The Lion - Issue 33

THE

LION

NEWS & VIEWS FROM BABLAKE SCHOOL ISSUE 33 SPRING 2004

Beth Shalom – The House of Peace

Bablake Diary Tuesday 20 April Summer Term Begins Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 April House Drama Festival

Monday 3 May Bank Holiday (School closed) Tuesday 4 - Friday 7 May GCSE Art Exhibition

This year the theme of the Holocaust

Monday 10 - Thursday 13 May AS and A2 Level Art Exhibitions

Memorial Day was ‘From the

Monday 24 - Friday 28 May Internal Exams

Holocaust to Rwanda: Lessons Learned,

Monday 31 May - Friday 4 June Half Term

Lessons Still to Learn.’

Sunday 27 June Parents’ Association Treasure Hunt Tuesday 29 June House Sports Day Friday 2 July End of Summer Term Thursday 2 September Start of Autumn Term Friday 17 September Prize Giving and Speech Night Friday 12 and Saturday 13 November Open Evening and Open Morning

In this issue German Exchange Charity News Crest Award Successes Indoor Hockey Success Individual Successes

Phab Ball

2 3 6 6 8

THIS DAY OFFERS an opportunity for people in 21st Century Britain to reflect upon, consider and discuss how those events still have relevance for all members of today’s society.

Ultimately the day aims to restate the continuing need for vigilance and to motivate people to ensure that the horrendous crimes, racism and victimisation committed during the holocaust are neither forgotten nor repeated.

So once again the whole of the 3rd Year and the 5th Year Religious Studies GCSE students visited Beth Shalom to reflect on the continuing examples of genocide in our world, in the only memorial site in Britain.

However as always, the personal testimony of a survivor was the most thought-provoking part of the day, for staff and students alike, especially as he asked the question, “Why do people not learn from the holocaust?”

Mrs L J Jackson

ONCE AGAIN THE Phab Ball was very successful on all fronts; the money raised for Phab was in excess of £1700; the music was excellent and enjoyed by all; the food as ever was much appreciated and the decorations in the hall – to the theme of Masquerade – were perhaps the best ever – striking in blue, purple and turquoise.

The ball was attended by 200 people – 6th Formers, staff and friends of Phab. All those who enjoyed the ball owe a big thank you to Mrs Goodwin, Mrs Heath, Mrs Harris and other staff who worked hard to make the evening run smoothly. The waiters and waitresses from the 5th Form were excellent and the organisers were very grateful to all who helped set up on the Saturday and clean up on the Sunday morning.

Mr W I Appleby

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Bablake School

Careers news CAREERS CONVENTION As always, the Convention (entitled Tomorrow Today) covered a very broad range of professions. We were able to welcome 75 delegates, the overwhelming majority of whom were former pupils offering excellent real evidence of young professionals alive to opportunities presented. The event was very well supported with all 300 programmes being issued on the night and complimentary comments received from delegates, students and parents alike afterwards.

We have had visits from the Army, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Objective Team, Sarah Gill (Law graduate and former Head Girl) and Kate Lee (a voice coach). Also this term James Gunn’s redesign of the Careers website, www.2morrow-2day.com, has allowed us to offer a far more comprehensive online service to all our students. Additionally, as well as interviewing the bulk of our 5th Year and developing a programme on Professional Practice (CVs, Unique Selling Points and Press Releases) for our Lower 6th, we arranged our biennial Careers Convention.

Mr MGA Woodward, Head of Careers, is heading to Exeter University for the annual CRAC Higher Education Conference, the key event in the calendar for UK Heads of 6ths and Careers/Personal advisers.

As well as catching up with the latest news on Higher Education admissions, he will be delivering three workshops to the delegates: Technophobia – a surgery covering use of technology in Careers advice, Woody’s Webwatch - a session for beginners on useful careers websites based around his own site, www.woodyswebwatch.com and Careers in a Suitcase, offering ideas for new advisers on how to set up a Careers Department. This will be the fifth year he has been invited to present such workshops.

GERMAN EXCHANGE

Thirty 4th and 5th Year pupils took part in the annual exchange to Hemer this year, accompanied by Mrs Hill and Miss James.

FOR A NUMBER of the pupils, and also for Miss James, it was the first visit and it took place a week earlier than usual. The group left Coventry early in the morning of Wednesday 11 February, this time missing the three days of school before half term rather than the three days after. The weather was kind to us, a little misty in the mornings, but not too cold and we had no rain at all. We did all the usual visits – to Cologne (including the cathedral and the chocolate factory), Oberhausen Shopping Centre and a joint outing to Münster with the German pupils and staff. Those there for the second time found it

much easier to understand and to communicate than during the first visit, and many pupils are keen to sign up again for next year. Miss James’ German came on in leaps and bounds, her favourite new phrase being, “Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof.” This doesn’t make sense if translated literally, but is the equivalent of saying, “I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about” and proved to be very good for Anglo-German relations. The German pupils will be coming to Coventry again in October and we are already looking forward to our return to Hemer in February 2005.

Budapest Business/Economics visit After Belgium, Holland, Ireland and the Czech Republic, Hungary seemed like a natural progression eastwards for the now annual Business/Economics Trip. The country is due to join the EU in May and has been the recipient of a great deal of Western investment.

A 5am start to make a Heathrow flight was not ideal but with heightened security and the M25 no chances can be taken. Budapest Fereigny airport turned out to be ultra-modern and very subdued in comparison. Only one suitcase failed to turn up but when the group heard about the lucrative compensation package many other students clearly wished that their luggage had gone astray. Our Hungarian guide ‘Kate’ met us and took us to our relatively central hotel on the Pest side of the Danube.

The hotel was extremely comfortable, situated above a Pizza Hut and only a few yards from a McDonalds and a KFC. Nevertheless some students managed to

stick to local cuisine for the entire trip - a highly commendable effort!

Our first full day included a visit to the Budapest Commodities Exchange. Although small in comparison to London it is aiming for regional dominance. In the afternoon we visited the Dreher Brewery, now owned by global giant SAB Miller.

Students were impressed with the scale of the operation, especially a new canning line which produced 40,000 cans per hour. A tasting at the end proved understandably popular. Also visiting the Brewery for promotional reasons was Hungary’s strongest man, who happily posed for pictures.

On the second day we visited an InterSpar Hypermarket and students learnt about the cut-throat world of post-Communist retail. Tesco now dominate the Hungarian market as well as the UK one. Full time shop floor workers earned a little over £200 per month, which seemed rather low even with a far

lower cost of living in the country. In the afternoon the group visited Eriksson, the telecommunications company who opened their Hungarian operations in 1991. Students were somewhat surprised to hear that 76% of Hungarians owned mobile phones, a figure not much less than the UK. That evening some members of the group saw an exciting ice hockey game – a popular sport in the country.

Saturday morning provided an opportunity for some last minute shopping, sight-seeing and packing.

Budapest airport had none of the hassles of Heathrow and our flight left on time. Saturday happened to be Jamie McDonnell’s eighteenth birthday and BA kindly served him some champagne. It was a most enjoyable and informative trip for all concerned. My thanks to the Upper and Lower 6th students for their enthusiasm and interest, and to Mr Woodward and Mrs Yates for their help, support and good humour.

The Lion | Spring 2004

3P’s fund-raising efforts CLASS 3P HAVE continued their fund raising to help children in Hwange, a very impoverished region of Zimbabwe. In the Autumn Term they made £260 by having an ‘African’ elephant stall at the Christmas Fayre and this term they have raised £42.83 from their cake sale.

The money has been used to continue to pay the school fees for Perish and Charity, and to send much needed equipment to Gunambira Primary school. We have sent five parcels of pens, biros, crayons, cellotape, needles, pins etc.

Next term we are hoping to raise money to send items of clothing for some of the children, especially the orphans. If anyone has any nearly new T-shirts, shorts, skirts or flip-flops for children of any age, we would be very happy to have them. Please send them to school with your son or daughter to Mrs Marchant in the Geography Department or Mrs Goodwin in the Art Department.

It has been a busy term for the Contingent, with cadets taking part in numerous events, activities and competitions.

Combined Cadet Force

PARADE NIGHTS The New Fusiliers are now working towards their Weapon Handling Tests and are being taught characteristics of the weapon as well as how to hold, fire and clean it. The staff have been particularly impressed by the enthusiasm that the cadets are showing as well as their quick learning skills.

The NCOs are currently preparing and teaching lessons from the cadet syllabus. Each cadet must deliver a lesson to the rest of the group which is observed and graded by a member of 37CTT. Shortly the NCOs will be teaching the New Fusiliers; therefore the training that they have received in planning and teaching lessons will enable them to do an excellent job.

TRAINING DAYS A number of training days have been held at weekends throughout the term at nearby army camps and have been supported by both old and new Fusiliers. The training has given the cadets an opportunity to learn assault course techniques as well as improving fitness.

Range days have also been attended by the NCOs, giving them an opportunity to work towards their shooting badges.

MARCH AND SHOOT COMPETITION Bablake CCF entered a team for this year’s March and Shoot Competition held at Swynnerton Camp against 36 other CCF and ACF teams from all corners of the country. Despite the team getting slightly lost on the march, their slick manoeuvres over the assault course plus their precise shooting and top marks in the inspection meant that Bablake CCF came fifth overall. To round off the eventful day, cadets were rewarded with a helicopter flight around the nearby area which they all thoroughly enjoyed.

BIENNIAL INSPECTION Our first inspection took place at Bablake on Saturday 20th March. The visiting inspector, Lt Col Ockleton, was impressed with the standard of the cadets, especially since the CCF has only been running for 18 months and he enjoyed watching the NCOs deliver lessons to the New Fusiliers throughout the morning. On the final parade presentations were awarded to the following cadets: Best Overall NCO – Cdt Hughes, Best 1st Aider – Cdt Campbell, Best Map Reader – Cdt Mills, Best New Fusilier – Cdt Stefaniak Corporal Grewal was also promoted to Sergeant.

The staff would like to thank all the cadets who took part in the inspection and for all their hard work that made the day run smoothly and efficiently.

DATES FOR THE DAIRY 23 – 25 April Cadet Exercise Stretch – Leek Army Camp 1 – 3 April Easter Camp – Bramcote Barracks 3 – 10 July Summer Camp – Penhale, Cornwall The CCF will be holding their annual recruitment evening in the Summer Term for any pupil (3rd Year and above) who is interested in joining. Watch this space for further details.

Capt C Hall

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Charity news This school year has seen a lot of activity on the fundraising front.

Last term we decided to concentrate on one major charity ‘Seeds for Africa’. This involved raising money to send to Alan Titchmarsh (who is patron of the charity) so that he could then send out to Africa the expertise, tools and seeds needed to help the locals to get the most out of their land. Fundraising took on many unusual forms including: wild animal raffle, a hidden treasure map of Africa, selling photographs, collecting foreign currency, a bowling competition, the tips from the workers in the Eurocafe on open evening, cake sales and our very own and unique Fame Academy Talent Show!

We raised the grand total of £3,616, which was far above our original target of £1,000. It was all good fun and staff and pupils showed great determination and commitment towards this venture.

Other Charities supported through weekly collections and cake sales/raffles include: Diabetes UK £180, Jeans for Genes £725, Children in Need and Birmingham Children’s Hospital £625.

A grand total of £5,146 for the first term.

This term we thought we might have a calmer time!!! ...big mistake.

We decided to support two local charities.

The County Air Ambulance which covers an area of 8000 sq miles and a population of 7.8 million and relies entirely upon voluntary contributions to keep it going.

The Teenage Cancer Care Rooms at Walsgrave Hospital. We have visited these rooms and are hoping to raise funds to help refurbish them by buying quilt covers, mirrors, hairdryers and vanity units to keep all their toiletries.

At present we have collected about £700 towards these two charities but are hoping to reach £1,000.

Alongside these we have raised £165 for UNICEF, who are focusing on providing clean water for the children of Vietnam and Ghana. £290 was sent to the people of Rwanda who are trying to re-build their lives and events are taking place to raise money to send helpers and lorries full of vital supplies out to Bosnia – this is still ongoing.

3P are continuing to support their adopted school in Zimbabwe and have raised £302 this year so far.

Shell H raised £50 by making and selling heartshaped Valentines cookies for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

A group of hardy 6th Form boys gritted their teeth and experienced the agony of having their legs waxed – making over £200 for good causes, while 2J raised the very impressive amount of £448.60 by holding a sponsored silence - not an easy task for them!

Macmillan Nurses will be very happy to receive this sum from them.

All this and the Phab Ball have meant another busy time; perhaps we will take it easy next term!

We could not of course reach any of these targets without the support of parents, staff and pupils, so we would like to send a very big ‘Thank you’ for all your support and of course your pennies.

Mrs A Heath and Mrs P Goodwin

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Bablake School

VI FORM ARTISTS VISIT THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM AND TATE MODERN

Classical Symposium AN AUDIENCE OF students, teachers and parents from Bablake, King Henry VIII, Loughborough GS and Warwick enjoyed an evening of Classical entertainment hosted again by Mr Swales and the Bablake Classics Department.

After a satisfying feast of classical food, students from each of the schools represented presented a mix of plays and readings that proudly celebrated a love of the Classical World.

The audience was treated, both in original Latin/ Greek and translation, to, amongst others, the intrigues of slaves, Catullus’ love for Lesbia, Aristophanes’ parody of a court scene and the blinding of the Cyclops.

All of the above were eclipsed, however, by a stirring rendition of YMCA set to Latin lyrics. A select number of our 6th Form Classical students and Miss James are now fearing the discovery of video evidence of their performance!

Well done to those from all years, from 2nds upwards, who performed!

On Thursday 11 March, the Upper and Lower 6th Form artists visited the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Tate Modern in London.

THIRTY AS AND A Level art students accompanied by Mr Warner and Mrs Goodwin went on a fact-finding mission to gather information for both their coursework and impending examination.

First stop was the V&A. This museum is probably the world’s greatest museum of art and design and home to unparalleled collections of artifacts spanning the world’s richest cultures. Once inside, the students were able to begin to collect information by taking photographs, sketching and writing about the exhibits that interested them. During the visit the pupils were able to see a mini-retrospective celebrating the work of Ossie Clark from 1965 to 1974 when the designer defined the high style of the 1960’s London.

Another exhibition which caught the eye of the 6th Form was entitled Brilliant.

There is light and there are lights. From the mundane to the bizarre, the strictly functional to the wildly ostentatious, this exhibition showed a range of products created by some of the world’s leading designers in response to the desire for artificial illumination.

The 6th Form could see for themselves the possibilities afforded by new materials and technologies, and the lyrical potential of working with light, which gives designers endless scope for creativity.

In the afternoon we transferred our attention to the modern, the Tate Modern to be precise.

This collection displays the work of artists of the last hundred years through the interpretation of four classic themes: the nude, landscape, still life and history painting. The themes link historic works with contemporary, and combine painting and sculpture with film, video and photography.

Within the Turbine Hall of the Tate there was an interesting installation with a ‘weather’ theme. Pupils were able to interact with this by walking around, standing or even lying down.

A productive day was had by all.

Mr M D Warner

BOX CLEVER Box Clever Theatre workshop came to Bablake on 3 February to present aspects of Romeo and Juliet to 4th Form pupils and some from the 5th Form.

Several scenes from the play were examined and presented from different perspectives.

There was some excellent pupil participation from members of 5S. The Box Clever actors were all young and seemed to strike up a good relationship with the audience.

Mr W I Appleby

The Lion | Spring 2004

Classics reading party – ‘Latin Camp’ 17-20 February 2004 We arrived at Bradwell Village Youth Hostel on Tuesday afternoon. The noisy card games on the minibus were to set a precedent for the rest of the trip.

Easter Term music THE 6TH FORM recital took place in February.

There were some outstanding performances with Jessica Ramus playing the 1st two movements of the Bruch Violin Concerto, Emily Biggins playing two movements of a Brahms clarinet sonata, Chris Parker playing Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata on the viola, Edward Whitney playing a cavatina by Saint-Säens on the trombone and singing with Sarah Corrigan the PapagenoPapagena duet from Mozart’s Magic Flute, and Arthur Keegan-Bole playing Satie’s Gnossienne.

The main concert of the term takes place on March 30th. It is a special Charity Concert in aid of Save The Children in memory of Krystyna Beech who died last year. She was a member of Bablake’s Choir, and came on a recent Music Trip with us to Italy.

The Bablake Orchestra will play three pieces that look back to the past. Petroushka by Stravinsky looks back to pre-Revolutionary Russia, Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier looks back to Vienna in the 18th century and Penny Lane by the Beatles looks back to Liverpool in the 50s.

Paul McCartney’s music features again in the Chamber Choir’s offering, which has selections from the Liverpool Oratorio.

The Chorale will be singing some contemporary songs and the Swing Band will play a couple of Jazz Classics.

A selection of the school’s fine soloists will delight us with their expertise.

The concert is in the EDM Theatre.

WE WERE GIVEN a map showing the village shop and the swings/grass area, but not the all-important pub next door!

That evening we were treated to our first experience of Mr and Mrs Swales’ cooking. The homemade casserole and chocolate cake were delicious and there were no mishaps apart from Alex finding a fragment of the youth hostel’s wooden spoon.

Our first study period took place that night and we had four study periods every day from then on.

Everyone learned new facts and revised their Greek and Latin set texts – ‘at Gnaeus Piso’ ...just before lights out, Mr Swales read us all a ghost story, to make sure that we had sweet dreams.

Each afternoon, we went on a healthy energetic walk, and even visited the concrete cows – are these Milton Keynes’ biggest attraction?

An informative and fun time was had by all. The youth hostel was very pleasant, with good facilities except for the cold showers! And we all expect baby Rachel Swales to be saying her first (Latin) word any day now. Thanks to Mr and Mrs Swales.

Jemma Brown

Debating and public speaking IT HAS BEEN a successful term for debating and public speaking at Bablake, both in terms of competition and expanding the activities. Most impressively, the 4th Form team, consisting of Liam Collins-Mcintyre, Mark McKelvie and Matthew Galloway, became the Rotary Club Public Speaking Joint Champions of Coventry when they defeated several other secondary schools at the Christ Church Hall in Cheylesmore in February. As we go to press they are about to compete in the district final at Arden School in Knowle.

Two 5th Form pairings – Conor Doherty and Amun Sachdev and Claire Laverick and Catherine Bufton – were placed third and fourth respectively in the regional round of the Taylor Trophy, an annual competition held in honour of a former head of Bromsgrove School. They were narrowly defeated by Wolverhampton GS and, unluckily, by the home team Old Swinford Hospital School.

Finally, a week after half-term the Lower 6th Form team of Jonathan Thompson and Richard Ball took part in the Oxford Union Competition, which, for the first time, Bablake hosted. A total of twenty one schools took part, travelling from as far away as Lincolnshire, and the evening was a great success.

Mr G L Park

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Bablake School

Success for Crest Award participants

Right answers SENIOR QUIZ TEAM PROGRESS

Name

Award Project

The Senior Quiz Team of Chris Parker, Richard Bland, Amy Corrigan and Hannah Sheard, won their first two rounds earlier this term against Uppingham School and the Leys School, Cambridge 1020-160. This put them in the semi-final where they played Kimbolton School on Monday 8 March, winning 750-670, though only being assured of victory in the final minutes of the match.

They now go on to the regional final, against either Woodford School or Bishop’s Stortford School, and success here would mean going on to the national competition against other regional finalists.

Emily Bates

Gold

Linked Oscillators at University of Warwick

SUCCESS FOR CHEMISTRY QUIZ TEAM

Rachel Taggart

Gold

Treatments for Morning Sickness at University of Warwick

Sarah Thomas

Gold

A Study into Treatment of Asthma at Allesley Pharmacy

Neetu Bhatti

Gold

‘Dry Eyes’ & Treatments at EyeSite Opticians

The Bablake 4th and 5th Year Chemistry quiz team of Mark McKelvie, Aradhna Sachdev, Harish Sharma, Catherine Bufton and Amun Sachdev have been enjoying great success as they progress through the rounds of the West Midlands Chemistry Teachers’ Centre Quiz. They beat St Martin’s School Solihull by the impressive score of 131-35 and went on to a much closer second round result against King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham. In this exciting and keenly fought contest, the lead changed hands several times. Bablake finally clinched their victory with their excellent knowledge of famous scientists.

The final score was 61-54 to Bablake and they go on to the finals at the University of Birmingham.

TOWARDS THE END of last term, nine 6th Formers and three 4th Formers took their CREST (Creativity in Science and Technology) projects to the West Midlands CREST Celebration event at the Institute of Electrical Engineers in Birmingham. The 6th Form had all completed projects for a Gold award, which involved independent research in conjunction with Universities, Hospitals or GP practices. The standard of their work was very high and impressed the judges. The 4th Form had carried out their projects in school at Chemistry Club. Two had been awarded a bronze certificate, and one a silver certificate. Congratulations go to the 6th Form whose projects were all of a sufficiently high standard to gain a Gold award. Mark McKelvie’s silver project on natural indicators was judged to be the best in the West Midlands and he competed well in National CREST Final at the Royal Society in London on 9 February.

Jayita Mallick & James Martin Gold

DNA extraction techniques at University of Warwick

Thomas Carter

Gold

MALDI mass spectroscopy at University of Warwick

Daniel Jackson

Gold

Cancer research using viruses at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham

Jenny McKenzie

Gold

A Study into Asthma at Park Leys Medical Centre

Mark McKelvie

Silver

Natural Indicators

Claire Russell & Reena Panchal Bronze Natural Indicators

Engineering Education Scheme THE GROUP COMPRISING Lower 6th pupils Mark Evans, Jo Carter, Ryan McIntyre and Jonathan Thompson continue to make excellent progress as they aim towards their assessment day at the NEC on 28 April. Set the problem of improving traffic flow outside school during peak hours they have come up with the highly original solution of adding an extra lane to the Holyhead Road by the Aston Court Hotel traffic lights. Their research and calculation support this as a costeffective solution along with yellow box junctions outside the school entrance and exit gates. During their residential workshop at Birmingham University the group produced 3D models, of their proposals to back up their detailed written report currently being compiled.

On the 24th of this month the team are making their first presentation of their ideas to our sponsor company, ARUP based in Solihull. During the day, they will have a tour of the futuristic building to see the wide cross-section of projects ARUP are currently undertaking followed by a working lunch before making their presentation to a group of engineers.

U16 girls’ indoor hockey success FOR THE FIRST time ever, a team from Bablake made it through to the Midlands region final of the national U16 indoor hockey tournament played at Hamstead Hall School in Birmingham in January.

Hopes were high for success with the incentive being the top two teams qualifying for the national finals. After the first match optimism ran even higher following a 2-1 victory over last year’s regional winners Sharnbrook before a complete reversal of form resulting in a defeat to Alice Ottley School 3-0.

Such is the nature of the fast free-flowing indoor game that the team found themselves 3 goals down in four minutes. Although determination brought Bablake back into the game, chances could not be converted. However, other results contrived to keep the tournament wide open and the match against Princethorpe, who we had defeated in an earlier round, would prove crucial. Although we dominated, chances were again wasted and we eventually

succumbed to a killer blow and lost 1-0. Our final match against favourites The Grove School showed how fickle indoor hockey can be. Right from the push back we took the game to them, had a ‘goal’ disallowed before two defensive errors saw us defeated 2-0 and this after we had two more efforts disallowed. Disappointment amongst the squad was palpable at the end; we had come so close and everyone had run themselves into exhaustion. None more so than Jodie Kirk in goal who had been outstanding throughout, and this after she had stepped up from the U14’s at short notice. All the squad deserve recognition and the benefits to their outdoor game have also been significant.

Squad: Jodie Kirk, Lucy Breedon (Capt), Stacie McDermott, Amy Kavanagh, Jane Tse, Sarah Mills, Jenna Hastings, Jenna Thompson and Lois Burton.

Mr C R West

The Lion | Spring 2004

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Sporting Achievements U13 WARWICKSHIRE MINI HOCKEY TOURNAMENT

U13 GIRLS’ HOCKEY

Bablake again entered this tournament on Sunday 7 March with very inexperienced players, most of whom had not played a competitive hockey match before, but they put in an exceptionally good performance, having the better of a 0-0 draw with Warwick A, who went through to the semi-finals, only losing to Coventry & North Warwick in the last minute (they were also in the finals), drawing 0-0 in an even contest with Old Silhillians and beating Olton (who had some good players) 2-0, Tom Costello and Daniel Martin scoring the goals. The following players made up the team: Thomas Hine (capt), Tom Costello, Luke Jackson-Miller, Daniel Martin, Tejinder Kalsi, Gurdeep Uppal, Luke Horvath, Chris Carlson, Sam Sharples and Lee Paplauskas (Goalkeeper).

The U13 team have also reached the final of the Warwickshire tournament after winning their section. Goals came from six different players in the squad and they won every game, 2-0 against Kenilworth, 3-0 against King Henry VIII (three goals scored in less than five minutes), 1-0 against Twycross House and finally 2-0 against Princethorpe.

In February Bablake invited eight other schools to a seven-a-side hockey tournament for the U13 team in preparation for the Warwickshire competition.

Bablake won their section convincingly, beating Twycross House, Kenilworth and Tile Hill Wood before beating King’s High 3-0 in the semi-final. With an impregnable defence, the girls faced Princethorpe College in the final. Two excellent goals were enough to win the competition and the team completed the tournament without conceding a goal. Congratulations to the squad of J Neale, R Ziaie, L Boon, L Horn, H Payne, C Weaver, I Kleine, S Brindley, L Carpenter, and L Kaziow.

The U13 Warwickshire Mini Hockey Tournament took place. This competition is open to both schools and clubs in Warwickshire. Bablake had a competitive first match against Princethorpe College, but a fine goal from Charlotte Weaver two minutes before full time, got Bablake off to a promising start.

Excellent teamwork enabled Bablake to win their section and comfortably beat Olton in the quarter final 4-0. In the semi-final Bablake stuck to their game plan and scored 3 goals with Jodie Neale, the goalkeeper, continuing to keep a clean sheet.

King’s High School beat Sutton Hockey Club on penalty strokes in the other semi-final and was to play Bablake in the final. It was an exciting match. After five minutes Bablake scored, a goal from Lauren Boon by the left hand post. King’s High replied with a goal from a penalty corner. It was a close contest that was clinched with seconds to go by a reverse hit shot from Holly Payne for Bablake School. Bablake now go through to the Midlands Round of this National competition next month.

Bablake squad – Lauren Boon, Samantha Brindley, Lauren Carpenter, Lucy Horn, Ira Kleine, Jodie Neale, Holly Payne, Charlotte Weaver, and Roxana Ziaie.

U15 BOYS’ HOCKEY REPORT The U15 Boys’ Hockey team have had a reasonably good term beating King Edward’s Birmingham and Princethorpe, losing narrowly to Warwick and drawing Lawrence Sherriff despite having the majority of the play. The season closes with a match against Queen Mary’s Walsall and the Coventry Trophy.

ENGLAND HOCKEY We were delighted to receive an invitation to support the Active Sport U14 and U15 Hockey Tournaments at Warwick University on Thursday 6 November. It was a seven-aside format and ten teams attended the boy’s section, so a five pool, all-play-all was contrived and nearly two hours of non-stop action enjoyed by all. It was a Festival with no final, no winners, no medals — just a thoroughly good occasion. It provided much-desired competition and short games on a half pitch proved a winner.

Our U14s and U15s both topped their pools with records of won three and drawn one whilst the girls went one better – won all four ( goals for 16, against none!) Well done everybody!

INTER-SCHOOL FRIENDLIES Following a term of intensive coaching from our professional (Greg Wade O W) the squad has had a busy term gaining match experience. We generally find ourselves playing schools who start hockey earlier and some contain players who are very advanced and therefore extremely influential on the pitch! It is hard for our lads to encounter sides who will invariably beat them whatever brave performance they achieve. Three defeats, a draw and a victory have been registered so far, but we feel we are on the right track and the squad are improving. Our home fixture with Loughborough was cancelled owing to a frosty pitch; we lost 3-0 to KE Birmingham (away), 2-17 at home to Queen Mary’s Walsall, lost 5-0 to Warwick (away), drew 1-1 with KE Camp Hill (away), but our latest match provided a pleasing 3-1 victory away to Stratford GS. We face Solihull school next and then complete our season with a seven-a-side tournament for Coventry Schools for the Neville Key Trophy.

The squad wish to thank coach Greg Wade for all his patience, and support staff Messrs Park, McDermot and Patchett.

WEST MIDLANDS NETBALL TOURNAMENT

REPRESENTATIVE CRICKET SELECTION

COVENTRY SCHOOLS’ NETBALL TOURNAMENTS

Cricket in winter? Yes! The County selectors work months in advance these days: schools and clubs are asked for the nominations of their best players in September and trials then commence. We are delighted to announce that Paul Best has been selected to join Warwickshire’s U14/15 Development of Excellence squad for weekly top-class coaching at Edgbaston Indoor School. Not only is it an honour for Paul and Bablake to achieve this selection but it emphasises his potential has been recognised and the selectors are keen to fast-track him to an older age-group. He is already an impressive left-hand opening bat, useful left-arm over seamer and a knowlegeable captain. We wish him well for the winter sessions.

David Buckeridge, an opening bat and wicket-keeper is also selected for the U15 Development Squad and could catch the eye over the winter. His team-mate Richard Wells, a highly-promising leg-spinner and batsman has been selected to join Coventry’s District Squad indoor nets so he has a further chance to gain County selection through that route at Whitsun. If all three work hard and listen to advice they might be playing in the same XI in the summer.

The U15 Bablake ‘A’ team put on an excellent display of netball winning their section, beating Stoke Park 17-1 in the semi-final and then beating King Henry VIII 15-3 in the final. Hannah Reed, the captain, collected the trophy and the rest of the team received medals.

Team – H Reed, H Davies, J Mitchell, J Payne, J Thompson, L Rouse, and A Taberer.

The ‘B’ team played in a triangular with Blue Coat and King Henry VIII. They beat Blue Coat and finished runners up to King Henry VIII. Team – S Marks, R Healy, K Juj, C Bland, E Charlesworth, E Stansfield, E Boardman, J Elen, and L Treharne.

The U12 Bablake ‘A’ team won their section to qualify for the semi-final. They defeated Cardinal Newman 4-1 to progress to the final against Finham Park. After a closely contested match Bablake lost 3-4 goals to finish as runners up of their tournament.

A team – B Hushon, E Jackson, J Elliott, U Venkata Raman, R Hollinrake, A Harwood, and D Smith.

In the ‘B’ team tournament Bablake reached the semi-final as runners up of their section. They defeated Coundon Court 4-3 to qualify for the final against Finham Park. The early stages of the match saw Bablake take the lead and a final score of 5-1 meant Bablake were winners of the tournament.

B team – R Ziaie, R Dale, R Blakemore, H Carter, S Makam, K Mulhern, E Burns, A Shirley, and A Quinn.

U15 GIRLS’ HOCKEY The U15s have enjoyed a successful season and have recently won the Coventry Schools tournament after beating King Henry VIII 6-1 in the final. Goals came from Jade Payne (3), Jo Mitchell (2) and Jessica Thompson (1).

They have also qualified for the final of the Warwickshire tournament after beating Twycross 3-0, Kenilworth School 1-0, Rugby High 4-0 and drawing 1-1 with Princethorpe.

On 24 January, both the U14 and U16 netball teams took part in the West Midlands Finals at Solihull.

The U14s played well throughout the day winning five of their section matches.

They lost two of their games and as a result were placed third in their section so narrowly missed qualifying for the semi-finals.

U14 squad – L Dean, L Shorrocks, L Morris, L Bird, R Stuart, M Walton, M Nicely, L Boon, A White, and A Ladbury.

The U16 team won all but one of the matches in their section and consequently qualified for the semi-finals. They were unfortunate to face the eventual winners of the final, Fairfax, and despite an excellent team performance lost by one goal, 9-10.

Fairfax finished runners up in the National Finals, which indicates the high standard the Bablake U16 team has achieved this season.

U16 squad – J Thompson, J Hastings, S McDermott, J Tse, S Mills, E Fuller, A Bull, H Reed, H Davies, A Taberer, J Thompson, and J Mitchell.

8

Bablake School

Headmaster’s Individual Note successes ONCE AGAIN WE stagger to the end of term and I can hardly believe how much we have packed into the last twelve weeks. The term has seen a full and diverse range of activities take place, from field trips, concerts, theatre visits, public exams, parent consultation evenings to the usual round of sports games. It has been a busy and full period and I continue to be amazed at the stamina and energy of both staff and pupils. As the reports and pictures in this latest newsletter show, we have again met with considerable success both in and out of the classroom. These successes are just reward for all the effort and commitment shown by everyone in the school.

I am delighted to find, as I read all the interim reports that go to parents, an overwhelming majority that are very positive and demonstrate your children’s energy, enthusiasm and commitment – qualities which will all combine to bring them great success when it comes to the hard-edged public examinations which will soon be upon us when we return for the Summer Term.

I am also very aware that those few students who are struggling to find the motivation and commitment they need, receive support and great understanding in addition to the push that all of us may need from time-to-time.

One of the many aspects of life at Bablake which impress visitors is the willingness of our pupils to become involved in raising money for charity. It is very pleasing to be able to report, as the article in this newsletter outlines, that we have raised so much for various charities this term.

On behalf of the staff and governors I would like to wish you and all your family a very happy Easter.

Thursday 1 April Friday 2 April Saturday 3 April

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Monday 5 April Thursday 8 April Friday 9 April Saturday 10 April Monday 12 April

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Thursday 15 April Friday 16 April Saturday 17 April Monday 19 April

The 51 pupils in the 3rd and 4th Years who gained Gold (6), Silver (18) and Bronze (27) awards in the Intermediate Mathematics Challenge 2004. Particular congratulations go to Joe Bristow, David Buckeridge, Matthew Francis, Lee Harrison, Alex Raison and Alex Owens on gaining gold awards. Both Alex Raison and Alex Owens have been invited to the national final.

The U15 A Netball team on winning the Coventry Schools’ Netball Championships and the U15 B team on being runners-up in their age group.

The U14 and U16 Netball teams for their sterling performances in the West Midlands Finals, in particular the U16 team who lost by one goal in the semifinals to the eventual winners.

The U16 Girls’ Hockey team for winning through to the Midlands Indoor Finals, the first time a team from Bablake has reached this stage of the competition.

All pupils taking part in the various Debating competitions and in particular Matthew Galloway, Liam Collins-McIntyre and Mark McKelvie on winning the Rotary Club Youthspeakers Competition.

Maniel Bains on being selected to take part in the LTA National Training Camp in Florida.

Gary Holmes on his selection to the England U18 Rugby squad.

Clara Ross on being selected to Captain the Scotland U18 Sabre Fencing team in the home international series.

The Senior Quiz team of Richard Bland, Amy Corrigan, Chris Parker and Hannah Sheard on their victories in the National Quiz Competition.

The Chess A team on retaining the Chess league title and also winning the final of the Coventry Chess Competition.

Clare Barry on her very generous donation of her Christmas money to the Snowball appeal.

SCHOOL SHOP OPENING TIMES: EASTER HOLIDAY 2004 Open

Congratulations go to the following:

10.00am-5.00pm 10.00am-5.00pm 10.00am-1.00pm

All the pupils who raised money to provide mince pies for distribution to British people serving in Iraq.

Melissa Walton on her successful audition for the Carlton Television series The A to Z of Everything and on being chosen to be a member of their Workshop.

All the Upper 6th Form who have now received offers from a wide range of Universities, including a large number from the Russell Group Universities that are generally regarded as the ‘top’ institutions.

10.00am-5.00pm 10.00am-5.00pm 10.00am-1.00pm 10.00am-5.00pm

Ruth Hibbert (Natural Sciences, Cambridge), Daniel Jackson (Mathematics, Cambridge), Sarah Potter (Modern and Medieval Languages, Cambridge) and Rachel Taggart (Medicine, Oxford) on their offers.

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

Staff news Mr M D Warner (Head of Art) has been appointed to a similar post at Shrewsbury High School for Girls.

Mr N P Meynell (Business Studies and Economics) has been appointed Head of Department at King Henry VIII. At the end of last term Mr P R C Wood (Biology) retired owing to ill health and at the end of the Summer term Mrs F S Bunney (Geography) will retire.

In their places, Mr A Hall (Biology) and Mr S Enstone (Geography) have been appointed to the staff with effect from September. Mr Hall is a Former Pupil (1983-89) and is currently Head of Science at Coleshill School and Mr Enstone is currently on a PGCE course at Bath University following a degree in Geography from Swansea University and several years in Industrial Management. Replacements for Mr Warner and Mr Meynell will be announced in the next newsletter.

Academic news EXAMINATIONS AT A level are now modular, which means that students take a series of examinations spread throughout the two years and do not have to wait until the end of the A level course. It also means that they know, throughout the two years, exactly how they are doing and what grade they are on course to achieve. Earlier this term modular exams were taken in nearly all the A level subjects offered at both AS (Lower 6th) and A2 (Upper 6th) level. It is pleasing to report that, as expected, there have been some excellent results. As the students can retake these modules again if they wish to (hopefully) improve their grades it is anticipated that there will be even better news in August when the full A level results are published.

The majority of the Upper 6th now have conditional offers from universities and know what grades they have to achieve to proceed there later this year or next year following a Gap Year. One of the benefits of the A level modular system is that all the Upper 6th know exactly what they have attained so far, what grades they are in line to achieve and whether these are likely to be sufficient to meet the offers from their chosen universities. It is now up to each individual to put in the extra effort to make certain they do not fall below expectations. There will be very little time in the summer term before the 5th and 6th Form year groups go on study leave and start their public examinations. The Easter break has to be used for a significant amount of revision.