Apr 15, 2016

15 April 2016

Welcome back to all students and staff.

It’s been a busy first week with one of the highlights being Mr Martin’s whole school assembly on Wednesday. Mr Martin talked about problem solving and used this clip from the film Apollo 13 to illustrate his theme.

You can see Mr Martin’s assembly slides here

Also on Wednesday we welcomed visitors from France, Lithuania and Sweden as part of our Erasmus STEM project (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). They enjoyed time at the City College STEM Centre and in our own Science Department.

HMS Somerset

This morning Mrs Moore and Mr Mitchell took a group of Year 9 students to visit HMS Somerset to give them an insight into a career in the Royal Navy.

Mrs Moore said, “Commanding Officer Wood gave us an amazing tour of the ship; it was a great morning”.

Mr Mitchell added that it was lovely to meet former student Dean Taylor, pictured here, during the visit.

Local Democracy

We’re very proud of Josh Pope and Stan Beal who are demonstrating their commitment to democracy by standing in the local city council elections.

You can read the full story here.

We were all very busy during the Easter holidays too.

VIP treatment at the Oxbridge Boat Races

You will remember we congratulated four students (Dylan Tomkins, Jonathan Christie, Lily Harris and Jack Adams) who took gold in the 6,100m race at the national indoor rowing championships.

On Easter Sunday they took up their prize which was a VIP trip to the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races.

On behalf of the group Lily said, “Today was absolutely fantastic. We all managed to get on a VIP boat and follow up after the men’s race right behind them! We met a lot of amazing people such as Sir Matt Pinsent and Catherine Grainger as well as many of the crew members racing in the Olympics this year”.

National Youth Boys’ Choir

Oliver Kehoe took up a fantastic opportunity when he rehearsed with the National Youth Boys’ Choir in Banbury and performed at the Royal Albert Hall. He sang in two concerts and the programme included three world premieres.

Outdoor Education

Well done to our Ten Tors students (35, 45 and 55 mile teams) who went out on Dartmoor in high winds, snow, hail, rain and some sunshine to continue their Ten Tors training.

Our Gold DofE students also encountered four seasons of weather including heavy rain while looking over a very sunny Venford Reservoir.

Ski Trip

Over the holidays students and staff also enjoyed some time on the ski slopes of the Pyrenees.

Future Events

An introduction to the school’s use of Google Apps for Education and other resources.

Thursday 21st April at 4.00pm

PTFA Trip to Bath Saturday 14 May 2016

Why not join our PTFA on their day out to Bath.

Visit the Roman Baths, take a trip down the River Avon, browse around the fabulous independent shops, visit the Art Gallery, simply sit and enjoy a tasty meal at one of the lovely eateries…