We wish the upper sixth students well in their future endeavours, we’re sure they will go far.”

For the day, he was the most famous sportsman in the world.

Golfer Louis Oosthuizen had just won the British Open at St Andrews, witnessed by millions across the world.

But the South African was still able to take the time only hours after his triumph to chat to and be pictured with a budding Edinburgh youngster hoping to follow in his footsteps.

Talented golfer, David Li Ferguson had already impressed onlookers at St Andrews with his natural ability before meeting the South African.

It was already shaping up to be a memorable day for five-year-old David Li Ferguson, whose father David Snr was covering the event for Chinese media.

David Li Ferguson was then invited to participate in the prestigious Loretto School Golf Camp.

Jonathan Hewat, Director of External Affairs at Loretto School said, “Loretto School’s Golf Academy were so impressed with his credentials they have asked for David to join them at the next Golf Camp. Loretto Golf Academy is recognized as the top Golf School in the U.K. What better place for David to have his obvious talent nurtured. ”

David’s father said, “It would be great. I know they have a very good golf school at Loretto and he is at the stage where he would certainly benefit from a bit of quality coaching.”

Photo: Five year old David Li Ferguson with Open Championship winner, Louis Oosthuizen

Bedford Modern School Year 12 student, Charlotte Cook and her doubles partner, Lucy Burgess from Runcorn Rowing Club won Gold in the Under 23 Double Sculls and Bronze in the Elite Womens’ Double Sculls at the Great Britain National Rowing Championships held in Strathclyde Park, Scotland over the weekend of 16th to 18th July.

17 year old Charlotte Cook and 16 year old Lucy Burgess led the Under 23 race from the first stroke to the last, winning comfortably ahead of their much older opposition. They then had less than three hours before they took to the water again – this time securing a Bronze Medal just three seconds off clinching another Gold Medal.

As a result of their achievements at the Championship the girls are now off to the Home International Regatta held in Cork, Ireland to represent England at Senior Level before departing for Hazewinkel, Belgium to represent Great Britain at Junior Level in the forthcoming Coupe de la Jeunesse.

Tristan Mayglothling, Head of Girls’ Rowing at Bedford Modern School said: “Charlotte has consistently proven herself against other athletes her own age but has again stepped up a level by taking on and defeating much older and stronger opposition. This highlights the talent Charlotte possesses whilst also giving an indication of the potential for her future rowing.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 12 student Charlotte Cook (left) who won Gold at the Great Britain National Rowing Championships

The Independent Schools Inspectorate has given one of the area’s leading independent schools the thumbs up in its latest inspection and cited its unique community culture for the excellent development of its pupils.

The Inspectorate, the independent schools’ equivalent of Ofsted, has praised Rossall School in Fleetwood for its delivery of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, an enquiry based alternative learning programme for junior pupils, and described teaching at the school as “exceptional.” Also singled out for praise was the School’s boarding tradition, which it said: “helped to provide a good quality of educational experience and contributed to the pupils’ ability to develop good relationships.” The report also cited the genuine establishment of a family feeling on campus, as a result of the permanent boarding community, as one of the key reasons why day pupils also thrived. The pastoral care, out of hours’ activities, and the boarding house system, it reported, “provided the key to the family unit.” Children at the School were also singled out for praise for their “outstanding behaviour both in and out of class.” Incidents of bullying, the report added, “were rare.”

Rossall’s GCSE achievements were also highlighted as being high in relation to national norms. The School actually topped the Lancashire league tables last year, yet, despite its academic achievements at the higher end, it also won praise from inspectors for its support of children with learning difficulties.

According to the report, inspectors noted that “a striking aspect of the school was the understanding for different cultures, fostered by the cosmopolitan campus, and also the quality of personal development of pupils of all ages, who exhibited confidence in relationships with children and adults alike and relished responsibility.”

Also coming in for praise was the School’s leadership team, led by headmaster, Dr Stephen Winkley. The inspectors noted that Rossall’s leadership has been strong and well-directed since the appointment of the new head in 2008, which drew comment from Dr Winkley: “Although I’m not a great believer in league tables as a measure of a school’s qualities I do feel that the findings of a thorough inspection are more meaningful in judging what a school has to offer.

“I’m obviously delighted that we’ve had such a positive report by the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate, but not surprised, given the quality of our teaching staff and house parents, and their dedication to the children, who must also be singled out for praise.

“As a school, we are only as good as the children we turn out, so in that sense we are a resounding success, with or without the findings of an inspection. The School is such a special place to be, not because of one aspect, but because of its component parts, which is why it’s been so rewarding to see the quality of teaching and pupils here since my arrival in 2008.

“The inspectors alluded to a special feeling on campus…a strong sense of community and responsibility and exceptional children, which is why Rossall is different to many other schools, even those with boarding communities. It really is a place with a unique sense of identity.”

More good news for the School comes in the form of increased numbers of boarders for 2010/2011 school year. The recruitment figures have bucked the UK national trend, and the School’s successful recruitment campaign has resulted in a flurry of summer activity on campus as additional boarding facilities are built to cope with the influx of new pupils.

Photo: Headmaster Dr Stephen Winkley

Sixth-form pupils from a Derbyshire school have launched a new charitable venture, for children with disabilities and special learning needs.

Mount St Mary’s College, invited local children from Chesterfield charity Home-Based and support group Fairplay, also based in Chesterfield, to come and use the facilities on offer at the College, and enjoy a stay at the Mount’s boarding accommodation.

During the new Children’s Holiday Week, the children had the opportunity to go swimming in the school pool, decorate biscuits in the refectory, take part in a treasure hunt and enjoy an Olympic Games event on the school’s Olympic standard athletics track.
They also participated in a celebration Mass in the school chapel.
Helen McKell, the teacher in charge of the event, said: “This was a really worthwhile experience for all our sixth-formers. They impressed the visiting staff with their enthusiasm, their willingness to get involved, and the work they had put into preparing a range of exciting activities and experiences for the children who participated.”

The Children’s Holiday Week is a new venture for Mount St Mary’s, created to help give sixth formers the opportunity to be of service to others.
The holiday week will now become an annual event, taking place in the last week of the summer term.

Photo: Emma Taylor, head girl of Year 7 at Mount St Mary’s College with Elliot Gaskin, from Home-Based charity

The team of sixth formers from RGS actually took the early lead in the race, showing good speed from the grid and in the corners. They only relinquished the lead to Chipping Sodbury School during a change of drivers in the pits, but this did little to dampen the spirits of the team as they finished third overall.

Team leader, student Doug Wilkie explained more. “We were racing against teams that have been doing this competition for five years or more, so for us to take the lead and finish on the podium was more than we’d hoped for. We used three drivers in total during the race, as we wanted to give track experience to our complete crew. The winners used a single driver, so this certainly made a difference. We now understand the areas in which we need to make adjustments to improve our performance even more.”

The Greenpower Challenge takes place over a series of five races, with a constructor’s title up for grabs. The competition culminates in the National Final on October 17th.

RGS has been strongly supported by Blackpole based Superform Aluminium and it was a tribute to this partnership that saw them win the award from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, for the ‘Best Engineered Car’. This crowned a spectacular day for the whole team.

At the ceremony, on the campus of Rossall School, Fleetwood, the cadet contingent will receive the honour to mark the 150th anniversary of the School’s CCF, which makes it the oldest in Britain, even pre-dating that of Prime Minister, David Cameron’s old school, Eton.

A chapel service, conducted by school chaplain, Revd Steve McMahon, during which the Queen’s Colour will be consecrated, will be followed by the presentation, and parading of the Colour by the full brigade and band, during which the Lord-Lieutenant, representing Her Majesty The Queen, will take the official salute in the imposing main square at the heart of Rossall’s 160-acre campus.

The honour recognizes the role of the CCF in preparing young people for life in Britain’s Armed Forces and is testament to the part its former members have played in every major military conflict since The Boer War and of the sacrifices of hundreds of former pupils who have given their lives in defence of the nation since the reign of Queen Victoria.

Among those in attendance will be senior figures from The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, with which Rossall School Combined Cadet Force is affiliated, together with several mayors from local borough councils, leading business figures, Old Rossallians, former cadet members and parents of children currently attending the School. It is anticipated that around 1,000 people will witness the march-past and parade of the Colour in the school square; marking what will be a memorable day in the distinguished history of the 166-year old co-educational independent school.

Commenting on the honour, Rossall School headmaster, Dr Stephen Winkley said: “It is particularly pleasing that the School should receive this honour as we celebrate 150 years of cadet service, and doubly so because we have always enjoyed close links with the Armed Forces, and have, since our creation in 1844, been a school with a good proportion of pupils drawn from the families of serving military personnel.

“To be the Country’s first, ahead of the likes of Eton, is a source of immense pride for the School, as it should be also for the North West region, because thousands of our former pupils have gone on to enjoy distinguished military careers and made a valuable contribution to the country’s military history.”

Despite its original military origins, not all members of the Tri-Service Combined Cadet Force go on to serve in Britain’s Armed Forces and many pupils join simply to enjoy the range of activities, outdoor pursuits and sports on offer through the Service, which also administers the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

Following the award of the Queen’s Colour, Rossall School’s CCF will now be one of the select few brigades or regiments allowed to incorporate the royal colours alongside brigade insignia. This will be a major coup for the School, which attracts pupils from over 35 countries to its coastal campus in Lancashire.

Children from Nursery to Year 2 delved into the fascinating world of maths. Each had the chance to take part in a variety of fun and hands-on challenges, many of which took place in the playground. They ranged from Sudoku to building a metre cube, from measuring a snake to playing giant snakes and ladders.

As part of the special week, guest Mathemagician Andrew Jeffrey entertained each year group with his ‘Magic of Maths’ show. The show had been carefully designed to change children’s attitudes to maths, encouraging mathematical language and thinking. During the show Andrew’s book, Magic for Kids, was on sale, raising £54 for the charity Barnardos.

The final segment of the week required pupils and teachers to put their ‘thinking caps on’ as they were asked to design and make a ‘Thinking Hat for Maths’. Each hat was then modelled at a spectacular hat parade during Lower School assembly.

Mrs Carol Donnelly, Maths teacher, Year 2 coordinator and organiser of Maths Week commented;
“This week has given pupils the opportunity to explore maths, as well as encouraging them to work in teams and with different year groups.

“Maths has played an even more important role in the curriculum than usual and many other subjects carried a maths theme, pushing it to the forefront of people’s minds. We are delighted with the children’s response to this hugely successful event.”

Originally built by Sir Francis Rodes in the 16th Century, Barlborough Hall became a school in 1940.

The party provided an opportunity to commemorate the seven decades with guests enjoying some of the 320-acre estate of protected countryside Barlborough Hall School is situated in.

Current and former pupils, staff and friends came together to enjoy the occasion – which featured a jazz band and hog roast lunch.

Guests were also invited to walk around the school building to relive school-day memories. Pictures spanning the seven decades and diaries of former headmasters were displayed to illustrate how the school has changed throughout its fascinating history.

The day finished with a friendly cricket match between the ‘Parents’ and the ‘Old Boys’, and experience showed as the Parents won a closely-fought match.

Pupils at Barlborough Hall School, a Jesuit preparatory school, still have lessons in the Hall’s original rooms and use the library, top parlour and chapel.

Wanda Parkinson, headteacher at Barlborough Hall School for 12 years, said: “I’d like to thank everyone who attended for making this very special celebration an event that will live long in the memory.

“We appreciate how fortunate we are to have a school with such a rich history, and everyone is looking forward to writing the next chapter in the Barlborough Hall story.”

Barlborough hall is the preparatory school for Mount St Mary’s College and today close links are established between the two schools, providing a shared vision of education for children from the age of 3 – 18.

Photo: 70th Anniversary garden party at Barlborough Hall School

Strathallan pupil Andrew Glover and friends handed over a cheque for over £1,000 to Dorothy Rodger from Cancer Research UK this week.

This sum was raised when Andrew and fellow pupils Oliver Beetschen and Jamie Parker organised an inter-house Guitar Hero competition at the School in April.

Andrew said “We held a smaller event last year, but this being our last term at the School we wanted to organise something much bigger and felt it was a good idea to support a charitable cause. The event was entirely pupil organised and we are very pleased to have raised so much for Cancer Research UK.”

Accepting the generous donation Dorothy Rodger from Cancer Research UK said “This was a fabulous and innovative way to support Cancer research UK and I would like to thank everyone who was involved.”

Marist students were continuing in The Marist Senior School’s strong tradition of creative writing when they entered the Young Times’ Writers competition, ‘The Claws of Macra’. The girls responded enthusiastically to the newspaper’s challenge: to write a winning Dr Who story which was spotted by Mrs Barnard the Schools Librarian.

Lucy Farrell in Year 9 beat readers all over the UK and online readers worldwide to see her story published in The Times.

Her story sees the doctor and Amy confront giant crustaceans, or Macra, in a gas refinery, with Amy turning into a crustacean herself. The Doctor needs to get her into the Tardis before she transforms completely.

Miss Lydia Spoors, English Teacher at the Marist, runs the creative writing club and encouraged the girls to enter the competition. She is delighted that Lucy Farrell’s story won, “this is a fantastic achievement for Lucy and our creative writing club which has gone from strength to strength this year. The girls have vivid imaginations and are very gifted when it comes to expressing themselves with originality and flair. ”

Not only will Lucy see her work in print but she will also receive a pass to the Dr Who Exhibition in Cardiff, Dr Who books and a treasured Sonic Screwdriver!

Photo: Lucy Farrell with her story in print in The Times (this Mondays edition)

Three pupils – Susannah Carr, Johanna Hockmann and Paula Hubner – scored 43 points, while 12 scored 40 or more. 40 points equates to 5 A grades at A Level on the UCAS points tariff. Twenty eight out of the 44 candidates scored 36 points or more.

In addition, the results of the Theory of Knowledge and Extended Essay sections of the Diploma were excellent – 30 candidates out of 44 scored 2 or 3 of the 3 points available.

The Master of Haileybury, Joe Davies, says: “These are excellent results and reflect tremendous credit on the ability and determination of the candidates in the demanding IB Diploma Programme, which they have studied over the past two years. These results also show the dedication of the teaching staff who have guided and supported the pupils in their studies.”

Maths and fun were combined when ‘Murderous Mathematician’ Kjartan Poskitt visited the Royal Alexandra and Albert School on the 1st and 2nd of July. Pupils aged 9 to 13 took a break from lessons so see how maths could be viewed in a totally different, and very entertaining, way.

Over 370 Royal Alexandra and Albert School students attended the event which was held in the School’s chapel. Pupils from other local schools (Warwick, Reigate, and Oakwood) were also invited to the event, and around 100 attended.

Kjartan entertained his audience by using a number of maths tricks and activities, some of them were, ‘How to get rich using a chess board’, ‘making a ball from two hexagons’, ‘the mystery of the number 1089’ and ‘how the number 3 was invented’. The talk lasted an hour but his young audience were completely captivated by his numerical dexterity and lively presenting style. Kjartan Poskitt mixed maths and fun and he really did make it work.

After attending the performance, one 10 year old pupil commented “It was the funniest show I have ever seen, it was amazing”

Emma Moran (Head of Maths) comments “Kjartan is so enthusiastic, you can’t help but be amazed by the maths tricks he performs! It was great to see the students enjoying themselves and I hope that we can repeat the experience next year with even more students from our area being able to participate. Kjartan’s presentation was a big success as it educated pupils and they had fun at the same time.”

Headmaster Paul D Spencer Ellis commented “As the Lead School for Gifted and Talented in the area, we are always seeking innovative ways to encourage learning. Kjartan’s visit has inspired pupils, and his enthusiasm and energy are infectious. I am pleased that so many children from local schools were able to join us to benefit from his unusual approach to delivering mathematics.”

Photo: ‘Murderous Mathematician’ Kjartan Poskitt

Four students at Caterham School have been awarded Gliding Scholarships by the RAF. The four students are part of the School’s Combined Cadet Force RAF contingent. The scholarships are awarded to cadets who have shown appropriate interest and talent. Each cadet will have about 40 launches in a glider until they are judged capable of flying solo.

The four students are:
~ Sam Thompson, (Lower Sixth), who has already completed the course with 615VGS (Volunteer Gliding Squadron) at RAF Kenley.
~ Ashley Goulding, (Lower Sixth), with train in summer with 624 VGS Chivenor, Barnstaple.
~ Andrew Ramsdale, (Fifth Year), with train in summer with 642 VGS RAF Linton on Ouse, York.
~ Joanna Odling, (Lower Sixth), will train in summer with 643 VGS RAF Syerston, Newark.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘’I am delighted for these four pupils. This is quite an achievement for each of them. The Combined Cadet Force is one of many co-curricular activities that we offer to pupils as a way of developing their talents and interests outside the classroom. This is an integral part of fulfilling our intention of developing the potential of each and every pupil thereby helping to prepare them for their life at university and beyond.’’

Photo: Cpl Odling, Cpl Goulding, Sgt Thompson

After only 18 months in a new sport, Worcester Canoe Club member Dan Staines is making rapid progress in the canoe world, but his hopes of future success depend upon securing sponsorship for a kayak, which can support his weight and decrease drag in the water.
Dan, who is a sixth former at RGS Worcester, has made tremendous strides, competing in the top half of national marathon kayak races as well as in individual and team sprint events around the country. But if the course becomes wavy, his current kayak ships water with obvious drastic consequences. In short, he’s a 90kg athlete in a kayak built for only 85kg.
It all started in January 2009 when Dan was selected by Canoe England as part of the Talent Identification scheme to match talented sportsmen to sports that fitted their physical attributes. Since then, Dan has been coached by Nick Fowler, who represented Great Britain for 10 years as a canoeist, and he sees huge potential in his protégé.
“Dan has tremendous promise,” said Mr Fowler. “I sometimes forget that he’s only been in the sport 18 months. As an old philosopher used to say ‘if you shoot for the moon but miss, you still land amongst the stars!’ and this really applies to Dan. There are no limits to his ability in this sport, he will be as good as he wants to be. An immediate goal is to compete at the U23 Championships in 2012.”
Dan trains for 1-1.5 hours on the water everyday, whatever the weather, which means layers and layers of clothing during the worst of the winter. Off the water, he develops stamina through running and puts in tough gym work 3 or 4 times a week at the RGS fitness suite.
“We build strength and endurance during winter and put it into boat speed during spring,” said Dan. “Paddling in the winter can be very difficult as ice builds up on the boat in very cold conditions. But it is worth it as I climb the national rankings. There is the added bonus of warm weather training this summer in Hungary.”
Dan is hopeful that he can raise sufficient funds from sponsors to purchase a more suitable kayak, as he approaches key races, the National Marathon Championships in July and the National Sprint Regatta in September. He needs to find sponsors if he is to maximise his potential and would be delighted to talk to anyone who can help him. Please check out his website to find out more.

A major celebration of one of our finest tenors on Tuesday 22 June with
Nick Prettejohn, Chairman of the Britten-Pears Foundation as guest speaker

“Lancing was a very heaven: the beauty of its site, the country around, the Downs in all their glory and this marvellous chapel and an atmosphere which was filled with art – the arts – and love”. – Peter Pears

Sir Peter Pears was educated at Lancing and sang in the choir here. He remained devoted to the school throughout his life, and a great supporter of its musical tradition. Pears and Benjamin Britten were regular visitors to the College, which a number of OLs (former pupils) remember vividly. Through Pears’s influence, Britten was commissioned to compose the Saint Nicolas Cantata for the centenary of the College.

At the celebration on Tuesday 22 June, guests included former pupils, some of whom are now professional musicians, and former winners of the College’s Sir Peter Pears Music Prize, such as His Honour Judge Peter Birts, who won the first award in 1964.

A service in the famous Chapel at 12 noon featured Lancing’s celebrated choir, and performances of sacred and secular music, sung by the school’s Music Scholars. Lancing’s Director of Chapel Music, Neil Cox, conducted Britten’s Te Deum and Jubilate in C, and God moves in a mysterious way from Saint Nicolas.

At the beginning of the service a single white rose was placed on Pears’ choir seat which bears the inscription “Hic olim sederat Peter Pears princeps cantatorum” (Here, once upon a time sat Peter Pears, a prince among singers). College Registrar, Jeremy Tomlinson who remembers meeting Pears during one of his last visits to the Chapel, spoke of the great influence that Lancing had had on the singer’s life. He quoted Peter Pears’ own words: “Lancing was a very heaven: the beauty of its site, the country around, the Downs in all their glory and this marvellous chapel and an atmosphere which was filled with art – the arts – and love”.

In his speech after lunch, Nick Prettejohn, Chairman of the Britten-Pears Foundation, addressed guests, staff and pupils. He was delighted to have been invited to Lancing and was enormously impressed with the quality of singing by the choir of Lancing College Chapel and its former pupils. He spoke of the wonderful legacy of Britten and Pears and how the Foundation is proud to be the custodian of such a national treasure. The Foundation is used for research purposes by people all over the world and continues to fund talented musicians of the future.

Lancing College Music Scholars sang a very moving selection of Britten’s folk songs to round off the occasion accompanied on the piano by Adrian West, a piano teacher at Lancing, an old boy of the school and a former winner of the Pears Music Prize.

The impressive sum is an accumulation of over seven years of dedicated fund-raising with valued help from parents, pupils and staff members. Every event has played its part in contributing to the minibus fund – from the Summer and Christmas Fayres, to sports’ days, fireworks evenings and drama productions, to one-off raffles and plant and cake sales.

Adding to the final total were funds from this year’s Summer Fayre, held on Saturday 12 June, which raised a cool £2,500. With a Wild, Wild West theme, guests were treated to more than 30 stalls and an array of activities to suit everyone’s tastes. They ranged from panning for gold to horseshoe throwing, barn dancing to a fancy dress parade.

The annual summer term event was opened by Clint Theophilus, Chairman of the school’s fund-raising body, Friends of Staines Prep, who also presented Headmaster Mr Peter Roberts with the grand cheque for £24,000.

Mr Roberts said: “I am overwhelmed by the efforts made by all those involved in raising this huge sum. The minibus will be a real asset to the whole school, providing pupils with many more field trip opportunities, in keeping with our new Staines Prep Challenge Award scheme.

He continued: “We are already putting it to good use and it was particularly useful on the recent Year 6 Field Trip to the Peak District.”

Photo: left to right:
Pauline Shilston, Mark Pilkington, Jenny Field-King, Viv King, Headmaster Mr Peter Roberts, Emma Poole, Johanna Pursey, Pat Ndebele, Helen Pearson – proudly showing off new minibus and cheque for £24,000

Bedford Modern School students participated in Channel 4’s Dispatches Pre-Budget television show – “How to Save £100 Billion – Live” in London on Monday 21st June.

Dispatches set out controversial cuts that could save Britain £100 billion. Krishnan Guru-Murthy presented a team of experts who believed their radical proposals could get Britain’s budget back in shape but can the nation take such swinging cuts or tax increases?
Ideas such as placing VAT on food and children’s clothing, reducing the pay of public service workers and closing down final salary pension schemes were discussed with a studio of 600 people voting for or against these cuts.
Stuart Baker, Head of Politics at Bedford Modern School said: “It was great for the BMS students to be able to participate in a live television debate on the eve of the Budget. Hearing experts argue over which solutions would be best to cut the deficit will simulate a great deal of discussion in class.”

Photo: BMS students attended the Channel 4 live pre-Budget television show

The Blue Man proved to be a real crowd pleaser at the Exhibition at RGS Worcester. Its creator, sixth form student Thomas Hill, made it by covering his friend Grove Sykes from head to toe – including his clothes – to create the striking figure. The material is called Modroc, which is exactly the same gauze, impregnated with Plaster of Paris, which is wrapped around a broken arm or leg.

The work took over three months to complete, as Tom ensured that every detail was true to life. His inspiration came from artist Antony Gormley, who designed the famous Angel of the North landmark.

The Blue Man was one of almost a thousand exhibits, which made up the show from GCSE and A Level art students at RGS, and represents their project work from the entire year.

“The Blue Man is a striking artwork, which shows great technical skill and took a huge amount of patience to complete,” said Emma Dukes, Head of Art at RGS. “Many other pieces in the show are also of an extremely high standard, and would grace non-school exhibitions. This continues the strong tradition of creativity and talent among our art students.”

Photo: Thomas Hill with his friend, the Blue Man

On Monday 21st June, King’s School, Bruton held its annual careers convention. Alumni, parents and friends and many from leading blue chip companies such as Credit Suisse and JP Morgan, national firms such as von Essen Hotels and the charity Walk the Walk, as well as notable area businesses like Knight Frank, Earlcoate Construction and Wessex Grain, came back to Bruton to give seminars and careers advice to over 80 members of the School’s Lower Sixth Form just ahead of them making their applications to university. Students gained valuable insights into a wide range of professions including law, medicine, business management, teaching and engineering. Critical to the success of the event was the low average age of the seminar leaders: the School’s students found it all the easier to ask searching questions and explore their interests in particular professions further. All the speakers provided the Sixth Form with their email addresses and telephone numbers and have committed to providing them with on-going support.

In a lively discussion, the girls’ knowledge of recycling building materials and efficient energy use was expanded until they appreciated the features commercial properties need to achieve the ‘very good’ BREEAM* rating that this attractive and contemporary business park now has (*Building Research Establishment Assessment Method). The talk was followed by a quick tour of the park to highlight its variety of tenants and the different types of buildings on the park, from industrial units and artisan studios to the pure office space in Queen’s Square.

Hurst Lodge School has a tradition of awakening the curiosity and creativity of children through practical projects. They are currently setting up a small holding on their 20 acre site in Ascot and the first clutch of chicks are about to hatch. The aim is to make a closer connection with the natural world and to give students the opportunity to make decisions and manage resources through a small holder’s council. Hurst Lodge is collaborating with the award-winning Eden project in Cornwall to implement a carbon and waste reduction programme. The visit to the Ascot Business Park fitted in well with the school’s ethos and new direction.

Merchant Taylors’ Amber Anirah will be jetting off France in September having gained a place at the prestigious University of London Institute in Paris. Studying a three year BA in French, she will be based right in the heart of the cultural capital (with a view of the Eiffel Tower from her window) and will be able to enjoy world-class academic teaching alongside the best art galleries, museums and, of course, food, that Europe has to offer.

The University will provide Amber, who is also studying History and English for A-Level, with further insight into the language as well as critical approaches to literature and visual arts, and social, political and cultural issues. There will also be an opportunity to further specialize in her third year, which Amber may take in order to combine her love of French with some of her other interests such as video editing or writing.

Head of Modern Foreign Languages at Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School, Yvonne Whalley said: “Amber is very talented and I’m delighted she has chosen to continue to study French. The London Institute is the ideal place for learning about French culture as well as the language and I have no doubt that she will flourish in such a challenging environment.”

Rejecting more traditional language career paths, the Sixth Former, who is originally from Bootle, cannot see herself going into teaching or translating. “I’d love to work in marketing or PR. A job that allowed me to travel would be amazing but after three years in Paris I think I’d like to return to Britain for a while.”

She said: “I’m really looking forward to immersing myself in French culture, meeting new people, eating amazing food and perfecting the language!”

A BBC actress returned to her old school in Bromsgrove on Tuesday (29th June).

Charlie Clemmow, who left Bromsgrove School in 2004, is currently starring in the BBC One daytime show ‘Doctors’. Charlie, now 23, spoke to current pupils about drama school, her time on the show and her acting ambitions. Eager pupils posed interesting questions and many of Charlie’s former teachers were also keen to hear what she had been up to since leaving the School.

Charlie was recently nominated for a British Soap Award and stole the show in a Julien Macdonald dress but many Bromsgrovians remember how it all started: in Routh Hall at Bromsgrove School on stage as the Lion from Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.

Mr Philip Bowen, Deputy Headmaster, says “We are extremely grateful to Charlie for taking time out of her busy filming schedule to revisit her old School and spend time with current pupils sharing her experiences and answering questions about acting on television. We have fond memories of her performances at School. We are very proud of Charlie and will follow her career with keen interest in the years to come”.

Photo: Charlie Clemmow and current Bromsgrove Pupils

Bedford Modern School’s First VIII won the Marlow Regatta at Dorney Lake on Saturday 19th June. This is the first time that BMS has won this event and the crews have shown a huge improvement in their performances since the National Schools Regatta.

Members of the winning First VIII included Robert Bell, Edward Munno, Alex Robertson, William Gale, James Powell, Thomas Sweeting, Matthew Bowman, Greg Edwards and Alistair Redman.

Alistair Brown, Director of Rowing at Bedford Modern School said: “After some disappointment at the National Schools Regatta, it is good to see that BMS confidence is sky high just a week before the Henley Regatta.”

The School competed in a number of other events at the Marlow Regatta on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th, with students ranging from Year 9 to Year 13.

Photo: BMS First VIII win Marlow Regatta

Children from King’s Acremont, the Pre-Prep of the King’s School Ely, stood at the west door of Ely Cathedral this afternoon (16 June) and waved flags to greet soldiers of the Royal Anglian Regiment as they arrived for a homecoming service.

As they marched to the cathedral, the soldiers would have seen the flowerbed beside the west door of the Cathedral, planted in the regimental colours.

The 200 plants – red and gold French marigolds and light blue lobelia – were sponsored by the school and the children helped with the planting, under the direction of cathedral gardener, Àine Rodrigo.

The Head of King’s Acremont, Dr Lynda Brereton, said: “The children are all very excited to be making this contribution towards the regiment’s homecoming and they were looking forward to waving their flags outside the cathedral on the day of the service.”

The 1st Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment – known as the Vikings – have been on tour in Afghanistan. Hundreds turned out to cheer them as they marched through the city’s streets.

The cathedral service was an occasion to give thanks for their return but also an occasion for reflection and especially to remember the five soldiers who died during the tour of duty.

Photo: Some of the King’s Acremont pupils who greeted the Royal Anglian Regiment.

On Tuesday (15 June), pupils and staff from St Hugh’s School, the Prep school for St Edmund’s College, played in their own special World Cup match. A team of Year 6 boys (aged 10 years) played against a team of male and female teachers. In the end it was youth and agility that won the game, with the pupils winning six goals to two.

The whole school came out to watch the game dressed in various World Cup kits, hats, flags and even the odd vuvuzela!

Mr Blom, the Head of St Hugh’s said: “All the children enjoyed the match whether they were playing or spectating and it was great to celebrate the World Cup right here at St Hugh’s. “

Former Bedford Modern School student and newly elected Conservative MP for Bedford, Richard Fuller visited Bedford Modern School on Friday 18th June to work with the School’s Year 12 Politics students before addressing an Assembly for students in Years 7 to 9.

“I am enormously proud to be an OBM and grateful for my education at Bedford Modern School and all the opportunities this has provided me with in my life. I always felt, at all times, that the BMS teaching staff had my, and all the students’, interests at heart.

“Bedford is a wonderful town and I want to see the town fulfil its true potential. Always keep an open heart to the things you want to do in your life, and open to other people. I will keep my town at the centre of my heart too,” said Richard Fuller.

With a passion for his home town, particularly the diversity of its people, the beauty of its river and parks and the strengths of its schools and colleges, Richard wants to see Bedford achieve its full potential and is determined to use his parliamentary term to promote business and to bring back jobs to Bedford, making it an even better place for families to live.

Stuart Baker, Head of Politics at Bedford Modern School said: “It was fantastic to welcome Richard back to BMS as the new MP. For Politics students, Richard’s reflections on the campaign were an interesting way to finish their AS studies.”

Photo: Former BMS student and new Bedford MP, Richard Fuller (left) with Stuart Baker, Head of Politics at BMS

The book has been published as part of the school’s celebrations for its 150th birthday this year.

The book, entitled Howell’s School, Llandaff: A Legacy Fulfilled, traces the origins of the school, the oldest in South Wales (and with its sister school in Denbigh, the oldest in Wales), from the Tudor merchant Thomas Howell, whose legacy led to the founding of both schools, through to its opening in 1860, and continues the story right up to the present day. In 150 years, the school has had only nine Headmistresses, and the contribution of each to its development is discussed. The book places the school in the context of national educational developments, particularly those relating to girls’ education, and shows how opportunities for women have grown during the period. The book is fully illustrated and includes anecdotes and reminiscences of many past pupils.

The author is Mrs Janet Sully, who has taught at the school since 1978. A former Head of the History Department and Head of Sixth Form, she is now semi-retired and manages the school’s archives. The book is result of her passionate interest in the school’s history and we thank her for her dedication to this exciting project. We all look forward to reading it!
Available to purchase for £20.

Photo: Janet Sully

Bedford Modern School Year 7 students took part in a Mediaeval Day at the School on Wednesday 9th June. The event, which was organised by the School’s History Department, was led by Arriere-ban Historic Enterprises Ltd.

Arriere-ban Historic Enterprises Ltd., visited BMS last year re-creating activities for Year 7 studies and the day was such as success that it was decided to host another event.

Sarah Wright, Head of History at Bedford Modern School said: “Last year, the Arriere-ban team were excellent, and both knowledgeable and entertaining. The students learnt lots of interesting details about the mediaeval period that cannot be covered in lessons. It was a great day for all involved and something we wanted to repeat in 2010.”

Students were able to take part in practical activities such as building a trebuchet, archery, jousting and weaponry.

Arriere-ban Historic Enterprises Ltd., are a team of professional living history interpreters who specialise in visiting schools and museums to enhance knowledge and a better understanding of history. More information can be found at www.arriere-ban.co.uk/

Photo: Mediaeval Day at Bedford Modern School

Not satisfied with being National Netball Champions and qualifying for the National Cross Country Finals earlier this year, Bromsgrove School’s Senior Girls have now completed a hat-trick and reached the Field and Track National Athletics Finals where they will represent the Midlands.

After comfortably winning the first round of the English Schools Track and Field competition before half term, the intermediate girls went into the Midlands finals feeling quietly confident. All girls competed extremely well, demonstrated great support and encouragement for each other and pulled together well as a team. By amassing a superb 416 points Bromsgrove beat strong competition from Edgbaston High School for Girls, Loughborough High School, Rugby High School, Shrewsbury High School, Arden School, Stratford upon Avon Grammar School for Girls and RGS Worcester.

Mrs Emma Buckingham, Head of Girls’ Games says “Well done to the team which consisted of Libby Thornton, Simone Thompson-Smith, Jenny Moore, Rachel Elt, Megan Humphreys, Pascale Massey, Sarah Hawkley, Rebecca Straw, Hannah Trow, Tara Thorpe, Lydia Trow, Ellen Lockhart and Georgia Meredith. We now look forward to the National Finals up in Gateshead at the beginning of July.”

Photo: Winning athletics team

Two girls representing Worcester Rowing Club swept to victory in the Under 14 double sculls competition at Stratford upon Avon Regatta at the weekend.

Grace Baker and Izzy Friedlander (both aged 13) attend RGS Worcester and achieved their success in only their third event together.

They beat Gloucester Rowing Club in the first round, then Stratford-upon-Avon Boat Club in the semi-final before overcoming stiff opposition from Evesham Rowing Club in the final to win by a hard-fought one length.

The Peter Chadwick Memorial Cup was presented to them by Nadhim Zahawi, the MP for Stratford-upon-Avon.

Photo: Nadhim Zahawi, MP for Stratford upon Avon presents the cup to Grace and Izzy.

Watched by families and friends, five pupils of the King’s School Ely have been formally admitted as members of Ely Cathedral Girls’ Choir and welcomed as the newest members of the Cathedral Foundation.

The five, Oona Gradwell, Georgia Schneider, Anna-Rose Sliwinski, Anna Hamilton and Emma Jones were presented to the Dean, the Very Rev Dr Michael Chandler, by the director of the Girls’ Choir, Louise Reid.

The Girls’ Choir was established in September 2006 following the appointment in 2004 of musician, Sue Freestone, as the first female head of King’s, East Anglia’s oldest independent boarding school.
Girl choristers, aged 13-18, are all boarding pupils in the Senior School. The school funds the girls’ choral bursaries and all associated staffing costs so there is no drain on the cathedral’s resources.

Photo: The Dean, the Very Rev Dr Michael Chandler, and the Head of the King’s School Ely, Mrs Sue Freestone, with from left, Oona Gradwell, Georgia Schneider, Anna-Rose Sliwinski, Girls’ Choir Director Louise Reid, Anna Hamilton and Emma Jones

The 18-year-old is a talented flautist and passed his grade 8 flute exams while he was studying for GCSE.

Now, in the midst of A-level exams, he has heard he has been successful at diploma level – something usually achieved after the first year of study at university.

Luke was awarded his diploma by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and is now entitled to write Dip ABRSM after his name.

Fellow sixth former and flautist Charlotte Sivier was also awarded a recital diploma by Trinity College London and is entitled to write Dip ATCL after her name.

Luke is head of King’s Barbers, the close harmony group of ex-choristers, and is taking music, chemistry and biology at A-level. He plans a gap year before going to university.

Charlotte, who head of King’s Concert Band, is also taking music as well as drama and dance at A-level. She has a place on an executive PA course in Oxford.

Photo: Charlotte Sivier

We also plan to make our own charcoal, using specially designed charcoal burners which will be fed by wood from the older trees which have been removed. Pupils at the school will be involved in this process, particularly as the barbecue season approaches!

Daisy Gibbs, a pupil at St Swithun’s School, Winchester, has passed Grade 8 on both viola and piano with distinction in addition to gaining distinction in Grade 6 Theory. Not content with this, Daisy also entered a national music essay competition run by Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and was awarded a Commended Certificate.

To achieve all of this whilst also preparing for her AS level exams was tremendous effort by Daisy who, in her own words, had this to say “There are very few places where the music teachers use their free time to let pupils have umpteen extra lessons and rehearsals, and are always willing to talk to you when you begin to have serious second thoughts about what you’ve let yourself in for. St Swithun’s is definitely one of those places.”

Bedford Modern Junior School Year 5 pupils took part in an exciting Djembe Drum Workshop on Wednesday 9th June. The workshop was held in the Christopher Fry Hall under the expert guidance of Chris Puleston.

Chris Puleston has been playing drums and percussion for over 45 years. He has played in over 30 musical projects and bands in genres as diverse as jazz, rock, progressive, blues, classical, experimental and world music.

He sings and plays a diverse array of instruments including guitar, zither, tamboura, kalimba, tabla, djembe, didgeridoo, flutes, balafon, darabuka, various tuned percussion instruments and drum kit. The interactive Djembe Drum Workshop at Bedford Modern Junior School enabled pupils to try something they would not normally have an opportunity to do, whilst also having fun. Chris frequently leads drum, percussion and didgeridoo workshops around the country.

The Djembe, that originates from West Africa, is a skin-covered hand-drum shaped like a large goblet that literally means “everyone come together”. The Year 5 pupils also had an opportunity to try their hand at playing the Didgeridoo, which is a wind instrument of the indigenous Australians usually made from hardwood such as eucalyptus.

Hazel Farrow, Bedford Modern Junior School Music Teacher said: “We’ve always been inspired by Chris’ fresh and down-to-earth approach. He communicates directly with the musician in each and every one of us.”

Photo: Some of the Year 5 pupils taking part in the Djembe Drum Workshop

Bedford Modern School Year 9 students took part in an Academic Enrichment programme at the School on Thursday 17th June learning more about the Victorians. The programme was designed to go beyond the confines of the curriculum and build connections between topics. Students were encouraged to work together as a team, develop their presentation skills and combine learning with having fun.

After an introductory session by Dawn Costello, BMS Academic Enrichment Co-Ordinator looking at “What the Victorians did for us”, students were split into different groups to undertake research into various aspects of Victorian life.

The Victorian period was described as a particularly exciting part of history with so many innovative ideas that have now helped shape our society including electricity, communication systems and transport.

Sessions covered included Music Hall, Crime, Literature, Photography and the role of Women/Fashion in the Victorian era. Students discovered more about the Victorians by listening to expert speakers within their groups, undertaking research on the internet in order to plan short presentations to deliver to the rest of the year group later in the morning.

Students attending the “Marie Lloyd Group” looked at what the Music Hall was all about and learnt the words to a typical song from the Victorian era. Marie Lloyd was a famous music hall act.

Another session, entitled “Sweeney Todd Group” concentrated on Victorian melodrama proving that the 19th century was the age of the great actor rather than the great dramatist. Melodramas thrilled their audiences with lurid tales against a backdrop of ruined abbeys, dark dungeons and mysterious temples. But melodramas touched more and more upon the lives of ordinary people of all classes in contemporary England.

Dawn Costello commented: ‘All of our Year 9 students entered into the spirit of the morning and demonstrated the strength of their research skills in producing a series of professional presentations in a short space of time. They worked effectively in teams to pass on the information that they had assimilated to the rest of the year group, resulting in a variety of interesting and engaging presentations.’

Photo: Left to right, BMS Year 9 students, Samantha Prentice, Vicky Shacklock, Tania Fulford and Sophie Rowe.

Yesterday Farnborough Hill Sixth Formers Sophie Crisp and Anna Nicholas, both 17 from Farnham, organised a very special charity event in aid of local charity Disability Challengers. The Farnborough Hill Challenge was a sponsored event where participants walked, jogged or ran a distance of 5km in the school’s beautiful parkland. The whole school was off timetable for the afternoon so that everyone was able to join in the fun and take part. The participants were blessed with good weather and the atmosphere was tremendous. Everyone threw themselves into the spirit of the event, but perhaps the most notable participant was Lauren Dockerty, of Aldershot, a student in Year 9, who currently needs a wheelchair. She completed the course and Sophie said ‘Everyone was really supportive of Lauren and walked alongside her to the finish line.’

Disability Challengers is a local children’s charity passionate about delivering vital play and leisure opportunities to disabled children, young people and their families. Through their two full-time centres in Farnham and Guildford, and satellite schemes across the region, every year they give over 1000 children a place to be creative, make friends and challenge their impairments through play. The charity is close to Sophie and Anna’s hearts because they both used to volunteer there and Sophie now works for Disability Challengers on Saturdays and in the holidays.

At the time of going to press the money is still rolling in but we hope to raise a substantial amount for this very worthwhile cause. Anna herself has raised £1300 but we will wait to see whether she wins the individual prize awarded to the person gaining the most sponsorship money. The Headmistress has promised that the class raising the highest amount will be treated to a bouncy castle in school for a day.

Anna and Sophie loved organising the event, even though it was time consuming and hard work. Anna commented that it was tricky fitting in their AS level exams at the same time! Sophie said ‘it was a huge success and everyone seemed to have a lovely afternoon. So many people helped us out and we would like to thank them all very much.’

Photo: Lucy Sharma (Disability Challengers), Dee Andrews (Biology teacher who helped with the organisation), Anna Nicholas, Sophie Crisp, Jessica Klepacz (Disability Challengers) and Headmistress Sarah Buckle.

Kundai fun run

Pupils of all ages at Stonyhurst College have been raising money to help a physically disabled boy in Zimbabwe receive the medical care he needs. A fun-run this week has finally achieved their target of £5,000.

14 year old Kundai Mangoma suffers from a rare disease which has caused a huge tumour on the right hand side of his face; this has left him with breathing difficulties and blindness in one eye. He is in much pain from the disfiguration of his jaw and facial bones and finds it difficult to eat and speak. Kundai’s parents lost all their life savings in Zimbabwe’s economic turmoil and are therefore unable to pay any of the medical bills which could improve their son’s condition.

Sixth formers, Sophie Le Breton and Natalie Crouch met Kundai when they visited Zimbabwe this year, visiting a Jesuit school with which Stonyhurst has a long-standing partnership. They were so moved by his bravery that they were determined to raise £5,000 for surgery which could change his life: they met a surgeon who told them about the major operation which should fully restore his sight, ease his breathing and discomfort and significantly change his appearance. The operation is scheduled to take place in Harare in late August so they had no time to lose!

“Kundai was lovely, very shy and uncomplaining,” said Sophie. “We were really moved to hear that his sister had died quite recently from the same condition and realised that the medical care we take for granted just isn’t available in Zimbabwe. We were determined to help and as soon as we got back to school, started a campaign to raise the money.”

A ‘Kundai Committee’ was formed immediately, with representatives from all year groups putting up posters throughout the school and organising fund-raising activities. Kundai T shirts, a ‘Home Clothes Day’, weekly cake stalls, an art competition, charity dinners and finally, a fun-run, have together achieved the target!

Photographs shows Natalie Crouch, Sophie Le Breton, Mrs Crossley and Mr Warrilow, teachers at Stonyhurst College meeting Kundai and his family.

Students in fancy dress, taking part in the fun-run. ]]> http://www.privateschoolnews.co.uk/2010/06/students-take-action-for-zimbabwean-boy/feed/ 0 http://www.privateschoolnews.co.uk/2010/06/highclare%e2%80%99s-got-style-and-raises-money-for-their-charity/ http://www.privateschoolnews.co.uk/2010/06/highclare%e2%80%99s-got-style-and-raises-money-for-their-charity/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:03:45 +0000 school http://www.privateschoolnews.co.uk/?p=3763
The pupils and sixth formers at Highclare School have been working hard to stage their own amazing fashion show to raise money for their school charity “The Kampala Children’s Centre”, which helps provide homes and education for the vunerable young orphaned children in Uganda.

The fashion show was a great success, taking place on Friday 7th May at the Ramada Hotel, Penns Lane, Sutton Coldfield. With the help of local businesses, parents, staff and friends, the pupils have raised a staggering £3,500 for their charity.

The charity are so appreciative of their efforts that they are sending a member of the charity to be presented with a cheque at school assembly on Friday 18th June at 9.00 am.

Senior Prefect, Becky Soen, who has already had a number of professional modelling assignments herself, said “We all wanted to do something that would raise much needed funds for these children. There is such a big difference in their lifestyle to ours, so we are using our talents to help them as much as we can. We are thrilled that our efforts have raised such a worthwhile sum”.

The 18-year-old is a talented flautist and passed his grade 8 flute exams while he was studying for GCSE.

Now, in the midst of A-level exams, he has heard he has been successful at diploma level – something usually achieved after the first year of study at university.

Luke was awarded his diploma by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and is now entitled to write Dip ABRSM after his name.

Fellow sixth former and flautist Charlotte Sivier was also awarded a recital diploma by Trinity College London and is entitled to write Dip ATCL after her name.

Luke is head of King’s Barbers, the close harmony group of ex-choristers, and is taking music, chemistry and biology at A-level. He plans a gap year before going to university.

Charlotte, who head of King’s Concert Band, is also taking music as well as drama and dance at A-level. She has a place on an executive PA course in Oxford.

Photo: Charlotte Sivier

Former King’s School Ely student, Frank Thorogood is in line for a prize worth £50,000 for his invention that could change the way cricket is practised the world over.

He was a keen cricketer during his years at King’s in the 1990s and has created a simple throwing device that recreates the style of a professional bowler.

With endorsements from some famous names, it’s now ready for production.

Frank has entered the device – named Sidearm – in Barclays Business Take One Small Step competition which aims to find people with ambition, passion, and, most importantly, a great business idea.

The winner will be decided by an on-line vote. Frank, an eastern region contender and already in the top three, is rallying support for his invention. Votes must be cast by 15 July.

“My dream is to change the way in which cricket is practised the world over,” he says.

He revealed he had been working on the idea for about 15 months, but it was only when he took it down to Essex CCC at the start of April and Graham Gooch and Grant Flower both gave it rave reviews that he plucked up the courage to invest the money needed to get it into production.

Frank’s day jobs are running a horse feed delivery company and an indoor cricket school as well as working on the family farm during the summer.

You can check out the Sidearm in action and vote for Frank by logging onto

https://www.takeonesmallstep.co.uk/Entry/View/2065

As well as being given tours of each school and the Mount St Mary’s boarding houses, the journalists met with boarding students and the Mount head boy and girl.

The fact finding visit was designed to promote awareness and develop a greater understanding of the UK boarding schools experience among potential Russian students and their parents.

The published journalists’ work will be included as part of the Education UK Exhibition promotion campaign in Russia.

Wessel DuRandt, head of boarding at Mount St Mary’s, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome our Russian friends to the Mount and hopefully it will encourage pupils from other countries to consider boarding school options in the UK.

“We pride ourselves on offering one of the best boarding experiences in the country and we are always looking for more pupils to sample this experience.”

Mount St Mary’s recently invested £500,000 in its boarding facilities. Hopkins House, for girls and Loyola House, for boys, provide shared and single rooms with en suite facilities, desk, study space, wi-fi, common room and kitchen area. ]]> http://www.privateschoolnews.co.uk/2010/06/russian-journalists-visit-derbyshire-school-for-boarding-best-practice/feed/ 0 http://www.privateschoolnews.co.uk/2010/06/kings-bruton-celebrates-its-491st-birthday/ http://www.privateschoolnews.co.uk/2010/06/kings-bruton-celebrates-its-491st-birthday/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:51:44 +0000 school http://www.privateschoolnews.co.uk/?p=3748 Founded in 1519, King’s Bruton is one of the country’s oldest public schools and so it is with great pride that, every year, it celebrates its commemoration. Pupils, staff and governors process to church where they use the same order of service as followed by their predecessors centuries before. This year the preacher was The Rev. Jonathan Fletcher from Emmanuel Church, Wimbledon. After the service, the celebrations continued with drinks in the Memorial Hall and luncheon in the dining hall.

The two students, members of the BMS Ski Team beat the Olympic star, Kwami Na, known as the “Snow Leopard”, who skied for Ghana in the recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver. It crowned a great couple of weeks for Marek who is in his final year at Bedford Modern School, before he gets down to the serious business of preparing for his A Level examinations.

In the British Indoor Grand Prix ski race on 9th May, also held at Milton Keynes Xscape, Marek gained Gold in his age group and finished 2nd overall behind former GB star, Georgie Hunt. In this week’s race Marek was again in the medals gaining Silver.

Not to be out done, following a first ever podium finish in the recent British Indoor Grand Prix Series Ski Race, also held on 9th May at Milton Keynes Xscape, up-and-coming star and Bedford Modern Junior School Year 3 pupil, Dominic Barton achieved a second Bronze medal finish in Sunday’s race.

Further fine performances by Bedford Modern School students came from Year 7 student, Daniel Barton, and Year 9 students, Joe Gee and Oliver Chalkley.

Photo: Marek Behnke

In 2009, 56 pupils from Bromham Lower School visited Bedford Modern School over the course of two days, spending time in the Design Technology Workshop undertaking practical projects. Due to the success of last year’s Technology Days, BMS decided to extend the Technology Days into a Technology Week this year.

Paul Kennington, Head of Design and Technology at Bedford Modern School said: “Bedford Modern School are always keen to forge better links in the community and, in particular, with local schools. By extending our Technology Days into a Technology Week, we hope to enable more pupils from nearby schools to be able to participate in our workshop and learn new skills, whilst also having fun.”

Bromham Lower School Year 3 pupils visited BMS for three days during the Technology Week whilst Castle Lower School visited for two days with their Year 4 pupils. Pupils gained workshop experience manufacturing a key fob, mainly involving hand-tool skills but additionally some supervised work with the Laser Cutter. Pupils were also able to watch demonstrations of other machinery such as the CNC Router.

Bedford Modern School are intending to invite local lower schools to take part in technology workshops on a regular basis and this is something that will be repeated again next year.

Photo: Bedford Modern School hosts “Technology Week” for local lower schools

Nathan Morgan, 31, who won the long jump gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, is holding regular workshops with lucky pupils at Mount St Mary’s College.

The first two hour workshop was a practical session focusing on strength and conditioning exercises that Nathan uses everyday as part of his own training regime.

Nathan, a former British record holder and third on the all time long jump list, also stressed the importance of getting this conditioning right before starting any sporting activity.

Nathan will be visiting the school once a month to continue the sessions, which take place on Mondays in the pavilion.

Paul Scott, director of Sport at Mount St Mary’s, said: “The whole workshop was of great benefit to both athletes and coaches and stressed the need for basic strength and conditioning to safeguard the development of young athletes.

“Unsurprisingly the session was extremely well-attended and I’m sure this trend will continue for the upcoming workshops.

“Everyone is very grateful to Nathan for giving up his time and it is a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to learn from one of the best long-jumpers this country has ever seen.”

Three little helpers from RGS The Grange are assisting in the re-launch of a Bretforton based business, which has fallen foul of the might of a multi-national company who claimed exclusive rights over the use of the word ‘naked’.
Emma Heathcote-James is the owner of the business, which produces a luxury organic hand-made soap from local sources. She’s marking the change of name, from Naked Soap Company, to Little Soap Company, at a Summer Fair held the primary school in Claines.

Having built up business over the past 18 months via internet sales, trade shows and winning contracts to supply local Waitrose and Warner’s Budgen’s stores, she was devastated when she learnt she would have to relinquish the name.
“The costs of what would have been a lengthy legal battle were prohibitive so I simply decided to draw a line, put Naked behind me and move forward. I still make the same soaps, the packaging and online shop is all the same – only the name has changed…” said
Ms Heathcote-James. “Having the pupils from The Grange help make my first batch of soap under the new company name was a lovely way to look to the future and build on the company’s rapid growth over the last eighteen months.”

Ellie Carey, Ben Hughes and Will Reading, all aged 10, bought rosemary and lavender from their school garden having infused it in Extra Virgin Olive Oil to add to the mixing pot. They were taken through the entire soap-making process and even designed their own bespoke RGS soap. They learned not only how to make soap, but also the maths behind the recipes, the art of creating a brand, the creativity of designing the differing flavours, the benefits of
the essential oils and aromatherapy as well as the greener issues of recycling, and how a thorough approach to environmental issues, is so imperative to being a business winner.

“Instead of using tap water, we added collected rainwater to the recipe,” said Ellie. “The moulds that we poured the soap mixture into came from bits of reclaimed wood used to make the Hamlet set at the theatre in Stratford, which amazed us. I never thought it would
be so much fun to make soap.”

The company’s name change will be celebrated in style among many other local suppliers at The Grange’s Summer Fair on Saturday 3rd July, where the Lavender soap made by the pupils will be on sale.

To coincide with England’s bid for World Cup glory, a Lancashire junior school teacher has penned a personal musical tribute to England’s football heroes, which he hopes will score big for Britain’s injured armed forces’ heroes returning from Afghanistan.

With the help of pupils at Rossall School in Fleetwood, Lancashire, sports teacher and aspiring musician, Lawrence Condon has released a World Cup song, with the title: ‘England, My England’, in a bid to highlight the sacrifices being made by the nation’s soldiers abroad and to raise valuable funds for the ‘Help for Heroes’ charity.

Lawrence’s pupils were the inspiration for the song and urged him to write one for the last World Cup. Four years on and just in time for South Africa 2010, ‘England my England’ has been created in a collaboration with British folk, rock band ‘Steeleye Span’ guitarist, Ken Nicol, who produced the song from its raw acoustic version, adding orchestra, drums and chorus. He hopes the song will become an anthem and find its way onto the football terraces of South Africa, but if not, he’ll be more than happy if the public buys the song and it generates cash for Britain’s injured heroes, returning from conflict in Afghanistan.

To help promote the single, a DVD featuring Lawrence and his pupils has been produced by children at Rossall, one of the North West’s oldest independent schools, with some help from the School’s IT department. The backing track features melodies from the early 1960’s hit ‘Telstar’, giving it its infectious chorus that would make an excellent football chant during the current World Cup. And, the children at the school provide a seventy-strong choral backing when the song is played live for visitors to the 166-year-old campus.

Commenting on the launch, Lawrence Condon said: “The children cajoled me into doing something for the World Cup, even though I’m not a professional musician. The result might not be likely to hit the heights of Frank Skinner’s ‘Three Lions’, but if there’s a chance that the public like it and want to support our lads in South Africa then they’ll also be making a valuable contribution to the lives of our servicemen and women in Afghanistan, so hopefully we score either way.”

DVD’s will be on sale at Rossall School from this week with all proceeds from the strictly not for profit song going straight to Help for Heroes.

Photo: Lawrence Condon with some of Rossall School Juniors

Pupils at Sibford School will be eating their way round the world over the next four weeks.

In celebration of the World Cup, catering staff at the school near Banbury will be selecting a match of the day and serving up traditional food from the countries playing.

Kicking off the lunchtime fixtures on Friday will be South Africa v Mexico … with tasty treats including Sopa de Pollo, Bobotie and Enchiladas, followed by Melktert for dessert.

Other footy feasts include Gazpacho, Toriniku (Chicken) Teriyaki and Capirotada (a Mexican version of Bread Pudding). Flying the flag for England will be battered haddock.

Chef Mark Higgins said: “We’ve had great fun planning the meals for the initial matches and are looking forward to a winning menu. We’ll be following the tournament through until the end, and, as we’re not at school on Sunday, will be serving up a champion’s feast on Monday 12 July.”

Photo: Getting into the World Cup spirit are: Chris Stones, Darren Hobbs, Matt Cross, Danny Holman and Kath Morris.

Celebrations at Rendcomb College.
Rendcomb College celebrated its ninety birthday with a celebratory Founder’s Day programme attended by well over 500 guests, including trustees, governors, parents, staff and pupils. Founded in 1920 by Noel Wills, the college still enjoys the generous support of its current trustees who are investing substantial funds this summer which will see a major internal refurbishment of boarding and day houses, as well as additional classrooms in the expanding junior school, which is also ten years old this September. The day also included displays of pupils’ work and exhibitions, two concerts performed to packed audiences and a falconry display organised by Mr James Stutchbury Head of Biology.

Guest speaker, The Rev’d Dr Ralph Waller, Director of The Farmington Institute for Christian Studies and Principal of Harris Manchester College, Oxford encouraged the pupils to continue to stretch their intellectual horizons and never take learning for granted. Highlights of the day also included reviews from the Head boys and head girls from the junior and senior school.

Gerry Holden
Headmaster

Photo: From left to right: Rev’d Ralph Waller, Sophie Musgrave , Oliver Heneghan, Eleanor Brealy and George Ord.

Pupils, teachers and leaders at Wycliffe College in Stonehouse, Glos, have been praised in one of the first of a new-style report by independent schools inspectors.

The inspectors found that the school was successful in meeting its aims. From the Early Years provision, described as “effective” and “outstanding” right through to sixth form, inspectors found reasons to commend the College.

In the Prep School the inspectors reported that “the quality of the education is good” while pupils in the Senior School “make good progress and achieve well, with some outstanding performances. This results from good teaching…and pupils’ well-developed learning skills.”

As well as academic progress, inspectors found that the “personal development of pupils is good, with a number of outstanding aspects” in the Senior School and reported that “links with parents, carers and guardians are outstanding.” In the Prep School, “the personal development of pupils of all ages is excellent” and “pupils’ personal qualities are outstanding and strongly fostered by the school’s open, friendly atmosphere.”

The inspectors found that “almost all parents are extremely pleased with most aspects of college life.”

In noting significant recent progress, the inspectors praised Wycliffe’s management which had “resulted in many improvements from which pupils benefit. The college has higher quality facilities and both senior and middle leaders have a better understanding of their roles than at the time of the last inspection.” The Prep School is “well led; leadership has a number of particularly strong features.”

Head Margie Burnet Ward said; “I am very pleased that the progress we have made has been recognised, as has the clear vision for the future that has been forged over recent years. As expected, there are recommendations to implement, but it is reassuring to know that these are all things we had identified through our annual self-evaluation and for which plans are already under way to bring about even greater improvements.”

Head of Wycliffe Prep School, Adrian Palmer said, “We are delighted that this report has reflected the progress the school has made since the last inspection.”
The inspectors were impressed by the College’s development plans saying, “The future direction is clear and all are striving to make the college the school of choice in the local community and further afield.”

A full copy of the report is available on the school’s website www.wycliffe.co.uk.

Photo: children finding inspiration in Stonyhurst’s woodland., following Gerard Manly Hopkins’ footsteps.

A 14 year-old Worcester schoolgirl has realised a sporting ambition, following selection for the full England under 16 Hockey Team.

Sally-Anne Smith, who attends the Royal Grammar School Worcester, has been chosen to play in goal against Scotland, following a rapid climb up the hockey ladder. In only 12 months Sally-Anne has gone from playing local club hockey to reaching the giddy heights of representing her country, in a story that reads like a Hollywood script.

Her first love was football and she has spent the last three years playing in the Kidderminster Harriers Centre of Excellence Academy. At her primary school, RGS The Grange, she used to be an outfield player for her school hockey side. As no-one was keen to play in goal, she filled in for a school match. Following an exceptional performance, Liz Bussey, her coach of the time, immediately saw real potential and started to help develop her goalkeeping skills.

From those early days Sally-Anne has enjoyed a meteoric rise, winning entry to the County’s Junior Development Centre at Nunnery Wood, playing for Dudley Hockey Club and latterly Stourport Hockey Club.

In May 2009 Sally-Anne was selected to attend the U15 Junior Performance Centre, which selects hockey players nationwide. From here the players were whittled down to the best eight goalkeepers in the country. They attended a Hi-Performance weekend camp at Leeds University last October, under the exacting eyes of the England selectors.

In May 2010 Sally-Anne received an invitation to train with the U16 England Team, even though she’s still only 14. “It was nerve-racking when I attended the training session at Lilleshall, because I was the youngest there,” explains Sally-Anne. “But I put my whole heart into it and during the day I played well and became more confident. I received an email three days later to say I’d made the team and I was over the moon. I feel privileged to represent my country in a sport I love.”

Stuart Davis, Head of Hockey at RGS Worcester put her achievement into perspective. “Many people don’t appreciate the deep pool of talent in girls’ hockey, which Sally-Anne has battled through to reach the highest level. Her progress has been staggering. I wish her further success in the future and we all look forward to seeing her play against Scotland at the end of June.”

“I’m delighted that the Arts Council has recognised Nottingham High Junior School’s dynamic arts education programme,” said Ed Jones, Deputy Head at Nottingham High Junior School. “Our pupils have really enjoyed working in art, drama, dance and music activities and I’d like to thank all our staff for their hard work in achieving this award.”

“Artsmark is more than simply a mark of distinction to us; taking part in the scheme has enabled us to develop our arts provision and see the pupils who take part become more self confident, engaged and excited about learning. Our focus is on creating well rounded individuals, so we view the arts as just as important as sports and other academic subjects,” added Ed Jones.

Alan Davey, chief executive, Arts Council England, said: “Arts Council England believes that the earlier children are creatively inspired, the more likely they are to have a lifelong engagement with art – something that can transform lives and give young people a voice for their thoughts and feelings.”

“Artsmark, now nationally recognised as a prestigious and coveted award, sets the standard for an outstanding arts provision in schools and it’s great to see so many new schools attaining the Artsmark Award this year. This award recognises Nottingham High Junior School’s commitment to providing exciting art experiences and their belief in the power of creativity.”

Bedford Modern School repeated the success of last year by reaching the Final of the ESSA (English Schools’ Swimming Association) U16 Waterpolo Plate Competition recently and went one better this year by winning the competition and becoming Champions.

In a revamped format there were six teams from around the country competing at the Final. Two leagues of three were played out to find the semi-finalist and then the competition changed to a straight knockout. In the League, Bedford Modern School finished second having to come from behind in both games to secure draws. With 40 seconds left in the second game against Monmouth School, BMS were two goals down and out of the reckoning until Bedford Modern School Year 10 students, Jason Attwood and Sam Lourensz both scored excellent goals.

The Semi-Final was against the winners of the other League, Canon Slade School from Bolton. They boasted the England U16 goalkeeper but without a decent defence he was no match for the BMS shooters and the School quickly raced into a four goal lead and ran out comfortable winners 8-4.

The Final proved to be a re-match of the opening game against City of London School. This time Bedford Modern School scored first to settle the nerves and although City pulled level, BMS turned round 3-1 courtesy of goals from student, Darren Norman (Year 11) and a sweet penalty from Jason Attwood. By the last minute, City were back in it with scores level at four apiece. Thankfully both Jason and Darren were on target again and Bedford Modern School deservedly won 6-4.

Jason who top scored with hat-tricks in two of the four games is currently in the England Youth Academy squad whilst goalkeeper, Ruaidhri Meghen (Year 10) has been selected to represent Ireland at Youth level.

Photo: Bedford Modern School’s winning U16 Waterpolo Boys’ Team: William Lowerson (Captain), Robert Lowerson, Andrew Turner, William Simpson, William Stupple, Lawrence Kedward, Howard Friman, Jason Attwood, Sam Lourensz, Darren Norman and Ruaidhri Meghen.

Bedford Modern School’s Cricket Captain, George Thurstance, has been selected to play for the county against Buckinghamshire. This is fairly unique and the last Bedford Modern School student to achieve this feat was Monty Panesar, who later went on to play for England.
18 year old George, who lives in Silsoe, has been in great form this season, scoring two unbeaten centuries and taking wickets with his leg spin.
Nigel Chinneck, Bedford Modern School Master in Charge of the First XI said: “As a School we are delighted for George who thoroughly deserves his chance as he has worked very hard to achieve this high level of performance, also it is pleasing to see the selectors are putting faith in the county’s younger players.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School’s Cricket Captain, George Thurstance, who has been selected for Bedfordshire

Strathallan School has been awarded the prestigious Healthyliving Award plus following the commitment of caterers Sodexho to supporting healthier eating.
Strathallan is the first school in Scotland to receive this award which has been gained by only five other operations.
Catering Manager Gordon Stewart said “We are really delighted to receive this award as we have always supported healthy eating here at the School. We have a dedicated team and it is great to have their achievements recognised is this way. ”
In order to qualify for the plus award, the School has increased the proportion of healthy options on the menus and places a greater emphasis on the marketing and promotion of healthier food choices to all the pupils and staff.

Photo: The Strathallan Catering Team

A jolly good audience had a ripping time watching a workshop production of the play ‘Daisy pulls it off!’ by Denise Deegan, at Stonyhurst College. Daisy Meredith, the plucky scholarship gal at Grangewood School for Young Ladies, was played by Madeleine O’Dwyer and Trixie Martin, her good-egg friend, was played by Mary Flanagan, both in Year 9 at Stonyhurst. Between them they overcame the wealthier pupils’ rotten pranks, found missing treasure and Daisy’s long-lost father. Spiffing!

Photo: the cast of ‘Daisy pulls it off!’ In the front row are, second from left, Madeleine O’Dwyer (Daisy), and Mary Flanagan (Trixie) centre.

Students from Polam Hall School in Darlington have been using their linguistic skills to promote businesses in the Tees Valley as part of an educational exercise, designed to show the importance of learning foreign languages.

Pupils took part in the ‘Eurolinks’ project, organised by the Polam Hall languages department alongside the Routes into Languages North East Consortium and supported by students from Newcastle University.

For part of the event, students were asked to imagine themselves as an employee of a company seeking to promote the North East region at an international trade fair, using their language skills to promote the products of local businesses.

The students were also asked to receive and deal with a telephone enquiry from a European company interested in exploring the possibilities of future investment in Darlington.

Local business owners were also involved in the Eurolinks event asking the pupils to use their skills to create product advertisements for their businesses in different languages.

Involved in the event were staff from The Bannatyne Hotel Darlington, who allowed the school to use the conference facilities, Durham University, Wood Pohl, Cooks and Kitchens, HSBC Bank, and Catherine Hart Millinery.

Christine Harvey, Head of Modern Languages at Polam Hall School said: “Foreign languages play an extremely important part in education as they can open the door to many future opportunities.

“Eurolinks is a fantastic event, which showcases the knowledge of our pupils and the involvement of local businesses helps to highlight the increasing need for linguistic education.

“I would like to thank all those who were involved in making Eurolinks such a fantastic event.”

Support for the event also came from Darlington Tourist Information Office who provided the materials.

Ellie Scarff, a local girl from Colwyn Bay has hit the big time with a personal invitation from the Lawn Tennis Association to join their training camp this week and potentially start a future as a serious British contender in tennis. Nick Lawrence, a North Wales Performance Manager for the Welsh National Tennis Centre recently described her as “one of the emerging young talents in North Wales”. Her coach for three years Martyn Lewis , who is an LTA professional says of Ellie “She is No 1 ranked player in Under 12 in North Wales and is very likely to be a Welsh Finalist this year”.

From joining Rydal Penrhos Prep school from the age of three Ellie has been a keen tennis player and swimmer. At four she added ballet and tap to her portfolio and then at six progressed to hockey and netball. At present Ellie puts around 16 hours a week into training, which is supported in school and through outside organisations.

Ellie has been with the junior academy of the Colwyn Bay Hockey club for three years and regularly plays for the girls u11 team and the boys u11 team (as they are allowed two girls to play). Indeed last year she was voted best u10 girl for the season by her coaches.

It was in 2007 when at the age of just seven the Rydal Penrhos Prep girl started to take tennis to a new level when she was asked to play both singles and doubles for the U10 North Wales girls team. She started to win and got a taste for competitive sport. By 2008 Ellie played for the county again and started to play for the Rydal Penrhos Senior girls tennis team despite the fact she was only eight. By 2009 Ellie was ranked no 1 player for North Wales County team 10U.

Ellie says “My sports are a huge part of my everyday life, and I am at my happiest when I am out on court or on the sports field.” Ellie’s mum goes on to say “She is a lovely bubbly girl who tries hard at everything she sets out to do. She balances her sport with academic studies and I am delighted to say she had straight A’s across all subjects in her last school report.”

Ellie who is the head girl at the Rydal Penrhos Prep school at present has just won a sports scholarship to Rydal Penrhos senior school and sets her ambitions high. This year she would like to move up the GB and Welsh rankings at 12U level and feels with the continued support of both the school and the LTA coaches Martyn Lewis and Nick Lawrence with whom she is working very closely that she can continue to improve and develop as a player.

When students enter the sixth form in Rydal Penrhos School they have the unique option of studying for A levels or of studying for the IB diploma and the split is about half and half. This choice means that students can tailor their academic education to fit their university and career choices for the future.

Students studying the IB Diploma must take six subjects (3 at Higher and 3 at Standard Level) plus they write a 4,000 word extended essay, complete a course in theory of knowledge, and complete a number of creativity, action and service projects. The six subjects must include a study of their own language, a foreign language, mathematics, a science, a humanity and their sixth subject can be another language, science, humanity or it can be art, music or drama. In this way students study a balanced curriculum but have the opportunity to specialize.

Chris Jelfs, from the Anglesey area and who is in upper sixth at present says “ My sister had done IB, and had successfully achieved a very high score and continued on to do Languages at Durham, this influenced me when I came to decide between A levels and IB.” Chris who is a talented musician was able to keep doing his music as one of his six subjects at a higher level, which was important to him also.

Jenny Southern, from Ellesmere who is also in upper sixth, and who has been offered a place to read medicine at Brasenose College, Oxford goes on to say “I think the IB really prepares you for university life as it demands that you learn to manage your time well. It involves you in lots of differing activities and requires organization and dedication.”
The IB is a not-for-profit organization which operates in 138 countries with 738,000 students worldwide and 55,000 graduates each year.The IB Diploma has an outstanding reputation for academic rigour and high-quality education which it has sustained for over 40 years, and it is growing fast in the UK. The number of UK schools offering the IB Diploma has doubled over the last few years and on current projections this expansion will quicken over the next two years. This rapid expansion has increased awareness of the IB at UK universities and this is what Durham University recently said about the IB diploma: “Our academic departments have noted the excellent preparation that the IB Diploma provides for university study, and we value the depth and breadth of study that it offers.” In fact its excellent international reputation means that students have access to the top universities worldwide.
Tom Carr, a pupil from Colwyn Bay sites his reasons for picking the IB as “wanting to keep my options open for as long as possible, as I am still undecided in the career that I wish to pursue”. Tom is thinking about medicine or law and is one of the school’s great debating team.
Emily Wynn, from Colwyn Bay and Sarah White from Tremerchion are both lower sixth girls and have been studying the IB since September. Emily achieved 8 A*, 1A and 1B for GCSE and is loving the IB course, she is also interested in doing medicine and wanted to keep her skill level as wide as possible to compete for places when it comes to university entry. Sarah also wanted to keep her options open, but says “One of the best aspects of the IB for me is meeting lots of new friends from all different cultures. I have lots of international friends now and feel well equipped to go out and work in the world. With an interest in studying Management and Finance at the London school of Economics this really would be advantageous.
The IB encourages a positive attitude to learning by encouraging students to ask challenging questions, to critically reflect, to develop research skills, and to learn how to learn. An element of community service is encouraged because the IB recognizes that there is more to learning than academic studies alone. Lauretta Leung, from Anglesey said “I love the community work, it makes me feel part of a bigger world and one in which we contribute”. This ethos fits well within the Rydal Penrhos School community and extends across the whole sixth form.

27 Speech and Drama students from Rydal Penrhos School went recently to perform at Chester Drama Festival, which was held at Queen’s Park High School, Chester.

The standard was exceptionally high with schools from around the region battling for places. Rydal Penrhos pupils had to compete with schools including: Moreton Hall, Howell’s, Wrekin, Queen’s and The King’s School.

The pupils all performed exceptionally well, had great fun and showed a strong team spirit. They almost without exception were commended or received merits or 1st prizes. Mention should be given to Will Lunt who won first prize in both the solo drama and the solo Shakespeare categories, both very competitive and hard fought for sections.

“We have such a rich history of drama in the school starting in 1887 right through to the present day and we teach it as a subject in the school at GCSE level and A Level.” Says Director of Drama Mr Dennis Lavin.

Indeed Rydal Penrhos has had pupils who go onto perform everywhere from the West End to the Festival fringes and from the Royal Court to the Rovers Return, William Roache is just one of the old boys who has made a career in acting. Pupils such as Matt Gosart, Laurie Brumitt, Andrew McDonald, Alex Bickerton, Lucy Xie, Alannah Jack and Imogen Long who all went on at the Drama festival to win First prize for their devised drama are part of this history.

Two key members of the drama department at Rydal Penrhos, Christina Bloomfield and Gemma Campbell who both have a wealth of experience and knowledge of the acting world accompanied all the pupils to Chester where they were adjudicated by either examiners from leading Drama schools or recognisable faces from screen or stage and they gave very constructive criticism and advice on how to improve pieces for the LAMDA examinations in June. Younger pupils were also involved from years 7 and 8 and 1st prizes won by John Marston for poetry recital, Scarlett Salisbury and Anjalina Mitra for improvisation.

“We teach acting and stage management, set building and sound, lighting and costumes, everything in fact needed for a great performance. Not every student wants to be in the spotlight but their contribution is equally as important,” Leah Cunnah, English and drama teacher at the school goes on to say.

All the pupils did extremely well and enjoyed their chance in the spotlight and now look forward to the visit of one of the schools famous dramatic former pupils Duncan Kenworthy, OBE who following Christ College Cambridge, where he achieved a first class degree in English went on to become a producer starting on programmes such as Sesame street and Fraggle Rock in America. Following this he moved on to work on three of the most successful British films ever ‘Four weddings and a Funeral’, ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Notting Hill’.” Duncan is returning to the school on May 29th for the Anniversary Celebration week, when the school is celebrating its founding 130 years ago in 1880 to be the guest speaker at the School Speech Day and Prize Giving.

Up and coming ski talent Ella Ward capped a fantastic team performance by Rydal Penrhos School with a third place at the British Inter-Schools Skiing Championships in France last week.

Ella, 11 was joined on the prize-winners’ podium by younger sister Olivia, 9, who came home in fifth place, while the Rydal Penrhos team as a whole finished a hugely impressive eighth out of the 140 schools taking part.

The annual championships, which take place in Les Houches near Chamonix, feature more than 350 of the best young British skiers from across the UK, France and Switzerland.

Rydal Penrhos team coach Craig Bonnington, who has raced internationally for the RAF, said: “It’s a fantastic achievement for Ella, Olivia and the whole team. The competition is incredibly tough because a lot of skiers at the top end of the field are based permanently in the Alps for the ski season.

“Meantime Rydal Penrhos manages one training session a week on the John Nike Leisuresport artificial slope in Llandudno. It’s a great facility to have on the doorstep and the instructors there are very supportive of the team, but it’s not quite the same as race training day in day out on the real stuff all winter.

“Ella’s third place, Olivia’s fifth and the team’s eighth places are a tribute to a lot of hard work and no little talent.”

The team immediately dedicated their result to Rydal Penrhos teacher Ken Jones, who organised the trip. Mr Jones broke his leg in an accident at the end of the first day’s racing and is still in hospital in France recovering.

Mr Bonnington added: “It’s such a shame for him. He’s been organising the team all year and getting ready for this competition. We’re all thinking of him and looking forward to seeing back home soon.”

Polam Hall has joined forces with four students from the University of Durham’s Geology Department.

Their remit is to produce an interactive Geological Walk around Darlington Town Centre. At the initial meeting several girls from M5 and L6 had a brainstorming session and provided some innovative ideas which the Geology students took away to develop.

Rock investigations

Within six weeks the four intrepid geologists returned to trial their practical ideas with a group of U4 students (year 8, KS3). Now all that remains is for the self-guiding pamphlet to be produced and then the M5 and L6 students will take to the streets of Darlington to “road test” it prior to publication.

Copies of the Walk will be located in Darlington Library and the Tourist Information Centre where it can be accessed by anyone wanting to discover a little of Darlington’s geological history.

Perhaps this brief article will inspire you to rock in the streets of Darlington!

Twenty children from Rydal Penrhos Preparatory School travelled to Warrington to play in the Mega-Final, which is the Quarter-Final Stage of this national competition. Each child had to play six matches and win 4 points out of 6 to qualify for the next stage. The most Rydal Penrhos have ever had do this in the past is six. This year we have smashed that record. With Savanna Dickens winning first place in the Under 7 Girls tournament and Ziraili Ulfin claiming second. Hannah Mew-McAdam won second place in the Under 8 Girls Tournament and Imogen Turvery-Cross won joint first place in the Under 9 Girls tournament. All four girls have qualified for the next stage called the Giga-Final and will be joined by eight other children including Adam Lee-Browne, Ethan Hill, Rafeez Mortuza, Rohan Ingley, Ben Subkovas, William Sissons, Solomon Dickens, Jack Sissons.
The Prep School Chess Club is going from strength to strength with pupils winning championships from county to British level, and new players being welcomed and encouraged to play, irrespective of age or experience.
Teacher and keen chess player, Andy Camp, took over the chess club two years ago and has introduced new, fun initiatives including a ‘Learn to play’ session and a knockout tournament to encourage new players, and to give them experience of playing competitively.
This year has witnessed a fantastic increase in club members, both in numbers and in ability. Thirteen pre-prep pupils (aged 6) have now started playing regularly and have the enthusiasm to challenge the older girls and boys to pick up new skills and confidence.
Chess offers many benefits to the pupils, and has even helped their academic studies, with some parents noting a marked improvement in their children’s concentration and in their work. However, some of the fathers who could once beat their children at chess now jokingly plead for Mr Camp to stop teaching them new skills!
The club meets twice a week with each session featuring an interactive whiteboard to examine particular openings or try to solve a chess-related puzzle. The children then flock to the boards to try out the ideas on each other. It certainly seems to be working.

Bedford Modern School’s first Grandparents’ Day was held in 2006. The aim of the event was to involve grandparents in the academic and pastoral lives of their grandchildren. The response to the event was outstanding and, as such, it was decided to make Grandparents’ Day a bi-annual event.

This year, Grandparents’ Days took place on Friday 14th and Friday 21st May and the School once again welcomed large numbers of grandparents.

Grandparents participated in lessons with their grandchildren before having a school lunch in the Refectory. This was followed by entertainment in the Christopher Fry Hall presented by the pupils, a tour of the Junior School or a trip to the Sports Field to watch their grandchildren in action and finally a Question and Answer session with the Head of Bedford Modern Junior School.

Grandparents’ Days at BMS are an ideal way for grandparents and their grandchildren to spend some quality time together at BMS and have fun.

Nick Yelland, Head of Bedford Modern Junior School said: “These days more and more grandparents are involved in the everyday lives of their grandchildren. A day like today gives them a chance to do more than simply deliver or collect them on behalf of busy parents. It gives them a chance to sample the excitement and variety of a day at Bedford Modern Junior School.”

Photo: Grandparent’s Day at Bedford Modern School

A general election involving all the main political parties at a Derbyshire school has produced a clear winner – unlike the real thing!

Mount St Mary’s College pupils engaged in some last minute electioneering as representatives from the Conservative, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat and UKIP parties attempted to get ‘elected.’

As part of the mock election, each candidate made an impassioned three-minute speech to put across their party’s main policies.

After the speeches, the candidates then had the opportunity to reply to any points and encourage the electorate to vote for them in a one minute summary.

Pupils were finally able to vote for their chosen candidate and the surprise winner was UKIP, represented by George Freeman, with 111 votes followed by the Conservatives with 65 and the Green Party with 30.

Helen McKell, head of the senior debating society at Mount St Mary’s, said: “Our pupils enjoy debating a wide variety of topics and have a real interest in current affairs, so we couldn’t resist an election of our own to see how it compared with the real thing.

“It was a brilliant way for pupils to practise valuable skills like public speaking and forming convincing arguments as well as an opportunity to recognise the role they play in the democratic process.

“I’m pleased to say that, however controversial the issue, all the pupils conducted themselves in a professional and courteous manner!”

Photo: Richard Duggan who represented the Conservatives and George Freeman who represented UKIP

The award, established by Bath & North East Somerset Council, aims to encourage schools in the Bath area to use more sustainable methods of transport such as walking, cycling and public transport.

To achieve the award, the College met with B&NES Council to discuss plans, supplied travel surveys to staff and pupils and submitted a travel plan document to the Council. As part of the College’s ‘Eco Prior’ initiative, teachers have been raising awareness of the plan in assemblies, encouraging pupils to use more eco-friendly methods of travel to and from school.

The College currently runs a total of eight bus services and has recently implemented a new evening service for its Trowbridge route next term.

Headmaster, James Murphy O’Connor, comments:
“Receiving the award is testament to the dedication that the College staff and pupils have devoted to this cause. However, the hard work doesn’t stop here. We are looking to the future and hope to continue raising awareness and encouraging even more pupils and parents to walk, cycle and subscribe to our bus services. We would like to take this opportunity to thank B&NES Council for their help in achieving this recognition.”

A pioneering programme that enables American pupils to study at a traditional British independent school whilst satisfying the demands of an American curriculum, has received resounding approval. Cotswold-based Kingham Hill School is waving both the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes as it celebrates making history as the first British school to receive coveted NEASC accreditation.
NEASC (The New England Association of Schools and Colleges) is the oldest of the six regional accrediting agencies in the United States. The list of institutions accredited by NEASC includes Harvard, Yale and other prestigious institutions, 2000 schools in the US and 175 American schools and colleges in 68 countries around the world. Kingham Hill is the first British day and boarding school to be accredited by NEASC.
Kingham Hill was approached by the US Department of State in the Autumn of 2006 with a request to help, following the shock announcement that an American school on the edge of London catering for the children of US families living abroad was to close. After careful thought and the appointment of several American educators, a number of American pupils joined the school in the September of the following year.
An American Studies Program was launched and has been modified and improved during the past three years. Its growing success springs from the smooth transition experienced by American pupils in and out of a British school. They can arrive from an American curriculum school, experience education at a traditional British school and then transfer to other American schools elsewhere in the world. All this happens without the pupils missing out or falling behind. In addition, they benefit from being immersed in British culture and experiencing British traditions. They also make friends with the majority British pupils and a smattering of other nationalities.
One exciting and significant spin-off is that non-Americans can access the American Studies Program. If carefully configured, courses offered through the program complement A-Level courses in such a way as to make an application by pupils of all nationalities to an American college as straightforward as an application to a British university. Kingham Hill has a dedicated ‘guidance counselor’ who can offer expert advice on American colleges and the application process.
Headmaster, Nick Seward (39), is delighted by the inspection report: “I was mightily impressed with the professionalism of the inspecting team. The process was very comprehensive, yet sensitively executed. The team quickly grasped the school’s unique qualities. It was also very pleasing that it warmly acknowledged the quality work by our faculty in making a success of our American Studies Program and embracing American pupils into our community.”
Assistant Head Academic and Director of American Studies, Kim Raccio, deserves much credit for developing the program and overseeing the preparation for the recent inspection. She has been at the sharp end of explaining the American Studies Program to American families arriving in the UK. “NEASC accreditation will really help families as they encounter what is a unique program. This project has now come of age and is a tremendously positive option for many American families posted to the UK. The access that this gives non-Americans to American universities is also really unique in British education.”

If American pupils complete their high school career at Kingham Hill they graduate with their American high school diploma. It has been pleasing to see a smattering of graduating American pupils resplendent in their academic gowns at a very traditional British independent school speech day. It is typical of the camaraderie and global outlook that characterises Kingham Hill School in 2010.

Wrekin College English Teacher Andy Brennan has set himself the challenge of cycling 500 miles in 50 hours to raise money for the Wrekin College Orphanage in Malawi.

Andy’s aim is to raise at least £1000 specifically for food for the Amao Orphanage in Mtunthama, Malawi. He was shocked that the 50 children living in the orphanage did not have breakfast. Their first meal of the day is lunch. It costs just 90p per day to feed a child but securing regular funding is always a challenge.

He plans to cycle 500 miles in 50 hours, starting and finishing at Wrekin College. Starting Wednesday 18th August to Friday 20th August 2010

If you like to support Andy please donate through the Just Giving website: www.justgiving.com/medicmalawi-breakfastboost. Every penny donated goes to the Orpahange.

More information about the orphanage can be found on the Medic Malawi Website www.medicmalawi.org or from Wrekin College T: 01952 265604 E: info@wrekincollege.com

Bedford Modern School students made up the winning team in the regional Maths Challenge competition held at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge recently.

The successful BMS team comprised Year 9 students, Alexander Jeacocke, who is 13 years old and Matthew Wrigley, who is 14 years old together with Year 8 students, Sam Hosegood, who is 13 years old and Simon Whitaker, who is also 13 years old.

The regional Maths Challenge competition involved 30 schools from the area and consisted of five rounds including a Mathematical Relay, a Cross-number and a Head to Head round.

The team was led by Bedford Modern School Maths Teacher, Andrew Grounds, and the four successful students will take part in the National Final of the Team Maths Challenge to be held in London on Monday 21st June.

Nick Shackleton, Head of Mathematics at Bedford Modern School said: “The boys performed exceptionally well and deserved to win the event. They are only the second team from BMS to reach the National Finals and we look forward to seeing them take on the other regional final winners in London.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School students, Simon Whitaker, Matthew Wrigley and Alexander Jeacocke, who are part of the BMS team through to the National Final of the Maths Challenge

Bedford Modern School Head Boy and Year 13 student, Segun Akinola, has been offered a place at the Birmingham Conservatoire to read music composition. The Birmingham Conservatoire is an international conservatoire that is a full faculty of Birmingham City University and a major concert venue based in the heart of the city centre.

Having obtained 10 GCSEs, Segun is currently studying for his English Literature and Language, Economics and Music A Levels. “I joined Bedford Modern School in September 2003 and have had a passion for music since playing the piano at the age of five. I began drum kit lessons at BMS when I joined the School in Year 7,” said Segun.

Segun, who has a Distinction in Grade 8 Drum Kit, has also played in the School Concert, Jazz and Dance Bands, as well as the School Orchestra, and was one of ten national finalists who competed in the 2009 Young Drummer of the Year Competition. Earlier this year, Segun won the School Prize for Composition at the Senior Music Prizes.

“The music technology facilities at Bedford Modern School are second to none and I would encourage younger pupils at the School to get behind an instrument and be creative. The difference between BMS and many other schools is that BMS uses industry standard music software. By this I mean software that is used by top recording artists such as Lily Allen and The Killers,” said Segun.

Segun is looking forward to taking up his place in September. “I will be studying Music Composition with a view to being a film composer. After watching the Transformers film, I was attracted to the music and this encouraged me to investigate film music and film composers, eventually sparking an interest in classical orchestral music.”

The Music Composition course will last for four years and is very much a practical course. “I intend to obtain experience in writing for different ensembles, different styles, and have the opportunity to experiment with manipulating different ensembles to create different effects, ultimately writing music for Hollywood films,” added Segun.

“I have been very proud to serve as Head Boy at Bedford Modern School and my time at the School has been filled with numerous opportunities. I can honestly say that at BMS students can try everything and will be supported by staff in whatever choices they make,” said Segun.

John Mower, Director of Music at BMS said: “Segun has made a huge contribution to the life of the School and I know he will enjoy his time at the Birmingham Conservatoire.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School’s Head Boy, Segun Akinola

Mary Irish from The Noah’s Ark Trust went into RGS Worcester to receive a cheque for £2,600 from the students who raised the money at their recent Fashion Show.
The proceeds of the school fashion show ‘Behind the Seams’ was given to the charity that helps support young people who have had to cope with bereavement.

“We’re so grateful to the girls for their hard work and wonderful result in raising this sum,” said Mrs Irish. “Donations like this mean that we can help offer support to more young people and even cover the cost of a residential adventure for a number children who receive help through the charity. The fashion show was a triumph of success and the hard work of everyone involved at RGS.”

Photo: Mary Irish of The Noah’s Ark Trust, receives a cheque for £2,600 from RGS Worcester Fashion Show students.

The largest building development in Bromsgrove School’s 500 year history has just received planning approval. On the back of a 2010 OFSTED verdict of “outstanding”, the School is embarking on a multi-million pound transformation of the area closest to the Worcester Road entrance. New sporting, academic, boarding and hospitality facilities will be approached from a redesigned driveway and car park so that visitors will experience a first impression that does justice to the stunning architecture at the heart the School.

Among the projects are a spectacular new indoor sports venue and satellite buildings that will be available for community as well as School use. The architecture of all the new structures will offer a 21st century foretaste of the beautiful buildings that lie beyond, and enhance past all recognition the current site around the sports hall, swimming pool and car park.

As planning permission was being sought, local residents were invited to the School to offer their ideas. As a result of this consultative process, the final plans took into account the needs of neighbours, and unanimous consent was duly achieved. No objections were taken to the final meeting, and the council then voted fourteen to nil in favour of the developments.

Headmaster, Chris Edwards, said: “By listening to and working with residents, the School and its architects were able to move swiftly and smoothly towards a green, state of the art masterplan. This magnificent development will benefit beyond measure the School and wider community. We are thrilled.”

41 pupils and 6 staff enjoyed a fantastic week on Oswestry School’s annual snowsport trip to the Aosta valley in NW Italy.

Throughout the week snow conditions were perfect for beginners, intermediate, advanced skiers and boarders alike. The 4* Hotel Norden Palace was a welcome haven for rest and recuperation for tired bodies at the end of each day and it provided excellent silver service restaurant facilities. A busy après-ski programme was enjoyed by everyone, highlights being ice-skating, bowling and the ever popular disco.

Two year 12 pupils have been selected to attend the Interski Scholarship selection day at Chill Factor, Trafford Park, with the possibility of going on to take an instructors’ course.

A former Prior Park student has had her paintings recognised by the prestigious Bath Society of Artists.

Two of Marina Gardiner’s paintings, called ‘Kleftiko, Milos’ and ‘Landscape From a Dream’ are currently on display at the society’s summer exhibition.

Marina comments:
“To have my paintings on display at the exhibition feels like a massive achievement. I have entered many competitions and this is the first time I’ve been noticed. I’ve just finished my first year at Edinburgh University, studying architecture. An education in art, such as one from Prior Park College, has allowed me to take an artistic approach in the presentation of my projects, using a wide range of materials and techniques to present proposals. During my time at the College, I felt constantly supported; the art department is a nurturing environment and enjoying art is central to producing good pieces.”

Prior Park Headteacher, James Murphy O’Connor, comments:
“Congratulations to Marina on some stunning pieces of work. To be picked by such a prestigious art society above many other talented individuals is extremely impressive. We look forward to hearing all about Marina’s future endeavours and wish her all the luck for her architecture degree. Onwards and upwards.”

The exhibition is being held at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath until 19th June.

Contact us at Prior Park College on 01225 831000. To find out more about the College, visit www.priorparkschools.co.uk.

Pupils at Staines Prep witnessed the wonder of the natural world during science lessons this week. Studies of animal life-cycles culminated in the emergence of several beautiful creatures which charmed and amazed the children.

Year 1 pupils were thrilled to see the newly hatched chicks, whose eggs they had been observing for the last three weeks in their incubator. Both have been fondly named Poppy and Pansy.

Head of Lower School Mrs Williams said “The chicks have toured the Lower School to the delight of all the children. Many of the parents have been for a visit and it has been a wonderful opportunity for the children to experience new life and growth first hand.”

Meanwhile, Year 4 pupils went out into the school’s environmental area to release painted lady butterflies. The children had followed their development from tiny caterpillars through to chrysalises, until they finally emerged as fully-grown adult butterflies.

Science teacher Derek Heath said “This has been a wonderful last few weeks. It’s a joy to see the children working out in the fresh air and building up a real interest and respect for creatures who they previously may not have even noticed.”

Photo: Simran Sohal aged 8 releasing a Painted Lady butterfly

Last Friday Year 8 students at the Marist Senior School, Sunninghill experienced a hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) day. This was facilitated by the charity Smallpeice and it was aimed at introducing engineering to women as a future career option. The girls embraced the tasks and challenges with enthusiasm and designed highly commendable models of working wind turbines.

Louise Duncan, course leader from the charity set the girls construction challenges which required problem solving skills and lateral thinking. Lynn Trainor, Science teacher said “I was extremely impressed by how diligently the girls worked together to address the assigned tasks.” Throughout the day the girls were competing to design and market an operational wind turbine. Groups were assessed for aesthetics, efficiency (ie highest voltage), cost, stability and teamwork. Most teams successfully completed all elements of the task and some students were refining design details towards the end of the afternoon

Mr Mark McCloskey, Headteacher of the Marist remarked that “Science, technology and maths are high priority, corner-stone subjects in the Marist curriculum. The introduction on an engineering component with team work and thinking skills was a refreshing initiative which was well received by all.”

Kayla Spitzer, a year 13 student in the Marist has been offered an unconditional offer at Villanova University in America to study Engineering. She selected this course because it combines Maths and Science and gives her so much scope for her future professional career development.

Head of Science at the Senior School, Ann Royston, was delighted by the response of the girls during the day and commented, “It was a thoroughly enjoyable day. It was very hands on learning for the girls, and it introduced them to the practical applications of science in our world.”

Further to this highly successful day, the Marist School has been given the opportunity to offer six free places on a residential engineering course at Portsmouth University in July. Competition for places amongst the girls is likely to be very high.

Parkside School, based in Stoke D’Abernon, has regained the Epsom College Super Teams trophy for the 10th year in a row. The school entered teams in the U9, U11 and U13 age categories with all boys performing extremely well, notching up points in the swimming, football, hockey, distance running, sprints, basketball and gym tests. Parkside took 1st place in the U9 and U11 age groups, 2nd place in a competitive U13 age group and finished in 1st place in the overall competition.

Further success came as Parkside won the Seven Schools trophy this year with a strong performance by the entire athletics team. The school took the title after five years of dominance from Frensham based school Edgeborough.

Eight individual winners and wins in the U10 and U12 relays ensured Parkside finished top of all competing schools at the event, held at The Spectrum Centre in Guildford. Aldro School was 2nd and Edgeborough took 3rd place.

Congratulations goes to Parkside’s winners: Harry Thursfield, U10 600m, Alfie Bloomfield, U10 Cricket Ball Throw, Sergui Celebidachi, U10 High Jump, Charlie Kerslake, U12 Shot Put, James Odunsi, U12 70m Hurdles, Oscar Newson-Smith, U14 Triple Jump and 800m.

Nick Embling also took 1st place in the 1500m, breaking the Spectrum record which was set in 1984!

The boys put in another exceptional performance at this year’s IAPS National Swimming Championships held at the K2 Centre in Crawley last month. Ian Stamp, director of sports at Parkside said, “We had more Parkside boys taking part in individual races at this national event than ever before, which demonstrates the depth of swimmers the school now has.” All Parkside boys swim every week in the school’s indoor swimming pool under the instruction of top class coaches.

Congratulations to the U12 team who came third overall to clinch the bronze medal in the Freestyle relay and Max Herne who took the bronze medal in the 25m Freestyle.
Parkside’s Tennis teams have also been outclassing their rivals with the U9 team through to the Surrey Schools League semi finals and the U10’s beating all opponents in their path to reach the finals at the end of June. The school’s U11 team will play Kings School later on this month to see who makes it to the final.

Parkside, renowned for its excellent sporting reputation, has also been hosting its own tennis tournament – ‘Road to Wimbledon’ which has seen boys taking part in matches during their break and lunchtimes. The final will see brothers, Ben and Jack Draper, go head to head. The winner will represent Parkside at county level.

Photo: Parkside School’s swimming team took part in the IAPS National Swimming Championships held at the K2 Centre Crawley last month.

On Sunday 16th of May, a team of students and teachers from Caterham School dressed as their favourite superheroes and went to Brighton to join over 1500 runners in the annual charitable event, the Heroes Run.

The students and teachers will be going to Tanzania in Summer to visit Lerang’wa Primary School, as part of an ongoing charitable project. The purpose of the run was to raise money for Lerang’wa School and to test their fitness for the challenging climb of Mount Meru, which is also part of their itinerary.

Every member of the team completed the run with Tom Ganley and Lisa Mill winning the men’s and women’s 5km events.

The funds raised for Lerang’wa Primary in previous years has provided money for books, desks, accommodation for teachers, solar panel electricity and food. The current building project is the new kitchen to be followed by a dining area. The Caterham School teachers and students will undertake practical tasks around the school, teach some English, play sport with the pupils and learn about the Maasai culture. The teaching staff will also assist with training the teachers and examine future possibilities for the project. So far the team have raised over £6,500 this year.

Headmaster Julian Thomas, who is one of the team going to Lerang’wa School this year and who took part in the 10K run, said ‘’I was so proud to see the Caterham Superheroes in action. I am always impressed by the time, effort and energy that our students will freely commit to charitable causes.’’

Oswestry School pupils put their culinary skills to the test in a live cookery competition organised by the School’s award-winning catering company, Chartwells.

The ‘On your marks, get set, cook!’ competition, overseen by professional chef Darren Tinkler, saw two teams of three pupils and one teacher go head-to-head in a bid to create the tastiest and healthiest dish possible from a selection of mystery ingredients which included chicken, pasta, chick peas, basmati rice and a selection of seasonal vegetables.

After 15 minutes of frenzied cooking, the girls’ red team produced a delicious dish of chicken fillet in a tomato ragout sauce, served with pasta and wilted greens, while the boys’ green team served up a mouth-watering balti of chick peas, peppers and spices with basmati rice and wilted spinach.
It was a close contest, but the excited audience of pupils and staff eventually voted for the red team’s repast.

The prize for the winners was to see the School’s catering team replicate the winning recipe and serve it for lunch for the whole school to enjoy.

Two budding journalists from Prior Park have bagged the title of ‘Tamezin’s Young Journalist of the Year Award 2010’.

This year’s theme was ‘Inspirational Interviews’, for which winners Tony Heaton, 14, and Emma Clague, 15, interviewed an individual with a fascinating story and wrote it up into an article. Tony Heaton interviewed Polish war hero, Lieutenant Witold Brocki, whilst Emma Clague spoke to Polly Bates, a paediatric oncology doctor who treats under 18 leukaemia and cancer sufferers.

The students were picked out of a large number of young writers across Britain. Toby Heaton won First Prize in the junior category and Emma Clague won First Prize in the senior section. Both winners were awarded certificates, cash prizes and Emma Clague has also won a work experience opportunity for this summer.

This annual competition is run by Tamezin, a national lifestyle magazine and aims to encourage the young writers of tomorrow. The Award Ceremony took place earlier this month at the Kensington Close Hotel and was presented by Cassandra Jardine of the Daily Telegraph and freelance writer Greg Watts.

Headmaster, James Murphy O’Connor, comments:
“The students were encouraged to enter the competition by our Head of English, Nigel Tattersfield, as we want them to develop their existing writing skills. Emma and Toby chose and interviewed two inspirational people and told their story compassionately; congratulations to them for their efforts. We hear that Emma may be going to BBC News 24 for work experience this summer, which is a great foot in the door, and we look forward to hearing all about it.”
 

A Worcester primary school choir has battled through the Regional Heats of BBC Radio 3s Choir of the Year competition to qualify for the next round.

RGS Springfield, which is situated in Britannia Square in the city, won through following auditions at the Warwick Arts Centre. They were entered in the children’s round and were competing against other local choirs.

The singers performed Pirate for a Day, Go Down Moses, and Chang McTang McQuarter Cat. The judges said that: “Springfield sang with great enthusiasm and their ensemble work was very tidy!”

The Springfield choir is made up of girls and boys aged 7-11 and they had been practising for the event for many weeks. After the competition, all of the pupils took part in a workshop put on by the Warwick Arts Centre.

“I’m really proud of all the children, “ said Liz McCabe music teacher at Springfield. “They have rehearsed with so much eagerness, so I’m delighted that it has all paid off. The day was very exciting for them and we’re looking forward to the next round now.”

On Monday 10 May, Simon Singh MBE visited Caterham School to deliver a lecture on Science in the Media. His presentation explored the difficulty the media can experience in seeking to report scientific studies and gave an insight into how the media can, through omission or exaggeration, misrepresent these scientific achievements.

Simon Singh is a scientist and mathematician who is a leading author, documentary filmmaker and journalist. He attended Imperial College London, where he studied Physics and then he completed a PhD in Particle Physics at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and at CERN, Geneva. He has worked for the BBC on programmes such as Tomorrow’s World and Horizon. In 1996, he directed Fermat’s Last Theorem, a BAFTA award-winning documentary about the world’s most notorious mathematical problem. He has also presented The Science of Secrecy, a five part series for Channel 4. He has also written several books including Fermat’s Last Theorem, The Code Book, Big Bang and Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘’Simon has established a well-deserved reputation for presenting scientific and mathematical topics in an accessible and entertaining way. He also explained that scientists can sometimes be hesitant about publishing scientific facts for fear of litigation by large organisations and corporations. His lecture was witty and thought provoking. I think the audience will have taken the message that we should be sceptics about claims for scientific achievement until all the facts have been established.’’

A new generation of residents has arrived at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School. The school’s flock of Dorking hens has produced three lively chicks and pupils have been helping to care for them. The chicks, two girls and a boy are three days old, are fit and healthy and the females are destined to be the egg-layers of the future. The male is likely to be used for showing.

Chickens arrived at the school a year ago and have been providing a steady supply of eggs as part of the Countryside and Environment BTEC course. Younger pupils have also helped look after the chickens and there are many enthusiastic members of Chicken Club which takes place after school.

Dorking hens are a local breed with royal connections as their eggs were favoured by Queen Victoria. On a recent visit to the School, the Duchess of Gloucester was presented with eggs from the flock. The breed has distinctive plumage and is unusual in having an extra toe (most chickens have 4)

The chicks were hatched in an incubator but will join the rest of the flock in a few weeks time. Teacher, Mr Greenhalgh comments “The animals that are raised at this school are important element in the curriculum for the BTEC. Pupils learn how to look after them and also how to ensure that they are commercially viable. Our chickens have been very successful and the new chicks will be a welcome addition to the flock.”

Photo: A junior pupil with one of the Dorking chicks

On Friday 14th May 22 King’s Bruton pupils took part in 7 different categories of the Trinity Guildhall performance examinations, including Group Drama, Performing Text and, as a new discipline this year, Shakespeare. 50% of those students gained Distinctions, with UCAS points achieved for candidates in both 4th form and Lower Sixth. The range of material chosen and presented by the students included extracts from plays by Shaw, Sophocles and South African playwright Athol Fugard, a sonnet by the 16th century poet Michael Drayton, and an extract from President Obama’s Inauguration Speech.

The performances also involved required students to incorporate various skills such as commedia dell’Arte, improvisation, and showing their thorough knowledge of the text by answering questions in role. Congratulations to all involved.

Bedford Modern Junior School has been home to a large Teddy Bear wearing a BMS boy’s school uniform for the past ten years. The bear is known to Junior School pupils as “Mr McIver”, as he was presented to the School by Ian McIver, a committee member of the OBM (Old Bedford Modernians’) Club.

As Bedford Modern School is a fully co-educational school, the bear has now been joined by another Teddy Bear dressed in a BMS girl’s uniform. This new bear was bought at Peacocks Auction Centre in Bedford recently, and is a gift to the school from the OBM Club. School uniforms for both bears have been made by Mrs Leonie Zdziarski, a dressmaker and former BMS parent.

Richard Wildman, Bedford Modern School Archivist and OBM Club Secretary said: “Knowing that Mr Yelland, Headmaster of Bedford Modern Junior School was keen to add a teddy bear in BMS girl’s uniform to accompany “Mr McIver”, the OBM Club was very glad to donate the new bear. The Club is grateful to Mrs Zdziarski, a very skilled dressmaker, for making the uniform.”

Photo: A selection of Bedford Modern Junior School Year 3 pupils with the Teddy Bears wearing school uniform

Three hens are the latest arrivals at King’s Acremont, the Pre-Prep of the King’s School Ely.

They have been given to the school by Year 2 teacher, Mrs Anna Wynn who keeps over 100 hens and other livestock on the family smallholding.

Each class was given the task of naming one of the hens. Reception chose Flower and Year 2 decided on Midnight.

Year 1’s choice was Princess Leia, after the fictional Star Wars character, but everyone decided that it might be more appropriate to call her Princess Layer. All three hens are proving to be prolific layers and the children look forward to eating the eggs.

The hen house and run have been set up in a corner of the huge garden at the back of the school and each class is taking it in weekly turns to be ‘hen keepers’.

Head of King’s Acremont, Dr Lynda Brereton, said: “We have our own vegetable garden so this is another extension of the work we do with the children to encourage them to take an interest in the world around them; the food they eat, where it comes from and how it is produced.

“The hens have proved a big hit and no doubt there will be plenty of volunteers to look after them during the holidays.”

Strathallan pupil Duncan Scott achieved outstanding results at the Scottish National Age-Group Championships at Tollcross winning eight individual medals and three relay medals.

Duncan who is pictured here with coach Elaine Johnston also achieved six personal best times and was Scottish National Age-Group Champion in the 100 fly, 200 fly and 200 individual medley for 11/12 age group.

“Duncan swam extremely well over the four day meet and his hard work continues to produce excellent results” said Strathallan swim team coach Elaine Johnston

Bedford Modern School Year 13 students Greg Edwards and James Powell, who are part of the School’s 1st VIII crew, were selected to represent Great Britain at the Munich European Regatta that took place over the weekend of Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th May.

For 18 year old James, this was the first time he had represented Great Britain. Greg and James won Gold in the VIII in a closely fought race against Spain on Saturday. They also won on the Sunday, in a Coxless Four, against strong European competition.

Whilst Greg and James were competing in Munich, Bedford Modern School Year 12 student Charlotte Cook was selected to compete in the Ghent Regatta in Belgium. 17 year old Charlotte managed to scoop two Golds on consecutive days’ rowing in the Women’s Junior Quad.

All three BMS students are now very much looking forward to competing in the 147th Bedford Regatta taking place on Saturday 15th May and, more importantly, the National Schools’ Regatta held in Nottingham at the end of the month.

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 13 student, James Powell, with his Gold Medal from the Munich Regatta

Students from a Derbyshire school were on song at the UK’s biggest amateur choral competition.

The Combined Choir at Mount St Mary’s College performed in the first round of the BBC Choir of the Year event at The Anvil concert hall, in Basingstoke.

Pupils aged between seven and 13 years old sang ‘Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat’, from Guys and Dolls, which featured a solo from student Alex Allt.

Lucy Kitchener, director of music at Mount St Mary’s, said: “The bi-annual BBC Choir of the Year is one of the most prestigious national choral competitions so we were thrilled to represent the school and test ourselves against some of the best choirs in the country. We sang very well and had excellent feedback from the judges.”

Mount St Mary’s College Choir was featured on Songs of Praise last year after impressing the judges with its entry for the BBC TV show’s Choir of the Year contest.

Its Junior Choir was also awarded the Voices Foundation Junior Choirs Award for Excellence at the National Festival of Music for Youth in Birmingham in 2009.

Lucy added: “The choir continues to go from strength to strength and, as the standard improves, we’re keen to take part in more national festivals.”

The competition followed a performance by Mount St Mary’s jazz band at the prestigious black tie snooker event, the Sheffield Cue Ball.

Talented musicians got their big break playing to a high profile crowd which included John Parrott and Dennis Taylor in the city’s Winter Gardens for the charity event, which marked the beginning of the World Snooker Championship.

Strathallan Equestrian Teams excelled at the annual Scottish Schools Equestrian Championships at Gleneagles.

The Intermediate Team of Jenny Summersgill, Emma Cheape, Rosie Williams and Sarah Cheape won the dressage and show jumping events and were overall winners.

In the Senior Section Heather Larson, Corrie Stewart, Flora Hay and Olivia Woodes-Rogers won the Show jumping event and came overall second.

Worcestershire’s Rose Bank Vineyard has a local school’s Summer Fair to thank for signing up a pub as a customer for its award-winning wine.

In 2009, vineyard owner Richard Tomkinson exhibited at the Summer Fair held at RGS The Grange, a junior school only a few miles away in Claines. Whilst attending the Fair, Jim Godwin who owns the White Hart in Fernhill Heath, sampled the wine and began to sell it at his pub.

Richard Tomkinson started the Rose Bank Vineyard with his wife Rita in 2003. “Last year gave us an ideal opportunity to introduce our wine and demonstrate that good wine can be grown in Fernhill Heath.
“The fair at The Grange was excellent with the variety of stalls attracting a lot of interest,” said Mr Tomkinson. “We were able to provide wine tasting and this directly resulted in our meeting Jim Godwin from The White Hart Pub in Fernhill Heath. He subsequently now stocks our wine, which thanks to the Grange’s summer fair, has brought two local businesses together.”

“I couldn’t be more delighted at the outcome,” said Gareth Hughes, Headmaster of The Grange. “We love to invite local businesses to come and support the event, so we were pleased that Rose Bank Vineyard had a stand. To actually see an outcome like this is tremendous.”

Rose Bank Vineyard is obviously hopeful of repeating this success as the company is exhibiting at this year’s Fair, which takes place on Saturday 3 July. There are many other local companies attending, with products ranging from hand-made soap to custom jewellery, as well as lots of children’s entertainment on offer.

Photo: From left to right as viewed: Richard Tomkinson (Rose Bank Vineyard), Gareth Hughes (The Grange) and Jim Godwin (The White Hart).

Ruth Miskin, one of the UK’s leading authorities on teaching children to read and to write, will be presenting her thoughts to Headteachers at St Joseph’s College Ipswich on Thursday 20th May 2010.

Over forty Headteachers from across Suffolk and North Essex have been invited to a conference to hear Ruth discuss her Read Write Inc. programme which she has developed over the past ten years. These are published by Oxford University Press and used extensively both in the UK and around the world to improve literacy standards. Ruth contributed to the Rose Review, and has been an adviser to the Government on literacy, including Letters and Sounds. She frequently writes in the national press and her work has been widely featured by the BBC and Channel 4.

This conference aimed at headteachers, will involve learning about “The Big Literacy Picture: Listening and Reading, Speaking and Writing”.

Around 100 girls and boys from Bedford Modern School took part in the Bedford Regatta on Saturday 15th May. The support from staff and parents was outstanding and definitely contributed towards some great BMS performances.

The result of the day came from the Year 9 BMS boys competing in the U14 Octuple who, against tough competition, made it through to the Final to race against Bedford School. The Final was watched by a very interested Bedford community and saw Bedford Modern School winning in style. The U14 Octuple comprised Owen Thornton, Joe Bennison, James Berry, Nick Clark, Adam Dingley, Josh Webley, Henk Kroon, Connor Hayward and Gavin McWilliams (cox), coached by Doug Barrell.

This is the first ever win for the Year 9 boys who were ecstatic at their victory and hence, as a rowing tradition, threw their cox through the air into the River Great Ouse.

Other notable Bedford Modern School victories came from the Year 10 boys in a Coxed Quad who fought very well against tough competition. The Coxed Quad consisted of Jack Lundgren, Matthew Smith, Glenn Tamkin and Robin Harvey and David Sillars (cox), coached by Alex Chetwynd. “I would also like to draw attention to the number of BMS girls competing at the Bedford Regatta. The atmosphere was amazing and it was a great day for BMS Rowing”, said Alistair Brown, Director of Rowing at the School.

The support at 3.00pm for the BMS versus Eton race in Junior 18 VIIIs was incredible and it was a real boost for all the Bedford Modern School squads. The BMS squad consisted of Greg Edwards (Year 13), Matthew Bowman (Year 12), Thomas Sweeting (Year 11), James Powell (Year 13), William Gale (Year 12), Edward Munno (Year 11), Andy Taylor (Year 11), Robert Bell (Year 12) and cox, Alistair Redman (Year 12). “This was one of the most anticipated races of the day and this win took Bedford Modern School through to the Final. Thank you to all supporters,” added Alistair Brown.

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 9 squad who competed in the U14 Octuple (L-R: Owen Thornton, Joe Bennison, James Berry, Nick Clark, Adam Dingley, Josh Webley, Henk Kroon, Connor Hayward and Gavin McWilliams (cox)

Former Bedford Modern School student, Alex Hoppenbrouwers, has successfully climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Alex reached the summit via the Machame route as opposed to the easier Marangu route.

“I landed at Kilimanjaro airport and was taken to Moshi, a small town in the foothills of Kilimanjaro. The next day, after being taken to the Machame gate at the bottom of Kilimanjaro, I started my ascent to Machame Camp. As it was the rainy season, there was torrential rain for the majority of the day but it is far less busy in the rainy season, with approximately 3% of those people who climb at high season,” said Alex.

The ascent to the first camp took six hours through the rainforest before reaching Machame Camp at 3,000m and sleeping in tents. By the end of the second day, Alex had managed to climb above the cloud level thereby no longer being affected by the rain but sacrificing an absence of rain for a considerable drop in temperatures.

On the third day, Alex began the ascent to Lava Tower at 4,600 metres before descending to the camp at Baranco which stands at 3,940 metres. It is important to ascend and then descend as this aids acclimatisation to prevent altitude sickness.

Day four saw an ascent through the alpine desert to Barafu Camp at 4,600m which was an extremely barren and cold landscape solely comprised of rocks. Later that night there were a few hours of sleep before beginning the final ascent to the summit. “When we started the ascent it was the hardest thing of all and took every ounce of strength. A colleague compared it to walking on the moon as you struggle to take every breath and your pace is terribly slow”, said Alex.

“We finally reached the summit which was a great feeling of elation at 6.50am to see the sunrise which was an awe inspiring sight. From the summit at Uhuru peak you could clearly see the whole of Mount Meru which is 45 miles away from Mount Kilimanjaro. I would highly recommend climbing Mount Kilimanjaro but certainly do not underestimate it!” added Alex.

Alex completed the climb in six days and, so far, has managed to raise approximately £1,000.00 for Help For Heroes. If you would like to assist Alex in supporting the charity please visit the JustGiving website at www.justgiving.com/alexhoppy

The cost of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was raised by Alex himself whilst working as a waiter earlier this year which means that all funds raised will go direct to the Help For Heroes charity. Alex has been offered a place at University College London to read Pharmacology that he will take up later this year.

Photo: Former Bedford Modern School student Alex Hoppenbrouwers who successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for charity

Sixteen-year-old Chris Aniskowicz set a record when he scored the fastest 100 in the history of King’s School Ely cricket.

In a 1st XI home match against Kimbolton School, he scored a brilliant 129 off 43 balls, the second 50 off just 17 balls. The innings included ten sixes and 13 fours.

Chris’ record-breaking performance wasn’t quite enough to seal with match which Kimbolton won by four wickets.

King’s coach, Kevin Shaw, said: “Despite losing it was a great game to start the season and a fantastic performance by Chris who batted at number six.

“It followed a very successful pre-season tour to the Serious Cricket Centre in Basingstoke and Lord’s where the lads received video analysis from the Hawkeye technology used in Test matches.”

King’s scored 254 for 8 in 35 overs and Kimbolton 258 for 6 (33.5 overs).

Photo: King’s School Ely record-breaking batsman, Chris Aniskowicz.

King’s School Ely pupils won ten medals at the Cambridgeshire Club Athletics Championships at St Ives Outdoor Centre. It was the school’s best ever medal performance at the championships.

Star of the day was double gold medallist Joe Lines who took first place in two under-17 throws events, winning the discus final with 32m 13cm and the javelin with 35m. Fellow King’s javelin prospect, Michael Burnford, took the under-17 bronze medal with a 31m 13cm throw.

Flavia Kumar was also a double medal winner. She won gold in the under-17 triple jump with 9m 37cm and bronze in the under-17 javelin with a 20metre 68cm throw.

There were also silver medals in the under-17 100m hurdles final for Robert West who came second on 16.8 seconds and for Hugo Bryan in the under-20 110metre hurdles final coming second in 20.3 seconds.

Three of the medals were won by promising King’s Junior School athletes. Thirteen-year-old Gemma Gow, competing against older girls in under-15 events, won a silver medal in the under-15 long jump with 4metres 21 centimetres.

There was also a silver medal for Alice Harris who came second in the under-13 70m hurdles final in 14.9 seconds and India Baynes who won a bronze medal in the under-13 800 metres final in 2.49.3.

Photo:: King’s School Ely double gold medallist Joe Lines.

A theatrical performance devised and performed entirely by sixth form students has just been presented at Stonyhurst College. A level Theatre Studies students performed an adaptation of ‘The Little Matchstick Girl’ for their practical exam, for which the group also wrote and composed songs which were performed live throughout the piece.It was a highly engaging and moving performance, showcasing the students’ many and diverse talents to an appreciative audience.

Photo: Conal Mackenzie, 18, from Blackburn and Helena Bold-Davies, 17, from St Albans who has just gained a place at the National Youth Theatre.

Two local pupils emerged from a strong field to win the J14 Double Sculls event at last weekend’s Worcester Regatta.

Ben Collins and Harry Turner, who attend RGS Worcester, beat rivals from Stourport Boat Club in a pulsating final, winning by just half a length at the finishing line.

RGS had tasted earlier success with Andy Dowty and Robin Hearn dominating the J17 Double Sculls event and comfortably winning their final.

In the afternoon, Alex Brockington and Angus Wiltshire overcame all opposition to set up an all-RGS final of the Boys J16 Single Sculls; it was Brockington who ran out the winner, by a margin of one and a half lengths.
At Shrewsbury a week earlier, the same situation arose in the final of J14 sculls, where Richard Stevens beat Ben Collins in an all-RGS final.
The Boat Club’s squads are out in force this weekend at the National Schools Regatta in Nottingham, where the School is entering four VIIIs, five Coxed Fours, a Coxless Pair and a Single Scull.

Photo: The winning RGS J14 Pair, Harry Turner and Ben Collins, being presented with their trophies by Bob Pritchard, Chairman of Worcester Rowing Club.

Three Stonyhurst students have been awarded places at the National Youth Theatre. Catriona Graffius, Jordan Riley and Helena Bold-Davies are all sixth formers at Stonyhurst College, taking Theatre Studies A Level. “Competition for places with the NYT is very high,” said Stonyhurst Head of Drama, Miss Johanna Egar, “so they have done really well to get in.”
Stonyhurst has an excellent track record for getting students into the National Youth Theatre, with 12 places being awarded over the past 6 consecutive years.

Photo: left to right: Catriona Graffius, Jordan Riley and Helena Bold-Davies.

Four Stonyhurst College hockey players have been selected to play for Lancashire. Jessica Pye was selected for the U17s, Clare Lupton for the U16s, and Emily Smith and Helen Finn for the U15s.
Emily and Helen played in the Lancashire U15 1st team on Sunday 2nd May, and won the North of England County Tournament. The team scored a total of 36 goals, conceding only 3; they beat Yorkshire 7-0 in the final game and may now go forward to play the winners of the Southern County Tournament, watched by National coaches.

Photo: Jessica Pye

A year 13 pupils is quoted in the report saying, ‘…staff and pupils form a family. We can turn to almost anyone for support….this openness to people’s differences allows people to flourish in what they want to do in a comfortable and loving environment.’

All UK independent schools have a full inspection conducted by the Independent Schools Inspectorate every six years. Inspections cover the full range of a school’s educational provision, and the inspectors form judgements on nine different aspects according to an objective set of criteria.

Below are some quotations from the reports.

“The College’s most distinctive feature is an outstanding, all-pervasive spirituality, which promotes reflective self-awareness and increased moral fibre, leading many pupils to relish opportunities to turn their faith into action.”

“A broad curriculum, flexibly adapted to enable pupils to achieve their full potential, makes an excellent contribution to pupils’ achievements and learning…”

“Extra-curricular success is exceptional.”

“The quality of pupils’ personal development is excellent…”

“The pastoral care of the pupils and arrangements for their welfare, health and safety are excellent.”

To read the report, please follow the link: http://www.stonyhurst.ac.uk/uploads/std2904_report_stonyhurst_final_04_2010.pdf

Jonathan in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
Christ College Young Musician of the Year, Jonathan Robinson, has been cast as the lead role of Count Heinrich in the forthcoming production by WNO MAX of Judith Weir’s opera The Black Spider, directed by Rhian Hutchings. Invited to audition for the role after having participated in workshops run by the WNO, Jonathan will now have the chance to perform in front of the composer in July.

Christ College’s Director of Music, Richard West, commented, “This is a very fine achievement; it will be a fantastic opportunity for Jonathan to experience authentic operatic rehearsal processes and be a part of such an exciting venture.”

The opera is a work that incorporates both horror and comedy. Count Heinrich has ordered the people in his village to move the trees nearer to his estate in order to provide a shady walk for him on a sunny day. However, this task is not easy and the villagers obviously struggle!

Following this order, a mysterious being in the form of a green man appears and offers to move the trees in exchange for a young lady from the village that he will make his wife. A young, feisty villager named Christina steps up and offers her hand but, as she is set to marry a fellow villager (Carl), she has no intention of going through with the marriage to the green man.

The green man is fully aware of her deceit and kisses her hand. The consequences include the birth of the black spider out of Christina’s hand and the villagers’ attempt to kill the spider that is causing ill health and death and the demise of the village.

Christ College pupils welcome home 2RW
Christ College pupils were part of a sizeable gathering that welcomed home soldiers from the Royal Welsh Regiment on Saturday 1st May which marked A Company 2nd Battalion’s official return from Afghanistan.

Following a church service in the morning, the soldiers marched through Brecon at midday, led by The Regimental Band of the Royal Welsh.

The Lord Lieutenant of Powys and a governor of Christ College, Shan Legge-Bourke, presented operational medals and accepted the honorary citizenship of the town on behalf of the Royal Welsh from Lord Mayor of Brecon, Councillor Ieuan Williams.

Brigadier Russ Wardle, head of the Army in Wales, said the Army had a “proud heritage” in Brecon.

He said: “The Royal Welsh, in its previous guises, has been proud to be honoured with the freedom of Brecon and are delighted to be granted this privilege once again.

“Brecon has a significant link to the Army, not only in an historical context over the course of the last century, but as a training ground for the modern-day soldier, and as the headquarters of the Army in Wales.”

Christ College pupil Josceline Beaumont is being tipped for the top in the sport of shooting, and is setting her sights on Commonwealth Games glory in 2014.

Josceline has been fast-tracked as a future British Olympian after being hand-picked to join the Lloyds TSB Local Heroes initiative. Josceline will receive a cash injection of £1000 towards training and competing after being selected as one of only 270 youngsters from across the UK.

Josceline attended the Cardiff launch of the initiative at the Welsh Institute of Sport earlier this month where she received a masterclass from former British Olympians Iwan Thomas and Leon Taylor.

Josceline said: “Last year I shot for Great Britain twice, against South Africa and Germany, and I am hoping to represent Great Britain again this year. If I do, it would be great to have some success against the best shooters around.”

She added: “Initially I’m looking at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as being a major possibility for me.”

The funding from the Local Heroes Initiative will help Josceline with equipment costs, accommodation and travel and is designed to ensure that more talent reaches the top whilst easing the financial burden placed on parents.

Iwan Thomas, one of Wales’ most recognisable sporting personalities said:”The funding from Lloyds TSB will be a great boost for athletes like Josceline and it will hopefully help them to achieve their true potential.”

The Lloyds TSB initiative in partnership with SportsAid provides support and funding to Great Britain’s most talented developing athletes on their journey to London 2012 and beyond.

More than 200 past and present pupils, current and former staff members, parents and governors attended a weekend of celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of Staines Prep.

They shared memories and paid tribute to the school at festivities that began on Friday 7th May with a picnic on the lawn, highlighted by a balloon release.

The main event, an ‘open house’ on Saturday 8th, began with a delicious buffet luncheon prepared by Chartwells and followed with a welcoming address from Chairman of Governors Mike Bannister and Headmaster Peter Roberts.

Guests were later invited to tour the school while enjoying this rare opportunity to catch up with old friends and colleagues. An impressive display of photographs and memorabilia spanning the 75 years brought back many fond memories.

Among the guests was the much-respected, former Headmaster Peter Monger who flew in from Canada to attend the event. Mr Monger began his career as a teacher at the school in 1972. He served as headmaster from 1988 to 1998 before returning to teaching until his retirement in 2002.

Headmaster Peter Roberts, said: “It was wonderful to see so many generations of the Staines Prep family gathering together to share their stories. It was clear everyone had a great affection for the school and it was good for them to see how things have continued to develop since they were last here.”

Staines Preparatory School was founded in 1935 by Mr Burges and Miss Hanson, who later married. Miss Hanson was a well respected local figure and County Councillor for many years.

The scheduled opening of the school was delayed for two days, until Wednesday 8th May 1935, because Miss Hanson received a special invitation to attend the 6th May Silver Jubilee of King George V.

Originally Staines Prep was a boys’ school. When it opened there were just eleven pupils. It started to accept girls during World War II. It is now the longest-standing, co-educational, independent school in the area.

In 1987 Mrs Burges set up the Staines Preparatory School Trust to secure the school’s future. Today Staines Prep sees high numbers of grammar school entries and has a strong sporting tradition.

Lottie Van-Praag, Year 10, and Sophie Coombes-Roberts, Year 11, represented Wales in the Women’s U19 Lacrosse Home International Championship at Cardiff University in March. The girls both played extremely well, resulting in their selection to play for the Wales Senior Women’s B Team at the Home Internationals in Edinburgh on the 17th and 18th April. Sophie scored twice against England and they both achieved hat-tricks against Ireland. Lottie won 80% of the centre draws in both matches. The girls were the youngest ever to represent Wales in a Senior International game.

Head of Sports, Mrs Karen Bevan, said, ‘Both Sophie and Lottie have exceeded all expectations in their first full season competing at this very high level. We are very proud of their achievements so far and look forward to following and supporting their progress in the future’.

In one of the highlights of their sporting year, RGS Worcester defeated five schools, including Eton College, in a major fixture at Nunnery Wood athletics complex.

Throughout a seesaw competition, RGS and Eton dominated proceedings during the afternoon. Eton secured strong wins in the 200m, 400m and long jump. But RGS took seven events in total and proved irresistible in winning all but one of the field events. This included a double for Adam Damadzic in the shot and discus, which was capped by a throw of over 50 metres in the discus.

Toby Wilkinson kept up the RGS momentum in the javelin with a superb throw of 50.65 metres, Steve Ndumbe won the triple jump with an impressive 13.74 metres and Laurie Greenway took the high jump. The RGS relay rounded things off with victory in the 4 x100m, which saw them, home 290 points to 268.

“It’s always daunting to face Eton. With over 1,300 boys they are almost double our size and we know that competition throughout all the events will be extremely tough, “ said the RGS Head of Athletics Mike Ridout. “This was a real team effort, with some excellent performances and I’m tremendously proud of the whole team.”

During the same afternoon, the RGS girl’s teams swept the board in the U15, U17 and Senior competitions, beating schools from Cheltenham, Malvern and Solihull in the process.

Photo: Laurie Greenway from RGS Worcester wins the high jump.

Giving blood is one of the most worthwhile things we can do, and one Year 13 student from Trent College in Long Eaton has made it her goal to get as many of her teachers and peers involved in blood donation as possible.

Katie Schwarz, 18, who is coming to the end of her A Level studies at the School, organised a ‘blood bus’ from the National Blood Service to come into Trent College on Wednesday 12th May. She was encouraged to take up the challenge following an inspiring talk during a PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) lesson. Keith Sudbury came in to talk to students about his son Adrian, who died of Leukaemia last year. Adrian, a talented journalist, was famous for setting up ‘Baldy’s Blog’, through which he shared his experiences during his illness, and which has now been turned into a book. He also wanted to educate the public about bone marrow donation, even taking his campaign to Downing Street.
Katie says: ‘Mr Sudbury told us that when his son was dying, his last wish was to try and encourage as many young people as possible to donate blood and bone marrow. After the lecture, lots of people were really interested but due to our busy lifestyle at school, many people would probably not have the time to find somewhere to go and donate. Head of Sixth Form, Miss Matthews, mentioned that there are mobile buses that visit different places so I thought it would be really great if we could get one to come into School.’
It was no mean feat; Katie had to liaise with the National Blood Service, complete health and safety assessments, ensure that appropriate facilities were in place and gain enough interest for the bus to visit the School. ‘I’m really pleased that we had such a great response; everyone has been very enthusiastic and supportive about this cause. I already give blood whenever I can and it’s something I feel quite strongly about. I realise the importance of it as my Granddad had Leukaemia, and I know it requires many blood transfusions. Apart from encouraging as many people as possible to give blood now and in the future, an important outcome of the day will be making younger students aware of what is happening, so they might consider giving blood when they are old enough.’

Cadets with the Royal Artillery
 
Last week, forty of Christ College’s CCF cadets witnessed at first hand the firepower of the Royal Artillery.

The SSI of the Christ College CCF, WO1 Bill Dowling MBE, recently received a visit from Captain Rick Groves of 137 (Java) Battery of 40 Regt Royal Artillery. During their meeting, Captain Groves invited the Christ College CCF to visit the Sennybridge Training Area (SENTA) and to join the Royal Artillery at their gun positions and to witness a ‘live firing’ excercise.

The CO of 40 Regt kindly sanctioned the event and forty CCF cadets from Form 3 were taken to the batteries positions on SENTA. Once on the gun line, the cadets were spilt into 4 groups, taking it in turns to stand by the 105mm light guns whilst they were firing. They also visited the command post controlling the gun fire.

WO1 Dowling said: “We are grateful to the Royal Artillery for giving our cadets a chance to witness this demonstration of fire power.”

Congratulations to Elizabeth Lewis (Year 13) and Jodie Coates (Year 10) who successfully auditioned in Birmingham during the Easter holidays for the National Youth Theatre. Over 4000 students competed for places in 34 audition centres throughout the UK. Jodie and Elizabeth performed a workshop based audition as well as an individual audition.
They will both be heading off this summer for two weeks in London, where they will take part in the highly prestigious National Youth Theatre acting course. During that time, up to thirty young people on each course improvise, devise and perform under the guidance of a professional director and specialist tutors, developing an understanding of performance and learning skills and disciplines which will serve them in the future. The courses culminate in a performance which is presented to other course members.Having completed the course, as National Youth Theatre members, the girls will be invited to audition for National Youth Theatre productions in subsequent years until they reach the upper age limit.

Founded in 1956, by Michael Croft, National Youth Theatre is described as ‘Europe’s foremost youth theatre’ and has gained a reputation for excellence and dynamism.
The girls will be joining an impressive list of former National Youth Theatre members which includes many well-established names in British theatre, film and television. Alumni include Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Derek Jacobi, Kate Adie, Daniel Day-Lewis, Ben Kingsley, and more recently, David Walliams, Matt Lucas, Catherine Tate and Orlando Bloom.

Mrs Fisher, Head of Drama, said, ‘The auditions were nerve racking for both girls, with a four hour drama workshop in the morning, followed by performance of an audition piece to one of the workshop directors in the afternoon. This is an exceptional achievement’.

Well done to both drama students.

A Derbyshire pupil is following in the footsteps of some of the most renowned fencers from the past 20 years after winning a prestigious regional prize.

James Proudfoot, head boy at Mount St Mary’s College, fought off stiff competition to take home the winner’s shield in the Lancashire Schools Boys’ Under 20 Foil.

James, who won gold in the Senior Students Fencing competition at Stonyhurst school in Lancashire last term, adds his name to a list of illustrious previous winners of the shield who have gone on to enjoy successful careers in the sport.

Fellow pupil Thomas Cotterill, winner of the Mount St Mary’s Senior Fencing Trophy for 2009, secured silver and Thomas Voice won bronze in the same event, while Benedikt Gers reached the quarter finals of the boys under 17 category.

There was success too for the girls, with Phoebe Lui winning a bronze medal in the under 20 class.

Pupils at Mount St Mary’s have enthusiastically embraced fencing, and the performances in Lancashire are the latest in a series of impressive displays from school representatives.

Nina Zimmerman produced a spirited display against high calibre opposition including several national fencers in the Girls’ Under 16 Foil at the recent British Youth Fencing Championships.

Nina, a year 10 pupil at the Mount, qualified for the competition after fighting her way to a bronze in the Girls Under 16 Foil at the Yorkshire Youth Championships in March.
Mount St Mary’s coach Adam Blight, who has experience of coaching nine British fencing champions, said: “Congratulations to James for an excellent display of fencing. Many esteemed fencers have won the shield in the past, and hopefully James can use this success as a springboard to take his fencing to the next level.

“Our pupils have secured some outstanding results recently. They have all displayed an exemplary coolness and professionalism in competition which will continue to serve them well in the future.”

Photo: Lancashire Schools Boys’ Under 20 Foil winner James Proudfoot

Babies and toddlers had a fun-packed morning at Howell’s School, Llandaff, on Tuesday 11th May as Stay and Play celebrated its first birthday. Mums and grandparents enjoyed coffee and celebration cakes as their little ones played in the stimulating, bright and fun-filled environment.
They made party hats, sang songs and danced together to celebrate being part of a very successful venture. The children were delighted to take home a balloon at the end of the celebrations and the adults were full of praise for this group that meets weekly on a Tuesday in term time at the school from 10.45 – 11.15am.

Howell’s School is 150 years old this year but far from being rooted in a bygone age, its range of activities is constantly changing to meet the needs of the present day. One of its main aims is to serve the needs of the local community and the school frequently opens its doors to children from other schools and to other groups which can benefit from its facilities. If you would like to sample the activities available at Stay and Play, do come for a taster session.

Six Strathallan pupils enjoyed a successful tournament at the annual Glenalmond Mixed Doubles Tournament winning the overall trophy.

Ruairidh Watson and Lea Gill won all matches in their group and the Group A Trophy while Christian Kolb and Anastasiya Veretennikova won the Group B Trophy.

Strathallan Tennis Academy Coach Tommy Ogilvie said “I am delighted with the result. The team have a really positive attitude and have worked hard this year to produce this result.”

Photo: winning team

Drama students from Caterham School performed at the 2010 Leatherhead Drama Festival in May and were delighted to collect the Richard Houghton Award for Outstanding Contribution. The award, which was for the opening sequence; the visual effect, movement and make-up, was presented to the Sixth Form students by Sir Michael Caine CBE at the Awards night on Saturday 15th May.

The play that they performed was “Silent Scream” which was written and devised by the students for their A-Level Drama and Theatre Studies coursework. They were naturally delighted that their work was also nominated for the “New Writing” Award.

The students who performed were Rebecca Ward, Hannah Spence, Anjali Bhat, Emma O’Brien and Imogen Ware.

The Leatherhead Drama Festival is the largest of its kind in the UK and takes place at Leatherhead Theatre over two weeks with three different groups performing each night.

Head of Drama at Caterham, Lisa McMullin said, “I am absolutely delighted with the students’ achievement. This is the second year running that this group of students has returned from the festival with an award and all credit goes to them for their commitment and creativity in producing a piece of innovative theatre.”

After much deliberation, Harry Nickless from Springmead School and Mollie Fresle-McLaren from Norman Court Preparatory School were awarded the titles ‘Young Writer of the Year’. William Mallard from Chapmanslade Primary and Madeleine Meyjes from Prior Park College were runners up. The Best School Awards went to Corsham Primary School and St Francis School for overall success.

Book tokens, certificates and trophies were presented to winners and runners up at the Awards Ceremony held at Prior Park College on 4th May.

This year’s theme was ‘Peace’ and entries were judged by Prior Park’s Head of English, Nigel Tattersfield.

Headteacher, James Murphy O’Connor, who presented the awards, comments:

“Choosing the winners was a tough decision as we were inundated with inspiring pieces of writing. Well done to all who entered and warmest congratulations to the winners. Next year’s event is set to be just as hotly contested, with the word ‘Time’ as the theme.”

Contact us at Prior Park College on 01225 831000 or info@priorpark.co.uk. To find out more about the College, visit www.priorparkschools.co.uk.

Photo: Corsham Primary School with trophy

RGS crews in action at Evesham Regatta – first ever wins for Rachel and Grace

Fourteen boats from all age-groups raced at Evesham Regatta last Saturday, and RGS Worcester came away with two wins and several other encouraging performances. Twenty more boats would have raced on the Sunday as well, but heavy overnight rain caused the Sprint regatta to be cancelled.
The Senior RGS Girls raced well in Coxed Fours; the more experienced boat competed in WJ18 Fours, losing out narrowly to a Pangbourne College Four in a hard-fought final. The younger crew (Lucy Sidwell, Michaela Belham, Julia Davies, Rachel Turner, coxed by Grace Jones) raced in an adult category, beating two club crews to take the trophy. This was a first ever win for Rachel and Grace.
The RGS Senior Girls eight also won their event in fine style. The winning crew was Lucy Sidwell, Michaela Belham, Catherine Field, Rachel Turner, Ros Goldrick, Sophie Stevens, Julia Davies, Patsi Walton and cox Luke Thomas.
The Boys’ J15s raced in two different VIIIs categories; in the adult Novice event they were inevitably a little out of their depth, but against their counterparts from Cheltenham College they competed strongly, only to miss out in the final stages.
The Senior Boys also had to contend with strong Pangbourne crews: the Coxed Four lost a straight final, whilst the VIII produced a powerful performance in the Semi-final to beat Monmouth School by several lengths, only to succumb to Pangbourne’s top boat in the final.

Photo; The winning RGS Coxed Fours – Lucy Sidwell, Michaela Belham, Julia Davies, Rachel Turner, coxed by Grace Jones.

King’s hotly contested annual Fen Brainage competition was won today (25 March) by a team representing Osmond House.

Each of the school’s houses fielded a team of five to answer general knowledge questions in the style of BBC TV’s University Challenge.

Osmond’s winning team was Ollie Kenzie, Oliver Moses, Eliot Koopowitz, David Scott and Liam German.

An individual competition in the style of TV’s Mastermind was won by Oliver Hill, a 16-year-old Year 11 pupil, who won the Clark Rooney Cup.

Photo: Winners of Fen Brainage, from left, Liam German, Oliver Moses, David Scott, Eliot Koopowitz and Osmond team captain Ollie Kenzie.

School pupils these days usually receive their hard-won certificates shortly after winning them, but on 12th May at Howell’s School, Llandaff, a group of ex-pupils returned to receive those gained either by themselves or by family members who were at school back in the 1930s and 1940s. While organising the archives, Mrs Janet Sully, the school’s archivist, and Mrs Maggie Fletcher, the Deputy Chairman of the Governors, found a pile of certificates in an envelope which had never found their way to those named on them. Mrs Sully said, “We thought it would be a nice idea to try to find the owners and to invite them to school for a little ceremony, especially in this year of our 150th anniversary celebrations.”

Detective work led to the addresses of some 75 of the certificate winners being found. The majority now live outside the area but those living locally were contacted. The certificates presented included Higher School Certificates, School Certificates, Life-Saving awards and even a Greek dancing certificate! The oldest to accept the invitation was 89-year-old Mrs Joyce Chapman. As well as receiving their certificates, the guests enjoyed tea and refreshments while reminiscing about old times.

Names of people on photo:
(Left to right)
Top: Mrs Barbara Jones, Mrs Heulwen Ashcroft, Mrs Karen Fullerton
Bottom: Mrs Joyce Chapman, Mrs Judith Horning, Mrs Iris Jones

One of the world’s most highly acclaimed choirs gave a concert at Stonyhurst College. London’s Westminster Cathedral Choir made its second visit to the Ribble Valley College and sang to a capacity audience drawn from all over the North West in Stonyhurst’s St Peter’s Church.
The programme began with choral music for Lent, then Easter, and finished with music for St George, including music by Palestrina, Taverner, the contemporary composer James MacMillan and Elgar’s Give unto the Lord. The conductor was Martin Baker and the organist was Edward Tambling.
Before the concert, the choristers, aged between 7 and 12, had a wonderful time exploring the banks of the River Hodder, playing tennis and filling their lungs with fresh Lancashire air!

Photo: The Westminster Cathedral Choir in full voice at Stonyhurst.

Barrow Hills’ pupil, Molly Howard has recently achieved exceptional success with her ballet. Molly, who has been dancing since the age of four at Barrow Hills has just competed at the Ealing Festival where she won not only the ballet solo but also the duet and the duet trophy. At the end of the festival Molly was invited to take part in the prestigious Stella Mason Memorial Award. This is presented to the best dancer across all the categories, including, ballet, tap, modern and jazz and it is a tribute to her tremendous talent that Molly was the proud recipient of this award.
From this, all in the same week, she went on to the Aldershot Festival where she came second in the duet and again won the solo. Not only did she win, but she was awarded the highest mark for all the ballet solos. This achievement means that Molly now goes forward to the regional finals of the All England which will take place next year. At only 10 years old she really is a star in the making!
Ballet teacher, Anna Holford said, “Barrow Hills places a strong emphasis on the performing arts and we are delighted to see Molly doing so well. She really is an inspiration to all the pupils and we are all very proud of her.”

On Wednesday 12th May, Year 4 pupils from Staines Prep visited the Verulamium Museum at St Albans as part of their History topic, ‘Invaders and Settlers’.

Verulamium was reportedly one of the largest towns in Roman Britain. The museum houses an interesting array of Roman finds excavated from the site, including some magnificent mosaics.

When they arrived at St Albans, pupils and teachers headed for the mosaic house to view the hypocaust, originally an under-floor heating space. The children enjoyed exploring the museum and completed their treasure hunt worksheets enthusiastically.

They had an opportunity to get close to artefacts during a handling session led by one of the museum’s curators. During this session the children examined items from Roman homes, including building materials, fragments of mosaics and pottery, as well as some more unusual objects such as ear scoops.

The Headmaster, Peter Roberts, said: “The school is proud of its regular programme of trips and visits designed to complement the curriculum. It reinforces what is learnt in the classroom in a fun and informative way.”

Photo l to r: Zulfiquar Lodhi (9), Megan Graham (8), Sam Hase (9) and Aviraj Riar (9) discovering first hand the intricate detail of Roman mosaics.

On Thursday 29 April Caterham School Kit Car Club released the Caterham Seven that they had built over the past 18 months and took delivery of another collection of parts that will become the next car.

The Kit Car Club is one of over thirty five clubs and societies that Caterham School offer as part of their co-curricular activities.

The Caterham Seven is supplied by Caterham Cars. The Seven is the original British lightweight sports car which was created by Colin Chapman as the Lotus 7 in 1957. Caterham Cars has been selling the Seven since the late 1950’s and in 1973 purchased the rights to manufacture the car. One of the ways in which the car is sold to enthusiasts is in kit form so that they can assemble it themselves. The car built by Caterham School pupils will be checked for road worthiness and then sold by Caterham Cars.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘‘Whilst Caterham School has a reputation for high academic standards, we take the concept of all round education very seriously. The funding for the first car was provided by the Parents’ Association, which enabled us to add the Kit Car Club to our wide range of clubs and societies. Co-curricular activity is an integral part of our programme of enrichment which develops the potential of each and every pupil thereby helping to prepare them for their life at university and beyond.’’

PHOTO: New kit car being unloaded with the Caterham 7 that has been built.

A highly respected karate coach has created a little piece of history with a 100% yellow belt pass rate at a local school.

In all,16 pupils from RGS Springfield, based at Britannia Square in Worcester, passed their yellow belt karate test with flying colours. This is only the second time to have happened during the long career of karate coach Tony Johnson. One pupil, Jasmine Randle, has progressed so well she achieved a double-grading and passed the orange belt test!

“Their 100% pass rate is extremely rare – in fact only twice in the 30 years that I’ve taught karate,” said Tony Johnson, who is a Karate Sixth Dan Grand Master (6th Dan Kong Sudo, 6th Dan Ko Am and UK Instructor).

“I have to say a huge well done to the children at Springfield. They all have the ability to go right through to becoming black belts, which says a great deal about their application. They are a pleasure to teach and I look forward to every session. In fact, their learning rate is so fast that I may have to re-think my syllabus!”

The ages of the children ranges from 6-11 and they all started with no karate experience whatsoever. The club runs as an after school activity and was introduced by the school to give pupils a taster of some of the less well-known sports.

“I love doing Karate with Master Johnson because he makes it so much fun” says Niamh Colclough.

“When I got my Yellow belt I was very excited and wanted to learn more” says Tessa Wareing.

“Karate is a fun sport, especially when you get up to a higher level” says Kezia Jordan.

Six schools from across Gloucestershire took part in the Engineering Development Trust’s ‘First Edition’ Science Challenge at the CLC Sports Centre on the morning of Thursday 13 May. First Edition is part of the Widening Participation programme which aims to encourage pupils who will be ‘first in family’, to consider higher education and courses and careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

Ro Kaye, Community Links Co-ordinator and Physics Teacher at Cheltenham Ladies’ College arranged the morning of activities in conjunction with Engineering Development Trust’s First Edition Days. 105 Year 7 students participated in a series of hands-on activities which encouraged aspiration, creativity and innovation. Boys and girls developed team building, problem solving and communication skills by working in teams of five or six. They undertook two challenges involving wind powered cars and rockets which developed their designing, building and experimenting skills. The pupils were also introduced to the wide choice of careers available to engineering graduates and discussed the different aspects of an Engineer’s job. At the end of the day everyone was presented with certificates.

Ro Kaye said, “This was a wonderful opportunity for boys and girls from a range of schools to work together to provide a fun hands-on programme where they gained insights into Science and Engineering. I am confident that events such as this really help them consider future careers in science and engineering. ”

Schools who attended: The Archway School, Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Christ College, Cirencester Deer Park School and Winchcombe School

Photo: Back (l-r) Wesley Kaine and Cara Ainsley-Bridger, Cirencester Deer Park School. Middle (l-r) Chloe Burton-Tranter, Amy Rees and John Galpin, Winchcombe School. Front (l-r) Lucy Stephenson, Cirencester Deer Park School, Lily Stapleton, Cheltenham Ladies’ College and Conor Towle, Winchcombe School

Bedford Modern School Year 10 student, Raeshan Downer, has been selected as a member of the England Handball Association’s National Youth Squad’s programme. Raeshan will be involved in a preparation camp on 5th June in Warrington in readiness for the Olympic Solidarity Training Camp and Partille Cup, taking place in Sweden from Sunday 27th June until Monday 12th July.

The Partille Cup is the World’s largest Youth Handball Tournament. Preparation camps also allow members of the England National Youth Squad to train with other young players from as far away as China and Brazil.

“Handball is a mixture of four different sports including hockey, basketball, football and rugby. It is played on a court either indoors or outdoors. The hockey element is with the goal, the basketball element is in the dribbling, rugby brings the contact aspect and football brings the skill to the game,” said Raeshan.

Raeshan trains with the Bedford Hawks every Saturday morning and at Cranfield University on Sunday mornings. “Games last an hour and are split into two half-hour segments. At student level, matches are usually played over 25 minutes each way. A handball team consists of seven players; six outfield and one goalkeeper. Teams pass a ball to throw it into the goal of their opponent’s team. I really like the speed and adrenaline rush that comes from taking part in each handball game,” added Raeshan.

Patrick Jerram, Director of Sport at Bedford Modern School said, “Representing your country is a great honour and I am delighted for Raeshan. Whilst handball is not one of our bigger team sports in this country, it is very popular around the world and hopefully Raeshan will get the opportunity to compete on this international stage.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 10 student Raeshan Downer

Choral music and croissants made a fine start to the May bank holiday at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire and a large audience gathered for an 8am start in the ‘Top Ref.’ Schola Cantorum sang a varied programme, which included Benedictus from Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man Mass, Faure’s Cantique de Jean Racine, concluding with a very lively version of Hail Holy Queen from the film Sister Act!

Photo: Yoann Belon (16, from Isle of Wight) conducts Faure’s Cantique de Jean Racine.

St Edmund’s College, England’s oldest Catholic School, held its Senior Prize Giving evening on Thursday 29 April 2010, where the Guest of Honour was His Most Eminent Highness Fra’ Matthew Festing, The Prince and Grand Master, Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta.

The evening began with an address by the Chairman of Governors, Mr Jeremy Gillham, followed by a wonderful music recital by the College’s Music School. Chris Long, Headmaster then gave his Report, in which he outlined some of the numerous achievements made by the students over the past year and despite the difficult economic and political climate, he shared his optimistic vision for the year ahead.

It was then onto the serious business of presenting over 150 prizes to students from Syntax to Rhetoric (Years 10-13), for Academic, Music and Sporting achievements. These included the coveted ‘Headmaster‘s Cup for Progress’ which was awarded to Dominic Muncaster; the ‘Governors Plate for Academic Endeavour’ which went to Kittinun Phatpanichot the ‘Royal Society of St George Award’, which was awarded to Charlotte Watts (for personal achievement) and to Marta Wesierska (for overcoming adversity); the ‘Patrick Cullinan Salver for Contribution to Sport’ which was awarded to Aliabbas Azim-Naqvi; and the’ DJK Walters International Prize’ that went to Marta Wesierska.

Chris Long, Headmaster commented: “It was a wonderful, positive and uplifting evening for both our students and parents and we were extremely privileged to have Fra’ Matthew Festing as our Guest of Honour. Our students were extremely interested to hear about The Order of St John of Jerusalem – the oldest charitable institution of Western and Christian civilisation and its commitment to serving the poor and the sick across the world.“

The U14 Rugby team enjoyed a very successful Easter tour to Italy, staying at Lido di Jesolo, near Venice. Training sessions on the beach paid off as they won 3 of their 4 games.
The tour also included cultural visits to Venice, the chance to watch some professional rugby at a match between Treviso and Viadana and a trip to the Gardaland theme park. Everyone enjoyed the excellent hospitality of the Italian rugby clubs and huge thanks go to Mr Thomas and Mr McGinnis for organising the tour, and to Mr Ansell for acting as translator!

Results:
Stonyhurst vs Montebelluna RFC- won 17-14
Stonyhurst vs Valdobbiadane RFC- won 26-10
Stonyhurst vs Piave RFC- lost 12-21
Stonyhurst vs Paese RFC- won 38-14

Photo: The Stonyhurst and Valdobbiadane teams

Marist Year 7 Students become published authors!

Twelve Year 7 students at the Marist Senior School, Sunninghill have had their stories selected for publication following success in the latest Young Writers’ creative writing competition, Mini Sagas.

Students were challenged to write a fifty word story that would either be thrilling, thought-provoking or amusing.

A copy of the book, Mini Marvels, published by Forward Press, will be kept at the British Library and further libraries across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, providing a lasting record of their achievement.

The editorial team selected the stories for publication based on “imagination, perception, expression and creative use of language.” Twelve Marist Senior School students were selected for the book, and Miss Spoors English teacher at the Marist school is delighted with the girls success, “We have a strong year of creative writers in Year 7 and it is very exciting for them to have their stories published at the ages of 11 and 12. Fingers crossed we may in due course have the overall winner amongst our girls!”

Winners, Olivia Johnson, Melissa Fry, Olivia Smith, Catriona Wood, Rumneeq Dhaliwal, Amy Ghandi, Charlotte Phillips, Olivia Coleman, Roberta Cipolletta, Elika Bedroud, Ruth Weaver and Alice Karsten (front to back in photograph) are looking forward to the next stage of the judging process, where the editorial team will award a £1,000 prize for ‘the best story’ once the book has been published later this summer.

Photo: (front to back in photograph) Olivia Johnson, Melissa Fry, Olivia Smith, Catriona Wood, Rumneeq Dhaliwal, Amy Ghandi, Charlotte Phillips, Olivia Coleman, Roberta Cipolletta, Elika Bedroud, Ruth Weaver and Alice Karsten.

Last week children in Years 3, 4 and 8 at Farlington School performed in an impressive operatic production of Prince Caspian by CS Lewis, commissioned by Opera Brava. What made this such an extraordinary event was the fact that until one week before, none of the participants had seen a script or heard any music – they literally started from scratch on Monday morning. With rehearsals all day, every day during that week (with time out to make masks and costumes), it was full-steam ahead to learn script, songs and choreography under the expert tuition of the Opera Brava team, ably aided by members of the Prep School Staff and the Maintenance team.

The final performance was staged on Friday afternoon, during which members of the audience were immediately set to work to learn a song so that they could be part of King Miraz’s nasty army. Three Opera Brava artists took the parts of the Narrator (Amanda Buckland), King Miraz (Daniel Meades), and Aslan (Geoffrey Moses) and the performance started with Peter (Amy Rowlinson), Susan (Amy Milne), Edmund (Abbey Marsden) and Lucy (Olivia Middleton) on the train on the way back to school. The train was evoked very strongly with the whole company spreading into the audience down the aisles singing “Chugga Chugga WooWoo”.

What was so impressive was the way all the girls coped with the variety of songs and techniques. Many girls had solo lines to sing, and their confidence and ability was quite remarkable.

Opera Brava is to be congratulated for its obvious dedication, talent, organisation, professionalism and enthusiasm which resulted in such a wonderful experience on the Friday. The production was also very rewarding in that it provided girls from the Prep School and Senior School with a unique opportunity to work together and get to know each other until, by the end of the week, the whole company was working as a team.

For many of the girls this was their first taste of opera and they are extremely lucky to have had such an amazing opportunity to work with such professionals. It is a memory that they will cherish for many years to come.

Ultimately experience tells us that children who are happy at school learn better and face the future with optimism and, for parents, their children’s happiness plays a large part in their own.

We believe too that the challenges of the next 50 years will demand the best of us and that C. S. Lewis’s phrase; “while science may lead us to truth only the imagination can lead us to meaning”, is an important insight.
So…at Hurst Lodge we seek to inspire curiosity and imagination and encourage our children to experience a rich cultural life, encompassing creative and performance arts, science and citizenship, developing leadership and teamwork skills and instilling in them a joy of education which we hope will be sustained throughout their lives.

We also believe in the importance of underpinning this by making the connection between ourselves and the natural world real. This is why the Hurst Lodge community of staff and pupils will together embark on a journey of exploration by undertaking a programme of integrating the school’s operations into the learning experience.

We will be collaborating in this with the award-winning Eden Project in Cornwall, with whom we will be implementing a carbon and waste reduction programme with special emphasis on reducing and replacing our reliance on fossil fuels and looking at alternative technologies and managing these ourselves. We also intend to trial growing some of our own food and establishing a smallholding, to give our young people a greater understanding of the things so many take for granted. The children have already placed some fertile chicken eggs in an incubator and during the 21 days incubation process the chicken house will be constructed. Bee hives have been ordered and the bees are ready and waiting to occupy their new homes.

We are holding our first ever Saturday Open Day on June 12th from 10.30 to 14.30.

www.hurstlodge.co.uk

Thirteen-year-old King’s School Ely pupil Zach Binge has been selected by the Independent Schools Football Association to attend an ISFA under-14 development camp at Bradfield School in July.

His selection follows an outstanding performance at an ISFA development camp at Repton during the Easter holidays when 42 under-14 players from independent schools all over the country were selected to play matches against Football League clubs.

Zach was goalkeeper in a match against Derby County development squad players and put up an impressive performance which helped the ISFA team to a 5-2 victory.

*Two King’s sixth formers, Sam Hulme and Jacob O’Connor, were among 21 ‘young leaders’ from eight different schools who attended the first ISFA Leadership and Volunteering Camp held at St Bede’s School in Sussex. They attended sessions on 5-11 coaching, refereeing and organisation with tutors provided by the Football Association.

Top shoe designer Rupert Sanderson returned to Ely as guest of honour at the King’s School’s Senior School prizegiving in Ely Cathedral on Saturday 8 May.
He was a pupil at King’s for ten years, leaving in 1985 to study geography at Royal Holloway, London University. He told the audience of parents and pupils that his first love had always been art and he had been delighted to see the school’s newly opened £3.5m arts complex.
After graduating he carved out a successful career in advertising but as the 1990s wound down he decided to drop out of the rat race and enrolled himself in the shoemaking course at London’s Cordwainer’s College. He went on to work in Italy and in 2001 founded his own brand and now has shops in London, Hong Kong and Paris as well as a factory in Italy.
His shoes are now the footwear of choice of film stars, fashionistas and celebrities, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss, Claudia Schiffer, Lily Allen, Cheryl Cole and Samantha Cameron.
His stellar position in the fashion firmament was confirmed in 2008 when he was named British Accessory Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards, invited to design shoes for Karl Lagerfeld’s 2009 autumn collection and most recently shod the cast of Aida at the Royal Opera House.
Welcoming him, the Chairman of Governors, Richard Slogrove, who is also an Old Elean, said the school roll was a record 980 pupils and 160 in the sixth form was an all-time high.
The Head of King’s, Sue Freestone, augmented her speech with contributions from the Heads of School, Claire Martin and Matthew Ixer. One of the Deputy Heads of School, Oliver Kenzie, gave a vote of thanks to Rupert Sanderson.

Photo: Rupert Sanderson with Heads of School Claire Martin and Matthew Ixer

A Worcester school’s Young Enterprise team, with their unique Aromatherapy Fan, has been judged ‘Best Overall Company’ at the county finals and will now represent Hereford & Worcestershire at the West Midlands Regional Finals in June.

Led by 17 year-old Managing Director, Becky Walker, their company is called Inspired and is made up of students from the sixth form at RGS Worcester.

Following a brainstorming session last September, they discarded ideas such as a Dayglo Keyhole Illuminator (because it would help burglars as much as home-owners) and brightly coloured kettles (possibility of electrocution), and devised a neat product to fill a gap in the aromatherapy market.

Their product allows you to place aromatherapy oils into the unit, which distributes calming vapours via a super-quiet fan. Several have been sold to the public and Inspired now has three units on trial at a Worcester shop.

They won the award for Best Product due to their innovative idea and the fact that they had manufactured it from scratch, which included vacuum forming, laser cutting and electronic assembly.

“None of us had any DT skills, so it has been an incredible learning process for us all,” said MD Becky Walker. “In addition to this technical aspect, Young Enterprise has taught me the value of working to the strengths of each team member. I’ve also found out that I have less patience than I previously thought! I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to test themselves in learning new skills.”

Photo: Charles London, Becky Walker, Ritesh Patel, Katie Stephens and Stewart Smith

On Friday 30 April, Caterham School held a celebration dinner which was attended by 120 students, teachers and parents.

The ‘black tie’ dinner was held to celebrate an excellent year of sport and the guest speaker was Holly McGarvie who is one of the world’s leading lacrosse players and winner of a World Cup Gold Medal with the USA team in 2009. Holly is coaching in the in the UK at the moment.

The two other speakers were students Ben Lewis and Loulou Rowlands.

Awards were given to Chris Kendell (rugby player of the season), James Hutchings (hockey player of the season), Joe McLaren (clubman of the year), Michela Scarpa (netball player of the season), Hannah Wright (Anne Collins Lacrosse Trophy), Loulou Rowlands (club woman of the year)

Director of Sport Rob Clarke said: ‘It was thrilling for all of us to hear a speech by one of the world’s top sportswomen. She is a fantastic role model for all our sports players having been to Princeton University and being voted the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2006 and then the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2009. No one could fail to be impressed by her consistency and commitment. I am sure that she will have inspired all of those attending.’

PHOTO: Sophie Colman, Hannah Wright, Loulou Rowlands and Holly McGarvie

To celebrate our 150th Anniversary we’re having a Grand Reunion Picnic on Saturday 19 June between 11.00am and 4.00pm. Former and current pupils, staff and governors are warmly invited to attend. Guests are invited to bring their own picnic and join friends from their old year groups. Tea, coffee and soft drinks will be available in the Marquee during the day. A short service will be held in the School Chapel at the end of the day for those who wish to attend. If you would like to come please ring Maggi Shellard on 01235 524658 or email office@olab.org.uk We’d love to see you.

Talented student, actor and singer, Alex, joined Bedford Modern School in Year 12 and has had lead roles in the School’s recent productions of West Side Story and Blood Wedding. Alex, who has nine GCSE’s is studying Theatre Studies, English Literature and History A Levels. “Without a doubt, the Theatre Studies course at Bedford Modern School has improved my performing and I have received tremendous support from the School’s Faculty of Performing Arts. The Theatre Studies course has provided me with more discipline and understanding of what is required by the professional world of actors,” said Alex.

Obtaining a place at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts came about by accident for Alex. “I had auditioned for the Old Vic and several other major U.K. Drama Schools, and after speaking to my grandmother, she gave me the website address for The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. In some ways, being offered a place at The New York Conservatory will be like going home again, as I was born in America,” added Alex.

The New York Conservatory accepts foreign students into its programme providing they can prove they are academically capable of dealing with the course. Alex’s admission interview took place at the London Renaissance Fair Hotel in Chancery Court, Holborn during the Easter holidays. “My audition was conducted by Joan See, Artistic Director of The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. I performed two monologues, namely “Equus” by Peter Shaffer and “Another Country” by Julian Mitchell. The Americans have a different way of auditioning and although it was quite relaxed, the entire interview process was very purposeful.”

Alex had a two week wait before receiving a phone call on Wednesday 28th April offering him a place at The New York Conservatory starting in August 2010. “In some ways I will be sad to leave the U.K. but New York is the centre of the acting world and I am delighted to have such an opportunity to make a career for myself, hopefully leading to professional television and film work,” said Alex.

The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts have offered Alex an interim grant of $5,000 dollars to assist with transitional costs as schooling in America is quite expensive. Alex’s course runs for two years and Alex will be living in accommodation in Manhattan.

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 13 student, Alex Bloch, who has been offered a place at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts

Sophia Hall, a Year 8 student at the Marist Senior School in Sunninghill has been selected for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Sophia is a highly talented musician instrumentally and chorally. In addition to her prowess on the saxophone she sings with Taplow choir. They who were recently chosen to represent the UK in the National Choir Competition. Sophia is understandably delighted with her success and Sophia’s teachers share in her delight.

Jocelyn Slocombe, Head of Music at the Marist Senior School, was so impressed by Sophia’s talent, she recommended to her parents at Parents Evening in March that Sophia should consider auditioning for the National Youth Jazz orchestra at a later date.

Not being one to delay, that very evening Sophia researched the orchestra, and promptly presented for an audition with the orchestra as well as performing solos. Her final audition was with a famous Jazz Musician who was very delighted to invite Sophia to join the Orchestra.

At 13 Years of age, Sophia is the youngest musician in the orchestra. The second youngest is 15 and the other numbers are significantly older.

Sophia started to play the Saxophone at the age of 7. She only recently started taking grade exams and she is already on grade 7. She practises every evening and every Saturday with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra.

The Marist Senior School are extremely proud of Sophia’s accomplishment. Miss Slocombe adds, “It is an outstanding achievement and we are very proud of Sophias individual success and the wider musical life of the Marist school.”

Photo: Sophia Hall with her Saxophone

Haileybury, a co-educational independent boarding school in Hertfordshire, is to host eight tennis players from Eastern Africa next week. The students are from Malezi School in Kenya, and are making history as the first from the
region to travel on a tennis exchange with schools in the United Kingdom.

This maiden trip, which will be the first of many, is sponsored by Virgin
Atlantic and SKAL, and will see the Malezi School team visit and play
against UK’s top tennis schools as part of developing new partnerships
between top tennis schools in England and Malezi School.

The school has topped Kenyan tennis for the past 11 years and most
of its former players (like former junior champions Rahab Mbugua,
Maurice Wamukowa and Terry and Joab Odera) are studying in the US on
tennis scholarships. One of the visitors to the UK, Azisa Butoyi, is the reigning KCB Kenya Open ladies singles champion, while the rest of the team comprises the top players in Kenya.

“This exciting trip will also have players participate in the Wimbledon
Junior Tennis Initiative as well as touring the National Tennis Centre at
Roehampton and the Wimbledon Tennis Museum,” explains Dr Liz Odera, the team’s coach.

The visitors will take on Haileybury’s top players on Saturday, 15 May between 10 am and 12 noon at the Hailey Lane tennis courts.

Prior Park College pupils have been pitching their ideas to the ‘Dragons’ at McCann Erickson in Bristol as part of a school media module.

Four groups of Year Nine students presented ideas for a new brand of cereal for children to a panel of Prior Park teachers and McCann Erickson professionals, including Managing Director Fraser Bradshaw. The students were judged on product originality, design and the quality of their pitch.

The winning group, with cereal ‘Pirate Plunder’, included Harriet Gallegos, 14, Thomas Morrison, 14, and Alex Clarke, 13. The name and slogan “Make every day one big adventure” made for an inspired combination – the very depiction of escapism.

The team worked hard on inventing the ‘lucky dip’ theme, where the consumer picks one of seven different cereals from the box at random. The judges were also impressed by the eye-catching packaging and the quality of educational activities and games included on the box. The children were also tasked with ensuring that the product was fun whilst also being nutritional.

McCann Erickson Managing Director, Fraser Bradshaw, comments:

“I was impressed by the slick nature of all the pitches and the mature manner in which the students presented their work. Some of the ideas I’m sure would stand up against the work of established professionals. Congratulations to the winners – we really enjoyed watching your pitch.”

Headmaster, James Murphy O’Connor, comments:

“This initiative has been a great opportunity for the children to gain some invaluable life skills and experience of the working world. Some of the students who took part have already enquired about work experience at McCann Erickson so this served as a good ‘foot in the door’ exercise for them. The students were placed in a real-life situation and were treated like adults; using their imagination and intellect to plan how to spend a £1million budget. As the scheme has been so successful and we have received lots of positive feedback from students, the English department hopes to run it on an annual basis.”

Contact us at Prior Park College on 01225 831000 or info@priorpark.co.uk. To find out more about the College, visit www.priorparkschools.co.uk.

Outstanding educational facilities at a Derbyshire school will be on show to prospective pupils and their parents at an open evening this month.

Mount St Mary’s College will open its doors to families for the event on Tuesday May, 18 from 7pm until 9pm.

It will provide visitors with the chance to enjoy an informal look around the classrooms and boarding accommodation, find out more about the school’s academic programmes and meet pupils, staff and the head teacher Mr Laurence McKell.

The co-educational, boarding and day school, is set in beautiful surroundings at Spinkhill, near Sheffield.

Mount St Mary’s College is the senior school to Barlborough Hall School, which also caters for boys and girls. Both are Catholic schools but welcome students from other traditions. They combine to offer the highest quality educational provision for three to 18 year olds in an environment that ensures the perfect start in life.

To book your place, or for additional information, please contact Lucy Stirling or Mrs Sarah Birks in the Admissions Office on 01246 439317 or email lstirling@msmcollege.com.

As part of the Sixth Form Lecture Programme, St Marys’ Calne was delighted to welcome TV Cook and countryside campaigner Clarissa Dickson Wright. Clarissa wowed an audience of girls and parents with tales of her illustrious career and life as one of TV’s famous ‘Two Fat Ladies’.

Advising girls to keep an open mind when it came to choosing a career and to ‘go and do it if it appeals to you’, she recounted her time as the youngest ever person called to the Bar and a career which was marred by her problems with alcoholism.

Recalling her time as a barrister, she joked: ‘It’s the perfect job for an alcoholic. I got to wear strange clothes, be rude to people and I was good at it.’

Clarissa, who famously spent a huge fortune she inherited in her twenties, told the girls her drinking got out of hand after her mother died and she was grief-stricken.
She turned to cooking to make some much-needed cash, briefly went back into the law after she stopped drinking and then got her lucky break while working in a cookery bookshop ‘by accident’ and meeting BBC producer Patricia Llewellyn who dreamt up ‘Two Fat Ladies’.

She joked: ‘Patricia dreamt up ‘Two Fat Ladies’ and ‘The Naked Chef’. My only resentment is that we both lived up to the title but Jamie Oliver never took his clothes off!’

Clarissa entertained the audience with hilarious tales from the filming of ‘Two Fat Ladies’ which went on to become a global hit with 70 million worldwide viewers, such as the time Jennifer Paterson lost control of their famous motorbike and sidecar, wrote off a £60k camera and nearly crashed into three flagpoles.
She said: ‘I prayed to myself ‘Dear God, please don’t let me die under the American flag!’’

On a serious note, Clarissa, who campaigns tirelessly for the rights of the countryside, pleaded with her audience to try and change the way food is sold in this country by only buying genuine local produce and avoiding food flown in from around the globe and dubbed ‘British’ because part of the processing was done in the UK.

She said: ‘Try and do your best to buy genuine local British food. By the time you are my age, our farmers could then be feeding this country otherwise the countryside will just be one giant building site, theme park and golf course.’

Asked who her ideal dinner party guests were, Clarissa said she would love to have dined with a young Henry VIII – ‘gorgeous, witty, intelligent, musical, with good legs and a good appetite’ and Oscar Wilde, and a present day favourite would be Stephen Fry, while cold watercress soup, lobster and roast beef would be on her all-time favourite menus.

Bedford Modern School students and brothers, George and Harry Thurstance have reason to celebrate after they both scored undefeated centuries in the School’s cricket match away at Haileybury School on Saturday 24th April.

Year 13 student, George who joined the School in Year 4, plays for Bedford Modern School’s 1st XI Cricket Team. “”Scoring 133 not out was my highest ever score for the BMS 1st Team. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at BMS, especially the sports and would recommend other students to try all the sports available and see what suits them most,” said George.

15 year old brother, Harry, scored 100 not out and plays for the BMS U15 Cricket Team. Harry, who is in Year 10, joined the School in Year 3, and in 2008 was awarded the Tour Award for Batting whilst taking part in the School’s U13 Cricket Tour to Dublin.

Paul Woodroffe, Director of Cricket at Bedford Modern School commented, “This event is unique in my experience. George and Harry have worked really hard over the winter on their batting and hopefully this is just the start of a fantastic summer for them both.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School’s budding cricketers, Harry (left) and George (right) Thurstance

At the end of April, Esme and Ellie, two Year 8 girls from St Mary’s Calne, took on the challenge of a 20 mile sponsored walk. They mapped out their route and planned to walk, unaccompanied, along the Ridge Way in Wiltshire and then, the following day, complete their trek along the White Horse Trail.

They walked to raise money for Molly’s Fund, a charity set up in memory of Molly Lane Fox who very sadly died aged five of a type of brain tumour known as a Diffuse Pontine Glioma. The money they raised will go towards building the first ever, and desperately needed, dedicated Brain Tumour Unit at the National Hospital in London.

They had set a target of raising £2000 and, to date, have raised an impressive £3490.

Following the release of the Requiem on the Regent label in February, the Chamber Choir made its Radio 3 debut as part of the Aled Jones programme – The Choir – in March. Two tracks from the CD were played – Let all the world and Libera me from the Requiem. The CD has received excellent reviews from Classic FM Magazine and many other publications, and a number of musical celebrities such as Sir Tim Rice, Phyllida Lloyd and Seb Hunter have commented on how much they have enjoyed the recording.

At the end of the Spring Term, St Mary’s Chamber Choir enjoyed a six-day tour to Tuscany. Familiar music by Purcell, Mozart and David Bednall was complemented by new music for the season of Lent by Pergolesi, Haydn, Tavener and a brand new piece: Ave Maris Stella by Philip Moore. This is the latest piece to be commissioned on the Choir’s behalf, and is a haunting and demanding work for unaccompanied voices and solo violin. It sounded wonderful in the reverberant Italian churches, and the violin part was superbly played by Charlotte from UVI Form.

As well as performing in San Gimignano, Montecatini, Lucca and Florence, the girls were able to explore these beautiful towns and to soak up the atmosphere and culture. They also had time to climb the leaning tower of Pisa and, once the final musical engagement in Florence was completed on Palm Sunday, to spend the final day of the tour relaxing and sightseeing in Sienna.

The choir’s performances were enjoyed by locals and tourists alike, and of course by the faithful parental fan-club! The six days went past very quickly, and, as is always the case with tours, not only did the group greatly enjoy each other’s company but the demands of a daily rehearsal and performance schedule took the standard of the singing to new heights.

Tim Abbey, a student in his final year at King’s School, Bruton, has won The Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers’ School Prize in Art. Tim received his prize at the Company’s annual prize-giving in London on 23 April. His work, A Triptych of Rheanna, drew praise from many who attended the ceremony and accompanying exhibition, including the Company’s guest speaker, Iwona Blazwick, Director of The Whitechapel Gallery.

The Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers makes awards to students at schools and art colleges across the country. King’s School, Bruton was the only senior school in the West Country to be recognised by the Company this year.

Padworth College Sixth form students visited the ICMA Centre at Henley Business School, University of Reading to find out more about courses and careers in finance and investment and to participate in a practical share dealing session in the brand new state-of-the-art Dealing room.

The group of 10 students from Padworth College, who are all studying Business Studies and Economics A Level, attended two lectures during the afternoon. The first was given by Dr Adrian Bell, Director of Teaching and Learning who spoke about the role of the ICMA centre and the Finance and Investment Banking course at the University of Reading followed by an interesting talk from Graham Philpott, Deputy Director about the range of careers which former graduates had forged after the course. Mr Philpott also gave the students some useful tips on preparing a successful CV.

The students were then given a tour of the Dealing room and shown how to operate the sophisticated dealing system. Economics student, Alma Pereira said, “It was so interesting – not only did we gain the fundamentals of the share market but we actually applied them in the simulation exercise. At the end, some of us made huge profits while others ended up with equally huge deficits – we all found this an exhilarating experience”.

The ICMA Centre has the most extensive non-investment bank dealing room facilities in the world and was established with funding from the ICMA. The Centre is equipped with all the latest trading technology giving it the feel of a real trading floor and it is sponsored by Thomson Reuters.

Head of Economics, Michael Laizans said, “This trip has given our students a real insight into the world of banking and share dealing – the hands-on experience in the Dealing Room was extremely useful and I think will really help their understanding of investment and banking practices. We are very grateful to Reading University for giving our students this opportunity”.

Oswestry School pupils have raised £600 for charity by staging a non-uniform day with a purple theme.
Each pupil paid £2 for the privilege of wearing their own clothes on a normal school day. The money raised was donated to the Rotary Club’s ‘Thanks for Life’ project for polio eradication and the Charlotte Hartey Foundation to support local charities.
The day was organized by the School Interact Club in partnership with Oswestry Rotary Club.
Why purple?
When children in developing world countries are vaccinated against polio, they have a purple stamp put on one of their little fingers. In this way the immunisation team knows who has received the medication.
Each purple pinkie brings us closer to making polio history.

Photo: Some of Oswestry School’s purple-clad pupils

A Derbyshire/Spinkhill pupil will compete alongside some of the finest young fencers in the country at a prestigious national championship this weekend.

Nina Zimmerman, a year 10 boarding student at Mount St Mary’s College, will represent her school at the British Youth Fencing Championships to be held at the English Institute of Sport – Sheffield.

The event, which takes place from May 1-3, will showcase the very best young swordsmen and women in Great Britain, with national and county fencers among those taking part.

Nina qualified for the competition after fighting her way to a bronze in the Girls Under 16 Foil at the Yorkshire Youth Championships in March.

Mount St Mary’s coach Adam Blight, who has experience of coaching nine British fencing champions, said: “To qualify for such a prominent competition is a fantastic achievement for Nina and I’m sure she will relish testing herself against some very strong fencers.

“Nina has a lot of talent and this experience will be another big step in her development. We all wish her the very best of luck in the championships.”
Fencers at the Mount are beginning to make their mark at regional and national level, and a strong performance at the Lancashire Schools Foil saw the school pick up four medals in its first ever regional competition.

Photo: Nina with her bronze medal after the Yorkshire Youth Championships

Bedford Modern School Year 13 student Matthew Wong has been selected for this year’s International Air Cadet Exchange (IACE) and shortlisted for the Sir John Thompson Memorial Sword where a Sword Award is presented to the best CCF (RAF) Cadet. “I will be attending IACE in July flying to Hong Kong and China as an Ambassador for the Air Cadet Organisation in the UK and would ultimately like to train as a fast Jet Pilot,” said Matthew.

The aim is for ambassadors from the UK Air Cadets to travel abroad to places such as Israel, Canada, New Zealand, Ghana, Turkey and Hong Kong to encourage better relations with cadets. BMS student, Matthew will be joined by cadets from other nations, so will be with Americans, French, Belgians, Germans, Australians, Singaporeans and others. Cadets will spend two weeks visiting local sights, military bases and studying aviation-related matters.

During his last five years in the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) at Bedford Modern School, Matthew has attended various cadet camps at RAF bases both home and abroad including Rheindahlen and Ramstein in Germany and Akrotiri in Cyprus. In 2009, the RAF awarded Matthew a Sixth Form Scholarship.

Matthew, who intends to join the Royal Air Force in October, has already obtained a Distinction in his Air Cadet Leadership Course at RAFC Cranwell, in addition to completing an Officer Selection Regiment Course at RAF Honington and a Drill Instructor course at RAF Brize Norton.

“Bedford Modern School Combined Cadet Force has been very supportive throughout my time in the Corps, giving me numerous opportunities, as they do with all the cadets and I fully encourage all Year 9 students at BMS to join the Combined Cadet Force.

Steve Harvey, Contingent Commander with Bedford Modern School’s Combined Cadet Force said: “Matthew has been an exceptional CCF Air Cadet from his very first day in the Section. He has shown excellent leadership ability and taken over as senior RAF Cadet this year. He richly deserves his Sixth Form Scholarship and International Air Cadet Exchange place – both of which show the great opportunities open to all cadets within the CCF.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School Cadet Matthew Wong

The OFSTED boarding inspection gave the Prep and Senior Schools the summative verdict of “outstanding” (the highest OFSTED can award) and, remarkably, every single subcategory bar one was also deemed “outstanding”. This is a stunning assessment.

The Independent Schools Inspectorate do not give a one word overall assessment but grade key areas using “excellent” as the highest award. Pre-Prep, Prep and Senior School received only “excellent” and “good” in the numerous categories, with “excellent” dominant. Not a single aspect of the Schools was even deemed average. Among the key areas graded “excellent” were leadership, governance and management.

The Senior School also came top of the academic Value Added league tables for Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire and Shropshire as used and promulgated by the BBC and DCSF. These tables include all state as well as independent schools in these counties.

Headmaster, Chris Edwards, said: “We have just emerged from the most intense period of external scrutiny we have ever experienced. I am delighted to report that on a national scale we are eminent and, in some areas, pre-eminent. It is a humbling privilege to be at the helm of one of Britain’s finest schools.”

The full reports can be accessed via the school’s website.

If you would like further details or comment about the reports please contact:
Sara Bussey,
Marketing Co-ordinator.
Telephone 01527 579679 ext 265
Email sbussey@bromsgrove-school.co.uk

Pupils at Oswestry School have the chance to learn a new sport, thanks to a partnership with the Oswestry Fencing Club.

Club coaches Bridie Lloyd and Tom Gulliver visit the school on Thursday afternoons to teach the skills of fencing to a group of 16 pupils, as part of their out of hours learning programme.

‘The club has proved very popular and we have a waiting list of pupils who want to join,’ said Oswestry School Director of Sport, Darren Hollingsworth. ‘We are very pleased that we have the opportunity to offer fencing as part of the alternative sports curriculum and we are glad that we can work with the Oswestry Fencing Club in this way.’

The inspection of the Royal Hospital School, a coeducational boarding and day school for approximately 680 11 to 18 years olds set in 200 acres overlooking the River Stour at Holbrook, took place over two days in February and three days in March. It was conducted by an experienced team of Heads and teachers from other ISC (Independent School’s Council) accredited schools across the country. The objective of the inspection is to assess whether the School is meeting its stated aims and to ensure that standards are maintained and that relevant legal requirements are complied with.

Headmaster, Mr. Howard Blackett, who has been in post since 2004, explains that the School’s aims are “to provide a civilised, caring, Christian community where pupils are helped to develop their full potential and encouraged to develop qualities such as personal responsibility, honesty, reliability, truthfulness, integrity, independence, adaptability, perseverance, initiative and self confidence.” He was therefore delighted at the findings of the ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate) report which state that that “pupils have outstandingly well-developed personal qualities: they are ready to become active, responsible citizens who will contribute to society in a positive manner, exercise good judgment and show tolerance, courtesy and respect for others. They are friendly, confident and outgoing and loyal to their house and school. The school very successfully fulfils its aims concerning the development of values and personal qualities.”

The report is divided into specific sections and, in each one, the conclusions made were “overall extremely pleasant reading” according to Mr. Blackett. Comments such as ‘standards are high. Pupils are well educated in accordance with the school’s aims. They are articulate, confident and capable of independent thought. Results in GCSE and A Level examinations over the last three years, for which nationally comparable data is available, have been high’ were received and Mr. Blackett goes on to say, “we are dedicated to further improving on these high academic standards and results, not least through our new Gifted and Talented programme which has been put in place to support and extend pupils who are more able in specific subject areas”.

The ISI Inspection team recognised that the School has been through a period of enormous structural change and development under Mr Blackett’s leadership and the positive feedback and recommended actions reflected this. Not least, the £18 million house-refurbishment which the inspection team believed has created ‘first class accommodation which is both warm and welcoming’ and they praised the pastoral care and support provided by the House system by saying ‘the Houses are the heart of the school community; their friendly, family ethos fosters the pupil’s loyalty and respect’.

The full report can be read at www.royalhospitalschool.org and the School can viewed on Saturday 8th May when an Open Morning will be held from 9am.

Howell’s School, Llandaff Student Art Exhibition at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Cardiff Official Opening on 29th April 2010.

The Art and Design Department of Howell’s School, Llandaff has organised an exhibition of GCSE, AS and A2 work hosted by the Radisson Blu Hotel, Cardiff. The exhibition of artwork is a demonstration of the talents and ambition of students studying Art and Design at Howell’s. The exhibitors, all aged between 15 and 18 years, are studying or have studied GCSE or A level Art. The official opening of work will be on Thursday 29th April at 6:30pm and the exhibition closes on Wednesday 26th May.

The work on display is representative of the inspirations and themes which pre-occupy students when completing their examination courses. The wide scope of subject matter ranges from portraiture exploring expression and identity sometimes through different cultures as well as our own to natural forms. Some of the young artists even move beyond conventional representation towards abstraction.

A feature of all the work is the crafted handling of a variety of creative techniques and media ranging from large-scale oil paintings, three-dimensional ceramics and graphic design. Of course, this work could not have been produced without a teaching programme offering students the freedom to explore media and techniques best suited to the expression of their intentions.

Bedford Modern School Year 8 student Jordan Semmens recently had her cut to raise money for charity. Up until a few weeks ago, Jordan had considerably long hair before taking the drastic decision to have 22 inches cut off for charity.

“My mother saw a feature on GMTV informing viewers that hair donations were welcome by the Little Princess Trust and this made me think about having my hair cut. Having had long hair for so long, I felt ready for a change without being too drastic and settled on a shoulder-length haircut at a Toni and Guy salon in Stevenage. My hair was tied in a pony-tail before it was cut and then bagged up ready to be sent off to be made into a wig to help those suffering hair loss due to cancer treatment”, said Jordan.

Generally, hair needs to be at least ten inches long before it can be used in making a wig and around 12oz hair is required for each wig. “I think that by donating my hair in this way, it is part of an ongoing legacy as a small part of me will be going someway to helping someone else,” added Jordan.

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 8 student Jordan Semmens who undertook a charity haircut

Election fever has gripped Stonyhurst St Mary’s Hall and parliamentary campaigns are being mounted by pupil-candidates to capture the votes of their peers. Posters, rosettes, competitions and campaigning feature throughout the school, and when the country goes to the polls, Stonyhurst St Mary’s Hall will too, with the Tolkien Library becoming the polling station for the day. This is not being taken as just a bit of fun either. All the candidates take their roles very seriously and are fully aware of all parts of their manifestos, a fact which was amply demonstrated recently in front of the school and the actual candidates for the Ribble Valley constituency. Nigel Evans MP was so impressed with the speeches that he stood to congratulate the junior candidates on their performances!

Photo: Edward Johnson(12), the Liberal Democrat candidate.

A Derbyshire school will be transformed into a miniature House of Commons when its pupils meet for a Westminster-style debate about the upcoming general election.

The senior debating society at Mount St Mary’s College, in Derbyshire, will meet on Friday 30 April to discuss one of the most prominent issues surrounding this election – the leader’s televised debates.

Pupils have chosen to debate the motion “This house believes that the smoke and mirrors of TV debating is good for modern politics.”

They will discuss the effect the TV debates have had on this election and the role they play in deciding the identity of the next man in ten Downing Street.

Helen McKell, head of the senior debating society at Mount St Mary’s, said: “Our pupils enjoy debating a wide variety of topics and have a real interest in current affairs, so we couldn’t resist a feisty political discussion with the election just around the corner.

“The debates are great fun and a brilliant way for pupils to practise valuable skills like public speaking and forming convincing arguments.

“I’m pleased to say that, however controversial the issue, all the pupils always conduct themselves in a professional and courteous manner – in fact some MPs could probably learn a thing or two from them!”

Following its success last year, the Warriors Charity Challenge (Worcester Warriors Staff v Worcestershire Teachers) will take place on the main pitch at Sixways on Tuesday, 11 May 2010, KO 7pm.

All proceeds will be donated to The Matt Hampson Trust.

Come along and cheer on our teachers and hope they can even the series.

Messrs Hughes, Moffatt, Bee, Friend and Taylor will be representing RGS and will be joining senior and primary school teachers from around Worcestershire for the charity match

Tickets are only £3 and are on sale from Mrs Sturdy in Whiteladies on 01905 613391. Tickets are also available from the Warriors Box Office on 01905 454183.

Parking is available at Sixways for £2 per car, payable as you drive in.

Corporate boxes are available at a price of £20 per head which will include a 1 course meal, great viewing point and a current 1stXV player who will act as the host.

Last year’s game was hugely entertaining so we hope to see as many of you there as possible this year for a really fun evening.
Please book quickly to avoid disappointment and support two great charities.

Rugby Background / RGS Teachers –

Gareth Hughes (Fly Half) – ex Saracens
Jon Moffatt (Back) – ex Northampton
Jonathon Friend (Back Row) – ex Bath
Ben Taylor (Back Row) – ex Bedford
Simon Bee (Hooker) – ex Broad Plain Bristol

A Fashion Show with a recycling theme entertained 600 visitors at RGS Worcester and raised £2,600 for charity.

Some 110 Royal Grammar School students, aged from 13-18, took part in the show, which featured more than twenty collections with an Eco Fashion theme. The students produced garments with ethical slogans, recycled fabrics in innovative ways and moved away from fast (disposable) fashion toward items with a long life.

Among the clothes shown was a dress made out of old ties, dungarees from recycled denim and belts, a fancy dress fairy costume with three different options and a wetsuit given a new lease of life as daywear. One collection consisted of clothes from the Age Concern shop in Worcester. They were updated and renewed into stunning new designs.

“Many of the collections were aimed at delivering an ‘Eco’ message whether it was through using slogans on ‘hoodies’, recycling garments, or products designed to have a multi-purpose,” said Jo Dutfield, Head of Textiles at RGS. “Our students are becoming even more environmentally aware and are hopefully having a positive impact as young designers. Many of our students go on to have careers within the fashion industry, whether researching new industrial processes or working as fashion designers. This show is an excellent way for them to start on the ladder.”

There was also a special appearance from A Level Art Student Hannah Evans. Under the guidance of Head of Art Emma Dukes, Hannah created and produced her dress made entirely from glow-sticks, an inspirational design which caused a buzz of excitement when the lights dimmed.

The proceeds of the show are being given to The Noah’s Ark Trust, which supports children who may have experienced the bereavement of a close relative or friend.

Photo: Josie Jackson in her dress, made entirely from recycled ties.

The last opportunity for electioneering at a Worcester school was grabbed by candidates representing nine political parties.

Each candidate was allotted a three-minute slot to win over voters from The Royal Grammar School Worcester, who go to the polls alongside the rest of the country on 6 May. Candidates ranged in age from 13 -18 and each looked to secure votes with winning policies.

“All the candidates had clearly put lots of time and thought into their policies, not just copying the published manifestos,” said Joe Lyons, Head of the RGS Politics Department. “This is an excellent platform for pupils with an interest in the election to become involved and has sparked off some sensible debating among the students around the school.”

The parties represented were:
Labour
Liberal Democrat
Conservative
Communist
Plaid Cmyru
Green Party
UKIP
Jackson Boogie
Monster Raving Loony

“I think it’s excellent that the school is running elections to time in with the General Election,” said student Amelia Newland. “It has been the first time that anyone in school has talked about politics and we’ve had some good arguments about various policies such as defence spending and the NHS. The funniest policy came from the Monster Raving Loony candidate who said his party would introduce a 99p coin to save everyone time in shops.”

Photo: The RGS candidates, after making their final speeches to gain election.

A Prior Park College pupil has been offered a place on the first ever National Youth Jazz Summer School. Louis Archer, in lower sixth form, who plays the tenor saxophone, will be attending the Summer School in August after wowing judges in a round of national auditions.

The school will draw together 30 of England’s most talented jazz musicians (aged 14 to 18), who will receive professional guidance from a team of internationally renowned jazz artists. Tutors include Issie Barratt, Alec Dankworth, Nic France, Mark Hodgson, John Hollenbeck, Mark Lockheart, Liam Noble, Jeremy Price, Nick Smart, Martin Speake, Rowland Sutherland and Mike Walker.

The week-long Summer School focuses on developing performance, improvisatory and interactive skills and participants will perform in a free concert to the public at the end of the week.

Headteacher, James Murphy O’Connor, comments:

“Louis has done extremely well to earn a place at the Summer School, having beaten off competition from many other hopefuls. We are sure he will receive the recognition he deserves and look forward to hearing all about the experience upon his return.”

Lollipop Brooker, 8, competed in the ‘Mini’s 1’ section of the contest, in which she came 5th in the Giant Slalom competition in her age category – Lolli was one of the youngest skiers to take part in the competition. She will compete in the British Championships in Meribel, France, at Easter.

A delighted Lolli commented: “I’ve had a fantastic Winter in Austria again and have really loved the skiing. I was very nervous about competing at the Inter Schools but enjoyed the racing a lot. I’m really looking forward to the Meribel Championships.”

Sporty Prior Park College student, Joss Bennett, has won three medals including gold in the Somerset County Championships. Joss achieved gold in the 200m IM, silver in the 200m breaststroke and bronze in the 400m IM.

Next Joss will represent Prior Park College in the biathlon at Millfield on 9 May and following that he will compete in the regional championships in June. If he finishes in the top six, he will qualify for a national competition later this year.

Headmaster, James Murphy O’Connor, comments:

“Warmest congratulations to Joss for his achievements so far. If he wins at Millfield and the regional championships, this will be the fourth consecutive year that Joss has made the nationals which is extremely impressive. We would like to wish Joss all the best for his future endeavours and look forward to hearing about the results.”

Joss comments:

“Winning at the Somerset County Championships is a good achievement for me but my ultimate goal is to get to the nationals. To make it to the final would be an amazing experience and my success at the Somerset County Championships has allowed me to build on my performance. My teachers at Prior Park have been really supportive and are always looking for ways to help me go the distance.”

Contact us at Prior Park College on 01225 831000 or info@priorpark.co.uk. To find out more about the College, visit www.priorparkschools.co.uk.

A talented pupil from Saint Felix School has been called up to the team which will represent the East of England in the national tetrathlon competition.

Alice Ward, 13, has been named as part of the team of three which will travel to Windsor later this year. Tetrathlon is a combination of four disciplines – running, riding, swimming and shooting, and has three age groups – mini, junior and senior.

The three members of the East of England team – two girls, one boy – were picked after a series of junior competitions in which they achieved the highest points.

A delighted Alice said: “I’m really happy to have been picked for the team – my parents received an email telling them that I had made it in, and then they told me.

“I really hope we win and become the best in the UK. If we did, it could mean that we could go to the Olympics in the future, which would be amazing.”

Year four pupils at Saint Felix School have completed this term’s creative challenge to design a young child’s soft book, as part of their design and technology lessons.
As part of their initial research stage, the creative youngsters visited Bronte, where they asked the Big Dragons what their ideal book would consist of. During the making of the books, the Big Dragons occasionally visited the older children’s design and technology lessons to see how their masterpieces were progressing.
Following World Book Day, during which the Dragon’s also had an eco-friendly day, Year four incorporated ideas in to their literary creations. Each child learned how to make felt and paper from scratch, and also looked at the importance of sound and texture for the age range of their readership.
The first page of their books included a calico page incorporating a squeaker and then a paper page with a peephole window. The completed book was fixed together with a
When the books were complete, Year four read their stories to the nursery children in what was a very successful and enjoyable storybook session.
Art teacher at the junior school at Saint Felix, Susie Yates commented: “It has been a good use of cross site development, incorporating the different age ranges and allowing the Dragons to see what they will aspire to in the future. The staff at Bronte are keen to continue with this idea in the future – we all had a lot of fun and the books are all superb.”

Babies and toddlers may not immediately spring to mind when you first think of Howell’s School, Llandaff, but its very successful Stay and Play is celebrating its first birthday. Specifically geared to the youngest children, both boys and girls (up to three years old), Stay and Play provides the opportunity for Mums, dads, grandparents and other carers to take their little ones to Howell’s Junior School Hall to play in a bright and stimulating environment on Tuesday mornings from 9.45am to 11.15am. While the adults enjoy tea or coffee and biscuits in an informal and relaxed atmosphere, the children can play and explore safely while developing their creative, physical, social and emotional skills.

The sessions are run by Mrs Vanessa Yilmaz, who is a specialist in Early Years Education, and each week there is are different activities to stimulate the children. Marcia Banner, one of the mothers who attends, comments: “The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed as well as stimulating for the children. The session is constantly evolving thanks to Vanessa’s creativity.” Anna Guina describes the group as having “a lovely informal atmosphere, which means it is easy to just drop by on a Tuesday”. Claire Weston, another mum, says: “the Stay and Play session at Howell’s School has a calming effect on me. The activities and music are very enjoyable for child and the parent”.

Howell’s School is 150 years old this year but far from being rooted in a bygone age, its range of activities is constantly changing to meet the needs of the present day. One of its main aims is to serve the needs of the local community and the school frequently opens its doors to children from other schools and to other groups which can benefit from its facilities. If you would like to sample the activities available at Stay and Play, do come for a taster session.

To celebrate the anniversary, for the Stay and Play session on Tuesday 11th May admission will be free and there will be special cakes!

For more information, please contact Vanessa Yilmaz on 029 2056 2019 or just pop in to the session.

Stonyhurst girls have done well too. On Wednesday 3rd March, the U19 Girls Badminton Team competed in the Red Rose County Championships and finished in second place.

Photo: with their badges and certificates are (from left to right): Hannah Phoenix (16), Wendy Leung (17), Rebecca Powell (captain: 17) and Vanessa Vaghetti (18).

Doctor Per Hall, one of the surgeon’s followed by the Blue Peter cameras in India, is also the brother of Catherine Fuller, a parent at the school and the school shop manageress.

Doctor Hall visited Saint Felix to talk to the Junior School children about his time spent operating on Indian children born with a cleft pallet, and also showed them a slide show of photos. Blue Peter documented the work by their charity of the year, Operation Smile.

Per said: The appeal target was 20, 000 surgical gowns made from disused T-shirts, saving Operation Smile £3 per gown. A cleft lip operation costs £150 or the equivalent of 50 gowns and Saint Felix School has changed the lives of 5 children by producing 250 gowns. I am extremely lucky that I can take may “day job” off with me and use my training in a country where communication may only be through smiling, pointing and demonstration, and to work with nurses and doctors with little uniting language but a common goal to do as safely as we can whatever we can do to help. The smiles on the faces of the children we help and their parents are fantastic.”

Head of the Junior School at Saint Felix, Julia Campbell, added: “We are delighted that Per could visit us and talk to the children – to have someone with such first hand experience of something they are all very interested in is very special.”

Southwold Town Garage has become the new sponsor of Saint Felix School’s equestrian team. The team, consisting of four girls from the school, will now enjoy invaluable support from their new sponsor.

Chris and Kerry Wilmot, who are the directors of the Southwold Town Garage, chose to sponsor Saint Felix Equestrian Team as their son Jack is a pupil at the school and the garage carries out the fleet maintenance of the school’s mini buses.

The partnership will be a ‘working’ sponsorship – representatives from the garage will attend shows that the team compete in, and will maintain vehicles required to transport the horses and team around the country. The company have also sponsored the ‘Arena Eventing – Jumping with Style’ class.

Co Director of Southwold Town Garage, Kerry Wilmot, commented: “The garage like to support teams based in the community, so we were delighted to offer our help to the equestrian team. Myself and Sarah Roberts, the assistant manager, both have an equine background and this also gives us both enjoyment and enthusiasm to be involved.”

Jane Ward, co-ordinator of the Equestrian team, added: “We are very grateful to Southwold Town Garage for their sponsorship. Members of their staff have an avid interest in horses, and it’s fantastic to have two local groups working together in the community.”

Competing for Saint Felix, Alice Ward, Hannah Bacon and Casey Willis completed a 1000m run and a 100m swim in both individual events and as a team. This was a new experience for these pupils and mark exciting times ahead for the school as the girls came away with bronze medals in the Year 8 Girls team event.

Hundreds of young athletes competed in the Championships, which took place at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Sunday 21st March. Some 650 young people from around the country faced the challenge of a swim and a run having qualified in 12 regional events during the Autumn Term.

The British Schools Modern Biathlon Championships is supported by Sport England and run by Pentathlon GB, the national governing body for modern pentathlon. Biathlons are one of the traditional ways that young people try out multi-sports events in an enjoyable, safe and competitive environment. After mastering swimming and running, they can gradually add the other disciplines of the modern pentathlon – fencing, shooting and show jumping – before tackling a full modern pentathlon.

Their hard work in running-training paid off as Casey, Alice and Hannah all managed to shave a minimum of ten seconds off their qualifying run time which boosted their points as they entered their stronger event, swimming. In an imposing 50m pool they rose to the occasion and gained some impressive times. To gain bronze medals was an icing on the cake.

Director of Sport at Saint Felix, Georgina Kingstone, commented: “We are all very proud of the girls – their dedication in training has really paid off. Well done.”

“Great Britain has an outstanding track record on the international stage in modern pentathlon and who knows, some future British Olympic pentathletes may compete at Crystal Palace on Sunday.” said Peter Hart, Chief Executive of Pentathlon GB.

Mrs Taylor in ‘Manifesto Corner’
Head of Christ College Mrs Emma Taylor has been part of a panel who have been scrutinising the main political parties Welsh manifestoes on the BBC Radio Wales ‘Good Morning Wales’ programme.

It has become affectionately known as ‘Manifesto Corner’ – a corner of the BBC Canteen – and it is where Mrs Taylor has been joined by Dr Jonathan Deacon, a senior lecturer in marketing & entrepreneurship at Newport Business School, and BBC Wales’ Political Editor Betsan Powys. The discussions have been facilitated by ‘Good Morning Wales’ presenters Rhun ap Iorweth and Bethan Rhys Roberts.

On Wednesday 14th April, the panel examined Plaid Cymru’s manifesto and on Friday 16th April it was the turn of the Labour Party’s manifesto for Wales to come under scrutiny. On Saturday 17th, Mrs Taylor and Dr Deacon were joined by the BBC’s Welsh Affairs Editor Vaughan Roderick to analyse the Liberal Democrats manifesto for Wales. On Monday 19th, the panel ran the rule over the Conservative Party’s manifesto, and finally the manifesto of UKIP and some of the other minor parties were analysed on Tuesday 20th April.

Jessica in CCB’s production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Lower Sixth Form pupil Jessica Tait has been selected to join the National Youth Theatre of Wales.

From November 2009 through to March 2010 vast numbers of young people from Wales aged between 16 and 25 auditioned for a coveted place with the National Youth Theatre of Wales. Their next production will take place early in September of this year and promises to be very exciting under the direction of Tim Baker with talk of a cast generated script!

Jessica attended her first audition in Cardiff soon after Christmas where she was asked to perform two previously prepared monologues and take part in various group exercises. A three month wait finally produced the long awaited letter inviting Jessica to a call-back audition in Oswestry shortly before Easter.

Over two weekends the organisers saw 65 young people for a second time in order to select the final 45 youngsters who will form the company this year. This final audition was a gruelling combination of duologues, devising, dance and song focussing on characterization and adaptability. These young people are talented performers with a thirst for the lime-light and there is strong competition for those final 45 places.

Jessica is now assured of a place in the 45 strong company who will come together for 5 weeks of concentrated rehearsal during August and September culminating in performances in Aberystwyth, Mold and one further venue which is still to be confirmed.

Head of Drama Amanda Frazer said:
“This is an outstanding achievement but well deserved as many will testify having watched Jessica feature in school productions throughout her time here at Christ College. We are certainly looking forward to supporting her in this new venture and wish her every success in the coming performances.”

Prep girls in their fantastic Easter bonnets at Farlington School.

Ben in action for Wales
Over the Easter Holidays, 3rd Form pupil Ben Wigmore was selected to represent Wales U16s at Hockey. Ben, who is still only 14 years old, has a further two years to offer to the National team at this age group.

Ben was part of the Wales U16 team that played Scotland in the first International of the season at Wrexham during the Easter weekend. The first match resulted in a win for Wales who totally dominated the game after a somewhat sluggish start with a score of 2 – 0. In the second match Scotland got off to a good start, leading at half time 2 – 0. Wales however took control in the second half of the match. Through excellent teamwork they scored three goals securing a 3 – 2 victory. The final match to end the series was frustrating for the Welsh boys as despite dominating the game in every respect and an extraordinary number of near misses, the final score was 2 – 1 to Scotland. Wales won the series however and it was well deserved.

As mentioned, Ben was selected to play as a member of the 18 man team despite being very young. At 14 he has the prospect of not only this year but two further years in the same age group. His inexperience at this level although initially daunting, did not reflect in his game. He played extremely well in all three matches demonstrating increasing confidence and excellent skill and control of the ball.

Hockey Coach at Christ College Dr Dominic Phelps said: “Having already played on numerous occasions for Christ College’s 1st XI – quite an achievement in itself given Ben’s age – this is a real testament not only to his outstanding ability in hockey but also to the immense amount of hardwork and dedication to the sport that he has put in over recent years. There is little doubt that a future national star is being developed right here at Christ College.”

Prior Park College students have dug out the gardening gloves and tools in support of Earth Day and its 40th anniversary this year.

Today’s ‘Green Day’ event has seen pupils planting seeds and vegetables, building bird boxes and paying £1 to wear an item of green clothing; the money raised will fund further sustainability initiatives. Students have made their own flower pots and planted everything from courgettes and tomatoes to sunflowers and nasturtiums.

Earth Day aims to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment whilst ‘Green Day’ is part of the eco-mission of the College’s EcoPrior conservation group. The group was formed in 2003 and promotes care of the environment by recycling, energy saving and ethical trading.

Headmaster, James Murphy O’Connor, comments:
“The staff and students at Prior Park College take sustainability seriously and that’s why we introduced EcoPrior and the Prior Park Ten Green Commandments. Planting seeds is a great way of helping the local wildlife, whilst improving the biodiversity of the local environment. These plants regenerate growth within the school grounds and will be enjoyed by many generations to come.

“With the money raised today, we hope to plant new trees, build a new bicycle shelter, a polytunnel and possibly even a beehive in the future. We believe that by supporting worthy causes such as Earth Day, we will get our community thinking about how we can help protect nature and the environment we live in.”

One student comments:
“It’s been a really fun day; it’s nice to make a difference.”

Contact us at Prior Park College on 01225 831000 or info@priorpark.co.uk. To find out more about the College, visit www.priorparkschools.co.uk.

National Science and Engineering week was from the 12-21 March, and the Marist Senior School, Sunninghill, fully embraced it within the Science Department.

Glass Frogs, Yeti Crabs, Sea Pigs and Blob Fish were just a few of the strange creatures encountered during National Science and Engineering week. A full week of activities culminating in a Pub Quiz (non-alcoholic!) attracted up to 30 girls every lunchtime in the Science departments labs.

The Marist students began the week with a spot of forensic investigation, taking their own fingerprints and seeing if they could then identify whose was whose (move over CSI!!).

With the beautiful spring weather having finally arrived the girls took the opportunity to photograph the buds and emerging flowers, hoping to chronicle their unfolding through the week as they basked in the sunshine.

Another lunchtime saw teams of Marist girls exploring and discovering around the school site trying to colour match leaves, twigs, Joe (our Maintenance Manager) work gloves and other outdoor finds to a colour chart, with chocolate goodies for the winning team with the best match. The girls also took part in a quiz to identify weird and wonderful images, including images seem through a microscope.

Rev Lynn Trainer, Physics Teacher, commented, “National Science and Engineering Week was a week of fun and mayhem with HUGE thanks to our Senior Lab Technician, Mrs Wood, who put everything together and lead the sessions. The girls thoroughly enjoyed all the challenges and experiments we set and we can’t wait for next year to create even more exciting things for the girls”

The two day event took place at Airbus UK in Broughton in March 2010.

The girls learnt about the principles of flight, project planning, material and structures, before going onto design and build a glider. The finished project was then judged on technical understanding, innovation and build quality, as well as the distance and duration of the flight achieved. Certainly a challenging and stimulating event which helped the girls to build on and extend the knowledge and skills that they are already acquiring in their Year 9 science lessons.

Bedford Modern School students will be performing a Classical Showcase on Wednesday 5th May at 7.30pm in the Howard Hall. The concert will feature BMS senior school musicians performing works from the orchestral and choral repertoire including Coronation March “Crown Imperial” by William Walton, Violin Concerto by Max Bruch, Karelia Suite by Jean Sibelius and, in the second half, Gloria by Vivaldi featuring student vocal soloists. Tickets are priced at £4.00 Adults / £2.00 Concessions and can be obtained from the Bedford Modern School Box Office on 01234 332664.

Year 13 student, Rachel Cullum, is just one of the many students taking part. “I joined Bedford Modern School in Year 9 as a Music Scholar which carried the expectation of becoming heavily involved in music and being a music ambassador for the School,” said Rachel.

Having performed in numerous concerts and musical productions at BMS, Rachel now leads the School Orchestra as violinist. “I come from a musical background as my family are great lovers of music and I fell in love with the violin when I was about seven years old,” added Rachel.

Rachel will be taking part as violin soloist at the Classical Showcase on 5th May. Rachel said, “I will be playing the first two movements from the Bruch Violin Concerto. This is a very popular and well known Concerto and although it is relatively short, it combines technical difficulty with lyrical playing.

“By performing as violin soloist I will obtain great experience of playing as a soloist with an orchestra, especially at a relatively young age, alongside my peers and also under the direction of Mr John Mower, Director of Music at BMS. I think this will be a good way to end my school career,” said Rachel proudly.

Rachel is currently studying English Literature, History, Religious Studies and Music A Levels before going to Cambridge to study Archaeology and Anthropology. “Cambridge is renowned for its music at University and I am confident that music will continue to be a big part of my life.

“The Music Department at Bedford Modern School is welcoming and friendly and has given me so much support. No matter what genre or style your music is, the Department always encourages its students to achieve the best they can and this is what I have appreciated most during my time at the School,” said Rachel.

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 13 student Rachel Cullum

Bedford Modern School parent, Tracey Smith, will be participating in the London Marathon on Sunday 25th April in order to raise funds for Keech Hospice Care’s children’s service.
The hospice looks after children with a life-limiting illness in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes, which is a huge area to cover.

Tracey, who has two sons at Bedford Modern School, Aaron in Year 3 and Kieran in Year 7, began working for the charity two years ago by working in the Keech Hospice Care shop in Kempston. “I had an induction day at the hospice and was so impressed with the wonderful care and support they provide for patients and families all year round. I was informed that the Government provides 25% of the funding and the charity must raise the rest. This inspired me even more to try and “do my bit”, said Tracey.

Having completed two midnight walks for the charity, Tracey wanted to set herself a true challenge and raise vital funds and so the London Marathon became an ideal target. “I applied to enter the London Marathon and obtained one of the gold bond charity places for Keech Hospice Care. The charity has to buy these places, which I did not realise, and I have guaranteed to raise at least £1,500,” added Tracey.

Serious training for the London Marathon began in January for Tracey when she received the official marathon magazine together with a 13 week training guide. “Having not run since I was at school, training has been quite tough at times,” said Tracey. “Sometimes it is hard to be motivated to go out on a dark, cold evening after a day at work. I worked out a circuit of half a mile and repeated this on numerous occasions in order to build up my stamina. As the weeks progressed I found I could run 5, 10, 13, 15, 18 and finally 21 miles, before beginning my three week taper phase.”

The London Marathon is 26.2 miles long starting at Greenwich and finishing in The Mall. Bedford Modern School wishes Tracey Smith every success with the London Marathon and anyone wishing to sponsor Tracey and help raise funds for Keech Hospice Care can donate at www.justgiving.com/tracey4keech

Photo: Bedford Modern School parent Tracey Smith who will be competing in the London Marathon to raise funds for Keech Hospice Care

St Hugh’s School, the Independent, Catholic prep school for St Edmund’s College, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Leonard Blom as the new Head of St Hugh’s. Mr Blom took up his post on 20 April 2010 and takes over from the previous Head, Mrs Jacqueline Hart, who left in December to become the Headmistress of Woodford Green Prep School.

Mr Blom joins the school with a wealth of leadership and teaching experience, most recently gained at Edgeborough Prep School in Surrey, where he was Head of Geography. Prior to that, he held Headships at St Dominic’s Priory Junior School and Erica Girls’ Primary School, both in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Originally from Port Elizabeth in South Africa, Mr Blom is married with two teenage children and in his spare time he is a keen runner and cyclist – regularly taking part in triathlons and marathons. He has a BEd Honours degree specialising in Educational Management and a BA degree in History, Psychology and Philosophy, both gained from universities in South Africa, plus he recently obtained his National Professional Qualification for Headship in the UK (NPQH).

Mr Chris Long, Headmaster of St Edmund’s College said:

“The Governors and I are delighted to welcome Leonard to St Hugh’s. He has exactly the right experience and qualities to oversee the day-to-day running of the school and to positively support our pupils, staff and parents”.

Francesca Hill, Year 13, is celebrating this week, having attained Distinction at Grade 8 for Percussion, French Horn and Singing. Francesca has played both the French Horn and Percussion for six years and has been singing since the age of six. She plays percussion in the National Schools Symphony Orchestra and has been a member of the Malvern Priory Choir from the age of seven.

Francesca, who was delighted with the results, said, ‘I plan to study music at university. It has always been a very large part of my life and I hope to pursue a career in music for film and television. I have been very lucky and given many opportunities to experience different aspects of music, which has certainly increased my love of music.’

Director of Music, Mrs Lindner, said, ‘Francesca is an extraordinarily versatile and talented musician and her contribution to Malvern St James has been exceptional. She is a role model for all our girls. We offer her every good wish for her future’.

On the weekend of March 12th and 13th March Hurst Lodge School, Ascot hosted the ISA Southern Section of the ISA Drama Competition, as it has for the previous 13 years. Every member school of the Independent Schools Association is invited to participate

This competition is organised by ISA to promote drama in schools. Schools may enter in 4 categories, Infant, Junior, Middle and Senior.

A total of 19 different pieces of theatre were performed over the weekends by children aged between 4 and 18 from a variety of schools from all over the country -The Northern competition was held the previous weekend at The Hammond School in Cheshire.

All were adjudicated by Mr Mark Oldknow (GODA) who was impressed with the standard of professionalism of all the entries. Hurst Lodge was praised for its facilities, the technical support given by the team and its general organisation of the event.

Following the weekend of performance we eagerly awaited the results. When these were published Hurst Lodge was delighted to discover that we had received two first place awards. The marks achieved were awarded for the technical, production, acting and entertainment value.

Pupils from years3-6 performed “Percy Parker’s Flying Bathtub”, a curriculum based musical that was devised by Andrew Holdsworth, a teacher at Hurst Lodge School. An overall mark of 63% was achieved.

One of the senior entries was a piece based on “The Good Person of Szechwan” a play written by Bertolt Brecht, which was awarded a creditable 72%. The other senior Hurst Lodge entry was “The Listener”, a devised production using the Walter de la Mare poem of the same name, as the stimulus for a piece of physical theatre. This gained the best results in the country, as well as being awarded The Clewborough House Cup for the Best Senior Production and The Dair House Trophy, (the Adjudicator’s Discretionary Award for “the most innovative and creative” piece).

These results rounded off a great weekend for the school and were well deserved by the girls for all the hard work they had put into the performances.

Mrs. Angela O’Rourke, The Manor’s Director of Sport, has facilitated a programme of over 55 sporting opportunities and activities each week, allowing every boy and girl to enjoy physical activity both within the curriculum and out of personal choice.
4 full-time members of the PE Department and over 35 part-time and volunteer experts guide the children to develop their skills. From tag rugby and jumping onto surfboards to following Youth Sports Leader courses, the emphasis is on joining in and reaching potential.
Regular fixtures with schools in the area and the school’s hosting of master classes led by national and international athletes give the children a sense of the place of sport in our broad community. Sport works in tandem with fun in the classroom to challenge the children and to enhance each child’s self-esteem. Realistic targets are set for each child to allow them to believe their aims are achievable and, as they leave The Manor, they take with them high expectations of the role that sport, fitness and health will play in their own lives.

The King’s School Ely has become the first independent school in Cambridgeshire and only the fourth in the UK to achieve the prestigious NACE Challenge Award for excellence in provision for able, gifted and talented pupils.

At King’s School, ‘teachers’ subject knowledge is exceptional and pupils are offered challenging contexts for their learning,’ says the report. ‘Parents value highly the extensive range of ways in which a child can excel and the inclusive approach where every child is seen as special.’ In an assessment far more gruelling and demanding than any normal school inspection, pupils were deemed to have very good attitudes to learning and exceptionally high levels of challenge and inference were expected from them. Particular mention was made of the ‘Ely Scheme’ which is used to help the development of pupils’ leadership, entrepreneurial and team-building skills.

Add to that the achievements of a class of 22 Year 11 pupils at King’s who have all achieved A* Grades in GCSE Maths, sitting the exam six months early, the top class acting in the recent Gothic melodrama, ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ and the prodigious achievements of King’s students on display in the outstanding new £3.5m Arts Complex, opened by Lord Browne in March………..and you certainly have ‘a school to be watched’.

King’s is an independent school that offers the complete package: a seamless education for day and boarding pupils aged from 3-18, where staff and students believe in ‘Learning Adventurously’, where school is not a preparation for life, it is life. Boasting a school chapel that happens to be one of England’s most glorious cathedrals, King’s is a school that values tradition whilst embracing and celebrating all that is innovative and forward-looking in education…..as the recent and much-coveted NACE award affirms.

Head of the King’s School Ely, Mrs Sue Freestone, believes that pupils should be provided with ‘the tools to discover and develop confidence in their talents and abilities, however unconventional or unlikely they may be.’

Prospective parents and their children are warmly invited to visit the school at any time to experience the very special atmosphere that sets this school apart.

enquiries@kings-ely.cambs.sch.uk
www.kingsschoolely.co.uk

Physics students from Nottingham High School have been taking part in a national Extreme Physics competition over the Easter holidays at Rugby School in Warwickshire.
The Nottingham High School team of Peter Hardwidge, 15, Ben Gates, 14, Christian Cummings, 15, and Chris Brenchley, 15, came fourth in the competition, which involved 24 schools from around the country. Over the course of the three days, the boys took part in a range of team and individual challenges based around various areas of physics. These included building an accurate timing device, making and launching paper rockets and measuring an unknown mass without any scales. The undoubted highlight of the competition, however, was the opportunity to experience sky diving in a wind tunnel.
The competition aimed to inspire year 10 students from around the East Midlands to study Physics beyond GCSE level. It was sponsored by the Institute of Physics and The Ogden Trust and also included lectures in the evening by the heads of science at Rugby and Oakham.
“The boys thoroughly enjoyed the experience and performed really well,“ said Peter Hortor, a physics teacher at Nottingham High School. “There was a lot of tough competition and to be placed fourth is no mean feat. It was relevant to their GCSEs, but also encouraged them to consider A Level physics as a useful and interesting course.“
Peter Hardwidge, one of the pupils commented: “I knew I wanted to work in science, but now I am sure I want to be a physicist.“

Lottie Van-Praag, Year 10, and Sophie Coombes-Roberts, Year 11, represented Wales in the Women’s U19 Lacrosse Home International Championship at Cardiff University in March. The girls both played extremely well, resulting in their selection to play for the Wales Senior Women’s B Team at the Home Internationals in Edinburgh on the 17th and 18th April. Sophie scored twice against England and they both achieved hat-tricks against Ireland. Lottie won 80% of the centre draws in both matches. The girls were the youngest ever to represent Wales in a Senior International game.

Head of Sports, Mrs Karen Bevan, said, ‘Both Sophie and Lottie have exceeded all expectations in their first full season competing at this very high level. We are very proud of their achievements so far and look forward to following and supporting their progress in the future’.

Over 20 local primary schools came to St. Mary’s School, Gerrards Cross, to take part in the annual French Verse Speaking Festival, with more than 100 pupils from Years 3 to 6 attending. A great amount of effort must have been spent practising beforehand, as all the participants performed their poems magnificently. There were poems about giraffes, cats and snowmen and some children brought along props to support their performances. The two French judges had a very hard time, choosing from all the applicants but marks were eventually awarded and first, second and third prizes were awarded in each age category.
This was a special festival for Mrs Robinson, Head of Modern Languages at St. Mary’s, as it is the last festival she will be organising. After 18 years at St. Mary’s, she will be retiring in August but we hope she will return to watch the festival in future. It is a very popular event and schools are already putting the date for next year’s festival in their diaries – Thursday 3 March 2011.

Photo: Some of the winners with Mrs Balcombe, Headmistress of St. Mary’s.

Worcester pupils at Radio 5 Live Debate
15 students from RGS Worcester were among an invited audience at the recent Radio 5 Live debate, titled ‘Trust and Politics’.

Hosted by 5 Live’s Victoria Derbyshire, there were MPs from all the major parties, including Hillary Benn, Labour’s Environment Minister and Simon Hughes of the Lib Dems.

Quotes from attendees.

George Painter, aged 17, attends The Royal Grammar School, Worcester.
“It was a great experience being part of the audience. People asked tough questions of the politicians, and the depth of feeling about the expenses scandal was passionate. I study politics, so hearing both sides of the debate gave me lots to think about.”

Toni Johns, aged 16, also from RGS Worcester.
“The thing that amazed me was the skill of Victoria Derbyshire, who hosted the programme. She had to field questions, get her cues right for the travel, weather, sport and news bulletins and keep the debate on track. If she ran as an MP, I’d certainly vote for her!”

Joe Lyons, Head of Politics at RGS Worcester.
“This was a great opportunity for students to put direct questions to politicians from the main parties. It energised them to think much more deeply about the real issues facing the country. It also raised the interesting issue of whether the voting age should be reduced to 16, an age at which you can be taxed, but unable to vote. All in all, a tremendous learning experience.”

Jacob Kelly, a pupil at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School has passed an audition to join the National Youth Choir, and is now the youngest member of the Choir. The audition included singing two pieces of music with an accompanist and a music sight-reading test. The talented 9 year old was delighted when he heard that he had been accepted into the choir.

As a member of the National Youth Choir (NYC) Jacob will attend two courses each year (in the Easter and Summer holidays). These courses will provide choral training and an opportunity to perform alongside youngsters from around the country. Jacob has already attended his first course which was a 4 day residential course at Tudor Hall School over Easter. He coped well with the long days of choral workshops and training and enjoyed being part of the Junior Boys’ Choir.

Jacob was not the only new boy in the choir and he shared a dorm with some of the other new members. There was no time to feel homesick as the music lessons were interspersed with other activities to keep the boys entertained.

“A lot of the songs we had to learn were in another language which made it quite difficult but we had a break every 90 minutes” says Jacob “And as well as singing we did activities in groups like football and other games.

“The best thing was when all four choirs came together and sang Akakomborerwa. The final performance in Coventry Cathedral was really good as it sounded much better than in the rehearsal – it was much better with the echo.”

Director of Music, Josephine Bryant comments “I suggested to Jacob’s parents that he be put forward for the audition for the National Youth Choir because of his obvious talent for singing and he has done really well to achieve a place in the Choir. The courses he will attend as part of the NYC will really help to develop his voice and enable him to achieve his full potential in singing. Jacob is the third pupil from this school to be accepted into the NYC and it is encouraging that there is so much talent and enthusiasm for music amongst our pupils.”

Haileybury’s boarding provision has been described by Ofsted inspectors as having “outstanding features”, with no recommendations for improvement set. These comments follow an inspection of the School’s boarding facilities in March 2010, which looked at the key boarding school national minimum standards under the ‘Every Child Matters’ outcome groups.

The overall outcome judgement is good with outstanding features. The outcome judgements for “Being Healthy” and “Enjoying and Achieving” are outstanding while those in the areas of “Staying Safe”, “Positive Contribution”, “Economic Well-being” and “Organisation” are judged as good.

“The school is popular with boarders and parents,” continues the Report. “Across the school, the health and well-being of boarders is promoted exceptionally well.”

The Report goes on to stress that Haileybury is committed to boarding, with an emphasis on community values and fostering responsibility and independence.

Says The Master of Haileybury, Joe Davies: “The Ofsted Report is very positive and we are thrilled with the outcome, particularly as it follows on from the equally positive Independent Schools Inspectorate Report late last year.”

Nottingham High School pupil and professional clarinet player, Jake Hinson, 15, has gained a professional clarinet performing diploma – an almost unprecedented achievement for a person of his age.
Jake, to gain the diploma, performed a recital which included the Stamitz Clarinet Concerto No 3, Weber Concertino and Finzi’s 5 Bagatelles. He was marked on his presentation and professionalism.
Now an associate of Trinity College of Music London and Junior Exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Music, Jake has been taken under the wing of Paul Harris, the UK’s leading clarinet educator and mentor while he focuses on preparing for further diplomas including a Diploma of The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music DipABRSM in November.
“I am thrilled that all my hard practice has paid off and I am reaching my goals,” said Jake. “I can’t thank my parents enough for their support.”
Jake, who has played the clarinet since the age of eight, has secured a number of other notable achievements including coming runner up in the Nottingham Musician of the Year competition in 2009 and winning a prize at the Royal Academy of Music in a major woodwind category in 2010.
In addition, Jake, along with fellow pupils from Nottingham High School, will be travelling to New York in October as part of a Big Band Tour. There he will play Artie Shaw’s clarinet concerto on the well known jazz musician’s original clarinet to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of this great musician’s birth in the spiritual home of Jazz and Big Band.

The Band of The Parachute Regiment, is performing an evening of music at St Joseph’s College, Ipswich, to raise funds for ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, the Army’s central charity.

The concert will take place on Friday 21st May 2010 at 7pm. The College is delighted to support the evening and continues to work closely with the Army thorough their annual schools’ rugby festival and the Colleges own Combined Cadet Forces Unit.

The Army Benevolent Fund Charity was founded in 1944 under the patronage of King George VI to help all soldiers in need. The Charity looks after former soldiers, serving soldiers, and their families where state assistance is either inapplicable, inadequate or unable to meet the immediate or longer term needs. The Charity supports veterans of World War II and all the many campaigns since 1945, and now, of course, Iraq and Afganistan. In particular, the charity focuses on the needs of individuals.

In 2009, The Soldiers’s Charity disbursed £45,981 in Suffolk. This figure includes a grant of £16,000 to The Lord Kitchener Memorial Holiday Centre at Lowestoft. The Centre provides holidays for Ex-Servicemen and their dependants, and is one of ABF’s most important ‘service providers’. We also disbursed £29,981 to 46 Suffolk veterans or dependants.

The evening will commence at 7pm with the beating of the Retreat outside the College’s main house, this will then be followed by refreshments. The concert will then begin at 8pm with a mix of works from military marches to swing and with the theme of the 70th Anniversary of the Airborne Forces.

Where so many other schools have failed, a quick-witted teacher from a Worcester school managed to get 20 pupils back from a German exchange trip.

Dr Dan Beer, Head of German at RGS Worcester, was in Kleve, near Cologne, with the pupils. He faced a catalogue of problems when he realised the extent of the travel chaos caused by the Icelandic volcano eruption. “I initially thought that the pupils were playing a practical joke, by saying that all the Ryanair flights were cancelled and that we could not return for the start of the new school term!

“But as soon as I caught up with events on the Internet, the alarm bells sounded. Our flights were cancelled, no ferries were available, all the coaches were booked solid. So I enlisted the help of our German counterparts. We eventually found a large coach with just enough room for us to squeeze on with another school. We transferred first from Kleve to Goch and then managed to get an overnight journey to catch the Eurostar at Calais.”

Colleagues back at The Royal Grammar School in Worcester had laid on another coach to collect the students from Maidstone services at 5am the next day, as the German coach was not prepared to make the complete journey to Worcester. This meant that the students arrived back in school less than a day behind schedule.

“When I first told Dr Beer about the volcanic dust, he didn’t believe me,” said Jodie Palmer aged 15, who was on the exchange trip. “Everything happened so quickly as plans had to keep changing. It was actually pretty exciting and an experience that I’ll never forget.”

The Old Hall School is ‘an exciting school, buzzing with activity and endeavour in a wide variety of sporting, musical, dramatic and other activities’, where academic standards are ‘high overall in comparison to the national average’, according to the Independent Schools Inspectorate.
The inspection report, received this week, praised Wellington’s Old Hall School in all areas, describing its curriculum, pastoral care and links with parents as ‘excellent’. Headmaster, Martin Stott, in expressing his delight at the School receiving such plaudits, explained, “We are thrilled that the school’s recent move to its new location, next to Wrekin College, and all that has developed since, has been stamped with a very large seal of approval by the Independent Schools Inspectorate.”
Mr Stott, who joined the School in 2007, added that, “The inspection experience was very positive, in terms of confirming where we currently are, and reinforces our desire to continue to improve our already ‘excellent’ curriculum.”
An on-line questionnaire, completed by children and parents, produced results which praised all aspects of the School, its organisation and management, further enhancing the School’s reputation for combining the best of old and new, in educational terms.
The School’s inspection, one of the first in the country to be carried out under the new system, comes at a time when there is ever-increasing pressure on both the independent and state sectors to comply with rigorous regulatory requirements. The Old Hall School demonstrated its full compliance in every aspect, which is testament to the excellent internal organisation of the School and to its outstanding teaching and learning facilities.
The School welcomes all interested families to its next Open-Morning, which will be held on Saturday, 15th May. www.oldhall.co.uk

Bedford Modern School’s Old Bedford Modernian (OBM) Club editorial team (Peter Boon, Paul Middleton and Richard Wildman) are launching an updated edition of “School of the Black and Red: A History of Bedford Modern School”. First published in 1981 and written by former pupil and teacher, Andrew Underwood, the original book told the story of BMS from 1764 up to the Royal Visit in 1976.

Bedford Modern School will be launching the new publication on Thursday 22nd April in the Refectory where Michael Hall, Headmaster, members of the OBM Club editorial team, and previous Headmasters Stephen Smith and Peter Squire will also be in attendance. Former BMS pupil Dr Vaughan Southgate, President of the Linnean Society and former High Sheriff of Bedfordshire will be the guest speaker at the book launch. The Linnean Society is named after Carl Linneus (or Linnaeus) of Sweden, who was the first to classify plants scientifically. It is the world’s oldest biology society.

This exciting new edition is published in a larger format, with extra photographs, and new appendices and indexes. Additional chapters describe the period from 1977 up to the present, covering the Headships of Peter Squire and Stephen Smith. These years have seen many changes, of which the most momentous was undoubtedly the School’s move to co-education in 2003.

The publication is the third in a series published by the OBM Club, the others being The BMS We Knew: A Book of Memories 1930-1974 (2006) and Bedford 50 Years Ago: The Architecture of a County Town by the late Victor J F Farrar (2007).

“School of the Black and Red: the History of Bedford Modern School” is fully-illustrated, containing 320-pages and is available from retailers or direct from the OBM Club Secretary at Bedford Modern School. The book is priced at £18.00 paperback or £26.00 hardback (post-free in UK). Cheques should be made payable to OBM Club. Further information can be obtained from Richard Wildman, OBM Club Secretary on 01234 332543 or by email at obmclub@bedmod.co.uk

Photo: “School of the Black and Red: A History of Bedford Modern School”

As a boarding school the Royal Alexandra and Albert School has been hit harder than most by the ‘no fly’ crisis that has resulted from the volcanic ash which is filling the skies over England. Over 50 pupils are stranded at locations around the globe and are unable to return to school until flights start again.

Almost all teachers and boarding staff have managed to return to school despite some being aboard at the time flights were stopped. Arrangements have been made to cover for absent colleagues and those that are still away are making every effort to get back to school as soon as possible.

This is a vital time of year for Year 11 pupils who will be taking their GCSEs later this term. All pupils were given a CD rom to assist them with revision and the information is also available on the internet so pupils can continue their studies wherever they are in the world. Other pupils will be given support when they return so that they can catch up on any lessons they miss.

Headmaster Paul Spencer Ellis comments “Over 50 of our 800 pupils are stranded in locations all over the world including Australia, Brunei, Dubai, Spain and Hong Kong. Whilst many pupils might enjoy the extra holiday, it is not helpful for them to lose time at school.

“Many of the teaching and boarding staff made heroic efforts to get back to the UK when their flights were cancelled which means we have almost all our staff present. They have already made it possible for Year 11 pupils to prepare for their GCSEs by giving them a revision CD rom and this has been key to ensuring they are able to continue to prepare for their exams even if they unable to return to school.”

This term has seen the two major school productions at The Abbey. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was an ambitious and impressive Senior School play and the Junior School put on a lively, musical version of The Tempest.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Senior School production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was a great success. The most famous of the Bard’s plays has everything – star-crossed lovers, conflict in fairyland, a royal wedding and the humour of Bottom and his head of an ass!

In order for as many girls as possible to be involved the two Directors, Miss Sutton and Mrs Airton, worked with two entire casts to stage three evening performances and an understudy matinee. The audience was welcomed and immediately travelled through time, escorted by the mischievous fairies, encountering actors in the corridors before taking their seats in a magical evocatively-lit setting.

The actors displayed incredible professionalism and had really worked hard to develop their characters in both the drama and comedy of the play.

The Tempest
All the Year 5 girls were involved in an exciting performance of ‘The Tempest’ to a delighted audience of family and friends. Not quite using all Shakespeare’s original words, the cast conveyed through drama, dance and song, the thrills, laughter, romance and wonder of the Bard’s tale.

With a cast of 50, the musical play thrilled the audience with a shipwreck, the machinations of Prospero and his unsurping brother, the three headed monster Caliban and enough Hobglobins and dancing Sprites to cause much mischief and mayhem. Ariel, a hard working crew of sailors and various other characters completed the line up of the play which showed us how a modern-day class of children learned to love the Bard of Avon.

The music and dance numbers were a delight, the costumes sparkled and a jiving rendition of ‘All shook up’ injected a surprise factor into the historical setting.

Photo: The Tempest

For further details please contact Nicky Hurley on 0118 987 6908 or marketing@theabbey.co.uk

The rankings are detailed below, and for more information please visit www.independentschools.com

No.1 UK Sixth Form (from a population of 615 UK schools)
No.2 UK Girl’s School (from a population of 275 UK schools)
No.2 UK Boarding School (from a population of 580 UK schools)
No.3 UK Preparatory School (from a population of 844 UK schools)

As spokesperson for the school commented ‘This is an absolutely fantastic achievement for Howell’s – and particularly pleasing as rankings are based on independent review. We have always believed we offer something very special at Howell’s from Preparatory through to Sixth Form, and to have this confirmed by an independent review body is something everyone associated with the school should be very proud of’.

To add to this achievement, Howell’s is also celebrating Sixth Form student Helen Li’s A level Mathematics success. Helen was recently awarded the highest score possible in A level Mathematics for Summer 2009. The UK examining board WJEC contacted the school to advise that pupil Helen had gained a perfect score of 600 UMS points and was top UK student. Helen is now studying at London School of Economics.

The coveted Eco Schools Green flag is the culmination of a year’s work by the Marist Senior school in Sunninghill, Ascot. In securing this prestigious accolade the school has improved its environmental efficiency and taught students about the importance of protecting the environment through sustainable development. The Green Flag is awarded to schools who exhibit proactive environmental work covering topics such as water, health and wellbeing, waste management, litter, transport, school grounds, biodiversity and energy.

Schools throughout the country can work towards gaining one of three awards – Bronze, Silver and the elite Green Flag award, which symbolizes excellence in the field of environmental activity. Bronze and Silver are both self accredited through this website and Green Flag is externally assessed by Keep Britain Tidy. The Marist Senior School obtained their Bronze and Silver Award last summer and have since been working diligently towards the Green Flag status.

Among the numerous projects the Marist Senior School has undertaken, some of the most successful and popular have been the lunch time Growing Club, the reduce poster competition, the recycling competition and the sunflower race. The staff and pupils have made significant efforts to reduce paper through purchasing new printers that offer a double-sided printing facility, recycling boxes in every classroom, an online newsletter and e-mailing letters home to reduce paper consumption further.

During the schools’ inspection for the award, the Marist School was praised for embracing the message throughout the curriculum, its informed student Eco Action Team and its litter free environment. Year 11 Students are assisting and taking an active part with the growing Club as part of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Miss Spoors, the Eco Schools coordination teacher said: “The Green Flag Award is a combination of hard work over the year with a huge number of staff and students involved. I would like to thank Environmental Officer Charlie Atkin and her team for helping us achieve the Bronze and Silver Award in the summer term and this final result which we will now build upon. We are especially proud of this award as it puts us amongst the few secondary schools in the country to have achieved this!”

Mr Karl McCloskey, Headteacher for the Senior School added, “This award is something the whole school is exceptionally proud of. It would not have been possible without the commitment of the whole community to become more eco friendly. The wider community of parents and friends have embraced being contacted via our E-Newsletter, and I eagerly anticipate the fruits of Growing Clubs’ garden and herb patch this summer.”

The Board of Governors of St Mary’s School, Gerrards Cross is pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs Jean Ross as Headmistress, to succeed Mrs Fanny Balcombe when she retires on August 31st 2010. Under Mrs Balcombe’s exemplary leadership the School has thrived and grown during her 15 year tenure. The governors, teachers and pupils, past and present will miss her but wish her a happy and healthy retirement.
Mrs Jean Ross is currently Deputy Head Teacher at St Albans High School for Girls, where she is also Director of Marketing and Communications. St. Albans is one of the leading girls’ independent day schools, whose primary department was the Sunday Times Independent Preparatory School of the Year last year. Her academic specialism is in Modern languages and she holds a BA (Hons) from Manchester University in French. She is a published writer and a strong advocate in the belief that every child matters; “we need to make education a challenging and positive experience in which every child can acquire confidence and self esteem. My educational philosophy is one of identifying the individual talents of each and every child and giving them the tools and motivation to reach beyond their best. I believe that a happy child is a successful child and so academic provision should be backed up with excellent pastoral care. I want every child to look forward to coming to school each day”.
The Board of Governors is confident that St. Mary’s will continue to flourish under the leadership of Mrs Ross and wish her every success.

The Marist Senior School, Sunninghill, had an impressive week of sporting successes starting with Swimming on Monday 3rd March, where their swimming teams attended the Ascot School’s Relay Competition at Heathfield School.

The Year 9 team came first over all in their age group, and the Year 7 teams also came in top positions after being placed 2nd and 3rd.

Cross country was their next event on Wednesday 3rd March at ‘The Look Out’ in Bracknell. The Swinley Forest Cross Country Relay was entered by Ffion MacKenzie and Chelsea Tinniswood in Year 7, Greta Spitzer and Emma Davis Year 8, and Kate Reynolds and Lucy Campbell in Year 9.

The Marist Relay Team came first and two minutes faster than the other competitors!

Also on Wednesday, fifteen teams entered The U13 Ascot Schools Netball Tournament held at St George’s School. The Marist Team were unbeaten in their pool games and then played Licensed Victuallers School and won 6-2 in the semi-final. They went on to beat The Abbey School 4-3 in the final.

The Marist Senior School has won Swimming Relays, Cross Country Relays and Netball Tournaments all in one week!

Mrs Bishopp, Head of PE at the Marist Senior School is extremely proud of the successes of the PE department in such a short space of time, and Mrs Karen Thompson a PE teacher at the Marist comments, “we have had a strong sporting year at the Marist so far and are so proud of girls and their team spirit and comradeship. We are looking forwards to our next matches over the coming weeks.”

Give your child the best start in life.

OPEN DAYS IN MAY
Thurs 20th 2– 4.30pm & Sat 22nd 10-12pm

For an appointment to visit
ring 020 8660 3351

LALEHAM LEA
Catholic Independent Primary School

Boys and girls aged 3 to 11.

Small classes with inspiring and dedicated teachers.

Excellent academic results.

Outstanding sports facilities.

Funded Nursery.

Laleham Lea School
29 Peaks Hill
Purley, Surrey, CR8 3JJ
www.lalehamlea.co.uk

Friday 14 May 2010 – 9.30am to 12.30pm

• Dedicated Junior & Senior Nursery facilities

• Learning through play in a fun, stimulating and safe environment

• Whole or part-days available

• Nursery Education Grant available

• Childcare vouchers accepted

Independent education for boys and girls from 2-13 years

Telephone: 01672 563228
www.st-francis.wilts.sch.uk
Email: admissions@st-francis.wilts.sch.uk

Talented Musicians from the Marist Preparatory School triumphed at the Woodley Festival of Music and Arts held earlier this month.
The Marist Recorder Consort was highly commended for their ‘lovely sense of ensemble playing’ and took home a gold medal. A silver medal was awarded to the Guitar Quartet for their rendition of ‘The Drunken Sailor’.
The Marist also had solo medal winners including, Catherine Abela who won silver on the Violin and Abigail Harding who won Silver on the Recorder and achieved a Merit for her Oboe playing
In the Upper Junior Choir Class, the Marist Preparatory Junior Choir, who were the largest Choir at the competition, were given Highly Commended. The Chamber Choir took home a Distinction as well as being awarded the prestigious John Keane Trophy for the best performance.
Mrs Hercock, the head of Music at the Preparatory School commented, “I was thrilled with all the results, in particular I was overjoyed for the chamber choir as we faced very stiff competition in this class. It is only the second year this choir has taken part and they should give themselves a pat on the back for their outstanding effort!”
The Marist Preparatory School are delighted to have received the honour to be invited back to perform at the Gala. Congratulations to all those who performed!

12 Bedford Modern School Politics and History students visited Washington DC for four days over the Easter holidays. The BMS students visited key sites to do with U.S. Government and Politics and the Vietnam War.

After arriving in Washington on Wednesday 7th April, the BMS students travelled to the National Mall before walking from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. Students were able to see the site of the Martin Luther King ‘I Have A Dream’ speech and Vietnam protests. The nearby Vietnam Memorial was very striking and the Bedford Modern School students were able to see the 56,000 names of U.S. soldiers killed in action.

On Thursday 8th April, the students visited the White House and were able to look around the interesting “Visitor Center”. The students then visited the George Washington University to meet Professor Shawn McHale, who gave a very informative talk on the Vietnam War and the state of U.S. Politics today. The students also met Dik Daso, Curator of the National Museum of American History who guided them round the ‘Price of Freedom’ exhibit and talked about how the Vietnam War material was put together for the exhibition.

A visit to the US Supreme Court was also on the itinerary with students being able to tour the building and hear a lecture in the actual courtroom where many landmark cases have been decided. The students then visited the U.S. Capital building for a view down the National Mall and to see where President’s are inaugurated. There was also an opportunity to view other sections of the National Museum of American History, particularly the original Star-Spangled Banner made during the U.S. Wars of Independence which inspired the U.S. national anthem. The next stop was Arlington National Cemetery to see various monuments to key historical figures like President Kennedy and the Tomb of the Unknowns from each war the U.S.A. has been involved in. The size and scale of the cemetery was vast and showed how each war had affected the nation.

On the final day of the U.S. tour, Bedford Modern School Politics and History students were able to tour inside the U.S. Congress and see the rotunda where Presidents lie in state and U.S. Politicians make the laws. After lunch at Union Station, the final visit was to the National Archives which house the original U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Stuart Baker, Head of Politics at Bedford Modern School said: “The BMS students were a pleasure to be with – always enthusiastic about what they saw and keen to ask questions to U.S. citizens we met. Overall it was a very memorable trip for all those involved.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School Politics and History students on their recent visit to Washington DC

Homefield School in Sutton has ended the year on a high:

Year 6 pupil, Robin Hartland, has just won a national poetry French competition opened to students from Year 6 to 13! This competition is run by the West of England University (Bristol) and the French institute in London. Homefield School has already won it twice, 3 years ago and last year, won by Year 7 pupils!

Robin wrote a beautifully descriptive poem of a helicopter sea rescue and attended an official prize-giving ceremony in London at the Goethe Institute where he was awarded a £50 cheque.

The under-9 chess team from Homefield School in Surrey have become the EPSCA U9 National Champions 2009 in the final round of the tournament, winning with a record score of 31.5 out of 35 points.

(EPSCA stands for English Primary Schools Chess Association).

The Homefield chess coach is Miss Bradley.

The Under-13 1st XV rugby team from Homefield School has won the National Prep Schools Rugby Tournament.

To win the tournament was a fantastic achievement, going one better than the U13 1st XV team of 2005 who reached the final.

Well done to all the boys involved and thank you for the parents for all their support.

Bedford Modern School’s Head of Speech and Drama, Mark Burgess, is one of three prestigious writers selected by BBC Radio 4 to help celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Tate Modern.
BBC Radio 4 has commissioned the three writers to each write a 15 minute short story inspired by some aspect of the art gallery entitled “Three Tales From Tate Modern.” “Three Tales From Tate Modern” is a Pier Production for BBC Radio 4, directed by David Blount.

Mark Burgess, who has taught at Bedford Modern School since 2004, is one of the most prolific contributors to BBC radio drama in recent years and has set his story against a backdrop of the building itself. Mark’s play is called ‘A MODERN LOVE STORY’ and will be read by Clare Corbett. The play will be recorded live in front of an audience at the Tate on Saturday 10th April and broadcast on Radio 4 in May.

Mark has also written and performed “The Man with the Golden Pen”, a superb one-man show about the life of Ian Fleming. In 2006, Mark produced a radio play entitled “From Father With Love” which examined Ian Fleming’s relationship with his only child, Caspar. The play was broadcast on the afternoon play slot on BBC Radio 4 and charted the distant relationship of Ian and Caspar. Ian adored his son and it was whilst recuperating in a London clinic that he started writing a book for Caspar; the result was “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”.

Mark also wrote “Einstein in Cromer” which dramatised a little known episode in the life of the greatest scientist of the 20th century, and starred David Suchet as Albert Einstein. Mark’s fourth play to be broadcast on Radio 4 was entitled “Sam O’Bedlam”, closely followed by “The Wrong Hero” broadcast in April 2007.

Photo: Bedford Modern School’s Head of Speech and Drama, Mark Burgess

This year, Howell’s School, Llandaff, the oldest girls’ school in South Wales, is celebrating its 150th birthday. Members of all sections of the school, ranging from the three-year-old girls in the Nursery to the boys and girls in the Sixth Form College took part in a magnificent celebration of music, drama and dance in St. David’s Hall on Thursday, 18th March. All 2,000 seats were occupied and the school was honoured to have many distinguished guests, including the Rt Hon. The Lord Mayor, Cllr. Brian Griffiths, and his wife, and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the GDST, Lorna Cocking and Helen Fraser. Also present were the two previous headmistresses, Miss Jill Turner and Mrs Jane Fitz, and the Chairman of the Governors, Mrs Anne Campbell, who will shortly be inaugurated as the High Sheriff of Glamorgan. The next major event will be an Open Afternoon on Wednesday 23rd June, including displays, activities and refreshments, to which everyone is welcome.

A dedicated Worcester teacher has won an Excellence Award and received national recognition at a ceremony in London for his Maths and Design and Technology work.

David Cotterill has taught at RGS Worcester for 29 years and has received due reward from the Design and Technology Association, by winning his category at the Excellence Awards 2010.

The award follows a lengthy process of evaluation by the Association’s judging panel, which consists of leading figures from the world of design and technology. Competition for the award is fierce, with submissions from teachers all over the UK.

Mr Cotterill’s experience is vast, and in 2008 he won funding from the Winston Churchill Trust Fund to spend time in America researching space travel at NASA. His ability to help students understand the complexity of everything from simple engineering principles, through to high-tech computer aided design software, has paid huge dividends to the students at RGS.

Pupils from his department have regularly won national design and engineering awards, which has resulted in the school’s D & T department becoming nationally recognised.

Andy Rattue, Headmaster at RGS Worcester sums up. “David Cotterill has truly been an inspirational teacher at the school for an exceptionally long time. It is absolutely right that his passion, knowledge and expertise have received such an important accolade. Along with all the students who have benefitted from his teaching, I add my gratitude for his dedication.”

The awards were made at a glitzy ceremony held at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place London. Sir John Sorrell, who is a past chairman of the Design Council and one of the foremost creative designers in the country, made the presentation.

Photo: David Cotterill receives his award from Professor Celia Hoyles OBE, Director of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, and Sir John Sorrell CBE.

AS Level Theatre Studies classes took their practical exams this week at Stonyhurst College, performing Diane Samuel’s Kindertransport and Jean Anouilh’s Antigone. The first play was about the displacement of Jewish children in WW2, and their new lives in England, cleverly weaving together the past with the present. The second is a French, 20th century version of the Greek tale of Antigone, who fights to the death for her brother’s honour.
Both performances were excellent and attended by a large, appreciative audience of supporters.

Photo: Catriona Graffius, from Hurst Green, and Charlie McDermott, from Windsor, in Antigone.

It was all aboard HMS Pinafore for youngsters at Barlborough Hall School!

Year five and six pupils put on a hugely successful production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s hit comic opera at the school theatre.

HMS Pinafore is the tale of two lovers, divided by their social class.

Admiral Sir Joseph was played by William Hall, Amelia Massarella took the role of Captain Corcoran, Jasmine Wallis-Leach was Josephine, the Captain’s daughter, while Jack Wilkins played the love-lorn sailor.

Yvonne Salome-Keetley, from Barlborough Hall School, said: “Barlborough Hall School musicals have a reputation for being fantastic and this year was no exception. All the performances were excellent, belying the ages of the cast.

“Thanks must go to all staff and pupils involved in this production and for the support of the parents on the night. It was also lovely to see many former pupils at the production.”

Photo: Barlborough Hall School pupils at the performance of HMS Pinafore.

Six talented young comedians took to the stage at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School this week at the first ever ‘RAAS the Roof’ stand-up comedy show. The lively teenagers started the evening with improvised performances in response to suggestions from the audience like ‘Things not to say when your phone goes off in chapel’ and ‘The world’s worst chat up line’.

Seated at tables laid out in the drama studio, in a setting reminiscent of classic London comedy clubs, the audience was not allowed to get too comfortable as the compère, professional stand-up comedian, John Soffe challenged them to a joke and limerick writing competition. The audience duly contributed with their own brand of improvised jokes and poems and the winners were awarded a certificate at the end.

After the brief interlude provided by the audience participation, the young comedians confidently delivered polished stand-up routines. There were tense moments for some parents and friends as the performers drew on real life experiences for their material. Needless to say, it was all in the best possible taste and the evening was rounded off by fulsome applause from the delighted audience.

Headmaster Paul Spencer Ellis, who had himself drafted a limerick during the evening when the audience were challenged to produce a poem containing both ‘libraries and Mrs Thatcher’, praised the pupils for their assured performances saying, “Performing stand-up comedy is not an easy feat. I was impressed that these pupils managed to captivate the audience and generate so much laughter in their first live show.”

The whole evening was organised by teacher, Emma Bennett who has inspired pupils to try new types of drama since taking on the role of Head of Drama in January.

A 100-year-old lady has made a nostalgic return to the stately home where she lived and worked 85 years ago.

Avis Wilks, who celebrated her 100th birthday in August last year, returned to Barlborough Hall School, in Derbyshire.

Avis worked on the staff at Barlborough Hall for ten years from the age of 16 before leaving for London with the Locker-Lampson family in 1935. Barlborough Hall became a school five years later.

Two close relatives of Avis, who were both called Samuel Wells, also worked at the Hall for many years as gardeners.

Avis, who now lives in a care home in Dinnington, Sheffield, was presented with a canvas-framed picture of Barlborough Hall during her visit – as a reminder of the time she spent there.

A small group of children from the school also met Avis for tea and biscuits and a chat about Barlborough life.

Pupils at the school, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, still have lessons in the Hall’s original rooms and use the library, top parlour and chapel.

Wanda Parkinson, Barlborough Hall headteacher, said: “Avis’ return was a wonderful occasion for her and the school, and we were thrilled to welcome her back.

“She has clearly led a fascinating life and her experience gives us an interesting insight into the history of the Hall.

“To reach 100 years old is an incredible milestone for Avis. Everyone was delighted to meet her and share in some of the fascinating memories she has of Barlborough Hall.”

Photo: Tony Bak, heritage project manager at the Barlborough Resource Centre, with Avis

The independent day and boarding school in Bishop’s Stortford has passed an inspection of its boarding provision with flying colours.

Ofsted inspectors say that Bishop’s Stortford College, a co-educational school for four to eighteen year olds, offers ‘much added value’ with boarders enjoying ‘the true essence of boarding which allows them outstanding personal achievement’ as well as access to an extensive range of activities and facilities.

In their latest report, which has just been published following an inspection in February, the Ofsted team concluded that the provision for the 235 boarders aged between eight and eighteen is good with outstanding features. The document highlights the dedication and commitment of the staff who help both the full boarders and flexi-boarders to ‘develop potential in all areas of school life’ and ‘feel supported and valued as part of the community’.

The inspectors praise the exemplary behaviour of the girls and boys and commend the ‘welcoming, caring and supportive environment’ in which the boarders are ‘courteous, respectful and take responsibility for their actions’.

The College is rated as outstanding in securing boarders’ views and encouraging them to make a positive contribution to all aspects of College life with boarders ‘confident that their points of view will be listened to and acted upon’. The report confirms that the College looks after its boarders well with an outstanding induction programme for new boarders, good accommodation, a highly accomplished health and safety programme, an excellent medical centre and a good range of healthy foods.

According to Ofsted, the promotion of equality and diversity is good, with one boarder quoted in the report as saying, “I can proudly say that the College is the best centre for fun and excellence not just in the UK but on an international scale also.” Inspectors commend the College’s flexible approach to boarding, noting that it ‘widens the access of the boarding provision to day pupils and enhances the experience for the boarders who enjoy the company of a wider range of pupils’.

The single recommendation made at the last inspection in 2006, to improve access to communication in the Junior School boarding house, has been fully addressed, whilst the one recommendation made in the latest report, to improve the quality of evening meals, is an area that the College is already working on through its active catering committee of boarders and staff.

Headmaster John Trotman said: “The inspection process is intense with all the paperwork scrutinised and staff, boarders and their parents questioned about every aspect of boarding life. We work incredibly hard to provide affordable excellence and I am absolutely delighted that the high quality experience enjoyed by our boarders is endorsed so positively by the inspectors.”

Stonyhurst College, the Catholic boarding school in Lancashire, led an ecumenical service for Lent at Blackburn’s Anglican Cathedral on Monday 22nd March. Prayers were read jointly by the College Chaplain, Fr John Twist, SJ, and the Dean of Blackburn, The Very Reverend Christopher Armstrong, with the Headmaster, Mr Andrew Johnson, reading an extract from the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor, theologian and martyr. Stonyhurst’s Schola Cantorum sang music by Stanford and a setting of Be thou my vision with a piano duet accompaniment, played by Joann Belon (Year 11) and Pawel Rzemieniecki (Year 13), conducted by Dr Kevin Morgan. They also sang Allegri’s Miserere with the verse sections exquisitely sung by Megan Hindle and Catriona Graffius (both in Year 12). The service finished with a new choral setting of the Pater Noster by Stonyhurst teacher, Mr Jonathan Sharples.

Headmaster, Mr Andrew Johnson, said: “I was delighted Stonyhurst was invited by the Dean of Blackburn to lead this act of worship at the Cathedral. It is a clear manifestation of our growing ecumenical collaboration.”

Photo: Stonyhurst College Schola Cantorum in Blackburn Cathedral, with Fr John Twist, SJ on the left.

Bedford Modern School Year 7 students undertake three modules during their Design and Technology course throughout the course of their academic year. The “Blister Packaging” module focuses on students creating a corporate image to market a stationery item of their choice.

As part of the research element of this module, BMS students undertook both discussion and presentation on environmentally friendly products. Students worked through the design process and produced computer generated images that formed the basis of their “Blister Packaged” marketing campaign before manufacturing the product.

On Thursday 18th March, the Year 7 students became young entrepreneurs for the day by entering into their own Dragon’s Den to present their final products to Michelle Upton, Director of Marketing and Admissions at Bedford Modern School.

After listening attentively to each student present and pitch their product, Michelle offered constructive and valuable feedback to the budding entrepreneurs. This included how much thought and creativity had gone into the design process including a number of logos featuring re-cycling and Stop Animal Testing badging. Michelle also commented on the imaginative names for some of the products and their unique selling points including:- A Monkey Keyring called “Fun-Keys!” and Tokyo Mascara – get the Tokyo lashes.

Other innovative products included a Planet Pen that was packaged diagonally to look like a rocket launching into space and Quick Cuts scissors that gave an idea of how sharp they really were. Unique selling points were also mentioned including promoting two items for £1.00 on the front of the packet and bright packaging that would attract a potential customer’s attention on a shelf in the supermarket ensuring their product stands out as opposed to rival products.

John White, Design Technology teacher, and Director of Sixth Form at BMS, said: “I have been particularly impressed with the innovative designs that this group of students have produced. They also coped extremely well with presenting their ideas, potentially a nerve-racking task!’

Photo: Rosanna Russell and Ruth Pyall with their Strawberrie Kiss and Shimmer Shadow products

Bedford Modern School Year 9 student, Ryan Isaacson has been selected for his performance throughout the winter season, to represent The East of England Team in the Virgin Mini London Marathon taking place on 25th April. The Virgin Mini London Marathon is open to anyone aged between 11 and 17 years and will take place over a course three miles long, stretching from London’s Old Billingsgate to The Mall.

Ryan competed at the English Schools Cross Country Event held at Heaton Park, Greater Manchester on Saturday 20th March finishing 12th out of 329 finishers. The top ten runners have been selected to represent England and it was only four seconds and two places that separated Ryan from achieving this.

Patrick Jerram, Director of Sport at Bedford Modern School said: “I am delighted Ryan did so well at the English Schools Cross Country Event, just missing out on that elusive top ten spot and England selection by four seconds. I am sure that Ryan will continue to train hard and hopefully break into that top ten in the very near future.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School student Ryan Isaacson who has been selected for the Mini London Marathon

Part of Charles Waterton’s remarkable and famous personal collection of animals, birds, crustaceans and insects has returned to Stonyhurst College this month, having been on loan to a Yorkshire museum for 40 years. It includes a tarantula spider, vampire bat and a platypus.

Charles Waterton, an old boy of the College who attended Stonyhurst in the late 1700’s, was one of Britain’s first natural historians; he is described by David Attenborough as “one of the first people anywhere to recognise that the natural world needed protection as humanity made more and more demands on it.” A devout man, he slept on bare boards and rose at 3am every day to pray and read the Life of St Francis Xavier for an hour. He had a lasting affection for Stonyhurst, which he visited every year until his death in 1865.

To mark the return of the Collection to Stonyhurst, a new portrait of Waterton has been unveiled, painted by Helena Callinicos, a former Stonyhurst pupil. Over the next five years Waterton’s entire collection of some 1000 specimens from Europe, Africa, India, Australia and South America will be returned to the Lancashire College. The College curator, Mrs Jan Graffius, has created a new display, which can be seen in the summer when the College opens for public tours.

Photo: the new portrait unveiled.

A pupil at Mount St Mary’s College has qualified for The British Youth Fencing Championships after claiming a bronze medal at a key regional tournament.

Nina Zimmerman, a year 10 boarding student at the Derbyshire school, fought her way to the third place in the Girls Under 16 Foil event at the Yorkshire Youth Fencing Championships.

The British Youth Championships 2010 will be held from 1 – 3 May at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield.

Nina will be the first Mount St Mary’s student to represent the college at this prestigious event.

Mr Adam Blight, Mount St Mary’s Coach, said: “It is a fantastic achievement for Nina to win a bronze medal and qualify for the British Youth Championships, particularly as there were many Team GB and county fencers amongst the competitors.

“It was a great day of fencing and we wish Nina the best of luck for the British Youth Championships in May.”

Mount St Mary’s was also represented at the Yorkshire Youth Fencing Championships by Tom Cotterill, who fenced foil, epee and sabre, and Benedikt Gers in the foil.

Pupils Rosalind Formin and Eloise Brooks competed in the junior event.

Mr Adam Blight added: “Fencers at the Mount are really beginning to make their mark on a regional and national level and these strong performances follow the school’s success at the Lancashire Schools Foil where we won four medals in what was our first ever regional competition.”

Photo: Mount St Mary’s boarding pupil Nina Zimmerman.

Pupils at a Derbyshire school ensured a memorable night of theatre by putting their own innovative spin on a 400-year-old classic.

A range of pupils aged between 12 and 18 at Mount St Mary’s College produced and performed the Shakespearean favourite ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ with an inventive punk rock inspired twist.

The play, a comedy which portrays the adventures of different characters in a fairy-inhabited moonlit forest, is one of Shakespeare’s best-loved productions and combines romantic trysts with occasional high-jinks.

But the adaptation used cultural aspects from the 1980s to turn the fairies into punks, the Athenians into New Romantics and the mechanicals as part of the Northern Soul scene, giving watching parents a walk down memory lane.

Thirty pupils took responsibility for all aspects of the performance, including production, costumes and make-up, lighting and sound, and of course acting, provided by members of the Senior Drama Society.

Pupil Richard Duggan played Bottom – his final role after seven years of impressive performances at the Mount.

Jack Murphy, head of English and Drama at Mount St Mary’s College, said: “This was an ambitious project in a busy term but the pupils have exceeded expectations. Everyone has put a lot of work into this adaptation and they produced a wonderful performance in front of a packed audience.

“Of course the play was not just about our superb thespians, the costumes, make-up and lighting gave the production a distinct visual style and created a fantastic atmosphere.

“It’s always great when pupils are given the opportunity to showcase their artistic talents and it is very rewarding to see the combined efforts of pupils from across the school culminate in such a fantastic show.”

Photo: Tatania falling in love with Bottom

Surrey children have met decathlon great Daley Thompson as the Olympic gold medallist opened a new athletics academy at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School.

The Academy, which starts in April, will give youngsters who have sporting potential the opportunity to follow in the footsteps in one of Great Britain’s greatest Olympians and develop skills in a number of athletics disciplines, many of which form part of the decathlon. The Academy is part of a programme devised by Daley Thompson to get children outside while developing them in all events of athletics.

Daley, who won Olympic gold in 1980 and 1984, visited the school and carried out a hurdles coaching session for junior pupils on the athletics track before taking questions from older pupils who were keen to learn how he achieved his Olympic success. He then presented the School with a trophy; the ‘Daley Thompson Athletics Cup’ to be awarded annually to a pupil who has demonstrated outstanding athletic achievement.

Daley has chosen the Royal Alexandra and Albert School for the Athletics Academy as it has an all-weather athletics track and other excellent sporting facilities suitable for training young athletes. “The Athletics Academy will provide youngsters of all abilities with the opportunity to develop their skills at a number of athletics disciplines many of which are part of the decathlon programme. Many children dream of participating in the Olympics and I am pleased to be able to provide this Academy to help them on their way, under the guidance of world class athlete, Nick Buckfield” says Daley.

Headmaster Paul Spencer Ellis comments “Our new sports facilities, including the all-weather athletics track have made a big impact on the amount of sport our pupils enjoy. We are pleased that we can make these excellent facilities available to local children through the Daley Thompson Athletics Academy. This provides another opportunity for children to keep fit, develop their athletics skills and possibly become the champions of the future”.

Daley Thompson Athletics Academy
•For children of all abilities aged 7-11
•The course is based on the decathlon events where they are suitable for junior children
•Open to pupils at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School as well as local children
•Starts Wednesday 28th April 4pm-5pm
•Every week during term time (i.e. April 28, May 5, 12, 19, 26, Jun 9, 16, 23, 30, Jul 7 )
•Course costs £10 per session and runs for the whole term
•Course leader is Nick Buckfield
•To sign up please call 01932 863240

Stonyhurst College has recently won two consecutive U18’s 7’s Hockey tournaments in 4 days! The first was at Austin Friars School, Carlisle, where the team beat Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith in the final, winning 2-1. 15 goals were scored throughout the tournament with 1 conceded.

The second was at Mount St Mary’s, Sheffield, where they beat their hosts 2-1 in the final. Livvy Carefoot (18, from Knowle Green) played particularly well, often scoring goals within seconds of matches beginning. In this tournament, 20 goals were scored with 1 conceded.

Photo 1: Stonyhurst squad at Austin Friars – Melissa Gulcimen, Jessica Pye, Adaobi Anah, Casey Davis, Clare Lupton, Camilla,Copping, LivvyCarefoot, Hilary Harrison, Francie Page

Bromsgrove Pre-Preparatory & Nursery School has been busy raising money for Sport Relief today.

Pupils and staff at the Hanbury Road School came dressed ready to play their favourite sport on Friday 19th March and raised money for the charity amounting to £225.
Mrs Kate Western, Year 2 teacher says “throughout the day, all year groups took part in a Sport Relief challenge. Year 2 children and their teachers were very proud to have completed a mile. Following in the spirit of celebrity relay challenges, Year 1 pupils took part in a continuous relay event and the gruelling Three Peaks Challenge was the inspiration for Reception children who enjoyed a circuit of obstacles. In addition, Nursery pupils motivated by the recent Sport Relief celebrity cycle ride, cycled ‘laps’ around the Nursery grounds

Bedford Modern Junior School Year 6 pupils were delighted with the arrival of the Young Shakespeare Company at the School on Tuesday 16th March. Pupils were transfixed by the enchanting story-telling and breath-taking production of “Hamlet”, providing most pupils with their first taste of Shakespeare.

A storyteller and four Young Shakespeare Company actors performed Shakespeare’s gripping drama with full costumes and props. The fast-moving production came to life with some scenes being acted around the children, as they formed an audience to create dramatic scenes.

The Young Shakespeare Company (www.youngshakespeare.org.uk/) is one of the most well-established and respected educational theatre companies in the U.K. The company was formed in 1988 and currently performs Shakespeare to over 100,000 young people every year and is led by artistic directors Christopher Geelan and Sarah Gordon.

Pupils were able to become actively involved in the integrated production whilst also exploring motives, thoughts and feelings of the characters and having an opportunity to speak short sections of Shakespeare.

Year 6 pupil Millie Cook said: “I played the role of the Queen and had to wear a crown. It was a brilliant production and a great way of interacting with the plot.”

Sam O’Meara, another Year 6 pupil added: “The production was fun and a good way of learning about Shakespeare. I felt part of the story as the scenes were being acted around me.”

Jane Thomas, the Year 6 teacher who arranged for the Young Shakespeare Company to visit BMS said: “The Hamlet production provided us with the most amazing morning and we have all had such fun. We have laughed and we have cried. The acting and drama that we have seen will inspire the pupils to read more Shakespeare and possibly become actors themselves in the future.”

Photo: Members of the Young Shakespeare Company with some of the Bedford Modern Junior School pupils

A 10 year old England chess star from Windlesham House School in Washington is on his way to play in the Czech Republic over Easter building on his already impressive reputation.

Otto Pyper will be attending the 31st International Annual Tournament of Young Players in Frydek Mistek as part of the National Junior U12 squad.

This prestigious annual event invites the national teams from each country in Europe who, in turn, select their top players from each age group.

Otto, from Storrington, is following in the footsteps of his older brother, Ramsay, a former pupil at Windlesham House School, who has been selected for the U14 age group of the tournament.

The chess coach at Windlesham, who is also the Sussex Junior chess coach, Jonathan Tuck, said: “Otto is really looking forward to playing the top chess players from Eastern Europe.”

Otto is going to the Czech Republic on a high following victory by the Sussex Junior chess team who beat St Petersburg, from Russia, in the finals of the Battle of the Giants held in Amsterdam a few months ago.

Headmaster of Windlesham House School, Richard Foster, said: “Otto is going from strength to strength with his chess and we do wish him every success at the tournament in the Czech Republic.”

As part of National Science and Engineering week, the Science laboratories at Greenacre School for Girls in Banstead were transported into the magical world of Hogwarts when the school hosted its annual ‘Science is Fun’ evenings.
Organised by the Greenacre Science Department with the support of the Royal Society of Chemistry (Downland Section), about 80 enthusiastic ten and eleven year-old girls and boys were entranced by the spellbinding scientific demonstrations and enjoyed participating in the many exciting hands-on activities.
Children from all the local primary schools were invited to take part, free of charge, and were accompanied by their parents, who seemed to enjoy the sessions just as much as the children!
This year, there was much magic afoot as Greenacre transformed into ‘Greenwarts Academy for Magicians and Muggles’. The children spent an hour each in Potions (Chemistry), Transfiguration (Physics) and Organisms (Biology).
There were flashes and bangs in the potions laboratory, where the children created magic mist and gooey slime. They also investigated mysterious materials and magnets, helped the wizard police improve on their fingerprint techniques and extracted DNA from a piece of fruit.

The children were delighted by all the weird and wonderful experiments. When asked what they had enjoyed most about the evenings, they said…
“I could see lots of tiny things with the microscopes – it was very exciting.”
“It was really cool, especially when we made the slime.”
“The coloured flames were great – like fireworks.”
“I made a star fridge magnet to take home.”

On Wednesday 24th March a group of Caterham School students who are interested in politics launched the latest edition of Preview magazine at the Palace of Westminster in the company of over 100 invited guests.

Preview is a political magazine that is published annually. It contains a number of thought provoking articles by students, former students, teachers and politicians. The three politicians contributing articles this year were: – David Laws Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil; Michael Fallon the Conservative MP for Sevenoaks who sits on the Treasury Select Committee; and Nigel Farage MEP, the former leader of UKIP, who is contesting the Buckingham constituency in the forthcoming General Election.

The students were delighted that the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow MP agreed to give a speech to launch the publication. He praised the magazine and spoke approvingly of the students’ evident interest in politics adding that he was seeking to encourage all young people to engage in politics. As a demonstration of his commitment, he happily answered questions from the audience.

This year’s editorial team consisted of Imogen Ware (editor), Samantha Moore, Sophie Colman, James Hutchings, Joe McLaren, Alexander Gordon and Matthew Grant. Mr Peter Ainsworth, Conservative MP for East Surrey who, for many years, has generously given his time to support the publication, issued the invitation to the Palace of Westminster.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said; ‘’Every year a group of Caterham School students take on the challenge of producing a thought provoking political magazine. They commit a significant proportion of their free time to ensuring the success of Preview, seeking articles on a wide range of subjects from a variety of organisations and individuals. I think it does them all enormous credit that they give their time so willingly. This year was no exception and I believe that the team should be proud of producing an excellent magazine.’’

Merchant Taylors’ Schools are delighted to announce the building of a new £5.5 million sports centre, to be completed for the new school year starting September 2011. The Schools’ Governors gave the final go-ahead for the project last week and the contractor is due to begin work in April.

To mark the commencement of this exciting period of development an official ceremony was held on Wednesday 24th March. Ex-England rugby international World Cup star and Old Boy of Merchant Taylors’, Ben Kay MBE, joined us to cut the first sod.

Leo Coligan, Chairman of Governors, said: “This exciting build underlines our confidence in the future of Merchant Taylors’ Schools and their pursuit of excellence in all areas, academic and sporting, and our determination to provide the very best facilities for our boys and girls.”

Located at the Boys’ School site on Liverpool Road, this ambitious development designed by Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams Architects, will benefit all pupils from the family of Merchant Taylors’ Schools, and will include a dance studio, fitness suite and a large indoor facility equipped to provide state-of-the-art facilities for rugby training, football, hockey, tennis, badminton and many other sports.

Bardsley Construction, a £70m turnover business that specialises in such partnering contracts with the public sector, has been contracted by Merchant Taylors’ Schools to construct the sports centre.

Wayne Bardsley, the chairman of Bardsley Construction, said: “We’re delighted to be working with such a blue chip client as Merchant Taylors’ Schools on this excellent project that will help to enhance our reputation and presence on Merseyside and indeed throughout the wider North West.”

This important next step in the Schools’ development programme, following on from the award-winning Vitreum main entrance at the Girls’ School, will be underpinned by the two year ‘Sporting Start’ campaign of fund-raising and programme of activities.

On Saturday 20th March The Choral Society of Bromsgrove School took to the stage in the magnificent surroundings of Birmingham Town Hall
Comprising of current pupils, Old Bromsgrovians, parents and past parents of the School, members of staff and Governors, as well as friends of the above and augmented by West House and Winterfold Prep School pupils, the Choral Society performed the masterpiece “The Creation” by Haydn.
The Creation is an oratorio written between 1796 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the biblical Book of Genesis and in Paradise Lost.
The Director of Music, Jonathan Kingston conducted a brilliant performance of this mightily uplifting work, with the Orchestra – many of them Bromsgrove School’s music teachers and pupils – and Assistant Director of Music Richard Knight playing the 6,000-pipe organ. Paul Bradley plus visiting members of the music department Angela Kazimierczuk, William Coleman and Upper Sixth pupil Chloe Deval-Reed were outstanding soloists and all forces closed the performance with a triumphant ‘Sing the Lord, ye voices all’.
Mr Philip Bowen, Deputy Headmaster says “As an audience member I was very proud to see our School on this stage and visually and acoustically it was a most satisfying spectacle. We congratulate everyone involved. The Choral Society rehearsed on dark nights all winter and such a production only comes to such a glorious climax after the most painstaking work over many months.”

Miss Mann and Mrs Huntley escorted 11 girls from Years 10 to 13 to the Model United Conference which was held at George Watson’s College, Edinburgh. It was attended by five hundred students from countries as diverse as Poland, Greece and Iran. Each of the girls represented Columbia on a different committee, discussing topics such as Human Rights, Disarmament and Economic and Environmental issues. There was a wealth of lively debate, with various countries evicted for libellous activities.

It was the most successful year yet for Malvern St James, with three girls winning awards. Congratulations to Maria Goryaeva who was nominated as a ‘Highly Commended’ delegate and also to Elizabeth Utting and Victoria Jackson, who were both ‘Commended’.
Miss Mann said, ‘We are so proud of our girls – every girl in the team had spoken by break time on the first morning and they made an amazing team. New friends were made throughout the weekend and some girls had their first experience of bagpipes and Scottish Dancing. Overall, an outstanding conference and we cannot wait until next year!’

Matthew Sexton, a pupil at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School has beaten opponents up to two years older, to achieve a silver medal at the British Schools Judo Championships. The contest, which took place in Sheffield saw 12 year old Matthew compete against 16 pupils in his category and he was only beaten by one opponent who was two years his senior.

Matthew, who has been doing judo since he was four years old, takes weekly lessons at school as well as two other weekly sessions with his local club, Westcroft Judo Club. He puts his success down to regular training and doing the sport since he was young. “I was uncertain about whether I would win a medal as so many of the other competitors were older than me, but I focused on one fight at a time. I tried not to think about their advantages or disadvantages – I just thought of them as an equal” says Matthew.

Headmaster Paul Spencer Ellis comments “As a Sports College, we encourage all types of sport and judo is very popular amongst both boys and girls. Matthew has worked hard to achieve this medal and he can be justifiably proud of his success.”

Merchant Taylors’ Schools are delighted to announce the building of a new £5.5 million sports centre, to be completed for the new school year starting September 2011. The Schools’ Governors gave the final go-ahead for the project last week and the contractor is due to begin work in April.

To mark the commencement of this exciting period of development an official ceremony was held on Wednesday 24th March. Ex-England rugby international World Cup star and Old Boy of Merchant Taylors’, Ben Kay MBE, joined us to cut the first sod.

Leo Coligan, Chairman of Governors, said: “This exciting build underlines our confidence in the future of Merchant Taylors’ Schools and their pursuit of excellence in all areas, academic and sporting, and our determination to provide the very best facilities for our boys and girls.”

Located at the Boys’ School site on Liverpool Road, this ambitious development designed by Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams Architects, will benefit all pupils from the family of Merchant Taylors’ Schools, and will include a dance studio, fitness suite and a large indoor facility equipped to provide state-of-the-art facilities for rugby training, football, hockey, tennis, badminton and many other sports.

Bardsley Construction, a £70m turnover business that specialises in such partnering contracts with the public sector, has been contracted by Merchant Taylors’ Schools to construct the sports centre.

Wayne Bardsley, the chairman of Bardsley Construction, said: “We’re delighted to be working with such a blue chip client as Merchant Taylors’ Schools on this excellent project that will help to enhance our reputation and presence on Merseyside and indeed throughout the wider North West.”

This important next step in the Schools’ development programme, following on from the award-winning Vitreum main entrance at the Girls’ School, will be underpinned by the two year ‘Sporting Start’ campaign of fund-raising and programme of activities.

Gold Awards at the RSC Chemistry Olympiad

Christ College sixth formers Andi Tao and Lukas Fischer-Wulf are celebrating a gold medal haul at the Chemistry Olympiad.

Head of Chemistry Dr Paul Smith said: “With only the best candidates in the country even entering the Olympiad, to secure 2 Golds is a superb achievement. We have had individual Gold’s in the past but this is a first ‘double’ at Christ College.”

Head of Christ College Mrs Emma Taylor said: “Together with Sean Mui who recently obtained a Gold award in the Biology Olympiad, it proves we have some exceptionally talented young scientists at Christ College. The teaching of science at Christ College has always been a key strength, but the recent investment in new science laboratories is already paying dividends.”

Organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry, approximately 2400 candidates entered this year’s Olympiad with Gold Awards given to the top 200 students.

Pupils at a Worcester junior school have just enjoyed a rousing visit by Kenyan artist, Gakonga.

The class at RGS Springfield was able to bring its Kenyan topic to life during the artist’s workshop. Gakonga is a very popular artist, working in watercolours, creating a contemporary take on traditional African images.

In addition to painting the pupils a picture about life as an artist in Kenya, he also taught the younger pupils some Kenyan dance rhythms.

“It was marvellous to bring such an inspirational character into school,” said RGS Springfield’s Headmistress, Marion Lloyd. “ Gakonga bought Africa to life for the children in a fascinating way. They learned so much about the Kenyan culture and art.”

There were thrills and a few spills at this year’s Hoop Trundle as King’s and Queen’s Scholars – all sixth formers at the King’s School Ely – bowled traditional wooden hoops along a 100 metre course by the south door of Ely Cathedral.

The Hoop Trundle is one of the most fiercely contested events in the school calendar. Four heats preceded each final and in their bid to be first to cross the finishing line a few of the scarlet-gowned sixth formers came a cropper. But every one of the 16 completed the course, their hoops and dignity intact.

Jonathan East won the King’s Scholars’ race and Queen’s Scholar Rosie White won the girls’ race.

The Hoop Trundle commemorates the re-founding of The King’s School Ely by King Henry V111 in 1541. Having dissolved Ely monastery, which had educated children for centuries, he gave the school its first royal charter and established the 12 King’s Scholars (boys). One of the privileges he allowed them was to play games, including the bowling of hoops, in the Cathedral precincts.

In 1970, the school admitted girls for the first time in its 1,000-year history, and three years later the King’s Scholars were joined by Queen’s Scholars (girls) at the request of Queen Elizabeth 11 during her visit to the school in 1973.

Pupils are nominated as scholars in the Sixth Form for their academic achievement. They become members of the Cathedral Foundation and also qualify for other privileges.

Caption: Hoop Trundle winners Jonathan East and Rosie White with the wooden tankards which are theirs to keep for the year.

Sixteen-year-old King’s School Ely pupil Sally Cheng has been awarded a place on RADA’s (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) prestigious Musical Theatre summer school.

Sally, who was selected from among over 100 applicants for one of the 16 places on the course, will work on solo and choral pieces with professional musical directors, exploring the diverse styles of musical theatre. She will also work with the Academy’s staff in movement and acting classes.

Adella Charlton, the King’s School’s director of Performance Studies, wrote a glowing testimonial in support of her application.

“She has a passion for musical theatre. She has real talent, dedication and the ability to take direction,” said Miss Charlton.

Sally has taken leading roles in spring term productions of The Exam and Jekyll and Hyde –The Musical the first productions to be staged in King’s new £3.5m Arts Complex.

She has appeared in numerous other school productions including Jesus Christ Superstar, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Our Country’s Good and A Night at the Musicals for which she did much of the choreography.

“I am really excited about the RADA course,” said Sally. “It will be a wonderful chance to build on all the opportunities I’ve been given in dance and drama at King’s,” said Sally.

A RGS Worcester pupil, Max Whittle, is eagerly awaiting the results of his trial for the England U18 Basketball team, where he was one of 80 players put forward for possible selection.

Max attends RGS Worcester and trains with the senior Worcester Wolves team, which currently sits 9th in the British Basketball League, the supreme level in the UK. He also plays for their U18 team, which competes in The National League, Midlands Conference.

Playing at Point Guard, 18 year old Max also suits up for Worcester, playing in Division 1 of the West Midlands League.

Last week, Max’s side won the Regional Final in an epic encounter, 80-75, against the Birmingham Blazers. In spite of sustaining a vicious poke in the eye, Max played a full part in the victory.

“Getting selected for the England trials was just brilliant and an experience that I won’t forget,” said Max. “I’m very grateful for the training and playing opportunities that I’ve had with the Wolves, particularly the coaching I’ve had from Chris Lowe and Chris Mayes. My personal coach Tom Perkes has also been fantastic to me.”

He has secured a place at Big Bend Community College, Moses Lake, Washington State for life after RGS. His dream is to make an impact with The Runnin’ Vikes and then transfer to one of the major basketball-playing universities in the USA.

Oh yes, as well as making the England squad!

Caterham School student, Eleanor Budge (Lower Sixth), was presented with her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award certificate at the Tandridge Award ceremony on Monday 22 March.

Eleanor may have set a record in completing the Gold Award so quickly. She was a Direct Entrant to the Award Scheme at Gold level and the longest section of the Award was Volunteering was completed just 18 months to the day and just in time to make it to the ceremony. Eleanor is planning to pursue a career in medicine and so she was pleased to be able to volunteer at Tillgate Ward, East Surrey Hospital.

Her Skill has been to continue to develop her singing, and she is presently awaiting the results of her Grade 8 singing examination, while she has enjoyed learning Latin American and Ballroom dancing for her Physical section and reached Bronze level in all ten dances.

With university not too far ahead, a week-long course in the preparation of healthy three course meals using inexpensive ingredients seemed a fitting way of completing the Residential section of the Award.

Eleanor said: ‘’The expeditions in the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains of Wales were the toughest part of the Award but the sense of achievement made the experience worth while.’’

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ’Eleanor is a credit to the School in so many different ways; her all-round efforts are much appreciated. I am delighted, but not surprised, that she managed to complete the Gold Award in record time. The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme is thriving at Caterham School. It is just one of the many co-curricular activities that we offer pupils. It is popular because it is enjoyable and challenging, whilst remaining one of the best programmes for the personal development of young people.’

Photo: Eleanor Budge receives her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award from Mr Geoffrey Marlow, Chairman of Surrey County Council.

On Sunday 7th March, Trent College’s Year 12 Art students held a Private View exhibition of their work in the Carriage Restaurant at Chatsworth House.

After an onsite educational visit in the Autumn to Chatsworth House, which involved drawing and painting in the house and grounds, artwork was then developed in the department’s studios at Trent College. It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to use the architecture and landscape of the Chatsworth Estate as a source of inspiration for their drawing, painting and printmaking.

The private view was a great success and was well attended by students, parents, alumni, governors and staff. It was also a great privilege to have owner of the Chatsworth Estate and President of Trent College, His Grace The 12th Duke of Devonshire CBE attend, spending time talking to the students about their work and techniques used. He was very impressed by the standard and accepted our gift of one of the exhibited pieces of his own choice.
From Sunday 14th March, a selection of the work will be on display for several weeks to the public within the Conservatory of the Carriage House Restaurant.

Lord Browne of Madingley, a former pupil of the King’s School Ely, returned to the school to open a new £3.5m arts complex.

He was invited by the governors and the Head, Sue Freestone, in his capacity as chairman of the trustees of the Tate Gallery.

The arts complex is housed in a magnificent new two-storey building in the same quadrangle as the Music department with views of Ely Cathedral.
There is now designated space for textiles, fine art, photography and ceramics, all under one roof.
The Performance Studies department now has two fine new studios one of which is housed in an extension to the Hayward Theatre. The extension has also provided costume and other storage space.

A gallery has also been created at the back of the theatre to house sound and lighting equipment for use during productions.

Photo: Lord Browne and Sue Freestone, Head of the King’s School Ely, tour an exhibition of students’ work following the opening of the school’s new £3.5m arts complex.

The award is given by NACE (the National Association for Able Children in Education) for high quality work throughout the school in challenging all pupils, including those with high abilities, to achieve their best.

Assessors observed lessons, interviewed pupils, teachers, parents and governors and looked at the pupils’ work.

“Parents value highly the extensive range of ways in which a child can excel and the inclusive approach where every child is seen as special,” said their report.

“At King’s Acremont, King’s Junior and King’s Senior School, teachers’ subject knowledge is exceptional and pupils are offered challenging contexts for their learning.

“The curriculum is broad, balanced and enriched, drawing on both the school’s facilities and those of the city of Ely. The ‘Ely Scheme’ (King’s outdoor pursuits programme) is used to help the development of pupils’ leadership, entrepreneurial and team-building skills.

“In lessons observed, exceptionally high levels of challenge and inference were expected from pupils who were motivated to wrestle with concepts and high order applications. For example, pupils at a chemistry master class demonstrated high levels of problem-solving and co-operation.

“Celebration of achievement is a strong feature with vibrant displays showing what is being achieved and what everyone can aspire to. Social and successful learning skills are valued equally alongside academic achievements. There are highly effective systems to meet the pastoral needs of all pupils. The monitoring of pupils’ progress is robust and personalized. As a result, pupils have very good attitudes to learning.”

King’s is the fourth independent school and the one hundred and seventieth school in the UK to achieve the NACE Challenge Award for able, gifted and talented pupils.

Bedford Modern School students from Years 7 to 9 received a visit by award winning author, Robert Muchamore, on Thursday 18th March. Students from John Bunyan School and Rushmoor School were also invited to attend the session where they were able to hear Robert Muchamore speak, and had the opportunity to purchase some of his books and get them signed by the author.

Robert Muchamore is the author of the hugely popular CHERUB book series that are published in 28 countries. The CHERUB series consists of twelve books including Shadow Wave that will be published in September this year. More information can be found at www.muchamore.com

For anyone who has not read any of the CHERUB series, the CH in CHERUB stands for Charles Henderson, the man who founded the organisation. The rest can be worked out by reading the Henderson’s Boys books!

Jane Chumbley, Head of English Key Stage 4 at Bedford Modern School said: “We were delighted that Robert Muchamore was able to visit BMS. Many of our younger students are avid fans of his books and had dozens of questions about what will happen next to his fictional characters. Meeting an author and learning about the writing process was a fantastic opportunity for them.”

BMS Year 7 student Charlie Gale said: “I have read the whole CHERUB series and it was thrilling to meet Robert Muchamore today.”

Bayley Hockham, another BMS Year 7 student said: “Robert Muchamore’s books really make you want to keep reading and turning over the next page to find out what is going to happen next and I can identify with the characters.”

The second Spelthorne Junior Chess Championships took place at Staines Prep on Saturday 13 March. The competition, which was open to all children living or attending school in Spelthorne, is part of an initiative led by Mike Basman (organiser of the British Land UK Chess Challenge) and local organiser Dr Noel Stewart.

The tournament comprises three age categories, U9 (9 year olds), U11 (11 year olds) and U14 (14 year olds). It puts contenders through five rounds to find a champion in each group.

The Spelthorne event attracted entrants from eight different schools. Alex Leeks of Staines Prep won the U9 competition with straight victories. Sam Hase, also of Staines Prep, was runner-up in the group.

Sam Freeth (Halliford School) won all his U14 games, with Lyndon Kindred-Robinson (Hampton School) finishing second in this category.

The U11 competition was the most fiercely contested. After many close matches, the fifth round proved to be the decider. Ritansh Kathuria (Kingston Grammar School Preparatory Form) clinched victory, with Angelo Umashangar as runner up

All competitors received a Certificate of Participation. Those who won at least three of their games were also awarded a rosette. The winners were presented with their trophies by Councillor Malcolm Royer, who was pleased to see chess being played so enthusiastically in the borough.

Photo(L-R): Alex Leeks(9 yrs), Malcolm Royer(Councillor), Samuel Freeth(12 years) – former pupil, Ritansh Kathuria(11 years) – former pupil, Dr Noel Stewart(local organiser)

Bedford Modern Junior School pupils from Years 3 and 4 presented “The Menu Bites Back” on Thursday 18th March in the Christopher Fry Hall at the School.

“The Menu Bites Back” was a short musical for children in which the basic theme was diversity. During the Spring Term all the pupils in Years 3 and 4 worked on songs, dance and drama and also embraced some of the School’s PSHE (Personal Social Health Education) curriculum.
The plot involved pupils representing different food groups, parading into the arena like a circus. The universal question, “What are we here for?” leads to the horrifying conclusion that, being food, they’re here to be eaten and they must find a way to defend themselves against such a fate.

Enter the Ringmaster, Bella Salmonella, Vinderlulu and Pepperoni, who each try and persuade the food that they would give them the best protection. However, the food finds its own solution: to unite in such indigestible combinations that the diners will be deterred from eating it. The diners finally capitulate and join the food in celebrating the diverse nature of life and how we must all learn to live together despite our differences.
Jane Thomas, the Year 6 teacher who produced “The Menu Bites Back” said: “We chose this particular musical because of the lively and rhythmic songs which allowed the children to sing and dance in a variety of styles from a march to the tango. The lyrics were very clever and the children had fun thinking of weird and wonderful food combinations. We hope they also learnt a little more about getting on with each other!”

Photo: Some of the characters from The Menu Bites Back

Some of the finest school musicians in the country created a symphony of sound during a musical weekend at Mount St Mary’s College.

Musicians from four schools combined their talents to perform as an orchestra and also enjoyed a choral workshop culminating in a rousing rendition of Mozart’s ‘Ave Verum’.

As well as pupils from Mount St Mary’s, in Derbyshire, pupils from Stonyhurst in Lancashire and St Ignatius and Wimbledon College in London took part in the weekend.

A total of 23 pupils were involved in the orchestra, with several, including ten from Mount St Mary’s, being selected for the Joint Jesuit Schools’ Concert in London on March 12.

But the weekend was not just about musical performances – there was time for a bowling trip, formal dinner and, for those not used to it, a chance to sample the Mount St Mary’s boarding experience.

Mrs Lucy Kitchener, Mount St Mary’s director of music, said: “The weekend was a wonderful opportunity for the top musicians from several Jesuit schools to come together and share their talents.

“All the pupils worked wonderfully well together and their performances were a pleasure to listen to.

“We were delighted to welcome pupils from other schools to what was an exciting venture and one we hope to repeat in the future.”

Around 100 students who have their Speech and Drama lessons at Bedford Modern School took part in the annual Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama held at the Corn Exchange between 6th and 13th March 2010.

Students from all year groups were represented in 27 classes performing in front of students from other schools, parents, families, friends, teachers and, of course, an adjudicator. Regrettably, a number of experienced BMS Speech and Drama students were unable to perform due to a clash of commitments with the School’s production of West Side Story.

However, those that were able to perform did themselves, and the School, proud and are to be congratulated on their efforts. Particular mention must be made of the following who were placed either 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their particular categories:-

Duologues 9-11 Years
1st Albert Ensor-Clinch and Henry Bridge

Shakespeare Duologue (14 Years and Over)
2nd = Emily Williams and Aine Donnelly

Duologues – Any Age Competition
2nd Amy Smith and Jack Nicholls

Verse Speaking Solo (9 Years)
2nd Alexander Brand

Verse Speaking Solo (8 Years)
2nd Stephanie Radcliffe

Dramatic Solo (12-14 Years)
3rd Robert Joynes

Duologues (12-14 Years)
3rd Charles Goodman and James Berry

Photo: Year 5 pupils Albert Ensor-Clinch and Henry Bridge

Farlington’s Prep School has recently been working hard to raise money for St Catherine’s Hospice in Crawley. Girls in Farlington’s four ‘Houses’ – Aylward, Keller, Nightingale and Pankhurst (all named after prominent ladies, of course) all joined together in organising events which included non-uniform days, bun sales and raffles. These ventures, together with the retiring collection from the Christingle Service at St. Mary’s Horsham in December, raised a grand total of £1,125. Last week all the children gathered together to present Victoria Lawrence, the charity’s representative, with a cheque for this amount.
The Headmistress, Joy Baggs, reported that the school always receives tremendous support for fundraising initiatives from parents, grandparents and friends of Farlington. Money for various charities selected by the girls has always been generously donated, even in this difficult economic climate.
Farlington Prep School’s next initiative is to fundraise for CHASE (Christopher’s Children’s Hospice near Guildford). A parent at Farlington, Seni Glaister, is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and the girls are keen to sponsor her.

The Stonyhurst College U14s won the Lancashire Schools Plate Final at Rochdale RUFC on Sunday 21st March, beating Kirkham Grammar 38 -12. Kirkham provided strong opposition, and at half-time the score was 12-7 in their favour. Stonyhurst played extremely well and managed to take the lead in the second half.

The U14s are now preparing for a tour to Italy in April. Staying in Lido di Jesolo, they will have training sessions on the beach and play matches against Montebelluna, Piave and Paese. They will then visit Venice, the Gardaland theme park, and move into the cricket season with some beach cricket, no doubt consuming a good deal of ice-cream along the way!

Photo: Stonyhurst team with the Lancashire Plate, held by captain, Danny Fitzgerald (13) from Blackburn.

Hodder House (Stonyhurst’s pre-prep department) celebrated World Book Week by coming to school dresses as their favourite storybook characters. Darth Vader rubbed shoulders with Mog the Cat, Sleeping Beauty and the Little Mermaid, and a variety of Knights in shining armour encountered King Henry V! Everyone looked wonderful as stories leapt out of their pages for a day, which inspired the creation of many new tales.

Photo: Year 2 in their costumes

World Book Day at Farlington Prep. School is always an extremely popular event, with everyone dressing up as characters from their favourite books, including all members of staff. Year 4 started the day off in style with their assembly on … BOOKS! Some girls from the class read a piece from their chosen book and asked the audience to guess their character – they were not short of enthusiastic responses! The class then acted a short drama on how a book gets to be published … from the author’s initial inspiration, to being selected by a publisher, and from there on to the marketing and distribution of the finished publication. Finally the girls acted out how a good book can nourish the soul and feed the brain, in almost the same way that food nourishes the body.
Farlington is fortunate to have its own author of children’s books as one of their teachers. As part of Book Week, Ruth Young ran workshops for all Prep. pupils, during which she read extracts from her recently published Aunty Marmalade. The younger children discussed the characters and how they imagined them to look and then made drawings and wrote their own ideas about the story. With the older girls, Ruth gave them tips on how to improve their writing by ‘showing’ and not ‘telling’ their story, and ways of achieving more ‘visual’ creative writing to engage the reader.

On the 5th and 6th of March, Caterham School 1st XII and 2nd XII lacrosse teams competed in the annual National Schools U19A and U19B Lacrosse Tournament which was held at Imperial College Sports Ground.

It was the first time that we had entered a 2nd XII. Only the schools with the strongest squads enter the U19B competition and so Caterham 2nd XII were competing against 27 other top schools. The team performed superbly and remained unbeaten on the first day, defeating teams that included Berkhamsted and St Paul’s whilst drawing with Lady Eleanor Hollis. The results meant that they qualified for the final day as leaders of their group. Consequently, on the Saturday, they faced opposition from some of the strongest second teams in the country. Despite the strength of opposition they managed to perform well to achieve some great wins, including a deserved 2-1 victory over Downe House. They finished the tournament with a top ten placing in the country.

Although Caterham School 1st XII have competed in this National Tournament for many years, for many of the team it was their first experience of a tournament at this level. There were 49 top schools competing and so the first day was always going to involve some very competitive matches, particularly since their section included teams from Godolphin and Bedford. Therefore, they knew that they would have to play to their full potential to progress in the competition. Unfortunately, nerves proved a problem in the first game, which they narrowly lost 2-1 to Bedford. However, showing great character they settled themselves and played some excellent lacrosse in their remaining five matches. The team improved throughout achieving their best score with an 8-1 victory over Uppingham. However, the early loss meant that they had to beat Godolphin, the top seeds, in order to progress. They rose to the challenge superbly and produced an outstanding 3-2 win that enabled them to qualify for the championship on Saturday.

After six tough matches on the Friday, the Saturday matches were always going to be difficult. However the weeks of early morning fitness training combined with ice baths on the Friday night enabled the team to produce further outstanding performances on the Saturday. They beat Wycombe Abbey, Haberdashers, and, most memorably, arch rivals and reigning national champions Guildford High, in a match which will be remembered by many for years to come. Unfortunately, very narrow defeats to Benenden and St. Catherine’s just denied Caterham a place in the semi finals. However, these performances enabled them to finish seventh in the country, and the top co-educational school. Perhaps the most notable achievement was that they were one of only two teams to beat the eventual winners, Godolphin.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘I am delighted to see such successful performances by both teams. It is a great achievement to finish as the top co-educational school in the country. I was particularly pleased about the manner of their success as both teams had to overcome the setback of defeat, which they did admirably, to go on to win more matches. Although we have a reputation for high academic standards, we take also offer a wide range of co-curricular activity of which sport is an important part. Whilst we believe in sport for all it is always very rewarding when teams do so well in a national competition.’

Lacrosse 1st Team Squad:
Emma Warner, Emma Sheldon, Georgia Flanagan, Lottie Williams, Rosie Crammond,
Hannah Wright (V Capt), Clarissa Hearn, Jess Puntan, Hattie Shaw, Sophie Colman, Megan Armitage, Tash Reynoldson, Katie Barrett, Lisa Mill, Rosie Clarke, Loulou Rowlands (Capt).

Lacrosse 2nd Team Squad:
Tash Hunt, Georgia Feldmanis, Sarah Edwards, Bex Goddard, Hollie Coleman, Alia Ardon (Captain), Ellie Scott—Smith, Daisy Hopkins, Rachel Bartholomews, Zoe Webb, Katie Marsh, Emma Houlden, Lizzie Armitage, Amy Miles, Rebecca Ward.

Photo: 1st team Squad

U16s Welsh Hockey International
Hockey at Christ College continues to go from strength to strength and this has been reflected in a series of national and regional selections.

Christ College pupil Ben Wigmore, from Llanfrynach near Brecon, has been selected to play for Wales at U16 level.

Ben, who is only 14 years old, will now train as part of the 23 man Welsh squad and can look forward to earning his first national cap over the Easter holidays.

Hockey Coach at Christ College Dr Dominic Phelps said: “Having already played on numerous occasions for Christ College’s 1st XI – quite an achievement in itself given Ben’s age – this is a real testament not only to his outstanding ability in hockey but also to the immense amount of hardwork and dedication to the sport that he has put in over recent years. There is little doubt that a future national star is being developed right here at Christ College.”

In additional to Ben’s national selection, five Fifth Form girls from Christ College have been selected for the U16s South East Wales Regional Hockey Team/Squad. They are Rachel Hope and Amy Bilbrough (defence), Beatrice Wigmore and Lottie McKenzie (forwards) and Fern Bowkett (goal keeper).

The five girls also represented their county team in the 2009-2010 season. Jan Levy , coach for Powys U16s said:” I am delighted that the girls have been selected for their outstanding hockey skills and ability.
SE Wales Team members
They have progressed from representing their county in hockey to representing the South East Wales Region. In November the Powys Under 16s team were the “plate winners” of the “South Wales County Schoolgirl U16 Finals 2009″, captained by Amy Bilbrough with Rachel Hope as vice captain. I am very proud of them.”

South East Wales Regional Coach Geoff Roderick said:

“I am delighted to have such a strong contingent from Christ College in the squad/team this year. The girls are making a significant contribution to the Regional Team. They have attended regular training sessions and last weekend they played in the fixture against South West Wales, winning 7-0 in the first match and drawing their second match.”

In their latest match, played on 6th March, South East Wales beat Surrey Juniors 5-1. The standard of play from SE Wales was exceptional. The score was 1-1 at half time. Surrey are currently the England county champions and have about 5 players either playing for England U16s hockey or are in the process of attending the selection trials. The CCB girls all played their part in this impressive victory.

Since 1997, Christ College sixth form pupils have competed in the British Biology Olympiad, run by the Society of Biology (formerly the Institute of Biology). There have been many individual successes along ther way and a collective success in 2005 when Christ College won best school in Wales.

Gold medal winner at the British Biology Olympiad
In this year’s British Biology Olympiad, Sean Mui has created history at Christ College by winning our first Gold medal since Christ College has been competing in the competition. Sean, whose home is in Hong Kong, joined Christ College in September 2008 and is studying Biology, Chemistry, History and Art at A level. Sean is currently applying to universities with a view to studying Archaeology & Anthropology.

Head of Biology, Mr Mark Sims said: “This achievement puts Sean in the top 80 of the 1500 or so entrants, all of whom are the top two or three biologists in their own schools. It is quite an achievement!”

Head of Christ College Mrs Emma Taylor said: “Sean plays a full part in school life at Christ College. She holds down positions of responsibility in that she is a School Prefect and is the Overseas Pupils Liaison. She is a popular member of the Chapel Choir and plays a full part in house activities. Her success in the British Biology Olympiad should be viewed against this backdrop. We’re very proud of her!”

The British Biology Olympiad (BBO) is an annual competition for post-16 students. It is part of the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) and for the past fourteen years it has been associated with the Institute of Biology which provides administrative support for the BBO Committee.

Since the establishment of the BBO in 1995 the numbers of participating students have steadily increased and it regularly attracts about 1500 entrants from all types of school from across the UK. The BBO is run by a volunteer committee of experienced teachers and lecturers who set and mark the questions as well as undertaking innumerable other tasks. Medals are presented to the winners by the BBO President at an annual awards ceremony in London. The current President is Professor Steve Jones. Past Presidents have included Professor Colin Blakemore, Lord Robert Winston and Baroness Susan Greenfield.

The BBO tries to challenge and stimulate gifted students with an interest in Biology to expand and extend their talents. In offering a wider syllabus than A-level, it allows gifted students to demonstrate their knowledge and to be suitably rewarded and publicly recognised by the award of medals, certificates and other prizes. It is hoped that competing in the Olympiad will encourage students already interested in this valuable, wide-ranging and rewarding subject to continue their study beyond A-level.

In addition to encouraging and rewarding pupils in their studies the BBO provides a means of selecting a team to represent UK at the IBO. The IBO, underwritten by UNESCO, seeks to challenge by both theory and practical tests some of the top pre-university biology students in the world, with over 50 countries taking part.

Sixth Formers at Farnborough Hill feel passionately about raising awareness of global warming and climate change in the minds of young people, in order to encourage good ecological habits to help safeguard the future. As part of a Sixth Form ecological initiative, Charlotte Stidston, Hannah Sorrel, Hannah Thomas, Hannah Patel, Lillian Carr, Hannah Thrower and Grace McDougall, led by teacher in charge of Physics Gill Chapman, presented their idea of a Half Energy Day to climate experts and 500 students from all over the UK at the Student Earth Summit in the O2 arena last November. Their presentation began: ‘We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children’ and their proposal for a Half Energy Day (HED) for schools on 24 March 2010 was praised by the experts and applauded by the students. The girls believe that their scheme will work because it has clear goals, encourages measurement of energy and raises awareness of energy wasted. They believe that the HED initiative will also send parents and politicians a clear message from young people.

Following the enthusiastic reception of the HED idea, we decided to ‘go national’. The campaign to spread the word about National Half Energy Day (HED) was launched at Farnborough Hill on 3 February with the slogan ‘Use your HED to make a difference!’. The school website has been publicising the event with regular news updates, radio interviews have been given and support has been sought far and wide. An invitation to join Half Energy Day and an advertisement for a poster competition has been sent to 24,000 schools across the UK – we have had support from schools as far afield as Aberdeen! The event is also supported by ‘Weakest Link’ celebrity and Farnborough Hill old girl Anne Robinson and HRH Prince Edward. Prince Charles has been kind enough to send his congratulations and good luck wishes for the day.

Farnborough Hill Sixth Formers have visited 15 local primary schools to deliver their PowerPoint presentation, explaining the causes and effects of global warming and suggesting ways in which the children can halve their energy use. During these visits they have also handed out stickers and promoted the HED poster competition, the prize being an i-pod nano with solar battery charger!

On Wednesday 24 March Farnborough Hill students and staff aim to halve their computer and TV usage; turn the heating down and wear extra layers; share lifts, walk or use public transport to and from school; eat a sustainable, ‘energy efficient’ lunch. They will join with Footprint Friends – who aim to paint one million feet to raise awareness of our carbon footprint – by having a lunchtime foot painting session. We hope that Farnborough Hill’s original initiative for a Half Energy Day will be taken up by a huge number of schools nationwide and that next Wednesday we will bring the message to even more young people: ‘Our world is in your hands – together we can make a difference.’

Photo: Alex Hives, Hannah Thomas, Charlotte Stidston and Lillian Carr

The strength and quality of Netball at Christ College has never been in doubt. Recent successes in the County play-offs have meant that Christ College will go on to represent Powys at the National inter-county tournaments at U19 & U16 level.

However the performances of all of our netball teams today (10th March) against Llandovery College has shown that Christ College has strength in depth throughout the year groups.

Friendly rivalry with Llandovery College was resumed on the Netball court this afternoon with six fixtures being played. The results were as follows:

CCB 1st VII 34 – 7 Llandovery College 1st VII

CCB 2nd VII 25 – 17 Llandovery College 2nd VII

CCB U15 VII 43 – 2 Llandovery College U15 VII

CCB U14 VII 34 – 0 Llandovery College U14 VII*

CCB U13 VII 22 – 1 Llandovery College U13 VII*

CCB U12 VII 8 – 0 Llandovery College U12 VII*

* – Played at Llandovery College

This clean sweep of victories by Christ College Netball teams in the six fixtures today follows the clean sweep of victories achieved by the girls hockey teams in fixtures played in October.

Netball coach Mrs Lynne Webber said: “The girls were superb. What more could I ask of them? I’m very pleased with the performance of every team but I’m sure the rest of the girls won’t mind me saying how proud I am of the performance of our U12s team.”

On the 28th February 2010 Woldingham polo team participated in the National Arena Girls Tournament, held in Rugby.

The team consisted of Katy Bernard, Laura Endicott and Heather Norris.
They played against Rugby, Wellington and St George’s Ascot. They were all very nervous due to the fact that it was the first chukka of the day and there was not enough time to warm up.

The first chukka was against Rugby school and it lasted for seven minutes. Unfortunately we lost 3-1.
The second chukka was against Wellington and the girls were more confident and prepared. They won 5-1.
After lunch two more chukkas were played which lasted for three minutes. The first chukka was against St George’s Ascot and was drawn 0-0.
The last chukka was against Wellington and was again a win 1-0.

Overall the girls came 6th. We are very proud of the girls as it was their first polo tournament. We look forward to them competing more in the future.

Heather Norris and Katy Bernard

Bedford Modern School (www.bedmod.co.uk) is an independent day school for girls and boys aged 7 to 18 and combines excellent facilities, first class teaching and traditional values.

We are proud of our academic standards, our wide range of cultural and sporting opportunities and our exceptionally caring pastoral structure. We want our students to gain the confidence and academic results to stride confidently into a world where their talents will be recognised and fulfilled.

Bedford Modern School has the following Open Events planned for 2010:-

School “In Action” Day – Thursday 6th May

Small Group Tours at 9.00am, 10.00am, 2.00pm and 3.00pm
This is an opportunity to see the School “in action” during a normal school ay and tour the site whilst students are in lessons.

Junior School Information Evening – Wednesday 15th September

7.00pm prompt start (please arrive by 6.45pm)
Our Junior School Open Evening is an opportunity for parents and grandparents to find out about the Junior School, enjoy some cheese and wine and hear presentations from key staff followed by a Question and Answer session.

Whole School Open Day – Saturday 13th November

Morning Session – 10.00am to 12.00Noon
Afternoon Session – 2.00pm to 4.00pm
This is a chance for the whole family to look around our excellent facilities and meet some of the staff and students. The Headmaster, Michael Hall, will give a talk during the morning and one in the afternoon as will the Head of the Junior School, Nick Yelland. Group tours will take place throughout the morning. A crèche and face painter are also available in the Junior School.

For more information on any of these events, please contact Admissions on 01234 332500 or email admissions@bedmod.co.uk

The new Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham – the Rt Revd Paul Butler, paid a visit to Nottingham High School as part of a personal seven hour ‘pilgrimage’ of Nottingham city centre.

Riding the tram from the Nottingham suburbs into the city, Bishop Paul’s journey of discovery involved a visit to a weekly market, various community projects and a supermarket before arriving at the school for a well earned lunch. He was joined by headmaster Kevin Fear and deputy headmaster Dr Paul Sibly as well as other members of staff, sixth formers and a number of boys, representing the Community Action Group.

Over a fish and chip lunch, Bishop Paul discussed the community initiative that students organise which range from school trips to charity food appeals. He was also interested in what the boys were studying, what they were hoping to do after A levels and what they liked best at the school.

“It was a great honour have to have Bishop Paul come and visit us,” said Kevin Fear, headmaster at Nottingham High School. “He was very interested in what life is like here at the school and the work we do. He was also thought it was clever how we were able to match the colour of the napkins with his robes. It was nice to meet him.”

Revd Caldicott, a member of the Bishop’s entourage used to be a teacher at the school – he also enjoyed revisiting scenes from his past.

The pilgrimage finished with a ride on the Nottingham Big Wheel with the Lord Mayor of Nottingham and then a visit to the new Nottingham Contemporary Gallery.

Trent College in Long Eaton are celebrating after their Girls’ Hockey Team were crowned Under 16 Champions at the National Schools Finals, held in Staffordshire. This achievement was a milestone in itself for Girls’ Hockey at the School, being the first time Trent had a team in the National Finals, and what a debut it turned out to be.
The tournament proved to be a very tough competition; Trent took ten out of a possible twelve points from their group stages; beating Ipswich and Wakefield by a single goal to none, beating Millais 7-1 and drawing two a piece with a tough Millfield side.
They met St George’s College in the final 1-0, with Harriet Livesey scoring the winning goal. Kim Leiper led the way for Trent throughout the tournament, scoring four of the seven goals against Millais.
Peter Shuttleworth, their coach, was delighted as Holly Rainford stepped up to lift the salver: ‘This will hopefully be the first of many years we will be here with the girls’ teams to challenge for the national title. This triumph was not a complete surprise as it had been obvious for a number of years that we had a talented and committed group of players, and indeed the whole squad deserve a mention. The potential was there, but they have had to work very hard to achieve their success. They had a setback at the Midlands Championships when they were beaten by a robust Oundle team, but in hindsight, perhaps this helped to keep the girls focussed and to take nothing for granted.’
This is not the only achievement for this year group; Trent’s U16 boys continued their fine hockey season at Cannock Hockey Club by winning the Midlands Schools title. This was the 7th time in eight years that Trent has won this title, an impressive achievement considering the strength of the competition in the region. This success means that the team now goes forward to play in the National U16 Tournament, due to be played on 19th/20th April.

On Saturday 6 March 2010, Queenswood School, Hatfield, welcomed celebrity chef, restaurateur and author Gary Rhodes OBE to officially open the new state-of-the-art practical cookery suite. For many years the girls have had a vital ingredient missing from school life: cookery lessons. The suite, which was completed in the autumn, was masterminded by the school and generously supported by parents and others.

This sensational facility has top of the range equipment including a ‘chef’s theatre’ (overhead TV monitor for demonstrations), movable work stations and professional Küppersbusch ovens. A school-wide competition was held to name the new suite and the winner was Hannah Watters from Wheathampstead with ‘Haute Quisine’.

Gary Rhodes was a natural choice to open the new cookery suite as he has been connected with the Focus on Food campaign and the Cooking with Schools programme which is all about putting healthy eating at the heart of the classroom, showing children how to prepare and cook healthy food – and having fun in the process. Our girls certainly have a lot of fun in Haute Quisine and Gary spent over an hour meeting pupils, parents, staff and sponsors and sampling the delicious canapés which the girls were preparing.

In opening ‘Haute Quisine’ Gary said: “It is so inspiring to see so much enthusiasm from all involved, and to discover a kitchen so sensibly designed and beautifully crafted. It is a fantastic addition to an already wonderful school”. He paid tribute to Practical Cookery teacher, Mrs Jayne Lee, for her ‘obsession’ with the subject. Jayne, whose husband David is the Executive Chef at the school, is delighted with the new venture and said: “Food is a great area of interest at the school and the enthusiasm of the girls has been phenomenal. This occasion marks the start of many happy years cooking in HQ and we now have plans to grow our ingredients on the school’s allotments: ‘from plot to pot to plate’!

We are sure Gary would agree this is the perfect recipe for success!

Photo: Gary Rhodes with practical cookery teacher Mrs Jayne Lee and girls in Queenswood’s new practical cookery suite ‘Haute Quisine’.

U12 Netballers from Bromsgrove Preparatory School travelled to Brighton (on Friday 12th March) to compete in the IAPS National Netball finals at Roedean school

On the day, 68 teams took part in the U11, U12 and U13 competitions and it was a fantastic spectacle of netball to watch in a stunning setting.

Having qualified as Regional winners, Bromsgrove’s U12s were in a good position placed in a group with Greshams, Hazlegrove, Westbourne House, Port Regis, Godstowe and Cranleigh. In their first game against Greshams school, the girls had a tentative start with the first half score being 2 – 1 to Greshams, finally winning the first game 6 – 2. In the second game, Bromsgrove faced Hazlegrove School and again were ahead 5 – 3. Unfortunately the following game waslost 6 – 2. Undeterred, Bromsgrove focused on their next match which was against Port Regis who had also lost to Westbourne House, so we needed to win. We started well with U12 pupils Georgina Horsley-Gubbins, Anastasia Brantingham and Imogen Sapstead attacking brilliantly, supported by Alice Vaughan in defence and we were ahead 3 – 2. When the half time whistle should have gone, our team tactics weren’t allowed to be put into action as the umpires didn’t hear the central timed ‘hooter’ and they played on until the full 12 minutes were played! Unfortunately that game was then lost 5 -4.

Bromsgrove were extremely fired up for the next match against Godstowe which took them to victory 5 – 3. The last match should have been the toughest and an opportunity to get their own back against Cranleigh School, who won the U12 IAPS National Hockey Finals earlier in the academic year. Bromsgrove played their best netball of the season and it all came together, cruising to victory 9 – 2.

Bromsgrove had tied on points with Port Regis so they had a nail biting wait to hear whether they had done enough to get into the semi-finals, finally relieved to hear their name being called out over the PA system.

In the semi’s Bromsgrove sadly lost 7 – 5 against Brighton College. In the third/ fourth play off match, Bromsgrove took on Westbourne house – a team they had already lost to in the group stage – but after the excitement of the semi-finals, Bromsgrove’s play was a little flat and they lost 7 – 4.

Miss Jennifer Danks, Head of Prep School Girls’ PE and Games says “It was a strong whole squad performance but player of the tournament goes to Year 7 pupil Imogen Sapstead for her consistent shooting and excellent attacking play. A great achievement after coming back from 6 weeks rest after injury. The girls should not be too disappointed as fourth in the country is a fantastic result. They have medals and the memories to hold onto ready for next year’s challenge where I’m sure they will go one better!”

GP Taylor, author of fantasy novels including Shadowmancer, Wormwood & The Tizzle Sisters talks to Bilton Grange pupils

New York Times bestselling author GP Taylor yesterday visited Bilton Grange Preparatory School in Dunchurch to celebrate World Book Day. The author, who has notched up over sales of over three million books worldwide, has been described as ‘the new CS Lewis’, with his books such as the Shadowmancer series translated into over 48 different languages.

GP Taylor met children (who had dressed as their favourite character from a book for World Book Day) from Years 5,6,7 and 8, and many took the opportunity to get copies of his latest book, ‘Mariah Mundi’ signed. The author talked about his life, which has encompassed a number of different paths; from working in the music industry with bands such as the Stranglers and Elvis Costello, to being a policeman, becoming a vicar, and finally, as a bestselling author.

Jonathan Hewat, from Bilton Grange commented; “To have such a significant and successful author as GP Taylor here at Bilton Grange to mark World Book Day has been tremendous for the children, who have been able to talk to him about his extremely interesting life, as well as the ideas behind his bestselling novels. Meeting the author of such vibrant fantasy stories really brings books alive to the pupils, who were thrilled to be able to ask questions and get copies of the latest GP Taylor novels signed.”

Bedford Modern School Year 13 students, Rebecca Pye and Cristina MacKinnon, along with Sara Akhtar and Farah Irshad from Biddenham Upper School, will be addressing 60 mental health professionals at a conference to be held at the prestigious Tavistock Health Clinic in London on Friday 12th March.

The Conference is entitled “Culture, CAMHS (Child and Mental Health Services) and Evidence-based Practice: Do They Mix?” and will explore the criteria psychologists currently utilise in their work asking “Do all cultures fall within that remit?”

Rebecca and Cristina will co-present “From Bonkers to NICE: The complexity of Youth Culture” which examines issues affecting adolescents how these relate to music. Mike Solomon, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, will then lead the discussion that follows. Mike has worked with the students in their preparation for the Conference.

Rebecca and Cristina’s presentation opens with the Dizzee Rascal song “Bonkers”. Rebecca explains: “This piece of music was chosen because it was felt relevant to some of the issues being discussed at the Conference and also because the song connects with young people and therefore has a relevant perspective for both adults and adolescents alike.”

Both Rebecca and Cristina have been studying A Level Psychology since Year 12 at Bedford Modern School. “It will be a brilliant experience to visit the Tavistock Clinic where such high calibre psychologists who have shaped society, have worked, rather than just reading about them,” said Cristina.

By taking part in the 2010 Conference both Rebecca and Cristina agree that the experience will enrich, inspire and motivate their A-level Psychology studies at BMS.

Helen Kelly, Head of Psychology at Bedford Modern School said: “This is a fabulous opportunity for Sixth Formers to deliver their thoughts to a professional audience, operating in the mental health sector. All too often, professionals are removed from the groups they claim to represent and this is a wonderful chance for collaborative work between adolescents and professionals.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School Sixth Form students Rebecca Pye and Cristina MacKinnon

Becca Dyson, a sixth former at Canford School, Wimborne reached the final of the Roche Court Articulation Prize held at Cambridge University on the 6th March. The highly prestigious prize was formerly the Kenneth Clarke Art History Award held at Winchester College, but has now been expanded to a national level.

It involves writing and delivering a presentation on any subject based around the theme of art or art history. Becca delivered hers on the recent, much publicised Tate Modern installation “How It Is” By Miroslaw Balka. Becca made insightful comparisons between Balka’s work and Malevich’s Black Square paintings, James Turrell’s light installations and cave painting!

She did extremely well to win the regional heat where she competed against students from Winchester, Goldophin and Sherborne amongst many others. Going on to the final to compete against the winners of all other heats, she finished a very creditable second overall. The final was judged by prolific British artist Antony Gormley (Angel of the North, One and Other on Trafalgar Square’s ‘fourth plinth’.) Becca said “At the start of the day I was feeling a bit apprehensive, but to be honest I think everyone was, and luckily I didn’t have to go first! Just be be part of it, and to meet Anthoy Gormley was a great experience, and to come second was a surprise that I hadn’t really expected.”

Becca spent the day at Cambridge and was shown around the college art collection by current art history students. For coming runner-up she received a cheque for £150 and was presented with a signed book.

While her achievement alone is exceptional it is made even more so by the fact she was competing against students who currently study Art History at A level, whereas Becca studies Fine Art A level. Headmaster John Lever said “It takes a lot of courage even to attempt this. We are really proud of her both for that and for getting so far in such a major national competition”

All at Canford are immensely proud of her achievement.

Photo: Far right – Becca, centre – Antony Gormley.

Just seven years after leaving Woldingham School, Carey Mulligan won a Best Actress BAFTA and was nominated for an Oscar for her debut-lead film role in Nick Hornby’s An Education. Carey had already scooped Best Actress prize at the British Independent Film Awards in December 2009 for the same role.

She won the Best Actress BAFTA in February, and was hotly tipped to do the double by winning the Best Actress Oscar in Hollywood but it was not to be. Carey faced some stiff competition for the Best Actress award and she was piped at the post for the Oscar by Hollywood mega-star Sandra Bullock.

Carey is taking everything in her stride and is remaining grounded despite her meteoric rise to fame. She believes that her love of acting was first kindled at Woldingham School. She is grateful for the strong, professional guidance and encouragement she received whilst at school which has underpinned her unstinting focus on an acting career. When asked about her days at Woldingham she said “I had wanted to act for a really long time, but other schools I had been to did not have such good drama departments. Everyone was so encouraging. You could do anything you wanted to, although you had to take it seriously. If you missed rehearsals, you were out.”

Congratulations to Carey for this well deserved success, being nominated for these prestigious awards for her first starring role is a huge achievement in itself and to win a BAFTA is very special. Needless to say all at Woldingham are very proud of her.

Her rise to stardom means she follows in the footsteps of previous Sacred Heart alumnae which have included Maureen O’Hara and Vivien Leigh

The Spring Concert at Ashford School last week was another impressive success for the independent school that is growing in popularity for musicians across the globe. With the standard and quality of performers improving at every event this was one of the last performances featuring talented soloist Katrina Peng playing Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor.

The chosen overture for the performance was The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart and the Choral finale was an uplifting display of highlights from Miss Saigon.

Ashford School produces a number of formal and informal concerts throughout the year ranging from Rock Concerts to orchestral and choral masterpieces to the latest West End theatre productions.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings this week (18, 19, 20 March) you can book tickets for the chance to see Sweeney Todd, performed entirely by students from Ashford School and the Norton Knatchbull School. With full set and costumes modelled on the original West End play, this haunting tale is one not to miss! Book today by calling 01233 625171. Tickets are nearly sold out for Saturday night so book now to avoid disappointment.

For more information on studying music at Ashford School email music@ashfordschool.co.uk.

A monumental challenge, to build an electric car able to race in just 13 weeks, has been undertaken by a team of sixth form pupils from RGS Worcester, backed by local company, Superform Aluminium.

The students have to construct the car from scratch, and see how far it can be driven in 90 minutes, in a national event called the Greenpower Formula 24.

They join over 200 other teams, all aged 16-24, including schools, universities and also several from carmakers, Jaguar Land Rover and Bentley. There are series of regional rounds, leading up to the national final in October.

The pupils from RGS have secured the backing of Worcester-based Superform Aluminium, a company with great expertise in supplying technically advanced hot formed components to leading car companies such as Aston Martin, Bentley Morgan, Rolls Royce and Lamborghini as well as parts for many Aerospace and Rail applications.

The car is currently a wooden prototype, but the final model will be produced in aluminium and other lightweight materials. All the cars in the competition use identical batteries and motors, which means that innovative design and engineering is required to produce a winning car.

“This is not something that we normally get involved in,” said Simon Tarmey, MD of Superform. “But the passion of the students for the project, plus their obvious engineering skills, soon changed my mind. We need more of this enthusiasm, because manufacturing industry has taken a terrible battering. Anything that pushes pupils in this direction has to be applauded and supported.”

Superform Aluminium will allow the RGS pupils, Robin Hearn, Doug Wilkie, Joe Perry, Dan Staines and John Horne, access to their computer aided design software and will also offer technical advice and support on the purchase of key components. Dave Edwards, an Automotive Concept Engineer, is assisting the pupils with his expert knowledge.

There are three drivers, who will be responsible for both testing and the race-days.

Photo: left to right – Joe Perry, John Horne, Doug Wilkie, RGS Team Leader shaking hands with Simon Tarmey (Superform MD), Dave Edwards (Superform Concept Engineer), Dan Staines.
Drivers: Gabby Radford & Charlotte Emms (kneeling), Pippa Cusack (in the car)

There wasn’t a hint of a yawn or snoozing in class when pupils at a top Fylde Coast independent school decided to dress in pyjamas for a day to raise valuable funds for world children’s charity, UNICEF.

The event, at Fleetwood’s Rossall School proved to be a dream of an idea for the charity, with pupils and teachers generating a remarkable, £400 through their efforts – money that will help children recover from the disastrous earthquake in Haiti and also go towards improving the lives of young children in the African country of Mozambique.

The school’s nursery, infant and junior pupils dreamt up their charity challenge as part of the UNICEF, ‘Day for Change’ campaign. They were asked by teachers to create an event to focus attention on the need for change and they decided on a switch from the norm, so for one day all on campus were obliged to participate in a “wear your pyjamas to school day.” As part of the fund raising activity, children and teachers donated money and brought into school any unused foreign coins to add to the coffers. And, in keeping with the ‘change’ theme, the school sold hot chocolate and marshmallows and cookies on campus at break times.

Said Rossall head of juniors, Simon James: “It was a great idea from the children to vote for the pyjama day. At first we thought there would be a few pupils that might try to claim a quick snooze in class, but despite the relaxed atmosphere the campus was as lively as ever. If anything, they were even more alert than usual because of the excitement of fund raising, so it proved immensely successful, to the point where we may repeat the event at a later date.”

Half of the monies raised by Rossall and other schools in the UK will be used to support children’s welfare and education projects in Mozambique, where 400 children under the age of five die every day, mostly from preventable illnesses, and where the basics that most children take for granted, namely drinking water and access to education, are severely restricted. The remainder will go to assist the humanitarian work undertaken by UNICEF in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti.

Photo: Pyjama game…Rossall School deputy head of juniors, Lawrence Condon helps the collection along with support from pupils – (back row l to r) Naomi Hall, Imogen Hockings and Louise Rogerson, (centre) Harrison Monteiro and (front) Daniel Andrews.

Pupils take on a host of challenges from a vertical mile to a mile of hymns

Raising money the easy way was not on the cards for the pupils of Bilton Grange who opted for ‘going the extra mile’ to raise funds for the Red Cross Appeal for Haiti. Children of all ages across the school took the theme of ‘going the extra mile’ and raised over £1,000 with the following challenges:

• Dressed in fancy dress, pupils walked three legged, crawled on hands and knees, scootered and ran a mile all around the school grounds
• A mile long line of centimetre squares was drawn on maths paper
• Climbing the stairs 170 times, very energetic pupils completed a vertical mile
• In the Pugin Chapel, a ‘mile’ of hymns were played on the organ
• Pupils swam a mile in the School’s indoor pool

The younger children in Pre-prep raised over £300 by having funny hat day, which saw pupils in sombreros, mickey mouse hats, and viking helmets.

A representative from the Red Cross will be coming to the school within the next few weeks to accept the donation on behalf of the charity, which continues to work in Haiti distributing vital supplies and providing medical aid and water for survivors.

Jonathan Hewat, Marketing Officer at Bilton Grange commented; “The children have taken to this challenge to raise money for Haiti with aplomb. From singing to swimming, they have completed this mile in style!”

Polam Hall School has introduced a new and motivating teaching method to its Junior School, which moves away from a rigid, prescriptive curriculum and promotes learning through creativity, using the children’s curiosity as the stimulus.

The creative curriculum ethos at Polam Hall is helping pupils to understand core subjects by using exciting and interesting ways to get messages across.

It changes the way in which subjects such as Maths, English, History, and Science are taught to pupils of a younger age, by turning the classroom into an interactive learning space.

Children are still taught the important requirements of the national curriculum, but the way in which the creative curriculum is taught helps them to get inside their own education and become part of the lesson.

The new creative curriculum method has been used to give children a ‘taste of the Orient’ in time for this month’s Chinese New Year. Instead of opening a book about Chinese culture, the school has been using its cross-cultural strengths and inspirational learning to educate younger pupils.

This has meant that children have been making Willow Plates, releasing Chinese lanterns, having a Chinese lunch with chopsticks, and getting their faces painted by Sixth Form pupils from China.

Polam Hall is helping its pupils to think creatively and allowing them to take the lead in interactive lessons, which are aimed at putting a twist on the national curriculum.

Parents have been extremely supportive of the creative curriculum concept, which Polam Hall is spearheading across the Tees Valley.

Angela Foster, Headmistress at Polam Hall Junior School, said: “The inclusion of a creative curriculum means that education is changing from the rigidity of the prescriptive national curriculum, to inspiration, engagement and empowerment.

“Our pupils are using their skills to get more out of their own education and boost their knowledge.

“They are learning about foreign lands, their environment, and historical figures by thinking ‘outside the box’ and taking the lead in their lessons.

“Attending Polam Hall School is fun for both staff and pupils, which is how a learning environment should be.”

Over the next four weeks, the Derbyshire school will play host to five regional and national sports events.

Kicking off the action-packed March sports events programme is the Mount 7s Hockey and Netball Tournament this weekend (Saturday, March 6.)

It will be followed by the BUCS Championships, which will see 6,000 elite student athletes compete in 26 sports at a number of venues across the region over four days from 10 – 14 March.

Mount St Mary’s first-class sporting facilities will stage the BUCS Lacrosse event on March 11 and the BUCS Ultimate Frisbee on March 13 and 14.

Both events will form part of a highlights programme, which will be broadcast by Sky Sports.

Scottish Rugby training event will take place from March 27-28 before the British Milers Club event over the Easter Holidays, April 16-18.

Paul Scott, director of sport at Mount St Mary’s, said: “The College has a proud sporting reputation and is highly regarded throughout the Midlands and the North of England for our first class facilities.

“The next few weeks are set to be a fantastic spectacle of sport and we look forward to welcoming all the competitors to Mount St Mary’s.”

Sports facilities at Mount St Mary’s include eight rugby pitches, three cricket squares, two football pitches and Astroturf pitch, two grass hockey pitches, six tennis courts, five netball courts, a swimming pool and Grade 1 athletics track.

Ten pupils from Windlesham House School in Washington are to experience the trip of a lifetime having been selected to visit India later this year.

George Carmichael, Monty Clevely, Theo Golden, Claudia Kelley, Will Line, Henry Martin, Marcus Miller, Laila Petra, Mark Smirnov and Joey Walsworth will be visiting education projects and handing over fund-raising following the School’s efforts during its World Awareness Week in January.

The group, along with two members of staff, will be going with the Chair of Trustees of the CRED Foundation, Paul Sanderson MBE, who regularly leads trips for pupils to community projects in developing nations.

Windlesham last sent out a group in 2008 to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia where they spent a week delivering creative activities for the children and young people in the slums.

Teacher and co-ordinator for the India trip, Justin Blake, said: “The ten pupils all gave very impressive interviews and they each deserve their place for what will be a life-changing experience.”

“We can all play our part in making a difference around the world and I know that this will be an extraordinary journey for everyone. It is a privilege to be able to help vulnerable children in India and we are looking forward to this with great anticipation. It promises to be a truly unforgettable adventure.”

PHOTO: The Windlesham team gather ahead of their trip to India this October.

Two Shropshire Music Scholars perform Bach’s Famous Double Violin Concerto

Shrewsbury Abbey
March 20th 2010
7:30 pm

One of the most famous of pieces, Vivaldi’s “Gloria” is to be performed at Shrewsbury Abbey 20th March by one of the largest groups of young voices in the county. The concert will also feature two brilliant violinists, both of whom are music scholars at Wrekin College; Matthew Duffield and Freyja Clarke. They will, together with the College Orchestra, perform Bach’s famous double violin concerto.

The combined choirs of Wrekin College will be joined by the choir of Prestfelde School too, making a total of 150 singers, with most of the choir being of school age. Prestfelde school will also perform parts of Pergolesi “Stabat Mater”.

Wrekin College has a long and fine tradition for producing excellent singers and three of the solo singers for the evening will be students of the College: the evening will be conducted by the College’s own Director of Music, Francis Murton.

Members of the public are welcome to join us for this concert which takes place in the beautiful surroundings of Shrewsbury Abbey; we look forward to seeing you there.

The concert takes place on Saturday 20th March at 7.30pm and tickets are available, priced £5 from the Music Department at Wrekin College telephone : 01952 265625 or email music@wrekincollege.com

Photo: Freyja Clarke and Matthew Duffield

On Friday 5th March, instead of pupils, the Royal Alexandra and Albert School had troops of soldiers, kings, Bo-Peeps, piggies and blackbirds in attendance. It was Book Day and the theme this year was nursery rhymes so all the children and staff came to school dressed as a character from a nursery rhyme.

Fancy Dress Friday in the Junior Department was the culmination of a series of events designed to encourage children to get the most out of reading and enjoyment of books. As part of Book Week, children have written their own nursery rhymes, mixed up traditional nursery rhymes into new nursery rhymes, produced diaries as if they were a character from a nursery rhyme and even drafted newspaper articles reporting on an event in a nursery rhyme.

Literacy co-ordinator, and Year 6 Teacher, Alexandra Smith commented, “The children have really enjoyed remembering nursery rhymes and investigating their actual meaning. They have produced excellent examples of creative writing, artwork and have proved very perceptive when imagining what it is like to be one of the fictional characters.

“One of the highlights of this week was the workshop by author David Mason who really captured the imagination of the children with a humorous and animated performance of his own poems.”

“There were various events on Fancy Dress Friday and these included a parade (in which the Queen of Hearts delivered some real tarts) and sporting activities. Sport ‘nursery rhyme style’ involved pairs of Jacks and Jills racing up a very steep hill with a pail of water. The pail was full of holes and the children had to reach the finish line with as much water as possible. It was wet and muddy but luckily no one broke their crown!”

Bedford Modern School A2 Politics students attended a revision conference on Wednesday 3rd March in London. The students heard from two notable authors and examiners, Anthony Bennett and Paul Fairclough on a variety of topics including The Presidency, Supreme Court and U.S. Political Parties.

As well as the lecture notes, students were given a free copy of a book each for revision – “U.S. Politics Update 2010″ which has the most up-to-date examples for students to use.

Stuart Baker, Head of Politics at Bedford Modern School stated: “The revision course has given a great start to BMS students’ preparations for their A2 exams in the summer and the resources they were given were superb.”

Photo: U.S. Politics Update 2010

Former Christ College pupil and now BBC Wales Today presenter Jamie Owen returned to Christ College on Thursday 4th March. Jamie hosts his BBC Radio Wales show with Louise Elliott every weekday morning from 9.00 am until 12 midday.

You may have heard about the massive red scarf which Louise and Jamie have been organising with the help of their listeners from all over Wales, showing support for the Wales rugby squad in their Six Nations campaign. The scarf is now over a mile long (and growing). After the Six Nations, they’re going to use the scarf to help some good causes.

Louise and Jamie are taking their show on tour around Wales bringing the Big Red Scarf with them and they came to Christ College, Brecon on Thursday 4th March. They met Christ College pupils and staff but also met pupils from Ysgol y Bannau, as well as members of the local community.

They were inundated with red scarfs to add to their growing ‘Big Red Scarf’. If you want to see some pictures and videos about the scarf, please go to their website by clicking here. You can listen to them on 882 AM in the Brecon area or on 93-96 and 104 FM across Wales as well as on-line and on Digital TV.

The Christ College tradition of choral singing showed itself to be thriving in a splendid concert in Brecon Cathedral on Saturday 27th February which brought together all of the school’s choral groups. Alway Singers, both the Female and Male Voice Choirs, and the Chapel Choir all sang individually before joining forces with the Choral Society in music by Fauré.

A fine orchestra of professional musicians had been assembled to accompany the Chapel Choir under their director Jonathan Cooper in Constant Lambert’s Jazz Age classic The Rio Grande. The singers coped admirably with the technically demanding rhythms and harmonies of the work and produced a warm tone in the quieter moments. The percussion section, led by CCB percussion tutor Gareth Hamlin, drove the rhythms forward with a wide range of instruments, and the pyrotechnic piano solo played by Director of Music Richard West was suitably fiery. The rich contralto voice of Flora York Skinner was the finishing touch to a fine performance of this exciting work.

In contrast the Female Choir excelled in Schubert’s familiar setting of the 23rd Psalm. The girls sang with control and suitably angelic tone in well-shaped phrases with clear diction, even singing in German. The Alway Singers took us back to jazz, swinging their way through Gershwin’s Fascinating Rhythm with a real sense of enjoyment but without losing any musicality or clarity. The first half ended with appropriate hwyl for the approach of St David’s Day as the Male Voice Choir gave us arrangements of Kumbayah and We’ll keep a welcome. This was an authentic male voice sound with quality as well as volume, and it was hard to recognise that these were still young voices.

The Choirs of Christ CollegeThe second half belonged to the Choral Society. All the choirs joined forces and were augmented by adult members of the school community and local friends for sacred music by Gabriel Faure. Cantique de Jean Racine and the Requiem are two pillars of the choral repertoire which demand sensitive singing and present some musical challenges. Led by Director of Music Richard West with strings and horns and Jonathan Cooper at the organ, the massed voices of almost 130 singers produced a fine performance. In Nicholas Gedge there was an outstanding baritone soloist to inspire the many students in Christ College taking individual singing lessons. One such student, Anna John, sang the famous Pie Jesu with considerable style. As well as the tone of sweet innocence implied in the setting, Anna sang with musical phrasing and accurate intonation, suggesting a talent that will grow as her voice matures. The short Cantique showed that Richard West has his singers producing a full tone and long lines, the lower parts particularly making the most of their melodies. The Requiem gave the female voices chances to shine in the choruses of angels and it was particularly good to hear the tenors, always a difficult part for school choirs, holding their line with such clarity and confidence. Despite a moment of uncertainty in the second movement, this was a confident and assured performance with the singers’ enjoyment of singing shining through.

A large audience applauded the assembled performers enthusiastically. Messrs West and Cooper had worked tirelessly to produce so much quality music from so many singers; the congratulations were well deserved.

Head Emma Taylor paid tribute to all that contributed, especially Director of Music Mr Richard West and Director of Choral Music Mr Jonathan Cooper, saying: “It was an excellent event and greatly appreciated by all the parents and members of the public who attended. Many congratulations to Richard and Jonathan; lots of hard work but what a result!”

On Thursday, 4th March, Bearwood pupils of all ages celebrated World Book Day a number of ways. Firstly, the librarian visited the Prep and Pre-Prep Schools, where the children dressed up and were treated to storytime as well as some free literary gifts and World Book Day cupcakes. The themes for Year 3 and Year 5 were based on what they’ve been reading, namely Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Greek myths. The younger children dressed as their favourite book character.

At the College, four Year 8 writers, Holly Bishop, Alastair Cameron, Aidan Sakakini and Frances Tidey, spent five hours being creative as they worked together to produce Chapter 4 in their inter-school e-book. The first three chapters were written on Monday to Wednesday by the Emmbrook, Cranford House and Sandhurst schools, and Bearwood wrote the final chapter, and named the whole story “The Fallen Angel.” Copies of the final story are available in the Bearwood College Cook Library.

Photo: Bearwood College Prep School’s Year 5 children dressed as Greek Gods

Rugby players from Trent College in Long Eaton have discovered a novel way to fit more reading into their school day.

Books and reading play a large role in life at Trent College and its Junior School, The Elms, with all pupils encouraged to read for pleasure. With this in mind, the School’s Rugby Titans, consisting of students from Years 11 to 13, have organised a Book Club, which is held before their weekly training session. Coach Guy Hope said: ‘It’s a bit of fun and the Titans really enjoy talking about the books they’ve read.’

Keep it up, boys!

After an exciting and successful season, Bromsgrove Schools’ U16A rugby team have been declared the North Midlands Champions (on 3rd March 2010).

Their opponents, Adam’s Grammar, put up a good fight and it was all square at full time (3 to 3), however it came to the boot of Fifth Former James Widdop to put Bromsgrove ahead with a well struck drop goal with 2 minutes left to play.

Mr Hugh Bell, U16A Coach says, “This win marked a tremendous end to the U16’s season and I would like to thank everyone involved for their help and support”.

Pupils from Years 2-5 at The Elms, Junior School to Trent College, were in for a treat this week, when award winning author Andrew Cope and his dog Lara came to visit, creating a perfect start to the School’s World Book Week activities.
Lara is the inspiration behind Andrew’s bestselling Spy Dog novels, in which a specially trained secret agent dog has many adventures, chasing mega-baddy ‘Mr Big’. The real Lara cannot play computer games or drive a car like her counterpart in the books but she was very patient with the pupils who all wanted to stroke her.
Andrew, from Derby, gave an inspirational talk to the children about books and stories, explaining why reading is so important today and explained to pupils that reading encourages the imagination and makes your brain work harder than watching T.V. The pupils went away with signed copies of the Spy Dog books (Andrew even gave out some free copies) and were inspired to take part in a competition, designed to fire their imagination and improve their writing skills, by writing their own story about a pet gorilla. As an extra incentive all entries stand a chance of winning a special Spy Dog t-shirt!
Andrew’s incredibly popular books have won several awards, including a Nottingham Book Award and Redhouse Children’s Book of the Year.
Both The Elms and Trent College believe that reading is an important factor in ensuring the well-being and happiness of our children and The Elms’ wonderful new library promotes reading for pleasure in a variety of ways, one of which is through meeting an author. All pupils at The Elms have now met a writer this academic year, which has further inspired them to read and to use their imagination. And they have had a lot of fun, too!

Over 350 children from Staines Prep took part in a sponsored ‘Exercise to Music’ event on Friday 5 March, to help raise funds for Sport Relief 2010.

In the past, each House at Staines Prep has supported its own local charity through various fundraising activities. However, this year for the first time all four Houses came together in aid of the UK charity.

Pupils swapped formal shirts and ties for comfy sports gear, cranked up the music and got moving and grooving to a series of three aerobic routines. Both the tennis court and the main playground had to be used to accommodate everyone.

Deputy Head Mr. Amiss said: “We are extremely proud of all the children, not only did they raise funds which will help to change the lives of those less fortunate, but they are also helping to support the national drive for health and fitness in young people.”

World Book Day is always a day to remember for Trent College and its Junior School, The Elms, and this year was no exception.
Held on Thursday 4th March, World Book Day is the biggest annual celebration of books and reading in the UK and Ireland. One of its main aims is to encourage children to read for pleasure, something which is actively promoted all year round by Trent College through events, book clubs and author visits. To celebrate the day, the School’s Library Services team organised a number of fun activities involving all children from 3 – 18 years old.
At The Elms, staff and pupils came to school dressed as their favourite characters from books; there were princesses and fairies, secret agents and superheros, even the Gruffalo made an appearance! ‘Wally’ from Where’s Wally was also spotted in the crowd.
At Trent, the School Bookshop, based in the Warner Library, had some special offers for the day and long queues were forming as early as 8.30am, with children eager to spend their £1 World Book Day token on a wide selection of books. At lunchtime, live music, drinks and biscuits ensured that the library was buzzing with enthusiastic students of all ages.
With a literary theme in mind, the Trent College Catering Department prepared a magnificent lunch based on Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes book, including ‘bird pie’ complete with ‘birds legs’! Across the School, tutors devoted their PSHE lessons to reading and discussing books.
The school day ended with a literary quiz held in Warner Library. Seven teams took on the challenge of answering questions about books, authors and films and impressed the experts with their knowledge. The winning team from Year 8 went home with a big box of chocolates and even bigger smiles on their faces.
Talking about the success of the day, Annike Dase, Head of Library Services said: ‘It was a fantastic day, celebrating books and reading across both Schools. Literature plays a big part in children’s development, from language learning to higher thinking skills, and it is important to foster a love of reading from an early age. That is why Trent College and The Elms embrace World Book Day every year and make it a memorable event for everyone.’

Bromsgrove Pre-Preparatory and Nursery School held a celebration for World Book Day with a visit from children’s author, Cat Weatherill.

All the children from Nursery to Year Two had an interactive Storytelling session with Cat who brought her stories to life with music, props and audience participation. Aswell as telling the pupils stories from other countries she shared her very latest book, ‘By Lantern Light’ with us.

Mrs Kate Western, Year Two teacher says, “The children were captivated and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. They are now also looking forward to other activities across the school to encourage a love for reading and books”.

Wednesday 3rd March marked a very special day for the Royal Alexandra and Albert School as it was the 250th anniversary of the admission of the first pupil to the Orphan Working School (which later became the Royal Alexandra and Albert School).

To mark the occasion, pupils and staff were joined by the School’s President, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester GCVO. The Duchess has shown great commitment to the School and has visited on a number of occasions over the years, most recently in 2007 when she enjoyed a game of table tennis with pupils after opening extensions to two boarding houses.

The Duchess was presented with a posy by 10 year old pupil, Hannah Farnsworth. During the visit the Duchess attended a short service of commemoration in the School’s chapel and watched a dance display by pupils. The Duchess then met a group of current and former Foundationers in the Headmaster’s office before having to leave in order to get back to London for a state banquet.

Also invited to share the celebrations were Old Scholars, including many who attended the School when it was still an orphanage. Their recollections of life at the orphanage, as it then was, were in many cases very positive, and a far cry from the Dickensian tales more commonly associated with orphanages.

Headmaster Paul Spencer Ellis comments “The School is proud of its heritage and the visit from the Duchess of Gloucester is a fitting way to acknowledge the opportunities given to over 20,000 orphans in the last 250 years. Whilst no longer an orphanage, the Royal Alexandra and Albert School which has 800 pupils with 400 boarders, still offers some free boarding places to children with difficult family circumstances.”

Two boys from Stonyhurst St Mary’s Hall have been selected to play for the Independent Association of Prep Schools Barbarians. Favour Maduka will play for the Under 13 side and Chidiebere Nechi for the Under 11′s. The IAPS have been holding trials all over the country to select a squad of players to play in Ireland soon. Hundreds of boys have gone through the selection process and have anxiously awaited the decision of the selectors, who attended a final session at Rugby School a few days ago. Both boys received “Man of the Match” awards in their final trial games. Bravo!

Photo: Favour (aged 13, left) and Chidiebere (11, right).

Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire pupils were triumphant at the North of England cross-country squad, by winning the recent ISA Cross-Country Championships, held near Coventry, last week.
Twelve-year old Andrew Hess achieved his own individual glory by winning his event and becoming the National ISA Cross-Country Champion for his age group. Andrew, aged 12 and a pupil at Hull Collegiate School is also a member of the Kingston Upon Hull Athletics club and is to represent the area at the English Schools Athletics Association cross-country meeting in Manchester later this month.
Charlotte Dodds, aged 15, achieved her glory with a second place medal in the Under 16 girls race. Charlotte will also be attending the ESAA meeting in Manchester with Andrew, plus fellow pupil Grace Midgely.
The North of England team events also produced a series of winners, with the Under 14 and Under 16 North of England girls team winning their races and the Under 12 and Under 19 North of England girls team placed 2nd.
The pupils, all from Hull Collegiate School based in Anlaby, made up nearly half of the North of England cross-country squad, with 11 of the 24 members of the Junior squad coming from the Prep School and 16 Senior School pupils joining the Senior squad. This is a huge achievement for the local runners as the North of England territory covers a huge area ranging from Durham, the whole of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, over to Cumbria and North Wales. Regional qualifying heats were held earlier this year to select the top ten athletes from each region and the Hull-based runners achieved their first taste of success by dominating the final North of England line-up.
“We are immensely proud of our pupils,” says Mr Andrew North, Sports Co-ordinator at Hull Collegiate Prep School. “The school is set in 5 hectares of grounds and we have our own cross-country track. Our pupils are out in all weather running across the 3 km route and this hard-work has definitely paid off as pupils from the school made up nearly half of the final North of England squad.”
The Cross-Country Championships were held at Princethorpe College, near Coventry in wet and cold weather. Although the sleet did stop just long enough for the junior runners, Mrs Dot Feszczak, the senior school sports teacher who took the pupils to the event, admits that the conditions were appalling.

“Virtually everyone surpassed themselves on the day in extremely difficult conditions,” says Mrs Feszczak. “The course was very slippery and it was difficult to run well. One of our parents came to support the North of England Team and she was superb encouraging the runners at a particularly challenging part of the course.”
The results of the Junior and Senior Teams were combined and at the end of the Tournament the North of England were placed overall winners on the day.”

An old boy, who is an acting surgeon at Selly Oak Hospital, made an emotional return to his old school to receive a £2,050 cheque on behalf of Help for Heroes

Will Sharp, Surgeon-Lieutenant, Royal Navy, returned to RGS The Grange to accept the cheque from Simon Howkins, who is the deputy head at the Worcester school. He was accompanied by Dawn Turner, the County Volunteer for the charity.

The money was raised from a series of fund raising activities by the school over a 10 week period.

“I was absolutely delighted to return to The Grange on behalf of Help for Heroes,” said Mr Sharp. “The school has always been quick to help good causes and this money will be very gratefully received by the charity. It has been a fantastic effort by the school.”

Will Sharp was an active member of the RGS CCF Naval unit. He then trained as a doctor at Manchester University, sponsored by the Navy. This led to his work at Selly Oak Hospital.

Also shown in the photo are head boy, Duncan Drew, and head girl, Carys Selvey.

Over two cold and wet Wednesday afternoons in February, Bedford Modern Schools’ Cross Country team competed in the North Beds District Championships and the County Cross Country Championships.

Over both events, all of the Bedford Modern runners competed well, with one Junior girl (Samantha Prentice) and one Senior boy (Alex Robertson) together with four Junior boys (Ryan Isaacson, Henk Kroon, Lewis Marshall, Tom Boulton) qualifying for the County Championships.

However, it is Ryan Isaacson who needs to take all the plaudits for his performances’. In the North Beds event, run around Biddenham Upper School’s fields and surrounding golf course, Ryan took the lead after the second corner and never looked back. He was comfortable in the lead and was never under pressure and came home first by a large margin.

This performance was then surpassed at the County Championships, run around Ampthill Park, where Ryan had a conservative start in the downhill section of the course but soon took the lead on the first uphill section on the first lap. Once in front Ryan extended his lead with every stride and eventually won the race by approximately 400 metres making him the County Champion.

This result means that Ryan has been selected to represent the Bedfordshire & Luton County Team at the English Schools’ Cross Country Championships held at Heaton Park, Greater Manchester on Saturday 20th March. Ryan becomes the second Bedford Modern runner to achieve this feat after Amy Lodder ran in the 2009 Championships.

Patrick Jerram, Director of Sport at Bedford Modern School said, “I would like to congratulate Ryan on his recent success and wish him the very best at the English Schools’ Cross Country Championships.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 9 student Ryan Isaacson

Bedford Modern Junior School Year 5 pupils took part in a Build a Tudor House workshop on Tuesday 2nd March. The workshop ran from 9.00am until 3.30pm in the Christopher Fry Hall at the School and was led by Charlie Lupton from Build a Tudor House(www.buildatudorhouse.co.uk) Materials were provided by Oakwrights, a multi-award winning company specialising in the design and construction of bespoke oak-frame houses.

Pupils were able to see history come to life with the Build a Tudor House workshop, specifically designed for Key Stage 2 History curriculum. The Year 5 pupils gained hands-on experience of building a piece of “living” history, using learning styles to solve problems as they worked as a team, enjoying themselves and learning history at the same time.

By becoming master craftsmen for the day, pupils assembled a Tudor House using 97 pieces of wood, measuring 3m x 2m. Once completed, the Tudor house was large enough for 30 children to sit inside. Part of the activities involved with the Build a Tudor House workshop included using carpenters’ marks to assemble the Tudor House from pieces of wood; making wattle panels and daubing them, tiling and thatching and shaping pegs used to pin the houses together.

Joanna Rex, Deputy Head of Bedford Modern Junior School said: “This was a wonderful opportunity to bring history alive for the children. To be given the chance to help build a Tudor House that is one third actual size was a particularly exciting prospect. Charlie Lupton was excellent!”

Charley-Ella Knights-Nizzardi, a Year 5 pupil said: “I really enjoyed building the Tudor House and using different beams that each had different names. I also liked laying the tiles and thatching. By taking part in the Tudor House workshop activities I learnt a lot about history instead of just reading about it in a book.”

Harry Beard, another Year 5 pupil added: “I used tools to strip away the wood and make pegs to keep the house together. Overall, the whole Tudor House workshop was fun and I learnt a lot about the Tudors and their lifestyle.”

Photo: Some of the Bedford Modern Junior School pupils taking part in the Build a Tudor House workshop

Lady Gaga, Corinne Bailey-Rae, Led Zepplin, Back Street Boys and even the Spice Girls were amongst the many headline acts performing to packed audiences at the Leo Price Theatre, Bishop’s Stortford College last week.

Fourteen acts in total competed for the affection, and votes, of the audiences on two consecutive nights in a special Stars in their Eyes charity show extravaganza in aid of research into the rare Niemann-Pick disease.

Show host Matthew Kelly (Jack Kenning) was on top form introducing each act with his inimitable style and sense of humour. A total of forty-five pupils aged fourteen to eighteen were involved in the performances, including a highly accomplished eleven-piece band which included five saxophonists, supporting two members of staff as the Blues Brothers.

“We have some amazingly talented pupils at the College and this popular show format was an ideal platform for their musical skills to be showcased in a way that was inspirational, fun and hugely entertaining,” said Deputy Head Graham Brooks. “I challenged the pupils taking part to reach for the stars and make their act as professional as humanly possible. They did all their own planning and preparation with hours spent studying the performance of their chosen star. The standard they achieved was simply incredible.”

The staging and lighting, masterminded by Technical Theatre Manager Carl Burton, were equally impressive, with ingenious ways of enabling the six-strong roadie team to change sets between each act within a few minutes.

Billy Joel (James Hart), accompanied by Amy Moore on flute, conquered the hearts of the first night’s audience with ‘Always a woman to me’, whilst Brit Award star Lady GaGa (Steph Thorpe), supported by the Ga-getts (Sophie Cornelissen, Jess Reilly, Maddy Hallwood, Chantal During, Rosie Cave, Georgia Martin, Alice Menhennet, Liisel Velland) captured the most votes on the second night with ‘Bad Romance’.

“We were absolutely amazed by the professional standard and sheer number of talented young people performing,” said College parent, Tessa Firmin, “It was a fantastic evening which will no doubt be remembered by everyone for many years to come.”

Vincent Taylor, a friend of College parents who had travelled out from London for the show said: “I was truly astonished at the very high standard of both the musicians and the vocalists. I was also impressed with the obvious camaraderie amongst the pupils, with everyone looking genuinely pleased for the others’ successful performances. The atmosphere was fantastic.”

The event raised over £2,500 for the little-known Niemann-Pick charity, which seeks to raise awareness, and fund research into, a terrible terminal genetic disorder called Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC).

PHOTO: Some of the top performers over the two nights: Lady GaGa and the Ga-gettes, Billy Joel, Corinne Bailey Rae and the Back Street Boys.

On Sunday 28 February coach-loads of excited Q girls and a posse of proud parents descended on the West End for a concert of a life-time: Boomtube. The event was staged at the famous Phoenix Theatre and masterminded by Harrow School pupil Charles Y and his family to raise funds for the charity ‘Room to Read’ (www.roomtoread.org). This amazing rock music concert allowed the special musical talents of teenagers from Harrow, Wycombe Abbey and Queenswood to be show-cased, supported by two professional bands: Red Box and Magazine Gap. Over six groups plus soloists gave thunderous performances to rapturous applause on the night and a phenomenal total of £23,000 was raised in the process.

Our super-cool band, Interno (Spanish for ‘boarder’), comprising Nikita H, Caroline S, Danny A-L, Jane A, Lydia A and Emma N, soon had the appreciative fans rocking and rolling in the rows. Their vivacity and obvious love of rock music, coupled with hours of practice, paid off and their flawless, funky and fabulous performance flowed. We all thought our girls were the best – bias had nothing to do with it! At the end of a fun and fulfilling evening all the ‘rock chics’ and their adoring supporters wended their way home, content in the knowledge that they had done their best. Rock on girls!

State-of-the-art facilities at Mount St Mary’s College are playing a key role in attracting prestigious sporting events and national teams to Derbyshire ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012.

Mount St Mary’s, based at Spinkhill, features in the London Organising Committee Pre-Games Training Camp Guide, which is designed to give teams and individual athletes a great selection of venues from which they can choose to prepare for the Games.

The College has first hand experience of hosting scores of international events and elite sport training camps including the GB Orienteering squad training camp, the Annual Academy for Great Britain Rugby Football League and the UK Athletics endurance squad training camp.

It is also the home base for the German Exiles Rugby League team, the Scottish Exiles RFU Academy and the North East Derbyshire Chargers RFL team.

Mount St Mary’s is a day and boarding school set in its own extensive grounds. Its Grade 1 Athletics Centre boasts an all-weather, six lane floodlit track and separate floodlit throws and jumps area, changing rooms, a physio/medical room and conference facilities.

Overnight accommodation for up to 178 people is available during the college term and in the holidays, with the majority of rooms having en-suite, tea and coffee making facilities and a TV.

Paul Scott, director of sport at Mount St Mary’s College, said: “Mount St Mary’s has a proud sporting heritage and following considerable investment, we have become a venue of excellence with exceptional athletics facilities and first class hotel style accommodation.

“The opportunity to train and live in one location makes Mount St Mary’s College very attractive to a variety of elite Olympic sports, particularly track and field athletics, and the popularity of the venue as a base for training camps is increasing every year.”

Advised by former British Olympic Association and current Rugby Football League nutritionist Jane Griffin, the catering department at Mount St Mary’s strives to ensure that meals provided to the athletes contain the correct nutritional value.

Jane said: “Having personally experienced the meals at Mount St Mary’s College for a week on separate occasions, the food is of a good quality prepared and cooked to a high standard. Choices and quantities at meal-times have been more than adequate for our elite young Rugby players.”

Photo: Students compete at Mount St Mary’s Grade 1 Athletics Centre.

Over 750 children took part in Bedford Modern School’s Holiday Activity Courses which ran over five weeks of the School holidays last summer. Why not plan your 2010 holidays now and see what Bedford Modern School can offer your children?

Holiday Activity Courses at BMS will be running on the following dates during 2010:-

Easter
Week 1 – Tuesday 6th April to Friday 9th April
Week 2 – Monday 12th April to Friday 16th April

Summer
Week 1 – Monday 26th July to Friday 30th July
Week 2 – Monday 2nd August to Friday 6th August
Week 3 – Monday 9th August to Friday 13th August
Week 4 – Monday 16th August to Friday 20th August
Week 5 – Monday 23rd August to Friday 27th August

Whether your children want to join us for the first time or have been coming to our courses for many years, we are sure that they will have a fantastic time. The aim of Bedford Modern School Holiday Activity Courses is to ensure that all the girls and boys who attend, thoroughly enjoy themselves, make new friends and learn some new skills.

Booking for the Easter 2010 Holiday Activity Courses opened on Friday 15th January and we look forward to welcoming your children to Bedford Modern School Holiday Activity Courses this year.
For a copy of the Bedford Modern School 2010 Holiday Activity Courses brochure please contact the Holiday Activity Course Office on 01234 332667 or go to www.bedmod.co.uk
Courses include: Art & Craft, Art of Jewellery Making, Circus Skills, Cricket, Football, Eco Adventurers, Football, Photography, Roving Reporters, School of Modern Magic, Survival Adventure Skills and Youth Television amongst many others and full details and photographs can be found in the brochure.

“We have learnt some amazing magic tricks and lots of card tricks on the School of Modern Magic Course” – Jessica and Sam

“I really enjoyed playing the part of Shrek on the Drama Advanced Course” – Hannah

The Circus Skills Course was great fun; I tried juggling, feather-balancing, plate-spinning and diablo” – Harry

Stonyhurst College in Lancashire launched the Stonyhurst Scholarship Fund in February, with a charity fashion show. The new fund will enable children in Zimbabwe to receive an education. “It only costs 40 pounds per year to go to school in Zimbabwe, yet this is far beyond the reach of many people there,” said Celia Lupton, a sixth former at the Lancashire school, and one of the fashion show’s organisers. “We wanted to raise as much money as possible to help children get an education and find a way out of poverty.” The fashion show raised over 3,000 pounds, which will educate 5 children for 4 years each.

A group of students and staff from Stonyhurst have just returned from visiting their Jesuit sister school, St Peter’s, Kubatana. Mr Paul Warrilow, Head of Religious Studies, and Sophie le Breton, aged 18, told the audience of over 300 people why the scholarship fund is so worthwhile. “I was struck by how eager the children are to learn,” said Sophie. “Pupils use every available minute to read and work, even when waiting for a teacher to arrive. They live in absolute poverty, with no electricity or running water, yet their uniforms are pristine because they are proud to be going to school.” Natalie Crouch, aged 18, and the fashion show’s compere, said, “It’s a huge culture shock coming home. We’ve made friends with people our own age there and it’s hard to think of the poverty and difficulties they live with. Many have lost parents to AIDS or cholera and are caring for their families, often getting up at 4am to do school work.” While they were in Zimbabwe, they saw President Mugabwe’s motorcade, and had guns trained on them by his guards. “That was the only time we ever felt ourselves to be in any danger,” said Sophie.

The show began with a stunning creation, made out of sculptured black silk, on loan from the London Fashion Week, followed by childrenswear, evening dresses, casual clothing for men and bridal gowns, all ably modelled by Stonyhurst pupils themselves. “There are many people to thank” said Anna Thomas (18), another of the show’s organisers, “but above all, the pupils themselves were brilliant – they really worked hard as a team and supported everyone’s efforts.”

If you would like to make a donation to the Stonyhurst Zimbabwe scholarship fund, please contact the College on 01254 826345

Four Worcester schoolboys, who came 4th in the 2009 National Warhammer gaming tournament, are in full training to improve on last year’s performance.

Led by 13 year old Sam Paget, the team of four all attend the Royal Grammar School in Worcester. They are the current Regional Champions in the 11-18 year age group. After winning that round, they progressed to the Nationals, coming 4th, out of an original entry of 60 teams, which included teams from schools and clubs.

The team is completed by Matthew Cross, Ed Watkins (all 13) and Andrew Dodd (aged 12). They practice regularly and have their own dedicated room at RGS, where they hone and develop their skills.

“The thing I love about Warhammer is that when an army is fully painted, fighting each other on the tabletop, it’s a beautiful thing to see,” said Sam Paget. “It felt really good to come 4th in the nationals last year, as it was our first year in the competition. We are constantly improving our game and I’m sure that with our new tactics we will be able to win the nationals!”

The Regional Finals are in March, with the National Finals held at the Game Workshop HQ in Nottingham in July.

Ashford School has recently undergone their regular inspection of boarding facilities by OFSTED and have been awarded with an excellent report from the regulators.

“Alongside the first-rate inspection reports on the school from the Independent School Inspectorate and on our Early Years from OFSTED, this report confirms the quality of the education and care provided throughout the school to all our children, pupils and students.” Mike Buchanan, Head.

The inspection follows a prescribed agenda and uses a four point scale; outstanding, good, satisfactory, inadequate.

•The overall rating is Good
•Helping children to be healthy: Good
•Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe: Good
•Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do: Outstanding
•Helping children make a positive contribution: Good
•Achieving economic wellbeing: Good
•Organisation: Good

A Year 8 pupil from Trent College in Long Eaton has earned her place in the top eight speed skaters in Western Europe, one of only two British girls to do so.

Last month, Jennifer Pickering, 13, took part in the final Star Class competition in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, finishing in 6th place. The Star Class is an international competition for elite short track Speed Skaters residing in Western Europe and the grand final, the ‘Future Champions Trophy’, will be held at the beginning of March in Budapest. Jennifer and her fellow Western European skaters will be competing against the top eight from Eastern Europe, and she is one of only five British skaters to have reached the finals of this prestigious competition.

Jennifer started skating when she was just nine years old and spent a year working her way to the highest level, from where she could concentrate on one of the four disciplines; ice dance, figure skating, synchronised skating or speed skating. After gaining gold awards in two of these disciplines, an excited Jennifer was able to start speed skating, a long term ambition. She will finish what is only her second year of competitive racing in April, and has gone from strength to strength in a very short space of time.

In her first year she won the award for most improved skater and finished the season by achieving a qualifying time that enabled her to enter the Star Class competitions. This year, Jennifer won the first international open competition in the skating calendar at Mont Blanc, following this up at home by winning almost all of the domestic competitions she entered. Also, along with three team mates, Jennifer broke the British 2000m relay record, which was a proud moment as she was the captain of the team.

From the beginning of the season it was Jennifer’s goal to make the Star Class grand final, and talking about her achievements, Jennifer’s father, James Pickering said: ‘We are very proud of Jennifer’s determination to succeed in her chosen sport, and everyone comments on her good sportsmanship and positive attitude. It has taken a lot of hard work and dedication to get where she is today and she still strives to improve. She has a long road ahead of her, but I’m sure she’s going to love every minute of it!’

On Sunday 28 February the pupils and staff at Lancing College were delighted to welcome Dame Vera Lynn to their morning Chapel service.

After the service, Dame Vera enjoyed lunch with members of the College choir and their families. She was also entertained by a group of girls from Field’s House who sang their a cappella version of ‘We’ll Meet Again’.

“It was wonderful to have the opportunity to meet Dame Vera,” said Sixth Former Camilla Harris, “my grandmother is a big admirer of hers and it was very exciting to be able to sing to her.”

With fourteen events packed into one week, involving thirteen star authors, illustrators and poets, attempting to summarise the highlights of the first ever Bishop’s Stortford College Festival of Literature is an almost impossible task!

This extraordinary celebration of all things literary was launched with a controversial lecture on the true origins and identity of Shakespeare by Charles Beauclerk before sixteen teams from the College and other local schools competed in a fiercely fought Kids’ Lit Quiz, with Eleanor Cavill, Charlotte Morrison, Sashini Mariathasan, Grace Compton and Ben Withers from the Fourth Form emerging as winners.

Conn Iggulden, international best-selling author of historical fiction and the only person ever to top the Sunday Times Fictional and Non-Fiction lists at the same time, spoke about why it is dangerous for boys not to read and after his humorous and entertaining talk it would be impossible not to want to read his own stories. Simon Armitage, one of the nation’s leading poets, read from his work with power, passion and humour, including his signature poem ‘The Shout’, which harks back to his youth in a Yorkshire village and excerpts from his translation of ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’.

Anthony Browne, the Children’s Laureate, is a highly influential artist and author whose illustrated stories are loved by children and adults in equal measure. The rush to buy his books after his talk speaks volumes for the impact he had! After speaking in the evening, he worked with the Junior School the following morning before presenting the first ever Bishop’s Stortford Picture Book Award, which was voted on by 1400 children from local primary schools as well as the College. The clear winner was ‘Morris the Mankiest Monster’ by Sarah McIntyre.

You can read Sarah’s account of the event on her blog:

http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/272418.html

Junior School teacher Simon Bailey had produced one of his cartoon specials depicting Anthony Browne presenting Sarah McIntyre with her trophy much to the amusement of both author-illustrators!

Local authors, Marcus Sedgwick, Pauline Francis and Gareth Mottram gave a fascinating workshop with questions and answers about their writing, Matt Haig and Meg Rosoff worked well with College Junior School pupils showing how inspirational it can be for pupils to meet and question the authors of the books they have been reading. In the evening, Meg joined Pauline Francis, Anne Harding and Marilyn Brocklehurst to provide wisdom and insight on how to keep teenagers reading.

Master storyteller, Hugh Lupton, captivated his audience with stories on a Russian theme, including three different tales beautifully woven together around the escape of his great uncle (Arthur Ransome of Swallows and Amazon fame) from Russia during the Bolshevik revolution. He also entertained and delighted our younger pupils with his storytelling, telling pyjama-clad pupils magical tales from around the world.

Radio 4’s Saturday Live poet-in-residence, Luke Wright, concluded the star-studded festival week with a fantastic performance of his work before judging the Senior School House Reading Competition. The winners of this were:

Junior – 4th Form Young House
Claire Devine had the audience in tears within seconds reading ‘Stop All the Clocks’ by W.H. Auden.

Intermediate – L5th and U5th Benson House
Kirsten Lane, Gabby Nellis-Pain, Jess Gibbs, Louise Reilly and Abi Kessock-Philip gave a brilliant, sinister and disturbing reading of ‘The Devil’s Wife’ by Carol Ann Duffy.

Senior – 6th Form Hayward House
Tom Emmett’s reading of ‘Eulogy for Malcolm X’ by Ossie Davis was simply outstanding.

To round off the Festival of Literature, Marilyn Brocklehurst from Norfolk Children’s Book Centre provided an amazing book sale for Junior School pupils and her passion and knowledge about children’s books was infectious, with children and parents leaving with yet more reading gems to discover.

A hugely successful and inspirational week which has more than achieved our aim of fuelling the passion for reading in young and old alike.

Photo: Hugh Lupton telling bedtime stories to BSC Pre-Prep children

Pupils at a Worcester school have smashed their target of raising £10,000, in just one week, for the children of Haiti, by banking £22,923.

The goal set at RGS Worcester for the week 8-12 February, looked very ambitious, particularly as the end of day one had raised only £101. But the whole school met the challenge in great style.

“There were some concerned faces when the £10,000 in one week was set as our objective, as we did not want egg on our faces,” said Andy Rattue, headmaster of RGS.

“I am immensely proud of the way that the pupils, supported by staff and parents, rallied to Haiti’s aid in such an extraordinary way. It shows that today’s schoolchildren are deeply concerned about the disaster. We’re delighted to pass on such a substantial sum to Save the Children.”

Pupils dreamt up a host of fund raising ideas, which included schemes collecting litter, a shoe-shining stall, a nail bar, an assault course, a bring & buy sale, a sponsored rodeo ride, teacher sponging, as well as the sale of all kinds of food, from waffles, to pizza, sweets and cakes.

A major success was called Running to Haiti’s Aid. A 4,070 mile marathon, the distance from Worcester to Haiti, which added up all the miles walked, run, cycled, rowed and swum by the students. A total of 5,080 miles was achieved, which would have reached Mexico. There was also a closing night auction, which made a large contribution to the target.

A Derbyshire school’s equestrian sensation is cantering on to the national stage after being invited to train with the prestigious Great Britain Pony Squad.

Erin Williams, 12, who attends Mount St Mary’s College, was rewarded with the call-up to the squad’s dressage team on pony Danny Boy B after a series of impressive performances in nationwide competitions.

Just ten riders currently make up the GB squad, which acts as a progress group for riders under 16 with the potential to compete at the highest level.

Squad members are invited to compete abroad for GB throughout the season to gain international experience.

Erin, who trains most mornings before school at 6.30am, could practically ride before walking – first getting into the saddle as a toddler. She now rides dressage, one of the only sports where men, women and children all compete on an equal footing.

As well as representing England at Under 25 level, Erin has competed in numerous national events, often finishing above far more experienced riders. If Erin continues this impressive form she is hoping to be invited to represent Great Britain in international competition.

The ultimate aim of the squad is to select the best four members for a place on the GB team at the FEI European Championships in July. This year the championships take place in Hull.

Erin, from Barlow, said: “I’m thrilled to be invited to train with the GB Pony Squad. It means I’ll be training alongside superb riders and takes me one step closer to achieving my goal of representing Great Britain.

“Mount St Mary’s has always been supportive of my riding commitments. I’m very grateful to them for their encouragement and for allowing me to balance riding with my studies.”

Mount St Mary’s headteacher, Laurence McKell, said: “To be recognised nationally is a fantastic achievement, but the fact that Erin is still only 12 makes it all the more remarkable.

“She is clearly a magnificent horse rider and it is brilliant that her talent has been recognised by such an esteemed organisation.

“Everyone at Mount St Mary’s is very proud of Erin. She is an exceptionally talented girl and a superb ambassador for the school.”

Photo: Erin on her pony, Dublin.(By Paul Sands at Photo-kinesis)

Bedford Modern Junior School Year 3 pupils learnt about life in Ancient Egypt through a variety of workshop activities and role plays that took place at the School on Thursday 25th February.

Pupils were visited by “History Off The Page”, who are a team of specialist teachers who travel from school to school. History Off the Page was started in 1996 by Peter Cornwell and more information can be found at www.historyoffthepage.co.uk.

History Off The Page have visited Bedford Modern Junior School for many years and previous Egyptian Days have included pupils dressing in Ancient Egyptian costumes and taking part in workshops including claywork, carving, jewellery-making, scribes and perfume-cone making.
Phil Cook from History Off The Page said: “The Bedford Modern School pupils have been delightful and worked very hard and hopefully will now have an experience of what life was like three and a half thousand years ago.”
BMS Year 3 pupil Grace Thornton thoroughly enjoyed the Egyptian Day. “I have tried lots of activities including soap carving and the Egyptian Day was a fun and exciting way of learning new things about Ancient Egypt.”
Tim Evans, another Year 3 pupil added, “I enjoyed dressing up in Egyptian costumes and have learnt more about Egyptian life whilst also having fun. I have been moulding clay into scarab charms and later in the day we will be having an Egyptian Feast.

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 3 pupil, Seth Jayalath, enjoying the Egyptian Day

In 2009 The Times Spelling Bee arranged for students to compete against others to become the country’s spelling champion. This year, Microsoft is the official sponsor of the Spelling Bee, teaming up with The Times.

The 2010 Spelling Bee Championships are open to any student who will be 12 years old between 1st September 2009 and 31st August 2010 and Bedford Modern School have put together a team of Year 7 students keen to take part.

Johanna Ware, Head of Key Stage 3 English at Bedford Modern School said: “The BMS team consists of Bayley Hockham, Tope Fisayo, Samuel Butler and Jaffer Zaidi and they will take part in the Regional Heat of The Times Spelling Bee competition at Aspects Leisure Park in Bedford on Wednesday 10th March.”

Students will be pitched against two other teams and have to undertake two types of spelling test on the day. In the spelling play-off students must spell their words correctly to gain two points for their team. In the first round, students will not be eliminated if they get a word wrong. In the second round, however, the eliminations will begin!

The other part of the day will consist of the Quick Fire Challenge in which the team will have to spell as many words correctly as possible. Students can choose the difficulty level they wish with higher levels of difficulty attracting more points.

“Currently our students are practising on The Times’ website where there are lots of activities and tasks for them to hone their spelling skills before the competition begins,” added Johanna Ware.

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 7 students (l-r: Tope Fisayo, Samuel Butler, Bayley Hockham and Jaffer Zaidi) preparing for The Times Spelling Bee Competition

International GCSEs (IGCSEs) are playing a key role in preparing pupils for higher education, according to teachers at a leading independent school.

IGCSEs were introduced for six subjects at Mount St Mary’s College in September 2009 to replace the traditional GCSE.

The Derbyshire school offers IGSCEs for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, , French and Spanish and teaching staff are already seeing the benefits, which comes after a major report was released this week on how Maths and Science are taught in schools.

Issued by an expert group set up by the Government, the report demands tougher exams and warns of widespread concern over the content of both the GCSE and A-level syllabus.

It argues there is not enough chance for students to display their depth of knowledge of the subject – in particular in A-level physics and chemistry exams.

Ben Naughton, head of science at Mount St Mary’s, said: “We are moving away from the traditional GCSE to IGCSEs for this very reason. The IGCSE offers more breadth, more synoptic questioning and tests a wider range of mathematical skills. It is also more discerning by being examined terminally. We believe pupils are short changed by the low sub-standard GCSE course, and are poorly prepared for A level.

“Since introducing IGCSEs we have seen increased enjoyment of the course by pupils, and they are stepping up to, and are energised by the higher standard. By starting IGCSE biology in Rudiments, making the course in effect a three year process, we are able to diversify, try different practicals and spend more time on individual topics of interest. At A-level, we are stretching the best pupil through OU YASS degree levels courses which extend their synoptic understanding even further.”

The school is now considering introducing IGCSEs for other subjects next year.

Maxine Smith, director of studies at Mount St Mary’s said: “IGCSEs are about doing the very best we can to prepare pupils for the step up to A-Levels and indeed university or higher education

“The pattern and variety of assessment carried out with IGCSEs means that pupils are able to demonstrate a broad and sophisticated range of skills including knowledge retention, analysis and application of information which are vital for future higher levels of qualification.”

In 2007, aged just 14, Constance Barter was admitted to a specialist eating-disorders unit. During the seven months she remained there as an in-patient, she kept an extraordinarily honest and courageous diary, which has become Mealtimes and Milestones.

This mature account of a teenager’s struggle with anorexia nervosa sheds new light on what the illness means. Those closest to it know that it is not just about food and weight but that it strikes at the very heart of a person’s selfhood and their relationship with the world around them, often leaving them feeling helpless and alone.

In sharing her record of how she tackled this potentially life-threatening illness, Constance’s account should give comfort, not only to those who are suffering but also to their families. Above all, it provides a message of hope. She shows how she moved from a position of near hopelessness to a place in which hope was regained and then ultimately allowed to flourish.

The book has already attracted a great deal of interest with extracts being featured in The Mail on Sunday, The Guardian and Express newspapers. Constance has also been interviewed on local radio and television.

CONSTANCE BARTER

Constance Barter was born in 1993, she lives nr Alton in Hampshire and is a pupil at Lord Wandsworth College. In between schoolwork and studying for exams, she is a Young Ambassador volunteer for BEAT, the leading UK charity for people with eating disorders.

www.b-eat.co.uk

After months of deliberation and discussion, the Governors are proposing that Polam Hall would become a Diamond Model School from September 2010. At the same time, the governing body of Hurworth House School were also considering their school’s future direction. Following sensitive joint discussions, the Governors and Head Teachers of both schools now share a vision for the future of independent education in Darlington, based on the introduction of the diamond model. Clear educational principles, strong research and the success of existing diamond schools prove the excellence of this model where girls and boys enjoy the benefits of integration, where appropriate, but retain all of the advantages of being taught separately for the vital 11-16 years.

It is proposed that with effect from 1 September 2010, the Hurworth House Senior School would relocate to the Polam Hall site in order that this model could be delivered effectively from that date. The vision involves Polam Hall School continuing to operate its junior, infant and nursery schools, a girls’ secondary school and mixed sixth form, but Hurworth House School operating separately its own boys’ secondary school on the Polam site. Throughout the summer term and holiday period, work would go ahead so that the Hurworth secondary boys would move in September to a specially adapted and completely refurbished building to be known as Hurworth House Darlington. In a separate decision, the Governors of Hurworth House School have announced the proposed closure of its Junior School and nursery. Hurworth House junior pupils would, of course, be welcomed into Polam Hall Junior School before the boys and girls progress to the separate schools at age 11.

This vision offers many opportunities for investment and growth which would in turn ensure the continued excellence of a Polam Hall education. Polam Hall and Hurworth House already have a long established link and share the core values which would allow our young people to continue to flourish.

CDW Pratt, Chair of Governors
M Green, Head

Polam Hall School pupils are taking parents all the way to the Emerald City hoping to wow audiences with their end of year Wizard of Oz production.

In what is the 70th anniversary year for the popular tale, both Infant and Junior School pupils are taking part in the play portraying lovable characters such as Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Wizard of Oz.

The cast are gearing-up for two evening and one matinee performance this week with Year 6 pupils Jasmin Kareem, Ellie Dalby, Jessica Mitchell, Caitlin Godfrey and Harry Warren taking centre stage.

Angela Foster, Headmistress of Polam Hall Junior School, said: “Everyone has worked really hard to get the play to the standard it is today.

“From the costumes to the set design, pupils, staff and parents have all pulled together to ensure that it is a fantastic performance for audiences, in what is a special year for the Wizard of Oz.

“The school has had a great year so far academically and what better way to end it than with an exciting performance like this.”

Sibelius’ ‘Karelia Suite’ opened the programme. Under the baton of David Warwick, the musicians produced a compelling performance: the brass climaxes were thrilling, and the ensemble were united in their attention to detail.

Fiona McKinley then directed the Senior Strings in Elgar’s ‘Serenade’. This was beautifully lyrical playing, with the cello section in particular on commendably good form, and in pleasing contrast to the fireworks we then experienced from the Symphonic Wind Orchestra. Frank Bridge’s ‘The Pageant of London’ evoked a wonderful array of images of the city. With Ruth Partington conducting, they then joined forces with the Concert Band to perform the title theme from ‘Rocky’. With 90 performers this was a powerful rendition with the opening brass fanfare especially rousing.

The second half of the programme brought together the combined singing forces of the Chapel Choir, Cantabile Choir and Choral Society to perform Handel’s ‘Dixit Dominus’. Much hard work had gone into learning this tricky, and at times, virtuosic work, and the choirs rose to the occasion, with some magnificent singing. Once again, the soloists were drawn from amongst the pupils and Rosie Walker, Zara Aiken, Alice Toynton, Harry Anstee and Joe Judson all performed with panache and professionalism.

At the end of any of our concerts I am always struck by the musical standards achieved by our pupils: they work hard, of course, but reap the rewards of resultant musical success. I doubt they realise quite how well they play and how well earned are the congratulations we readily heap upon them. It occurs that our next concert in Poole will be Lighthouse 2012 – perhaps we should have an Olympic theme with gold medals for all involved!

Chris Sparkhall, Director of Music

Polam Hall School is giving art lovers the opportunity to see the work of budding Picassos at an exhibition, which features pupils from schools across Darlington and the surrounding areas.

The exhibition, entitled ‘Our Heritage Matters’, will display various forms of art, entered by school pupils as part of a competition organised by Polam Hall School, Darlington.

Youngsters between the ages of 3 and 11 from local nurseries, primary schools, and independent schools have submitted pieces in four categories around the topic of why their heritage matters to them.

Members of the public can see all the entries and winners, which are yet to be announced, in Polam Hall’s Liddiard Theatre on Saturday 6th February between 10.30am and 12noon. The entries will then be on display at Darlington Town Hall the week commencing 15th February followed by an exhibition at Darlington Arts Centre between 20th and 31st July 2010.

Angela Foster, Headmistress of Polam Hall Junior School, said: “Some of the artwork that has been submitted is fantastic and really demonstrates the creativity of young people from across the area.

“As a school, we pride ourselves on the learning and development of our pupils, and felt that the competition would not only highlight the skills of our own students, but would show the strong artistic development that is evident across the town.

“I hope that people enjoy the exhibition and that it gives them a taste of the talents of Darlington’s budding Picassos.”

Boys’ Hockey – Boarding Schools Cup

Charterhouse 0 Canford 7

Goal scorers Simon Hanley, 5 Tom Darby 2

Canford’s entire team played very well, especially after only one practice game. The bad weather over the past few weeks may have caused postponements of all the warm-up matches, but this has allowed the players to improve on their fitness levels.

The team was captained superbly by Simon Hanley who managed to score five of the seven goals, with Tom Darby adding the other two. Charterhouse pupils and parents were also a credit to their school, applauding the display of hockey the Canford players had shown. However, as our players will know, the score could and should have been into double figures, so there is still work to do on the practice field.

Charterhouse School’s match report:

Charterhouse tumbled to their worst ever home defeat against another school on Tuesday 19th January. It would be reasonable to point to a total lack of pre-season practice plus the loss of Charterhouse’s lynch-pin midfielder, Alex Rozier-Pamplin, after only a few minutes play as some form of explanation, but the simple truth is that Canford were a very slick unit who dominated the game from start to finish and who might well have scored even more than the seven goals they achieved.

The visitors pressed from the opening minute and only an outstanding display of goalkeeping from Joshua Doble kept them at bay. It was ironic, therefore, that a slip by the Charterhouse keeper should allow Canford to open the scoring after just seven minutes. The barrage continued throughout the half and it was remarkable that Doble was able to keep his goal intact. Then, in the 28th minute, Charterhouse finally got into the game: a quick break found Oliver Greenhalgh in front of goal and a cynical foul on him gave Charterhouse a penalty stroke. The thought of drawing level after such a bettering was evidently too much for the home side and James Kinsey’s feeble effort gave the Canford ‘keeper little trouble.

Just when it looked like Charterhouse might get to half time just one goal down, the opposition scored from a short corner two minutes before the break and doubled their lead. Ian Hamilton, the Charterhouse coach, exhorted greater efforts from his men and they came out after half time in determined mood. They came close to scoring, too, earning three short corners but were unable to convert any of them. Canford, on the other hand, had a whole variety of possibilities and the second half became little more than a chance for the visitors to go through the full range of their routines.

It says much for Doble’s goalkeeping that all the goals scored in the second half came from short corners, for Canford certainly created enough chances in open play to have scored more.

In the end, Charterhouse had been taught a lesson by a team which was not only a very efficient unit but which also displayed the vital ability to keep the ball and to pass it on with pace, while harrying like terriers when they lost possession. They are likely to go a long way in this year’s competition.

Anastasia Chitty and Alex Wilding took part in the Junior Rowing Trials on the Great Ouse, Lincolnshire in snowy conditions.

Anastasia sculled well in a highly competitive field of 56.
The Canford girl set out to achieve a place in the top ten so coming home in 6th more than fulfilled her ambitions for the day.

The following day Anastasia joined pair partner Sarah Lonergan to row the 5 kilometre course coming home in fine style in 2nd place. This is an encouraging performance for the sixteen year old who has carved a niche for herself amongst her older rivals for a place on this year’s British rowing teams.

Alex Wilding, one of Canford’s top boys, came home richer for the experience finishing 40th in single sculls and 36th in the coxless pair.

21 Bedford Modern School AS Politics students attended a three day trip to Scotland as part of their studies into Devolution and the operation of the Scottish Parliament.

During the trip the students went to the University of Edinburgh to hear Dr E. Hepburn on Devolution and also Dr Swanson on studying Politics at University – both excellent talks and the students were able to ask lots of questions.

After a tour of the Parliament, students had a series of meetings with MSP representing Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats plus the SNP who are in government. Each speaker provided valuable information on the current state of Scottish Politics and their plans for the forthcoming UK General Election. Students were also able to ask questions directed at each politician.

The BMS students were also able to attend a Committee Hearing on Scotland’s response to the Lisbon Treaty and their relations with the E.U. In the evening students went on a Ghost Walk of Edinburgh and explored the hidden side of the city.

Stuart Baker, Head of Politics at BMS said: “It was a fantastic trip for the students who learnt a great deal in a very busy programme of events.”

Photo: Bedford Modern School AS Politics students visit Edinburgh Parliament

Stephen’s talk, entitled Black Wind and White Fire: Ruskin’s visit to Sicily in 1874, was illustrated with letters and drawings by Ruskin and others, as well as photos taken by Stephen in Sicily last September.

Sicily was the furthest place ever visited by the great art critic, John Ruskin (1819-1900), who was born on 8th February, although he saw only Palermo, Monreale and Taormina in the north and east of the island. He was invited to Palermo by the family of Sir Henry Yule, a retired army officer and colonial administrator, whose vivacious daughter Amy, 33 years Ruskin’s junior, not only acted as Ruskin’s guide but corresponded with him and wrote about their friendship after his death in long footnotes in books about her father. At the time Ruskin was hoping to marry the ailing Rose La Touche, but, as Stephen was able to show in his talk, there is evidence that strong mutual affection may have existed between Ruskin and his “little Sicilian witch” (as he called her in other letters).

Only fragments of Amy’s and Ruskin’s correspondence have survived, but from these and other sources Stephen has reconstructed their friendship, focused on the 1874 visit, during which Ruskin commented on a “black wind” from the north, and observed the “white fire” of the volcano Mount Etna. He made drawings of the tomb of the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II in Palermo Cathedral, with its fusion of Classical and Gothic styles, and admired the Byzantine mosaics of Monreale.

Amy, who never married, eventually moved to Scotland and became a supporter of the revival of Gaelic, prior to her death in 1916. So far no photograph or other picture of her has come to light.

Professor Stephen Wildman is the brother of Richard Wildman OBM, Bedford Modern School Archivist and OBM Club Secretary. The BMS archives include records of the School’s pupils and history, including over 2,000 photographs since about 1860. It is Richard’s task to sequence, conserve and interpret the material – a mine of historical information – to current staff and students, as well as to OBM’s and their descendants.

Notes: OBM = Old Bedford Modernian

Photo: Former Bedford Modern School pupil, Professor Stephen Wildman

Special events to commemorate this landmark anniversary will take place on 10th March 2010

Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Woodard OL, great-grandson of Rev Nathaniel Woodard (the founder of Lancing College and of the Woodard Corporation of schools), will attend, with his sons Commander Jolyon Woodard RN OL and Captain Rupert Woodard OL. They will arrive in a Sea King helicopter.

This year, Lancing College celebrates 110 years of its Combined Cadet Force (CCF). 2010 is considered by members of the Cadet Forces as an historic year, as it marks the 150th anniversary of cadet activities in the UK. The Cadet Corps at Lancing was founded in 1900 by the Head Master, Ambrose J Wilson, and CCF at the College is now more popular than ever. There are 150 cadets – with girls making up roughly a third of those who take part.

Pupils at Lancing can choose to take CCF on Wednesday afternoons, as part of their extra curricular activities. These students compete annually at the National Shooting Centre in Bisley, take part in adventurous training camps at Easter and in summer, as well as local exercises in the Ladywell Valley (part of the College grounds). The RAF section also has annual camps at RAF stations, as well as field days where cadets can learn to fly, glide or parachute. The training activities help to develop military knowledge, drill, map and compass skills, fieldcraft, skill at arms, life saving and first aid.

The aim of a CCF training is to help pupils develop powers of leadership, responsibility, self reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and perseverance. This training also helps to build confidence. CCF is not a pre-service organisation, although it encourages those who have an interest in the services to become Officers of the Regular or Reserve Forces.

A number of OLs (Lancing alumni) have gone on to careers in the armed forces. Commodore Richards RN (at Lancing 1972-77) recalls,
“I left Lancing in July 1977 and walked through the gates of the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in September of the same year. I have been ‘in’ ever since, in jobs ranging from commanding the Destroyer HMS Exeter… [and] designing the Ministry of Defence’s Middle East engagement strategy to teaching at the old Royal Navy Staff College at Greenwich… Did the CCF help me on my way – you bet… The CCF training set the scene well for the military training to follow, offering an early insight into both the discipline and friendship of a service career,”

The 110th Anniversary Celebrations: Wednesday 10th March

These will commence at 2pm with a Parade, with the inspecting officer, Major-General David Rutherford-Jones OL, followed by a range of activities throughout the afternoon. A Thanksgiving Service, when a new CCF banner will be presented, will take place at 5pm in the famous Lancing College Chapel. This will be followed by a Reception and Dinner for VIPs. Invitees include OLs with military careers, OLs who participated in CCF at Lancing, and present and previous staff who have commanded CCF at the College.

Photo: CCF at Lancing in the 1930s

The Extended Project Qualification is a new AS level which we are introducing into the Sixth Form. It gives students the opportunity to develop their skills in research and in independent study which are the foundation for university level work. The students can develop ideas covered in their A level studies, use cross curricular themes or research an entirely new area. The work involves
research and writing up an extended essay (a ‘dissertation’) or students could produce a piece of artwork, drama or music. They will be awarded an AS grade (A* to E) based on their journal,
which contains the write up, analysis and reflection on how they managed the project.

Helen Seymour (U6), under the guidance of Mrs Penny Huntsman, has almost completed her EPQ and, as part of the final award, she presented an overview of her project to a mixed audience of students and tutors. Helen has spent the last eight months researching the works of Damien Hirst, a well‐known
contemporary (and controversial) artist about whom there is relatively little documented. This did not put Helen off, rather it fuelled her interest and she visited galleries to see the works firsthand, researched through the inter‐library system and bought gallery brochures to inform her writing.

Her final presentation, which focused on memento mori, was fascinating, inspiring, informative and in true Helen‐style entertaining. Her explanations were clear and demonstrated her very
high level of understanding of the man and his works, but she managed to bring the difficult concepts down to a level which the audience could relate to and connect with the ideas.

We are hoping that Helen will be able to deliver her presentation to a wider audience, and that the Lower Sixth will be inspired to take on this very worthwhile challenge next year.

Bedford Modern School students will be performing West Side Story at the School on Monday 8th March, Tuesday 9th March and from Thursday 11th March to Saturday 13th March 2010.

Set in New York in the mid-1950′s, West Side Story explores the rivalry between two teenage gangs of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. When young American Tony falls in love with Puerto Rican immigrant, Maria, a tragic chain of events is set in motion that will rip apart their worlds forever.

This musical re-telling of Romeo and Juliet features some of the greatest songs of the 20th Century including Something’s Coming, Maria, America, Somewhere, Tonight, I Feel Pretty and Cool.

Tickets for the production are on general release priced at £5.00 for adults and £3.00 for concessions. To book, or for more information about this and other productions at BMS including Bugsy Malone and the Strawberries and Cream Concert, please contact the Bedford Modern School Box Office on 01234 332664.

Four Bedford Modern School students and talented Table Tennis stars have been selected by The English Schools’ Table Tennis Association (ESTTA) to represent their country at the International School Sport Federation (ISF) World Schools’ Table Tennis Championships to be held in the Czech Republic between 25th and 31st March.
Bedford Modern School’s Table Tennis Team includes Year 11 student Alex Farmer, Year 10 student Joshua Robinson, Year 9 student Nishanth Narayanan and Year 11 student Harpreet Rupal.

Paul Birch, Bedford Modern School Table Tennis Coach said: “This is only the second time in the School’s history that BMS has been invited to take part in the ISF World Schools’ Table Tennis Championships. The last time the School competed was in 1995 and to be picked again this year is absolutely fantastic.
“This generation of BMS table tennis players can now experience the honour of representing their country and Alex, Joshua, Nishanth and Harpreet have all worked very hard to get where they are today.”
The Bedford Modern School squad will compete in the initial stages of the Tournament by playing teams from Ireland, Poland, Malta and Slovakia. The BMS team will be led by No. 1 player Joshua Robinson.

Photo: Bedford Modern School Table Tennis Team who will be representing their country (l-r: Alex Farmer, Joshua Robinson, Nishanth Narayanan and Harpreet Rupal)

Budding sixth-form journalists Seb Sutcliffe, Aja Garrod-Prance, Maddie Kirk, Ben Honey, Jonny Davidson and Jonny Frost recently interviewed celebrated author Philip Pullman. The pupils spent half an hour with the Whitbread-award winner for the first issue of EXEPRESS, a creative writing and arts magazine that is due to be launched later this term.

They asked Mr Pullman about how he approached the process of creating a narrative for his new book, about characters in his novels, and the latest book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, due to be published in the spring.

Year 12 pupil Seb Sutcliffe said: “We were a bit worried that some of our questions might be a bit closed, but he gave us lengthy answers we could feed back from. He was a charming, charismatic and interesting person.”

The weather may have been icy outside but inside Farlington’s Courtyard Hall the Prep School’s Spring Concert put a spring in everyone’s step. It was lovely to see all the girls in the Prep School involved, with those who weren’t performing greeting visitors at the door and assisting with the staging. The audience all rose for the initial rousing rendition of God Save the Queen from the Prep School orchestra and then sat back to enjoy a wonderful variety of performances. There were a number of outstanding individual performances, among them Summer Raemason’s charming guitar solo on her bright pink guitar and Kitty Scott’s beautiful flute solo, enhanced by the knowledge that Kitty had been off sick and had come in especially to take part. The Samba Band played a wonderful ‘Rhythm Grid’ which was impressive in the complete concentration maintained by the girls in keeping the beat. One of the most interesting and atmospheric pieces was a composition by the Year 5 girls, entitled ‘Journey into Space’. Playing a variety of instruments, including a large cardboard tube (!), the girls created a complete journey through space from the rocket launch to the landing on a strange and haunting landscape, created by the tinkling and chiming of triangles and xylophones.
All credit must go to Mrs Anne Stearns, Director of Prep Music, for inspiring the girls to create, not only such a high standard of junior music, but also for making it so obviously enjoyable and fun!

Farlington’s Drama and Music Departments are beginning a new trend of inviting in outside speakers and performers to talk to senior students about their experiences and give them tips and advice.

Nikky Griffiths was in the original cast of the musical Wicked in the West End, Hairspray, and in the touring productions of Mama Mia and Grease. She talked to the girls about her own path to the West End stage; the underlying message being that it involved huge determination, a lot of hard work and a great deal of luck. Nikki, who comes from Cranleigh, and whose mother runs Cranleigh Dance and Theatre Arts, performed Popular for the girls, and Farlington’s teacher of Drama, Ray Gabbard, not a stranger himself to the stage having performed on Broadway, sang Stephen Sondheim’s Company.

During the workshop which followed Nikky helped the girls with character development and gave them tips on how to project a strong presence when on stage. The girls were inspired by the live performance and felt that Nikky’s workshop had given them a really useful insight into the world of show business.

Students at Howell’s School Sixth Form College are celebrating a bumper crop of offers from colleges at Oxford and Cambridge. Piers Kennedy (18) will be heading to St Peter’s College, Oxford, to read Music, where he has also been awarded a Choral Scholarship. He said, “I am really happy about getting an offer from Oxford, simply because it’s such a good place to study music and it will give me so many opportunities in the future. More than that, because so much of the application process comes down to chance, I feel so incredibly lucky to have these opportunities awaiting me, and I’ll be sure to make the most of them”.

Jasper Warner, who has a place to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Hilda’s College, is currently taking a gap year, having gained grade As last summer in History, Maths and Physics at A Level and a distinction in the Advanced Extension Award in History to add to his As in AS Biology and Critical Thinking taken the previous year. An outstanding debater, he represented Wales in the World Debating Championships in Athens, where he was ranked in the world’s top ten debaters, and he was also a member of a group of four students from Howell’s selected to represent the UK at the Junior 8 summit in Tokyo which ran parallel to the G8 summit. Others who have had offers from Oxford are Camille Ivinson (18), who will read Law at St Hugh’s College, Rachel Patel (17), who has a place at University College to read Medicine, Anna Sambrook (17), who will study German at Trinity College and Joseph Thorne (17), who will head to Corpus Christi College to read English.

Successful applicants to Cambridge University are Ellen Brookes (18), who will study Natural Sciences at Sidney Sussex College, Eleanor Richardson (18), who has a place at Magdalene College to read Classics and Rachel Thomas (18), who has been accepted at Murray Edwards College to study for a degree in Medicine.

Photo: from back left – Rachel Patel, Ellen Brookes, Rachel Thomas, Joseph Thorne

Front from left – Piers Kennedy, Eleanor Richardson, Camille Ivinson, Anna Sambrook.

Sixth-formers celebrate offers of places

Exeter School Sixth Formers and staff are celebrating further success at the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge this autumn. The school has received twelve offers of places so far, in a range of subjects, with particularly impressive achievements this year in Engineering: two pupils have secured Cambridge offers and four at Oxford in that discipline. Competition for Oxbridge places is very keen and the school is proud of its pupils’ performance in such a demanding environment.

Headmaster Bob Griffin paid tribute to the teaching staff, whose dedication and thoughtful approach have played a major part in these happy outcomes. Please see below for details.

Cambridge
John Broadbent Engineering Queens’
Hugh Collins Computer Science St Catharine’s
Adam Jackson Engineering Pembroke
Will Ouldridge Computer Science Homerton
Izzy Smith Natural Sciences Girton
Jocelyn Trayler-Clarke Land Economy Newnham

Oxford
John Baldock Engineering Exeter
Daniel Barnes Engineering Keble
Andrew Clay Engineering Lady Margaret Hall
Ben Glover Engineering St Hugh’s
Henry Renninson Modern Languages St Catherine’s
Michael Walker Physics Lincoln

19-12 win in closely-contested match v Plymouth College

Wednesday 2 December saw the final of the Devon U18 rugby cup, which was played at Exeter School between the holders, Plymouth College, and Exeter School. The two sides met last year in the final and once this season: Plymouth were the victors by a narrow margin on both occasions. This fixture had particular significance for both sides: it acted as a double-header, because it was also contested as the 6th Round match in the Daily Mail U18 Cup.

The match was competitive and athletic, in reasonable weather for early December, and took place in front of a large crowd. After an early Exeter break away try by James Collett, Plymouth narrowed the gap to one point by kicking two penalties. Two tries by Cameron Hansson gave Exeter a good lead, but Plymouth pushed them all the way, scoring two further penalties. Exeter held on to win 19-12, becoming Devon champions and qualifying for the last 16 nationally in the Daily Mail competition.
A number of the Upper Sixth (Year 13) members of the Exeter side, including the captain, Charlie Taverner, are now quadruple Devon champions, having won the U13, U14, U15 and U18 trophies in their time at the school.

Bedford Modern School Year 13 student, Garry Hendry, has been chosen to join an International Youth Project as part of the E.U. Youth in Action initiative. The programme will involve Garry spending a week in Spain, learning how to organise, market and recruit for voluntary organisations.

“I have been involved with the International Youth Project, working with YouthCast for the last two years,” said Garry. YouthCast is something that Garry initially helped set up through the Youth Action network, with the purpose of providing new media skills training for young people in Bedfordshire. The training takes places at external organisations, recent examples being Connexions and Luton Council Groundworks.

“My role is that of general adviser and media trainer. I create, plan and edit audio and video podcasts. I have always been interested in the media and was delighted to be able to combine this with my youth action work. I first joined the School’s Youth Action programme when I was in Year 10,” he added.

Between 1st and 7th March, Garry will be travelling to Isla Cristina, in Spain along with representatives from several other organisations across Europe. “The invitation to take part in the EU Youth Scheme really came off the back of my Twitter marketing on YouthCast. Everyone participating in the European scheme will come together at this event to discuss issues affecting young people and how it affects them.

“Problems may include poverty, drugs and homelessness and we will be looking at ways to solve these issues through media solutions. Media solutions apply through advertising, marketing and giving people the tools they need to express themselves. This is an exciting opportunity to meet young volunteers from all over Europe and is sure to assist my personal development,” said Garry.

Whilst at Bedford Modern School, Garry has also been involved in re-developing the School’s Outreach website and designing a new website for the Development Office. After taking his A Levels this summer, Garry intends to study Advertising and Marketing at Bournemouth University.

Dr Andrew Rowley, Community Service Organiser at BMS and School Chaplain said, “Garry has worked very hard for Youth Action at Bedford Modern School over a number of years. He has made a commendable contribution in a number of ways, including inspiring and supporting younger students in their voluntary work. This project sounds made for him.”

In 2005, Garry also launched his own radio station. This is a small on-line community station that operates during half-term and school holidays. The station provides a blend of music, chat and general discussion topics and can be accessed at http://radio.gazzainc.co.uk/

Photo: Bedford Modern School Year 13 student, Garry Hendry

Gary Jones, Head of Faculty – Art Design Information Technology at Bedford Modern School together with the school’s Academic Enrichment Co-ordinator, Dawn Costello, arranged for 25 BMS Year 9 students to take part in a session designing and constructing wind turbines as part of their Science, Maths and Technology syllabus. Students were selected based on their performance and potential in at least two of the three disciplines.

The event, known as a Smallpeice STEM day, took place on Thursday 11th February. Smallpeice Trust STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) days provide short introductory sessions for students to enhance their understanding of, and aptitude for, problem solving, creativity, design and engineering.

Following an introductory session from the Smallpeice Trust, students were invited to design and construct a wind turbine to produce the greatest amount of energy. The Trust was set up by Dr Cosby Smallpeice, a self-taught engineer and founder of the Trust promoting. “Big things happen with the Smallpeice Trust including simplicity in design and economy in production.”

As part of the project, students learnt about renewable energy, wind power and wind turbines, electricity and circuits, structures and forces. The session concluded with the testing of each team’s model. A winning team was then selected based on points awarded for product performance, team working, aesthetics, cost and marketing. Members of the winning team won a small prize with two lucky BMS students gaining places on a Smallpeice Trust residential course at the University of Portsmouth.

“We are always looking for ways in which we can bring the curriculum to life. Experiences like the ones offered by the Smallpeice Trust and Network Rail are exactly what, as educationalists, we need. We are very pleased to be able to offer BMS students the opportunity to experience real world challenges, especially when they contextualise critical issues like sustainability and energy production. They also reinforce the cross-curricular nature of education, which the Faculty structure within Bedford Modern School was established to facilitate and promote,” said Gary Jones.

Maddie Reece, Year 9 student said, “The wind turbine session was enjoyable and presented a good challenge. We learnt the importance of teamwork and being able to compromise on ideas sometimes when working on projects.”

Edward Handford, another Year 9 student said, “We worked in small groups in order to pool our ideas. I have learnt the importance of going green to help the environment.”

Photo: Some of the Bedford Modern School Year 9 students constructing their wind turbines

Pupils across all three sites at Highclare School raised money for the Haiti Earthquake Appeal last week, raising a total for the whole school of £1,412.

Children at the school’s Nursery and Infant department at Highclare Woodfield, in Wylde Green, wore a great assortment of different hats on Friday 29th January to raise their money, and with the help of staff and parents raised £805. Their fund raising event was enjoyed by all the children from aged eighteen months to 7 years and saw the school awash with colourful, cosy and crazy hats!

“The idea came from the children themselves after their weekly reflective Assembly when Year 1 & Year 2 pupils discussed the current earthquake in Haiti and the impact it was having on children and their families. After looking at photographs of Kiki, the young survivor who was pulled from the rubble after eight days, they decided that as Woodfield is a
caring school, we should extend our caring hands across the world.” said Mrs Lin Jude, Head of Highclare Woodfield.

Eight members of the school council then took their cheque to the Oxfam shop in Wylde Green where the money was gratefully received by staff.

Junior pupils at Highclare The Abbey held their own raffle and a ‘Ten pence Trail’ covering all the letters of the words ‘Help Haiti’ in 10 p coins and pupils at Highclare St Paul’s paid £2 each to take part in a non-uniform day to raise further money for the disaster fund.

On Thursday 28th January, the Junior School enjoyed a MUFTI Day and arranged a cake sale, with the specific intention of raising as much money as possible for the relief operation in Haiti. There was an exceptionally positive response from parents and children, resulting in a contribution of £548.07 to the charity ShelterBox, which is already flying out aid to the islanders.
Well done to all involved!

On Tuesday 17th November 112 Exeter Junior School children sat this year’s Primary Maths Challenge. After some extremely hard work, we have been able to present an assortment of certificates to the candidates.
Worthy of particular note are Harry Tremlett of U1F (Year 4) who won a silver certificate and Amber Seaward of U2A (Year 6) who scored a maximum 25 out of 25. We are now waiting to see which of our children will be invited to sit the PMC Finals paper in February – watch this space.

Bedford Modern School Staff Instructor (SSI) Captain Brian Simpson is a volunteer Caseworker for The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Forces Help. SSAFA have been serving the Armed Forces and their families for well over a 100 years and last year alone provided a reliable, caring and trusting service to more than 50,000 people.

Captain Brian Simpson has six medals for Army and CCF Services lasting over 40 years, as well as being a recipient of the Malaysian People’s Medal for chivalry, gallantry and sacrifice. Bedford Modern School has one of the oldest Combined Cadet Forces in the country, having been formed in 1863. Brian began his role at BMS as the S.S.I. (Corps RSM) and was commissioned in 2003. His role now, although still S.S.I., is more as the Adjutant with responsibility for the Army section.

SSAFA’s reputation has been built on the excellent work carried out by their professional staff and trained volunteers working with both the serving and ex-service communities they make a real difference to people’s lives. From the provision of Health and Social services, to supporting the ex-Service community, from running a confidential support line, to delivering holidays to children with additional needs, SSAFA cover a very broad spectrum of issues.

Captain Brian Simpson first started volunteering as a Caseworker for SSAFA in 2006. “Being an ex-member of the Forces I was very aware of SSAFA and the good work the organisation does. Prior to 2006, I was Secretary of a Working Men’s Club in Bedford and wanted to continue my voluntary work by giving something back to society whilst also undertaking a fresh challenge,” said Brian.

After completing a three day course at SSAFA’s Headquarters in London, Brian was qualified to become a SSAFA Caseworker and now routinely makes home visits to applicants in Bedford and the surrounding area. Home visits follow a set criterion that involves completing a comprehensive analysis about the candidate and their request for financial assistance. Typically, an initial home visit will last for 1 ½ to 2 hours. An applicant’s request for financial assistance may include “brown goods” such as furniture, carpets, curtains, mobile phones, bicycles or “white goods” such as cookers, or fridges that will be purchased through an approved list of suppliers.

“Some of the purchasing power is conducted through other organisations. For example, if an applicant was ex-Army and previously employed as a printer, SSAFA may approach the Printers Union for initial assistance in addition to the relevant unit that the applicant served in within the Military e.g. The Royal Artillery Charitable Fund. The biggest donators to the SSAFA cause are the Royal British Legion and I may spend anything between two weeks to two months working on an individual case,” said Captain Brian Simpson.

“Being a Caseworker with SSAFA brings me a great deal of satisfaction both in terms of personal and professional satisfaction. I get a real buzz out of trying to make a difference to someone’s life and for a lot of people SSAFA is their lifeline. Each case I investigate is different; no two cases are ever the same because all personalities are different and I get to meet some real characters,” added Brian.

A Caseworker does not necessarily have to have served in the military and SSAFA frequently advertise for volunteers in a variety of national newspapers. For more information about SSAFA please visit www.ssafa.org.uk

Photo: Bedford Modern School’s Captain Brian Simpson

Luckley-Oakfield welcomes top teenager fiction writer

‘Characters turn the wheel of a plot’ popular fiction writer, Mary Hooper told girls at Luckley-Oakfield when she visited to share the secrets of her successful writing.

With the same editor as J K Rowling and over 40 books to her name, Mary was able to offer the eager Year 7 and 8 girls a real insight into the art of story telling. She shared with them about her approach to researching her novels, planning and editing, as well as working with publishing houses and the difficulties surrounding book covers.

Mary talked about drawing inspiration from all kinds of sources; including films. She explained how Ground Hog Day had sparked the idea for one of her novels about a boy who wishes to have his birthday everyday. Her early books featured 15 year old modern heroines, but having felt she had exhausted modern plots Mary moved to writing historical fiction. She explained how she uses eye witness material to ensure her historical settings are authentic.

Mary showed the girls how she plans her writing – no software package for her, but a storyboard divided into the same number of boxes as there will be chapters in the book. She adds post-it-notes with ideas about characters, settings and action. As she uses an idea in her script she destroys the sticky note.

The group heard that authors have no opportunity to participate in book cover choice. This is the publisher’s task.

At the end of a gripping talk there was an opportunity for girls to ask questions and they learnt that Mary’s favourite children’s books were the Just William series. She confessed to having no ambition at school and did not start writing seriously until she was 30 years of age.

The hour long session ended with book purchasing and signing.

School Librarian Mrs Jean Warwick commented, ‘The girls have much to think about after listening to Mary. I hope a few may copy her novel plan for their essays and perhaps some have acquired inspiration for stories of their own. Mary’s love of writing and history should convey enthusiasm and passion for the girls to emulate. Mary was very complimentary about our pupils. She said that she could not remember such a rapt audience.’

Senior School Play 2009: ‘a show which had it all’

Audiences on three successive nights – and hundreds of local primary school children at a Wednesday matinee – were charmed and delighted by this year’s main school drama production of George and Ira Gershwin’s Crazy for You. Under the direction of Andrzej and Stephanie Chrupek, over fifty performers took us on the magical and hilarious musical journey from Broadway to Deadrock, Nevada. Outstanding in the romantic leads were Rowena Caine as Polly and Ed Pocock as Bobby, strongly supported by, among many others, Will Parslow, Rob McLaverty, Seb Sutcliffe and Helen Hoddinott. The imaginative decision to appoint lower-sixth formers Michael Dawson as Musical Director and Lucy James as Choreographer was triumphantly vindicated. This was a show which had it all.
The production gave the chance for a number of senior members of the school to display their considerable talent: Ed Pocock was the consummate showman, leading various numbers with great pizzazz and flair and showing a very strong musical and comic range. Leading lady Rowena Caine was Ed’s singing and dancing partner throughout the show. She reminded us of the range, power and delicacy of her singing voice and acting ability, and also of her capacity for rapid and regular costume changes! Will Parslow gave a beautifully judged performance as the impresario Bela Zangler and combined with great poise and comic timing with Ed, who was impersonating his character for much of the show. Seb Sutcliffe was a menacing villain as Lank Hawkins until he was seduced and calmed down considerably by the sassy vampish charms of Helen Hoddinott, whose allegiances changed during the play. Rob McLaverty, Annabel Clark, Emmie Giles and Sophie Hopkins all carried off their roles with imagination and gusto.
The large chorus of Follies girls tapped, danced and sang their way most impressively through a series of numbers and speedy costume changes and provide the feel and colour of a Broadway musical. Lucy James and her assistant Robyn Lockyer are to be congratulated upon their excellent choreography. The cowboys were a huge hit, too, whether they were in sleepy, gunfight or song and dance mode. Hugh Collins as Moose was a great delight and his singing with Jon Schranz, Ollie Wannell and Billy Gore would grace many a redneck saloon bar. At a time of year when the weather is gloomy, Lily Davies’ and Leander Crocker-Digby’s inspirational Chin Up routine might be used every morning to galvanize the community!
Particular congratulations must go to Musical Director Michael Dawson and his ensemble, which included the school’s Head of Strings Fiona McLean. Their work accompanied and supported the cast admirably and their contribution to the overall outcome was immense. A professional group would have struggled to match their timing and output. The fine singing of the principals was enhanced by the technical wizardry of Mark Endacott on the sound desk.
Crazy for You will be remembered with great affection and pride: Andrzej and Stephanie Chrupek deserve enormous credit for staging another stunning production which gave so much pleasure to performers and audiences alike.

Year 6 pupils recreate a Victorian child’s working day

On Monday 25th January Upper Two visited Coldharbour Mill at Uffculme. It certainly lived up to its name on what was a bitterly cold winter’s day! However, it only added to the authenticity, as the children had their history topic on the Victorians brought to life.

The children enjoyed a tour of the factory, where they found out what it was like to be a child worker in a textile mill in Victorian Britain. They also learnt about the processes involved in transforming wool into a range of manufactured products.

The second part of the day was a drama activity where Mr Robson, the factory foreman, put the children to work to decide whether they could have a job at the mill. Both staff and children dressed up in Victorian costume to bring the experience to life and the pupils wrote letters of application, in advance, to express why they needed work at the factory.

The whole day was a great success and served as the perfect climax to an enjoyable topic.

Year 6 pair up with Year 3 newcomers

Each year pupils from Upper Two (Year 6) pair up with children entering the school in Form One (Year 3) to help them settle in and find their way about. Special Buddy Lunches are also arranged from time to time. Here’s how some of this year’s older pupils see their role:

“I enjoy being a buddy because you are given more responsibility and you get to show a new person around the school and keep track of how they are adjusting to the school.” – Sam Berrisford

“I like being a buddy because you get to help little children who are very nice and see to it that they’re happy.” – Alfie Roddan

“I love having a buddy! I feel so important taking care of the younger students. I feel like a proper, responsible adult.” – Ben Toms

“Being a buddy is great fun because you get to meet new people. We get to go to lunch together. It is a big responsibility!” – Abi Grierson

“Being a buddy is great fun, but a big responsibility. You get paired up with a new pupil in your house. When I got my buddy, Emily Kelly, I was thrilled. It made me remember when I was in Form One and was really nervous, but then my new buddy, Becky, helped me out.” – Sophie Jefferson

A group of pupils and staff from Stonyhurst College, Lancashire leave for Zimbabwe this week, to visit their Jesuit sister school, St Peter’s, Kubatana. Packed in their suitcases will be gifts of various things which are in short supply in Zimbabwe, such as first-aid materials, art equipment, and footballs. “We are really looking forward to seeing everyone at St Peter’s, especially as we couldn’t go last year because of the risk of cholera and other factors,” said Paul Warrilow, Head of Religious Education at the College, who has been visiting Zimbabwe for a number of years. Two sixth-formers, Sophie Le Breton and Natalie Crouch, both from Hurst Green, will be working with some of St Peter’s 1,200 pupils, who are aged between 3 and 18.

Stonyhurst College has a long-standing partnership with St Peter’s, called ‘Chirwirangwe’ or ‘Let us unite.’ Each year-group has linked up with a child in Zimbabwe, and is raising money to pay for that child’s education, as well as exchanging letters and photographs to show solidarity and friendship.

Photograph shows, from left to right: Sophie Le Breton, Mrs Ruth Crossley, Natalie Crouch and Mr Paul Warrilow, with some of the gifts they will be taking to Zimbabwe.

Last Friday, Barrow Hills School, in Witley hosted a series of concerts by the world famous pianist, Derek Paravicini. What is particularly amazing is that Derek is blind and so plays everything from memory. Even more impressive is that he does not just stick to a pre-arranged programme, but invites requests from the audience. Throughout the three performances that he gave at Barrow Hills, to a total audience of nearly 500 people aged from 6 years old upwards, there was not a single request that he could not perform!
The concerts were held to raise funds for St Benedict’s, a school in Burkina Faso in Africa with which Barrow Hills is linked in friendship. The link between the two schools began in 2003 when Barrow Hills Pre-prep Department raised £200 to buy two bicycles enabling two children to be able to get to school in Burkina Faso. Seeing how this simple gift made such a huge difference to peoples’ lives inspired the whole of the Barrow Hills community and since then they have supported St Benedict’s School in a variety of ways. To date, thousands of pounds have been raised for various projects. This includes enabling the school to build a kitchen, so that every child in the school eats a meal each day when previously they were going hungry; building a perimeter wall; toilets; repairs to existing buildings and providing much needed teaching resources and play equipment. Perhaps the most ambitious project of all was last year when Barrow Hills raised over £16,000 to build a new classroom block, including a library and IT room. This year, the aim is to raise money to furnish and equip this new block and also to buy mosquito nets for the children.
To this end, the fund raising day on Friday started with all the children being allowed to come to school in red, yellow and green mufti – the colours of the Burkina Faso national flag. The children in Year 8 led the morning assembly with a PowerPoint presentation in French (the language spoken in Burkina Faso) describing a typical school day at Barrow Hills. This presentation has now been taken to St Benedict’s, to be shown to the children there, by two members of staff who have travelled to Burkina Faso on the annual visit to the school. The fund raising pot also got off to an unexpected good start in assembly as, following a violin solo by Josh Garman in Year 6, Director of Music, Mark Wardell, challenged the staff and pupils to name the third way to play a violin, after bowing and plucking. Although the children’s hands remained down, the raised hand of the Headmaster could not be ignored, and as he answered correctly (col legno) the promised £20 made its way to St Benedict’s!
In the afternoon, Derek started with the first of his three performances to the children in the Junior-prep department – you cannot believe the volume as the children clapped and cheered as Derek played everything they asked, including Bob the Builder! Thinking that this could not be topped, Derek followed straight on with a performance to the older children. Wow! What a rapturous response he received as he played the children’s requests. He might not have been able to see his audience but he could certainly hear them, as again there was a standing ovation as they cheered, clapped and made plain their admiration for Derek’s fantastic talent.
The third and final performance was in the evening to parents and guests from the local community. Again the performance was unbelievable and it was not hard to understand how Derek earned his reputation as ‘the human i-pod’. Not only could he play any request but his musical ability was phenomenal.
The final figure raised from the day is still mounting as donations continue to come in but it is at over £4000 at present, meaning that a mosquito net will be able to be purchased for every child at St Benedict’s and that the dream of Barrow Hills to fully furnish the new building constructed last year will become a reality for the pupils of St Benedict’s School.

On Saturday 6th February, Caterham School students and teachers performed in a talent show to raise money for charity.

A packed auditorium enjoyed a show that displayed a wide range of talent. In addition to singers and dancers, the audience was treated to a skilful magician, a national standard gymnast, a captivating duo that timed a rhythm from a piano with solving a Rubik cube. Some remarkable alternative comedy was also included in the evening. Once again the Textile Department added a fashion show.

The event was organised by the nine students on the Charity Committee and the £3000 raised will be divided between Lerang’wa Primary School in Tanzania and Nagydobrony School in the Ukraine.

After much deliberation it was decide that the eventual winners were Emma O’Brien, Katie Barrett, Will Murch, Taiwo Daniel, Azuoma Obikudu who performed a drama piece that became a techno dance, choreographed by themselves.

Headmaster Julian Thomas said: ‘’This was a wonderful evening of entertainment. The performers were outstanding and I was pleased to see that the packed house enjoyed every moment. Although we have a reputation for high academic standards, we place great importance on developing the whole person and co-curricular activity is an integral part of that process. It is too easy to overlook the fact that many of our pupils make a contribution to society, either by raising funds for charities or by giving generously of their time.’’

PHOTO: Winners – Emma O’Brien, Katie Barrett, Will Murch, Taiwo Daniel, Azuoma Obikudu

Former pupils at Windlesham House School in Washington, West Sussex, are celebrating an historical landmark this year as their organisation marks its 100th birthday.

The Windlesham House Association began at a dinner held at the School, which was then based in Brighton, in 1910. The dinner’s Chair was Alfred Scott who had been the school doctor for many years and it is only in the last few years that the last of his great-grandchildren have left the School. The oldest former pupil whom the School is currently in touch with is aged 95 having left the School in 1927.

Windlesham House School originates from a school set up for a dozen or so pupils by Reverend Worsley at Newport on the Isle of Wight in 1826. It was bought by the Malden family in 1837, initially for the children of naval officers, and was moved to Brighton in 1837. In 1913, the School moved to Portslade and in 1934 went to its present site at Washington.

The Maldens are central to the history of Windlesham House School with five generations involved from 1837 to 1994. Charles and Elizabeth Ann Malden were the joint Heads from 1957 to 1994 and their eldest daughter, Lucinda, became the Chairman of Governors in 2009.

The Chapel also plays a major part in the School’s history – originally earmarked for being torn down in Oxford in 1896, the Maldens saved the building and it has moved with the School each time, now in its fourth home in Washington.

The Windlesham House Association will be marking its centenary year with a reunion on Sunday 4th July as part of a spectacular festival weekend called Odyssey. For more information, please visit the website at www.odyssey10.com.

Headmaster, Richard Foster, said: “It is a real privilege to have such a wealth of history here at Windlesham and the former pupils, and indeed former parents and members of staff, all play a huge role.”

Secretary of the Windlesham House Association, Richard Martin, said: “The organisation is extremely active with nearly five thousand members and regular events either here at the School, in London, or indeed around the world. It is always exciting to hear the news of members as they progress in life and they do love to hear what is happening at their former prep school.”

PHOTO: The opening of the new school at Southern Cross in 1913, otherwise known as Portslade.

Mr Wenger, who speaks six languages, will address VIPs and other guests on the importance of learning a foreign language. He will then officially open the two-storey, 1050 square metre facility which was completed at the end of last year.

The Centre boasts eight classrooms which will house 24 pupils each, a library/smaller classroom for 12 pupils, two English as a Foreign Language (EFL) rooms, three language assistant rooms and a staffroom. The building has been designed to offer a flexible learning environment with state-of-the-art facilities.

“The new building means we are now able to offer pupils and staff a wonderful environment in which to teach and learn languages,” says The Master of Haileybury, Joe Davies.

“Pupils now have access to smart and spacious classrooms with exciting technology in each one.”

Mr Wenger is the most successful manager in the history of Arsenal in terms of trophies and is also the club’s longest-serving manager. He has a degree in Electrical Engineering and a master’s degree in Economics from Strasbourg University. He is fluent in French, German, Spanish and English and also speaks some Italian and Japanese.

Eight brave teachers from Trent College in Long Eaton have taken part in what is said to be the world’s most demanding one day survival ordeal, all in the name of charity.

Teachers Geoff Thompson, James Prince, Max Stevens, Guy Hope, Dan Brown, Kevan Taylor, James Marriot and Ben Ward competed in ‘Tough Guy’ during the last weekend in January to raise money for the Haiti Earthquake Appeal.
Tough Guy is an annual charity event run in Perton, South Staffordshire and claims to be ‘The World’s safest, most dangerous taste of mental and physical pain, fear and endurance’. The Tough Guy charity operates a horse sanctuary for retired/injured racehorses, which is used as a rehabilitation centre for young offenders.
The event, which was first staged in 1986, consists of an eight mile cross county run, followed by a two mile assault course consisting of 21 obstacles including high rope-climbs, barbed wire crawls, electrified obstacles, icy underwater tunnels, walls of fire, and lots of mud! Competitors even sign a ‘Death Warrant’ before the event, accepting full responsibility for their own recklessness.
Around 5000 people entered this year’s event, with just over 4000 completing the course. Design and Technology teacher Ben Ward, who organised Trent College’s participation in the event, came in a magnificent 150th place, with a time of just over 1 hour and 40 minutes. This is the fourth time Trent College have entered a staff team and they are looking to compete again next year.
Ben said: “Tough Guy is unlike any other event; the freezing temperatures really add another dimension to what is already a very challenging course. There is a fantastic camaraderie between competitors that shows just how well people can pull together when the going gets tough!”

Approximately 70 Bedford Modern School students took part in the Hampton Head races on the River Thames, by Hampton Court, on Saturday 6th February. The BMS squads ranged from the Junior 14s up to the Junior 18s, with a strong support team to match.
From the amount of red and black that was present at the event, it was clear that Bedford Modern School meant business; even the new Headmaster, Mr Michael Hall, came to support the day’s events.
At Hampton Head, for the first time in Bedford Modern School history, there were almost an equal number of girls to boys, with the J14 Girls achieving commendable success at their first away event.

With Hampton Head being the first major event of 2010, the BMS 1st VIII had a superb win, beating Hampton School by five seconds. Well done to Todd Cartwright (cox), Will Gale, Alex Robertson, Greg Edwards, James Powell, Andy Taylor, Tom Sweeting, Matt Bowman and Ed Munno.
This sets the BMS squad in good stead for future events. With the season not even halfway through, this promises to be an “oarsome” season for Bedford Modern School.
Alistair Brown, Director of Rowing at Bedford Modern School said, “For me, the real success was not just winning the Hampton Head, but also making School history by entering the first BMS Girls’ Octuple at the Hampton Head.

Photo: The winning BMS 1st VIII

Trent College in Long Eaton always makes a real effort for World Book Day, and this year will be no exception. In preparation for the day on Thursday 4th March, pupils at Trent College’s Junior School, The Elms, have enjoyed a visit from a local children’s author, who inspired them to get reading!

On Tuesday 9th February, children from The Elms Nursery, Reception and Year 1 classes had an exciting morning with a visit from Nottingham based picture book author and paper engineer Jonathan Emmett. Mr Emmett, who is well known for his colourful and captivating pop up books, shared a selection of his books with the children, including Emergency Rescue, Someone Bigger, Tom’s Clockwork Dragon and The Santa Trap. They even had a sneak preview of two brand new books which aren’t available in book shops yet!
After reading his stories to a captivated audience, where it was compulsory for the children to join in at the appropriate moment with animal sounds, Mr Emmett signed the story books bought by the children, resulting in happy faces all round. Both the children and the teachers had the opportunity to learn more about Mr Emmett’s job as a ‘paper engineer’ with a demonstration of how to create their very own pop-up frogs, which is not as easy as it seems.
Still to come this term, the Elms are looking forward to a visit from Andy Cope, another established, talented author who is best known for his ‘Spy Dog’ books, which are beloved by children between 6 and 10 years old. Years 2-5 will have the opportunity to take part in some creative writing with him and best of all: he’ll bring his dog!
Talking about the visit and the importance of reading at both Schools, Annike Dase, Head of Library Services said: ‘At The Elms we know how important reading for pleasure is for happiness and success in life and every pupil in the school will be meeting an author during every academic year. The libraries at The Elms and Trent College work together to encourage all of our students to read for pleasure and enjoy literature from the very first picture book up to Booker Prize winners. It has now become traditional for pupils from both Schools to join together to celebrate reading on World Book Day, and we’re looking forward to another fun day full of book related activities.’

Fencers from Mount St Mary’s College made a point by sweeping the board in their first ever regional competition.

Members of the senior team proved how mighty their swords are by winning a total of four medals at the Lancashire Schools Foil.

James Proudfoot, head boy at Mount St Mary’s, based at Spinkhill, in Derbyshire, won gold in the under 20s boys competition.

Thomas Cotterill, winner of the Mount St Mary’s Senior Fencing Trophy for 2009, secured silver and Thomas Voice won bronze in the same event, while Benedikt Gers reached the quarter finals of the boys under 17 category.

There was success too for the girls, with Phoebe Lui winning a bronze medal in the under 20 class.

The senior team were competing as guests at the Stonyhurst College competition, led by newly appointed Mount St Mary’s coach Mr Adam Blight.

Adam has 15 years experience in the sport and has worked with some of the finest fencers in the country including nine British champions in various age groups and the player ranked number three in the world.

Adam said: “Congratulations to the fencers for their outstanding performances in what was the senior team’s first external competition.

“The results are a testament to the hard work and dedication shown by the pupils in preparation for this event and the coaching support from fencing master Mr Jenkins.

“Fencing has been a popular games option for many years at the school this set of results places us in a really strong position to qualify for the British Youth Championships and the Independent Schools Championships in March.”

Photo: Mr Steven Jenkins (third from the left), long-time fencing master and former head of English at Mount St Mary’s, with members of the school’s senior fencing team.

Hurst Lodge School, Ascot has recently been visited by Becky Wing a British Championships Gold Medal winner in gymnastics. Becky comes from Farnborough in Hampshire and is an extremely stylish, mature and elegant young performer who stands out for her high level skills, great dance ability, and for the beautiful quality of her work. Hers is undoubtedly a name to look out for in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics.

Also present was Paul Reeve representing Sports for Schools in ‘The 2012 Inspirational Campaign’. Sports for Schools wishes to encourage young pupils through this scheme to help reduce the amount of health problems faced in today’s society. Changing the culture in modern society via encouraging children to see sport and fitness as the “norm”, not a chore, is crucial to tackling these health epidemics.

The session started with a fitness circuit in which all of the junior school plus Years 7 and 8 children enthusiastically took part. This was a sponsored event and the money collected is to be split between the school, to purchase sporting equipment, and the other half going to the “Development of Young Athletes” hosted by the Sports for Schools organisation.

The Kindergarten and a representation of senior students then joined the audience to watch Megan Rhodes, a Year 11 pupil perform a dance, choreographed by the Hurst Lodge Dance Department, followed by a gymnastics display given by Becky. There was then a question and answer session to round off the highly enjoyable afternoon.

Hurst Lodge wishes Becky and the School for Sports campaign every success in the future.

Celine Flowers, aged 12, a pupil at Bilton Grange Preparatory School has been awarded a place in the National Youth Choir (NYC), after a nerve-wracking audition in Birmingham at the end of last year. In a record year for applications to the Choir, over 600 children auditioned for a place at venues up and down the country and Celine was successful in her first ever audition for the Choir.

Celine, from Birdingbury near Rugby, is also Head Chorister at Bilton Grange and will be attending her first residential course as a member of the National Youth Choir during the Easter holidays. Her first concert with the NYC will be on 7th April at Coventry Cathedral.

Celine Flowers commented;

“I was really happy to get into the National Youth Choir, especially on my first try. I’ve always really loved singing and I sing along to everything – especially when I’m listening to my i-Pod in the car. I’m looking forward to going on my first course at Easter and I’m sure that I’ll learn a lot and hopefully meet some interesting new people at the same time.”

Picture of students with Mrs Cathy Darnton (ICT Development Manager)

Children at Howell’s School, Llandaff in Cardiff are at the forefront of using information and communications technology (ICT) to enhance their work, and that’s official!

Following an extensive external assessment Howell’s School has been awarded the prestigious ICT Mark by Becta, the government-funded body responsible for promoting the use of ICT in Britain’s schools and colleges.

The award recognises the school’s success in developing the strategic use of ICT in both administration and across the curriculum. Parents will have proof that their children are attending a school at the forefront of modern technology.

The ICT Development Manager, Cathy Darnton is delighted at this accolade which represents many years of hard work, investment in ICT resources and tailored training for teachers and support staff. During the assessment process students talked enthusiastically about their extensive use of ICT, both inside and outside school.

As part of the Girls Day School Trust (GDST) students at Howell’s make extensive use of remote access to their email, school files, resources, discussion forums, online surveys and blogs whilst away from the classroom. An exciting initiative this year has been the introduction of distance learning via video conferencing. The ICT Department delivers its AS ICT course in this way to students at the Royal High School Bath (another GDST school), whilst at the same time teaching students at Howell’s.

Principal Sally Davies commented “We are delighted to be awarded the ICT Mark. It recognises our positive approach to ICT and the benefits it is bringing to our children. We believe that ICT can be used in every aspect of learning and that it is essential our children are equipped for the modern world.”

Niel McLean, Executive Director for Schools and Families at Becta said “Howell’s School thoroughly deserve the accolade of an ICT mark. They clearly demonstrate how important it is to take a holistic approach to using ICT in schools. Their investment in new technology has contributed to substantial improvements in learning.”

The whole community of children, staff and parents at Duncombe School in Hertford wanted to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Last Friday a coffee morning was held and the Rev Jo Loveridge from All Saints’ Church, Hertford addressed a special assembly.
The whole school then gathered in the playground around a map of Haiti and covered the map with coins brought from pocket money and piggy banks, contributed by families and staff and raised by a cake sale instigated by five of the pupils and held during the coffee morning. Rev Jo led everyone in a prayer and the singing of ‘He’s got the whole world in His hands’ around the map. And then the counting began! The grand total came to over £1,300!
Headmistress Verity White was delighted but not surprised: ‘Duncombe is well known for its caring ethos. The pupils were particularly touched by the terrible suffering of many Haitian children and asked me if the school could do something to help. This is the wonderful result’.

The selection followed outstanding performances from both boys representing ŒThe South¹ in Sunday¹s ŒNorth vs South¹ of England Barbarians match held on ¹The Close¹ at prestigious Rugby School. Kieran Kelly as Flanker scored a stunning individual try running from his own 22 and took the captaincy of the game during the fourth quarter of the match. Alex Hall at Centre was awarded with ŒMan of the Southern Team¹ for his excellent play which included some crunching tackles and assistance in setting up a try with Kelly, which saw the team win by 41-17.

Commenting on the boys¹ success, Mr Gerard Hobern, Headmaster of Prior Park Prep School said: ‘This is a huge honour for Alex and Kieran and for Prior Park Prep School. We must also thank the coaches here at Prior Park as well as those at Cirencester Rugby Club where both boys train and play. We wish them both all the very best with the England team.’

The Baroness Cox of Queensbury visited Stonyhurst College this week, and talked about her work with the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, of which she is the Chief Executive. Over the years, Baroness Cox has travelled, often illegally and in danger, to Armenia, Burma, northern Nigeria, Sudan and North Korea, to offer practical help (she is a trained nurse), moral support and prayer to some of the estimated 250 million people who are persecuted for their faith. HART seeks to help persecuted, suffering people in parts of the world unreached by other agencies such as the UN or the Red Cross.

Many are taken into slavery. “In the 21st century, we should not have an estimated 27 million victims of various forms of slavery,” she said, her aim being to raise awareness of their plight and to lobby government to do all it can to effect change.

Baroness Cox used the words of St Francis of Assisi to illustrate her belief in the importance of showing solidarity with the persecuted by actually being among them: “Pity weeps and turns away. Compassion weeps and holds out a hand.” A key aim of HART is to ask people directly what they need most, so that the aid they supply is as effective as it can be. It may be food, medicines, livestock, bibles; but whatever the practical need, the knowledge to the persecuted that someone in the world beyond knows and cares about them is of inestimable value, she said.

It was both humbling and inspiring to learn of some of the many individuals Baroness Cox has met, in hidden corners of the world rarely reported on: people whose faith withstands huge pain and loss, who travel vast distances with little or nothing just to stay alive, and who continue to praise God with conviction and joy. “We are very grateful to Baroness Cox for her illuminating and moving talk, and her generous engagement with our pupils,” said Andrew Johnson, Headmaster of Stonyhurst. “She even invited them to visit the House of Lords, so that they can continue discussing how they can help.”

Photo: Baroness Cox with Simon, Damien and John, pupils at Stonyhurst College.

30 pupils from Bromsgrove School were immersed in a Law Experience Day kindly hosted by Harrison Clark LLP last week

Nine trainee solicitors from the Worcestershire firm ran work shops for the pupils on different areas of Law. The students from the Worcester Road School then had to prepare for a mock trial based on a real case with a claimant and defendant.

The School was honoured to have a Mr Jonathan Brew play QC alongside Matthew Jackson as Clerk of Court in wig and gown; the trainee solicitors acted as witnesses.

Miss Zia Leech, Careers Adviser and Head of PSHCE said “the pupils were outstanding, cross-examining the witnesses and summing up splendidly. Routh Hall became a court of Law and the atmosphere was tense as the Judge, based on the evidence heard, found for the defendants after questioning the knowledge of the expert witness. The day was very much appreciated by those students already thinking about a career in Law and for others it was a great introduction”.

Following on from Strathallan’s continued success at the British Schools Clay Pigeon Championships, the School has now launched a Clay Pigeon Shooting Academy.

This will take the form of talented and gifted pupils being selected to join the Academy where International coach Iain MacGregor, the only ISSFA Licence Shotgun coach presently in the UK, will provide first class instruction.

The individuals will represent the School at Scottish and British Championships and work towards achieving International Honours. Strathallan has been the Scottish Schools Champions twelve times in the last fifteen years and has finished in the top three at the British Schools Championships five times in recent years.

Iain MacGregor said “This is a very exciting time for the team at Strathallan and I commend the School for its support and commitment to this sport. The Academy, with its new range and improved facilities will provide excellent opportunities for the selected pupils.”

Three recent Strathallan pupils have gone on to gain International honours, Keith Brown won his first cap for Scotland last year, Rory Gibson is a member of the Junior Development Olympic Skeet Training Squad for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Fraser Rawlinson is a member of the junior Development Sporting Squad. Strathallan is looking forward to growing and developing the talents of many other pupils at the School as well as working with talented individuals and teams for Prep Schools.

The Angers Film Festival took place between 22nd and 31st January. Michael’s award-winning film, “Whore” runs for 10 minutes and the prize for winning the European Short Film category was 1,500 euros offered by Scania.

Michael, who attended Bedford Modern School between 1995 and 2004 directed his first short film ‘Thief’ as a 14 year-old student at BMS, casting the then-headmaster in a cameo role alongside school mates.

He began his professional career in film while a student at Oxford University. “I began by helping out as a runner on big screen movies during my university holidays but when I graduated in 2007 it gave me the time that I needed to move into producing.

“Alongside my job as Projects and Development Assistant at arts agency, B3 Media (www.b3media.net) in London, I am now a serial short film producer. I am currently planning my debut micro-budget feature film, a psychological drama called Christie, which I hope to be shooting in October.”

Winning the Grand Prix means a higher profile, more opportunities to work with talented directors, and more exposure to my existing portfolio of work. All of this will hopefully help me make the jump into feature film-making!

“ I’m ecstatic about winning this prize. The Angers Film Festival is one of the oldest and most highly regarded of all the international film festivals. Even to get your film picked for showing there is and honour. But to go on and to win the Grand Prix when you are competing against high quality films from all over the world is incredible.”

“Whore” (www.b3media.net/whore) is a gritty, urban drama set in a London school. My director, Fyzal, cast unknown young actors in the leading roles playing a young couple unable to communicate properly. I cast my mother, Wendy Berliner, a former BMS governor, in the role of a teacher!

Michael is no stranger to awards. The first film he produced professionally, “The Beachcombers”, won the ITV Local/Film London Best of Boroughs Viewers’ Choice Award in 2008. His second film “Looking for Marilyn”, was shown on TV as a Channel 4 Three Minute Wonder after winning the Straight 8 short film making competition, and “Whore” was selected for the 2008 “Life is Short” UK Film Council Talent DVD, and has also screened at Gijon, Warsaw, Cork and Bangkok film festivals. “In Passing”, which he produced last year, is a WWII drama starring Lesley Sharp, Sean Pertwee and Russell Tovey, which has been picked up by BBC HD for exhibition on the HD channel and on iPlayer in HD. Michael also has two brand new UK Film Council Digital Shorts out, Big Tingz and My Dad the Communist, which recently premiered at London Short Film Festival and have both been picked for the 2009 “Life is Short” UK Film Council Talent DVD – a selection of ten of the best UK Film Council funded shorts.

Photo: Michael Berliner, winner of the Grand Prix du Jury in the European Short Film Competition at the prestigious Angers Film Festival