Settle College Matters Inside this issue: Newsletter Autumn 2019 Message from the Head of School 2 UKMT Maths Challenge 3 Extended Project Qualification 4-5 Child Rescue Nepal 6 Music Concert 7 Girls’ Rugby 8 Sports Leaders 9 Boys’ Football Report 10-12 Blackpool Zoo Trip 13-17 Boys’ Rugby Update 18-22 Fell Running Championships 23-24 Dutch Visit 25 Attendance Matters 26 Students of the Month 27 Academic Calendar 28 Photo top: Blackpool trip Photos Centre and above: Music Concert Head of School Message Autumn 2019 Dear readers, It is with great pleasure we bring to you our Autumn edition of Settle College Matters. The articles and experiences are varied and provide a snap shot of what is on offer both within the school day and beyond. We have a Twitter account for the school sharing events as they happen as well as a Twitter feed direct for sport. If you don’t already follow us, then please do consider @SettleCollege. Whilst writing this piece, students and staff are preparing for a variety of end of term activities at this time of year. The second to last week of term has seen a fantastic Christmas Concert showcasing musical talent from Year 5 through to Sixth Form internal exams for all Year 10 and 11 students and the enormous task of Christmas dinner for 647 students and staff! The next term isn’t set to slow down. Highlights include the Barcelona trip for Year 8, Iceland trip for Sixth Form and the Ski trip open to KS3. This and more all to look forward to in the Spring edition of Settle College Matters. With a push on careers and work experience, parents shall be aware of the focus on getting all Year 10 involved this year, engaging with employers. We look forward to parents and local businesses coming in over the next few months, providing students with information and experiences of career choices and pathways. It is likely you have enjoyed a well deserved and restful Christmas break by the time you read this. Wishing all our readers the best for 2020. With best wishes, Gareth Whitaker Headteacher. 2 UKMT Senior Maths Challenge By Mrs Davey The UKMT(United Kingdom Mathematics Trust) is a charity founded in 1996 with the aim of helping with the education of children in mathematics within the UK. The UKMT run a series of national mathematics challenges designed to encourage children's interest in mathematics and develop their skills. In November Years 12 and 13 took part in the Senior Maths Challenge and the results were as follows : Year 13 - Joe Eather for Best in Year Year 12 - Emile Oliver for Best in Year, Best in School and Bronze award Thomas Dale, Rebecca Damerell, Lewis Hooley, Joseph Scratcher, Jessica Harrison - Bronze Award Congratulations and well done to all those students. Mrs Davey Mathematics Teacher Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) An Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) at Settle College has grown to become very popular. Many students see this as an opportunity to investigate something they are passionate about further. They often discuss their findings in their personal statements or at university interview. Indeed, quite a number of universities see the EPQ as an important qualification, and they sometimes reduce their offer to a student due to their excellent EPQ result. The EPQ is the perfect way to encourage students to extend and develop beyond the material being covered in class and explore their passion for a topic. This may help them decide which subject to pursue at university. By taking responsibility for the choice and design of an individual project, students: - become more critical, reflective and independent learners - develop and apply decision-making and problem-solving skills - increase their planning, research, analysis, synthesis, evaluation and presentation skills - demonstrate creativity, initiative and enterprise. In 2019, 70% of students gained an A*-B at Settle College. Past titles have included: To what extent are modern day reptiles more advanced than dinosaurs? What is the potential impact of graphine on technology? How has 20th century warfare affected the advancements of medicines and surgery? Is society preparing children for the 21st Century? Should smoking related illnesses Be treated on the NHS? S.Murphy Head of Sixth Form 4 Extended Project Qualification By Elizabeth Pettifer The Extended Project Qualification scheme is the perfect way to voice your passion or further your knowledge on a subject that interests you, but is not catered for within your A-levels. It gives students the opportunity to design and run a project independently with the occasional input of a supervisor available to advise and keep you on track. Whereas most people choose intuitive written projects on their chosen subject, culminating in a final essay, it is also possible for students to produce an artefact as part of their research, or even a piece of art. When choosing my EPQ topic I instantly knew I wanted to do a project relating to my future ambition of becoming a research geophysicist. In this job I would need an understanding of seismology (the study of earthquakes) and this informed my decision to research and build a seismometer (device used to measure earthquakes) by hand. I had to gather together the different components and then build it (thanks Mr Kowalski for cutting the wood to size, and to Mr Hudson for the copper wire). The school’s basement sits almost directly on top of the South Craven Faultline. It was a perfect place to situate the seismometer. I was fortunate enough to secure the assistance of Leeds University’s Geology and Geo-Sciences departments and was loaned a Raspberry Shake which does the same job as my seismometer and measures seismic movements. I am very grateful for the opportunity to use such a cutting edge valuable piece of equipment, and wish to thank them for their help. The Raspberry Shake needed an ethernet connection and so this ran in Mr Brade’s office. I have collected a lot of data and have some very interesting spikes which need further investigation. The Craven Fault line is known to be active, although the movements are very small in seismic terms. I look forward to continuing my study. By Oliver Celebrating 20 Years of Child Rescue Nepal Brummitt Namaste is a fair trade company selling rugs, gifts, furniture and clothing. Child Rescue Nepal is a charity which our family business (Namaste) has supported for over 15 years. In Nepal, it is estimated that there are over 100,000 children working in hazardous situations. These children are extremely vulnerable and often suffer from physical and emotional abuse. CRN rescue children, keep them safe and reunite them with their families. CRN has rescued and rehabilitated 851 children, 822 of those have been reunited with their families. CRN have helped to protect 101,927 children in their schools. Since the earthquake in 2015 CRN have helped to rebuild 48 new classrooms, provide schools with pumped water, toilets, a library and lunch meals for children attending school. On Monday 2 December we were invited to go to the 20-year celebrations of Child Rescue Nepal in London. We enjoyed delicious Nepalese curries and learnt to make momos. These are a kind of Nepalese dumpling filled with chicken and vegetables. We listened to a talk by the CEO who thanked Namaste for its valuable support and generous raffle prizes. This is my momo 6 Music Concert By Helen Robertson Settle College Christmas Concert was full of festive cheer and with amazing talent on show. Mar Barclay (Year 11 GCSE Music student) gave a stunning rendition of Skyfall whilst the ever growing Settle College Band got everybody in the festive mood with some seasonal favourites. The school choir performed Elton John's Your Song complete with Elton John styled glasses and Christmas hats! The concert also saw the debut performance of the Settle College Primary Clarinet ensemble. Comprising of Year 5, 6 and 7 pupils who only started lessons with Mrs Robertson at the start of October. The pupils wowed the audience with an incredible performance and were presented with Certificates of Achievement. All the pupils who took part performed magnificently and are already looking forward to the Spring Concert. by Miss Girls’ Rugby Farrar Settle College was invited to Keighley Rugby Club to celebrate 150 years of Rugby. The U15 A Team opened the event with an outstanding game of Rugby, which got the celebration off to a wonderful start. All teams from the different schools varied on abilities and played in different ways, which included changes in team size and contact/non-contact. We had an A and B team, which saw a mixture of Year 9’s and 10’s playing together. This was outstanding to watch as the Year 10’s supported the Year 9’s and guided them through the matches. Both teams showed determination, teamwork, outstanding communication skills and showed the other schools how fantastic we are as a Rugby School. We also had some Year 11’s from our school learning how to referee and helping out at the event. Having our leaders at the event showed that we are a dedicated school, willing to promote physical activity. The leaders were mature, controlled the games and had the opportunity to develop their skills. All schools played very well; however, we were slightly unlucky as we walked away with several injuries…we made sure that Miss Farrar could remember her skills from her First Aid Training Course!! It was a very good day, enjoyed by all! We are excited for Rugby after Christmas and we have a lot of upcoming matches in store.