THE
LION
Bablake Diary Wednesday 6 September Start of new academic year (Autumn Term)
Friday 15 September Speech Night/Prizegiving Ceremony (Methodist Central Hall) Saturday 30 September Interview morning for U6 students organised by the Careers Department Monday 16 – Friday 27 October Half Term (two weeks) Friday 10 – Saturday 11 November Open sessions Saturday 2 December Parents’ Association Christmas Fayre Friday 15 December End of Term Wednesday 3 January Entrance examination for 2007 Entry Thursday 4 January Spring Term begins Friday 6 May Parents’ Association May Ball
In this issue Events Arts Travel News Action Sport
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NEWS & VIEWS FROM BABLAKE SCHOOL ISSUE 40 SUMMER 2006
Omedetoo goziamasu! (Congratulations) Huge “Congratulations” are in order for nineteen Bablake pupils who have passed the first stage of the level one proficiency examination in Japanese. The pupils are now able to read and write the Japanese Hiragana script and communicate some key information. The Examination was a challenge for them all and they deserve much praise for facing the challenge with such commitment and enthusiasm. The pupils, ranging from 3rd to 6th Formers, have been studying Japanese once a week for a Term with Ms Thompson, who herself spent two years in Japan teaching English. Languages Club trip to Japanese Embassy On Thursday 11 May a group of 29 students along with Ms Thompson, Mrs Foster and Dr Nuttall travelled to the Japanese Embassy in London to take part in Club Taishikan. Club Taishikan is a workshop organised by the Embassy's Japan Information and Cultural Centre and is aimed at introducing various aspects of Japan to young people. The visit involved workshops on Calligraphy, Origami and trying on kimonos. There was also a slide show on life in Japan. Pupils from Shells to fourth year took part as they have been learning Japanese with Ms Thompson since the beginning of the term. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed the day. Further details about Club Taishikan can be found at www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp
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Bablake School
Bablakeevents
A GOLDEN DAY
Bablake’s Madison Woodward trains for a day with Olympic legend Dame Kelly Holmes On Saturday 8 April Dame Kelly Holmes held a training day as a result of a competition that was held on her website. Nine young athletes were chosen from across the country to join her at Battersea Athletics Track. One of those was our very own Madison Woodward. “We all sat nervously waiting for Dame Kelly Holmes to arrive. Suddenly I looked around and saw her behind me. She came without any fuss and I was very surprised at her height – 5 feet 3 inches.
The day began with warm up exercises and stretches which started from our necks and ended at our ankles. After this we went on to drills and mobility exercises which included loosening our hips, side steps and cross overs. Then it was time to run! After the running we had lunch. It was quite strange to be sitting with Dame Kelly Holmes and eating tuna sandwiches. A quiz followed lunch which gave us time to digest our food. An afternoon of games and further exercise ensued. At the end of the day I took photographs of myself and Dame Kelly Holmes, she signed the freebies we had been given and it was time to say goodbye. It wasn’t until I had time to relax on the coach journey home that the realisation came: I had actually trained with Double Olympic Gold Medallist Dame Kelly Holmes.”
OTHER EVENTS TOMORROW TODAY Our biennial Careers Convention brought almost 100 delegates to the school. Over 400 students and parents were able to discover the latest information about a wide range of professions. It was excellent to be able to see so many former students and local companies attend. The message from all involved was that, to stay ahead and stand out, students need academic grades of a high quality but also the soft skills employers require. To those looking at Options choices, the advice was to choose subjects that would be enjoyed and were areas of strength academically while obviously checking any career or university implications. DEBATING AND PUBLIC SPEAKING It has been a good term for Bablake’s public speaking and debating teams with success in a number of prestigious local and national competitions. The debaters have led the way with the senior duo of Marco Orsini-Jones and Someit Sidhu coming within one place of qualifying for the national final of the English Speaking Union competition. The ESU, as it is known, involves schools from across the country, and the boys were able to defeat many respected Midlands schools to qualify for the regional final. In that round they were unlucky in so far as the team they were due to debate against could not attend. Instead a last minute stand-in was organised and it was difficult for Marco and Somie to show their best debating techniques. Remarkably, both the junior and senior public speaking teams reached exactly the same stages of their main competition, the Rotary Club Youthspeaks Contest (Bablake was the only school to achieve this distinction). The junior trio of Christopher Lamb, Alannah Norton and Pam Uppal spoke eloquently on the subject of ‘Computer Games: an opportunity for integration or isolation’. Their senior counterparts – Marco and Somie were joined by main speaker Mark McKelvie, and addressed the subject of animal testing in their presentation entitled ‘Our Four-Legged Friends?’ Having become champions of Coventry in February and of the Birmingham District in early March, both teams made the long trek to Ross-on-Wye for the national semi-finals on Saturday 18th March. After a hard day’s competition, both teams were rewarded with second place in their respective age groups, thus missing national final appearances by the tiniest of margins. Therefore, we look forward with eager anticipation to next year’s various competitions: both teams have time on their side and there is strength in depth with many other debaters and public speakers competing for places to represent Bablake. The future is bright.
The Lion | Summer 2006
PAPERCLIP PHYSICS On the 8 February a team of four L6th formers competed at the local heat of the Institute of Physics' "Paperclip Physics" competition, held in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Leicester University. David Buckeridge, Rebecca Lane, Mark McKelvie and Richard Thomas presented to a panel of three judges “The Physics of Fluorescence”, demonstrating the concepts behind why some objects can glow in the dark, using household materials only. Their presentation impressed the judges (consisting of a Physics Lecturer, a Physics teacher and a non-physicist) which led them to win their round and progress to the regional Grand Final at the National Space Centre on 9th March. They competed well against 5 other schools matching the same distance that previous Bablake teams managed to get to.
Brains on show at BA Science Fair Bablake students’ success in CREST Award Scheme Two Bablake pupils were delighted to be successful in applications to attend the British Association Science Fair at the Royal Society’s headquarters in London on 27 February 2006. They had enjoyed particularly fruitful research projects. Last year over 23,000 students participated in the CREST Award Scheme and the best 70 projects were invited to attend the Science Fair. James Stefaniak of the Fifth Year was one of the top eleven Silver awardees. He had investigated natural acid-alkali indicators in Chemistry Club and produced an outstanding project based on indicators extracted from sources as diverse as blueberries and begonias. The assessors were friendly, but asked some very taxing questions on the theory of colour chemistry that many graduate chemists would struggle to answer. Ramandeep Lidder of the Upper Sixth had researched the role of a hormone in obesity. She was privileged to be allowed to work with Prof. Spanswick of the Biological Sciences Department at the University of Warwick. Her work included some complex experiments on neurons from rat
brain slices. This is an important area of research that will help to improve our understanding of a medical condition that is becoming more and more prevalent. Our hosts, the BA, were most welcoming and we enjoyed the grand surroundings of the Royal Society where we could see some important artefacts from the history of science (e.g. Isaac Newton’s telescope, Captain Cooke’s accurate clock taken around the world for astronomical measurements and Christopher Wren’s pair of dividers). Among the guests circulating the displays it was particularly interesting to meet Sir Robert Winston and Johnny Ball.
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Bablake School
Bablakearts
IN TUNE AT EASTER This term’s concert had perhaps a bigger proportion of ensembles than for a few years There were debuts for the Flute Choir conducted by the Flute teacher, Jane Kimberley, who played the conclusion of Rossini’s William Tell and the Barbershop Quartet whose presentation was superb but still have a little way to go to perfect the art. The trio playing the slow movement from
Bach’s 2nd Brandenburg (all 5th years) showed great feeling for the music. The band that were hidden away in a ‘cave’ to accompany the production of The Pirates of Penzance were exposed to the light playing the overture, and the Swing Band showed increasing
expertise in their two numbers. It was a pleasure to hear, the Senior Orchestra were in great form playing the Scherzo from Dvorak’s 8th Symphony with the magnificent soaring string parts and wind melodies, and also Fawkes the Phoenix from the music for Harry Potter by John Williams. There were excellent instrumental solos from Matthew Weeden, Gurdeep Uppal and Jenny Maudsley, and vocal solos from Sarah Hutchison and Tara Katti and Claire Laverick. Apart from Matthew and Claire whom we usually see as flautists, these were all debut Senior Concert performances and show the wealth of talent that is coming up through the school. The Chamber Choir were also in good voice singing Rutter’s The Peace of God which they also sang at Holy Trinity for the commemoration of the City’s Bonds Hospital which is attached to Old Bablake. The serene music of Gershwin’s Summertime completed their programme. The chorale showed spirit in Rutter’s For the Beauty of the Earth and Seiber’s 3 Hungarian Folk songs with increasing assured accompaniments from Michelle Jie and James Ross respectively. Finally there was a bit of fun with two boy/girl dialogues, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off and Summer Nights from Grease and Bablake’s own version of Swing Low.
BABLAKE FASHION ICONS STRUT THEIR STUFF On Friday 12 May the GCSE Textiles pupils put on a display of the products and garments that they had made for their major coursework Many of them modelled their own garments while others found friends to model for them. There were ball gowns designed for a local theatre on a budget, funky dresses and jackets designed for a magazine photo shoot on clothes from the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s, a bodice based on a Japanese theme, an educational toy for a nursery and several pieces of soft furnishings for a modern café. The fashion show was a new venture and the pupils did a super job of putting together the music and showing off their textiles products. The standard of work is
very high again this year and many of the items are made to a highly professional standard. The audience was very appreciative and the event raised funds for Macmillan nurses and the senior girls’ South African tour this summer (several of the girls will be travelling there to represent the school). It is hoped that the show might be inspirational to some of the younger pupils. Anyone who missed the show will have an opportunity to view the textiles items on display in the Autumn Term.
The Lion | Summer 2006
ARTNEWS
PIRATES
X FACTOR A tremendous standard of music this year from all year groups finished with three 5th Year bands battling out the final. Crowd-pleasing performers P-Unit failed to impress the judges present and Jessica Blake's emotive mix of piano and vocals saw off the challenge of anthemic Dominic Watson. Jess will now play a set at November's charity concert.
THEATRE VISIT In the last week of the Spring Term, the Onatti Theatre Company visited school with their hugely enjoyable performance of La Chambre de Jean-Paul. This production was designed to be both funny and educational, offering pupils at all stages of GCSE and A level French the opportunity to develop their listening skills and revise vocabulary needed for their forthcoming examinations in a lively way and it was much appreciated by pupils.
This was undoubtedly the finest and most successful production of ‘Pirates’ ever staged at Bablake The cast was outstanding: there was remarkable singing from Abbi Bird, Sarah Barnard, Melissa Parvis, Devan Pankhania, Zain Ali and Andrew Monaghan. Melissa and Andrew coped remarkably well with some notoriously difficult numbers. Such was their remarkable professionalism it was hard to believe that they were only in the fourth year. Abbi and Sarah sang
beautifully together and acted with remarkable assurance. Zain proved a dashing Johnny Depp like pirate king – a remarkable performance and no less remarkable was the frowning character that Devan brought to his role as the sergeant. These principals were supported by a remarkable chorus – some remarkably glamorous pirates – a few remarkably rough looking pirates
BATTLE OF THE BANDS Pin Up Portrait – Zain Ali's band – won the people's vote in the 2006 Battle of the Bands while ‘Made in China’ took top prize from judges Stew Kingscott (BBC Cov and Warks) and former students, Arthur Keegan, Steph Webb and Ash Hawkins. Pick 'n' Styx kindly donated four hours’ practice time to the judges' favourites as well as three hours to
Pin Up Portrait and two to the Trolleys (a third band who pluckily kicked off the evening with a rousing set of punk covers). A fine, loud evening of music and linking banter from MC Someit Sidhu concluded with a popular set from last year's winners, Superheroes in Training.
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– some police men of remarkable size – both Kantoresque and Byardesque figures who were remarkably funny – some remarkably charming, pretty, slightly affected at times and occasionally bold maidens. There was remarkably strong singing and remarkably vigorous dancing. The production featured a shopping trolley and mobility scooter and was played on another remarkably fine set from Mr West. Mr West had created a rocky cove for Act One and another remarkably similar cove for Act Two. Hidden within the rocky cove was a remarkably accomplished band directed by the ever remarkable Bernard Sutton. It was also remarkable by Bablake standards that the show sold out each night which may have something to do with the remarkably large cast or the remarkable box office marketing skills of Mr Mellers and Mrs Billings or the fact that Gilbert and Sullivan remains remarkably popular. What was totally remarkable was that audiences hugely enjoyed each performance and were most enthusiastic. You may be interested to know that the whole cast was not on stage together until the second night – remarkable!
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Bablake School
Bablaketravel
A CLASSIC DAY OUT
NEW YORK, NEW YORK At 3am on Thursday 20 April, 29 of Bablake’s Economics and Business Studies students, Mr and Mrs Faulkner, Mr and Mrs Fletcher and Mrs Goodwin gathered to set off on a most excellent adventure to New York Once we’d checked in and unpacked, we set off on a short walk to see the Empire State Building. Friday kicked off early at 5.30am for the majority of the group, who went to see the filming of Good Morning America at the ABC studios in Times Square. Later in the Financial District, we were given a walking tour past the Stock Exchange, Ground Zero and many other places of interest. After a quick lunch we then made our way over to the Staten Island ferry, then to the UN headquarters. That night we went to a baseball match – New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles. Saturday started with a lie-in and then to
Macy’s department store. In the afternoon we took a trip to MoMA – the Museum of Modern Art. The collection on show was vast, including Picasso, Dali, Hockney and Van Gogh, but was mainly lost on this particular Economics student. Day 4, Sunday was our last day in New York, where we were given free time to shop and stock up on NY souvenirs! In the afternoon we took a coach out of the city to JFK Airport and began the long trip home. All in all a fantastic trip which gave most of us our first taste of New York and a great excuse to spend lots of money; but a tremendous experience which we’ll remember for a long time.
The Sixth Form Classical Civilisation set accompanied by Miss James travelled in style via Allen’s Taxis mini-bus to London, looking forward to a day studying the real artefacts from the course on Greek art and architecture, already seen in so many pictures. Armed with their booklets, the pupils gazed at each case, making notes on each piece, and followed the artistic and technical developments of the ages. We admired the Elgin marbles, particularly impressed that the backs of the figures are beautifully carved, despite the fact they were designed never to be seen; saw countless examples of both black and red figure pottery; and found out about everyday life of women and how the men chose to unwind at a symposium. We all admired the skill and artistic brilliance of the ancient Greeks, especially considering their basic tools and the speed at which the monuments were erected, or, in the case of vase painting, considering that so much of the pottery was for use rather than merely to be admired. We are certainly lucky to be able to see it first hand in the British Museum, even though this is a rather controversial debate. Following a quick and tempting stop at the bookshops, we headed back to return to Coventry by 6pm, worn out, but with renewed enthusiasm.
The Lion | Summer 2006
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‘Take a deep breath...
Jasper 2006
...and prepare yourself for a grand adventure in a place where snow comes from Heaven, not from Earth’ Another ski trip, another country. This year, the Ski Club travelled to the Canadian Rockies, to the stunning Jasper National Park. The Canadians were very welcoming, and no more so than in the Basin itself. The President and Chief Executive of the Basin made sure he spent some time with us, to welcome us and hear our views on the ski area. Five hours’ tutored skiing or boarding a day had two noticeable results. Firstly, huge progress was made in skiing and boarding ability during the course of the week. Secondly, the students were physically exhausted and were ready for their beds at a respectable time each night. However, just in case there had not been enough activity during the day, swimming and skating sessions were arranged in the evenings.
Canada had just experienced the warmest winter on record! Hence, the snow conditions could have been better. However, despite this, the injury list was the lowest ever. Unfortunately, Miss James was the main exception. She became the first Ski Club member of staff to sustain a serious injury. We hope that by the time you read this, she will be mobile again after her knee ligament strain. This was Mr Jackson’s last trip as Ski Club organiser. The current and past Ski Club staff would like to thank him (and Mrs Jackson) for the time, effort and attention to detail he has given to this and past trips. The students have always experienced the utmost care, while at the same time having great fun.
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Bablake School
Bablaketravel
FOUSSEAU FOR FUN (AND FOOD) On Saturday 18 March 2D, together with four members of staff and the French assistant, set off for France. The crossing, considered by some to be quite reasonable, proved a little too bumpy for others! Our first visit in France was to a small café owned by a lady called Arlette Gondrée. After our first taste of some scrumptious French food, she recounted some of the harrowing details of how she and her family survived the German occupation during the war. We heard about her experience of the moment when the Pegasus bridge was liberated. From there we went to the 360 degree cinema at Arromanches, a very moving experience for all. This was just the start of a very full week, with all sorts of exciting events. These are recounted by members of the form in some of the following memories… “My favourite part of the trip was ‘Operation Ice Tea Heist’ i.e. hiding Josh’s iced tea to stop him going hyper. First we had to subdue the beast (cover him in a quilt), then divide up the iced tea stash and hide it. I got stuck with the ‘Liptonic’. This was the tastiest, most addictive iced tea with the highest millilitre to hyper-activity ratio. In other words, Josh’s favourite.” “We explored the shops in St. Malo then regrouped at the Sanchez ice cream shop. I had one scoop but lots of people had a ‘Super Sanchez’ (three huge scoops of ice cream, loads of whipped cream and a chocolate flake). One person, who shall remain nameless, managed two – and he wasn’t ill! This was the coldest day of the week so we must have looked pretty silly.”
‘We explored the shops in St Malo and then regrouped at the Sanchez ice cream shop’
F is for all the fun we had O is for all the odd things that happened U is for all the umbrellas when it rained S is for silly Emily S dressing up as a Goth S is for silly Jazz when she dressed as a Barbie E is for Emily A singing in the shower A is for the awful ferry journey across U is for the unfair part of coming home!
The Lion | Summer 2006
Charitynews
CHARACTER BUILDING IN SNOWDONIA Lower 6th Geography Fieldcourse, North Wales March 2006 report by Mr Enstone On Monday 20 March 2006, 19 members of the lower 6th departed on a pilgrimage to the ‘holy land’ for Geographers everywhere – Snowdonia, accompanied by Mr. Enstone & Mrs. Marchant. Our home for the week was to be the Field Study Centre at Betws y Coed in the heart of this beautiful glaciated landscape. The week involved a variety of practical field days – studying fluvial landforms and downstream changes on the River Conwy, coastal sand dune systems and ecology at Morfa Harlech and coastal geomorphology and management issues at the resort of Criccieth on the North Wales peninsula. The aim of the fieldcourse was to provide students with an opportunity to study at first hand some of the features that they had been taught about in the classroom and also to prepare them for the forthcoming AS and A2 skills examinations. Oh – and to have fun and find out what real Geography is all about! The only minor incident involved a couple of hours spent sheltering from the cold in a sheep
pen at the top of Migneint Moor owing to the fact that the coach driver had a momentary lapse of reason when attempting to turn his 14 tonne vehicle around, and promptly disappeared from sight leaving us to fend for ourselves (see photo). Still – it was all extremely good for building character, especially those who were sweating it out in the bothy bag !! All the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the week and above all found it extremely useful for their course. On their behalf I would like to thank everyone at the Field Study Centre (especially our tutor Ed) for all their hard work. I would also like to thank the students for maintaining such a positive and cheerful attitude both in the field and in the classroom and for putting in so much hard work. They were a credit to the school, and we genuinely enjoyed their company.
IN THE SPRING TERM WE ASKED OUR PUPILS TO NOMINATE CHARITIES THAT THEY WERE INTERESTED IN AND WOULD LIKE THE SCHOOL TO SUPPORT. DONATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE TO ‘SEEDS FOR AFRICA’, ‘SEND A COW’, ‘BOOK AID’, ‘JUBILEE ACTION’ AND OTHER CHARITIES WORKING IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD. IN THIS COUNTRY WE HAVE SUPPORTED CANCER CHARITIES, CYSTIC FIBROSIS, THE ACORN HOSPICE AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. CONGRATULATIONS GO TO BEN MCFADDEN OUR AV TECHNICIAN WHO RAN THE LONDON MARATHON RAISING OVER £1,500 FOR CANCER RESEARCH. IN FEBRUARY MRS GOODWIN VISITED PROJECT INDEPENDENCE IN RWANDA – A SCHEME TO HELP WOMEN SURVIVORS OF WAR TO MOVE FROM CRISIS AND POVERTY TO OPPORTUNITY AND SELF SUFFICIENCY. SHE IS RETURNING IN MAY TO DO SOME TEACHING AT THE CENTRE AND HAS A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION OF HER VISIT THAT SHE IS WILLING TO GIVE TO INTERESTED GROUPS.
£15,000 RAISED SO FAR THIS YEAR
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Bablake School
Bablakenews
YOUNG ENTERPRISE AT ITS BEST!
It has been yet another successful term for Bablake’s young enterprise company S-Cubed S-Cubed’s primary achievement has been to be the first company from Bablake ever to win the Coventry finals. To win this, we produced an award winning report, gave a 1st place presentation and were voted overall best company, which was out of a total of 27 companies including S-Cubed’s inschool rivals, Neutrino. Due to complications within the Young Enterprise organisation, S-Cubed
was forced to do 3 presentations in only ten days. The majority of the people who were at the Coventry and Warwickshire Strategic Board finals felt that S-cubed had received a lot less credit than was deserved. We were narrowly pipped to the post by Legacy from Myton School, whose Managing Director was Mr. Sam Cuthbertson himself. S-Cubed’s main idea was to create a new and innovative take on Table Tennis. The unique idea of ‘PACEBALL’ took a normal table tennis bat and took away the handle to improve control and pace on the shot. The bat is attached to the hand by a piece of elastic on the back of the bat into which the hand slides. The product has won S-cubed best product at both of our local trade fairs and got S-cubed commended at the national trade fair.
ENGINEERING SUCCESS! Engineering Education Scheme 2005/2006 Congratulations go to this year’s Engineering Education Scheme (EES) team on a well documented and presented project. Matthew Francis, Matthew Galloway, Lee Harrison and Nathan Ward went to the celebration day at the NEC on 3 May 2006 and although EES is non-competitive they were the best in their group. Over the past 9 months they have been working on a project with ARUP to design a new building for their employees at Campus (their current home) in Solihull. The team have been researching and solving problems through visits, residential workshops (to create a model of their
design) and weekly meetings with their Engineer Chris Furneaux. In this time they have learnt the value of creating and meeting deadlines, communicating with a number of different people to get an end result and being prepared to go that extra mile generally all the skills they will need for their future careers. Thanks must go to our sponsor company ARUP and their link engineer Chris Furneaux for the time and expertise they have given us. We look forward to working with them again next year.
For more information, or to place your order, visit the company website at: www.s-cubedonline.com
The Lion | Summer 2006
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‘STOCKBLAKERS’ TAKE ON STOCK MARKET Bablake’s very own stock market whiz kids took on the best teams from the United Kingdom in this year’s ifs Proshare competition. The team, known as ‘Cherman’ consisting of Someit Sidhu, Amarpal Jandoo, Lee Harrison and Richard Smith travelled to London for the national final of the competition in April. They had already qualified through the gruelling regional rounds of the competition, which started in October 2005. This involved floating £100,000 of virtual money on the stock market. Cherman managed a 38% return on this in the matter of a few months, something the top London investors would be proud of. The national final was held in the Deutsche Bank headquarters in London’s financial sector. Cherman were only one of the 8 teams which qualified from around the U.K. This is a great achievement in a competition which started with 34 000 pupils from 7500 teams in 900 schools. Unfortunately Cherman were not placed as winners of the competition and narrowly missed out on the winning prize of a trip to New York. This competition has however given the Boys from Bablake great confidence and many new experiences, including a recent radio interview about the competition on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire. There is no doubt about it, they will be back next year, they will be back with a bang.
2+2=4TH TEAM MATHS CHALLENGE 2006 On Friday 17th March we took part in the team Maths Challenge at Rugby High School. Twenty two teams entered the Challenge which began with a rather easy practice round. We did amazingly well in the crossword round, which was a surprise, as we had no experience in this challenge. After lunch was the head to head challenge. Overall this was our strongest round. Following this was the relay race challenge which was all
based around speed and accuracy. We didn’t do very well at all and found this challenge overwhelming with all the running around going on. Once the final challenge had been completed our scores were calculated and the results announced. The results were given in reverse order and Rugby High school was announced as fifth. There was then a pause and the announcement – Bablake School, fourth – We were really stunned at the announcement, it was really amazing that we did so well.
JUNIOR QUIZ REPORT
The Junior Quiz team have been busy competing against some very stiff competition. On 27 April the team played at King’s Worcester. They won their first two matches against Wrekin and King Edward’s Handsworth, but then played the eventual winners of the quiz King Edward’s Birmingham in the semi-final and were knocked out. The team enjoyed the event and played well. They are to be congratulated on their knowledge and coolness under pressure.
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Bablake School
Bablakeaction CCF EASTER CAMP
‘EXERCISE CADET STRETCH’ As the Easter holidays were coming to an end and most pupils were enjoying their last few days of freedom, 20 Bablake cadets were back at school, preparing to take part in the annual ‘Exercise Cadet Stretch’ The competition began on the Saturday morning and after an early breakfast, cadets drew their weapons from the armoury and began a 10 mile patrol around the training area. As they patrolled, they came across a series of stands which they had to deal with before moving on to the next. These included, among others, vehicle recovery, medical evacuation, a minefield incident, winthropping (delivery and deployment of supplies) and weapons amnesty. The instructors on the Militia roadblock stand were particularly impressed with the leadership and teamwork shown by our girls. They were the only team who managed to clear the roadblock, not through force or persuasion like other teams, but by dancing! The instructors were so flabbergasted by this response, that they cleared the block and let them move on! Once the day’s patrol had finished, all cadets faced the final stand, which was the stretcher race. They had to carry a stretcher, laden with two large jerry cans filled with water, back to the camp. The boy’s team, under the command of Sgt Grewal, crossed the finish line first for a glorious victory. The daunting first task of Sunday morning was to complete the assault course. After a thorough warm up and demonstration by the physical training instructors, it was down to the teams to complete the obstacles in the fastest possible time, without incurring any penalties. The boys were pipped at the post by the narrowest of margins, being runners up by only 2 seconds! After a quick break for drinks, the next project was to build a bridge out of pallets, planks and rope in one hour. The team building the longest
bridge, which was strong enough to hold the Commander, would be acclaimed the ‘Exercise Cadet Stretch’ winners. Sgt Sheard ensured that each member of her team had a job to do and soon their bridge began to take shape. Lance Corporal Woodward and Corporal Gardner were in charge of lashing the planks together and the Commandant was most impressed with the little bows which tidily finished off each knot! With the hour up, the Commandant took position and stepped sheepishly onto each bridge in turn. Some of the bridges collapsed almost immediately, whilst others looked sturdy enough to hold the whole team. Although the Bablake bridges were marginally shorter in length than others, the Commandant was able to walk across both bridges with ease and confidence. The whole exercise over, we were delighted with our one win and our 5th and 6th placings for our boys and girls teams respectively in the bridge building; overall excellent results considering the quality and number of opposition teams!
This year’s Easter Camp was held at Swynnerton Training Camp in Staffordshire. Swynnerton training area is very conveniently located next to the camp, so whilst staff left in a minibus to set up the stands, our cadets, ably led by Sgt. Hughes, set off with a map to navigate their way to the grid reference provided. There followed four sessions: canoeing on the lake, run by Mr Tyas who had kindly left his family holiday in the Lake District and driven down for the afternoon; an observation post, in which cadets stealthily moved into position and looked for evidence of enemy activity in undergrowth across a river; section battle drills; setting up and executing an ambush – the latter two involving the use of blank ammunition. At around 1900 hrs the evening activities began. Each of three sections, led by Sgt Hughes, Cpl Briggs and Cpl Sheard respectively, received orders to set up an ambush at particular times and at a particular grid reference. They were to apprehend, or eliminate, terrorists who were known to be meeting that evening. Sure enough, as each ambush party arrived, voices with strange foreign accents, and even stranger topics of conversation, were to be heard emanating from a shed that was illuminated by lights from a nearby minibus. The ambush was laid and shortly afterwards figures emerged from the shed and were challenged. As expected, the ‘terrorists’ tried to make good their escape, throwing smoke grenades and firing wildly. The dark figures were despatched in a hail of fire, amidst a confusion of green smoke, eerily lit by the headlights. Finally, all was still. The cadets then silently retreated and made their way back to camp, returned weapons to the armoury and then to bed. The next day saw us all up early for breakfast and then a two hour drive by minibus to Kingsbury Ranges, near Tamworth. Slightly earlier than intended, due to the deteriorating weather, we packed up and returned to base where hot showers and another excellent meal, with seconds, was followed by home made entertainment in the NAAFI. Following a hearty breakfast the next morning, the minibuses, loaded with equipment, set off early to return to School.
The Lion | Summer 2006
On a hot and sunny Easter Monday, 42 5th form pupils took a break from their GCSE revision and set off to Shropshire to complete their D of E Silver Practice Expedition
Over the next three days, they were going to complete a series of day walks covering a distance of 30 miles and carrying all their kit. Due to the narrow, twisty lanes in Wentnor, Shropshire, the bus had to stop short of the campsite, therefore the first task of the expedition was to walk a mere mile to the campsite. Some struggled up the hill that Miss Hall had accidentally forgotten to tell them about, others got very lost, despite attending weekly navigation lessons back at school! Once all groups had eventually arrived at the campsite, they settled into their luxury accommodation and began to cook their evening meal. As they tucked into their meals, which even Jamie Oliver would have been proud of, the staff went to check out their lodgings. Miss Hall had also forgotten to mention that the staff accommodation was in fact a one star Youth Hostel, located in the middle of nowhere with the added bonus of being run by an insane warden. If Mrs Thomas and Miss Young only knew what was
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D of E SILVER PRACTICE
to come next, I’m sure they both would have declined the invitation to spend their Easter holidays with us. For the next three days their evenings were to be filled with ‘interesting’ conversations with the warden, on topics such as the Welsh language, reading maps without a torch and how to make dandelion wine! On the Tuesday, the 6 groups embarked on a 12 mile hike up and around the Long Mynd. The weather was lovely and pupils enjoyed the challenge. The staff were particularly impressed by the groups’ navigational skills, as every group managed to return back to the campsite without even a hint of getting lost. During the evening, some pupils still had enough energy to play Rounders and Football. Some enjoyed the rest, whilst others nursed aching feet and blisters. It all seemed too good to be true – good navigation and glorious weather – was this really a D of E expedition? Then the rain came and didn’t stop. The staff arrived at the campsite early on the
Wednesday morning expecting all the pupils to be still tucked up in their tents, sheltering from the driving rain. How wrong could they be! All pupils were packed and ready to go and were certainly not going to be defeated by a wet day. Their usual high spirits got them through the day and after a 10 mile hike, the rather soggy pupils soon returned to the campsite to pitch camp and cook more noodles. Thursday soon came round – the last day! Pupils had to walk 8 miles from the campsite into Church Stretton. The groups had no real navigational challenges and were all at the finish point by midday. After buying some celebratory fish and chips in the town, pupils boarded the coach and were soon fast asleep as we travelled back to school. So what next? With routes all planned and submitted, the pupils will be travelling to Bala, North Wales after their GCSE examinations to complete their Silver Assessed Expedition. Good Luck!
MASTER CADET LEADERSHIP COURSE Our Congratulations go to Corporal Jamie Stefaniak who recently attended an action packed week long Master Cadet Leadership Course at Nesscliff army training camp. Jamie is the first ever cadet from Bablake to go on this advanced course. In summing up Jamie said, “Overall, it was an exciting and exhilarating experience, which I would never have been able to do anywhere else other than with the CCF. I had learned more than I ever thought possible and met a great group of cadets and army staff from all over the UK. It was also very tough, and I can see why, as they say on TV, 99.9% need not apply!”
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Bablake School
Bablake success CONGRATULATIONS GO TO
The U16, U14 and U13 Rugby teams on all reaching the finals of the Coventry Schools Cup competition at the end of the Easter team. Particular congratulations to the U16 and U13 teams on their winning performances and the U13 team on going through the season undefeated. The Senior Girls’ Netball team on their excellent performance in the National Finals and on winning the West Midlands South Colleges league, being undefeated throughout the season and on winning the Colleges tournament. The U15 Girls’ Hockey team on becoming the Warwickshire champions. Lucy Horn on being a member of the Belper U15 Hockey team which won the national finals. Lucy Horn and Holly Payne on representing the U15 Midlands Hockey in Holland over Easter for the second year running. The Boys’ U14 Cross Country team on winning the Coventry league and the Cup competition race. Paul Lam on winning the Lightning Chess tournament for the fourth time in five years. Paul is also the Warwickshire U18 Champion for the fourth year running and is in the squad of players for the England team to play Russia. Helen Price on her selection for the Rugby Football Union of Women (RFUW) U17 Performance Camp for the 30 most talented U17 regional players in England. The Girls’ Intermediate (Years 10 and 11) Athletics team on winning the Coventry City Athletics Championships and to Ira Kleine, Jennie Gardner, Lucy Horn and the Relay team on all winning their event. Nine pupils from the 3rd and 4th years on gaining gold awards in the Intermediate Maths Challenge and in particular to Thomas Hine who was placed in the top 400 out of 195,000 entrants. ∑Jamie Stefaniak on being selected to attend the CCF Master Cadet Course. Philip Catterall, Dominic Ainsworth and Philippa Collision on being selected to represent Coventry in the forthcoming International Children’s Games in Thailand. The 6th Form Business team of Lee Harrison, Someit Sidhu, Richard Smith and Amarpal Jandoo on winning through to the national finals of the IFS Proshare Student Investor competition, one of only 8 teams from an original 7500 team entries. The Senior and Junior Public Speaking teams of Someit Sidhu, Mark McElvie and Marco Orsini-Jones and Pam Uppal, Christopher Lamb and Alannah Norton on their excellent achievements in going through to the semi-finals of the regional Rotary Club competition. Joshua Baines on winning the Hinckley and District Shooting competition and going through to the National Finals. Sam Sharples on being selected to attend The Smallpiece Engineering, Technology and Enterprise Experience at Harper Adams University College. Paul Best on his achievements with Warwickshire Youth Cricket Board. Richard Miles on his selection for the Warwickshire U12 Cricket squad. The Young Enterprise teams, Neutrino and S-cubed, on their excellent performance this term with S-cubed being commended for their product innovation at the National Trade fair and also receiving first prize for their product and third prize for their stall at the recent Regional Trade fair. Both teams have also won through to the local finals. The Young Enterprise team S-cubed, Imran Ahmed, Aaron Banger, Matthew Given, Paddy Hyslop and Someit Sidhu, on winning the Best presentation and Best Company awards at the local finals and going through to the regional final. The CCF teams under the leadership of Sergeants Hannah Sheard and Gary Grewal on their excellent performances in the annual “Exercise Cadet Stretch”. The Sixth Form Chemists on their excellent showing in the British Chemistry Olympiad and in particular Jennifer Bufton who gained a Silver award and Lauren Ewington, Bina Modi, Anna Seeley, and Chris Taylor who all gained Bronze. The Education Engineering Scheme team of Matthew Francis, Matthew Galloway, Lee Harrison and Nathan Ward on their excellent solution to the problem set by Ove Arup of designing a new building for that company. Adam Austin, Veronica Davis, Lauren Irwin and Jodie Kirk on their organisation of a petition about the situation in Dafur. Philip Walker on his continuing successes in sailing and on winning the recent Severn Trent Trophy.
The Lion | Summer 2006
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Bablakesport HOCKEY In the Bablake invitation 7 a-side tournament the girls played very well and finished runners up to Kings High. In the Warwickshire 11 a-side tournament Bablake won their section and met Kenilworth and Kings High in a triangular final. Once again Bablake finished runners up to Kings High, but have learnt a lot throughout the season and are closing the gap. The U12s enjoyed playing in two hockey mini tournaments last term, Solihull and Bablake Invitation. The girls have progressed throughout the season finishing with a 2-2 draw v Newcastle-under-Lyme school in an 11 a-side game. The U15 team not only won the Coventry tournament, but got through to the triangular final in the Warwickshire tournament. Here they beat both Stratford Grammar and Kings High 2-0 to take the winners’ trophy. NETBALL At the end of January both Under 16 and Under 19 Netball Squads played in the West Midlands Netball Tournament, having qualified from the Warwickshire Tournaments prior to Christmas. The U16 squad won 14 of their 6 matches with good victories over Wolverhampton Grammar School, St Mary’s Convent, Wrekin and Hereford Cathedral School. They lost to the eventual tournament winners Sandon 10-17 and to Sutton Girls, having led at half time. Despite their disappointment all the squad played very well and rose to the occasion. From the tournament Ellie Donaldson and Lauren Boon were selected to attend an England Talent Camp. The U19 squad managed to win all their section games despite a virus that affected several members both on the day and in the run up to the tournament. In the semi-finals they played Shrewsbury High winning 18-8 and in the final met their old rivals Fairfax, narrowly losing 12-14. As runners up at this tournament they went on to represent the region at the National Finals in Manchester on 25th March. There they played excellently and were placed third in their section, only losing narrowly to the two teams who met in the finals. Overall, they were placed 5th in the country and, in addition, the squad were awarded the Mary Bearwood Trophy for the team, across all age groups, which scored most goals in the section games. 110 goals from 8 games was not only testimony to the excellent shooters but to the whole team which provided those shooting opportunities and kept the opposition out. We were extremely proud of the success of the squad. The U15B netball team won the Coventry Schools final, beating King Henry VIII 22-11. The U15A team all worked very hard but finished runners up to King Henry VIII. The U13 A&B and U12 A&B netball teams also met King Henry VIII in the Coventry Schools netball tournaments. The U12A team finished runners up and victories were secured by the other three teams to bring trophies back to Bablake. ATHLETICS We would like to wish Philippa Collison the very best of luck at the International Children’s Games in Bangkok in August. She has been selected to represent the City of Coventry in High Jump. Bablake got off the athletics season to a very good start. The intermediate team won the School City Championships comfortably. Events were won by Jennie Gardner, Lucy Horn, Ira Kleine and the relay team – Jennie Gardner, Lijana Kaziow, Siobhan Robinson & Lauren Boon. The junior team came a very close second to Tile Hill Wood. Individual winners were Danielle Smith in shot putt and Harriet Carter in high jump.
BABLAKE SCHOOL CROSS-COUNTRY 2005 – 2006 COVENTRY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP. The U12 boys finished 3rd over the four league races. The U14 boys finished 1st over the four league races. COVENTRY CITY CHAMPIONSHIP In the meeting on 30th March the U13 boys finished 1st. Special congratulations go to Thomas Dwyer who just missed out on a medal, finishing 4th. Harriet Simmons finished 7th in her championship race. Congratulations go to Adam Simmonds and Tom Costello from the fourth year who finished 5th and 6th respectively in the U15 Championship race. REPRESENTATIVE HONOURS Nine boys and two girls qualified to represent Coventry this season – Harriet Simmons, Jamie Cozens, Matthew Smith, William Knight from Shells; Aisling Flannagan, Thomas Dwyer, Samuel Lewis and Aaren Healey from the second year; Adam Simmonds, Tom Costello from the fourth year. In the U12 William Kenney-Herbert and Jamie Cozens both represented Coventry, winning gold medals as the team finished first in the West Midlands Championship. Jamie finished 9th which means he ran for the West Midlands in Wales during April. U14s Aaren Healey and Samuel Lewis both won silver medals as the Coventry team finished second in the West Midlands Championships. RUGBY The season finished with a great deal of success for Bablake’s Junior Teams with the Under 13s, under 14s and under 16s all reaching the Coventry Cup Finals played at the Butts Stadium. The Under 13s were first to play and took revenge on Woodlands for last year’s defeat with a 26-5 win. Tries came from Chukka Ogbuneke (20), Adam King and Oliver White with two conversions from Morgan Baker and one from Adam King. This result capped a fantastic season with the team winning every match and also securing victory in the Solihull Sevens Tournament. The Under 16s were next to play and also became City Champions thanks to a 17-12 victory over Coundon Court. In a hard fought match Ross Harrison and Gavin Harman scored tries with Lewis Jackson adding two conversions and a penalty. The Under 14s were the final team to play and unfortunately lost 17-5 to Coundon Court. Dominic Ainsworth scored Bablake’s only try. ATHLETICS The start of the athletics season has seen a great deal of success for the Bablake Teams and individuals. In the Inter Championships for 4th and 5th years, Bablake’s Boys’ team finished runners-up. City Champions included James Krestovnikoff in the hurdles, and Ross Harrison in the High Jump. In the Junior Event for 2nd and 3rd years, the Boys’ Team also finished runnersup. Here City champions included Dominic Ainsworth in the 100m and shot, and Toby Donaldson in the javelin.
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Bablake School
Bablakeupdate HEADMASTER’S NOTES
STAFF NEWS
Each edition of The Lion is a snapshot of the breadth of extracurricular activity at Bablake. It is a cornerstone of our educational philosophy that we seek to educate the whole person and as I depart, I should like to thank all my colleagues who do so much beyond lesson time to enrich the education of Bablake pupils.
I am pleased to announce that the following will be joining the teaching staff at the start of the new academic year in September:
Next term, as the new Headmaster takes over, the current one becomes a mere portrait in the Library. John Watson and I have worked closely together this term, trying to ensure as smooth a transition as possible and, under his leadership, I am sure that the school will go from strength to strength in future years. I look forward to hearing about this from afar. Finally, my thanks go to the great many parents who have supported the staff and me in so many ways during the course of this academic year. Thank you, too, for all the encouragement and help we have received.
Mr A Homer as Head of Classics to replace Mr J D Swales who has been appointed Deputy Head at Ackworth School and Mr M J Lang (former pupil, 1986-93) as a teacher of Physics to replace Dr S A Johnson who has been appointed Head of Physics at Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby. Currently Mr Homer is teaching at Watford Grammar School for Girls and Mr Lang at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle. Two other members of staff, Mr B S Bramley (Head of Biology) and Mr R W McDermott (Head of Physics) will be leaving at the end of the Summer term. Mr Bramley is to pursue a career outside of teaching and Mr McDermott has been appointed as Head of Science, Maths and ICT Faculty at Kelly College, Tavistock in Devon.
I hope all of you have a very good holiday and a great deal of happiness over the summer. With warmest good wishes,
Stuart Nuttall Headmaster
A FOND FAREWELL
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: www.mustardhot.com
There will no doubt be many tributes to Stuart Nuttall as he approaches his retirement after 15 years as Headmaster at Bablake. He has led the School through the many changes that have beset education since 1991 and is highly respected, not just for his work at Bablake but locally, regionally, and nationally through serving on and chairing various committees and steering groups. There is not room here to do justice to Stuart’s many qualities and his outstanding work for the School. We thank him for his outstanding dedication, commitment, loyalty, kindness and compassion. The success and firm standing of Bablake is evident and, importantly, it extends beyond the league tables. The wider context of education has always been central and crucial in his leadership – you only have to have had a son or daughter involved in any form of extra-curricular activity to know that. He has been wholeheartedly supported by his wife Linda throughout and we thank her too for her dedication and her involvement with and support for the School. On behalf of us all, staff and pupils, we wish Stuart and Linda a long, happy and healthy retirement.