March 2013 March 2013

Dear Parents and Carers,

This has been another excellent term. The Spring edition of the Mitre celebrates many of the outstanding achievements of our students during the term.

At TBSHS the development of good character is at the heart of all we do. Our focus on character seeks to open students’ hearts and open their minds. I have been very pleased to see our students developing their leadership skills: supporting departmental events, house competitions, in a supervisory role as prefects, representatives on the school and sixth form councils, and as leaders of sports, drama, music, debating, MUN, Amnesty International, Interact, young enterprise and the BBC report team . Whatever leadership role the students have undertaken, with or without a title, they have made a significant contribution to the life of the school, leading with kindness and respect. We are very proud of them and cherish their contribution to the life of our school.

The heart of our Teaching and Learning strategy is centred on what we must do for every single student in the classroom to enable them all to make progress in their learning each and every day. Our staff work very hard to enable students to succeed providing guidance, patience and expertise. I am sure that you will wish to join me in congratulating them for supporting your son/daughter for their outstanding commitment this term.

I am indebted to those parents (344 questionnaires were returned) who completed the Kirkland Rowell perception survey. Our journey to become a truly engaged school requires us to open ourselves to constructive criticism, embrace it and learn accordingly. Feedback of this nature is vital to strengthen the community of the School. You gave an excellent overall performance score for the school (82%), while among the parents whose children were not in their first year at the school 22% said the school had improved over the last year while only 5% thought the school’s performance was worse. Of the parents of new pupils, only 5% felt that the school had not lived up to their expectations while 30% said the school was better than they had expected it to be. You provided significantly higher scores than last year for improvements in school communications, celebrating and rewarding achievement, and school security. Your top priority for improvement is school facilities.

Mindful of the issues regarding the school facilities, the Mitre team are currently discussing how we can address this situation and we will be in contact with you soon with an initiative to address some of these concerns.

Members of the Parent Teacher Friends Association, Parents Sports Association and The Mitre Team, please may I thank you for your generosity of spirit and hard work in enriching the life of our School.

May I take this opportunity to draw attention to the sterling work of the BBC report team who participated in this national initiative on the 21st March. It was a hugely enjoyable day and the Year 11's all worked incredibly hard to produce their written articles and a filmed news programme of 22 minutes. The leadership shown by Year 12's was fantastic - all were really positive, supportive and encouraging. They all worked tirelessly throughout the whole day. Congratulations to: Dan Betts, Hayden Brown, Robin Franklin, Ryan Gold, Drew Gregg, Charlie Jonas, Taylor Sharpe, Jack Tulloch, Jacob Westlake, Lily Boulter, Alice Leadon and Meghan Ridout. The film is available on the website: http://www.tbshs.org/stu_life/Pages/bbc_news_report.aspx

At the time of writing, preparations are well underway for our Easter services at St Michael’s Church, Bishop’s Stortford. In addition to the annual service for the Lower School, this year we have introduced a further service for the Middle and Senior Schools.

The Easter break is an excellent opportunity for everyone to re-charge, reflect on the last Term and to prepare for the Summer Term. In particular, Year 11, 12 and 13 students need to make sure they prioritise quality time over the break to continue their learning at home. The external examinations are almost upon us, and the weeks leading up to them should be spent wisely.

Finally, may I wish you all a happy and healthy Easter Holiday and look forward to seeing you again, refreshed and restored in the summer term.

Paul Noble Acting Headteacher

Term Dates 2013

April 15th - INSET (Staff Only)

April 16th – Start of Term

May 26th – 30th Half Term

July 24th End of Term – Early Closure - 1.15pm

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2nd September - INSET (Staff Only)

3rd September - Year 7 + Year 12 only

4th September - Rest of the School return.

News from the TBSHS Parent, Teacher & Friends Association

It seems astonishing that the Easter holidays are almost here already and another term is over. However it has been another successful few months of fund raising for the PTFA.

In February, we held our ever popular Annual Black & Gold Quiz Night. Once again the winning trophy was passed to The Maths Department team. Several other teams from the staff and 12 parental teams were unable to break their grip on the lead. However there is always next year! Many thanks to all who came along, as this event raised over £1,500

In March we held our annual Students-Only event which was a disco for pupils in Years 7, 8, 9 from TBSHS and Herts & Essex High School. The pupils all seemed to have a good time; for the girls - flat shoes are definitely ‘in’ at the moment and over on the sweet stall, the Sherbet Lemons sold out in the first hour of the evening!

Our role as the PTFA is to raise funds for the benefit of our children at TBSHS and help build the relationship between parents, teachers and friends. With raised funds the PTFA have recently placed an order to buy four outdoor table tennis tables at a cost of £7,000 to go in the playground for the pupils to enjoy at lunch and break times. They are due to be delivered after Easter and we are all looking forward to seeing the students enjoying using them. Let’s hope for some much needed sunshine!

With our children in secondary school it is not always as easy to meet other parents and carers as it is in junior school. If you would like a chance to meet other TBSHS parents and carers then pop along to Costa Coffee at Tesco’s Bishop’s Park on Wednesday 17th April 9am ~ 10.30am. TBSHS parents and PTFA members, Janice and Corinne, will be there, so why not join them for a chat with coffee and cake!!

Now running for a third academic year, the PTFA raise money through selling Privilege Cards to parents, pupils, staff and friends of the school; cardholders can then use the card at a range of local businesses who offer exclusive discounts to cardholders on production of a valid card. The cards are available to purchase for just £5, either from school reception or via Parentpay. Full details can be found on the Privilege Card Website at https://sites.google.com/site/tbshsprivilegecard/

On behalf of the PTFA I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support and to wish you a very Happy Easter.

Debbie Landers Chair, 2012-2013 TBSHS PTFA

Oxbridge Successes

Six High School Students win Places at Oxbridge

Staff and students at The Bishop’s Stortford High School are delighted to learn that six Year 13 students have received offers of places at Cambridge and Oxford Universities to start in October this year.

Harriet Cantrell

Harriet Cantrell (2012 leaver) has a deferred offer to study Linguistics at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge,

Annie Loveday has an offer to study History at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge Katherine Cowles has an offer to study English and French at St Edmund Hall College, Oxford. Tom Kitchen holds an offer to study Mathematics at Queens’ College, Cambridge Emma Langley-Jones has an offer to study Economics at St John’s College, Cambridge Katie Lewis has an offer for Geography at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge

The achievements of this talented group of students are not only academic: Emma Langley-Jones is Head Girl at the London Road secondary and Katherine Cowles and Katie Lewis are both Deputy Head Girls. Annie Loveday achieved the highest History AS-level mark in the school and Tom Kitchen has already gained an A* for A2 Mathematics, having taken it a year early.

Mark Brunker, TBSHS Oxbridge Co-ordinator commented, “The students have worked exceptionally hard to gain these offers and have been well supported by staff and external speakers who have provided many enrichment opportunities to develop their academic ability. We are very proud of these achievements and the school continues to go from strength to strength with four students last year gaining places at Oxbridge and six holding offers this year. We wish our students all the best in obtaining the required grades to secure their places”

Tom Capewell, Head of Sixth Form, said, “These offers are a fitting reward for the hard work and dedication these students have shown from the very start of their Sixth Form careers, ably supported by excellent teaching. Subject staff are now supporting them fully as they strive to meet the conditions of their offers to study at such prestigious universities. ”

Helen Haines

The Arts Faculty

HOF Arts/PE report, Spring Term, 2013.

I will start my HOF Mitre comments with this from Mark Brunker, because it inspired me and because it sums up, admirably, the spirit that we engender at TBSHS. It concerns one of our rugby teams:

The U13’s still had one more tournament to demonstrate their true ability - the prestigious Berkhamsted Seven’s, involving 64 teams from all over the country. They started with very strong performances, winning their first two games comfortably before panicking in their third game against Judd School, resulting in a 17-7 defeat. After losing only one game in the group, we were put through to the bowl competition, where they had a challenging series of matches, winning one of them by only 2 points. They made it through to the Semi -finals playing some truly outstanding Sevens Rugby defeating Magdalen College 31-7. They then faced Dulwich College in the final and put on another fine display of both team and individual excellence. Mr Hale and I could not believe the standard and quality of the match, a truly remarkable performance and congratulations to all of the squad – Berkhamsted Sevens Bowl Champions.

Having spent a fair portion of my career in private schools, I know exactly how much time is given over to extra- curricular activities in these institutions. It is fair to say that these outdoor parts to the curriculum occur at least three times a week. I also know just how important the ‘rugger’ results are to the morale of the school in the whole school assembly on Mondays. It is disquieting to hear the phrase; ‘but despite the team’s valiant efforts, they just could not prevail against the excellent opposition from the X School.’ It cannot but aggrieve such schools when the succeeding opposition emanates from an environment as trammelled as ours (and it is). But what our boys bring to the mix is passion and a lively interpretation of what it means to be part of this community, but especially part of a superb PE department. The paragraph above illuminates this beautifully, and these qualities ooze throughout he Arts Faculty with never-ending regularity.

The extra curricular activities in art are constantly full and boys keep themselves engaged. There is a great deal of ownership going on over the development of ideas and this is good to see. All in Years 11, 12 and 13 have much to do between now and next term as they prepare for their examinations. So they ought to be out and about, sketchbooks and cameras in hand, ‘cracking on’ with the work. If your son or daughter is one of these, and you find them ‘watching the telly,’ please do encourage him or her to apply themselves more appropriately (as far as I am concerned, fair means or foul are fine by me)! Having just been at GCSE and A-Level standardisation meetings, Mr Clare and I are in the right place to correctly advise your sons and daughters on to how to tackle this preparation period: they all know what they have to do: so please make them do it. As I frequently say, ‘this is A-Level, NOT ‘Play- level!’

We will once again run the life class for post 16 artists and I have invited pupils from Birchwood to join our classes after school. This adds a frisson to the atmosphere which is always infectious and it is good for all pupils, who can learn a great deal from one another.

On the subject of learning from one another, the 34th annual Music Festival was fantastic. If you missed it, try and pencil in the dates for the 35th festival. I will never forget Craig Murray’s virtuoso drum performance. One might expect a pianist to win, or perhaps a wind instrumentalist: but Craig’s drumming was spell-binding. All of the competitors on the final night were superb, and they all enthralled. The main hall was packed (and an improvement on last year’s) and they all had a wonderful evening. What under-pins all of this of course is the many hours spent in isolated practice: but the rewards in the end are for all to witness. This fantastic evening was organised by the brilliant Paul Ingray.

Sadly, Dubheasa Bray is leaving TBSHS to visit pastures new. She has been with us for five years and has played a stellar role in all things musical at this school. Her teaching has been characterised by faultless preparation and animated delivery. I think I am right is stating that she was the first teacher in my faculty to receive two consecutive ‘outstandings’ for her formally observed teaching in the same year. We shall miss her but wish her well. Her successor has been appointed and he starts his tenure as SL for Music in September.

On a lighter note, my fondest memories of this year so far are firmly rooted in the 6th form A2 Drama devised pieces in January. These took place in a cram-packed Drama studio where students performed in small groups and covered a wide repertoire of themes and genres. It never ceases to surprise me when I listen and observe to the lines learnt, the timings worked out, the props used, the synchronized light and sound: the professional standard and expectation of that standard (rooted in the meticulous demands of Natalie Maher) and I always walk away from that evening with one thought and it is that I have been thoroughly entertained. Of course there have been other successes too and these are alluded to below, but I am in constant admiration of the standards set in this department, and I congratulate Natalie, Hayley and Elizabeth for providing our pupils with such a wonderful set of opportunities.

Finally, we are saying goodbye to Mr Clare, subject leader for Art. He has worked here for 28 years and has decided to retire, with the expectation that he and Mrs Clare might settle in the south-west of England. As a colleague he has made me laugh so that at times my sides have ached. His is a natural wit. Andy is the master of innuendo and double-entendre. I know that the pupils here are going to miss him and I know that we as a staff will miss him too. I have worked with all sorts of colleagues in art departments, but never with anyone so open, warm-hearted, and never with someone so naturally funny and eager to see the essentials. He has certainly inspired me, particularly when I look at some of the work pupils past and present have produced under his guidance. So goodbye Andy, and as he often says to me; ‘Well done!’

John Pearson-Phillips

HOF/Art-PE.

Mr Pearson-Phillips in his studio.

ART, DESIGN & CRAFT DEPARTMENT

SPRING TERM

We have had an excellent start to 2013 with many pupils, across all years, continuing to spend a great deal of extra-curricular time in the department.

Lunchtime clubs and after school sessions are always popular and I want to thank the vast majority of our students for their positive attitude to study and enthusiasm for learning.

Key Stage 3

The Y7 classes have been been learning skills with pencil, colour and use of contextual studies to produce some excellent Fauvist and Cubist inspired portraits. Some of the classes have also started to work on their 3D Surreal shoes.

The understanding, effort and quality given to homework also continues to impress, with many opting to use a much wider spread of interesting materials.

Our Y8 classes have been working in groups on some large scale Graffiti mural designs. Some were given a design brief which required them to produce design ideas for a new imaginary stage musical called the ‘Graffiti Boys’. Examples by Artists such as Keith Haring, Banksy and Roy Lichtenstein were discussed and used to inspire their designs.

Chaz Bowden and Remi Catchpole’s eye catching design shown below was particularly impressive and reflected the fun, imagination and creativity of the project.

Remi Catchpole/Chaz Bowden

Key Stage 4 (GCSE)

Y9 pupils are currently working on their ‘Myths & Legends’ projects having worked on 3D portraits last term.

Y10

Y10 pupils are working on their ‘structures’ project. They will be working with a range of exciting materials and a visit to a major gallery or place of interest will hopefully be arranged to help with research.

Y11 GCSE

Y11 students are currently working on their examination papers, having almost completed their coursework projects. They are all working hard to complete their preparation work before their exams in early May.

Wednesday 8th May, Thursday 9th May GCSE ART EXAM

Monday 20th May, Tuesday 21st May, Wednesday 22nd May Mount exhibition in room 25

Monday 3rd, Tuesday 4th June Marking GCSE exhibition 9

Wednesday 5th June (6-8pm) PRIVATE VIEW OF GCSE EXHIBITION Parents and friends are all invited to the GCSE exhibition.

Friday, 7th June – GCSE Moderator visit?

Monday 10th June GCSE STUDENTS DISMANTLE EXHIBITION All work will be stored away and can be collected at the end of September.

Caleb Williams (Y11)

Jonathan Whitmore (Y11) – work in progress

Key Stage 5

A Level

All A level students are now working on their examination preparation. The two day exams are in early June and are worth 40% of their total marks. As in previous years, the Rhodes Centre art gallery in town will be used to exhibit the AS (Y12) work.

Catherine Poole (Y13)

Tuesday 11th June, Wednesday 12th June. AS and A2 Exam

AS students have 8 hours to produce their final piece/s (5 hours on Tuesday. and 3 hours on Wed..) A2 students have 12 hours to produce their final piece/s (6 hours each day, the exam will be held in rooms 23/24 and 25. After the examinations, the student’s finished piece/s and their exam sketchbook/s will remain in the Art department.

ALL A LEVEL STUDENTS WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO WORK ON THEIR COURSEWORK UNTIL 11th June .

13th June, 14th June A2 Mount Exhibition in Art rooms

Monday 17th June, Tuesday 18th June, Wed. 19th June 11

A2 Marking period (ADC/JPP will mark all A2 work during these three days.

Wednesday 19th June A2 PRIVATE VIEW (7pm)

Thursday 20th, Friday 21st June AS MOUNT EXHIBITION AT RHODES CENTRE GALLERY

Saturday 22nd, Monday 24th June AS Marking period

Monday, 24th June AS PRIVATE VIEW (7PM)

Tuesday 25th June Send off marks to EDEXCEL

Friday 28th June A LEVEL EXTERNAL MODERATOR IN

Monday 1st July Students remove their work and place in safe storage at TBSHS. ALL WORK WILL REMAIN IN SCHOOL UNTIL OCTOBER HALF-TERM, AFTER WHICH STUDENTS ARE WELCOME TO COLLECT WORK AND TAKE HOME.

Life Drawing

Recent extra-curricular life drawing classes in school have enabled our A level students fantastic opportunities to work from an experienced artist model to improve drawing skills, enhance and challenge. The work is also a very important addition to their coursework and for art college entry.

I would also like to thank Mr Pearson-Philips for his huge contribution and support within the department.

Mr A D Clare

Subject leader for Art

Music Department Spring Term 2013

The 34th annual TBSHS Music Festival consisted of a week and a half of competitions and workshops during which TBSHS students performed in heats for the title: 'Musician of the Year'. All have agreed that this was an outstanding music festival with the highest standard of student performances as recognized by parents, staff and adjudicators who were all very complementary.

The event started with the Strings category on Monday 25th February adjudicated by Bryony Rees. The Intermediate Winner was Luke Tang with Ollie Hougham Highly Commended. The Advanced section saw Eloise Augustine Commended, Oliver James Highly Commended and the winner Chris Platts with an outstanding performance. On Tuesday 26th February two categories competed on the same day, Woodwind adjudicated by Graham Casey and Classical Guitars adjudicated by Craig Ogden. Woodwind winners were Beginner Shem Jacobs, Highly Commended Oscar Saggers, Commended Ben Petch, Intermediate Winner Jack Duffy, Highly Commended Dillon Twitchett, Commended Lewis Oakey and Advanced Winner Alex Morgan, Highly Commended James Morgan and Commended James Stuart-Turner. Classical Guitar winners were Beginner Winner Sam Seylani, Highly Commended Jack Saggers, Toby Davies & William Skingley, Lower Intermediate Winner Thomas White, Highly Commended Thomas North, Higher Intermediate Winner Sam Harding, Highly Commended Elliott Clark & Jack Stevens, Commended Ethan Stacy, Isaac Wheeler & Kameron Shah and Advanced Winner Joseph Day, Highly Commended Greg Leeman & Joss Mann- Hazell.

Tuesday 26th February also saw the first of our workshops with Classic FM recording artist Craig Ogden who amazed and inspired us all as he performed a selection of pieces and gave us an insight into the instrument and his life as a professional musician and recording artist. He also performed a duet with Mr Warner; we also enjoyed seeing Richard Burrell’s return to the School to perform one of his own compositions as part of the concert. Craig Ogden enjoyed his time at TBSHS and his comments after the students’ performances gave each a true master class experience which guided their progression. Craig Ogden is returning to TBSHS on Monday 23rd September 2013 for an evening concert starting at 7.00pm which will be an excellent opportunity for you all to enjoy a world class musician performing for our community.

The Upper & Lower Brass students competed on Wednesday 27th February adjudicated by Tony Hepworth who also provided the second insightful workshop in the series regarding his experience as a professional musician which shared ideas for success in the industry. The Brass winners were; Upper Brass Beginner Winner Freddie Jonas, Highly Commended Nathan Cross, Intermediate Winner Henry Hudson, Highly Commended Max Yates, Commended Sean Wade, Advanced Winner Oliver Medhurst, Highly Commended William Smith, Commended Henry Stuart Turner. Lower Brass Beginner Winner Roan Child, Intermediate Winner James Nash, Advanced Winner Oliver Philcox and Highly Commended Eli Haines.

The Percussion category was Thursday 28th February adjudicated by John Beddingfield which was as always very closely fought by TBSHS drummers! Percussion Beginner Winner was Oliver Kingsland, Highly Commended Oliver Nancarrow, Commended Lewis Mandel. Intermediate Winner George Cook, Highly Commended Ryan Randall, Commended Ben Smith and the Advanced Winner was Craig Murray with Highly Commended Guy Pearson and Commended Rory Findlay. The third of our workshop series was with Alan Boynton and John Beddingfield who gave all present an outstanding demonstration of the fine detail of drum technique with many performances to illustrate all of the points made. Students especially enjoyed the drum duet performed by Mr Boynton and Mr Beddingfield during which they traded many fantastic musical ideas in a true rhythmic battle that entertained all.

Friday 1st March saw the Vocal category adjudicated by Susanna Squires who is an ex TBSHS vocal teacher. Her comments and advice to each student were invaluable, giving clear guidance for progress for all. This category always facilitates existing but also new talent to thrive and this year was no exception. The Beginner Winner was Max Hadley followed by Highly Commended Albie Barnardo. Intermediate Winner was Rob Parker performing one of his own excellent compositions on which Mrs Squires commented 'If you released that I would buy it today!' he was followed by Highly Commended Nicholas Cowles and Commended Dan Betts. The Advanced Winner was Robin

Franklin performing Soliloquy from ‘Carousel’ by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II followed by Highly Commended: Remé Hannan and Commended: Onur Sevigen & Isabel Bright.

Joe McGlohon presented the fourth workshop on the afternoon of the 1st March with outstanding performances of six of the songs from his album 'Healin' Groove' which left the audience both entertained and amazed by his improvisation, tone and phrasing that have been his trademark throughout his successful career as a session/live musician and musical director for many great artists. We all enjoyed hearing about the stories behind the music as well as his journey to success in this enjoyable, inspirational and informative workshop.

The Piano category was adjudicated by Antony Camillo on Monday 4th March and again saw TBSHS students being the best they can be with more strong competition for the leading places. The Beginner Winner was Sebastian Gillhespey, Highly Commended William Lee and Commended Nikil Patel & Lucas Gillhespey. Lower Intermediate Winner Thomas Parkin, Highly Commended: Lloyd Martin, Commended Freddie Jonas. Higher Intermediate Winner Will Ashley-Fenn, Highly Commended Jack Duffy and Commended James Stuart-Turner. The Advanced Winner was Oliver Philcox with a truly outstanding perfromance followed by Highly Commended Joss Mann-Hazell and Commended Miles Bruce-Jones & Oliver Medhurst.

The fifth workshop was in the afternoon, Antony Camillo accompanied Kirsten Jenson (cello) in a truly mesmerizing performance of the Franck Cello Sonata that proved to be a master class in expression, dynamics and interpretation. This resulted in an extended question and answer session to round off the afternoon. Kirsten Jenson complemented the students on the quality and breadth of their questions as we hope to see her again in the near future for a strings workshop with TBSHS students.

The Electric Guitar and Bass category was on Tuesday 5th March and was adjudicated Dennis Stratton (ex Iron Maiden, Preying Mantis). The students performed many different genres of popular music and Mr Stratton commented on the exceptionally high standard that TBSHS students achieved. The Electric guitar beginner winner was Jake Twitchett, Highly Commended Jai Krishna and Commended Thomas Jinkerson. The Intermediate Winner Sam Grace, Highly Commended Patrick Loveday and Commended Charlie Doyle. The Advanced category was again very musically diverse with the Winner going to Isaac Page, Highly Commended Levi Williams, Dan Smith, Max Godfrey and Commended Jamie Brewer, Daniel Evans, Alex Hogg. The Bass categories were won by Intermediate Winner Levi Williams, Highly Commended Matt Stephenson and Commended Ralph Garret. The Advanced Winner was Fred Bratley with a performance of 'Carousel' by Mr Bungle followed by Highly Commended: Oliver James and Commended: Ollie Eldon.

Dennis Stratton was the focus of our sixth workshop with a chat show style question and answer session that gave an insight into his experience as part of a world class rock band. The session covered his career from beginner guitarist to present day with reference and listening to music that Mr Stratton was inspired by as well as hints and tips on his approaches to composition, touring and recording. Once again TBSHS students rose to the occasion and asked excellent and well-researched questions that guided the discussion. Mr Stratton complemented the quality of TBSHS electric guitarists and commented the he had enjoyed all of their performances.

We were pleased to welcome Nicholas McCarthy to TBSHS to adjudicate the MUSIC FESTIVAL FINALÉ on Wednesday 6th March. Pianist Nicholas McCarthy was born without a right hand. He’s been playing since the age of 14 and has now joined the British Paraorchestra, performing recently at the Paralympic Games closing ceremony.

At 17, Nicholas was awarded a place at the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music in London where he studied with acclaimed concert pianist Lucy Parham. After two years of studying at the Guildhall School of Music, Nicholas was awarded the Annual Piano Prize just before he left in 2008. Nicholas studied at the Royal College of Music in London with Ian Jones and Nigel Clayton and graduated in July 2012 making history by being the only left- handed pianist to graduate from the RCM. Nicholas has since accepted a place at the Royal College to study on the Masters of Performance Postgraduate programme. Future television appearances will include a documentary for Channel 4 about Nicholas’ latest project and his involvement in the British Paraorchestra. Nicholas has received numerous awards for his contribution to music and most recently was awarded the prestigious international AMI Award for his creative excellence in music and was presented to him at a ceremony held at The London Studios. 14

The Beginner and Intermediate Finals were held in the afternoon and Mr McCarthy commented that TBSHS music student performances were some of the best he had seen and after considered adjudication, the Beginner Final winner was Shem Jacobs (woodwind), Highly Commended Sebastian Gillhespey (piano) and Commended, Oliver Kingsland (drums). In the Intermediate Final, the winner was Jack Duffy (woodwind), Highly Commended William Ashley-Fenn and Commended Rob Parker.

The seventh and last in our workshop series was by Nicholas McCarthy which was truly inspirational. He performed a selection of pieces with such flair and expression that demonstrated his exceptional talent and ability to the full. Students responded with enthusiastic applause and a level of questioning that once again demonstrated their inquisitive and respectful approach. Mr McCarthy again praised the students and enjoyed all of their responses. The Advanced Finalé saw all of the advanced winners named above compete in what has to be, one of the closest fought competitions to date; audience members commented 'the best ever! ' Nicholas McCarthy had the unenviable task of determining the winner and after deliberation he awarded the 2013 title of Musician of the Year, to Craig Murray. Highly Commended was Robin Franklin and Commended was awarded to Christopher Platts & Oliver Philcox.

The Music Department would like to thank all of the parents for supporting and encouraging their son/daughters progress. We also thank the students themselves for all their hard work, practice and dedication in preparing their performances. We thank the peripatetic staff for all of their hard work nurturing musical talent at TBSHS; they are at the forefront of our musical community. Miss Bray and Mr Litchfield have put in many hours supporting students’ performances and all of their help, support and contributions have helped make this year's festival what it is. Special thanks must also go to the student leadership team Eloise Augustine, Rebecca Natali, Rob Muscroft and Issac Page who have had a hugely positive impact on all of our events this year, their ideas and approaches continue to shape the development of this aspect of our work. Thanks must also go to Mrs Jonas who has worked tirelessly with all of the Music Festival administration and of course Mr Pell-Illderton whose excellent technical support ensured the event was a success. Finally, thank you to Mr Noble for all of his support for this event and music as a key part of our community.

Mr Ingrey

The annual Music Festival has been the highlight of the music calendar this term but there are also some other achievements to note. On 12th March the Sixth Form music students performed their recitals which are worth 30% of their AS/A Level grade. Remé Hannan wowed us with her interpretation of music theatre and Hannah Webb impressed us with her difficult 20th Century flute music. Both Joss Mann-Hazell and Eloise Augustine took us on a chronological journey with their performances of piano music through the ages and Oliver Philcox chose to perform pieces from his favourite period of music: the Romantic era. All students should be proud of what they have achieved on their instruments this year. Well done to all those students who passed their ABRSM exams at Christmas and good luck to those that took their exam last week. The Music Department are hosting a TBSHS heat Battle of the Bands on the 27th March which is an local inter- school competition, the winners of which go through to the Final to be held on 5th April at The Square in Harlow. The winners of the final will be rewarded with a set on stage at this year’s Bishop’s Stortford Music Festival. Exciting stuff – good luck TBSHS !

Miss Bray

Diary Dates!

Music Department Forthcoming Events Please make a note in your Diary :-

Wednesday 1ST May - Staff-Pupil Concert

Thursday 20th June - Folk Band Fundraiser for Ghana

Wednesday 10TH July - Summer Concert

Thursday 11th July - Music Department School Trip to High Barn

18 – 22nd July - Music Tour to Holland

**Stop Press** Craig Ogden Concert - 23rd September 2013 - Further details in the Summer Mitre.

Mr Ingrey, Miss Bray, Mr Litchfield & Mrs Jonas

DRAMA

Mitre- Spring 2013 DRAMA

It was another busy term in the Drama Department rich with extra-curricular clubs, rehearsals, productions, several trips and workshops. Please do read about what the students in our department have been getting up to from West End Productions and West End Shows on National tour to local theatre productions. I would like to thank my colleagues Hayley Bart- Williams, Elizabeth Ravenscroft and Mr Pell-Ilderton for all their hard work and dedication to the students, the department and the extra-curricular activities that we run. A big thank you also to those students who have helped with clubs, events, productions and open evenings.

Congratulations to Harry Bojowakowski for achieving Drama Colours this year.

Congratulations to the following students for receiving University offers to read Theatre Studies and Drama: James Thorpe; UEA, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, St Mary’s University, Goldsmiths Harry Ward; University of Kent, Kingston University, St Mary’s University College, Bath Spa University, Middlesex University.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you about our Drama Website: www.tbshsdrama.co.uk Please do visit our new website, an opportunity to view photos and write ups of productions past and present, extra- curricular opportunities, extra- curricular timetable, calendar of upcoming events and trips, curriculum information and newsletters.

Natalie Maher, Head of Drama.

EXTRA CURRICULAR CLUBS REPORT

Drama Scholars (Year 7-13) Friday lunchtimes. Studio 26 The drama department would like to say a massive thank you to their scholars this term who have worked extremely hard. Their contribution is invaluable and their commitment to the department is exemplary. During this term, the year 7 and 8 drama scholars have been working every Friday lunchtime, to expand their knowledge and range of drama skills and techniques. We have led them through a series of tasks that they have completed admirably, working their way through techniques such as mime, narration and still image. Towards the end of this term, the scholars have even started to begin work looking at dramatic practitioners such as Stanislavski and Brecht. The boys have been working well beyond their age and we intend to look into creating an evening of dramatic performances, created and performed by the boys. By Mark Harvey and Chrissie Waites Hayley Bart-Williams

Technical Theatre Crew- Paul (Year 7-13) Friday Lunchtimes Studio 70

Technical Theatre Club has been a huge success this term. This term started with a new group of year 7/8s who are all excited and ready to learn about the disciplines of technical theatre. They’re progressing very quickly and could become great technicians if they set their minds to it. We've looked at many aspects of live theatre including stage layouts, basic sound and lighting. The children have a large interest in the area which is shown by their positive attitudes. It's been a pleasure working with the boys and I am very pleased with the progress they've made.

Paul Pell-Ilderton

Lower School Drama Club- (Year 7/8) Wednesday lunchtime- Middle School Drama Cub (Year 9/10) Monday lunchtime This term has sped past tremendously fast and Drama Club membership in both groups is steadily increasing due to high demand. If you still want to come along and see what Drama Club is all about then you are more than welcome!

This term the focus in both groups has been on comedy, particularly improvisation playing games like Space Jump, Party Quirks, Tag (also called Freeze or Swap) and Stand, Sit, Lie Down made popular by the television program 'Whose Line is it Anyway?' The last game is played with three performers who enact a given or chosen scene e.g. a Doctor's Surgery or King's Court. At any given time, one person must be standing, one must be sitting and one must be either sitting on the floor lying down. Whenever one person changes position, the others must change position to maintain this requirement. Playing these games helps build student's confidence, enhances ensemble skills, develops comic timing and encourages audience participation. Also they're a lot of fun!

A big thank you goes out to Tommy Tancock who has just begun assisting in Lower School Drama Club and to Mrs Panayiotou who has consistently helped with Middle School Drama Club since the beginning of the year - these clubs wouldn't be anywhere near as great without the help of these wonderful people. If you are in Year 10, 11, 12 or 13 (you don't have to be a Drama student) and you would like to help out, even on a one off basis, please see me, Mrs Bart-Williams or Mrs Maher for more details. Have a Happy Easter everyone! Elizabeth Ravenscroft

Fusion Theatre Company are rehearsing for their GCSE Unit 3 Examination Performances Over the last 4 months Year 11 Drama students have being studying Unit 3 of their Drama course which involves adapting a script. With the class split into 4 groups, 4 scripts were assigned. The plays were all very different, with a play about boxing, a play about convicts, a play about looking back on the memories of your friends and a play about

depression. For the last 4 months 2 groups every other week spent their Thursday night devising and rehearsing their play with the support of Mrs Bart-Williams and also on their own. The other two groups would rehearse on the alternate Thursday, but most of the groups chose to rehearse every Thursday to perfect their play. As the exam has grown nearer the groups have spent lots of their own time on the play to create an A* worthy performance. The groups have their exam on Wednesday 24th April and will perform to the examiner. This exam performance is also open for parents and friends to watch and enjoy. The performances start at 4.30pm in Studio 70 feel free to come along! The plays are all exciting and interesting performances and the dedication of the students will thoroughly shine through.

Drew Gregg (11) Hayley Bart-Williams

Streetdance Crew

Sam Freeman launched the Streetdance Crew for Year 7-9 students and it has been running for 2 terms now. Sam Freeman has choreographed and is currently teaching several different routines. The crew performed at Prospective Open Evening and at Showcase 2012. Many different styles have been taught. Krumping, House, Military House, Street Jazz, Lyrical Hip Hop, Hip Hop, Commercial, Funk, Locking, Popping and Breaking have all been covered and the class has taken it on with plenty of talent and enthusiasm. In November 2012, 5 boys performed a routine at Showcase, which went down very well, and we hope to perform more, in the near future.

Sam Freeman (11) Natalie Maher

PRODUCTIONS REPORT

The Sixth Form Production: A2 Devised Pieces for Unit 3, Wednesday 16th January 2013

‘Quite’-A Berkovian extraordinaire! I was thoroughly impressed with the witty humour, comic timing and general storyline of the play. ‘Quite,’ established an interesting take on the relationships of two married couples, all longing to get away from their lives. It made me laugh with all the humour of a Berkoff styled play as well as touching a nerve with the more serious scenes! I could easily watch it again and again and wouldn’t be surprised if ‘Quite,’ becomes a famous show, the standard was that high!

‘The Staff Room’ was an incredibly clever masterpiece, with a fantastic gripping story line which left the audience in suspense. The piece had exsquisite movement sequences which were almost magically in-sync with the music. The piece had clearly been throuroughly thought through and carefully decided on; the story line of this play really stood out for me due to the detective-esque theme throughout, and the fantastically talented and versitile actors involved. The piece was slick and perfectly in time; the use of special effects, such as recorded sounds entranced and involved the audience, enabling the enjoyment to be of an awe. Overall, it was a brilliant piece and kept the audience guessing through their clever story line, and with frequent dark humour, reflected the actor's talents.

‘Claustrophobia’ had a spine-tingling opening scene was definitely one that entranced me in from the second it started. The pure emotion seeped through in the actor's individual performances, creating a sympathetic relationship with the actors. The piece was dark, and somewhat scary, although it was sometimes hard to understand what was going on. However, it had a fantastic movement sequence where the actors were at their desks at work which definitely bought the pace up.

‘Studio Time,’ had a very endearing style to it and touched a nerve that will stay with me for a while! The characters were all completely three dimensional and the storyline itself was very clever and clear. Characters were each completely different which made for an interesting encounter and a more captivating experience for the audience. The mixture of music incorporated, along with the emotion of the acting made for a higher impact overall.

Lucy Cowell (12) Issy Bright (12) Natalie Maher/ Elizabeth Ravenscroft.

Trips

Goodnight Mister Tom Wednesday 23rd January Phoenix Theatre

On Wednesday 23rd January as small group of sixth form students, along with Mr Harris and Mrs Maher, went to the Phoenix Theatre in London to see a production of goodnight Mr Tom that starred, year eight, Will Price as excitable Zack. The tale is based in World War I and tells the story of an evacuee, looked after by Mr Thomas Oakley, called William Beech. He had no friends in the city however, when he met Zack, another evacuee, he finds a friend in the country. Zack talks to William about EVERYTHING! And his confident character was light relief from the serious nature of the story line. Sadly, Will’s character was killed off as he got hit by a bomb at the train station on his way back to London and his death brought a tear to everyone’s eye. As we all sat right at the front we were able to see how incredible all the action on stage was. After the performance we were able to meet Will and his co-star at the stage door to congratulate them on their performances. We all enjoyed the performance, not only of Will, but of the rest of the cast, and the trip as a whole with each other. Thanks to Mrs Maher for organising and Mr Harris for transporting us in the mini bus.

Meghann Cooke (12)

Julius Caesar – Donmar Warehouse A2 theatre trip, Thursday 24th January 2013 On Thursday 24th January, the A2 Theatre studies students, led by Mrs Maher and Mrs Ravenscroft, embarked on a trip to the Donmar Warehouse to see Phylldia Lloyd’s production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, a tale of revenge and loyalty. This was the second of two trips in connection with our A2 Unit 4 exam, where we have to compare how a Shakespeare play would’ve been performed in Elizabethan times, and a modern production today. We had previously been taken by Mrs Maher to Shakespeare’s Globe in December, where we had participated in a tour of the theatre and a workshop to get a feeling of how Shakespeare’s plays would’ve been performed 400 years ago.

The production starred an all-female cast, headed by Dame Harriet Walter as Brutus and Frances Barber as Caesar, and the traditional setting of Ancient Rome was replaced with a dark and dingy women’s prison. The play itself was a play within a play; the actors would be playing prisoners who were playing the characters of the play, an unusual test that many of us didn’t realize until halfway through the performance. After the performance, a brief question and answer session was held with the Phylldia Lloyd, the director, and a number of the actors, including Cush Jumbo who played Mark Antony, one of the lead roles. The production prompted large amounts of debate between us, dividing opinion, which will be very useful in the exam when we will have to compare and contrast the

21 production with the original performance conditions of Julius Caesar in Elizabethan theatre. Thanks must go to Mrs Maher for organising the trip and Mrs Ravenscroft for attending.

Jack Stevens Yr 13

Warhorse, New London Theatre , GCSE Year 9 trip Monday 11th March 2013

On the 11th March 2013 our GCSE drama group of 22 Year 9 students went to see Warhorse with 2 teachers, Mrs Maher and Mr Pell-Ilderton. We set of on the coach at 3:45pm having got changed in the few minutes beforehand. We waited for the coach in the banjo with our ‘packed teas’ in hand and our school bags slung around us. The coach journey was the best of 1 1/4 hours, infact Mrs Maher said it was the quickest theatre trip coach journey ever and a record! It also left us enough time to be able to stop and have a McDonalds, which we were all starving for. When everyone was finished we swiftly walked to the theatre. As we arrived there we all stood outside and got handed our tickets to sit together in 3s. We heaved our way up all the tedious stairways, but alas it was worth it, for when we got to the top of all the stairs, dozens of seats awaited us. As we searched around glancing at our tickets occasionally looking desperately for our seats we all noticed on the stage there was what looked like a large rip from a book in the middle of the stage, that had pictures and animations projected on to it. As we all sat down we waited for only a couple of minutes and then a solitary actor came on to the stage and the production started. The production was a visual spectacle. The manipulation of the puppets was mesmorising and we were blown away by te magic of theatre. After the production was finished we were all shattered as it had ended around 10:30pm and we all knew what was ahead, a long coach journey, and writing notes about the production, which is one of the most important parts of a trip like this one. As we got back to school it was around 11:30pm and we got of the coach one by one and led single file into each of our carers cars, for we knew we were in for a deep sleep tonight. Thank you to Mrs Maher for organising and for giving us this opportunity.

Albie Barnardo (9)

Workshops

Professional Practitioner Workshop Jesse Fox Actor, Tuesday 8th January 2013 It was a great pleasure for me to invite an ex-student of mine from my previous school who has recently graduated from Central School Of Speech and Drama to come and speak to all our AS and A2 Theatre and Drama Studies students aboot life after sixth form, Drama at University and Drama School and what it is like to be a jobbing actor. It made me feel incredibly proud but also quite old!

Natalie Maher

On Tuesday 8th January, Mrs Maher invited an ex-student from County High, Jesse Fox who spoke to a group of Year 12 and 13 drama students about his experience of Drama School and of pursuing a career as an actor. For those looking to keep their theatrical interests solely to the confines of A-level, he spoke more generally about university experiences and leaving home, whilst offering insight into life with newfound independence and freedom. What was particularly useful, however, was information regarding the distinctions between studying drama at university and the more practical based courses at Drama school; helpful for those applying to courses this coming year. Likewise, the Year 13 students planning on continuing with drama could take away a greater understanding of the varied audition and interview processes for each, and form an awareness of what to expect when the time comes around. Jesse Has just appeared in a television episode of Midsomer Murders on ITV1.

Katty Cowles (13)

Professional Practitioner Donmar Warehouse Julius Caesar Workshop, Thursday 31st January

A week later, on the 31st January, the A2 Theatre Studies students took part in a workshop led by Sam Maynard, a member of the Donmar Warehouse’s education team. The first part of the session was a discussion on the production and some of the context around the play, including a crash course on Roman history at the time and any questions we had on the production were skilfully answered by Sam. The second half was a workshop where some of the rehearsal techniques for the performance were taught to us, and we also focused on performing short extracts from Mark Antony’s famous “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” speech. The workshop helped to expand on our understanding on the production by answering burning questions that many of us had and expanding on some of the rehearsal techniques used in the production, therefore giving us a wider range of knowledge that will undoubtedly be of great use to us in our exam. Thanks to Mrs Maher for organising this creative and educational experience and opportunity for us.

Jack Stevens (13)

A2 Revision Workshop with Melissa Jones leading examiner, Wednesday 27th March 2013 She is a leading examiner for Edexcel AS & A Level Drama and Theatre Studies. Her publications include Revision Express: AS and A2 Drama and Teaching Drama 11-18, Edexcel GCSE Drama Student Book. Melissa has over 30 years experience of teaching Drama. The revision workshop will look at the Unit 4 examination and will focus on Sections A, B and C. Melissa will look at exam technique and take students through some examination questions with the mark schemes and some previous student answer papers. Natalie Maher

GCSE and AS Practical Workshop with Frantic Assembly, Thursday 28th March 2013 Frantic Assembly are hosting workshops for GCSE & AS students. This is excellent preparation for exams and performance skills; helping students to work confidently towards the Edexcel objectives in their assessed performances. The workshop will run in School Hall for two hours to meet and work with the practitioner from Frantic Assembly.

Hayley Bart-Williams

Auditions

National Youth Theatre and National Youth Music Theatre Auditions

This term saw three TBSHS students audition for the National Youth Theatre. This involves travelling to London and spending the day in a workshop run by some of the most qualified acting coaches in the company before performing a monologue to one of the workshop leaders. Meghan Ridout, Ryan Probyn and Tommy Tancock all braved this process, Tommy Tancock calling it “an eye opening and uplifting experience”. Whilst the day tested the auditionees’ nerves, it gave them an opportunity to meet people from all over the country who share your love for acting,

Meghan Ridout saying “I particularly enjoyed being amongst people like me - people who weren't shy and who just wanted to have fun doing what they loved”. We eagerly await the results.

In February, we had two students apply for National Youth Music Theatre. The audition process itself, again running both a workshop and individual audition, is an invaluable experience and enjoyable day extending your acting, singing and dancing skills beyond the curriculum. Lucy Cowell beautifully sang ‘Wish you were somehow here again’ from Phantom of the Opera and Issy Bright impressed by singing ‘You don't know this man’ from Parade, receiving a call back. Robin Franklin, who joined NYMT last year, auditioned for their 2013 production The Other School. He secured the role of “Barney”. The production is adapted from a book by Dominic Marsh and Dougal Irvine, whose first musical was nominated for Best New Music at the 2011 WhatsOnStage Awards. This is a very impressive feat and we would like to congratulate Robin on this prestigious achievement.

Lily Boulter (12)

Thank you to Lily Boulter who is a member of the National Youth Theatre and has been helping in the audition workshop sessions. Natalie Maher.

Wall of Fame

Professional Success!!

The following TBSHS students have auditioned for and got parts in professional shows and are currently performing in:

West End Theatre

Austin Moulton (Year 8)

From July to October Austin was performing in Richard III at The Globe Theatre, London playing the part of Edward Prince of Wales. He was performing alongside Mark Rylance and Roger Lloyd Pack (Trigger from Only Fools and Horses). I thoroughly enjoyed watching him on stage and felt so proud of his achievement. It was great to meet him at the stage door after the show and chat to him and other members of the cast about his role and the production.

The production transferred to The Apollo Theatre where he continued to perform this extended run of the show. John Pearson-Philips went to see him and had the pleasure of watching the production from the theatre box. Natalie Maher

William Price (Year 8)

Will has fought off fierce competition from hundreds of boys to land the role of Zack in the new West End Production of ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’ at the Phoenix Theatre, Charing Cross. The show previewed in November and continues until the end of January. Will is also joining the cast for the UK tour from February till April from Brighton to Glasgow!

Congratulations on getting your agent! In the next Mitre you can read his show journal and interviews that he did with the cast whilst on National tour. See the write up of the trip we organised to go and see Will in the West End.

Television/ Radio/ Film

Jack Boulter (Year 8) Most recently Jack has been in the recording studios at BBC Radio 2 for a series of plays called ‘The New Circles of Mystery in The Parable of The Sower’.

In October Jack filmed a pilot for a new BBC2 TV drama called Home Office.

Other Theatre

Robin Franklin (Year 11) National Youth Music Theatre. He has received the role of "Barney" in The Other School Commissioned by the prestigious NYMT for 2013 New Musical Book by Dominic Marsh and Dougal Irvine. Music and Lyrics by Dougal Irvine Performances: 14-17 August 2013 at St James Theatre, London A brother and sister get off at the wrong bus stop and end up at The Other School - a place where the teachers are dead keen on keeping you in education! Dougal Irvine: Dougal’s first musical, Departure Lounge won the MTM award for Best Music at the Edinburgh Festival and was nominated for Best New Musical at the 2011 WhatsOnStage Awards. Dougal was also bookwriter/lyricist/composer for In Touch which ran at Trafalgar Studios as part of Perfect Pitch, and then at the Pleasance, Edinburgh 2010. He was lyricist for the recent smash hit Britain’s Got Bhangra (Stratford East/Rifco Arts-TMA Award Nomination). He was also composer/music director for The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Comedy of Errors (Changeling Theatre/Hazlitt Arts Centre). Songs by Dougal have featured at three WhatsonStage award winners concerts.

The Boyfriend at Rhodes Arts, Thursday 14th March- Saturday 16th March 2013

The following students are performing in this musical : Tom

Dickerson(12), , Alex Stevens (11) Rob Connor(12) Josh Queeney(12)

Ben Graseman(8) Sam Couzens(8), Matthew Smith(9) Arriyan Wells(9) Nick Wood(9)

Oliver! The Dunmow Players Musical Theatre Company Samantha Keys (13) played Nancy.

Ancient Grease! Class Act Theatre School (CATS) Victoria Hall Theatre in Old Harlow 21st- 23rd March Mitchell Birse (10) is performing in a spoof musical of Grease set in Ancient Greece.

We are very proud of all their achievements. Break a leg! Mrs Maher

COMING UP…

GCSE Examination Performances – Wednesday 24th April at 4.30pm in Studio 70. Feel free to come and watch

6th Form Productions AS Examination Perfromances, Season’s Greetings and Monologue and Duologue evening Thursday 9th May at 6pm in Studio 70

Feel free to come and watch

5th Anglo Dutch International Drama Festival, Wednesday 5th June and Thursday 6th June 2013. Our Year 9 GCSE Drama Group will collaborate with British and Dutch schools to create exciting theatre performance work.

Lysistrata Theatre Trip , Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, th Wednesday 20 March

Another A2 theatre trip this time to see a new musical version of this Ancient Greek Comedy by Aristophanes by Theatre Lab Company and directed by Anastasia Revi. In her production she states “There's no solution to the Euro crisis ... riots, marches, what next? Lysistrata and the women of Europe refuse the one thing men can't do without - sex. A hilarious, naughty musical adaptation of Aristophanes' comedy set against the backdrop of the European crisis.” Following their enormously successful productions of Sophocles’ Antigone and Aeschylus’ The Oresteia at Riverside Studios, Theatre Lab Company are returning in 2013 with their new production of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata. Lysistrata is the set text for the A2 written exam for Edexcel Theatre Studies worth 60% of the A2 year. Thanks to Mr Harris for being the designated mini-bus driver.

Natalie Maher

The Humanities Faculty

. The Head of Faculty report – Term 2 2012-13

February was a busy month for The Humanities Faculty. At half-term History students and staff braved a frozen Russia, whilst I enjoyed a cold but enjoyable week in Austria on the ski trip. Meanwhile, Mr Solomons (Head of Politics) found himself in New York with Economics and Politics students. On the final day of the break Miss Winterburn and Miss Glaisher headed off to Flatford Mill in Suffolk to guide 28 AS Geography students through human and physical geography fieldwork studies. Speakers who have visited the school this term have included David Dein, Professor A.C. Grayling (Citizenship), Dr Sarah Stockwell and Richard Knight (History). A jam-packed (and cold) term during which the staff of The Humanities Faculty have worked exceptionally hard to give students lots of opportunities to flourish outside of normal classrooms.

Jonathan Griffiths

Head of The Humanities Faculty

Religious Studies and Citizenship Report: Easter 2013

Consider the diagram on the left:

In this area, as with other subjects, we are seeking, based on educational research and timeless truths about learning from Socrates onwards, to develop student leadership and participation in, and ownership of, lessons. The players, the students, play the game, and pass to each other, whilst the coach, the teacher, intervenes to guide, nurture, structure, enthuse, probe and quality control. We saw this model recently in House Football whilst the leadership of Barney Thorp, Rosie Brookes, Ben Markham in Interact and Toby Newman and Lizzie House with Showcase has been outstanding. Guest speakers recently David Dein and Professor A.C. Grayling enjoyed visiting our School because of the interaction with the students. In this subject we have always said that a student often makes a point or produces work that offers a fresh insight into the human condition. “Teaching teacheth the teacher”. Professor Grayling learns from his students. Learning is dialectic. It is good to hear at recent Parents Evenings that this moral discussion continues away from the classroom into the Home. It is our job as staff to guide this process and there is no finer example than Brian Edwards’ work with Interact and Rotary. We are aiming to further develop a culture where students see the classroom as their own and reveal independent learning inside and outside class. Year 9 students have been particularly impressive in this regard when debating with the charismatic and caring Mr. O’Connell or setting up Comic Relief (see the baked bean event above) and Passion Play Events with myself. Year 7 and 8 projects about Buddhism (Devin Andrew brought in a leaf from the Bodhi Tree –see above) and Hinduism were engaging. The key to higher levels from Years 7-13 is analysis. We do not just describe the “language game” of religion and life, we analyse it with empathy and reflection. Students will have the opportunity to receive direct contact with such religions next term. We will be looking for Year 10 Religious Studies students to play a leadership role in the Summer Term. Ion Citizenship classes, students discuss and debate political and current affairs as well as moral issues. It is important that students are alive and awake to the world and that we work together to nurture its stewardship and growth. Cultivating and nurturing independent and resilient learning is important with examination classes. Students will sit the papers on their own for a place at College/University/Employment where they will need to show initiative. The teacher structures and plans learning through revision e-mails, revision booklets, past paper analysis and different materials to suit different ways of working. The AS examinations for this subject fall on 13th May, the A2 examinations on the 6th June and the GCSE examinations on 21st May (re-take) and 14th June respectively. Students are expected to know, understand and evaluate; Feminist Theology, Theology of Religions, Life After Death, Miracles, Religious Language and Religious Experiences (for A2), Classical Arguments For and Against God’s Existence from nature, the cosmos, morality, the meaning of God, science, psychology and evil (for AS) and Christian and Muslim views on Abortion, Euthanasia, Marriage, Divorce, Sexual Ethics, War, Crime, Environment, Poverty, Racism, Sexism and Drugs. It is important that students read and learn the revision resources prepared for them, make their own revision resources so the memorisation can improve and analyse past paper questions. Revision resources will be either e-mailed or posted or both. A key document is the Mark Scheme (provided for the students) for this provides clear and succinct explanations. A legendary speaker and good citizen from the local area, the late Mike Jackson, used to stay revision was about repetition – we learn something today, go over it tomorrow and then again in a couple of days and further still next week and next month. Students are advised by Mr. Capewell to spend 20 hours

30 per A2 subject, 15 hours per AS subject and 7 hours per GCSE in total through the Easter vacation. If students can do this, it gives us a fantastic platform for the Summer and beyond. When we return, examination classes will be engaged in past paper examination conditions training and the opportunity to hear from outside speakers to add depth. We look forward to next term. If any parents or students have any suggestions for topics, speakers or points for improvement, please e-mail me. Recent Government initiatives aim to utilise the expertise of parents and students and the door is always open in Religious Studies and Citizenship to this engagement. The Home is pivotal. The message I always give students in class is they owe the people that provide food on the table and a roof over their head and academic effort is one way in which this can be shown. The final scene in the film “Saving Private Ryan” gives meaning; we try to give to others as we have been given to ourselves.

Easter is a time for reflection and rest in the (rather chilly) Spring. The Christian reflects on the story of sacrifice, love, reconciliation, hope and new life of God through Jesus. In Judaism, the story of Passover is remembered where the Jews were liberated by God from oppression and journeyed to a land of milk and honey. Other people will prefer to reflect on the end of one financial year, or one sports season, and the preparations and lessons learnt for the next. I wish you and your homes a wonderful next two weeks.

With every good wish Simon Etheridge

History Department News

Russia Trip, February 2013

On 14th February we set off from school at 4am, a very dazed but excited group, headed to Heathrow accompanied by Mrs Clarke, Mr Dickens and Ms McDougall, our thermals packed and ready for a week in Russia. After following the usual airport procedures, without too much trouble- only a few people being searched- we made our way to duty free to grab some breakfast before boarding the plane. I personally can’t comment on the plane journey, which was a conveniently short four hours, as I was catching up on some sorely missed sleep, but we arrived safely in Moscow to be met by our tour guide Natasha- and to our surprise it wasn’t as cold as we’d been warned (only around -5/6C). After travelling to Hotel Cosmos to drop off our bags, we headed down to dinner, which wasn’t to everyone’s tastes, but it was good to have a sit- down as these moments would be extremely rare in the week to come. We then headed out on our first Russian adventure that evening to the Metro which was reasonably similar to the London underground, but a lot more lavish and efficient as the trains came every 30 seconds. Our trip was made a bit more interesting as our carriage was filled with rather scary, enthusiastic, singing and dancing, Russian football fans. We arrived at Red Square, which was a beautiful first experience of Moscow and we listened to talks from the teachers about the history of the square before escaping to McDonalds where ordering didn’t prove to be the easiest thing in the world.

We met day two with another early start before heading out to do some sight-seeing, and we made the most out of the novelty of snow by sliding down icy hills- people falling over didn’t get any less funny as the week went on. We travelled to a convent in Moscow where Natasha took us around and told us about various iconic figures in Russian history. We saw the graves of people like Chekhov, Shostakovich, Khrushchev and Yeltsin. We then went to the opening of the city’s first pair of panoramic binoculars and some of us were interviewed for Russian TV - the most famous quote coming from Dave Garwood ‘’they make a great addition to the city’’. With many people’s photograph count getting into triple figures by this time already, we went back for a quick dinner and then went to the Ice Hockey match. The Czech Republic thrashed Russia 2-1 but that didn’t stop the supporters cheering wildly, screaming something we understood as ‘’we love sparta’’.

Although the fatigue was already hitting us by Saturday, we had begun to learn how to quickly nap on the coach. We had a day full of action prepared! It was time for us to see the contemporary history museum which proved to provide us with invaluable information relevant to our course, although it was noted that not many people could keep on their feet by the end of the tour! After a lunch (which for the majority of the party was KFC), we had a guided tour of the Cathedral of

Christ the Saviour. Not only was this stunning, but as being built to credit the courage of the Russian people in 1812, it held so much history inside. The views from this cathedral were magical, as all of Moscow was shown 105 metres below us. After dinner, a night-time stroll of the park of economic achievement was spectacular in Moscow’s night- time: although we weren’t expecting a ski jump to be set up opposite our hotel. This also proved to be interesting as we looked at the height in horror!

The Kremlin and Armoury Tour the next morning was unbelievable. Truly breath-taking (as well as cold) the Kremlin looked magnificent and the scenery absolutely beautiful, Chad choosing to show his appreciation by sledding down the hill. We stared, amazed, at the cathedrals inside the Kremlin which were decorated so intricately it was shocking where to look! After lunch – another KFC – and shopping, it was time to go to the Tretyakov Art Gallery. This was seen as being one of the highlights in Moscow. Not only were there seats, but the paintings were glorious, and some really depicted early 20th century Russia. We went back to the hotel for one last meal and then it was out – bowling! This itself proved a challenge because – horror of horror – the barriers were down. Alice herself sent a personal best of getting 46 after only one game! On the other hand, Jemma managed to set the record for the lowest score at 6, much to her team’s anguish. Yet the excitement of the overnight train seemed to set its toll on us all, because after a quick stop off at Red Square for one last time, there were various piggyback races which included some people being dropped (Pat)!

We arrived at Moscow’s train station, ready for our next destination – St Petersburg! Having heard rumours of how small the carriages were, we weren't disappointed with the suitcases in the girls' rooms taking up the floor and bursting out the 'room'. Despite this, our exhaustion led to a full night's sleep and eight hours later, we awoke in St Peterburg, Petrograd as it was called in Bolshevik time.

Our first day in St Petersburg didn’t disappoint either, although we did spend the whole day feeling like we were bobbing up and down. Having had the first acceptable breakfast since we arrived and the excitement of this food, we visited the Smolny Institute. For many, this was the point in which our course came to life. This very special building, made even more picturesque by the falling snow, housed the Bolsheviks when they declared power in 1917, so significant to the rich history. We then travelled to an equally significant place- the Tauride Palace. Mrs Clark's called the palace 'the birthplace and death place of democracy in Russia' because it opened to the Constituent Assembly for one day before the Bolsheviks dissolved it. Not only does it act as a symbol in this way but it was fundamental to the dual authority. The Soviet was housed in the left wing of the Tauride palace and the provisional government ministers in the right. This brought to life a comical story described by Orlando Figes where Kerensky, the only member of both authorities, ran from either side of the building to negotiate

The rest of our day was even more impressive, not that we thought this possible by the sights we had already seen. St Isaacs Cathedral was a highlight of the trip for many in its beauty and magnitude. The arm span of the painting of the outstretched Lord on the doomed ceiling was in fact 100 metres, a surprising fact remembered by all, and inside was a perfect wooden replica of the building made without any glue! That night we walked along Nevsky Prospect, the street that played 33

a key role in Russia history in 1905 and 1917 and where the most famous names we have learnt about once walked. The teachers’ talks were so interesting that we picked up a Santa lookalike along the way! The street was lit up and a Mr Dickens’ special long walk culminated in the viewing of the Winter Palace at night. The sobering recollection of the events of Bloody Sunday meant this iconic and memorable image will remain with us forever.

Tuesday began with a visit of the political history museum, where Lenin notoriously gave his pathetic speech from in the July Days crisis. We were able to see his balcony, look out the window and explore the building of the Bolsheviks at a time when their power was being challenged. The next visit provided some light entertainment, boarding the battle ship Aurora. The cannon on this ship was where the blank shot was fired from in the October Revolution, a symbol of Bolshevik takeover. Our tour guide was a particular favourite of the group with her passion for the ship’s mechanics and her sneaking us into the Captain’s dining room but above all her impressive photobombing skills. The Yusupov Palace was our final stop before our evening outing. This was a palace owned by one of the wealthiest families at the beginning of 20th century Russia, show in the décor. The family’s personal golden theatre especially stood out. However Felix Yusupov and this palace’s legacy is as the place of Rasputin’s murder. We were guided into the basement of the palace to see the Rasputin exhibition, which housed some very realistic looking wax works.

That evening we had a lovely dinner in a small restaurant that we managed to fill before heading off to the ballet, despite Mr Dickens only giving us 10 minutes to get ready and there being one toilet that the boys took over. At the Marinsky Theatre, we had the chance to see Giselle. Though sitting down for longer than 10 minutes usually resulted in everyone falling asleep, most were able to stay awake and we all were stunned by the dancers’ level of skill.

On Wednesday 20th February, we all gathered in the hotel lobby bright eyed and bushy tailed (or so Mr Dickens was at least!) in order to travel to the Piskariovskoye Memorial Cemetery, a resting place for all those, soldiers and civilians who lost their lives as a result of the devastating seizure of Leningrad by the Nazis, lasting 900 days. It is estimated that around 500,000 people are buried in this single cemetery, although there is not an exact number due to the sheer mass of loss across the 2 and a half years. This meant that it was nearly impossible for the people of Petrograd to bury their fellow civilians individually – therefore when we arrived at the place of rest, we were taken aback by the sheer size and number of mass graves that stood before us, all covered with around 12 inches of snow. A wave of silence swept over our entire group, as every walked slowly between the graves towards the granite wall at the back, engraved on which is a poem written by Ogla Berggolts. As Mrs Clarke translated it to us, many of us were left in tears as a result of the complete tragedy that was marked by this beautiful area.

After lunch, we were taken to the famous Hermitage Museum in the Winter Palace, where we were given an amazing guided tour of the various rooms, including the throne room, and the meeting room where the Provisional Government hid as they were under attack from the Bolsheviks. We were utterly stunned not only by the sheer size of the palace, but also the furnishings of the rooms, including gold leaf, ruby, turquoise and malachite were among the many precious stones that could be found throughout. Perhaps the most impressive thing within the hermitage, aside from the chandeliers that were bigger than most cars, were the astonishing number of paintings that the Romanov’s had collected over the 300 years of their reign, including two Da Vinci’s and many Renbrandts. After a long day, we continued onto the Russian folklore show, where we were entertained by singers, traditional Russian dancing and music. One member of our group, Brennan, was selected to accompany the women on stage and even got a cheeky peck on the cheek from his partner! Once the show was over, we were then treated to a three course meal in the palace, before heading back to the hotel. In the hotel bar, we all took the time to reminisce on the past seven days that we had spent in Russia.

Our final day arrived, but we were assured that we shouldn’t worry, there was still another full day of activities awaiting us before boarding our flight home. We headed off to the Peter and Paul Fortress Prison, where we were given a tour around the church, cells and torture chamber. The most memorable experience there however, was stepping onto the frozen river Neva, however some lost their nerve as the idea of pure ice separating them from the water of the biggest river in St Petersburg was a bit too much to handle! Our final activity of our trip was visiting the beautiful Tsarskoye Selo. The summer palace of Tsar Nicholas II in the countryside, followed by Catherine the Great’s stunning palaces. However our attention soon diverged towards a snowball fight, instigated by Mr Dickens, soon backed up by Miss McDougall. For around an hour all that could be seen in front of the sky blue palaces were snowballs flying left right and centre and both students and teachers wrestling each other to the floor. We then clambered onto the coach again, numb handed and red faced, to begin our journey towards St Petersburg Pulkovo airport. After managing to spend every last rouble in the duty free at the airport, the group of 36 TBSHS Russia 2013 departed for home, after one of the most exciting, amazing, insightful and jam-packed trips we have ever experienced. Thank you to everyone involved, it truly was a once in a life-time adventure.

By Scarlett Stock, Alice Leadon, Lily Boulter and Emily Steward

TBSHS History on TV

TBSHS History Students being interviewed for Russian TV about their experiences in Moscow can be found at the following link: http://tv-mix.ru/ru/watch/BINOKL4-11

Dr Sarah Stockwell Lecture

TBSHS History were delighted to welcome Dr Sarah Stockwell from King's College London to the school on Tuesday 19th March. She gave a fascinating lecture on the different Historiographical Interpretations of the Collapse of the British Empire, allowing students to compare the different metropolitan, strategic and peripheral factors which influenced the decline of European Imperialsm.

Richard Knight - Khaki on Campaign

Old boy and WWI enthusiast, Richard Knight visited the school again on Wednesday 20th March to speak to Year 8 students. Along with his extensive collection of WWI memorabilia, Mr (or Corporal) Knight took students on a journey through what it was like to be a soldier on the Western Front. The students will always remember some of the more graphic insights into trench warfare!

History Department Easter Revision Sessions Timetable -

Year 13 - Tuesday 2nd April - Empire Module - Sixth Form Cetnre 9.30 - 3.30 Year 11 - Wednesday 3rd April - History of Medicine - Details to follow Year 12 - Thursday 11th April - British Radicalism - Sixth Form Centre 9.30 - 3.30

Published Work

Congratulations to Miss McDougall who has recently had an article published in Teaching History Magazine. Based around a scheme of work looking at Stephen, Matilda and "The Anarchy", it discussed why this topc is a largely untaught episode in British history and yet can reveal much about Medieval monarchy and beliefs.

Cambridge Wordfest http://www.cambridgewordfest.co.uk/festivals/spring

The department is taking some more students to the Cambridge Wordfest lecture series over the Easter Holiday - with students having the opportunity to listen to author Kevin Crossley Holland and academic Antony Beevor.

I highly recomment having a look at the programme which can be found on the link above - it offers a great range of speakers and opportunities for young people to hear experts on a variety of different subjects.

History Department Blog

More History Department news can be found at www.tbshshistory.blogspot.co.uk

Geography Fieldwork, Flatford Mill

Our visit to the Flatford Mill Field Studies Centre promised to be a packed, yet enjoyable educational visit. The aim of the trip was to return prepared for our Geographical Skills exam in May, which was successfully achieved. With the help of Helena, our FSC tutor and an Edexcel examiner, we got a unique insight into our course.

For many of us, what we were learning was new therefore our knowledge was quite basic. We arrived at the study centre not knowing what to expect. Some of us were bunking up in an 8 bed dormitory like an old English school and others stayed in the Grade One listed Valley Farm. Will and Lewis managed to secure themselves a double bedroom, taking their public romantic status to the next level! The grounds were particularly beautiful, due to being part of the national heritage trust. However, despite first intentions, our schedule defeated any chances of early morning runs in the countryside, instead most of us struggled to make the 8:15 breakfast call!

Our first day in the classroom was spent introducing us to Walton on the Naze, an example of coastal management in North East Essex. Later we departed to the coast itself and we soldiered through the cold weather as a team, collecting the necessary data, although we lost a few men on the way. We used various quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the management techniques and contrasts between the managed and unmanaged sections of the beach. These included bipolar surveys, beach height changes using a theodolite and infiltration rates. That evening, after much needed showers (and the boys completing their conditioning and hair drying routines), we ate a hearty chicken casserole and got down to analyzing and evaluating our data and practicing exam questions.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed on Tuesday, we started the second section of our crowded coast course whilst celebrating Bertie’s birthday. This involved visiting the delightful town of Harwich. Whilst at first mildly perturbed, we worked on our task of collecting data for our environmental impact assessments of the area as well as the SWOT analysis. We carried out interviews in Harwich town centre to collect qualitative data of the populations’ opinions on the Bathside Bay development project, which plans to create a new port but also destroy valuable salt marsh land. After collecting the data we headed back to the fieldwork centre to discuss our findings. Our journey back gave James Fortune enough time to take a rather loud nap on the bus, which rightly amused the other passengers who took the opportunity to take a few pictures! Interestingly we found a two way split in the residents' opinions. This left our results and conclusions split causing some healthy debate over birthday cake to conclude our Crowded Coasts section of the course.

Wednesday morning was spent introducing us to the second half of our course, rebranding places. We learnt about Suffolk's new image as the ‘greenest county’ and how they have set about achieving this. To investigate this we travelled to Suffolk Food Hall and Hadleigh's Partridges Farm Shop - two products of the scheme. Apart from the delicious local food, and a quick jump on the bouncing pillow at Suffolk Food Hall, much to the residents’ amusement, we discovered that the push for local produce was 37

not fully supported by the local people. We concluded that the rebranding of local people’s attitudes is needed to make the scheme a success.

Our last day was spent in Ipswich studying urban rebranding around the docks. This was particularly interesting to compare to the previous day’s work on rural rebranding. At the docks, we carried out questionnaires to give us a insight into the locals opinions on the development. Some interesting members of the public were questioned, one of whom was overly passionate and scared a few students (Will) with her wild, rabid dog. To explore further we carried out a sound quality survey, an environmental quality index and character profiling. This showed, whilst Ipswich has undergone significant development, there are areas that are unfinished or lack rebranding completely. We managed to complete the day and gain credible results despite a certain group spending 20 minutes sitting in a cafe before setting off to do any fieldwork.

We would like to thank the teachers for this invaluable experience, which will hopefully allow us to gain the best marks possible in our exam.

Lily Boulter and Steph Murphy

Ski Trip 2013 – Wagrain, Austria

Snow, mountains, great scenery and lots of fun – it can only be the ski trip!

On Friday 15th February 42 students and 7 staff departed from TBSHS to snowy Austria. We set off at 2.00pm on Friday and arrived at 10.30am on Saturday – a relatively smooth trip with no hold-ups! We sorted out our skis and boots for the week and then students and staff went for lunch at the Kuhstall (cowshed!) – the nearest mountain restaurant. In the afternoon we relaxed at the Wasserwelt swimming baths, in which the students enjoyed the outdoor swimming pool, slides and Jacuzzi. In the evening the quiz provoked controversy as Mrs Ravenscroft found herself in the winning team. ‘Unfair advantage’, said the students, ‘agreed’ said the judges. Miss Smith and her team were not happy!

Sunday was the first day of skiing. Students were placed in groups according to ability, the two intermediate and one advanced group headed to the top of the slopes to see if they remembered how to ski, whilst the two beginner groups stayed on the nursery slopes all day, learning to snowplough with a degree of control. Birthday girl, Charlotte Hill, decided to miss out the snowplough stage as she seemed to have a ‘need for speed’! We celebrated her birthday in the evening with a firework-topped cake.

Five more days of skiing followed, with super snow conditions. The weather was variable enough (-110C on Thursday and Friday) for the students to be able to appreciate that the mountains are a dangerous place to be, something not always experienced when the sun is shining! The students made good progress during the week, none more so than Emma Langley-Jones, who was awarded ‘the most improved skier’ on the presentation evening. Mr Capewell spent much time videoing students skiing with his headcam. Every night the footage was played so students could see how they skied and how they fell! At the start of the presentation evening, we were able to show 15 minutes of edited highlights, which we all really enjoyed. Other top awards of the week went to Polly Banks (Top Tourist), Dan Barrington (Best Skier) and Sam Gale (Mountain Rescue).

I was impressed with the positive attitude of the students towards physical exercise (6 days of skiing for 5 hours per day!) and the good manners they showed at meal times. They really were a pleasure to be with!

During February half-term of 2014, we will be spending the week in Wagrain, but staying at the Striedlhof. The trip is fully booked with

50 current Y7 and 8 students. I will be advertising the 2015 trip (Y8 to 13) this September!

The Maths and Computing Faculty

Maths, Computer Science and Business Education Report

With the exam season nearly upon all departments in the Faculty are working hard preparing students for the stressful time ahead.

Mr Boxall and his Maths team are hoping for results at GCSE above the excellent results of last year and are busy preparing Easter GCSE revision sessions with A level revision and exam ‘warm up’ sessions starting at the start of next term. Lunchtime drop-in maths clinics for all students are also in full swing at on Thursday lunchtimes at 1:20.

In the annual Maths challenge run by Ms Parek, 56 students were entered in the Intermediate challenge and 59 the Senior. Once again students achieved outstanding results with Monty Gould achieving the best in school score of 105 which takes him into the Maths Challenge Olympiad.

Credit must also be paid to Mr Chahil for giving up two lunchtimes each week to support the 23 year 11 students looking to complete AS Mathematics a year early.

Tom Kitchen in year 13 has received an offer from Queens College Cambridge to read Mathematics and has already achieved an A* at A level a year early. He just needs an A* in Further Maths, A’s in Physics and Chemistry and then two level 1’s in the university’s STEP entry papers – no pressure then! Thanks must go to Mr Fraser for all the support he has given to Tom with his application over the recent months.

It has been a busy term in the Business Education department with Mrs Parr and Mr Solomons taking 14 year 12 and 13 students to New York at half term on a combined Business Studies and Politics trip. (see report)

The ICT Department which has recently been renamed the Computer Science Department to reflect the ever changing nature of the curriculum have introduced high level Visual Basic programming into key stage 3 which is normally not introduced to the students until A Level Computing. In addition, to complement the programming aspect of the course students are being introduced to microelectronics and hardware programming via the new Arduino and Lego Mindstorm kits that have been purchased.

Mr Mullen runs a Lego club every Thursday Lunchtime in room 29 and uses Lego Mindstorm NXT kits which is an advanced form of Lego. These come with a programmable microcomputer that can handle multiple inputs and outputs and can be programmed using a PC with the appropriate software. Mindstorms can be used to build a variety of robots that can do all manner of things. When used as a learning tool it can help students work on their programming skills.

Lego club will soon be starting a robot wars challenge; this will be a competition open to the whole school. Competitors will build robots which will compete in an arena to determine which is the best based on a variety of judging criteria in a tournament format.

Arduino can be used to develop interactive objects, taking inputs from a variety of switches or sensors, and controlling a variety of lights, motors, and other physical outputs. Arduino projects can be stand-alone, or they can be used to communicate with software running on your computer. The boards can be assembled by hand or purchased preassembled.

15 Sparkfun Inventors kits have been purchased which contain the Arduino main board and a variety of other components for teaching computing and microelectronics to KS3 students. We are also investigating collaboration of teaching of microelectronics with the Science and DT departments.

This integration of microelectronics into Key Stage 3 is in line with the recent changes made to the Computer Science curriculum by the government and helps further student’s understanding of how computers work.

Steve Abbott

Head of Maths and Computing Faculty

New York and Washington D.C. Trip – Politics, Economics and Business Studies Trip 2013

The Business Studies, Economics and Politics departments planned vigorously to let students discover the amazing sights New York City, Washington D.C. and the United States as a whole had to offer so on 14th February 2013, a group of fourteen Year 12 and 13 students set off to make the exciting journey.

Arriving at our hotel at 2am the next morning, we were at first uneasy at the prospect of waking up 4 hours later to catch a coach to Washington D.C., the nation’s capital city. After a McDonalds breakfast, and the first real view of Times Square, the issues we had vanished. The 4 hour coach journey took us through the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, giving everyone a sight into what the country is like outside the dense metropolis of New York City. On our arrival in D.C., we first visited the Capitol Building, the home of the American Congress. Here we undertook a tour where we learnt about American History and Politics. Following this we made our way to the Air and Space Museum part of the world renowned Smithsonian Institute. Later on some chose to take a journey to visit the White House, it was smaller than expected, but no less impressive. As we returned back to New York, we were all excited for what the following days will bring.

On Saturday we were treated to a magnificent walking tour of Manhattan, learning the ins and outs of the island from a true New Yorker. We experienced the sights of the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, and much more! We learnt many strange and interesting facts from the tour and overall it was a great excursion, which gave all the students and teachers an insight into the mystery of NYC. That afternoon, we had our first taste of Manhattan shopping, spending extortionate amounts of money across 5th Avenue in as little as 3 hours with many more retail destinations still needing to be visited. We ended our day at Sunset at Top of the Rock, a panoramic view of Manhattan from the roof of the Rockefeller Centre. Even with the drama of Mr Solomons and myself getting lost (to the annoyance of Mrs Parr,) it was a perfect way to end our day.

We started the Sunday with a more solemn occasion, visiting the 9/11 memorial. It was an emotional experience for the group, a place of contemplation and a time to remember those fallen in the attacks. At lunch, many endured their 5th McDonalds or Burger King meal, and most likely their 15th Starbucks coffee to get everyone pumped up for the boat tour that afternoon. The bitterly cold temperatures did not put us off the magnificence of the Statue of Liberty, the signal of freedom to European immigrants up to the mid-20th century, which made a brilliant photo opportunity for the group. That night we headed to Madison Square Gardens for the big event to the American sports fans of the group. We had tickets to see the ice hockey where the New York Rangers beat the Washington

Capitals 2-1 in a game one particular super-fan, Craig Tallintire, realised a long held ambition to see the team he supports play. The win, was a perfect way to end our day.

On the Monday, after a quick visit to the Morris- Jumel mansion, the oldest house in Manhattan which was once used by George Washington as his headquarters in the American Revolution, we spent the day shopping. New York is arguably the world’s greatest place to shop, with places like Macy’s, Bloomingdales, the Apple store on 5th Avenue and so much more. Let’s just say that a large amount of money was spent by some people. As this was our last night of the trip, we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe on Times Square for a fantastic group meal. It was a great way to unwind after long day of shopping.

On Tuesday, before we flew back to London, the group devoured yet another McDonald’s breakfast and then walked to the United Nations Headquarters. Here we had a tour of the General Assembly and were given an insight into the workings of the UN. We all enjoyed the visit and it made us think about how the world has changed since the UN was born in 1945. Our final visit was to the Federal Reserve Bank, a place with more gold than Fort Knox. To be given the opportunity to visit the most influential Federal Reserve Bank in the USA was a treat for the Economics and Business Students. The Fed, as it is affectionally known, is in the heart of the financial district and many students took this opportunity see Wall Street and some of the iconic financial institutions

Overall I have to thank the teachers Mrs Parr and Mr Solomons for enduring a week with us and especially to Mrs Parr for going through the torment of losing her passport. It was a brilliant trip, as we experienced all the sights Manhattan and Washington D.C. had to offer, as well as giving everyone an insight into American Politics, Economics and Business. It really was trip a we will never forget.

Max Hill - Year 13

The Faculty of Communications

The Faculty of Communications team has had a very busy term with a range of activities taking place in and outside the classroom. This term, Communications Faculty members have focussed on tracking progress towards target levels and grades to ensure that every student fulfil their potential, we are happy to see that a vast majority of students are making good progress. However, some gaps still need to be filled in and examinations are approaching very quickly. Y11, Y12 and Y13 students will not have much time left after Easter to get on with some serious revision. It is crucial that your child makes the most of the break to get some rest but also to start revising vocabulary, and material for the last formal assessments. In English, pupils should revise the texts, quotes and notes they prepared for the English examinations. I would like to take this opportunity to make you aware that a lot of resources are accessible the Gateway in all subjects. This is a fantastic tool which can have a very positive impact on your son’s / daughter’s learning.

F. Maillard Head of Faculty of Communications.

Debating

Sixth Form

Wednesday afternoon debating has continued when exams and other events have not intervened. Newcomers, including one or two experienced debaters, have swelled our ranks and several students have been able to make their debating debuts alongside more experienced practitioners such as Will Vince, David Moss, Scarlett Stock, Alice Dutton and Kieran Follett. Perhaps the most impassioned speaking came when we decided to support the introduction of women bishops in the Church of England. Other topics for debate have included the reintroduction of the death penalty and “Technology is Destroying Society”. At the time of writing, the forthcoming debate “This House Would Arm Teachers and Prefects” is eagerly awaited! The basis of most good speeches is information to support opinions, so we have also spent a number of sessions researching debate motions rather than just debating them. This has been especially helpful to our teams in inter-school competitions such as the ESUI (see below). In the second round of the English Speaking Union Debating Competition, our team was hit by sickness at the eleventh hour. Will Vince found himself too ill to take part and Ben Markham stepped in to help out Kieran Redburn. Despite a sterling effort in debating whether all prisoners should have the vote, the team just came up short against a solid performing Haileybury team.

Year 10

The Year 10 Debating Society has grown in size and confidence as the term has continued, proving a valuable training ground for competitions such as ICYD. There have been a number of well fought debates including the rights and wrongs of fox hunting, the effects of technology on our lives and whether MPs deserve a pay rise and more than a dozen boys have taken part with strong performances from the likes of Monty Gould, Matthew Port, Callum Ross, Pascal Queeney, Will Lee, Jeremy Moulton and Kieran Allan. More debates are planned for next term.

Years 7 to 9

Junior Debating has continued to thrive this term with the participation of a select and dedicated group of students across Years 7, 8 and 9. Topics under discussion have ranged from the benefits of testing on animals to the role of the UN in the modern world. The quality has continued to improve which promises great things for the end of year debating competition.

Tony Fraser, Nick Patterson, Paul Williams & Susie Morris

High School Students Speak Out

Middle School students the school’s best-ever results in the regional round of the International Competition for Young Debaters, held at the Cambridge University Union in February. Representing the only Bishop’s Stortford school to take part in a demanding all-day event , Dan Cotton, Angus Gauld (both Year 9), Monty Gould and Harry Whish (Year 10) took on 30 other teams from London and East Anglia, including City of London School, Dulwich College and Haileybury. In this competition, students know the motion for the first debate, but only have 15 minutes to prepare their speeches for the other two debates. Monty and Harry were praised by the judges for the quality of their arguments and, in particular, for the sharpness of the questions that they raised for their opponents. They finished in 4th place overall, qualifying for the Regional Final, where they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the final day of the competition. Dan and Angus, competing in their first inter- school contest, grew in confidence with each debate. Teacher Tony Fraser commented “We regard the ability to speak well and to deliver a reasoned argument as very important life skills and are delighted with these results in such a prestigious and high-quality event. This is not a style of debating to which our students are accustomed, but Monty and Harry adapted very well and performed superbly all day. Dan and Angus gained very valuable experience and are looking forward to competing again next year. Congratulations to all the boys and many thanks to their families for coming along to support them”.

Picture shows (left to right) : Angus Gauld, Monty Gould, Dan Cotton & Harry Whish.

Last Tuesday (19/03/2013) marked On Thursday morning we visited the group was the shops selling swords the end of the 2013 year 10 French ‘cité de la mer’ in Cherbourg, which and glaives and trying to work out exchange with the collège Jean-Paul II has a superb aquarium and is the how to bring them back home. in Coutances. Having been a regular resting place of the ‘redoutable’ Thankfully the post office was

and successful trip over the last 15 submarine. We were lucky to closed!!! years, this year was very colourful. experience a new attraction called The group was composed of 25 ‘on a marché sous la mer’, which was extremely motivated and very funny hugely entertaining both for teachers students. and students. In the afternoon we went to th We sailed off at 5am on the 4 the Ludiver planetarium February nearly missing our ferry where we were taught because of traffic jams and landed in astronomy in French. Normandy at 3.30pm. When we got to the collège Jean-Paul II at 5pm, Friday was a very early start as we Tuesday was our day in Caen and we the French families had been eagerly and the French partners made our started off with the Memorial, our expecting us. way to Paris, we had a proper French group enjoyed the visit and were very breakfast and started our day with a impressed by how much they already On Tuesday our students experienced river cruise that took us to the Eiffel the French education system hands knew and how much the Second Tower. We made our way up on the World War had hit France hard. In the on by sitting and observing lessons Iron Lady and were stunned by the afternoon they went to see William and also by running the lessons in amazing views of Paris on a bright English classes. We had some the Conqueror’s resting place and shiny and very cold day. outstanding teachers: Pascal later they were given free time for Queeney made such an impression shopping in Caen’s town centre. on one of the English teachers that Finally on Wednesday it was time to she would have offered him a job on go home and we said our good byes the spot, had he been old enough and to our French partner’s families and 4 other students who had prepared some had to leave their newly found excellent presentations were selected loves behind. to teach the year 12-13 classes on that day. One month later the French partners In the afternoon we went to came to stay with us and we made Montmartre where students sure they had as much fun as we had experienced life in Paris in all its when we stayed over there. The forms. We came back with our heads newly found loves were reunited and full of souvenirs and some of our the whole 10 days flew very fast. We

boys with girlfriends. had the most spectacular time visiting London with them as the weather Others on that day were outstanding The weekend was spent in family and was very clement and the dynamic in in another (less expected) was very rewarding to our students. the whole French- English group was department: the Love department. They went bowling, ice-skating, to the restaurants and visited their French brilliant. The following day in the morning we partner’s family relatives. went to have a look at Coutances, our ‘Le Mont St Michel’ was our next stop hometown for the next 9days and in the afternoon our students went back on Monday and we were very lucky to their families because in France to have one of the nicest days for our 46 there is no school on Wednesday visit. Despite having visited the afternoon in secondary schools. abbey, the main attraction for the

A Big ‘MERCI’ to our 25 super students and their families, to the French partners and their families, to Mme Julliard, to Mme Bouton and to Anthony. Mlle Lossec. The Science and Technology Faculty

The spring term sees a busy time for students sitting examinations, receiving grades and completing coursework, from Years 10 to 13.

The students in Year 11 studying AQA Science Core Science must be commended on their determined approach in preparation for their final Chemistry examination in January. 88% of these students achieved their target grades or more, with a notable success for Jacob Sparrow, who narrowly missed an A*, but achieved the highest overall score out of 71 entries. A great deal of thanks must be given to the science department for the continued commitment to providing additional support, lessons and one to one tutorials.

A strong smell of paint and varnish and sounds of sanding and drilling are emanating from the Design and Technology department on a daily basis. The Design & Technology students are close to completing the GCSE coursework, with a determined push to the finish line. The department, led by Mrs. Pryce, has offered daily sessions, bot lunchtime and afterschool, for support; including full evening support, so that students can add the finishing touches to their coursework. There are some wonderful projects both in GCSE Graphics and GCSE Resistant Materials ranging from hedgehog houses to storage units. Some excellent examples and talents are shown below, with Ben James’ storage unit already bid for by a local nursery.

TOP Left: Jordan McDonald’s Bird House, Middle: Jordan Nicholls’ Rocking Horse Right: Jake Morley’s Hedgehog House.

BOTTOM Left: Joe Monti’s Seat Ladder, Right: Ben James’ Storage unit

The wide range of clubs in the Faculty have continued The Medicine Society have organised a trip to Cambridge University to attend a Genetics lecture, which will provide an excellent insight and preparation for the later modules in A2 Biology. The Silver Crest Award students, led by Mr. Neesam, have their ‘heads down’, working to complete the written aspects of their projects. The Science Club, led by Mr. Berry, have been investigating fireworks, learning how to solder and ‘experimenting with custard’ ….. a messy experience! The Astronomy and Eco- Clubs have both been hampered by the snow. The adverse weather and freezing winter conditions have made it difficult to stargaze, but work still goes on. The bird boxes are making good progress …..

I would like to thank the whole of the Faculty team, teaching and Support staff, who have worked tirelessly, yet again, to support all students, from all year groups, through sun, wind and a lot of snow!

With my very best wishes,

Wendy Butler

Head of Science & Technology Faculty.

There has been much activity in the club this half term, with lots of music and sporting events to cover.

Please spend a moment or two appreciating some of the enormous talent that we have here at TBSHS.

Chris Davies took this macro shot of an ornament showing the detail in the ‘hair’.

Jeremy Moulton (year 10)

Tasked with photographing the subject of ‘House Colours’ Jeremy took this photo of a splash in a glass of orange Chris Davies (year 10) juice, representing Chantry.

The Music Festival is always a busy time for photographers with so many events going on. A special thanks must go out to Jade Howarth (Year 12) for her considerable contribution on the finale evening.

Above: C. Platts by Jade Howarth

Above Left: Craig Murray (Winner) by Jade Howarth Above Right: ‘Judging the Acts’ by Mr Smith

G & T Report

Gonville and Caius tour 26thFebruary

It was a cold Tuesday morning in Cambridge when a which we concluded that to live well in Cambridge small group of students turned up to Gonville and required around £7,000 a year, which of course Caius College with a mixed range of views: while Chris depended on whether you wanted to spend over Davis seemed to have a highly irrational fear of £1,000 of that on clothes, or were quite willing to live porters, Sam Apperley was thinking about how he off 20p breakfasts! We also discovered how much would possibly find time for work – at night he would tuition fees would affect us during our student years, be partying, and his days would be filled with schemes which, of course, is not at all – debt is paid back in to extort money out of the University and his fellow small annual instalments once you begin earning over students! So lots of people were surprised upon £21,000 a year, and is written off after 30 years. We arriving at such a grand place to find that actually, also looked at the somewhat eclectic range of Cambridge University is not filled with rich, posh societies available to join, from rowing, which almost people or insanely academic students – it is just a every Cambridge student has tried, to the University’s University which offers excellent teaching to those Lion Dance Troupe! Finally, we looked at managing who are bright, interested in their subject and willing our time. For many students, especially those doing to adopt a “work hard, play hard” lifestyle. As well as arts subjects, most of the day is dedicated to private realising this, there was of course the chance to look study, meaning that Cambridge students have to be around the college and explore what everyday life as a genuinely self-motivated and driven. This is why Cambridge student is really like… Cambridge selects its students based on their academic interest, as well as their ability to achieve After a brief talk on what the University is about and the A-Level grades required for a typical offer: A*AA. what Cambridge students do, during which several common misconceptions were quashed, we went to The day was very interesting, teaching us many things explore the college – famous for its multitude of about Cambridge and about University life in general. sundials, the “Keep off the Grass” policy adhered to Definitely, anyone with a passion and aptitude for any by almost every college, and the infamous gate which academic subject who can work independently and is promises a third class degree for any undergraduate self-motivated should consider applying to Cambridge foolish enough to walk through it! The college itself or Oxford, although, mainly for logistical reasons, it is has remarkable grounds, and by the end of the third impossible to apply to both. Many involved in the trip year most students have had the chance to live in the came away aiming high and accepting that Oxbridge most privileged rooms within the college. The college really is a feasible goal. The two stereotypes which library used to serve the entire University, but remain, however, are that everybody cycles and nowadays it is dwarfed by the massive copyright everybody rows – you don’t have to go far to see that! library, which contains a copy of every book ever In an age where further education is taken more for published, as well as some mysterious towers which granted than ever before, we felt that going to are said to contain a bizarre mix of Victorian children’s Cambridge and seeing it first-hand would almost books and other eccentric reads. However, Caius’ certainly influence our decisions when it comes to library is still an absolutely stunning place to work and choosing a University. Thanks must therefore go to Mr study … and it is open until 1 a.m. for those who are Stark and Mrs Price for all of their help in enabling either very keen or incredibly disorganised! such a valuable trip to take place.

We then had lunch in the college’s beautiful dining J. Platts, Year 10 hall, where formal dinners are held regularly, as this college is one of the oldest and most traditional. However, our lunch consisted of “normal food” in a relaxed atmosphere, although the wealth of beautiful decoration did seem to radiate success and importance. In the afternoon, we had a session on budgeting and finance during student years, during

House News

Interhouse Football:

A Cold, Wet and Misty Jobbers Wood was the scene for this year’s InterHouse Football event on 09-03- 2013.

However, despite the weather a good turnout from all the year groups ensured that we all had fun, and enjoyed actively supporting the house.

Many thanks to all the students who turned up to play and those who supported too.

MarioKart Wii For Rhodes:

The MarioKart Wii for Rhodes Club has evolved somewhat this term, with many students now playing alternate games with each other, on phones or iPods. In for a penny – in for a pound I say! Why not embrace technology and all the good things it can do!!

Music Festival:

Thank you for those who participated in the Music Festival this year. Congratulations to Rhodes house members who have either won their heat, received highly commended or commended! Rhodes came 3RD overall, with 215 points.

This means that as of 15-03-2013 Rhodes are in 6th place overall (and as there are only 6 houses, this means we are last). Although I’d like to say something profound about being here, I feel we just need to try really hard in all of the upcoming competitions – including Interhouse Cricket (date – tbc) and Sports Day on the 09-07-2013.

Mr Smith

Waytemore have continued the New Year in the same way we left the previous one. With the continued hard work of all the students and staff, Waytemore have maintained a constant presence near or at the top of the leader board.

Students have continued to earn themselves credits in droves and this has allowed Waytemore to come second for the number of credits received in the first half-term of the spring term. Clearly Waytemore students are working hard and to their best for this to have been maintained over the course of the whole year where we have only come as low as 3rd in the number of credits received in a half term.

Sporting success has also continued with Waytemore winning, very narrowly with 2 points, interhosue football. The students not only attended to play, but also to support and along with the skills shown on the pitch managed to secure overall victory just ahead of arch rivals Meads. This was even achieved with one of our sixth form players injuring himself before a ball had been kicked.

Of course Waytemore cannot be brilliant at everything; despite the fact we all know that it is the best house. The music festival saw Waytemore come last place overall and this allowed other houses to close the gap. The students that took part preformed fantastically well and made the house proud.

Waytemore students are currently preparing for house drama, with students having written the script and now rehearsing for action the theme this year is the house colour and I am sure Waytemore’s production will be even more fantastic since I will not be displaying my acting talent again.

At present Waytemore is tied on first place with Chantry, with Dane and Meads close behind. I am sure the students will continue to work hard and endeavour to make sure that Waytemore can reach the ultimate aim of winning the house cup for the first time in modern Waytemore history.

A large thank you goes out to all Waytemore students for their continued participation, hard work and effort over the year so far and into the future. Special thanks go to Dan Williams (House captain), Will Robson, Stuart George (House Deputies) who during year 11 have given up time and effort to prepare for events and organise teams. They have maintained house morale and lead effort in all events. I wish them luck with examinations in the near future. Thanks must also go to the year 10 deputies, Jack Connolly, Jack Mullings and Jack Corrigan.

The house looks forward to the next term with great hope

Mr Darren Neesam

Head of Waytemore

There were two major house events in the spring term that the students of Twyford had the chance to take part in. Firstly, the annual music festival, which spanned from 25th February to 8th March, gave keen musicians in the house to express their talents, whether it be in Strings, percussion, vocals etc. After a slow start, Twyford managed to chase down Waytemore and finish 5th overall with a respectable total of 179 points. I would like to thank all the boys who took part in the music festival and gave it their all and hopefully next year, if everyone keeps improving, we can win. Secondly, Interhouse Football took place on Saturday 9th March and Twyford managed a strong turnout in every year group with some great performances from the boys. The year 10’s and 11’s started at 9:30am on a chilly morning while the year 7’s, 8’s and 9’s met at 12:30pm and started soon after. Well done to all the boys who gave up their Saturday and took part in the competition and thanks to the staff who came to support and referee. Praise must go to those students who competed in these events. Although we never actually won any of the events the level of effort and determination was clear to see in all of the students. I would like to personally thank Ethan Cooper, Ryan Stewart, Jack Stewart, Teddy Rayment and Teddy Oliver who were responsible for organising their respective year groups. The current year 11 will be leaving the school shortly after Easter to concentrate on their examinations and I wish them well for this and hope to see them back in the sixth form in September. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the House Captain Teddy Oliver for his contribution towards the house system this year I would also like to thank the following students, Taylor Sharpe and William Ashley Fenn who have been concentrating on the house charity this year, Ashley Grainger and Caleb Williams who were influential in the recent music festival, Jon Readshaw and Andrew Price with sport and finally Jack Burrows and Sam Bojakowski who are in the process of organising our house drama presentation. It is that time of year where we as Heads of House are looking for the next generation of house captains (current year 10) and house officers (current year 9 or 10), if you would like any details on these positions please come and speak to me. Next term, Twyford students will have the opportunity to take part in and support Interhouse Drama, in which Twyford have a proud history and Interhouse Cricket. Have a nice Easter

Mr Swainson

Head of Twyford

Dane House entered 2013 with lots of optimism after coming second in the House Rugby Competition. February was the time for Dane’s musicians to shine at TBSHS’ annual music festival where the team dominated the percussion, piano and woodwind fields. This gave Dane an overall victory of 255 points, beating Chantry by 22 points who finished second. Although this was very much a team effort the House was ably led by Robin Franklin (11), took time away from Folk Band rehearsals, to finish “second” (or highly commended) in the individual musician competition. However there was a string of notable individual performances including: Thomas North (8), Jack Duffy (9), Nick Cowles (9) Miles Bruce-Jones (10) and James Stuart-Turner (11). Well done to all those who took part and congratulations to those who helped make the finale of the event a fantastic event.

House Football was a great success with strong performances from Year 11 and the Lower School teams. The Year 11 competition was a nail-biting affair and was particular close with lots of clean sheets and cool finishing. The Year 9 team had a difficult challenge of playing on a full sized pitch in freezing conditions but handled the challenge well finishing in the middle of their respective competition. Again this was very much a team effort but there were some impressive individual performances and the dribbling of Alex Warman (11) and Luke Holder (9) was particularly impressive. Although we came close to winning the overall competition we were just pipped at the post. Well done to all the players, parents and staff who braved the torrid and freezing conditions to participate and support the House.

As we move on to the summer term I hope that members of Dane look to impress in the classroom and in extracurricular activities in order to gain essential credits and important house points. Dane House is currently second in the overall house competition and it looks as if success in both the classroom and the final events of the summer will be crucial in retaining the House Cup. I hope you all have a great Easter holiday and come back rested ready for more challenges and competitions.

Mr Stark Head of Dane House

Chantry House Report

The students of Chantry House have continued to participate in all the house activities with enthusiasm and dedication in this past term. Students’ have also worked extremely well during the past term to see Chantry to sit top of the leader board with Waytemore.

The highlights this term have been the music festival, in which all our students have to be congratulated for both partaking so successfully and earning so many house points. Overall Chantry came second for the music festival with all our students showing exceptional talent and dedication to their chosen discipline.

Jack Tulloch and Shem Jacobs, are to be praised for getting the drama production prepared. Whilst the festival is still to take place, the play is now written and organised. The students especially from lower school have been practising regularly for the event.

Our sporting skills were once again put to the test at the inter-house football event. Whilst our students bravely challenged those in the other houses on that bitterly cold, damp Saturday, are efforts were rewarded by coming in 54 fifth and upward move on our inter-house rugby performance. True grit was demonstrated by all that played and we were delighted to see students who were not fit enough to play come along and support their colleagues.

Whilst Chantry students may not have the sporting skills of other houses, they are more than making up for this academically achieving the highest number of credits for the past two half terms. This is an excellent achievement.

A large thank you goes out to all Chantry students for their continued participation, hard work and effort over the year so far and into the future. Special thanks go to George Kenny (House Captain), and all our house deputies both in year 10 and year 11 who have given up their time and effort to prepare for events and organise teams. They have maintained house morale and have demonstrated leadership and organisational skills to the younger members of our house.

The House looks forward to the summer term and the house events which are to take place.

Mrs A M Gilmour

Head of Chantry

This period has seen the Mighty Meads drop down the overall standings to third which is a little disappointing as we have some excellent performances during this term. Thank you to all students for taking part in the music festival and attending inter house football. These events resulted in Meads finishing 4th for music and a fine 2nd at football where our excellent performances were sadly not rewarded with the overall title. However, congratulations to year 7 for winning and the year 8’s for finish joint first. Year 9 also achieved a worthy second place. Year 10 battled throughout and even though they came 6th the spirit and first rate attitude made it a joy to witness and even referee. A special mention must go to the year 11 team who demonstrated the true spirit of inter house and even scored for the first time in several years and drew a game which contributed to a 5th place.

Overall Meads continue to do well but as we look forward to the summer we must push on to get more house points to regain top spot and look to the opportunities available to maximise our scoring potential.

Finally may I take this opportunity to thank the year 11 house officers and the year 11 students for their support and efforts. I wish you luck with your exams and hope your future ambitions are fulfilled.

Mr M J Hale Head of Meads

Sport

Year 7 Rugby Report In 2009 I was made Master in Charge of Year 7 Rugby and four years later I am still enjoying the challenge of creating a strong foundation of grass roots rugby at The Bishop’s Stortford High School. Traditionally, the first competitive Rugby fixture for Year 7s has been after the October Half-term, but year on year Mr Simpson has slowly moved this fixture forward, with the current cohort playing their first match just two weeks into the term! You would think that this game would be against a school with similar playing experience and a gentle introduction to the full contact sport, but this is not the case. St Benedict’s Ealing were our opponents, a school where the students have been playing together for two years already! So our two weeks preparation versus their two years playing experience; result 53-0 to St Benedict’s Ealing! Now there is some method to this madness and this is what really underpins our school ethos – stretching and challenging our students to cope with the highest demands and standards in order for them to develop rapidly and gain character and resilience to benefit future performances. The current successes of the Senior 1st XV shows that this is an ethos that is highly beneficial and effective. The 2012-13 season has seen the Year 7s face the toughest fixture card to date, but to combat that they have trained incredibly hard and shown great determination and indomitable spirit. 155 Year 7s were invited to attend the first training session on Saturday 8th September and all but three students managed to attend, which really set the scene for the entire season, with huge numbers at every training session. The vast majority of Year 7s have never played rugby before, but even those that have complete a highly intensive training schedule in order to prepare them for the fierce opponents that lie ahead. The current Year 7s are an incredibly talented sporting year group and they have demonstrated an ability to learn new skills quickly and perfect some of the most complex techniques. Their handling skills are probably the best I have seen over my four years in this position and they are always eager to improve. This desire to make progress was clearly evident at the start of the season, where after their defeat against St Benedict’s Ealing they bounced back, victorious over local rivals Felsted at both A and B team level. They then went on to be crowned District Rugby Champions which is testament to their hard work and skill.

As the season progressed, so did the level of opposition (and the size of them!) and despite many valiant efforts they would often just miss out on the winners spot. Several games were very winnable, but unfortunately a lack of concentration and composure at key times would often get the better of them. However, towards the end of the year they have made great progress in this area and are beginning to understand the importance of decision making under pressure in addition to being more aggressive and ruthless in contact. This was demonstrated in the East of England Sevens Championships, where they started with a lack of confidence and tactical discipline, but learning quickly from the experience played some fantastic sevens to become the Bowl Winners of the competition. Selection throughout the year has been very difficult with so many enthusiastic and talented players training religiously, which forms a very strong basis for the years to come. The 2012-13 players have been really enjoyable to coach and they are a polite and well-mannered group of students with a great sense of humour. They also have an exceptional ability to ask a constant stream of questions and certainly have more than the odd bout of forgetfulness! It is these qualities where I wish their next coach all the best! At the time of writing the boys are preparing well for the County Championships and I am confident they will push themselves to the limit and I wish them all the best for this final hurdle in Year 7 and their future as Rugby players and sportsmen in the years to come.

Mr M Brunker Deputy Head of Upper School

Senior Rugby Sevens

This year the senior rugby squad have played a total of four, Sevens tournaments, however due to other rugby commitments, work commitments and school commitments we have only managed to have a full squad for one of those tournaments.

The Reigate tournament was a rude awakening to Sevens for some of the boys, playing four games and losing all four games; the concept of staying out of contact was a little too hard for some!!

The Hertfordshire County tournament was one that we look forward to every year. Knowing that this year we had a very good side, made the tournament even more special! Having beaten Roundwood Park and Berkhamsted in the pool competition, we then got a bye in the quarter final straight into the Semi-final where we beat St Columba's quite easily. On to the final and another game against Berko, (Berkhamsted), the game hinged on a knife edge with seconds to play, Lucas Pratt galloped down the touch line and scored a 70 metre try to win the game. For the first time ever, TBSHS won the County 7's competition.

At the Surrey Sevens, we were once again grouped with some formidable opponents!! The Reed school in the first game were beaten 21-19, in what ended in being a very close game. In the second game, the National Champions Millfield showed TBSHS how Sevens should be played and beat us 35 - 0. In the last game of the day we lost to Tiffin by a whisker, however another good day of sevens and another learning experience.

The Rosslyn Park National sevens was the last tournament of the term, and with a much depleted squad we took 10 players to play 4 pool games, we beat Bristol Grammar, St Georges Harpenden and Barnard Castle in the first 3 games to set up a pool decider with Tonbridge. Unfortunately the boys were shattered by this time and a well drilled Tonbridge side won the contest 38-5. The boys can be extremely proud of what they did at the tournament, beating some excellent sides and developing the name of TBSHS rugby.

Finally, I must say a big thank you to all the boys who played in the sevens, arriving at school at daft O’clock to make random tournaments.

Mr Simpson

Lower School Rugby Sevens

After the spring half term the U12s were thrown into Sevens training for the first time and had to adapt quickly to the fast paced nature of the game. The squad were impressive throughout showing a particularly high level of skill, which made selecting a side even more difficult.

The East of England Sevens Championships took place at New Hall School and they found themselves in a very tough group, losing narrowly to Lincroft School and Wimbledon College who looked more like a Year 9 side! Despite a tough start to the day the Year 7s made huge progress and went on to beat three sides making it into the Bowl Final against Judd school, who had just put St Columba’s College to the sword. In the first half the game was level at 7-7, but the boys showed true resilience winning the Final 17-7.

Unfortunately the end of the season fizzled out due to the weather, with the highly anticipated County Championships being cancelled due to poor pitch conditions. However, all of the Year 7s have had a very solid grounding in both 7s and 15s and the school is looking forward to even more success next year.

The Year 8s have had a very busy schedule of Seven’s tournaments after being extremely successful last season. They were up against it right from the start facing quality opposition at the Bedford Modern School Sevens, losing their first two games in the group. However, they then responded well, defeating a very shell shocked Hitchin Boys

who had won all of their games before facing the black and gold. This was a huge turn around and once again showed how determined our players are in overcoming opposition when the odds are stacked against us.

The U13s continued competing at this high level for the remainder of the season, playing some truly outstanding Sevens at the Berkhamsted Invitational tournament. They had their typical slow start to the day however, before finding their feet again and progressed through to the Shield Final, where they were up against Trinity, Croydon. To put this into perspective, the U13s played Trinity last year and they put over 50 points past us, so we knew it was going to be a tough final. After some poor defence, we were quickly 7-0 down, but responded well, clawing back 7-5. Unfortunately, they had too much pace for us to handle and we left the field at full time losing 21-10, but with our heads held high, knowing we had given it our all.

The next tournament was the County Championships, where we reached the Plate Final and although we played some good sevens our defence let us down. However, this gave the U13s the wake-up call they needed before entering the National Sevens tournament at Rosslyn Park and despite some terrible conditions, the U13s demonstrated their true ability, winning two out of three games in a tough group. They were a credit to the school and received many positive comments from other staff and players due to their tenacity and creative play. The victory over Stockport Grammar School was the performance of the day and in both attack and defence we dominated throughout.

I would like to thank all of the parents and players for a very successful and enjoyable Sevens Season and Mr Hale and I look forward to making further progress with Lower School Sevens next season.

Mark Brunker

Squash Report 2013

The squash club has continued to grow this year with 25 students taking the opportunity to play at Silver Leys Squash Club with the expert coaching of former student Nick Mulvey who is currently ranked inside the top 350 in the world. Every Tuesday evening the students play for an hour and a half with the long term aim of breaking into one of the two squash teams that compete in the National Squash Championships.

The under 15 team were drawn in a tough group which consisted of Berkhamstead School, Dulwich College and Whitgift High School. In the first match away against Berkhamstead the team consisted of Joe Ticehurst, Ollie Rhoda, Connor La Plain, David Guy and Dan Bolton. It was a particularly tough match with David Guy and Joe Ticehurst having very exciting matches against their opposite numbers but were unlucky not to gain the win. The match finished 5-0 to Berkhamstead but this wasn’t a true reflection of how close the individual matches were with Dan Bolton and David Guy playing their first competitive squash match. Unfortunately, Dulwich College withdrew from the competition and the match against Whitgift High School was cancelled due to the snow and the rearranged match was also snow affected which meant the match wasn’t played. We were then entered into the knockout Trophy after Christmas and drawn against RGS High Wycombe at home. This was another tough fixture with Dan Bolton picking up our only game but there were many close matches and unfortunately saw our early exit from this year’s competition.

The under 19 team were drawn against St Albans School, Felsted School and KEGS. The first match against St Albans proved a tough opening test for the TBSHS team consisting of Connor La Plain, Will Smith, Jon Readshaw, Ed Nancarrow and Polly Banks. Polly was the shining light in what was a tough match as she lost 4-1 having gone 1-0 up and only just losing the second game 12-10 but the overall score for the match was 5-0 to St Albans. In the second match against KEGS the team consisted of Craig Tallintire, Ollie Rhoda, Adam Wiles and Connor La Plain. There were

58 some fantastic matches but the pick of the matches was Connor La Plain playing at number for as a year 7 in an U19 match had a fantastic match winning 11-7 in the 5th game to seal the victory for TBSHS 4-1 overall. The match away to Felsted was a tough fixture with some close matches but unfortunately we lost 5-0 with the highlight being Polly Banks who lost a very close 3-2 match and had chances to win the match. Following the group stages we qualified for the Trophy and were drawn against Canterbury but were given a walk-over after they were unable to fulfil the fixture and we proceeded to the next round against Winsor School. This proved to be a particularly tough fixture and unfortunately despite a valiant effort from Craig Tallintire, Jon Readshaw, Dan Bolton, Connor La Plain and David Guy we exited the competition with a 5-0 loss.

As squash club continues to grow any student interested in playing squash whether a novice or a regular player are welcome and should speak to Mr Harris about joining.

PJH

Football Report

With over 100 competitive fixtures this season the football season again has been a very busy and hectic time for students and staff alike, training numbers have been high throughout all age groups and the commitment by the students has been exemplary. Unfortunately the wintery conditions at the start of the season led to a number of fixtures been cancelled although the enthusiasm of the students never dwindled.

The season has again been successful on the pitch with a combined winning percentage of 65%, highlights include the under 13 and under 14 both getting to the county cup quarter finals and every age group getting to at least the district cup semi-finals.

The senior football was significantly affected by the weather, however the team currently stand top of the Hertfordshire Schools division 2 with maximum points, they also progressed to the last 8 of the county cup losing narrowly to GOFFS school 2-1. The English Schools competition was a little disappointing losing in the third round, please see the individual report for further details.

It has been a very successful season for the U15’s as they continue to play an attractive passing game and have scored some fantastic goals in both the A and B team. Within training sessions attendance has been excellent and the boys have been playing futsal in small areas to further develop their passing, close control, movement and ability to play in small spaces. Some of this became evident on the pitch with them all being comfortable on the ball and were able to keep possession for long periods of time. The A team had some big wins beating Saffron Walden, Forest School and Wymondham scoring 21 goals in the process whilst conceding just 2 and also played superbly to draw 2-2 with Brentwood who were finalists in the Independent Schools Cup. Disappointingly they were unable to retain the district cup after losing on penalities to Saffron Walden in the semi-final following an exciting 3-3 draw. The B team also scored a fair few goals in beating Wymondham, Brentwood and St Edmunds but were unfortunate not to have more matches as they fell victim to the poor weather.

The under 14 side have had another successful season winning 80% of their matches, good wins against KEGS, Chelmsford, Saffron Walden and Brentwood were highlights in the season, at the time of writing this report they are due to play there district 11-a-side semi-final, so hopefully another final. The under 13 team continue to play attractive football with a number of outstanding individual players, at the time of writing they have only been 59

beaten twice this season and have a district semi-final against HRS. The under 12 have settled into football at TBSHS very well winning 90% of their matches, they are in the Final of the district cup competition and have beaten schools such as Forest and Wymondham this season. Please see the individual report for further details.

At the second time of asking Interhouse football was a major success with over 450 students either competing or supporting their peers. The overall winners were Waytemore, once again the success of the day could not be possible without the support of members of staff and the Parents Sports Association. I would personally like to thank the members of staff who have given hours and hours of their own time to ensure the success of the season, without this the footballing provision we offer would simply not be possible.

Mr Swainson

Year 7 Football Report

The year 7’s have had a successful first season of football at TBSHS. The A team began the season with a win at home against Saffron Walden, despite trailing 3-0 at half time. A second half fight back resulted in a 4-3 victory. The B team also defeated Saffron Walden, 2-1. The following weeks fixtures against Westcliffe suffered as a result of the bad weather. The A team drew their next two fixtures, 1-1, against Forest and Wymondham respectively. The B team’s biggest win of the season was at the hands of Wymondham, with a convincing 8-1 scoreline. After the half-term break came tough fixtures against strong Brentwood teams. The A team lost by the odd goal in a close encounter (4-3) whilst the B’s put up a strong fight, narrowly losing by one goal to nil. The annual Inter-house football competition was another success on a chilly afternoon at Jobbers Wood. All houses were well represented and this gave an opportunity for many students to showcase their football talent. Thanks to those parents and families who supported the students at this event and congratulations to Meads for their success (Chantry 2nd, Dane 3rd, Rhodes 4th Twyford 5th and Waytemore 6th) Both teams look to be ending the season strongly with wins against KEGS in the penultimate game of the term. The A team ran out 4-0 winners with the B team succeeding 4-2. The year 7’s finished with fixtures away at nearby Hockerill on the last Saturday of the term. In the local District competition the A team have beaten Saffron Walden 4-3 and Ralph Sadleir school 3-2 and are due to play the final of the competition in the last week of term. Credit to all students who have regularly attended training sessions on cold Monday evenings, your commitment has not gone unnoticed.

Mr Osborne and Mr Simpson

Basketball

The basketball season proved a little difficult to manage with the disruptions of the snow making transport to matches impossible on a couple of occasions. The 6th form season got off to an excellent start beating Friends 29-26 in what was an exciting end to end game with Harrison Hall top scoring for TBSHS. The team then went on to play Freeman College and unfortunately couldn’t deal with the free scoring female member of their team who top scored and cost us the victory. Next up were matches

60 against Leventhorpe and St Mary’s played on the same evening. We made an excellent start beating St Mary’s with some well organised defending and creative attacking play scoring some excellent baskets and winning the game 33- 12. Against Leventhorpe this proved to be a tougher match as they were well organised in defence and hit us quickly on the counterattack, at half-time we were losing by 16 points but a spirited performance in the 2nd half saw us make a good comeback only to finally run out of time and losing by just 4 points 36-32. We made it into the district final and played a very close match against Leventhorpe 32-26 in which a chaotic 45 seconds cost them their 6 point lead which ultimately led to them losing the game. The year 7 and 8 basketball teams had fairly successful seasons with a high number regularly attending training once per week and playing several matches against local schools. The highlight was both teams beat Saffron Walden with the year 7’s winning 32-6 and the 8’s winning with a last second basket to make the scores 16-14. I would like to thank Mr Sheridan who has put considerable time into improving the 6th form team and also helping to further develop the basketball at the school.

PJH

Indoor Cricket This year saw the school enter 4 teams across two age groups into the HECC indoor league with ourselves again being the only school to compete. We had two teams at U13 captained by Alec Chappell and Matt Ealey and two teams in the U15 league captained by Sean Lemon and George Kenny. The standard of competition was very high again this year with many of the matches being exceptionally close and coming down to the final ball in many cases to decide the winner. The U13 teams both played 12 matches resulting in the A team finishing one place higher in 4th than the 5th placed B team. There were some standout performances in both teams with Matt Ealey taking a total of 8 wickets for the A team across 12 matches and Lewis Oakey managing the same total in just 9 matches. With the bat Matt Pike was the top scoring player in the whole league amassing 270 runs in 10 matches with Matt Ealey following close behind for the A team with 194 runs and Will Bowman the next best batsman scoring 110 runs across 6 matches. The U15 league was equally competitive with many exciting matches that again came down to the final few balls of the last over to decide the victor. The A team fared better than the B team winning a total of 7 matches and finishing 2nd to a strong Boxbourne team who were defeated only once all season which was by the A team. The B team had a tougher time of it as it was a steep learning curve with many of the players having had little experience of the indoor version of the game. Although they finished bottom of the league they made excellent progress both as a team and with their individual skills which will come to the fore in the summer. Individually there were some fantastic performances with Sam Howlett finishing 3rd in the bowling averages table taking 6 wickets which tied him with Aaron Cooper who also took 6 wickets, other bowlers who made the roll of honour were Dan Williams (5 wickets), Sean Lemon (4 wickets) and Dan Bolton (4 wickets). Our batsmen also fared well over the course of the season with Dan Bolton finishing highest for TBSHS with 237 runs and a highest score of 46, Jon Readshaw also performed superbly with the bat scoring a total 234 runs and high scored with 73 in a fantastic last man stand in one of the matches. Other notable performances with the bat include Sean Lemon (221 runs), Aaron Cooper (170 runs) and George Kenny (150 runs). Regardless of the overall team performance it has been a fantastic season competing through the winter against strong club teams and has allowed our students to further develop their skills ready for the outdoor season.

TBSHS Karting This term has seen the karting team take to action. For the first time this year we were able to enter five teams into the BSKC (British Schools Karting Championship), with the first round taking place at Brentwood Raceway. Despite a cold, damp evening all teams performed to their best. The A and B team managed to secure a second and third place finish, thanks to the disqualification of another schools team. The other three teams finished 9th, 10th and 11th out of 15 teams in the competition. The A and B team progressed onto the Regional finals which took place on the 23rd March. Again with the weather being cold, snowy and damp the drivers had to work hard to maintain control and their position on the track. Great work led to a 13th place finish out of 32 for the B team, made up of Ellis Mynott, Harvey Broad and Luke Maskell. Ellis secured his team a 1st and 2nd place in his races. The A team faired even better, with George Garrett achieving a 1st and 3rd in his races, Joe Wiggin a 1st and 2nd, with Jamie Rushworth earning two 1st places. These results allowed them to finish 1st overall and be named London and South East Regional Champions 2013. The A team now progress onto the National Final on 16th June. A great start to the karting season and I am confident that the students will continue to enjoy every minute of every race.

Darren Neesam Karting Team Manager

The Mitre Newsletter March 2013

Editor: Helen Haines Copyright: The Bishop’s Stortford High School

Published by: The Bishop’s Stortford High School London Road Bishop’s Stortford CM23 3LU Tel; 01279 868686 www.tbshs.org 64