The Lion - Issue 37

THE

LION

NEWS & VIEWS FROM BABLAKE SCHOOL ISSUE 37 SUMMER 2005

Bablake Diary Wednesday 7 September Start of New Academic Year (Autumn Term)

Friday 16 September Speech Night/Prize-Giving Ceremony (Methodist Central Hall) Saturday 1 October Interview morning for U6th students organised by the Careers department Monday 17 – Friday 28 October Half Term (two weeks) Friday 11 November Open Evening Saturday 12 November Open Morning Monday 28 November Parents’ Association International Evening of Music and Food Friday 16 December End of term Wednesday 4 January 2006 Entrance Examinations for 2006 entry Thursday 5 January Spring Term Begins

In this issue Activities Careers Arts Travel Opinion Charity news Sport

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HATIKVA Hope ‘It has taught us to fight even when the light of hope seems dim’ IT ALL STARTED when a letter arrived inviting Bablake School to send two post 16 students on the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ course run by the Holocaust Educational Trust. We responded immediately and it was decided that the first pick of the cherry should go to the Amnesty International group – in recognition of their continual work in the field of human rights.

Bablake gained the two places to attend the course. Students were invited to apply and explain why they would like a place on such a unique course. Lisa Hagan and Bhavna Sharma were chosen to represent Bablake.

The course began with a pre visit seminar to the Jewish Synagogue in London on Sunday 10 October 2004.

The girls heard holocaust survivor Mrs Kitty Hart-Moxon speak about her internment in Auschwitz-Birkenau. The seminar also provided the girls with the opportunity to discuss their expectations and feelings before their visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The actual visit to AuschwitzBirkenau took place on Tuesday 19 October during half term. It started with a tour around the museum at Auschwitz l then a short drive to

Birkenau. Seeing the vastness of Auschwitz-Birkenau was an overwhelming and life changing experience for all who attended.

The day concluded with a memorial service at the ruins of Crematoria II, Birkenau, during which the girls were invited to light a candle and lay it on one of the crematorium sites. The service was filmed by BBC Songs of Praise and was shown on holocaust memorial day.

A post seminar visit then followed on Sunday 31 October 2004 at the Imperial War Museum’s Holocaust Exhibition in London. Here Bavnha and Lisa were set a challenge to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day

in January 2005 at our schools and to inform the local community about their experiences. This they did with great enthusiasm, sending evidence of their day back to the Holocaust Educational Trust. Four schools would be selected to enter the Student Ambassador Awards for 2005.

From over 300 students enrolling on the lessons from Auschwitz course only 4 schools and 8 students including Lisa and Bhavna were invited to attend the Awards Ceremony at the House of Commons on Tuesday 17 May 2005.

The girls performed a five minute presentation describing their personal reflections on visiting the sight of a former death camp and outlining what they had done in School and in the local community to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. A panel including members of parliament and BBC producers then announced the names of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Student Ambassadors for the following academic year as Lisa Hagan and Bhavna Sharma.

Information about the presentations and the activities during their day at the House of Commons will be published in the next newsletter. K

Congratulations to Lisa Hagan and Bhavna Sharma, the new Student Ambassadors

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Bablake School

Bablakeactivities There have been three Duke of Edinburgh expeditions so far this year involving over 120 pupils. During the two weekends before Easter, the Bronze Award participants tackled the practice expedition – 15 miles of walking in the harsh terrain of Warwickshire!

Challenging routes and harsh terrain RUCKSACKS WERE UNFEASIBLY heavy and many pupils brought enough food for a polar exploration, but fun was had by all, despite the sub-zero temperatures during one weekend. We were also subjected to a rather surreal campfire sing-along with decidedly demonic leaders, who performed fire spinning and other somewhat odd rituals of scouting!

Pupils walked in groups with staff or Gold Award participants on day one and gained confidence using a map and compass. Most groups walked unaccompanied on the second day and everyone made it successfully to Kenilworth Castle. The odd blister and a few sore legs don’t seem to have put them off as all the groups are now busy preparing for their assessed hikes. They will take place in Cannock Chase or the Cotswolds later in the term.

After lots of training in school, the Silver Award participants experienced slightly hillier countryside in Shropshire over the Easter holidays. After an unscheduled hike from the coach along three miles of country lanes, the group found their campsite that was one of the best we’ve visited.

On day one the groups walked with a member of staff and took turns to get the rest of the group completely lost! It was a long day’s walk involving some steep climbs and descents and all the groups did very well. Back at the campsite the weary hikers suddenly sprang to life at the offer of a lift to the sweet shop and then it was dinner time – pasta and sauce again!

On day two, the groups were sent off to navigate some challenging routes with checkpoints along the way. Team spirit grew and some individuals were even caught enjoying themselves! That evening the temperature dropped to minus 3oc – Bablake pupils seem rather adept at surviving harsh temperatures!

On day three the goal was Church Stretton. With the thought of a teashop at the end of the journey the groups made their way down the beautiful Carding Mill Valley and finally back home for a welldeserved soak in the bath.

The Silver groups are also now preparing for their assessed hike which will be in early July in North Wales where the hills and the weather can be even more of a challenge. K

CCF news AFTER A GREAT performance last year, we did not hesitate to enter the Exercise Cadet Stretch competition again. This year we decided to enter two teams, boys’ and girls’, as this would add an element of ‘healthy’ competition to the weekend, with both teams competing against one another, as well as against nine other CCFs and ACFs. Both teams set off on Friday evening, accompanied by CSM J Robson and Captain C Hall, and eventually arrived at Nescliffe Training Camp in Shropshire. After settling into the ‘luxury’ accommodation, the teams were met by their guides and began the evening’s briefings with SA80 rifle familiarisation and IED (improvised explosive devices) training, which would put them in good stead for the rest of the weekend.

The cadets were given a very early morning wake up call on Saturday; some were still half asleep as they tucked into their army fry up in the cookhouse.

The teams met up with their guides and were transported to their start point to begin patrolling.

They came across several scenarios which they had to tackle before carrying on with the patrol. These included crossing a minefield, which Cadet Martyn Dawes successfully completed, gaining full marks for the boys’ team. The girls learned the important rule ‘lefty loosy, righty tighty’ while changing a wheel on an army Landrover. Cadet Hannah Sheard negotiated a hostage situation and they all tackled the assault course, treated casualties and survived an ambush at a road block.

With the scenarios successfully completed, they stood proudly to attention as the Colonel of the OTC congratulated them on their fine efforts. All of a sudden, the Colonel’s speech was interrupted by the sound of automatic gun fire. The cadets were commanded to carry out a simulated casualty evacuation, which meant running back to base, through smoke and sheep infested fields carrying a stretcher laden with full water cans. Both teams did very well with Corporal Adam Hughes and Cadet Stephanie Gardner urging on their team members.

Sunday was competition day. The teams had to complete a gun run – victory for the boys, as the girls struggled to carry the heavy burden, but eventually crossed the finish line. Next the teams had to complete command tasks and climbing tower, which earned vouchers to buy bridge building equipment.

They had just one hour to construct a bridge out of wooden planks, pallets, sleepers and rope.

Even though the Colonel successfully crossed both of the Bablake bridges, the boys’ team came fourth as their bridge was a little short, closely followed by the girls who were ecstatic at their accomplishment: not only were they the youngest members of the competition, they were also the only all girls’ team, and were delighted to beat six other boys’ teams. K

The Lion | Summer 2005

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careersnews UPPER 6TH Clearing and how to react on A2/AS results day begin to dominate the thoughts of the U6th. Usual advice has been sent home in a letter from the Headmaster and there is plenty of info in the Clearing section of the Careers Department website.

Congratulations to four students who have made headway with prestigious Gap Year programmes offered by IBM and Year in Industry. Holly Garratt and Jamie Devall have won places on IBM’s PUE scheme while Naveen Jaspal is concluding interviews with Rolls Royce. Sunayna Lakhanpal has already accepted a job with Transco via the Year In Industry programme.

LOWER 6TH Every L6th student has received a careers interview over the last couple of months. The aim was to cover anxieties about decisions to be made post AS and post 18 and explain how the UCAS system works. We challenged every student to justify why they were/ were not taking a gap year – this was a plan to ensure every student was aware of how they would soon be entering a competition where often academic results alone do not bring immediate reward. There is a major trend for students to take a gap year in the UK to improve their future graduate status. Voluntary work or relevant work experience are paying off for those students canny enough to arrange the placements.

More information is available for both students and parents through links off www.woodyswebwatch.com or by direct consultation with the Careers Department.

50 L6th students (just fewer than half the year group) submitted a CV for analysis by five sources.

We asked a Legal partner and three high-flying Human Resources directors to grade the submissions and offer tips for improvements, while also adding our own censorial pen over them. Basic errors on layout and accuracy were cruelly exposed and the group now have a clear idea how to impress an employer on paper or via the online application.

Each L6th student has also been asked to identity his/her own Unique Selling Points and nominate worthy peers. Submissions from L6F have been particularly prompt but the rest have slowed to a trickle. Tom Griffiths from www.gapyear.com will be acting as Alan Sugar to pick a team of students from the replies when he visits in June to talk to the L6th about employability.

The school’s student magazine, Stretch, has struggled to find PC software to produce a professional PDF version. Adam Fray has produced some excellent Illustrator designs but it is not the ideal software for the task. We would be delighted if a sponsor for the PC version of Quark could be found but for the present, we will outsource the edition to Mustard, the school designer, in July to follow up a final week’s work undertaken by our team of L6th Work Experience journalists. Their week will also include a visit to ETC magazine in Harrogate. It has been pleasing to see groups in the 5th and 2nd years produce templates for magazines and we would like to engage that interest for future editions of Stretch.

4THS, 2NDS AND SHELLS: After Half Term, three year groups will be seeing the Careers Department as part of their PSHE programme.

The 4ths are immediately made to consider how this time next year they will have made a major decision about their future Post 16 and will be sitting examinations determining their prospects. They will complete a job application form which Asda’s People Department in Walsgrave mark over the summer and their time management skills will be assessed.

Our 2nd Years are asked how much they know about qualifications and necessary research into possible career aspirations. They complete a family job tree and examine gender and profession stereotypes. The Shells each visit the Careers Department for an introduction session where they meet the Careers staff, view our resources and are introduced to our website.

MOCK INTERVIEW AND CONVENTION HELP NEEDED Saturday October 1st is the date for our U6th Mock Interview Morning. With the gradual increase of extra tests presented to students looking for University and employment, this event is even more vital than ever.

We are always keen to receive volunteers for our Interview Team, which usually calls upon over 80 interviewers. Please register on www.2morrow2day.com or email mgaw@bablake.coventry.sch.uk, if you would like to help.

Similarly we would love volunteers for our Careers Convention on Thursday 2nd February 2006 (6-9pm).

Delegates from as wide and as full a number of professions as possible would be appreciated.

FORMER STUDENTS Information about Former Students will be on Friends Reunited as always but it would be excellent if it could also be added to profiles on Bablake Reunited – this can be entered via the main Bablake website.

BABLAKE’S CAREERS DEPT – NATIONAL FOCUS Earlier this year, Cambridge University invited Head of Department, Mr MGA Woodward to deliver a lecture to Careers advisers studying for its Diploma in Careers Guidance. The workshop covered Careers websites and use of the Internet in careers guidance.

The Careers Research and Advisory Centre has asked for similar workshops since 2000 and this year was no exception. It ran its HE Admissions Conference at Keele University over Easter and Mr Woodward led a session on technology and its advances as well as a light-hearted but practical Careers in a Suitcase session for those new to Careers advice.

Mr Woodward is representing the National Association of Careers and Guidance Teachers at the Higher Education Funding Council for England meeting in May and alongside Mrs Scott, the department has run successful focus groups for the DfES on their national annual Careers publications.

News Check has also asked for reviews of Careers publications.

Finally, the Gap Year Company has approached Mr Woodward and asked him to be a face for their proposed online careers guidance project. We hope this voluntary role will allow Bablake and its students access to a great resource and bring individuals a profile to start their University careers ahead of the rest. Our future journalists in particular will profit from the partnership. K

GOLD CREST AWARDS THERE HAS BEEN an outstanding selection of projects completed for the Creativity in Science and Technology scheme this year. The Gold award requires approximately 100 hours of work based on original research carried out in an institution outside school. Seven pupils from the Upper Sixth convinced project providers of their potential and found excellent placements. Six pupils worked at the University of Warwick. Megha Mistry and Peter Bell worked in Biology with Dr Harpal Randeva on separate projects isolating RNA from cells. Naeema Choudhury and Bhavna Sharma investigated reading and language development in the Psychology Department with Dr Julia Carroll. Lydia Bridgland worked on Novel Measurements using Ultrasound with Dr Steve Dixon in Physics. Rikki Hundal meanwhile researched animal footpath patterns in the Mathematics department with Dr Ian Stewart.

Hannah Godfrey worked with Dr Peter Hickson at The Health Centre in Bedworth looking at factors affecting diabetes. The research and written projects were very well received and all seven have now been presented with their gold CREST certificates. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the project providers for their excellent support and to congratulate the pupils on their achievement. K

ENGINEERING EDUCATION SCHEME A GROUP OF pupils from the Lower Sixth form, Richard Bland, Nelson Ho, Jaspal Matharu and Kushnood Akhtar, successfully completed their assignment and presentation at the NEC Birmingham following two hectic terms of research and model making. Encouraged by their engineer, Chris Furneaux, from the sponsor company ARUP, the group looked at the proposed Swanswell area development and came up with a proposal for replacing the ring road with an urban boulevard. Traffic management schemes had to be suggested to minimise disruption and also a basic costing considered. To help their explanation the group produced a 3D model to show step by step dismantling of the area and the new road being built and a very detailed written report. The assessors gave very positive feedback and the participants felt the experience of working to deadlines and liaising with a number of agencies useful in their preparation for university life and choice of course. Many thanks to our sponsor company ARUP and their link engineer Chris Furneaux. We look forward to working with them again next year. K

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Bablake School

Bablakearts

BATTLE of THE Bands INGREDIENTS 220 strong fee paying audience O 8 bands plus entourage/guest list O MC Gurjit Lidder plus guests O Guest judge: Stew Kingscott (BBC Cov and Warks www.bbc.co.uk/coventry) O Technical team: Messrs Taylor, Prescott, Murphy Snr/Jnr. O Paparazzi: Jenny Bullas, Richard Smith O Host: Mr Woodward O

COOKING TIME short of 3 hours

O Just

OUTCOME Musically invigorated and vigorously entertained audience O £400 donated to the Jordan Accardi Appeal O Superheroes in Training, Identity Crisis and Handcrafted won a share of 6 hours’ rehearsal time, kindly donated by Pick ‘n’ Styx in Napier Street O Identity Crisis and Handcrafted shared an £80 cash prize O £300 plus raised for the U6th Leavers’ Ball O

We asked Stew to review the event online and this is what he said: Judging a Battle of the Bands contest

By BBC Coventry and Warwickshire’s Stew Kingscott (with additions from Mark Woodward) Ever wondered what being Simon Cowell is like. Well he’s no Mr Nasty, but our Mr Nice Stew Kingscott found out when he judged a Battle of the Bands contest at a Coventry school.

As a victim of Battle of The Bands failure, I’ve always believed that I could do a much better job than the Simon Cowells of this world. So when

Bablake School approached me to preside over their fifth such annual competition I jumped at the chance.

As a result on Thursday 21 April I found myself in the school’s studio theatre faced with the task of awarding one of eight bands a cash prize. Each of them had strictly fifteen minutes to perform and I knew the decision wasn’t going to be easy.

2 $ Ransom (Ollie Lloyd and cousin) kicked off the event with a set of riff-laden instrumental rock. There are only two of them but it didn’t matter as they just went for it anyway. The Estate Agents (Hannah Cleveland, Ed Whitney, Arthur Keegan-Bole plus 1) followed with an original Dylan-inspired set, which included the night’s only use of a banjo.

With two bands down it was clear this was going to be an interesting competition.

The first hair raising moment came from Handcrafted (Melissa Walton, Ross Harrison, Paul Wye, Chris Walters and Paul Hollingsworth) as their singer delighted us with a fantastic rendition of Nina Simone’s Feeling Good. For someone so young she has a very powerful voice. The rest of the band isn’t too shabby either as their lead guitarist demonstrated with his accomplished soloing. Sweet child o’ mine was a crowd favourite too.

In between acts host MC Gurj and his ‘homies’ treated everyone to a series of comedy sketches including a hilarious dance-off, which saw the winner packaged off on an all expenses paid trip around the school fields!

Next up were Super Heroes in Training (Richard Overton, James Plester and David Cheetham) and they hit us with a tight and well performed set of nu-skool punk rock covers, rounding off proceedings with their own take on the sing-a-long classic Five Hundred Miles. It was clear when they left the stage they were the crowd’s favourite.

The Gloriana (Kris Prevc and Charlie SearchwellGuest) apologised for the fact half their band was

missing but still managed a good Libertines-esque acoustic set with plenty of onstage humour.

Identity Crisis (Luke Murphy, Adam Jackson and Vishal Misra) was the night’s other hair raising moment. There was a jester singing in a high pitched voice at a keyboard, a drummer with a cape on and a rather unnerving masked guitarist staring into the audience. Frankly it terrified me and a distinct hush befell the audience. Their Tiger Lilies’ covers adapted well to satirical swipes at the school rugby team and other in jokes. To me they were worrying, funny and hugely entertaining.

The Showdown (Peter Day, Richard Drury and Richard Lowe) won me over with their cover of Ghostbusters, complete with the famous symbol displayed on the backdrop and the final act Egg (Arthur Keegan-Bole, Ed Whitney, Mark Walters and Ashley Hawkins) were just impossible to fault. Franz Ferdinand, the Stereophonics, Chuck Berry and Led Zeppelin all succumbed to their excellence.

As the crowd voted for who should win some valuable local studio time donated by Pick n Styx in Napier Street, we retired to a side room to decide who to award the cash to. It was a really tough decision and it took us so long that by the time we returned the mischievous MC Gurj had announced that my fellow judge Mr Mark Woodward had in fact been shot. “I don’t go down that easily” he remarked when he announced our decision to award Identity Crisis and Handcrafted the cash although it was Super Heroes In Training who deservedly won over the crowd.

Coventry already has a proud musical heritage, and it’s so encouraging to see that there is a promising future.

With a healthy balance of talent and passion, Bablake’s students did themselves proud and I reckon one day you should be looking out for some of these bands at a venue near you. K

The Lion | Summer 2005

House music

Drama

WHAT AN EXTRAVAGANZA of talent and effort was before our eyes and ears on April 28th when each of the four Houses presented their programmes.

Bayley started the evening and they were all wonderfully colour-co-ordinated in their red and black. The theme was Disney and there were lots of small contributions from various groups and individuals, from the Shell choir, through a whole House choir, (there were a lot of people in it!) to arrangements from the 12-strong Bayley orchestra, and 3 flutes playing the dance of the flutes from the Nutcracker, a ballet sequence, and much, much more all rehearsed and co-ordinated by Sarah Corrigan and Chloe Whittle.

Crow took as their theme, musicals and after a solo flute played by Claire Laverick we heard songs from ‘Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ and then songs from Grease with slick choreography by Charlotte Leivers accompanied by a band led by Mark McKelvie. The costumes added to the vivacious entertainment.

After the interval Fairfax also took a musical as their theme presenting a number of songs from Moulin Rouge. The house conjured up a full show band of 18 players to accompany the singers and the impressive spectacle was enhanced by glitter from above.

The evening closed with Wheatley’s contribution which comprised music from the 20th century taking in Elgar, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Dave Brubeck and Shostakovich. The programme was jointly presented

by Ed Whitney and Arthur Keegan-Bole, who gave us programme notes of great erudition to read while the performances were being set up. Wheatley had an orchestra of 18 players and a choir of 40.

It was a good thing that it was a Festival and not a competition as each house had great if different qualities and no-one deserved to be second best. The whole evening was a credit to the senior pupils who put in a great deal of work to make the event a success. Well done to everyone. K

THIS HAS BEEN a very busy term for Drama – no news there then. In fact, the variety of activity has been quite unusual. We started with our performance of Samurai at the Castle Theatre in Wellingborough as part of the Shell Connections Project in conjunction with the National Theatre. This was a short play rooted in Japanese mythology and had already been performed in school at the end of last term. Did you see it? If not, why not? Our play had already been professionally assessed, and had been described as ‘very slick, performed with ingenuity, elegance and imagination’ and Bablake itself was described as ‘a school that clearly sets out to encourage an enthusiasm and commitment to performing arts’ and all this said by the Story Editor for Holby City! The play was very well received by the audience in Wellingborough, and again, the assessors were very positive and supportive. It has been a great experience for the students to work in different environments including a professional theatre, and to work to a very tight deadline; I hope that many of the actors will feel that they will carry on with their commitment well into the future. There is certainly a wealth of talent out there.

Rehearsals continue for the David Edgar adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, which will be our play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year (more on this at a later date) as well as some fine tuning on the reprise of Les Misérables which will be performed at the end of term. Have you got your tickets?

Congratulations must also go to the many Bablake students who were involved in YOG production of Les Misérables at the College Theatre. CéCé Sutton as Eponine and Adam Fray as Jean Valjean were excellent and now Adam has to morph back into Thénardier for our production!

We are also beginning work on the BBC’s project for their Autumn Shakespeare season. We are one of the schools chosen to be involved in their One Night of Shakespeare which will include performing an abridged version of The Merchant of Venice at the Playbox theatre in Warwick on 3 July. This production will be performed in the first half of next term. K

Photography competition THIS YEAR’S PHOTOGRAPHY Competition attracted approximately 60 entries from pupils and staff. Once again the standard was impressively high and the range of subjects unexpectedly diverse.

Our thanks go to Vodaphone UK who sponsored the competition and generously donated prizes.

The winner of the Lower School prize and overall winner of the competition for a photograph entitled Light is Chris Starkey (Shell H). Chris wins a mobile camera phone. Other prize winners were Faith Hannon, Will Chamberlain, Mark McKelvie, Nadia Garrett, Paul Lam and Charlotte Searchwell-Guest.

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Poetry Below is a list of pupils who are having their poems published in the next edition of the West Midlands Poetry Anthology. They took part in the Great Minds poetry competition towards the end of last year.

As Autumn Begins June Harley Davidson Apple Pie Devil May Care Attitude Food Phobia The Colour Black Harvey The Elephant Horses The Cat Chocolate The Hunting Wolf The Shark The Tortoise The Pig Gerbils The Spider The Ostriches The Snake The Organ Grinder’s Monkey The Fly The Snake The Big Hairy Monkey The African Elephant Safari The Joys of Spring Spring Sensations Spring Fun through the Seasons July October October is an...

The Seasons Spring October Life as a Year January

Lutalo Lennox Roseanne Elkington Caroline Peak Alice Grindal Daniel Lightfoot Harriet Carter Nikki Trailor Abhimanyu Bose Jack Lewis Chris Reynolds Ryan Harmon Clare Jepson Beth Hushon Rory Doherty Tom Chen Rachel Hollinrake Abigail Rewhorn Victoria Jones Nadine Minty James Vallance Matt Black Oliver George Ami Shirley Kenny Sangha Adam Rogozinski Amandeep Mankoo David Humphries Michael Probert Hannah Mulhern Emily Chomitzki Emily Mason Mariam Ghadimzadeh John Masser Jean-Paul Francis Aisling Flanagan Emma Gallagher Aaren Healy Ashleigh Lafaurie Morgan Baker

THE SPIDER The glowing moon Is out to shine Making the web glisten silver Against the ebony night The thin weak legs Carry the black bold body Circling and circling As if it was a Ferris wheel.

As the night falls silent He carries on working Silently spinning and spinning Not a second to lose His body as black as the night His web as silver as the moon He’s in charge of all creatures of the night Known as the king of the Goths Nadine Minty 2B

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Bablake School

Bablaketravel Can we WINTER PARK, COLORADO climb hills?

For the second year running, and the third time in four years, Bablake Ski Club headed for the United States for their annual ski holiday at Easter.

ALTHOUGH ORIGINALLY BOOKED to ski the slopes at Powder Mountain in Utah, just a stone’s throw from Salt Lake City, the party headed off to Colorado, after some frantic last minute changes to our plans – different state, different resort, different hotel, what the heck! It was still the Rocky Mountains, still the United States, still fantastic weather, and above all, wonderful skiing!

So it was that we headed off to Denver, albeit on separate flights, with one group swapping planes in Washington, and the other breaking their journey in Chicago. Although total chaos was expected, both groups reached Winter Park without any delays and with few traumas, apart from the TVs not working on the Washington flight – shame that!

This year’s ski party was chaperoned (as they say in the States) by 8 adults, 2 down on last year; Mrs Yates having had baby Honor in January, and so having to forgo her annual ski/shop adventure, while Mr Burdett was a late absentee with the earlier than expected arrival of young son, Archie, so quite rightly spent the week at the hospital, rather than on the ski slopes – no competition really! Our 73 pupils looked splendid (or at least 71 of them did!) in their new black ski club fleeces, worn during the outbound and inbound journeys for ease of recognition, and corporate identity. What fine ambassadors for Bablake!

This year’s hotel was the best ever – rooms with en-suite facilities, fridge, microwave, hairdryer, log fire, dishwasher, cooker, not to mention 120 channel TVs with pay per view films! Although the food was typically American – low on healthy options – there

was plenty of it, and for those not too keen, there was always take-away pizza delivered to rooms!

This year we had booked 5 hours of ski or snow board lessons, and we have to say, the ski school was the best we have ever experienced – the progress of the beginners’ groups was most impressive, and very rapid compared to past years – all of these first time skiers/boarders can now consider themselves intermediates! There were, as ever, a few mishaps during the week, none more disappointing than Beth Hushon’s broken wrist, just 10 minutes into her first ever ski lesson, despite the close attention of no less than 3 ski instructors, 2 ski company representatives and all 8 staff! It just goes to show that no amount of adult supervision absolutely guarantees safety on the slope! Although there were one or two other bumps and bruises, the only other injury that cut short the winter activity side of the holiday was Amy Harwood’s hairline ankle fracture – this having happened on a chair lift!

Apart from skiing and boarding by day, the aprèsski afforded opportunities for all with a quiz night (won by the staff team, of course!), snow-scooting, snow-tubing, an evening meal in a themed restaurant, and a trip to the cinema. The annual shopping trip took us to Denver for an evening at Colorado Mills, where vast amounts of money seem to have been spent!

So it is off to Canada in 2006, once again to the Rocky Mountains, but this time a thousand miles further north to the resort of Jasper. Only 9 months to wait! K

THIS WAS THE question many of the group were asking on the way to the Lake District during the Easter holidays. 18 pupils, Miss Morris and Mr Faulkner are going to Peru this summer to do the Inca Trail and the Alpa Mayo circuit, a challenging 10-day hike accompanied by mules. We decided to have a few days in the Lake District to get to know each other and make sure we all had some degree of fitness!

The first afternoon involved a quick scurry up Catbells, but the following day was a more strenuous 12-mile hike round the Newlands Horseshoe. The benefits of walking poles were discovered, and a rather slippery scramble up a rock made for an interesting diversion.

Day three and our weary feet faced another 10mile hike around the Coledale Horseshoe. The views were spectacular and made the initial rather brutal climb bearable. A few members of the group have realised they need more experience in hilly terrain, but excitement is mounting for the trip in July.

During our time in Peru, we will visit a school in a shantytown on the edge of Lima. The nuns working in the school have said that baby-grows and football tops as well as general school equipment would be very gratefully received. If you have any outgrown football tops or baby-grows that you would like to donate then please send them in to me (Miss Morris) or contact me on krm@bablake.coventry.sch.uk K

German exchange 2005 THE TWELFTH ANNUAL trip to Hemer left on a cold and wintry morning on the Wednesday before half term, but nothing was to prepare us for the wintry weather we would experience in Germany. Although our journeys to Cologne and Bonn were lengthened by the snow on the autobahn, this did not hamper our enjoyment of these historic cities complete with modern shopping centres. Pupils from the Fourth to Sixth Forms improved their knowledge of the German language and culture while staying with their exchange partners, as well as through the extensive social scene that their new friends offered. Every day, new phrases were learnt and proudly shown off to admiring friends and teachers. We returned a week later impressed by our hosts’ hospitality and fluency in English and filled with enthusiasm and a far greater knowledge of the German language. K

The Lion | Summer 2005

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Bablakeopinion

THINK AGAIN! ARE YOU A SAFE DRIVER? A TEACHER’S VIEW MR MGA WOODWARD

Melanie Statham, Becky King (former student, left 1997) and Paul Guyver led a thought-provoking course, spread over three weeks, for our U6th on Road Safety, representing the Coventry City Council Road Safety Team, West Midlands Casualty Reduction Department and Fire Services respectively.

STUDENT VIEWS

‘Very informative ... no matter of facts and figures could have brought home the dangers of driving more than listening to relatives of victims.’

Sonia Khela

‘I’ve realised speed isn’t important, life is.’

James Gillam

‘Hard-hitting ... it left an impression of how dangerous the roads are and how cautious we need to be.’

Richard Drury

‘The adverts have a message that should be communicated to all those learning to drive.’

Ed Whitney

‘The Irish road safety adverts should be shown on our TVs as they show the real effect of accidents.’

Megan Usher

THE MAJOR EMPHASIS was on how speed kills.

Melanie, Becky and Paul all pointed out how deaths on the UK’s roads are such a regular item in local and national newspapers – but they are so common that the reports are passed over by almost all the readers.

For family and friends related to the victims, the tragedies are absolutely devastating. One moment life is full and promising, the next...

The most galling point also is that in the vast majority of cases, the deaths could have been avoided. The actions of a drunk, drugged up, tired, speeding, overtaking, impatient, reckless or inattentive driver may last only a few seconds but the consequences last a lifetime for the many innocent victims and their families.

We saw over three weeks a poignant mixture of photographic and video evidence of the devastation at a crash scene. What we saw was heavily censored but we still had a vivid picture of the ghastly scenes the emergency services experience daily. Think about it – for example, a seat belt may stop you crashing through a windscreen at 60mph but what happens internally in such circumstances.

Such a waste of human life can often be avoided, so why should drivers show contempt for their own safety and other innocent pedestrians/drivers? Why for that matter is there such a national outcry about speed cameras? They are primarily set at traffic black spots to save lives and prevent motorists breaking the

law. How come a civilised society seems to indulge so freely in a national pastime of breaking a speed limit that is set for a reason? We are all guilty of rushing around when a few extra minutes are all it would take to avoid a number of fatalities on the UK roads every year. A victim hit at 40mph has no chance of survival when the impact at a lower legal speed may not have such drastic consequences.

Attending the 3 week course was emotionally overwhelming for everyone – as a parent of young children, weeks later I still cannot forget the image from an Irish Road Safety campaign of a car crashing through a hedge and slaughtering a little child who seconds before had been cheerfully playing football in his garden. If that wasn’t shocking enough, the desperate rush of the father to embrace his child was even more upsetting. A message with clear impact.

With the Manic Street Preachers’ soundtrack ‘If you tolerate this, your children will be next/missed’ haunting the EDM on a video, we were left with the lyrics in our mind and the words of grieving relative after grieving relative saying ‘Look me in the eye and tell me you are never going to speed’. For victims that survive, a life sentence is often inflicted by the injuries suffered – talent and promise severed in an instant of another’s recklessness.

Still too cool or too busy to slow down now? I challenge you to scan the papers over the next 7 days.

You will see headlines like the following – ’Super car crashed in mad bid to overtake’, ‘Motoring boss dies in smash’, ‘Van driver kills girl in hit and run’, ‘5 dead on M6’, ‘Drivers cut free after road smash’. Count them. Maybe sometime soon these headlines will be hard to find – if so, the road safety message will have struck home. K IN MEMORY OF CHRIS ASHWORTH WHO SADLY LOST HIS LIFE IN A CAR CRASH SHORTLY AFTER LEAVING BABLAKE IN 1993.

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Bablake School

Bablakenews

ATTENTION ALL WEB HOUNDS!

INDIVIDUAL SUCCESSES Congratulations go to the following: The Girls’ U14 Hockey Team in representing the Midlands in the National Schools’ Championships in Nottingham and going on to become runners up.

A group of students covering every year group has been set up by webmaster, Mr

The U15 Rugby Squad on winning the Coventry Schools Cup at the end of the Easter Term.

Woodward, to report on the many activities involving Bablake students. The team has

The Senior Netball Squad on winning the West Midlands Colleges South Tournament as well as the Colleges’ League competition.

been commissioned to write short, punchy news reports and photograph school events.

If any parent or friend of Bablake wishes to contribute an item for the site, we would

The Girls’ Intermediate, Junior Athletics, and Boys’ Intermediate Teams on winning the Coventry Championships.

be delighted to receive this. Please email mgaw@bablake.coventry.sch.uk at any point over the year.

All Third and Fourth form pupils who took part in the Maths Intermediate challenge.

Overall there were 13 Gold, 24 Silver and 34 Bronze Awards. Particular congratulations go to Sam Brown, James Lambert, Emily Payne and James Ross who have been selected to take part in the next round of the Junior Maths Olympiad.

Brett Chatwin on three very successful games for the England U16 A team and on scoring five tries with a hat trick against Wales

Quiz team report

Jo Mitchell, Meisha Nicely and Jessica Thompson on their selection in the England U16 Netball Training squad.

Paul Lam on his continuing chess successes.

Mark Lam was the joint best junior and best local player amongst a strong field of International Masters and Grandmasters at the 2nd Coventry International chess Tournament.

WEST MIDLANDS CHEMISTRY QUIZ

JUNIOR QUIZ TEAM

Reena Panchal, Mark McKelvie, Bradley Bosher and Jamie Stefaniak have enjoyed an excellent run in this year’s West Midlands Chemistry Quiz. The standard of opposition started at a very high level against Rugby School whom we beat in a close first round match. We then gained a comprehensive victory against Dixie Grammar School which took us to the finals evening at Birmingham University. Our quarter final was a tense competition against King’s School, Worcester, ending with a score of 54-54. Bablake went through on the tie break question to meet King Edward’s Camp Hill Girls School in the semi-final. After a slow start, we could not quite catch up, going out with a creditable score of 47-52. Everyone said that they enjoyed the occasion, but at times you could cut the tension with a knife. Congratulations to all the team for having the ability to recall such diverse chemical knowledge when under pressure. K

ON WEDNESDAY 27 April, the Junior Quiz Team, comprising Sam Mason, Emily Sheard, Jonathan Smith (Captain), and Oliver Towlson, travelled to King’s School, Worcester to compete in the Regional Rounds of the nationwide Schools Challenge. In the first rounds, we were drawn against King’s, Worcester and Wrekin College. The first game, against King’s, started well, but the boys from Worcester fought back strongly to win the game 480:370. Although we then went on to win the game against Wrekin College, Worcester also won against them, which meant that it was King’s Worcester who went through to the semifinals. The eventual winners of the Regional Final were King Edward’s High School.

I would like to congratulate the team for their enthusiasm and willingness to play, and look forward to next year’s matches. K

Philip Walker on his selection by the Olympic Development Sailing Squad to join Team GBR following the Youth Championships in Scotland. Philip is currently ranked 4th in his class and will now compete all over the world for Great Britain.

Aisling Flanagan on her excellent performance in the World Irish Dancing Championships where she was placed 6th from 119 girls.

Maniel Baines on his continuing tennis successes in winning the Boys’ U16 Championship at Nottingham and going on to the National Winter U16 Tennis Masters.

Abhimanyu Bose on being selected to play the sitar in SAMYO, the UK’s first National South Asian Music Youth Orchestra.

The Lion | Summer 2005

Charitynews PHAB BALL

CHARITY NEWS 2005 WE RETURNED TO school in January having learned of the terrible devastation caused by the Tsunami disaster. In true Bablake style we rallied round and raised £2,857 in two weeks.

Unfortunately, we then learned of a tragedy within our own community, when 4 year old Jordan Accardi the brother of one of our pupils was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. His plight has touched the hearts of everyone and so far we have raised £3,428 which will go towards a special appeal fund set up to help research into medical help for children like Jordan. At present this help is only available in America.

The school had great fun with “Red Nose Day” activities, not forgetting that real reason behind all the activities was to ‘Make Poverty History’ across the World. A cheque for £2,000 was sent towards this.

We are supporting Fair Trade as an ongoing activity and following Red Nose Day when we sold hundreds of “dubble bars” we have started selling Fair Trade items in our coffee bar.

The very popular PHAB Ball took place last term, raising over £2,000 to enable physically handicapped young people to have a holiday looked after by their able bodied friends.

In the Spring term, we raised an amazing £9,590.

This term we are continuing to raise money for Jordan, and have seen two major events – the “Battle of the Bands” and the 6th form “Slaves for Sale” auction which together raised £800.

For our International Charity we are supporting Project Independence, an established charity looking after women and children survivors of war in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Rwanda. After years of war and conflict, many women have been left homeless, traumatised and devastated with little chance of rebuilding lives for themselves and their families. It is these very women that Project Independence is reaching out to.

The generosity of the whole Bablake Community is amazing, as is the care and concern shown to everyone in need whether it is someone we know or people in the developing countries that we will never meet.

The total amount raised to date since September is a staggering £18,103.10.

Well done to everyone and please carry on with your fantastic efforts. K Mrs Goodwin and Mrs Heath

KT TUNSTALL UPDATE Since headlining our Amnesty International group’s Stop Violence against Women gig at Bablake’s EDM in November, KT has gone from strength to strength and is currently a Radio 1 darling for Jo Whiley and Scott Mills in particular. Her album has gone platinum and she has kindly pledged auction items for the Jordan Accardi Appeal via her manager, Simon Banks.

JORDAN ACCARDI APPEAL GIG – STOP PRESS! A critically acclaimed female singer-songwriter who has toured with Suzanne Vega and Ray Lamontagne has agreed to headline a concert for Jordan early in the Autumn Term. Expect to see Handcrafted, Egg and Identity Crisis from Battle of the Bands and the return of Olivia and The Ten O’Clock Scholars as support acts. The identity of artist and details of tickets will be revealed online as soon as arrangements have been finalised. K

Each year since 1989 Bablake has held a dance to raise money for Birmingham PHAB Camps, a charity that organises holidays for disabled children and young people and their able bodied counter parts.

This year, the Ball was again a very successful event. The hall was decorated in African style with striking shields and masks made by the third forms. Excellent waiter and waitress service was provided by pupils from the fourth and fifth forms. The band was a popular group called Blue Sky, who have played at the PHAB ball for several years.

Guests at the Ball were drawn from Bablake Staff, Sixth Form and Friends of PHAB. It is a black tie/evening dress event and elegance, glamour, dash and style were much in evidence. It was an absolute coincidence that quite a few raffle prizes were won by members of staff!

A lot of staff and pupils contribute to the success of the Ball – setting up the hall, helpful with catering, donating raffle prizes and buying raffle tickets.

Again like all the best events at Bablake it is dependent upon team effort, good will and generosity, and we are happy to say these are never in short supply.

The Ball raised a total of £2,147. K

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10

Bablake School

boys’sport

girls’sport

BABLAKE UNDER 15S COVENTRY CHAMPIONS!

WEST MIDLANDS NETBALL

Having won through to their first cup final by beating King Henry VIII in a tense semi-final, the under 15s were looking forward to a titanic battle with a very strong Woodlands side. Playing at the new Coventry Rugby Stadium, Bablake began brightly with the forwards dominating possession and the backs spreading the play with some excellent inter passing. Woodlands defended well – they had to – but eventually the pressure told and Oliver Millerchip crashed over for a well worked try.

A 5-0 lead was scant reward for Bablake’s superiority but despite a penalty attempt and Chris Walters having a try controversially disallowed, that was the end of the scoring. The Bablake team thoroughly deserved their victory, always in control and never allowing their opponents the time and space to develop play. They never looked like conceding. Team spirit and good support from parents and friends helped see the team home, the icing on the cake being, literally, Mrs Lam’s excellent carrot cake.

All 3 netball teams reached the West Midlands round of the national competition. It was an exciting day for all the girls with highs and lows for Bablake. The U19 had some very close games but finished 3rd on goal difference in their section.

The U14 team won their section convincingly, but in the semi-final they did not maintain their form and lost by one goal after taking a 5-1 lead at half time.

The U16 lost one game in their section but still went through to the semi-final. This was against King Edward Lichfield. They went down 3 goals at the start but their determination clinched a 12-10 victory. The girls had secured their place at the National finals but had to control their excitement for the final. This was against Higham Lane, the other Warwickshire representative school. At full time the score was 8-8, but in extra time Bablake applied the pressure to win 12-10 and become the West Midlands Champions.

The U16 Netball National finals were cancelled in March due to snow. The team had been prepared well and were very disappointed. The finals now take place on 15th May. The girls have managed to continue to train hard as well as prepare for their GCSEs. We wish them luck at the Nationals. This team also reached the National finals at U14 level.

Laura Rouse, Hannah Davies, Jessica Thompson and Joanne Mitchell were all selected for the England Netball Talent camp in February at this tournament.

COVENTRY SCHOOLS NETBALL TOURNAMENTS Bablake achieved some excellent results last term winning three out of the six tournaments. The U15A team reached the semi-finals and the U15 B team won their competition comfortably. The U13 A team also reached the semi-finals and the U13B team went on to finish runners up. Both the U12A & U12B teams won their semifinals and went on to play King Henry VIII in the finals. Both Bablake teams played exceptionally well and were victorious.

U14 BROMSGROVE INVITATION NETBALL TOURNAMENT

U15 rugby team BABLAKE UNDER 12S COVENTRY RUNNERS UP The Bablake U12s completed an excellent first season by finishing runners up in the Coventry U12 Rugby Cup. After a fantastic win against an excellent Coundon Court side in the semi-final, the side met Woodlands in the final. An excellent start saw Chukka Ogbuneke score a try to give Bablake a 5-0 lead. But Woodlands replied with a try of their own which was converted to make it 7-5. The rest of the game remained tense with excellent defence from both teams preventing any further score. The boys from Bablake should be congratulated for their excellent effort and improvement throughout the season.

Bablake entered 2 teams in this tournament. The ‘B’ team competed very well against ‘A’ team opposition. Bablake ‘A’ team won their section, beat Bromsgrove in the semi-final and in a triangular final beat both Kings, Worcester and Oundle.

Bablake have won this tournament for 3 consecutive years. The girls played extremely well and Lara Jackson is proving to be a formidable shooter.

U18 DOMINIQUE MATTHEWS TOURNAMENT A senior squad played in the Dominique Matthews Memorial Trophy at the end of the season, emerging as winners. This tournament attracts schools from all over the city and, whilst it is a competition, the spirit of play and enjoyment of the day far outweighs the winning. As the trophy in memory of Dominique says ‘play with a smile’.

U18 WEST MIDLANDS SOUTH COLLEGES LEAGUE & TOURNAMENT In this league both 1st and 2nd VIIs defended their titles winning all their matches.

In the end of season tournament linking the teams which play in leagues the 1st VII again defended their title from last season, winning their five section games, beating Cadbury College 8-2 in the semi-final and King Edward College, Stourbridge 8-5 in the final.

U16S NETBALL NATIONAL SCHOOL FINALS On Sunday 15th April the U16 Netball Team represented the West Midlands at the National Schools Finals in London. They played superbly and at the end of the sections, were the only team to be unbeaten having won all eight of the section games against teams from across the country.

In a closely contested semi-final against Bromley High School they lost by 8 goals to 10 but showed Great Spirit to come back in the 3rd / 4th play off beating Woodlands School 6 – 4 and so gained 3rd place overall.

U12 rugby team COVENTRY BOYS JUNIOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONS! The second and third year boys’ athletics team recently won the Coventry Team Championship with an excellent performance. As well as the team trophy Dominic Ainsworth won both the 100m and 200m, Daniel Lightfoot won the 100m hurdles, Toby Donaldson came second in the javelin and Paul Best came third in the 100m and triple jump. The team of Dominic Ainsworth, Paul Best, Daniel Lightfoot and Sam Clarke also won the 4 X 100m relay.

It was a tremendously successful day and the players were a credit to the school, their parents and themselves. Congratulations to them all and to Mrs Friebe who has coached them.

U14 NATIONAL HOCKEY FINALS The weekend of the Hockey National Finals finally arrived and the squad travelled to their hotel in Nottingham on the Saturday afternoon. Spirits were high and the squad were eager to play to their potential. As only 5 schools from the whole country had qualified for the finals, the tournament was played on a round-robin basis, with each team playing everyone else.

The Lion | Summer 2005

In the first game of the day, Bablake played against the tournament favourites, Canford and recorded a 1-0 victory, settling the nerves of all of the supporters who had travelled to support them. In the second match against Scarborough College, Bablake dominated the possession and took an early lead thanks to a fine goal from Lijana Kaziow. Scarborough managed to fight back with a few minutes remaining and snatched an equalising goal. The squad were very disappointed with this result but true to the fighting spirit they have shown all year, they managed to respond in style during their next match against Newport Free Grammar School.

The majority of the squad were able to play during this match and an excellent team performance saw them beat the opposition 4-0. This is a remarkable score against the champions from the East of England in only a 30 minute match.

And so, to the final match of the day. A win would ensure that Bablake were National Champions. Bablake started the match strongly and scored an early goal.

Unfortunately, it was at this point that fatigue started to set in and they eventually lost the game 1-2 to the eventual winners of the tournament, St Georges from the South of the country. Nevertheless, Bablake finished as runners up and to quote captain Holly Payne, “second in the country isn’t bad is it?”.

ROUNDERS At the end of April the U15 team started off the string of Coventry Schools Rounders tournaments for this term. Bablake won all their 5 games in the north section and now go through to the final.

SUCCESSES TO BE CONGRATULATED Joanne Mitchell, Jessica Thompson and Meisha Nicely have reached the second stage of the England Netball Talent Camps.

Lucy Horn and Holly Payne represented the U15 Midlands hockey team in Holland over Easter and both girls are in the team for next season.

Sarah Mills, Lauren Boon, Lijana Kaziow, Jodie Neale, Rebecca Sewell and Georgia Horn have all been selected to attend Midlands Hockey trials.

Lauren Boon (captain), Samantha Brindley, Lijana Kaziow, Jodie Neale, Charlotte Weaver and Abigail Rewhorn are part of the U14 Warwickshire Hockey side and won the Midlands County Trophy after beating Derbyshire on penalty strokes in the final.

This fine squad have achieved so much this year both collectively and individually and it is a testament to their hard work, commitment and drive. I would like to praise all of the players, parents and supporters for their efforts throughout the whole season and thank the Parents’ Association for the kit which they donated to the team following qualification for the Nationals.

Match Statistics (inc. tournaments) Goals Scored Goals Against Matches Won Matches Drawn Matches Lost

94 16 22 3 3

Squad: Holly Payne (C); Jodie Neale (GK); Abbie Rewhorn (GK); Sam Brindley; Ira Kleine; Adelle Middleton; Laura Owen; Roxy Ziaie; Lara Jackson; Lucy Horn; Lauren Boon; Lijana Kaziow; Lauren Carpenter; Charlotte Weaver; Rachel Powell; Rebecca Sewell.

U14 Hockey

U15 COVENTRY SCHOOLS TOURNAMENT Bablake took the trophy after beating Coundon Court 3-0 and King Henry VIII 4-0.

U13 WARWICKSHIRE CLUBS & SCHOOLS MINI HOCKEY TOURNAMENT After coming 4th in our invitation tournament we were aiming to reach the semifinals of this competition. The girls won all their games in their section and gained that place in the semi-final. They met Sutton Junior Hockey Club; it was a close game but Bablake secured a 1-0 victory. Unfortunately they could not hold their form in the final and finished runners up to Kings High.

U13 WARWICKSHIRE SCHOOLS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT This was an 11-a-side competition. Bablake won their section scoring 11 goals and keeping a clean sheet. The final was a triangular. Bablake played exceptionally well against Stratford Grammar winning 4-1. They tried to hold Kings High but eventually they got through our defensive tactics to score. Once again the girls gained silver medals.

U12A Netball

BABLAKE U12 INVITATION TOURNAMENT The U12 team won all three games in their section, beat Princethorpe in the semifinal 3-0 and then met Kings High in the final. A close match was predicted after a 3-3 draw earlier in the season, but this time Kings High won 1-0 scoring a goal near the end of the game.

COVENTRY SCHOOLS INTERMEDIATE ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS This involved the 4th & 5th year girls and they all performed very well. An individual win came in high jump for Eleanor Donaldson and the relay team also took first place. The team took the trophy by 3 points.

COVENTRY SCHOOLS JUNIOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS The 3rd year girls were strong competitors and won the trophy by 4 points over King Henry VIII and Tile Hill Wood. The relay team won by a tenth of a second and individual successes came from Lijana Kaziow in the hurdles and long jump and from Lauren Boon in the javelin.

11

U12B Netball

12

Bablake School

Bablakeupdate HEADMASTER’S NOTES

STAFF NEWS

AFTER 14 YEARS at Bablake I am still amazed at how much talent there is in the school. This has been very much demonstrated in the past few months in so many different ways – in the excellent AS and A2 modular results published in late March, the magnificent achievement of the Girls’ U14 Hockey team as National runners up, the acting talent of those taking part in ‘Samurai’, the impressive poetry, the vibrant and exciting display of Art work in the GCSE and A level Art exhibitions and the wonderful Battle of the Bands and the House Music Festival which were both tremendous celebrations of the musical variety, talent and teamwork in the school. We really are fortunate in Bablake to have tremendous facilities, skilful and enthusiastic teachers and supportive parents but all this would not amount to much without the very talented pupils who appreciate and enjoy the opportunities offered and rise so well to the challenges and achieve so much.

SINCE THE LAST newsletter the following staff changes have occurred:

As ever, the long summer vacation allows us the time to carry out some significant building works to improve the facilities in the school. This year the School Library will be extended to allow for a greater range of books to be offered to our pupils and to provide a larger and more comfortable environment for working and studying. In addition, the Science Computer room is to be extended to house a full class set (24) of computers and the room off the Sixth Form Coffee Bar will have a suite of computers installed in it to create an ‘Internet Café’. The School Office is also to undergo some changes. A dedicated Reception Area is to be created along with a new Pupil Services Area which will help to improve the already excellent service the Office Staff give to parents, pupils and visitors to Bablake. K Stuart Nuttall Headmaster

Miss R Young has been appointed to teach Biology. Miss Young is currently completing her PGCE course and has a 2.1 in Biological Sciences from Warwick University.

Mr R Smith has been appointed to teach Chemistry. Mr Smith is currently Head of Chemistry at King’s High School in Warwick and has previously taught in Solihull School and King Edward’s, Birmingham.

Mrs C M Mills has been appointed to teach Girls’ Games (part time). Mrs Mills has previously coached at Bablake covering for illness.

Mrs B Wood has been appointed to teach Art (part time). Mrs Wood is currently Head of Art at Lyng Hall School.

After four years at Bablake Mr Y Khalifa (ICT Technician) has left to take up the post of Network Manager at Ash Green School. His replacement is Mr P Millard who has a degree in International Disaster Engineering and Management.

Other Staff News: Mrs S E Hill (i/c German) who had an operation earlier in the year is now undergoing radiotherapy and is making good progress. She will return to school in September.

Congratulations go to Mrs L Yates (English) and Mr R Burdett (Boys’ PE and Games) who both became parents for the first time earlier this year.

Mrs M J Everton (Classics) has been appointed Head of Classics at Rugby High School from September 2005. While we are sorry to see Mrs Everton leave us, we are delighted that she has gained this well-earned promotion.

She leaves with our best wishes for the future and thanks for all the good work she has done in her five years at Bablake. K

Bablake School, Coundon Road, Coventry CV1 4AU T +44 (0)24 7627 1200 F +44 (0)24 7627 1290 E info@bablake.coventry.sch.uk W www.bablake.com Designed & produced by Mustard 01608 662262