Issue 7 13th January 2012 Page 1 Cliſton High School First Science Café at the High School Haemopoiec stem cell specialist, Dr Ruth Morse, was guest speaker at Cliſton High School’s first ever Science Café. The event , aimed at GCSE and A-Level students, was based on the highly successful Cafés Scienfiques which have been taking place worldwide for a number of decades. Year 12 students worked incredibly hard to organise and promote the event which took place on the 8 th of December. The purpose of the cafés is to provide an informal atmosphere in which students can learn more about the scienfic ideas and developments which are most relevant to them and which may not tradionally be covered in the curriculum. The sixth formers, who are planning to host a Science Café every half term, could not have hoped for a beer start to the scheme. Dr Morse was a dynamic, entertaining and inspiring speaker who was able to challenge all of the students’ ideas and opinions about stem cell research. A full write up of the event, wrien by sixth former Susan Powell, has been posted on the Bristol and Bath Branch of the Brish Science Associaon’s website: hp://bscia-bsba.org.uk/ UCAS update Year 13 students, and last year’s students who chose to apply this year, have now all finished their UCAS applicaons. The number of UK university applicaons for 2012 is down, no doubt as a direct response to the increase in fees, but the number of overseas applicaons has risen considerably and it sll remains a very compeve market. All of our applicaons have been submied, indeed all our current students’ applicaons were in by the end of November. 55% of offers have come through even before the January deadline, underlining the importance of acng early. There has been a huge shiſt this year in the ming of offers which seem to be coming in earlier than ever, so next year we aim to submit even earlier. Some students have already received a full house of five offers! Many have had offers from the Russell Group universies such as Birmingham, Nongham, Southampton, King’s College London, Cardiff, Leeds and Sheffield, and one of our medical students has had two offers of a deferred place already. Receiving an offer is the culminaon of hard work, dialogue and collaboraon on the part of staff and students, supported of course by parents. The process of choosing suitable courses and universies, registering with UCAS, wring personal statements and references, is a lengthy one requiring careful aenon and co-operaon, but with the extensive support offered by staff and tutors, we hope that the experience has been a posive one for our students. The ball is in now their court now as they focus all their energies on achieving those grades!
Transcript
Issue 7 13th January 2012
Page 1
Clifton High School
First Science Café at the High School
Haemopoietic stem cell specialist, Dr Ruth Morse, was guest speaker at Clifton High School’s first ever Science Café. The event , aimed at GCSE and A-Level students, was based on the highly successful Cafés Scientifiques which have been taking place worldwide for a number of decades. Year 12 students worked incredibly hard to organise and promote the event which took place on the 8th of December. The purpose of the cafés is to provide an informal atmosphere in which students can learn more about the scientific ideas and developments which are most relevant to them and which may not traditionally be covered in the curriculum. The sixth formers, who are planning to host a Science Café every half term, could not have hoped for a better start to the scheme. Dr Morse was a dynamic, entertaining and inspiring speaker who was able to challenge all of the students’ ideas and opinions about stem cell research. A full write up of the event, written by sixth former Susan Powell, has been posted on the Bristol and Bath Branch of the British Science Association’s website: http://bscia-bsba.org.uk/
UCAS update
Year 13 students, and last year’s students who chose to apply this year, have now all finished their UCAS applications. The number of UK university applications for 2012 is down, no doubt as a direct response to the increase in fees, but the number of overseas applications has risen considerably and it still remains a very competitive market. All of our applications have been submitted, indeed all our current students’ applications were in by the end of November. 55% of offers have come through even before the January deadline, underlining the importance of acting early. There has been a huge shift this year in the timing of offers which seem to be coming in earlier than ever, so next year we aim to submit even earlier. Some students have already received a full house of five offers! Many have had offers from the Russell Group universities such as Birmingham, Nottingham, Southampton, King’s College London, Cardiff, Leeds and Sheffield, and one of our medical students has had two offers of a deferred place already. Receiving an offer is the culmination of hard work, dialogue and collaboration on the part of staff and students, supported of course by parents. The process of choosing suitable courses and universities, registering with UCAS, writing personal statements and references, is a lengthy one requiring careful attention and co-operation, but with the extensive support offered by staff and tutors, we hope that the experience has been a positive one for our students. The ball is in now their court now as they focus all their energies on achieving those grades!
Issue 7 13th January 2012
Page 2
Christmas Cookery session
Thirteen enthusiastic children had the opportunity of taking part in a Christmas Cookery session before the start of the Christmas Fair. Mrs. Andrews, Mrs. Sutcliffe, Mrs. Denyer-Warr and Miss Clements opened up the Foundation Stage classrooms to those who had successfully bid for the session at our Auction of Promises. A busy and fruitful session was had by all, with the children making, tasting and taking home a bagful of goodies, including Rocky Road Clusters, Coconut Squish Cakes, Gingerbread Men and Cheesy Biscuits. They created their own bags to take the treats home in and were all amazed at how much we were able to produce together in two hours! Thank-you to all those children who took part and also to Mrs. Lee who contributed towards the cost of the ingredients.
Foundation Stage Open Morning
Please spread the word amongst family, friends and work colleagues about our forthcoming Foundation Stage (ages 3-5) Open Morning on 2nd March. Details are shown below.
Change of emphasis for ICT
In recent years it has become apparent that the ICT GCSE currently offered has become less relevant as technology advances. Pre-empting the government’s recent announcement we have been looking at an alternatives focused on creating software as opposed to merely using software. For a number of years we have tried to supplement the GCSE content on offer with topics we felt the ICT curriculum lacked – for example learning to program interactive multimedia resources. To replace the current compulsory ICT GCSE Short Course, all pupils will now sit the Functional ICT exam two years earlier in Year 9 – this will provide a grounding of basic ICT as expected from most employers. We are going to offer Computing GCSE as an option for years 10 and 11 for those pupils who show an aptitude and interest in Computer Science and programming. GCSE Computing candidates will have the opportunity to explore computer hardware and programming logic in more depth, shedding light on the inner workings of the ‘mysterious black box’ at the heart of modern computers and smartphones. The Year 9 options booklet has more detail about the course contents if required.
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Head for a Day
Perhaps a career in education beckons for young Joshua Walmsley who was Head of Foundation Stage – Key Stage 2 for a day this week. The chance to experience life as a Head Teacher was offered at Clifton High School Promises Auction last term, and Joshua, who asked his parents to bid for him, was the
lucky recipient! Joshua showed wisdom beyond his years and decided he would like to have an Eco theme for the day. His first initiative as Head
was to declare there would be a photographic competition with the joint themes of “Animals in Danger” and “Wild Winter”. Keeping to his Eco theme, Master Walmsley decreed that each child in the Lower School should wear a wig and an accessory made only of natural fibres and dyes; quite a challenge for the pupils and parents but one which they embraced.
Having conducted an assembly and awarded Star and Head Teacher Awards, Master Walmsley invited the children to visit an Eco Fair.
Master Walmsley manned a stall at the fair and demonstrated models of machines powered by alternative energy. Other stalls included RSPB, Avon Wildlife Trust and Specialised Nest Boxes. The latter brought a fascinating range of bird and bee boxes and Master Walmsley decided the school should have one. A visit to their website, wwwspecialisednestboxes.com, will not disappoint.
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A refreshing cup of tea with Dr Neill, presented a welcome break in Master Walmsley’s hectic day.
Master Walmsley displayed a remarkable aptitude for his new role and ensured his popularity with the children by ordering ice-cream for all at lunchtime! Congratulations to Joshua for doing a splendid job and to the competition winners: Photo competition Animals in Danger Category winner: Willoughby Johns, 2L. Runner up: Ishan Goyal 3V. High commended: Sam Harvey R1, Auden Barnes 3V Winter Scenes Category winner: Sienna Coombes 2R Runner up: Alice Bratt R2 Highly commended: Piers de Voil 2L Eco poster competition Winner: James Barker 1W Runner up: Amy Hughes 2L Food Miles Winner: Theo Martineau 5B Eco energy classroom Winners: Class 5B Runners up: R1 and R2 Low Carbon travel to school Winners: Class 5P Runners up: 6B Many thanks to all who helped make this day rather special for Joshua and the other children.
Throughout the day Master Walmsley and his enthusiastic assistants, Mr Walmsley and Mr Pyne, conducted Eco surveys and competitions and prizes were awarded at the end of the day. The Eco Junk Art sculpture session, turning unwanted items from around the school into a unique piece of artwork, proved great fun and provided an opportunity for The Bristol Evening Post to interview and photograph the new Acting Head of Foundation Stage – Key Stage 2 .
The opening of the new pond by Master Walmsley was witnessed by members of the Groundforce and Recycling clubs and by interested Y5 pupils.
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We now have a robot programmed to find and move towards the “treasure” (cardboard boxes with special marker codes on them). We also have another robot, with a robotic arm, which is operated by an electric servo which will scoop up the treasure when it is close enough to the robot! Now all we need to do is combine these skills on both robots! If anyone is interested in sponsoring our teams, we would appreciate the support. We can put your company logo onto our robots and also onto team t-shirts we are intending to create. Please contact any team-member or Dr Camacho on [email protected] The competition is in the Easter holiday at Southampton University – watch this space for updates and wish us luck; the competition is international this year!
Student Robotics Competition
Student Robotics has been progressing famously over the holiday with a whole day devoted to building and programming in the holiday. We have overcome blowing fuses and discovered problems with the electronics kit. We have attached motors and recharged batteries. We have learned how to use an electric drill, a jigsaw and have been prototyping and redesigning to include improvements.
Before Christmas the whole of year 9 went ice skating at The Mall temporary ice rink. Much fun was had by all; just look at the photos! Please note that none of the supervising teachers were brave enough to venture onto the ice! Thank you especially to Mr Noyce for organizing the trip.
Ice Rink As you may be aware, we encourage children to think for themselves and voice their opinions in a polite and appropriate manner. Immediately on our return to school, Emily in Year 5 did just that; Mr Richards received the following letter from her: “Dear Mr Richards, Please, please may you put something in the Newsletter about Bristol ice rink closing down. I, and many other children, love ice skating so really want to save it. The website, if people want to help save it too is: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-ice-rink/ From Emily”
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Pictured above: Eagle Nebula Hubble
Pictured above: M57
Brian Cox and Dara O’Briain will be hosting Stargazing Live on BBC TV again this January and Clifton High are intending to join in the fun! Various events are going to take place – please check the table below and pop the dates in your diary. The big event is on Monday 30th January in our Beech Room starting at 5:30pm. The Astronomy Club students are preparing some fabulous activities and it should be a lot of fun for interested galaxy explorers of all ages. If you are interested in coming along to any of the listed events (except the TV programmes of course) please send Dr Camacho an e-mail and you will receive information of how to find the Failand Observatory and some safety rules for observing, also more information on Clifton High’s Stargazing Live event on Monday 30th January 2012. [email protected]
Date Time Venue Event
Sat 14th Jan
19:30 to 22:00
Failand Observatory
Open observing at the Bristol Astronomical Society observatory with Dr Camacho operating the 12 inch reflecting telescope and hopefully the newly installed 18 inch telescope will also be operating.
16th to 18th Jan
see BBC sched-ules
at home on your TV!
Stargazing Live on BBC TV hosted by Brian Cox and Dara O’Briain
Thur 19th Jan
During day
internet Live web-chat with Brian Cox and “School Report” schools
Sat 21st Jan
19:30 to 22:00
Failand Observatory
Open observing at the Bristol Astronomical Society observatory with Dr Camacho
Mon 30th Jan
17:30 to 19:00
Beech Room at CHS
Clifton High’s Stargazing Live event. Come and listen to a talk on alien hoaxes, make constella-tions from star biscuits and a comet from dry-ice. Parents, students and friends all welcome.
Sat 4th Feb
19:30 to 22:00
Failand Observatory
Open observing at the Bristol Astronomical Society observatory with Dr Camacho
Last year the House Captains tried out some ideas for the new Houses and of course we finished with the House Challenge Day but it was this September that we really got started. We continued with the House Charities the pupils chose last year. Pupils and staff have worn jeans, green, spots, stripes, silly hats and one person wore very high heels! We have brought in books, clothes and cakes. But most importantly we brought in money. This term the school supported the MacMillan Coffee morning, Jeans for Genes, Oxfam, Children in Need and Make a Wish and raised an incredible £2,889! We also managed to put together 48 Operation Christmas Child boxes. Well done to 8-2 who collected an amazing collected 17 boxes. House points can be won by raising money, bringing in things for charity, sporting activities, by earning merits and by producing excellent work.
Charity Christmas Card Rather than sending lots of Christmas cards to each other upper school staff decided to put one large card on the staff room wall for us to pass on festive wishes and make a donation to a charity. For the charity this year we donated money to Penny Brohn Cancer Care. Penny Brohn was a former CHS pupil and many people in Bristol have benefitted from the charity including our Office Manager and Events Coordinator, Joanne Rosser. We were delighted to raise £109.20!
House Report continued ...
So as we start 2012, who is the leading House? In Years 3 – 6 Pears – 656, Winkworth – 1005, Wollaston – 1102 and Percival – 1165 In Years 7 – 13 Pears – 1521, Wollaston – 1549, Winkworth – 1648 and Percival – 1686 So if you add all these together the Clifton High School House Points look like this. Pears – 2382, Winkworth – 2811, Wollaston – 2941, Percival - 3035 There are lots of ways to win more points this year!
CHS Sports Reporting Introduction By Jamie Goodenough
Happy new year all! Having
left Clifton High at the end
of sixth form last summer, I
am currently undertaking a
gap year, before continuing
my studies into higher
education from next
September, where I plan to
study journalism. In the
meantime I am delighted that Dr. Neill and the sports
department have allowed me the opportunity to
report on some of CHS’ upcoming sports fixtures.
During my time at CHS I was heavily involved in
sport, having been a member of the sixth form boys’
football team from its creation in 2009 up until my
departure; which included a stint as captain of the
team throughout my final year. I also individually
represented the school at the 2010 Independent
Schools’ Golf Tournament and the 2011 Avon
Schools’ Golf Tournament. At my final Rose Day as a
pupil last year, I was honoured to be the joint
recipient of the Senior Victor Ludorum for services to
boys’ sport. I am looking forward to getting out and
reporting on some quality sporting action, so keep
your eyes open for exclusive articles coming soon!
Year 8 Christmas Team Bonding Event
Friends, fun and pizza. What else do you need for an exhilarating evening? Just before Christmas the Year 8s enjoyed an evening spent
amongst friends and filled with excitement. The evening - organised by Mrs Williams and the rest of the Year 8 team - saw the students split in to teams and participate in an array of games. The activities were scored, the totals were totted up whilst the students enjoyed each others company over pizza and then the winning team (and two runners up) were awarded with prizes and, of course, cheers. We would like to thank all the students for taking part and everybody who helped in the evening’s success.
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Staff – Continued Professional Development At the beginning of term, staff had two days of Continued Professional Development. CPD takes place at the beginning and end of every term, and staff willingly embrace this valuable stretch of time out in which we can question, re-evaluate and learn in our position as professionals in charge of your child’s education. The advantages are manifold, from reflecting on personal achievements, learning from others, exchanging ideas and developing skills to keeping abreast of the very latest in teaching technologies and keeping informed of educational initiatives. It forms a key part of the professional development of our staff. CPD does not just involve attending training courses, although this does form part of our role, particularly within individual departments, but includes work-shops, visiting lecturers, departmental brainstorming and listening to colleagues as they present as experts in their particular field. This term all staff, from those who teach nursery to year 13, heard from Mr Bob Smith in a lecture and discussion forum entitled “Outstanding Teaching and Learning”, dealing with how an outstanding lesson compares with a merely good lesson. This was followed by a session from him entitled “Lesson Observation Skills Plus” on how to assess and give feedback to colleagues after observing lessons. Our own Leadership Team, Mr Taylor, Mrs Archer and Mr Psarros, delivered a presentation on quality assurance and monitoring of practice to staff in the Upper School, whilst staff in Key Stages 1 and 2 had full day workshop with a professional trainer from “Abacus Evolve”, the publishers of our new maths scheme. The focus of the training was the use of interactive whiteboard resources and assessment, and was of the highest quality. Staff declared it one of the most useful training days they had experienced.
Welcome to Learning Support
We are delighted to welcome Mr Tracy Kemp to Clifton High School. Mr Kemp is an experienced Learning Support teacher and was Head of SEN at Merchant’s Academy (formerly Withywood School). He has taught pupils from year 1 to
year 11 and we are delighted that he will be working alongside Mrs Pilgrim, Mrs Hanmer-Lloyd, Miss Norris and Mrs Williams to support children at Clifton High School.
Welcome to Key Stage 1
We are delighted to announce that Key Stage 1 is working in partnership with the University of the West of England Faculty of Education to provide school based experience to trainee teachers. This week Miss Sadie Laws (pictured on the left) and Ms Danielle Davies (pictured on the right) joined Class 2R where they will be based for 5 weeks. Next week we welcome Miss Baker into Class 1W and Miss Rundle into Class 2L. Miss Baker and Miss Rundle will be in school until the end of March. They will be fully supported and guided by their Class Teachers, with additional support from our School Based Mentor Mrs Lee. We hope they all enjoy their time at our wonderful school.
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Tuesday 31st January 2012 Main Hall
19:30—21:30
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PA Ceilidh
Friday 27th January 2012 CHS Main Hall
Live music, dancing and light supper
Now in its 4th year, the Clifton High School Ceilidh will take place on Friday, 27th January 2012. The evening is a great opportunity to have fun with your friends and to make some new ones. The event is open to parents, staff and friends of Clifton High School. Come in a group or come on your own – you don’t need a partner - and with a caller to call the dances, you don’t need any previous experience.
Tickets are £15.00 each to include a light supper.
There will be a cash bar selling beer, wine and soft drinks.
Numbers are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment
We are delighted to announce that the Family and Friends Saturday Swim has returned from 7th January 2012. This is a commercial arrangement with Sporteducation who will provide the fully qualified lifeguard. Sporteducation were recommended by Henleaze Swimming club. Only current and former parents, pupils and staff are permitted to this private swimming session so it is a great opportunity to have fun or get fit in a safe and secure environment. The cost for each Saturday swim session will be £2.50 for adults and children alike. Tickets will be available from the Finance Office at school in books of 12. Please make your cheque for £30 payable to Sporteducation Limited. Swimming begins at 3pm and the next Sporteducation session "Learn to Swim" starts at 4pm. As this is a commercial arrangement if it is not well supported by friends and family Sporteducation will discontinue the service from 9th June 2012. Happy swimming!
Places at Clifton High We are delighted that demand for joining the Lower School continues to grow and would like to ensure that our database of siblings not already at CHS is up to date. Please contact Mrs Kate Bolton-Jones, Admissions Registrar, to give her details or request a registration form for future entry—we can then ensure that siblings will be given priority for places. We have been holding a series of initial visits and welcoming in the children who will be new to Clifton High when they join a Reception class next September. Children currently in our Nursery class are automatically allocated a place in a Reception class and between now and the end of the summer term will have plenty of opportunities to visit the Reception classrooms and get to know the staff, but if your child is due to start in Reception and hasn’t yet come for their initial visit, do get in touch as soon as possible - places are filling up fast! Mrs Bolton-Jones can be contacted by phone: 0117 9339087, or by emailing: [email protected]
Sports Team Photographs There will be a selection of photographs taken of Years 4 to 13 on Thursday, 22nd March, in the Main Hall, from 9.00am onwards. Pupils involved will be told the details, which will also be on the sports notice boards.
Tea Club Please note that Tea Club is now on the top floor of Ogilvy House (Nursery to Year2 building) near to the ICT suite.
French Club
There are still some places available in the French Club, for pupils in Years 1 to 6. If you would like more information, to come along to do a taster session or to enrol your child, please call Kate Bull on: 07836277976 or email:
