horizons The Magazine For Scarborough College Autumn/Winter 2013 Inside this issue Saturday Activity Scarborough College OSA Alumni Award 06 Mornings 10 Prize Giving 2013 32 2013 HEADMISTRESS’S WELCOME Welcome to our bi-annual edition of Horizons. This year, we decided to www.baccalaureate.eu.com including competitions and delay publication until and I hope you will take the time sporting activities. Preparations to check out the website. are also well underway for the January so that we could production of the play ‘Oliver include all the end of It is worth remembering that the Twist’ which will be held in term Christmas events majority of the other schools in February. the top 30 are highly selective and it is a pattern we will and therefore, the College Another exciting development retain for the future. achievement is even more over the past few months impressive. Our GCSE results has been the opening of our were excellent again this year Little Owls Pre-School on the Looking back over six months at and the success of our students Bramcote site. This has proved school makes us all recognise underlines the great advantage very popular and we look how much we do and it is quite they have in attending forward to the opening of a staggering. Scarborough College. special ‘Rising Fours’ group up at Bramcote Junior School this Obviously, the first big event of The Autumn Term events month. the Summer is the publication of including our Open Day, Prize examination results. Giving, Concerts and, of course, Carol Services have all gone I hope you enjoy browsing We were delighted with our extremely well and give parents through the events of the IB results and the fantastic an opportunity to share in their past six months as I wish achievements of individuals children’s achievements, as well you all a very happy and which were celebrated at the as recognising the added value prosperous 2014! Prize Giving. they receive. We are also delighted to find The weekly Saturday activities that we are in the top 30 IB and Saturday Specials have Mrs Isobel Nixon schools in the UK in a table proved very popular along with Headmistress produced by the vast range of other activities 2 BRAMCOTE JUNIOR SCHOOL Headmaster’s introduction. The final leaves are clinging to Chairman of Headmasters’ and U8, U9, U10 and U11 age groups the trees, we’ve had the first Headmistresses’ Conference in different sports – including morning frost this week and (HMC) was able to be our guest rugby, football, swimming, the sound of Christmas Carols of honour. Academically, the hockey, netball, rounders, cross once more graces the corridors. children in Year 4 and Year 6 country running, cricket and Reflecting on the activities of have just taken the Cats4 Tests, athletics. the summer and all we have which is used by the teachers accomplished since the last as a baseline test to identify As well as busy school days, issue of Horizons is astounding. the learning styles and abilities we also provide a full activities of each of our children, which programme – after school every The end of the summer term in turn aids the planning and day from 4.15 - 5.15 p.m., on was tremendous; manic and presentation of lessons. Wednesday afternoons and on exciting. The last week of term Saturday mornings. You’ll be saw our annual trip to Sledmere, The first BJS Summer Production able to read about this later on. spending three nights under was The Ship of Dreams, a In conclusion, I quote from canvas and cooking over open challenging and emotional Dr C Ray:- fires. On the Tuesday evening we musical about the Titanic, from entertained 100 people round the initial plans to the disastrous the camp fire and provided first voyage. The children across Education should be exciting, enough curry for everyone to the Junior School had studied exacting, enriching, and have a feast. Years 3 and 4 the Titanic in class, and the ennobling in an atmosphere joined us for a visit to Sledmere performance included all the where we trust teachers in and House and experienced their first Junior children. Thank you to beyond the classroom. The insight to life under canvas. all those who took part and pupils will be prepared not just created such a memorable Speech Day celebrated the evening. for education, but for life. achievements of the children over the year, both in and On the sports front, last year, the out of the classroom. We first full year of Bramcote Junior Dan Davey were delighted that Dr Ray, School, we fielded 106 teams at Headmaster 3 LITTLE OWLS The opening of Little Owls on the new Bramcote site has been a tremendous success. The Open Day, on 31 August, was really well attended – over 100 people visited the new Pre-School, and significant interest was generated. So much so that the Pre-School is now full! This success allows us to move on to the next stage of our plan. As a result of this increased take-up in the Pre-School, we are re-opening Little Owls on the main BJS site, to accommodate ‘Rising Fours’ in preparation for their transfer to Reception (at Bramcote Junior School) in September 2014. Rising Fours opens in January and will be taught by our new specialist teacher, Mrs Farrell, ably assisted by two Classroom Assistants. This means that all the children will get the specific teaching they need to progress. Dan Davey LITTLE OWLS REPORT It has been a busy and exciting successful, raising over £300. start for Little Owls Pre-School On Friday 15 November, the this term, with a newly children all came to school refurbished nursery facility, in dressed in their pyjamas for a the old Bramcote site, which Children In Need Breakfast. now offers even more space Another fun day for our Little Owls to play and learn. and the chance to raise some “The Nativity has once again been a wonderful money for another worthy charity. way to celebrate Christmas and the end of This term’s topic of ‘All about a lovely and extremely exciting term. Every me’ has stimulated the children We finished the end of term in year the children manage to amaze me with and delighted the parents and traditional Little Owls Nativity style. their performances, their individual style families, especially when they Following weeks of learning songs and personalities shining through, bringing a had the opportunity to view and costumes being made, the the children’s self portraits at Little Owls didn’t disappoint their smile to everyone at the start of this magical the recent Macmillan Coffee doting audience on 9 December time of year.” Morning. The event was extremely in Lisvane Hall. Jackie Hunter 4 horizons SPOTLIGHT ON INFANTS This Autumn, Year 1 has Then everyone had a go! been busy finding out about Claire also told the children their bodies. They have about keeping healthy in other made skeleton pictures and ways and the importance of read lots of funny skeleton fresh fruit, vegetables and stories. They used their exercise. senses when trying out some Claire also let us use her as a tasty foods and they learnt model example of a modern all about keeping fit and nurse. The children compared healthy in our gymnastic, what she was wearing and the swimming and games lessons. equipment she uses with that of Florence Nightingale, a nurse They have also all passed, with during the Crimean War. flying colours, a very tricky test – washing their hands! It’s not If you wander through the quite as simple as it sounds! Infant corridor, you can’t fail to Claire Robinson, one of the miss them both. All the children school nurses, visited the class agreed that being a nurse now and demonstrated the correct was very different to how it was way to wash (and dry) hands. in Florence’s time. YEARS 1 AND 2 TRIP TO SCARBOROUGH ART GALLERY We had many reasons to make a trip to the Art Gallery this November – Art, History and Maths. We had been creating We talked about our favourite portraits in art, so we were paintings and gave reasons for very lucky to have a local our choices. artist, Karen Thompson, showing us around the gallery. We toured the current exhibition with Karen, which showed posters and memorabilia from We looked at some of Karen’s Victorian times to post war watercolour portraits, which Scarborough encouraging we found funny, or scary and visitors to come and stay. definitely interesting. So, we painted portraits too. Some of The children had photographs the children were inspired to use of modern day Scarborough some of Karen’s techniques – to look at as they toured the letting the paint drip, and using gallery. They needed to match lots of water. photographs to old paintings and posters, and identify the We had a look around the differences. This trip was a permanent exhibition, where we huge success, thanks to the saw moody scenes of storms at enthusiasm of the children sea, as well as paintings showing and to Karen Thompson. Jackie Hunter people in ancient stories. 5 YEARS 2 AND 3 TRIP TO MADHYAMAKA MEDITATION CENTRE, NEAR POCKLINGTON Mr Robinson arranged a trip to the Buddhism Centre to support RE teaching. Arriving at a beautiful house of water everywhere, and we a mandala. We then acted out with huge columns nestled in the didn’t spill any of it! We even the story of the first Buddha.