Ousedale School Magazine December 2017

When 'Honk' was initially suggested as an idea for the next school production it was an unknown musical to many students. As soon as we started rehearsals, the cast grew into their characters and we loved it! The ‘Honk’ cast were extremely talented and gave their all throughout the process, producing a hilarious show that the audience really enjoyed.

We wouldn't have been able to perform this show without all the teachers who worked so hard to make sure that it would be an outstanding production, not to mention the hard work and effort of the sound, lighting and backstage crew who were essential to the success of the show.

I will always remember this show and all the great times I had with the wonderful people involved.

Elka Pinny – 11JOM

I have really enjoyed my HONK experience as I have made lots of new friends that will be my friends forever. This is the first time I have had a main role in a production and it is an experience I will never forget. Thank you to all the staff and students that made this show possible. It has taken a long time to get to this point but it was all worth it.

Olivia Brandon-Graham – 11GD

Message from Sue Carbert, Headteacher

Dear all

As we approach the end of term we look back at what has been a very full term with so many activities going on within the school day and beyond. It was with great sadness I had to miss this year’s Carol Service for personal reasons; my own family had to come first. I hear it was a fantastic evening and I enjoyed watching the videos which are on our Facebook page.

We have enjoyed every evening and after school event this term. The school production Honk was certainly a highlight. We were not sure what to expect, but I thought the students and staff produced a wonderful show - with great acting and singing.

We have been very pleased with the quality of teaching observed at each campus this term and the quality of marking. We operate quite a rigorous approach to monitoring the school to ensure standards are maintained. Where they slip we do address these quickly. All staff attend CPD events to learn about new things and to revisit approaches to teaching.

Students at each campus have embraced the many leadership opportunities we have presented to them. While some areas will take time to fully embed, I am particularly pleased with the way in which main school council is operating and how the 6th form leadership have really worked together as a team to support me and the 6th form management team. They really are a credit to their families.

Charities week was a great week and I am sure you have seen some of the wonderful hampers your sons and daughters put together. These go to local people and the Food Bank. We will let you know after Christmas how much has been raised from the non-uniform day and stalls for our two charities, Willen Hospice and Save the Children.

We say goodbye to the following staff at the end of this year:

Claire Mason: Teacher of English - she is going to work in a special school in MK; Gavin Whyman: Teacher of Chemistry - he is going to do supply before embarking on a trip of a lifetime to Australia; Carol Salkeld: associate member of staff - Carol has worked at Ousedale for 19 years in various roles; for the last 11 years she has been Clerk to the Governors and for the full 19 years she has organised the awards evenings. We wish her a very relaxing and fulfilling retirement.

I wish you and your family a Happy Christmas - enjoy your time with friends and family.

Kind regards,

Sue Carbert | Headteacher

Ousedale Library

Michael Grant Visit

Michael Grant, bestselling American teen author, visited Ousedale school on Tuesday, 10th October. Ousedale was delighted to welcome him and, being a sharing school, we invited friends from Oakgrove and Kettering Buccleuch Academy.

Michael spoke to an audience of 450 students about his career, inspiration and writing techniques. Many of the students are fans of Michael and were thrilled with the opportunity to meet him in the library for a book signing following the talk.

Ousedale is still buzzing after this exciting event and queues are forming in the library of children waiting to read his most famous series ‘Gone’.

Before he left, Mr Grant was heard to say that Ousedale was definitely a school he would like to visit again! and we must say we would be very happy to have him back.

Photographs by our very talented Sixth Former Matthew Valdmanis (12CM).

Insulting behaviour in Ousedale Libraries

A plague of Shakespearean insults occurred in both school libraries this term contaminating all of year seven. Appalling abuse was found throughout library English lessons as pupils hurled put downs and impudence at each other. “You nutty Hob-Nob”, “Thou art as sweet as a lemon” and “Fat, Old Blob fish” were some of the pithiest retorts. Others evoked metaphors for example, “Thou art like a cave, dark and dull” and the scathing “Thou art a didactic parsnip, a turkey headed potato peeler”. Particularly shocking was the attitude of the librarians who abetted and encouraged this dreadful behaviour! That upstart crow Shakespeare would be proud of us all.

Book Groups

Olney book groups are back up and running; KS3 students will be focussing on reading through the recommended list of titles for next June’s Big Book Quiz. We have monthly meetings during lunchtime in the library to check our progress and enter book competitions.

This year, KS4 students are each recommending a book for the group to read, some of the titles include The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien, Temeraire by Naomi Novik and The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Newport Pagnell campus book groups are coming in the spring term - see Mrs McCaffrey for more details.

Dr Michael Leach Visit

Wildlife photographer and zoologist Dr Michael Leach visited Ousedale school this term.

Mike entertained the whole of years 7 and 8 with his experiences and the trials and tribulations of being a zoologist; not least how to deal with a silver back gorilla should one suddenly appear in the playground.

He was keen for us to remember the gentleness of most animals and how most would do anything rather than attack.

As he said, man is the most dangerous animal on Earth.

Mike spent the whole day with us talking, first at then Olney. He delivered a workshop at each campus where children tried their hand at writing a non-fiction report.

It was the third time he has visited Ousedale and before he left said how impressed he was with our students. Students (and staff) thoroughly enjoyed the day and we look forward to having Dr Leach back for another talk in the future.

“I have the best job in the world” was Dr Leach’s opening statement. By the end of the presentation, including awesome close up pictures and amusing anecdotes, we were all inclined to agree!

We have copies of Dr Leach’s latest book “Nature Explorer Guide for Kids” available in the library.

Mrs Campion | Librarian Olney Campus Mrs McCaffrey | Librarian Newport Pagnell Campus

Chemistry Quiz

Questions

1. Which of the following is a liquid at room temperature? (a) Tungsten; (b) Gallium; (c) Germanium; (d) Hafnium.

2. Which best describes a liquid? A liquid has: (a) neither a definite shape nor a definite volume; (b) a definite volume but no definite shape; (c) a definite shape but no definite volume; (d) a definite shape and a definite volume.

3. Dissolving one material into another creates a: (a) compound; (b) solid; (c) solution; (d) element.

4. Alkali metals like sodium (Na) are: (a) unreactive; (b) soft enough to cut with a knife; (c) are stored under water; (d) unable to melt.

5. Chemical reactions that are slow, may be speeded up by adding: (a) a solution; (b) an element; (c) a chemical; (d) a catalyst.

6. Gases dissolve in water – (fishes have to breathe, right?). As you increase the temperature the solubility of oxygen in water: (a) increases; (b) decreases; (c) remains constant; (d) impossible to say unless you know the pressure.

7. If you pour liquid nitrogen into a container at 298K, it will: (a) explode; (b) solidify; (c) evaporate; (d) fill the container.

8. There is a lot of space between the gas particles that make up air. It is this property that allows air particles to be: (a) boiled; (b) compressed; (c) liquefied; (d) crystallised.

9. Xenon is an example of which of the following? (a) phosphorescent gases; (b) basic gases; (c) reactive gases; (d) noble gases.

10. An element : (a) is chemically inert; (b) contains only one type of atom; (c) contains only protons and neutrons; (d) can neither be created nor destroyed.

Music

The Christmas Carol Service was held at St Peter and St Paul Church in Olney on Wednesday, 13th December. This event featured the school’s choirs, instrumental ensembles and Christmas readings. Reverend Thelma Shacklady gave a Christmas address and congregational singing of Christmas Carols such as ‘O Come all ye Faithful’ and ‘Hark The Herald’, accompanied by the school orchestra, led to a truly festive atmosphere. This lovely evening was rounded off with mulled wine and mince pies. Thanks must go to St Peter and St Paul Church who made us feel so welcome, and to all students who worked so hard to make the evening such a success.

Congratulations on achieving Music Exam Grades

Grade Sam France Clarinet 13SMC 6 Merit Lara Moffat Clarinet 9SW 4 Pass Henry Wakley Drum 12MRC 8 Distinction Tristan Derrill Drum 11RM 3 Distinction Charlotte Bruce Flute 10VT 6 Distinction Philippa Carew Flute 11EF 4 Pass Charlie Glass Flute 8EJ 3 Merit Amelie Ward Flute 10EDG 4 Pass Harriet Graham Voice 8CB 3 Pass

Charity Cake Break

On 30th November I organised a ‘Charity Cake break’ for all the staff at the Newport Pagnell Campus. £152 was raised with all proceeds going to Willen Hospice in memory of a dear friend, Jo Atkins, who lost her courageous battle to cancer over 11 years ago and would have been celebrating her 50th birthday on the 1st December. Both Jo’s children have been educated at Ousedale, Ollie now at University and Emily in Year 13. Thank you to all those members of staff who supported this event.

Jo Romeo | Examinations Officer

Christmas Hamper Competition – PER Department

Monday 4th December saw our annual Christmas Hamper Competition at both the Newport Pagnell and Olney Campuses.

OLNEY CAMPUS WINNERS

We would like to give a huge thank you and well done to all students who were involved. The festive hampers were of an outstanding standard and the competition was fierce.

The winners from each campus deserve an extra mention for their high quality designs and very generous contents:

From Olney - 7CTW, 8CW, 9STC, 10MRG and 10MG

From Newport Pagnell - 7DB, 8FW, 9SW, 10EH, 11MW, 12HN and 13ALM

Thank you again for all the kind donations – they have been passed on to the Milton Keynes Foodbank who will be able to share them with people who really need them.

8FW

11MW

13ALM

NEWPORT PAGNELL CAMPUS WINNERS

A big thank you too to Mandy Munn for all her assistance in organising the competition and to the site teams at both campuses who help to set up (and clear away afterwards – all that glitter and cotton wool!)

Merry Christmas!

The PER Department

Latest News from the Careers Centre

Year 12 Careers Enrichment

Year 12 students have been given the opportunity to take part in a careers focused enrichment programme this half term. We have looked at the Career journey and have welcomed speakers from Ducati and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The rest of the sessions we will be working on CVs with a workshop run by the University of Law and will be welcoming further speakers including a PHD student in Environmental Technology and a Project Management student from Nissan.

Girls STEM day at the National Museum of Computing

On Wednesday, 29th November a small group of students were offered the opportunity to attend a female STEM event at the National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park. It was designed to inform and inspire female students towards careers in technology. The day included talks from STEM Ambassadors who are inspiring professionals in the IT industry and hands on activities. These included a Robotics mission, a Raspberry Pi workshop and programming a Micro Bit Christmas decoration. At the end there was time to hang out in the games room playing on old consoles and original arcade games! We met some interesting people and hopefully some of the girls will be inspired to consider one of the many exciting, rewarding and well paid careers available in the STEM sector.

Apprenticeship News

On the 16th November the National Apprenticeship Service announced 3,000 new higher and degree apprenticeships. These are in conjunction with some of the UK’s biggest and best employers (from the BBC, BAE Systems, JP Morgan, Santander, Rolls-Royce, TUI and many more). Some are open already for applications, others are imminent. To see the new opportunities go to www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-and-degree- apprenticeship-vacancies and click on “Higher and degree vacancy listing”.

Year 11 and Year 13

Now is the time to be looking at your next steps. Applications are open for colleges and apprenticeships. You can keep your options open by applying for a range of opportunities as most offers will be conditional upon your exam results.

Watch out for the application bus visiting both Newport Pagnell and Olney campuses at the end of January 2018.

If you need any help or information on your choices, completing applications, creating CVs and cover letters or preparing for interviews we are here to help. Find Mrs Griffin in the Careers Office at the back of the main Library at Newport Pagnell campus or Mrs Campion in the Library at Olney. Alternatively email us your queries or request for appointments: [email protected] [email protected]

College Open Events: Milton Keynes College: Chaffron Way Campus, Saturday 20th January 2018 Bletchley Campus, Saturday 20th January 2018 Bedford College: Cauldwell Street Campus, Tuesday 23rd January 2018, 5-8pm Shuttleworth Campus, Saturday 27th January 2018, 9.30am-12.30pm Northampton College: Booth Lane & Lower Mounts Campuses, Thursday 15th February 2018, 5-7.30pm Moulton College: TBC

Design Technology Department

Year 9 STEM Activity Day for ‘Tomorrow’s Engineers’ Week 2017

For this year’s ‘Tomorrow’s Engineers’ week Network Rail came in on 9th November to see the Year 9 students. They came in to teach us a little bit more about engineering. We were put into groups of six and everyone in the group

had to contribute to both of the projects that we worked on throughout the day. The first project was making a bridge out of certain materials we were given (like paper and tape). Every bridge was judged on aesthetics and how much weight it could hold over a 60 cm gap. The winning bridge held the most weight and was the best made out of all of the groups.

The second project was making a level crossing out of Lego! All of the groups had a motor and some cogs and we had to try and make a design for a level crossing using these materials. My group made an original idea that ended up being quite difficult to do, so we worked on one that was a little simpler so the trains could pass by safely.

Throughout the day, the volunteers from Network Rail had been helping us and watching us to see who would win the overall day and get to go onto the finals!

The students picked for the finals from Olney were: Benjamin Wharpshire (9MA), Duane Morgan (9MA), Curtis Pittam (9HG), Alex Miller (9CJ), Max Oliver (9CJ), Ryan Mumford (9MA), Rob Adams (9CJ) and myself, Amelia Whitely (9HG). The students picked for the finals from Newport Pagnell were: Samantha Masiyamhuru (9SPM), Tom Mirfin (9KAL), Oliver Saunders (9SP), Madison Sears (9SP), Louis Swynnerton (9SW), and Oliver Webb (9SW). This took place on 24th November.

At the beginning of the day, we drove to the headquarters and had an assembly about the different types of engineering that happens on the railway. Then we split off into groups and did different activities on rotation. There was an interview session with some of the different departments within Network Rail, a scale model of safety on the railway, a Lego model of a signalling system for a train, and a tour of the building which ended

up with lunch. There were shops, games rooms, quiet areas and so many other things, it was so cool!

After lunch we did some coding with an Arduino and LEDs and we all took turns to programme it and make it do different things.

Overall, the whole experience was amazing and has really helped me and others understand about how important engineering is in the real world. I’m really happy that I got the chance to take part in this and if anyone gets the chance to go and take part in something like this, I would strongly recommend taking it because it was great fun and I learnt a lot from doing it.

Amelia Whitely 9HG

Sports News

Ousedale recently took part in the annual MK Schools Cross Country event in very windy conditions, but having some fantastic results, and winning 4 of the 6 events. Our year 7 girls dominated the course with Sonya De Koning (7CTW) winning in a time of 5 minutes, supported by Annabel Sanders (7SPC) (5.22) in second, Morenike Orimalade (7DNH) (5.33) in third and Millie Freeland (7CTW) in 4th position (5.37). In the year 8 and 9 boys event we had Harry Legg (9STC) winning and Aidan Murphy (9MC) coming in second. Finally, in the year 10 and 11 boys event, we had Leo Freeland (10MRG), Matthew Dicks (11GD), Robert Hickman (11CR), Tomas Billenness (10JCB) and Ollie Henry (11EG) all coming in the top 10 and winning that category.

Well done to all the students who took part and helped Ousedale achieve such a brilliant result.

Mr Phipps | Co-ordinator of Vocational PE

Freestyle and Rock ‘n’ Roll Competition On Sunday 26th November Ella Carr (7DNH) took part in the Nationwide Medallist of the Year 2017 - Freestyle & Rock ‘n’ Roll Competition.

Ella and her dance partner came 1st in their age category, 10-12 years Boy/Girl Rock & Roll and are now Nationwide Champions.

Interform 17-18

Newport Pagnell The Interform competition has been highly anticipated this year and the event lived up to the hype. The rugby and netball competitions were very competitive and produced some outstanding individual and team performances. All forms played their part and participated fully in the games which was great to see. Congratulations to all of the winners, particularly 8SBB who won both the netball and rugby competitions.

NEWPORT PAGNELL WINNERS Boys Rugby Girls Netball Year 7 South = DA Year 7 South = AT Year 7 North = SPP Year 7 North = EL Year 8 South = SBB Year 8 South = SBB Year 8 North = LRT/FW Year 8 North = LRT

Olney The standard of play in both the netball and rugby was exceptionally high this year. The matches were played in a good spirit but were also fiercely competitive. The Sports Leaders’ involvement with umpiring, score keeping and timing meant everything went smoothly. Well done to all who took part but especially 8SRB who won both the netball and rugby.

OLNEY WINNERS Boys Rugby Girls Netball

Year 7 = MTM Year 7 = SPC Year 8 = SRB Year 8 = SRB Year 9 = MA Year 9 = CJ

U18 Netball Team On 8th November the U18 netball team went to Stowe School for the North Bucks County Netball Competition. They all played extremely well and were a joy to watch. The team came a close second to Stowe School and qualified for the regional finals in Hampshire on the 27th January. Well done everyone.

Miss Marston | Teacher of PE

Rugby Success On Thursday, 19th October the Ousedale PE Department organised the MK Schools Rugby Tournaments for Years 10, 11 and Sixth Form at Milton Keynes RUFC. 17 teams took part in the 7's format and Ousedale were successful in winning both the Year 11 (for the 5th year in a row) and Sixth Form Tournaments.

Lower down the school, the Year 7 team have shown a lot of promise beating Oakgrove and Walton High in a triangular fixture and then winning a rugby festival, beating 4 schools from Milton Keynes.

The Year 8 team maintained their unbeaten record against a very powerful N.S.B. team beating them 5 tries to 3 on Saturday, 7th October. The Year 8 rugby team maintained their unbeaten record by beating Bedford School 5 tries - 4 in a very prestigious fixture away. Ousedale were 4-2 up but Bedford came back to 4-4 before Ousedale scored the winning try with the last play through Ewan Garvey.

Mr Hurley |Teacher of PE

12 Ousedale students had the exciting opportunity to visit the home of English rugby to watch vs Samoa in the final game of the Mutual Wealth series.

Students were able to watch the players arrive as well as watch an entertaining game with England beating Samoa 48-14, an excellent day all round.

Mr Phipps | Co-ordinator of Vocational PE

Student Leadership Update

‘Ousedale School is a community in which students are fully integrated in student leadership roles that support the work of the school and the wider community, while at the same time developing their leadership skills preparing them for the next stage of their education or employment.’

NP Olney NP

Olney Olney NP

NP NP NP

Student Leadership roles have now been filled and students have been busy in their new roles in the following areas:

 Year 7 Student Council NP  Year 8 Student Council NP  Year 9 Student Council NP  Year 10 Student Council NP  Year 11 Student Council NP  Key Stage 3 Council Olney  Key Stage 4 Council Olney  Enrichment Leaders  Rewards Leaders  Charity Leaders  Free Time Leaders  Sports Leaders  Technical Ambassadors

The pictures only show the respective councils and Charity Leaders. All the pictures can be found at http://www.ousedale.org.uk/StudentLeadership or on our Facebook page.

Below is a summary of some of their activities but do check the website for updates:

The KS3 Student Council at Olney have been hard at work ensuring that the main issues important to KS3 are being addressed. Based on suggestions from each tutor group, we have decided on a project to help KS3 with issues linked to health. Each year group has taken responsibility for a different facet of health: Year 7 are focussing on healthy friendships; Year 8 are focussing on mental health; Year 9 are focussing on physical health. Currently each year group are undertaking a series of different tasks to start the new year with a series of posters, tutor time activities, PSHE lesson outlines and assembly ideas to ensure that we can promote the concept of health to the rest of the Key Stage. Here’s to a happy and healthy new year with KS3 Student Council.

The Year 7 Student Council at NP have already written and produced the first three chapters of our transition book that we are writing. The aim of the book is to help future students who are transitioning to school to let them know more about what is happening and what to expect. Our next three chapters are on the second half term and we are currently writing about charities week, ACE days and the student council. We have also been looking at the transition and how we can further improve it next year. We have collated ideas and we are currently debating about how to implement our ideas.

The Year 8 Student Council at NP have put together a presentation on litter and delivered it in assembly; looked at ‘target bins’ to help reduce the amount of litter; looking into the possibility of vending machines for water in order to reduce the canteen queue times; reviewing the possibility of an Ousedale float in the Newport Pagnell Carnival; lobbying for some more outside seating in front of the eco centre and looking at ways to fundraise for this; worked closely with the free time leaders and have improved and promoted activities at lunch time; played an integral part in charity week by organising stalls and were very helpful at the parent/tutor evening as guides and meeting and greeting parents on arrival.

A possible major project for the future is to turn the abandoned tennis courts into a vegetable patch or football area if tarmacked. Watch this space…

The Year 11 Student Council at NP organised a Prom ticket raffle for charities week. We are facilitating a revision room at lunch time for Year 11 students to work and have lunch. We are also going to work on developing the revision timetable for the summer examinations.

The new Leaders have also been busy…. The Free Time Leaders at NP have been joined by Brandon East (13JLB) and Elisabeth Browne (13TR) and are made up of students from Years 7, 8 and 9. The focus has been working on creating designated quiet areas at break and lunch e.g. the pringle and tunnel and designated areas for year groups to play ball games. This is still ongoing but hope to have all of this in place after Christmas. The group have also approached the PE Department about using the Astroturf at lunchtimes to play football. This has been agreed and a rota is being drawn up. Posters have been created for promoting Drama and there is a chance the trampolining club will come back.

The Environment Leaders following a successful campaign to brighten, tidy and update all the notice boards at Olney campus, are also devising plans for a project per term. To finish an excellent opening term, the group planned and led an excellent assembly to KS3 that opened our eyes to the environmental problems experienced on a national, local and individual level. Next term, we are going to be looking at updating the campus’ outdoor spaces - particularly the courtyard - as well as designing a tutor time activity to educate students further about ways to help our local and school environment.

The Environment leaders at NP have also been working with the Sixth Form Leadership Team and have been working on helping to improve the appearance of the site and noticeboards for Prospective Parents Evening. After this we have been working on ways to help tackle the litter problem in schools, nationally. Going forward we will be looking at alternative bins to be used in school as well as recycling bins for the canteens. We were also integral in preparing the site and room for the David Dein session.

The Enrichment Leaders have been working with staff to ensure this runs smoothly and have also suggested new ideas based on feedback from form groups. Some of their ideas will be implemented in the Spring sessions.

The Rewards Leaders have been working on keeping epraise high profile and have suggested potential rewards to acknowledge the efforts of our peers. We have contacted businesses for rewards which will be an ongoing process and are planning to do an assembly in the new calendar year.

The Charity Leaders have been busy this term attending meetings to prepare for charities week, which was a great success. The team led by Ellie Reed (13DM) organised the annual Ousedale’s Got Talent with all year groups participating in a variety of acts. We organised the charity stalls in the hall which ranged from cakes to lucky dips. The week finished with a non-uniform day with all proceeds going to Save the Children and Willen Hospice.

The technical ambassadors continue to work tirelessly with high profile school events and their work is widely acknowledged.

School Trips

The following trips took place this term:

Curious Incident, MK Theatre History Trip, Hardwick Hall The Curious Coincidence of Maths in the Daytime, MK Theatre Mobile, Stantonbury Campus Theatre Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History Castlehead Field Studies Centre Save the Children Conference, St Albans Centre, London Northampton Saints Rugby Ground Iceland GIV Project Presentation, Whaddon Way Church, Bletchley Cycling Enrichment, MK Redways Big Rock Climbing Enrichment, Kingston

Running Enrichment, Tongwell Lake Oxbridge Interview Workshop, St Paul’s School

Dragon’s Den, MK Academy Network Rail STEM Finals

England Rugby, Twickenham Girls’ STEM Day, National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Media Magazine Conference, Central London MK Youth SACRE, Northampton College House of Commons Medicine Interview Course, London

Chemistry Answers

1. (b) - gallium; 2. (b) - a definite volume but no definite shape; 3. (c) - solution; 4. (b) - soft enough to cut with a knife; 5. (d) - a catalyst; 6. (b) - decreases; 7. (c) - evaporate; 8. (b) - compressed; 9. (d) - noble gases; 10. (b) - contains only one type of atom.