Dear Parents and Students,
As our first academic year as The Bicester School draws to a close I wanted to take this opportunity to wish you a good and well deserved summer break and to thank staff, students and parents for the efforts put into making this a successful year. Tony Rushworth Over the course of this penultimate week, in special assemblies, we have celebrated all the Headteacher efforts of our student body in all they have done this year, academically, sporting and personally.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE More than 700 certificates have been awarded, with students achieving bronze, silver or gold awards, a tremendous achievement when we consider that students must gain 1000 Changes for September house points for a bronze award. This calls for tremendous consistency in effort over the entirety of the school year. Activate Learning A number of students have won individual prizes for subjects and some have been named The Bicester School uniform as Student of the Year for their year group. There are further details of these awards on the school website. Teaching and Learning Congratulations to Attenborough House who are this year’s House Cup winners, Hanover Garden’s Street Party accumulating a massive 208,000 points.
English/Mathematics/Creative Congratulations too go to the Year 9 girls’ Rounder’s team who have recently been crowned Arts News as County Champions for this year.
The Charity Fest is back! Our best wishes go to the following staff who will be leaving The Bicester School at the end of the term: Oxford Brookes University visit Hazel Young (Head of Languages) Sixth Form engineering project Anna Woodham (Art) Jonny Tridgell (6th Form and RS – on sabbatical for a year) Viridor Science Go4Set project Lesley Cowey (Maths) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Jenny Haviland (English) Judith O’Rourke (Business Studies) Staff and Student profiles Zoe Barnes (PE)
School trip: Our time in Belgium On Tuesday 19th July 2016 our school will close at 12.10pm for the summer holiday with new students entering in Year 7 joining on Friday 2nd September along with students in Bicester Area Year 3/4 Mini Year 11 and 12 who will be beginning their programmes of study for the academic year. Red Tennis Festival Students in Years 8, 9, 10 and 13 will return on Monday 5th September.
Rounders match report Although we are moving to a 6 period day, the timings of the school day remain the same as this academic year: School athletics report 8.35am - 3.05pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. 8.35am - 2.05pm on a Wednesday. Bicester Family Year 5/6 Rounders
Date: 11/07/2016 Issue: July The Bicester School Newsletter
Reminders – With respect to students in Years 7-11, we will be mobile-phone free from September (Students should not be bringing phones to school unless there are special circumstances and in those cases they will leave them at School Reception on arrival to School at the start of day.) If you are replacing parts of the uniform for September, please double check both the uniform requirements and the equipment lists for the 2016-17 academic year.
Please make sure you have an enjoyable summer break. Alongside our sponsor, Activate Learning, it is an exciting time to be associated with the school for both students & staff.
Thank you for your ongoing support and I wish you a very restful summer break.
Yours sincerely
Tony Tony Rushworth Rushworth Headteacher Headteacher
Changes for September
As has been mentioned in our letters home and in assemblies, there are some key changes for September which will have a daily impact upon students.
School Planners
In September we will be reintroducing compulsory school planners. The planners will provide a daily platform for parent / tutor communication as well as a reminder of when homework has been set and is due for submission. Teachers will be able to record both positive and negative comments which can be viewed at least weekly by parents. The expectation is that students, parents and form tutors sign the planner once per week.
We are continuing to use Show my Homework to share the detail and resources needed for homework that is set, however the planner will provide a hands on reminder of what is due and when. It is hoped that the planner will greatly improve the independence and organization of the students as well as increasing the levels of accountability and the Tim Marston awareness on a daily basis for parents of the progress and levels of effort that are in Deputy Head evidence at school. Teacher Mobile Phones for Years 7 – 11
There is no doubt that mobile phones play a prominent place in the modern world however increasingly in school they are becoming a distraction and an overwhelmingly negative influence on the positive running of the school day. There are a great many students find the pressure of staying in touch via messaging or social media too much to ignore during the day and increasingly this is causing disruption in lessons as well as damage to student friendships.
We are following the advice of Ofsted and an increasing number of educational establishments in insisting on students either not bringing their phones with them or signing them in at the beginning of the day and signing them out again at the end of school. If a phone is seen during school hours then it will be calmly handed over and returned to a parent at the end of the day. We are not seeking to cause confrontation and this change has been clearly explained to all of our students and has been overwhelmingly supported by parents. We feel this is an essential change to ensure we maintain the highest of academic standards as well as allowing us to promote the personal and social development of the students in our care.
Sir Michael Wilshaw: 'Any head worth their salt should stand up and ban mobiles' 29th August 2015
3 Activate Learning
We have started a piece of work across the schools to explore the option to bring the two UTCs (UTC Reading and UTC Oxfordshire), into one multi academy trust (with the Bicester School and the Bicester Technology Studio). To a large extent, we are trying to work together in this capacity already, but this would be a more formal step. I believe there are more opportunities to be gained from joint procurement and through better school to school support projects. The timescale for reviewing this option is between now and the autumn and I will keep you informed with the progress of this review.
In terms of us operating as a group of schools we have recently made some bulk purchases of access to e-teach staff recruitment and for our Progresso contracts, savings us money in the process.
Tony has kept me abreast of the progress you are making with the current Year 11 as we hit exam season. Good progress has been made with this cohort and I wish your students well in Lee Nicholls their exams. I am conscious of the fact that if we achieve our predicted examination outcomes this year, we will have made terrific progress with our learners, would be a great credit to the Activate students, the teachers and parents who have helped us focus students on learning. Best Learning wishes to all as we run into the main period of the exams.
I would like to offer my public congratulations to Roland on his recent senior appointment to Deputy Head Teacher and wish him well in this new role. Well done Roland.
A run through some news across Activate Learning generally: The Bicester Technology Studio (studio school ) is set to open as planned this September, with student and staff recruitment looking very positive;
Our Higher Education students across the colleges are recruiting well. We have over 500 students now on Higher awards, Foundation degrees and honours degrees. Our most significant courses are in Health and Social care (Oxford); Policing (Oxford), Business (Oxford), Sport (Oxford), Engineering and the Built Environment (Reading) and Motor Sports Engineering (Bicester). Our growth here has been strong and it may be that we need to do a piece of work with the school about option in Higher Education, with strong links to employment? We were reviewed in September and our Higher Education was judged to meet UK Higher Education expectations, with good practice in employment-related higher education;
We are completing an internal change across our colleges, with all teachers now part of seven faculties. Each faculty will have a presence at each of our college outlets, but the idea of faculties is to get more sharing across our subjects by subject teachers at different campuses. It is also the means by which we expect to firm up our relations with key employers who can take a sponsoring role with the faculty relevant to their business. Things at Activate Learning continue to move ahead and we have recently acquired a specialist apprenticeships provider in Aylesbury. This is ATG Training, a specialist provider of engineering apprenticeships and a national leader in the provision of apprenticeship in bike maintenance. As a keen cyclist myself, I really enjoyed visiting the site and seeing the bike maintenance bays fully equipped with industry standard shimano gear sets! If any of your students are particularly keen in this area and want a trip, let me know.
The examination season has come to a close and staff and students alike breathe that huge sigh of relief! I, like you, now look forward to results days and hearing about how the students have performed. I have really appreciated the lengths that staff, parents and not least the students have gone to in preparing for these: the extra revision sessions, the Saturday classes and Walking Talking maths day. All of these activities help us all go the extra mile - so I cannot wait to hear how we all have done. A great thank you to all of these efforts - they really do make the difference.
Our school to school work continues with the middle leadership programme coming to an end in July. I am looking forward to attending the final day on 7th July and seeing the presentations from each action learning set. These sets are made up of leaders from different schools, working on a project that can make a positive impact in more than one school in our group. Our data project is also moving on with standard templates and report formats for Progresso being developed. I know this has been an issue for us at the school this year, so I am hoping the automation involved in these new formats will help you.
One new initiative to report is with BMW. In July representatives from all the schools will be meeting with me and BMW to formulate how we can work with them as a group of schools. BMW would like to focus their school liaison work on our group of four schools - which would
Activate Learning
be terrific in terms of establishing links, creating work experience placements and, of course, possible apprenticeships for our pupils. This year alone, BMW have supported over 35 work experience places from our 2 UTCs and expect to recruit several apprentices. It would be great for the Bicester School to be able to get involved too and benefit from this link. To close, I would like to wish you all a great summer break and hope that you all have some exciting plans for the summer period.
Lee Nicholls Activate Learning
The Bicester School uniform
Teaching and Learning
This is always one of the busiest terms in the school year. Senior students made final preparations for their exams and students in the lower school working on assessments that demonstrate the progress in knowledge and understanding that they have made thus far over the year. Revision is a long term process and the earlier the process begins, the more effective it is. Many students in Years 11, 12 and13 attended revision sessions since January and this provided an excellent base for their own independent revision.
At the parent’s evening in April, parents commented on the usefulness of Show My Homework. The feelings expressed were that the access to the homework site by parents enabled them to gain a deeper insight to the expectations the school has of their children, and the amount of work they should be completing independently. Many teachers add links to other sites when setting homework, and parents found this particularly useful in supporting their children.
Assessment is vital to pupil progress, and it is vital that any assessment for learning is Claire accurate and constructive. To that end, there have been two in-house professional Shepherd development sessions for teachers recently, addressing the efficacy of written feedback and Assistant the value of higher-order questioning. We explored approaches to asking questions, and worked together to develop approaches that allow all students to contribute effectively in Headteacher lessons to both demonstrate their understanding and improve their knowledge. All teachers were in agreement that students asking questions is a clear indication of their engagement with their learning and their desire to know more. We are also in the process of revising our systems for formally assessing pupil work.
Form time spelling has continued to be a key literacy strategy, with Year 7 students addressing homophones and specific words endings. Several students across the school have designed homophone posters to aid the literacy of all students, and these posters will be on display in classrooms. The older students explored prefixes and the ways in which these alter the meanings of words, as well as the inclusion of ‘photo’ and ‘phone’ in other words. With additional marks now available in examinations for accurate spelling, it is more important than ever to ensure that students understand how words develop and change in different contexts. Broad reading – reading different types and styles of material – will always impact positively on spelling and on a student’s working vocabulary, and we continue to encourage all students to develop the joy of reading for pleasure.
Hanover Garden’s Street Party
On Sunday 12 June a number of The Bicester School students supported a local resident’s home in their celebrations of the Queens 90th Birthday. During the afternoon the students helped prepare refreshments, help decorate the rooms and tables and talked to the residents sharing experiences of school and education both in the past and present.
The students worked very hard and were as always a credit to The Bicester School. During the afternoon celebrations the students had an opportunity to talk to the Bicester Mayor and the local press.
The afternoon concluded with some live entertainment in which the students sang along with the residents before finally helping to serve and distribute the fantastic celebratory cake that was baked and donated by Bagels of Bicester.
Wayde Vardy Assistant Headteacher
English Department News
The English Department Celebrates World Book Night
On Shakespeare’s birthday (and coincidentally, the day he died too), the English Department celebrated World Book Night with our students. World Book Night is a fantastic organisation set up to encourage a love of reading for those who have yet to find the right book for them. For the third year running, our school was in the fortunate position to give in excess of 60 free books to our students.
The books we choose to give include: To our English sixth form students- Carol Ann Duffy’s - our poet laureate- collection of poetry called ‘Love Poems’. To some of our Year 9 students a choice of either ‘Band of Brothers’ by Stephen E. Ambrose or ‘The Rotters’ Club’ by Jonathan Coe. Fran Pollard Head of English
Years 7 and 8 Book Club: Carnegie Shadowing
Organised and run by Miss Hoyles, some of our keen and most-able readers in Years 7 and 8 have been invited to take part in a nationwide Carnegie Shadowing book club. Students are given this year’s Carnegie Award short-list to read, critique and discuss. We look forward to hearing which book they deem their winner!
English Department News
Accelerated Reader – Outstanding Achievements
This term the Accelerated Reader course is continuing to see great success stories. In this newsletter I would like to focus on those students who are members of two exclusive clubs; the 100% club and the Millionaire’s Club!
The 100% club recognises students who have achieved full marks on every book quiz they have taken since September – a phenomenal achievement! There are currently 12 students with a 100% track record, they are:
Year 7 Lillie Dunn Cameron Fearn Callum Floyd Fran Pollard Henry Gronow Head of Wiktoria Krzoska English Year 8 Will Ashton Alex Furness Tony Humphries-Farge Hannah Kingston Joseph O’Toole Lucy Porter Ethan Wickens
Well done to all these students – keep up the excellent work and stay in this very exclusive club!
The Millionaires Club is for students who have read over 1,000,000 words since September, an amazing achievement! A huge congratulations to Olivia Whittington, Elliott Keeble and Amie Shaer who are our first members! Since then, the following students have joined them: Lara Brown, Lauren Clark, Hannah Savin, Morgan Robinson, Millie Couzens and Monika Martin.
I am very proud of the hard work being put in by all of our Year 7 and 8 students, who continue to remain committed to improving their reading skills and fully embrace the opportunities the Accelerated Reader course is offering them.
Is Your Child Going Into Year 11?
If your child is going into Year 11, we strongly advise that they purchase the text guides they will sit an examination on in May 2017. They are encouraged to bring these text guides to class to highlight and annotate as they study. These will also be invaluable revision resources. Text for 2016-17 include:
Lord of the Flies by William Golding (for students in Mr Howard’s 10U1 and Ms Pollard’s 10U2 only).
DNA by Dennis Kelly (for students in Mrs Shepherd’s 10U3, Ms Pollard’s 10L1, Mrs Whitley’s 10L2 and Miss Gough’s 10L3 only).
English Department News
Is Your Child Going Into Year 10?
In September, your child will embark on their English Literature and English Language GCSE courses. We strongly advise that students purchase the text guides they will sit an examination on in May 2018. They are encouraged to bring text guides to class to highlight and annotate as we study. The texts that students will study in Year 10 of their GCSE course include:
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle Fran Pollard Head of Macbeth by William Shakespeare (Oxford School Shakespeare edition is English recommended)
English Department Recommendations for Summer Outings
London The Globe theatre on London’s Southbank Exhibitions on in the British Library (next door to St Pancras station)
Stratford Royal Shakespeare Company Theatres in Stratford Upon Avon
Oxford Performances of Shakespeare plays every summer in the courtyard of the Bodleian Library in Oxford Oxford Playhouse- theatre with a wealth of plays and talks on
Mathematics Department News
With the exam season drawing to a close we would like to take this opportunity to say how extremely proud we are of all our Year 11, 12 and 13 maths students for their effort and commitment through this particularly difficult and stressful time of their lives.
A large number of our Year 11 students have been attending regular additional maths sessions throughout the entire year with many more attending optional extra sessions in the build up to the exams. Mr Hollindale, Miss Le Brun, Mrs Holding and the rest of the team have been available around the clock to help any student willing to give up their time and we truly believe this commitment by students will have helped them reach their own goals when results come out this summer.
In order to exhaust all avenues of support we trialled a new initiative for the school in the form of a Walking Talking Mock in maths. Ninety out of one hundred and Katrina Nash twenty invited students gave up their Saturday morning before the first Maths exam at the end of May to come into school with a small team from the department to be Head of Maths walked through a simulation of their exam later that week. The mock was run in exam conditions in the hall with instructions being read out to students throughout along with hints and tips on how to answer a range of different exam questions similar to those we were expecting to see in the exam. Feedback was positive with many students saying they felt more confident going into the exam that week after the run through. We will look to run a similar process, and potentially across other subjects, next year and beyond.
Year 12 and 13 have also been working extremely diligently throughout this exam period and been attending a large amount of additional sessions put on by the KS5 maths team. These have included lunchtimes, after-schools, free periods and also Easter school for two days. We wish them all the best of luck with the results, everyone deserves what they have been working for.
Throughout this time we have had our Year 7 and 8 more able students taking part in the annual UKMT Junior Maths Challenge. We have had a large number of successes from both year groups with our stand outs being Samuel Cole (Year 7): Best in School and Gold and Beatrice Robertson (Year 8): Best in Year and Silver. Well done to everyone who took part, especially all of those achieving bronze, silver and gold awards.
Within the department we are now looking forward to having the Year 6’s from our local primaries to visit and spend some time working on fun maths puzzles. We are confident our new students will come away enthused and eager to carry on learning more inside and out of the maths classroom when they start in September. In the mean time they will all get the opportunity to prepare well for this September start with a set of maths problems to attempt online over the summer. Mrs Holding will be sending out further information guiding students through a set of online worksheets to attempt on one of our favoured maths sites MyMaths.co.uk. Five tasks will be set at different points over the holidays allowing students the chance to keep their maths knowledge ticking over before starting with us in the autumn. All tasks will be due for the first week back and class teachers will be able to see who has, and how many times, attempted the work set. We look forward to welcoming all our new students to the school and department when they join fully in September.
Mathematics Department News
Our eager mathematicians in Year 11, who are preparing to return to the department after the holidays to pursue maths at A-Level and AS, should also be prepared to receive a pack of induction work to complete over the holidays in preparation for the September start with their new courses. In order to thrive in A- Level maths students need strong algebra skills from GCSE to build on. Therefore a selection of higher level GCSE algebra problems have been created to allow students the opportunity to gain an insight into what to expect on their new course Katrina Nash after the summer. Everyone starting to study maths in September is expected to Head of Maths attempt this work and it will be collected by class teachers on their return. If anyone has any difficulties accessing or understanding the content we suggest using MyMaths.co.uk as a refresher or contact one of the maths teachers within the department who will always be willing to help in any way possible. We look forward to welcoming all of our new Year 12 students in September.
Problem of the Week is now drawing to a close and winners have been drawn throughout the year. From all of these winners there will be a raffle drawn and additional prizes awarded. If you know you, your friend or your tutor group have won at one point this year then look out for extra prizes hopefully coming your way. In the meantime why not have one last go:
(Answer: 320)
With the fresh start in September in mind we would like to remind all students and parents of the equipment requirements for maths. Along with the whole school pen, pencil and ruler all students must also have a rubber and scientific calculator at all times. A compass and protractor are also required, but teachers will let students know when these are needed for lessons in advance. All equipment is available for sale from local vendors and also Mrs Starrett within the maths department.
Finally we would like to say farewell to Mrs Cowey who has been in the maths department with us for the last three years and taught many students from Year 7 to 13. She is heading to a school closer to home, but will be sadly missed, along with her musical abilities, by everyone within the department. We wish her every success with the new role in September.
Miss Le Brun has joined the team again after a four year break away and has already proved how invaluable she is within the team during the exam period. We are very pleased to have her back within the department, welcome back.
Miss Filgate and Miss Stone are set to return in early July in order to continue their teaching careers with us in September. Many students will know them from teaching earlier this year, but we are extremely excited as a team to welcome them back into our enthusiastic maths department.
Creative Arts and Design and Technology News
New York Art and Media Tour
On June 27th The Bicester School took 45 students to experience the sights and sounds of New York City. Students spent 6 days exploring the city’s art galleries including the MoMA, The Metropolitan and took a tour of NBC studios where they filmed their own TV programme. We visited the Museum of The Moving Image where students experienced the history of film production. Students were greatly moved by the 9/11 Memorial Museum and the tragic outcomes of global terrorism. Students enjoyed a live theatre show on Broadway and we took in most of the famous Manhattan landmarks including The Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty, Times Square, The World Trade Centre and Brooklyn Bridge. It was a trip of a lifetime and the students were a credit to The Bicester School.
“New York was absolutely amazing and my highlight was definitely the NBC Studio Lynley Tour because I was given the chance to present my own Saturday Night Live talk Kennett show. The Broadway Show “School of Rock” was hugely fun and entertaining. I Head of Art would love to move to New York when I am older”. Lola Boulter, Year 10
“My week in New York was both good fun and educational. We took part in a lot of great activities and it was an experience, which I will never forget. The best part was the river cruise down The Hudson River where we got to see The Statue of Liberty close up and the Manhattan skyline.” Jack Kent, Year 11
“New York was one of the most enriching trips of my whole school career. The MoMA was my favourite as it housed so many iconic paintings and art pieces that we have been learning about in school. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Broadway Show, “School of Rock”. This was a trip of a lifetime.” Ismay Groves, Year 10
9/11 Memorial Museum
Creative Arts and Design and Technology News
A-level Art Exhibition
On June 21st The Bicester School celebrated the work of our A-Level Art students with an exhibition of their work. We also exhibited the A-level Product Design and Textiles final pieces. It was a great celebration of the many student successes and the quality of the work was as usual commendable. We particularly wish our Year 13 students all the best of luck as they start the next chapter of their education with many going for the Art Foundation or degree courses.
Queen’s Birthday Celebrations
Bicester has been greatly involved in many celebrations for the Queen’s 90th Birthday celebrations and two of our students were asked to produce portraits of the Lynley Queen across her life time. Chloe Mannering’s beautifully detailed portrait in pencil represented the Queen during the decade of 1966-76 and Lydia Wyatt’s pencil and Kennett Indian ink portrait represented the Queen from 2006 – 2016. Head of Art They were displayed in County Hall along with all 19 portraits from the schools in Bicester and Oxford for the month of June and are now on display at the new Bicester Library that was officially opened on Monday 4th July with a brilliant fanfare opening by Robin Skerrett in our 6th form on his trumpet. Michael Waine expressed how proud he was of the talented young artists in Bicester.
The Bicester School also has an exhibition of Art at Montgomery House celebrating the talent that we have nurtured in our Art Department. This exhibition will be until the end of September.
By Chloe Mannerings By Lydia Wyatt
Exhibitions at Montgomery House
Creative Arts and Design and Technology News
Lynley
Kennett
Head of Art
Charity Fest
On Friday 24 June a group of BTEC Music students organised a highly entertaining lunchtime performance showcasing the many talented musicians and dancers at The Bicester School. Over £470 was raised for Clic Sergent, a charity helping young people with cancer. Thank you to everyone who came along to support the event.
The Charity Fest is back!
This year The Bicester School’s Year 10 music class planned and organised this year’s charity fest. The event showcased a variety of student acts in a lunch time concert on Friday the 24th of June and raised money for the charity CLIC Sargent.
The Year 10 music class was responsible for all aspects of the planning and the delivery of the event, from risk assessment to rehearsal, and formed part of their coursework. The event also provided a fantastic opportunity for all staff and students to come together as a school and celebrate the amazing and talented young people we have here.
Students across all year groups in the school were invited to come and audition to be part of the concert. With auditions held, they did not disappoint, and the creative arts department have had the pleasure of watching some fantastic singers, dancers, and instrumentalists. All the students that auditioned had clearly worked incredibly Rheanne hard to prepare their acts, and should all be proud of the high standard that has been set this year. Sanders Head of Music Once the auditions had been completed students had a very difficult job of picking and Drama just 10 acts to perform in the concert. Each act had been assigned a student mentor who guided and advised them in preparation for the final performance as they rehearsed over the coming weeks.
There was also a non-school uniform day on the 24th of June where donations of £1 was given by students and collected on the gate. The money raised from this and the sale of refreshments will go towards the charity CLIC Sargent which supports children with cancer.
With such an amazing set of auditions, the event set a showcase of the young talent we have at the school.
Oxford Brookes University visit
On 5 May I had the absolute pleasure of taking fifteen Year 10 students to Oxford Brooke's University. They were involved in practical workshops in Media, Music and Resistant Materials, They also had the opportunity to talk to students from Oxford Brookes who had studied Creative subjects.
All students were impeccably well behaved and one teacher mentioned how 'the boys were amazing at the bridge construction and they were clearly head and shoulders above the other students' and a lecturer from Brookes commented about how engaged all our students were with the workshops.
All students conducted themselves to the highest standard and I was certainly very proud to support them.
Below are a couple of student accounts of the day. Anna Woodham Luke Williams More Able Coordinator I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Oxford Brookes University. Our first activity of the day included how to do a perspective drawing, as well as a small tour around some of the offices that students were working in. We were also shown some fantastic work that some of the students had done. However, in my opinion, the next activity was far more enjoyable. We were given the task of strengthening a bridge that could only hold 4kg to make it in to a bridge that could hold 8kg. When we tested our bridges we found that ours could support 13kg of weight. We then went and had lunch which was very nice and there was plenty of choice in food. The last activity was a lecture by students of the university, which was very interesting and informative. Overall the trip was great fun and I would strongly recommend visiting the university to anyone. I am definitely considering going to university much more after this trip.
Lola Boulter
When we arrived at Oxford Brookes I was somewhat surprised at the fact that a university encourages creative type people! We were separated into groups based on what we picked for the day, firstly we explored music and setting up microphones, I took part in drumming and embarrassed myself as there was a professional drummer in our group. Afterwards, our group explored film technology, I enjoyed this the most as we were doing something practical!
Overall it was a really good day and it made me really think about my university application.
Sixth Form impress with engineering project
A group of our talented A Level Physics students have been taking part in the Engineering Education Scheme working in partnership with Viridor, the company who run the Energy Recovery Facility at Ardley. The EES is an engineering competition which takes place over six months where year 12 students are supported by a mentor from engineering industry. The students are encouraged to show enterprise, creativity and innovation whilst gaining extensive experience of problem-solving, team-working and project management.
Our team of Frankie Targett, Millie Salt, Zak Wilce, Connor Wilce, Joe Greener and Adam Ford carried out a project on the feasibility of using electricity generated at the plant at Ardley as a low-carbon vehicle charging station. They worked regularly with specialists from Viridor to research and produce a very detailed report that was presented at Rutherford Appleton Laboratories on Wednesday 20th April. The panel of expert assessors were hugely impressed with our student’s project and they Gareth Ladd came second overall with a highly commended award. They also won the student choice award which was voted for by all the other participating schools, a gold Head of CREST award from the British Science Association and gold Industrial Cadet Science awards.
This is a fantastic result and we are extremely proud of these students – they have worked incredibly hard on a project that extends beyond what we would normally expect 6th Form students to do and have been outstanding representatives of our school. We are also very grateful for the support we have received from Viridor during this project, particularly Sylvie Verinder who has acted as the mentor for our team. We look forward to continuing this partnership in the future and already have a couple of other joint projects we are working on.
Viridor Science Go4Set project
I have been chosen, as have Amy Long, Beatrice Robertson, Daisy Holloway, Mia White and Miranda Hitchens to be a part of a Year 8, ten week Go4Set science project named “The Business of Recycling”. This is an amazing opportunity, working with Viridor, to learn about the science and engineering behind the business of waste management and inspire our school to recycle.
On Wednesday 13th April, we visited the University of Westminster in London, for the launch of our project. Once we were off the train and had arrived at the university, we started by learning about what this project involves and how it will Evie Webb improve our communication and teamwork skills. Then, we worked together as a group of six to complete a team building exercise they had planned. After that we Year 8 ate lunch and then had a special speaker from one of Go4Set’sponseres. She told us about how science and technology are used in everyday life so often, and are making our future brighter and better. We then had a project management meeting with our mentor from Viridor, and discussed the importance of recycling. We were told about how much this project could affect the school. What we choose to do in this project, may be actually put into action and we could increase the amount of recycling done inside school and work out ways to use this recycle in an efficient, energy and money saving way.
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory visit
I had the privilege of accompanying six of our Sixth Formers to The Science and Technology Facilities Council at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. They were presenting their Engineering Education Scheme project which they have been working on with Virador over the last few months. The students have worked as a team on a real industrial problem for which the company needs a solution.
With support from staff at Virador particularly Sylvie Verinder, their mentor, Chris Curtis and Gareth Ladd at The Bicester School and various external agencies, the students have conducted a feasibility study into The Provision of Electrical Charging Points for Low Carbon Vehicles at the Virador waste management plant at Ardley.
The competition was strong with teams from ten Oxfordshire schools but, with an impressive project write up, confident verbal presentation to the judges and enthusiastic answering of questions from other students, teachers and scientists, Alison Rosier the team not only WON the Pupils' Award (voted by other all the students there today) but also came a very close SECOND (Highly Commended) overall in the Sixth Form competition for contribution to industry! Manager Many congratulations to all involved but most of all to the team - Adam Ford, Millie Salt, Frankie Targett, Joe Greener, Connor Wilce and Zac Wilce!
Staff profile
What is your current role at The Bicester School?
My current role is as a Lead practitioner and also teach English.
What did you do before going into teaching?
I grew up in a village on the outskirts of Milton Keynes and attended one of the biggest secondary schools in the country where we called teachers by their first names and didn’t have to wear uniform. After my A Levels I went to live with my Uncle in Australia for a year, I got to see some fantastic places and had some great experiences. When I returned I studied English at the University of Kent and worked for Waterstones. Before teaching I did have dreams of working for Waterstones head office full time but decided that I talk too much for office life. Consequently in Victoria Cooke 2010 I went to begin my PGCE at the University of Reading.
Lead Have you taught anywhere else? Practitioner and English When I finished my PGCE I continued to work for a school in Wokingham near Teacher where I had completed my training. It had just completed a 31 Million pound renovation and had won various architectural awards. Unfortunately the open plan design and lack of walls or doors proved a small problem. In 2014 I decided that I missed home (and my Mum) so moved back to Milton Keynes to work in a challenging school in Northamptonshire.
What do you most enjoy about your job?
There are lots of things that I love about being a teacher, most importantly though I love being in a job that is different and makes me laugh. I think that education is extremely important and that through it I can make a difference to the lives of the students I teach. I love researching new teaching strategies and ideas and try and put them in place in my classroom wherever possible.
What do you do in your spare time?
Like most English teachers I have a passion for reading and love spending Sunday mornings sitting with a coffee and reading in the garden. I also have an addiction to box sets. Currently I am watching Prison Break on Netflix. I love being outside and going on walks which friends and family.
Student profile
I started playing hockey when I was 6 years old for Bicester Hockey Club. Since then, I have moved clubs to Banbury, and massively progressed as a player, moving up through the squad lists and leagues to where I am today.
I achieved county honours for 2 seasons playing in the Oxfordshire County Boys U16 and U17 squads, playing counties across the south of England from Kent to Hampshire and up to Middlesex and Berkshire. In my first season my coaches recognised me as the most improved player for the squad. I then progressed through the England Hockey development pathway to Regional level, playing for the Ashley Regional side.
Laverick Beginning my senior league experience in the first season of the Banbury Piranhas Year 13 as a 13 year old I have progressed through the squads gaining experience and developing skills enabling me to be named in the 1st team squad list. Playing in the South Premier 1 Division for Banbury I have come up against current and ex- international players, including a Polish centre forward and veteran English GK’s.
As a junior I played in a mixed side against a school from South Africa who were touring the UK. Whilst the hockey match was an experience few of us will ever repeat the real enjoyment came from the team teas afterwards where we were able to share experiences with the opposition and gained a deeper appreciation of the comparisons between their lives and our own.
My greatest sporting achievement is being part of the winning side in the National 2nd XI Playoffs at the Lee Valley England Hockey stadium, in which I went one on one with the goal keeper in a penalty shuffle from which I scored one of the two goals which won us the title.
Hockey has made me a more confident, social and ambitious person, whilst also providing me with an outlet from academic work (practising drag flicking in the garden whilst answering questions related to my revision helped to reduce the stress). I am looking forward to continuing to play hockey at University and long into the future – Banbury has a player in his 70’s so I have many years left to play.
School trip: Our time in Belgium
Day 1
At 7am our adventure started as we headed towards the WW1 battle fields in Belgium. We travelled by coach and ferry which took about 6 hours to get to our first location Lijssenthoek military cemetery, it was a humbling experience. We then visited two more places that day Poperinge (a small town) and Essex farm (common wealth war cemetery). Afterwards we headed to our hostel where we stayed for 2 nights. Lauren, Erin and I shared a room and we unpacked before our evening meal. Afterwards we went bowling which was a great end to our first day Molly Price (even though I lost). Student Day 2
“MORNIN CAMPERS” kicked off the second day. We all had breakfast and afterwards set off on our coach journey towards Vimy Ridge. When we got there it was beautiful, but cold, and had a big white statue that we could see for miles around. Afterwards we set off towards Thiepval which is a memorial for the missing British and South-African soldiers from the battles of the Somme. There are over 72 thousand missing. In Newfoundland Park we took a walk through the trenches seeing their scars from the past. I found this place interesting and quite surprising how close they were to each other. We then travelled to Musee Somme which was one of my favourite parts as you got to travel under the ground and see the shells and helmets that were once used. We then walked through a re-enactment of a trench that then took us into a gift shop where Lauren and I bought matching pens which I still have to this very day. We headed to the Menin Gate and paid our respects before dinner, where we had our evening meal at a local restaurant. After we went shopping in the town where I bought some chocolate (which was meant for my mum but unfortunately did not make it back to England due to unforeseen circumstances). We came back to the hostel after a long day and went to bed.
Day 3
“MORNIN CAMPERS” (part two) woke us up bright and early. All packed and ready to leave with a few stop offs on the way before we got home. First stop was Hooge Crater, a commonwealth war cemetery, we spent some time there to pay our respects before we headed towards Hill 60. Here we took a stroll up it and heard about how it was a manmade feature when the railway line was put in place that was coveted by both sides during the war. After this we headed towards Langemarck German Cemetery which was very different to the ones we saw previously as they were small and dark rather than the bright stones we saw earlier. It was a lot more sombre than the other graves. After about an hour’s journey we arrived at Hans de Groote Chocolate shop where we bought MORE delicious chocolate ready for our long journey home. This was the end of our lovely 3 day trip in Belgium. We then headed home.
I would like to thank all of the teachers and Mike the tour guide who gave up their time to take us on this amazing trip and to everyone else who made this trip possible. Here are some pictures from the trip:
Bicester Area Year 3/4 Mini Red Tennis Festival
The Bicester Area Year 3/4 mini tennis Red festival for the Bicester and Copper family of Primary Schools took place on Thursday 5th May at Bicester Tennis Club (Garth Park). Eighty children from Bure Park, Five Acres, Fritwell, Kings Meadow, Southwold, St. Mary’s and Launton Primary Schools took part in the festival.
In glorious sunshine the nine teams were divided into three pools and played a series of round robin matches. In close and exciting games Kings Meadow A, Kings Meadow B and St. Mary’s finished first in their respective pools. The three teams then contested Pool one which saw St. Mary’s take top spot and crowned Bicester Area Year 3&4 Mini Red Tennis champions 2016. In the other Second round pool matches Five Acres defeated both Bure Park and Fritwell to win Pool two to take fourth place overall. In Pool 3 Launton beat both Kings Meadow C and Southwold to win the Pool and take seventh spot of overall. Congratulations to both St. Mary’s and Kings Meadow A who will now represent Bicester at the SSP finals on Wednesday 15th June at Banbury Tennis Club. Rory Mawn SSCO During the festival, the Spirit of the Games value of honesty was a key focus area and a special certificate was presented to one child from each team in recognition of the high level of sporting behaviour they had shown throughout the event. Well done to the sixteen Bicester School Young Leaders who did a fantastic job scoring, umpiring, giving guidance and encouragement to the Primary School children throughout the event.
“The event was well organised and lead by friendly, capable Young Leaders. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you.” (PE Coordinator Bure Park)
Bicester School Young Leaders
Year 7: Matt Hornby, Alfie Wright, Olly Wright, Olivia Whittingham and Daniel Roberts Year 8: Amie Shaer, Niamh Catling and Amy Mather Year 9: Charlotte Whittingham, Emily Wright, Caitlin Stevens, Jayda Williams, Kitty Holt, Frankie Eddy, Abbie Williams and Maisy North
Rounders match report
Report from 7 June, written by Charley Lewis (Year 9)
Following on from a successful tournament in Bicester, the 7th of June brought the rounder’s A team round two, at Warriner school.
With a close first three matches, our fourth was most difficult. We began to take more risks within our gameplay; proving ineffective. This resulted in over half of our team getting out during batting time. We knew to change our play back to usual, and this stopped any more teammates from getting out.
Fielding for this match required particularly fast responses to the movement of the ball around the pitch. Our opposition were very fast! But we played well and pulled through, winning the match.
Sarah Throughout the tournament, I feel like our team improved a lot. Our weakest points were tested with more difficult gameplay and it gave us a chance to learn from the Masterson other teams. Head of PE It was very fun and we cannot wait for the next round in July!
Report following county finals on 5 July
Year 9 girls from The Bicester School won this year’s Oxfordshire County Rounders Tournament.
The Bicester School entered teams from Year 7 and Year 9, both of whom reached the county finals at Horspath on Tuesday 5 July. The tournament lasted all day and students were competing against several other schools from Oxfordshire.
Both teams did well, with the Year 7s coming second in the county and the Year 9 team being awarded first place.
All girls have been working all summer to improve and get this title. Their determination and teamwork was incredible and they performed extremely well, managing to beat all other schools. They represented the school with pride and great sportsmanship throughout.
School athletics report
A few weeks ago a small group of students competed at the North Oxfordshire schools athletic. The group consisted of: Aaron Wright, Will Sims, Luke Pollard and Tom Couzens.
Over the course of the afternoon the group took part in a variety of events, from throwing and jumping, to sprinting and long distance. First up Tom took part in the high jump, which he won, and also in the 800 meters, where he came second. Both of these performances as well as Will Sims’s win in the javelin qualified them to represent North Oxfordshire Schools in the county final. Aaron ran a strong race in the grueling 1500 meters, coming very close to beating his personal best. Luke competed in the challenging 300 metres, where he took fourth place. Both Luke and Aaron later went on to compete in the long jump, where each of them produced a set of good distances.
Sarah The County competition on Sunday 12 June was a wet day, with puddles on parts of the track. Tom competed in the tense high jump competition, which he won with a Masterson personal best of 1.58.metres. From here he went straight over and then ran in the Head of PE 800 meters, where he claimed 4th place. Millie Couzens was also competing for the school at this competition after winning a year 7 quad kids competition. First of all she took first place in the long jump, with a personal best of 4.46 metres, she then went on to run in the 800 meters, where she played a tactical race, going on to win by some 30 metres.
Overall there were some outstanding efforts by all competitors across all the competitions, and also a great day.
Bicester Family Year 5/6 Rounders
As part of National School Sports week the annual Year 5 and 6 Rounders Festival for the Bicester Family of Primary Schools took place on 27th June on a sunny Monday afternoon. Over sixty children and seven teams from four Primary Schools including Brookside, Five Acres, Southwold and Fritwell took part. Ten Bicester student sports leaders took responsibility for umpiring and scoring the matches. They also provided guidance and encouragement throughout.
The seven teams were divided into two pools in which they played each other in a round robin format. As the competition progressed there was a clear improvement amongst the players regarding their understanding and playing the game. Both Five Acres teams topped their respective groups to contest the final. Five Acres A defeated Five Acres B 6.5 -4.5 to be crowned Bicester champions 2016. In the other play-off matches; Fritwell beat Brookside A by two rounders to claim third spot and Southwold beat Brookside B by just one rounder to clinch fifth place. Rory Mawn During the event, the Spirit of the Games value of Team work was a key focus area. SSCO A player from each team was selected and presented with a special certificate in recognition of their positive attitude and enthusiasm throughout the festival.
Congratulations to all players, student sport leaders and teachers who all contributed to an enjoyable afternoon of rounders.
“Children really enjoyed the event and you could see the improvement of all the players as the competition progressed.” Teacher (Five Acres)
“Awesome as always Mr Mawn. Thank you so much for yet another most enjoyable and well organised event.” PE Coordinator(Brookside)
“Thank you, we’ve had great fun.” Teacher (Southwold)
The Bicester School Sport Leaders
Year 8: Georgia Moore, Mia White, Monika Martin, Phillipa Tod and Amy Long Year 9: Emily Wright, Charley Lewis, Isobel May, Maisy North and Charlotte Whittingham
Bicester Family Year 5/6 Rounders
The annual Year 3/4 and 5/6 Quadkids Athletics competitions for the Bicester Family of Primary Schools took place on Tuesday 21st June. The event was re- arranged from the previous week which was rained off. Despite this, there were still one hundred and seventy-five children taking part in the event. Thirteen teams contested the Year 3/4 competition and six teams competed in the Year 5/6 competition from seven Primary Schools including Kings Meadow, Chesterton, Bure Park, Five Acres, Fritwell, St. Edburg’s and Brookside. A team of thirty-eight Bicester School Sport leaders from Year 7-10, PE and North Oxfordshire School Sport Partnership staff and Bicester Athletics coaches supported and officiated at the event.
The Quadkids format enables children of primary school age to have fun participating in the core disciplines of running, jumping and throwing. All athletes completed a quadrathlon, competing in four events; the sprint over 75 metres or 50 Rory Mawn metres, the run over 600 metres or 400 metres, the standing long jump and the vortex howler throw. Results were recorded and totalled to find the best all-round SSCO athletes and teams. The children had a great time and there were some high quality performances
During the competitions, the Spirit of the Games value of determination was a focus area and a young athlete from each team was presented with a special certificate to recognise the high level of determination they had shown.
Congratulations to Brookside who took the team honours in the Year 3/4 competition, closely followed by Fritwell who took runners-up spot. Kings Meadow A were victorious in the Year 5/6 competition with Five Acres taking runners-up spot. In addition congratulations to the individual winners, Harrison (St. Edburg’s) and Holly (Brookside) in the Year 3/4 competition and Devon (Brookside) and Lucia (Five Acres) in the Year 5/6 competition. The first and second placed teams and the first three girls and boys in each age group have qualified for the North Oxfordshire School Sport Partnership Quadkids Final which will take place on Friday 1st July at The Cooper School.
“Really enjoyable event, well organised and the children had fun.” Teacher (Brookside)
“Great to see so many young in one place, thank you.” PE Coordinator (Chesterton)
Bicester School Sport Leaders
Year 7: Ciatlin Laverick, Tazmin Sale, Charlotte Knight, Jordan Blower, Joshua Maskell, Ollie White, Katelin Cavil, Alicia Davies, Sophie Chatterton, Millie Couzens, Olivia Whittingham, William Twynham, Riley Chester, David White, Sam Key, Callum Floyd, David White, Tommy Gale Curtis Brieton and Fernando Gomes Year 8: Georgia Moore, Phillipa Todd, Rebekha Tyler, Monika Martin, Amie Shaer, Jess Mather, Mia White and Amy Young. Year 9: Isobel May, Charlotte Whittingham, Petra Vass, Amy Shan, Andrew Gordon, Will Tyrell, Frazer Kernan and Tom Couzens Year 10: Mosese Tamaidrisi and Aiden Coxhead