BVC News - Autumn 2017

Autumn 2017 Issue 24

The magazine of Bo sham Village College

Inside this issue x x x x x x

Exam Results Children in need Capital Build Sports News Mental health & Well-being Plus lots more news & informa on

Achievement through inspiring, caring, enriching

A message from the Principal

Bo sham Village College Lode Road Bo sham Cambridgeshire CB25 9DL Tel: 01223 811250 Fax: 01223 813123 enquiries@bo shamvc.org

I trust that everyone has had a restful break and has managed to enjoy the Christmas season.

Busy and exciting, the Spring term brings with it an array of activities for our students to look forward to: Duke of Edinburgh expeditions; trips and visits, such as “Eyes on the Prize”; options evenings; mock examinations.

We very much hope that this newsletter gives you a flavour of all that took place last term. There are some particular highlights, especially the new year 7 students’ involvement in school activities and trips; they have made a wonderful start to their time here at the college.

We look forward to the second season of mock exams getting underway in the week beginning 19th February for year 11, with year 10 starting theirs on 19th March.

We continue to be excited by the progress of our new building and look forward to its grand opening in September.

Wishing you all a happy term,

Mrs Jenny Rankine

Message from Student Support As we con nually strive to look a er the wellbeing of students with safeguarding our top priority, we have made some changes regarding the recep on procedures. Parents/Carers must sign students in and out of school at Main Recep on, as opposed to student recep on, which is the current prac ce. As well as signing in and out, Parents/Carers can also drop any last minute items, such as PE kit, cooking equipment etc. at Main Recep on.

Only visitors who have signed in and have an iden ty badge will be allowed past Main Recep on and into school. Students will now only use the student recep on window during break and lunch mes, before and a er school, except for emergencies.

The change is to ensure we have a clear system for monitoring and supervising all visitors who come onto our site, so we can keep students safe.

We would like to thank you in advance for your support.

Mrs Stoodley, Office Manager

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NEW BUILD UPDATE

In the last few weeks staff, students and visitors have seen the new school building rising above the construc on site hoardings. In early December, local residents were also invited to look around to see the progress being made.

In some ways this is the most exci ng phase of the project - erec ng the CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) structure which forms the main shape and space of the building. What you may not realise is the amount of work that has gone in to ge ng ready for this phase of the works. Between taking possession of the main construc on site and now, the team from Morgan Sindall have poured 1600 cubic metres of concrete, (that’s 2800 tons!) and dug 360 metres of trenches 1.2m wide by up to 3m deep for soakaway crates. They have laid a 250mm diameter gas pipe from the main road to the site along with 2 new main power cables and many service ducts. Between now and the end of February they hope to have the whole of the CLT structure completed so long as the weather is with us!

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Year 10 Product Design students were lucky enough to have a visit to the site as part of their course. They got to walk around inside seeing how the new main hall and drama studio were taking shape.

They learnt about health and safety issues on a building site, design phases, budgets and materials used. They also heard how the building is sustainable and energy efficient.

The students were really interested in learning about all the different careers in the building industry and how many people involved in construc on work from offices, never even visi ng building sites.

Thank you to Graeme Jenkins and his team for this fantas c opportunity to inform and inspire our students.

The scheme encompasses extensive external works, a new build extension and the refurbishment of the exis ng College. The works include the construc on of a twostorey extension to the rear of the campus to provide a new hall, kitchen and dining area, dance studio and new classroom spaces together with the associated staff rooms. The scheme also entails the extensive remodelling and refurbishment of areas of the exis ng College to address both its needs and requirements, inclusive of improving the current circula on pressures.

Extensive landscaping and external works alongside this include the reloca on of the exis ng Red2Green community facility and improvements in the form of circula on, safeguarding/site security, staff parking, cycle storage, a dedicated bus drop-off access/parking area and so /hard landscaping to facilitate the needs of a growing College. Overall, the proposed design of the scheme is intended to serve and support the purpose and ethos of Bo sham Village College, prac cally in terms of quan ty, type and func onality of the provisions and architecturally in terms of the aesthe cs and quality of the spaces to be provided, the adjacencies of these, their rela onship to the site and how they iden fy the College within the wider community.

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Girl Power: Stem Solu ons to a Sustainable World On the 11th October, Miss Slipper, myself and four other Year 11 girls a ended this conference. The day was about encouraging girls into science careers, especially within the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) areas.

A er our stylish arrival by taxi at Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology (UTC), we listened to talks from Dame Barbara Stocking (president of Murray Edwards College) and Dr Nadine Johnston (marine biologist) as well as a panel of women scien sts and engineers, each with ten minutes to talk about their own careers. These were an interes ng insight into jobs in science and engineering that we hadn’t necessarily thought of before. A er lunch we a ended a workshop on applying sustainable development goals which offered a corporate perspec ve on how to achieve sustainability (it was a lot be er than it sounds!).

It involved looking at how to actually achieve the goals – including no poverty, zero hunger and educa on. The best talk came from Yewande Akinola, who delivered it all without ever standing behind the lectern. It was a fast paced crash course on fulfilling your dreams - from TV presenter to Design Engineer, she seemed to have done and loved it all! The last talk was from Dr Andrew Spencer (the only male speaker) on university applica ons, before a final reflec on from Charlo e Avery of St Mary’s school (the organiser).

Overall it was a great day, offering plenty of food for thought on careers in STEM. The best part of the event was probably the free cookies and chocolate crispies in the breaks but this is not cri cising the day - they were just really good cookies!

by Beth Irving 11.6 On Tuesday 5th December 14 year 10 students accompanied by Mrs Cook and Mr Fullman a ended the world famous Kings College Chapel .

We were privileged to be part of the ‘The Service of Lessons and Carols for schools’. In this magnificent se ng the singing resounded around us, not just from the choir but those in the audience as well.

The student comments a erwards were awesome, magnificent, brilliant.

This really got us all into the Christmas spirit.

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On 17th October 2017 I was part of a group of students from Year 8 and 9 who went to ‘Eng Fest 2017’ in London. This is where all of the latest technology and gadgets are on show. There were lots of different workshops to do, as well as talks and exhibi ons to visit.

We got the opportunity to do two workshops. The first was sponsored by Android, and we got the chance to be taught how to make and program an app. We also did a workshop sponsored by Atkins, where we made electric wheels and learnt about conduc ng electricity.

We also got to look around two exhibi ons. The first one was showcasing all of the new technology in engineering.

There were lots of different things to look at and try out such as flying drones, learning about sound sensors on planes, controlling robots, VR head sets, musical instruments without touch and so on.

My favourite part was a VR t-shirt in the exhibi on. If you held a tablet with the app that goes with it up to the t-shirt, you could see all of the insides of the body. You could then learn about them with a 3D image in front of you.

All of the schools that had been invited to Eng Fest were sat down in a lecture room to listen to talks from two people.

The first talk was from Lewis Dartnell, who was talking about his book on how to rebuild a new world if ours was destroyed. We learnt things such as how to make a stove out of n cans, and how to get food and make good use of your supplies. The second talk was from Max Sco -Slade who was telling us about how his career as a game maker came about. He was saying about how he made a game that was designed to help stop demen a coming to people in the future.

The whole day was live streamed on IET’s website.

Thank you to Mr Orange and Miss Tydeman for taking us on this informa ve day out , and we all had a lovely day.

by Polly Benne , 8.1

Back in August, BVC was delighted to celebrate examina on results with the successful class of 2017. This year was certainly unique: the first set of “reformed” GCSEs in English Language, English Literature and Maths, graded 9-1. In prepara on for these examina ons, students underwent an unprecedented level of support from the College, engaging in a series of events branded “Opera on Success”. This included revision sessions, examina on warm-up ac vi es and an array of wellbeing opportuni es. As one can imagine, this certainly created a vibrant and exci ng learning atmosphere around the College.

Students performed admirably in key areas and the vast majority of students are now enjoying post-16 educa on in the establishment of their choice, based on their successes with us at the college.

x x x x x

74% of students achieved a pass in English and Maths (Grade 4 or above); 52% of students achieved a good pass in English and Maths (Grade 5 or above); Almost a third of all grades were at A(Grade 7) or above; 10% of students achieved the new grade 9 in English; 6% of students achieved the new grade 9 in Maths.

We would like to extend our best wishes to the year group and hope that they go on to achieve all that they deserve in the future.

Since the start of the year, many Lower School parents have asked us for all the assessment informa on in one place. To that end, we have produced this sheet to give parents a helping hand in monitoring students’ progress and ensuring they are involved in the learning process.

What are Target Grades?

x Students will have a GCSE target grade x x x

x

generated for them in each applicable subject area; These will be based on the student’s a ainment at primary school(KS2); Using na onal benchmarking data (FFT20), we then will es mate the progress a student should make, based on their prior a ainment; These target grades will be scru nised at the end of their me in the lower school.

x

x

How can I track my child’s progress?

You can use the school’s Parental Remote Access Facility to track the progress of your child; You will be able to see how well students are performing in rela on to their target grade. The colour-coding gives you some clear guidelines;

You will be able to see the next steps in students’ learning by looking at the Progress Maps. These will indicate which topics and skills have been completed and which are to come next.

What are EBHO Grades? x x x x x x x

These numbers will tell you about students’ a tudes to learning in each of the subject.

They relate to 4 aspects: Effort Behaviour Homework Organisa on

How can I help my child’s progress at BVC? Consistent monitoring of their data over the year has, over recent years, proven successful in parents assis ng their children.

Are they a aining well in all areas, in rela on to their target grade?

What do they need to do in order to be “on-track” in areas that are yellow or red?

Addi onally, parents who regularly check through students’ exercise books gain a clear understanding of students’ progress.

Students are assessed every 12-16 lessons and these can be iden fied with this s cker:

Red2Green is a Cambridgeshire charity providing services including learning, leisure and work opportuni es for people with a wide range of disabili es, including mental ill health , learning disabili es and au sm spectrum condi ons. Throughout this year, under the tle: ‘Cra y Sew and Sows’ they have been working with the local community, Swa am Bulbeck Primary School and the College to inves gate lost skills that were either essen al parts of daily lives or commonplace 100 years ago, some of them par cular to the local area.

September was a busy month for our students, children from Swa am Bulbeck Primary and Red2Green clients, with three different ac vi es taking place. The first was a trip to the Museum of Cambridge, where we had a cra session looking at how plants were used for medicine in the old days, followed by a tour of the museum, a quiz about the sweet shop and an I Spy game. Quotes from the day included “the doll’s house was old and creepy” “I enjoyed the history of Cambridge and its many secrets” “the building was 500 years old!”

“In the old days you could skate from Cambridge to Ely on the rivers as they used to freeze solid” “raƟoning from the war didn’t stop unƟl 1953” “the ceilings were really low, everyone must have been shorter 500 years ago!”

“I learnt that sweets were a big thing in those days” “the museum building use to be a pub and the Queen visited and leŌ a present, not our Queen, obviously” “tooth brushes were made out of bone and fur” Next was a coach trip to Denny Abbey Farmland Museum when everyone enjoyed pond dipping, a historical farm quiz, making plant pots and sowing seeds ,as well as looking around the Abbey and the farm worker’s co age. They discovered that all the people of that era had to do in the evenings was knit and sew or listen to the radio and the students were quite interested in the chamber pot under the bed!!

Lastly was ‘Lost skills Kni ng Day’ when 27 students went to The Barns in Swa am Bulbeck to learn different kni ng skills with the clients from R2G as well as the primary school children. The Health and Social Care students were also able to work with the clients to complete a prac cal aspect to their assignments. We all did French kni ng, made pompoms and friendship bracelets as well as watching wool being spun on a spinning wheel. Some of us also got to help make material on

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a loom.

Some quotes from students were “It was really fun because we learnt how to knit in different ways” “It was fun, the people(R2G clients) were really nice and it was fun to help them out” “I learnt how to knit and enjoyed making the pom-poms” “I enjoyed helping the primary kids and kniƫng with them” In November, our students interviewed two people from our local community to make oral histories of their experiences as children doing the different skills that we had been doing on our lost skills days. The students got to write and ask the ques ons, record the interview and then edit the recordings so they could be published.

Finally, on 28th November, the last Lost Skill Day was on fire building. The students had looked at historical fires, how to make a fire and what we use fires for. We went to some woods near Swa am Bulbeck where the fire school had fire circles laid out for us to light and build fires from scratch. We sourced our wood, lit fires and then cooked food on them. We boiled water for hot drinks including hot chocolate. It was a cold day but we had lots to do including making cra s from foraged materials and whi ling branches. Quotes from the day included “I enjoyed lighƟng the fires with the flint and steel and teaching the primary children how to do it” “I learnt how to keep people safe around a fire” “I enjoyed meeƟng new people and making new friends” From my point of view at has been an absolute pleasure to share these events with the students that have par cipated.

To see them learning, and growing in confidence in a different environment outside the classroom has been awesome.

Mrs Lyn Williams

£186.02

£68.20 Children in Need is a charity based around helping children of all ages.

Their vision is that every child in the UK has a childhood which is safe, happy, secure, and allows them the chance to reach their full poten al.

Children in Need has many major branches spreading throughout all of the UK and Northern Ireland. Some things that have been done in the past include: helping the disabled, homeless, and children that are having a rough start to life.

This year for Children in Need, the Student Council and Student Leadership Team at Bo sham Village College worked together to organise the annual fundraising day. In Hall 2 during break me we held a hugely successful bake sale where every cake was sold! We also held other events during the week, including: Teacher Vs. Teacher dodgeball, guess the circumference of the spots, and guess which square Pudsey is hiding in. On top of all that, we made a quiz for forms to par cipate in the mornings. On the Friday, we had football with Pudsey, and hoopla hooping compe ons on the Principal’s lawn. We held a game called ‘Pin the Eyepatch on Pudsey’. They were all very popular raising a huge amount of money for a valuable cause.

by Lucy Quilter 8.7 and Jade Fearon-Jones 9.6

£386.64 £200.60 raised by Anna Butler-Finbow for

to be announced a er Christmas

A massive thank you to all parents, staff, students, and members of the community for helping us raise a grand total of £1781.04. Year 7 ran a Christmas Fair this year and their total of £283.53 was also added to our dona on. We also want to say thank you to the Friends of BVC, who donated money from the quiz they held the same evening and to Lloyds Bank for dona ng lots of Pudsey prizes and for matching the amount raised.

Chair of the Friends of BVC, Joanne Allwood said “ Thank you for all your support. The quiz raised over £1000, £260 of which went to Children in Need.

So far this year Lloyds Bank have donated £8000 in their match giving scheme. We have paid towards the Leaver’s Ball, minibus & bought £1000 worth of dicƟonaries.”

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Sir Ian was a co-founder of the charity Stonewall whose work now focuses on working with organisaƟons to bring equality to BGLT people at home, at school and at work.

In 2005 Stonewall launched an ‘EducaƟon for All’ programme, supported by a coaliƟon of over 70 organisaƟons, to tackle homophobia in schools. Stonewall's educaƟon work also includes the slogan 'Some people are gay. Get over it!' which has been seen at schools, on billboards, tube staƟons and buses across Britain.

I remember that very morning, the day before Sir Ian was visi ng the school, si ng quite contently in my seat during form when suddenly my form tutor told us that “Sir Ian McKellen was coming to visit the school to give you an assembly on equality and discrimina on”. I was in total and u er shock, because I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of the best male actor and one of the most influen al people in show business was visi ng our school!

And to make ma ers more surreal, a selected group of students were going to have lunch with him… and I was one of them!

A er a sleepless night, the moment finally arrived. I was standing outside the Principal’s office wai ng to go in and it felt like an eternity. But the thing that made the whole scenario hit me, wasn’t seeing him shake everyone’s hand, but when I heard a girl saying “It’s him, it’s really him.” This made me stop and think… she was right, it really was him! The next thing I knew, I was shaking his hand.

When you meet an incredibly famous person, you would think that they might be selfish and not pay much a en on to what you had to say, but with Sir Ian it was quite the opposite. When I told him my story, he was so understanding and empathic I have honestly never met a more genuine and kind person. Underneath all the fame, he is just a regular guy trying to make a difference and I can assure you he did.

x x x

He told us all about his charity ‘Stonewall’ and how it has changed the lives of so many people on a huge number of topics such as: sexuality, hate crime, mental health and racism. And as he did so, he really opened my eyes to things people like you and me take for granted. His assembly with the whole school did exactly the same. It was full of engaging topics keeping everybody on the edge of their seats and completely changed how the school looks at an individual, therefore, the school community is united and has never felt safer.

Overall, the experience was just extraordinary and full of emo onal experiences that I will never forget. Sir Ian McKellen came to the school with a mission, for everyone to obey the law of the land - which is not to discriminate and to change young people’s perspec ve on how everyone is different and unique but should be treated equally no ma er what race, sexuality or religion.

It will be a day forever be marked in the school’s history.

x x x x

Back in November November, Mr Burgess, Burgess members of the Student Leadership team (SLT) and myself, a ended a conference being run by CAMH training where they delivered a workshop. The aim of the conference was to share best prac ce in schools rela ng to mental health and emo onal wellbeing. BVC has been working in collabora on with CAMH for a year and the presenta on given, was a summary of the journey we have taken during the last year to address the rising prevalence of health issues that all schools are witnessing throughout the country.

For many years BVC has involved itself in mental health projects, in an a empt to address student wellbeing. We have aimed to create an ethos where promo ng posi ve social, emo onal and mental wellbeing (SEMWB) in our school is seen as quite simply, EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS. When we began the project with CAMH training team, the first task we completed was an audit using the model provided by Public Health England which required that we look for example, at our ethos and environment, what we taught in the curriculum, how we were already targe ng support, what staff development opportuni es there were etc. Capturing the views of students was central to the audit. It was good to be able pull everything together in one place and to see what was already being done across the school and to recognise the good prac ce that already existed while acknowledging areas we wanted to develop.

Alongside the audit, we also completed Ac on Research firstly by using our health related behaviour survey data with pastoral leaders in the school who iden fied key themes to explore further which we did using our links with the School-University Partnership for educa on. We ended up with a lot of rich data which we are s ll evalua ng but one striking outcome was the very clear and constant message from students across all age groups that for them, friendships were the key priority. Friendship and external support networks clearly have significance as protec ve factors as children get older.

Our audit, ac on research, work with the pastoral team and SLT, enabled us to formulate an ac on plan which has involved addi onal training for staff, developing more support systems for students, purchasing recommended and expert endorsed books for the library and working with SLT. Oli, Megan, Charlo e, David, Kaytlin, Natasha and Zak all spoke at the conference to outline the work that the students had done to reshape the mentor system and to describe the Stress LESS training that they had completed.

Year 11 students were trained d to deliver deliv the programme which they went on to complete with all year 7 students on a PSHE day. Students said in their evalua ons, that the training had been really helpful.

Our biggest priority for the year when we set out on this project was to produce a robust policy that would recognise exis ng prac ce in areas such as behaviour, an -bullying, diversity and safeguarding. But we then wanted to provide a clear process to help iden fy young people with possible mental health problems and a more targeted approach to plans and pathways for referral if required.

We collaborated on the policy development with CPFT (Cambridge and Peterborough Founda on Trust) and Cambridgeshire LSCB (Local Safeguarding Children Board) to ensure that the policy was joined up and reflected the reality of what external agencies and schools were responsible for. The policy incorporates the latest thinking and resources for support using the Thrive model (Developed by the Anna Freud Centre). This model offers a set of principles and values that acknowledges that some individuals, through universal or preventa ve services thrive; some however, experience more complex difficul es, and may need more targeted services. A small minority will need help to cope with the risks presented to them requiring specialist interven on. Guidance on pathways and who to contact at each of these stages are explained, and sources of support in school and in the community are all outlined.

We are proud to say that this policy will be made available to all schools in Cambridgeshire in the hope that it benefits students and staff across the county.

Our work with mental health and wellbeing con nues, the newly published Government Green Paper will require a further review of our prac ce. We intend to seek accredita on for the work we are doing in mental health and wellbeing. We are part of a bid that has been made to the Strategic School Improvement Fund. The purpose of the bid is to further work that has begun make social, emo onal, mental health and wellbeing everybody’s business enabling schools to have the structure, capacity and ethos to emanate good prac ce. The bid is a collabora on between a range of mental health services and schools across the county.

by Mrs Jude Melling

Visitors from Kazhakstan share an a ernoon at Anglesey Abbey Along with Cambridge University, Bo sham Village College is par cipa ng in an interna onal project, contribu ng to the process of educa onal reform in Kazakhstan. At the heart of this collabora on are ongoing reciprocal internships and visits to share professional knowledge and prac cal exper se with the Cambridge-school colleagues and to learn about leadership and improvement strategies. During their last visit, the Kazhak visitors were taken to Anglesey Abbey and below is a report by Sophie and Bryher about their experience.

Our trip to Anglesey Abbey with the Kazakhstan visitors was very enlightening and we learnt a lot about the Kazakhstan Culture on our walk there. We were welcomed by some friendly faces for a guide round the mill and a talk on the history of the flour making on the river running onto Bo sham Lode. The pair of us were lucky enough to start the mill ourselves which was a pleasure. We then took a slow walk round Anglesey Abbey, talking about the different flowers and trees. We were informed about how the area of land became a

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Na onal Trust Property. It wasn’t anywhere as easy as any of us thought.

During the walk we shared our knowledge on how Bo sham Village College’s student voice and student leadership works. We know quite a lot as we have both been lucky enough to have this role for 2 years.

We told them about how we organise charity events, interview teachers and various other things we do. It was very intriguing to hear about the difference from their school leadership team and ours.

We were also tasked with thinking about ways we could increase the link with Anglesey Abbey. One of the many ideas we had was to take lessons outdoors to Anglesey Abbey, so that students were outside in a different environment learning new things. This might make students concentrate as they are not confined in a classroom situa on. Another idea was like before rewarding students with the most reward points a lunch and a chance to explore a bit further. This seemed popular among many when we last did it.

So overall it was a lovely a ernoon out and an amazing experience.

Once again, Holy Trinity Church in Bo sham welcomed the College for its annual Christmas concert. It was a lovely, fes ve occasion with congrega onal carols, vocal and instrumental performances, poems and of course mince pies!

Well done to everyone who took part, and thank you to all the staff for their effort in producing this wonderful evening.

Mrs Pam Hall, Head of Music Department

The Year 10 dancers have made a great start to their GCSE course. To enhance their classwork they have been taking part in technique and choreography workshops delivered by professional dancer Orris Gordon who teaches at Impington Village College. The students showed great professionalism and skill while taking on challenging movement phrases and complex li s. As individuals and as a whole cohort there were some stand out performances and very exci ng choreography from which they learned huge amounts.

From Europe to Asia students were on a quest exploring the history of mankind, gaining a sense of inspira on from hieroglyphic tombs in Ancient Egypt to the ‘nose-less’ Greek and Roman sculptures dispersed inside the monumental building that is the Bri sh Museum. Students were afforded the opportunity to discover hidden wonders and revel into old remnants of civiliza ons around the world.

Sketching from real life proved a li le unusual for our techno-dependent teens yet they highly impressed us with their own take on the collec ons in front of them.

Snippets from Room 95 (The largest collec on of Chinese ceramics outside of China) and the enormous metallic models in the Africa sec on have le long las ng concepts in the minds of our youths and what cra smanship they might be remembered for, ins lling in us a sense of pride as we con nue on our path to success at GCSE art.

“It was actually really fun, because you could go off & explore, being independent allowed us to feel like we took control over our own learning. We got to choose & make our own decisions based on our themes in GCSE art” Megan & Niamh

Year 10 have been pushing themselves further with the crea on of Twilight Dance Company. During Twilight sessions students have been able to try out new ideas and techniques beyond their normal classwork. They are currently working towards a group piece which will appear in next term’s music concert.

Last week a large number of highly enthusias c Year 7 & 8 drama club members performed a fun excerpt from “Ma lda”, superbly directed by Year 11s, Ella, Merissa and Evie and supported by Mr Wyborn.

They were greatly enjoyed and applauded by an apprecia ve audience of family, friends and staff.

Drama club will resume in Spring term.

M6 + 12m + IL = 2E0!

At the beginning of term two members of the extended school Radio Club took and passed the Intermediate Amateur Radio examina on.

This is a public examina on which equates broadly to an AS level in difficulty. Luke and Eric, both in Year 11, are to be congratulated on their achievement. Both are now half-way to obtaining their Full, UK Amateur licence from Ofcom.

Luke and Eric took and passed their Founda on exam while in Year 9. A er 12 months of study and a lot of independent learning they have now gained new, UK Intermediate licence call-signs. Luke has become 2E0LUB and Eric 2E0FPQ. With the new call-signs come addi onal transmi ng privileges. They can now transmit at 50 Wa s of output power and may make and use their own radio equipment.

10W of RF (Radio Frequency) power is sufficient to work other radio amateurs in the UK, Europe and Russia. Under condi ons of good radio propaga on 10W is enough to work world-wide. However, 50 Wa s makes contacts under difficult propaga on condi ons more likely. Furthermore, being able to construct their own equipment opens up mul ple opportuni es in electronics and compu ng.

As part of their studies Eric and Luke made a variable frequency RF oscillator, explored a number of semiconductor circuits and terminated RF and power cables. The theore cal aspects included propaga on, receivers, transmi ers and antennas as well as the law governing the opera on of an amateur radio sta on.

If you like maths, science and technology (and perhaps want to improve your foreign language skills as well!) then Extended School Radio Club may appeal to you. You will be encouraged to take the Founda on examina on a er about 12 months or so and obtain your own UK M6 call-sign. The Radio Club meets every Thursday a er school in Learning Support from 3.10pm to 4.15pm. To find out more about amateur radio in general visit: rsgb.org

by Mr Howell

Sustainability & Selfies Back in November the year 11 GCSE Geographers travelled by coach to ‘London’s newest outdoor classroom’, the Olympic Park, Stra ord. This was for the second of two fieldwork enquiries that are required as part of the course. The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games may be over, but the opportuni es to study sustainable development remain.

The aim of this fieldwork trip was to focus on urban regenera on by exploring the parkland, waterways and venues in order to consider the impacts and sustainability of the new development on the local area. Students gathered a wealth of data to explore in detail back at school.

As part of the visit, students had the opportunity to visit the top of the Arcelormi al Orbit where the views over the Olympic Park and the London skyline were amazing. While this was the highlight of the trip for the majority of those on the fieldtrip, a few students said that for them, the highlight was bumping into Tom Daley outside the aqua c centre and taking selfies with him!

Museums, Memorials & Mont-St-Michel The Year 8 trip to Normandy was nothing short of incredible! We not only got to use and develop our French, but we also learnt the rich culture and history it had to offer. For example: The Caramel Factory, The Bayeux Tapestry museum and Mont Saint-Michel.

Although the bus journeys were long, it was always worth the wait.

Personally, my favourite part of the trip was when we went to the American War Memorial. It was by far the most emo onal part of the trip and as I was walking around, looking at the grave stones you can really feel the grief and loss in the air, imagining the pain that their families went through during the war.

Overall, I think that if you enjoy the French language, want to know more about the culture of France and the history of the war, it is the perfect trip for you.

by Jacob Stoodley 9.3

First Rate Debate Two of our students travelled up to London with Head of English Mrs Lawton to take part in the deba ng finals at The Houses of Parliament. This compe on was established by Lucy Frazer MP and is now in its fourth year.

Lucy Frazer a ended the in-house round at the college back in November and she chose David and Nell to go forward to the finals.

Mrs Lawton said both students were magnificent and in true Bo sham fashion gave it their all.

They were teamed up with another student from Ely College and won their team debate with David coming 3rd for the individual award.

If you would like to try deba ng, sign up for the Deba ng Society that starts in January. They meet every Wednesday a er school and it’s free!

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First Aid at Work A group of students and one member of staff completed the Emergency First Aid at Work course as part of the Extended School Ac vity Program.

Some of the students did the course for the skills sec on of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

If you would like to learn First Aid why not sign up for the Extended School club that starts on Tuesdays in the new year?

SPOTLIGHT ON ….. ..

Ben Knight started playing football for Burwell Tigers when he was just five years old. At the age of seven he began training with Ipswich Town FC and has been part of their Academy ever since. Ben is a le footed a acking mid field player who is quick, agile and very technically gi ed. This has resulted in him playing in higher age group teams and he has recently trained with the Ipswich Town 1 st team.

The last 12 months have been a real development year for Ben. He made his interna onal debut for England U15’s in December 2016 against Turkey at St Georges Park, England’s Na onal Football Centre.

In May this year, he toured with To enham Hotspurs U15’s in the Manchester City Surf Cup in San Diego USA scoring five goals in five games. And in July Ben was selected to represent England U16’s in an Interna onal Tournament in Scotland. He played against Uruguay, Qatar and Scotland scoring his first two interna onal goals.

The highlight of Ben’s year has been to represent England in the Nike Interna onal U17’s Tournament in Florida, USA this December. He scored one of the goals of the tournament against the Netherlands and also played against the USA and Brazil.

Ben says" it was an amazing 10 days away with England. A great experience being out in Florida with them. A great feeling to score for England ...now back to Ipswich to work even harder."

Ben a ends The Ipswich Town Academy Day Release Programme every Tuesday. He is very grateful to all his teachers at BVC who have gone the extra mile providing addi onal support throughout his school life and especially with his forthcoming GCSE’s

Year 9 student Niall Hooton trains as an elite gymnast at Hun ngdon Olympic Gymnas cs Club, where the likes of Louis Smith MBE and Dan Kea ngs trained for Olympic and World Championships success.

Niall currently competes in Under 14 Regional and Na onal compe ons throughout the UK. On the 3rd November, Niall, in a team of four, represen ng the East of England, won gold at the Na onal Setwork Finals in Birmingham.

He trains on the men's six pieces of apparatus: Floor, Vault, Parallel Bars, Rings, Pommel Horse and Horizontal (High) Bar. During term me, Niall gets home from school at approximately 3.45pm and leaves at 4.15pm for training at Hun ngdon, returning home at 9.45pm Monday to Friday. On Saturdays, training is 9am - 1pm, that’s a total of 21.5 hours per week actual training. During school holidays training increases to 38 hours per week with only two weeks holiday per year!

In February Niall will be compe ng at the English Championships in London and in March he competes in Liverpool at the Under 14 Bri sh all-round Championships. We wish him the best of luck in all his upcoming compe ons.

“My horse Carnsdale Banner Man (Basil) and I were a new partnership for the 2017 season. We didn't have high expecta ons but have become the best of friends and he has surprised me with his achievements in just one year.

I have been a member of Soham and District Pony Club for eight years and was lucky enough to represent the pony club at the Area compe ons this July, compe ng in even ng. Much to my amazement we qualified for the Championships held at Cholmondley Castle, Cheshire in August.

Basil was amazing and we came home with a sixth place in the even ng which was pre y special at a Na onal Compe on. I was so proud of him. We then went on to represent the pony club at Burghley Horse Trials in the show jumping team which was such an experience and great to do with friends.

I keep Basil at home and along with our other ponies and ride him most days to keep him fit and ready for compe ons. My sister and I compete regularly even through the winter and are so lucky to have these opportuni es.

My aims for next year are to do some HOYs (Horse of the Year Show) qualifiers for Working Hunter which could mean quite a bit of travelling the country, but to get to HOYs would be my ul mate dream.”

Year 10 student Molly Mercer

Talented dancer Kate recently won ‘The Brackenridge Dance Award’ at the Viva Arts Group Awards event.

Kate has been a ending the Viva group for just over a year and has already appeared in Legally Blonde, The Li le Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. She is currently rehearsing for the next produc on - Hairspray.

She won the award for helping out younger students who a end the group.

Well done Kate!

If you know a student who deserves to be recognised for their achievements please contact jsmith@bo shamvc.org

We have welcomed well over 300 learners to our Adult Learning courses at Bo sham during the Autumn Term. Singing for Fun was re-launched in early November with lots of interest. New learners are always welcome to this friendly group. You can join at any me and try out your first session for free!

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Those who a ended some of our weekend workshops have produced beau ful glass, willow and rush Christmas decora ons, or have par cipated in Mindfulness, Crea ve Wri ng and First Aid workshops to name just a few.

There must a be flair for gardening in this area because our new Garden Design course has been very popular (we are running this again in January) and our RHS Level 2 Hor culture course is now running over three evenings per week due to increasing enrolments year a er year.

Next term we are looking forward to running several new courses, including Watercolour for Beginners, Crea ng Glass Jewellery, Spring Flowers for Fun and DIY Skills. Our regular day me Crea ve Pain ng and Drawing class is always so popular that we are now offering this as an evening course as well.

Quotes from learners “Love this course! Great value for money ….”

“I have been really impressed with the course and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone ” “A thoroughly enjoyable day with likeminded people” “I liked trying something I hadn’t done before”

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Saturday workshops are planned for February and March including Cook with your Kids (fun for parents/carers and children alike) as well as new workshops in Lino Prin ng, Make-Up, Basket Making, Illustra on, and many more.

These are just a few of the courses on offer, so please keep an eye on our website: www.bo shamvc.org/adultlearning to find out more.

We look forward to seeing you next year!

Sue Taracewicz & Libby Fox

Football The U15 girls football team have started the season very well, they have won all of their league games as well as coming 1st and joint 1st in the district grand prix 7 a side tournament. This success has also been seen in their na onal cup games. The first game was played against County Upper School and with a convincing 9-1 win they progressed to playing Alde Valley High school. This game was again another victory, with a 15-0 win and every member on the pitch scoring a goal. They came up against Chantry Academy. This started off very evenly matched but due to the sides experience playing together they were able to secure another win. They have recently won the 4 th round 7-1 and therefore the team will con nue into the next round and finish a very successful start to the season.

Rugby

The Year 7 teams finished 10th (A team) and 2nd (B team) in their respec ve district tournaments. Well done to all the players involved and well done boys on your first tournament together, many more to come!

The Year 8 Rugby team finished 5th in the District Schools Rugby tournament at Cambridge Rugby Club this term. A er being placed into a compe ve pool the team finished 2nd in their group before winning the compe on for all 2nd placed teams within their respected groups.

This was a highly compe ve tournament where the students performed very well, showing great determina on.

Primary Schools Basketball Fes val

The year 9 rugby team finished 2 nd in their district tournament a er narrowly losing 5-0 to Comberton in the final. An amazing effort from the whole squad!

Bo sham hosts a number of primary school PE fes vals throughout the year. This consists of a number of local primary schools coming together to take part in fun and exci ng games to promote physical ac vity. The first fes val of the year was basketball and students were involved in a variety of games and ac vi es which developed their dribbling, passing and shoo ng skills. All pupils fully enjoyed the event and hopefully felt inspired by the day.

A big thank you must go to all the year 9 students who acted as sports leaders for the event. They were very proac ve in encouraging and suppor ng all of the young students, ensuring that they had a fun experience. Well done!

Basketball The Under 16 and Under 14 teams have started their fixtures against other schools, highlights include; The U16 boys played both Swavesey and St. Bedes, which were two very challenging and compe ve games. The boys played well and are looking to con nue progressing into the New Year. The U14 girls played well in their mini tournament to start off their fixtures, many more basketball fixtures coming up!

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Gymnas cs Gymnas cs club is underway with lots of pupils preparing for the Cambridgeshire School Gymnas cs compe on in January. Pupils will have a chance to show off their skills in both the floor and vault.

Cross Country On the 5th December, 42 enthusias c students made the short journey to Netherhall School for the District Schools cross-country event. Students throughout this half term have been training hard in prepara on for the event and in cold condi ons students highlighted their determina on and desire to the cause.

The Year 10 & 11 boys were first off and in a strong and compe ve field David Dow came out victorious followed in by younger brother Hugh in 10 th posi on. Will Newcombe and Ruben Long completed the boys team.

Hockey The Year 7 girl’s hockey A and B teams both finished 5th in the district tournament which was hosted and ran by Bo sham. The girls played extremely well together and showed fantas c skills.

Well done girls on your first tournament playing together!

Thank you to the year 9 sports leaders for helping to run the tournament and manage the teams.

The Year 8 team’s tournament was also held at Bo sham and the girls came 3rd in their compe ve pool. The girls showed high levels of determina on and resilience throughout all matches.

Year 9 girls won their pool in the district tournament, which meant they went through to the final. The girls played really well in the final to come 2nd, narrowly missing out on the win

The Year 10 & 11 Girls team was made up of Year 11 stalwarts. Beth Irving had an amazing run finishing 4th followed by Holly Rolfe in 18th. The rest of the team which all supported each other fantas cally were Beth Winchester, Jess Whitehall and Darcey Keates.

Bo shams biggest field of the morning was in the year 8 & 9 boy’s race which included fantas c performances from Felix Allen, Ma Jones and Henry Beeton all finishing comfortably inside the top 50. The rest of the team was made up with strong performances from Hugh Saunders, Ollie Gardner, Zak Baldwin, Freddie Marsden, Tom Harvey, Joe Wilson and Edward Hurles.

The 8 & 9 girls team also had a strong turnout with strong and consistent performances from Denise Chan, Honey Budd, Ka e Levi , Kristen Henderson, Tianna Brooker, Alice Trump, Scarle Keates and Charlo e Cuthbert.

Finally the newbies to Bo sham VC XC, the year 7 team. Henry Jolland led the boys home in 4th posi on closely followed by a brave run from Hamish Jennings in 10th. Other fantas c team performances from Max Jaiolya, Bill Medhurst, Ned Newman, Myron O’Brien, Oliver Wordsworth-Clarke, Jack Reed and Sam Tate. The girls team saw another consistent set of results with Olivia Bradley, Olivia Richardson, Jess Hodgson, Zoe Winchester, Becky Dear and Jess Lock comple ng their first XC experience for Bo sham.

Overall the students gave it everything and really enjoyed the morning-well done to all runners. Best of luck to Hugh Dow, David Dow, Will Newcombe, Beth Irving, Felix Allen, Henry Jolland and Hamish Jennings who will be represen ng the school in the new year at the next round as their route to the English Schools Na onal Championships con nue.

For all informa on on fixtures and clubs over the coming year, follow @BVCPhysicalEd on twi er!