Newsletter: Issue 15 Easter 2019

1 Newsletter: Issue 15 Easter 2019 Welcome to the Easter addition of the Bideford College newsletter. I hope you enjoy reading about some of the activities our school community have taken part in during the Spring term. As well as students working incredibly hard in lessons, it is pleas- ing to read the successes of our students beyond their formal curriculum. As always, the success of our sports men and woman is evident within our local community and beyond! We have had a number of students competing at national and international level in a wide range of events including cricket, windsurfing, gymnas- tics and athletics. The commitment of our students also extends to our outdoor education department who are practising hard for the Ten Tors event as well completing the requirements of the Duke of Edinburgh awards. As you will read in the faculty news, students have taken part in a number of enrichment activities. Trips, competitions and talks from visiting speakers all serve to enrich the learning of our students and we look forward to developing these further at the College next year. Our Sixth Form students are currently preparing hard for their AS, A-level and BTEC exams this summer, many of whom have offers from some of the UK’s top universities. Similarly, the Year 11 exams start in earnest next month and they too are working hard. It is so encouraging to see so many students taking up the opportunity to attend after school revision sessions. Some students are even coming into college during the Easter holidays for extra sessions. We wish all our students taking exams this summer the very best of luck. One of my highlights in the last few weeks has been interviewing a number of Sixth Form students for our senior student leadership posts. The competition was tough so introducing Callan, Emily, Chandler and Erin to the rest of the college in assemblies this week was a very proud moment. Finally, can I take the opportunity on behalf of the staff at Bideford College to wish you an enjoyable and relaxing Easter holi- day and I look forward to welcoming all students back on Tuesday 23 April. Best wishes Claire Ankers Hepworth—House Cup Winners! L to R : Chandler James, Callan McDonald, Emily Berry, Erin Horrell www.facebook.com/bidefordcollege www.bidefordcollege.org 2 Comic Relief 2019 Our Heads of House braved the stocks for Comic Relief this year with students donating money to throw wet sponges or buckets of water at them. Arguably the shorter straw, saw Mr Munro, Mr Stevens, Dr Butt, Mr Shuttleworth and Mr Whiting baring their (decidedly hairy) legs for a gentle(!) waxing in front of a packed Devon Hall. Thanks to all for volunteering and to all that donated. www.facebook.com/bidefordcollege www.bidefordcollege.org 3 Harry Potter Night Witches, Wizards and Muggles gathered at the Hogwarts’ (College) Library to celebrate all things Harry Potter on Thursday 7 February. The magical evening was enjoyed by over seventy students and their parents, with potion making, meeting our very own talking sorting hat, treasure hunts and a fancy dress competition just some of the many activities that were taking place. www.facebook.com/bidefordcollege www.bidefordcollege.org 4 Regional Indoor Rowing Competition On Friday 8th February, over 500 keen rowers took to the 24 ergos in the Devon Hall. The Schools’ Championships were organised and held by Bideford College for the second consecutive year and was a real success. The competition saw students from Year 6 -11 row for 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6minutes respectively. In all of the age groups there were competitors from Bideford College, Shebbear College, Torrington, Kingsley ,Atlantic Academy.and Egloskerry Primary. The final event of the day was the gruesome 2,000m where a Championship record was set; Simone, from Shebbear College, made light work of the 2km and completed the distance in 6:32 secondss. The best thing about the College event was that the majority of the College participants had never competed in an indoor ergo competition before or even sat on a machine. The event was a real success and Mr O’Donoghue would like to thank all that helped make this event even more successful than last year; he believe that the 180+ students that represented Bideford College got a great deal from the event and epitomizes the incredibly popular uptake there is for extracurricular at the College. Saturday 9th was the second day of the rowing extravaganza and once again provided the opportunity for students to sign up for the open event. It was fantastically rewarding to see so many more participants for this event than last year and we look forward to hosting an even bigger event next year. www.facebook.com/bidefordcollege www.bidefordcollege.org 5 Arthur House News As another term draws to a close and the GCSE exams get ever closer, school and life seem to flash past in an instant. The weather is brightening up and the temptation is to ‘down tools’ a little a bit and all bask in the early spring warmth. How- ever, it is imperative that we all keep pushing, the work which is done now, will pay dividends in the future. Talking of the future, I continually remind students about their future. From my perspective as a Head of House, and a former student of Bideford College my aim is to encourage them to leave the sleepy coastal town at some point and ex- perience life in another part of the world, whether this is through university, travelling or by finding a trade or job which takes them away, for a little while at least. There is a big world out there it is important that we all enjoy it. I would like to congratulate the boys’ year 10 Rugby team who achieved another impressive victory in the North Devon Rugby final, especially hearing there were notable performances from Arthur students; Louis Mathers, Brandon Taylor and Toby Ayres. It is the point in the year, we say goodbye to our House Captains Lydia Bray-Smith and Sam Gale, both students have per- formed the role with dignity and maturity beyond their years. We as a House thank them and wish them all the best with their upcoming exams. This term has been very interesting, filled with book character potato characters, (thank you everyone who entered in Ar- thur), parents’ evening and of course, the Year 9 options evening, which was quite nerve-racking. But vital in us looking at how we move onto the next path. Parents’ evening can be equally nerve racking, not knowing what the teachers will say, however, it is important for your parents to hear how you are getting on and how you can improve in future lessons. Anyway, we have already seen some fantastic entries for the recycling bin competition, keep them coming in guys! We need to win the House cup this year! Nikita Gray - House Journalist www.facebook.com/bidefordcollege www.bidefordcollege.org 6 Brunel House News Wow! Another term is nearly over and I can’t quite believe that we are now over half way through the academic year and the Summer term is nearly upon us! So much has happened this half term involving lots of Brunel students from exam performances in drama to sport cup finals in PE, it really has been a busy half term. A big congratulations must go to the Year 10 rugby team who won their North Devon Schools’ league final against Park 24-7 at Bideford RFC which means that they are now cup, league and 7 aside champions Jacob Stevenson and Tyree Conteh from Bru- nel both played brilliantly. Jacob Stevenson also recently managed to get to the semi finals of the English Schools Boxing Championships! Flynn Jennings ran at the SIAB school’s cross country international at Santry, Dublin. He came 4th overall, with the England team coming first as a team. An amazing achievement! The Year 8 and year 10 girls’ netball teams visited Kingsley for a netball match with both teams returning victorious, a special well done for their continual commitment to the Year 10 netball team must go to Gemma Cleave, Molly Watts and Zoe Cross all of which are Brunel students who really are fantastic role models to our younger players. This half term we have continued to raise money for our charity Edukid and we are determined to provide a year’s education for Brian, a student in Uganda. We raised £80 through our silver amnesty so thank you very much for any contributions you made, 9SB were the tutor group who raised the most money and were awarded with some chocolates to share. We are now raffling a large Easter egg in the hope of raising a few more pounds towards our target. Raffle tickets are £1 a strip. Thank you to Gemma Cleave, Megan Hare, Daisy Williams, Caleb White, Victoria Smith and Maya Passmore for giving up their time and visiting tutor groups in order to the sell raffle tickets. We are currently looking for a new leadership team to drive Brunel forward. Thank you to Josh Jordan, Charlie Mallaband, Me- gan Hare, Joe Spencer, Lolah Olde, Caleb White and Aimee Williams for all the work they have done over the last year. It has been a pleasure to work with you. It is time however for you to step down and therefore I will shortly be looking through the new applications for the new leadership team.

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