BVC newsletter Summer 2019

Summer 2019 Issue 29

News

The magazine of Bottisham Village College

Inside this issue Leavers’ Day & Ball House News Performing Arts & Creative Design Sports News & lots more news and information

Achievement through inspiring, caring, enriching

Message from the Principal What a year it has been!

As I reflect on the past 12 months, one word seems to spring to mind: transition. Firstly, as the school grows, we have spent the first year in our new buildings, reaping the rewards of increased space, modern classrooms and a learning environment that raises the aspirations of the whole school community. It was a joy to welcome our new Year 6 students and parents, to our transition days which were a great success with lots of excitement around their new social spaces and subjects with new acquaintances ready to blossom into friendships in September.

Bottisham Village College Lode Road Bottisham Cambridgeshire CB25 9DL Tel: 01223 811250 enquiries@bottishamvc.org

We said goodbye to a wonderful year 11 year group, as they make the transition to their post-16 destinations. These students were the most prepared we have ever encountered in terms of exams and their focus and resilience throughout the exam period was truly impressive. Typically unique and memorable, their Leavers’ Days and Leavers’ Ball which will remain long in our memories, some of the photos from both events feature in this newsletter. As ever, we wish all of our leavers the very best and hope to hear from them in the future.

To the few staff who are moving on to new adventures next year, we thank you for all your hard work and support of the college and students and wish you well. A special thank you and congratulations to Linda Papworth who is retiring after long service in the catering industry and 17 years in our school kitchen.

Finally, I’d like to recognise the hard work of groups who give the school so much support in so many different ways throughout the year: our Local Governing Board, The Friends of Bottisham Village College (PTA) and our Parent forum. All are a committed body of volunteers, who passionately believe in supporting outstanding educational opportunities for all our students. We are incredibly lucky to have this level of support in our midst and our students and staff benefit enormously from the work they do.

I’d like to wish you all a relaxing Summer break and, as ever, we look forward to new academic year in September.

Best Wishes,

Mrs Jenny Rankine

Dates for your diary Autumn Term 2019 Monday 2nd September - Training day Tuesday 3rd September - Year 7s only Wednesday 4th September - All students in school Thursday 3rd October - Training day and Open Evening 21st October - 25th October - Half term Friday 29th November - Training day Friday 20th December - End of autumn term

Spring term 2020 Monday 6th January - Start of spring term

2

Friday 14th February - Training day 17th February - 21st February Half term Friday 3rd April - End of spring term

Summer term 2020 Monday 20th April - Start of summer term Friday 8th May - May Day holiday 25th May - 29th May - Half term Friday 17th July - End of summer term Monday 20th July - Training day

House News …. House News …. House News …. House News …

It has been a very busy term with regards to the house system, with two major developments taking place: the appointment of our inaugural house captains, and the planning for the newly revamped sports day, titled The House Games.

Students from years 7-9 were invited to apply for the role of House Captain where over 60 students submitted high quality applications. Congratulations to the following students, who will be assuming the role for the next year. Their responsibilities include speaking in assemblies, integrating the new year 6 students, helping with Interhouse days and bringing new ideas to the house system.

Oliver Corrigan

Amelia Martell

Jack Thompsett

Ella Butcher

Robyn Holdsworth

Lucy Henderson

James Powell

Jess Hatley

Jack Earl

Polly Bennett

Kira Snook

Livia Marsden

Susanna Serrano

Lucy Quilter

Honey Budd

Molly Highton

Ella Devereux

Ellie Chapman

Ricardo Kaminski-Rossi

Ned Newman

Sam Charlesworth Daisy Morris Kerri MacKness

Lilia Halyova Megan Baker

Caleb Knight Sam Legate Tom Wilson

Milly Woodward Joshua Overton Timothy Waterson

Thilde O’Rourke Matthew Lewis Kara Baptiste

Sophie Blakemore

Moving on to the house games, students were given the opportunity to choose an enrichment activity, with non-sporting activities being on offer for the first time, including cooking, art and board games. Around 75% of the student body took part in competitive sport, including tennis, badminton, football, cricket and rounders, and the day finished with the athletics festival by the track.

Winners of the day cannot be revealed in this newsletter, but will have been shared on social media and the website and you will be able to read about it in the Autumn Newsletter.

The Turner Challenge Year 10 Business Studies students have been working this term with Turners of Soham. Mr Stephen Blackmore and Mr Phil Wilding set the students a simulated logistics challenge which involved collecting 158 pallets of fresh food from three different suppliers and plotting the most efficient routes to three Tesco Regional Distribution Centres. Students presented their findings and on the basis of the quality of their presentations and application forms, twenty students were given the opportunity to visit the Turner site.

Students toured the site, seeing where the planners (who carry out the simulation the students completed on a day to day basis) actually work, viewed the packing areas as well as conducted a Question and Answer session with Mr Paul Day, the Managing Director. The experience required team work, mathematical skills, presentation skills and pure determination to keep working on the frustrating (at times!) challenge. Our thanks go to Turners for providing a real-life business scenario for our students to unpick, as well as inviting us to their site to see operations in action.

MacMillian Coffee Morning

£128

Non Uniform day for MIND

£994

Children in Need 2018

£1,301

Christmas Fairs 2018 split between Cancer Research & £492 Jimmy’s Shelter Save the Children Christmas £780 Jumper Day Comic Relief 2019 Non-uniform day for Teenage Cancer Trust Non-Uniform Day for Young Minds

£1,646 £1,079 £882

Mrs Kennedy, Head of Business Studies

That’s a magnificent total of over £7300 for charity!

Well done and thank you to everyone who contributed.

Our memories are funny things, aren’t they? Why is it that you can remember something from years ago in such great detail, yet you cannot recall where you left your car keys from 30 minutes earlier?

It makes no sense!

If we then apply the same logic to a school context, things become even more troublesome, given the amount of knowledge students have to recall: facts, quotes, definitions, terminology, skills and methods. If we look at things in these terms, we really do ask a lot of our students.

So what is the solution? It’s simple: help them to retain and recall this powerful, fundamental knowledge. In 2019/20, students and parents will notice a few changes in the way in which we approach solidifying knowledge into students’ long term memories, a vital aspect of their 5 years here with us at the college.

Available to parents on the website from September, the key aspects of knowledge for each subject in each term will be placed on a document. It is our belief that, should students return actively and frequently to these, then it will place them in a strong position in the subject. For example, actively testing themselves on the process of respiration, key historical definitions or even quotes from the books they are studying in English, will provide students with a fundamental backdrop of powerful knowledge from which to flourish.

In lessons, Bottisham staff will construct lessons which aim to return to these key aspects of knowledge frequently, as studies show this is the most effective form developing the long-term memory.

Although they may be studying trigonometry, maths teachers may do a short quiz on placevalue, ensuring that mathematical fundamentals are secure.

On a college and subject level, we will be actively testing students on these areas of knowledge, in order to help develop revision strategies.

Already this year, we have seen year 7 students creating flashcards, as they strive to understand how their minds and memories work.

It is an exciting time, as students feel such a sense of accomplishment and pride when they can show off the knowledge that they have acquired. Can parents and carers help?

Absolutely: using the organiser to frequently test students will have such a massive impact on their ability to write analytically, solve problems and develop confidence throughout their time at the college.

To finish, I’ll leave you with the words of Mary Myatt, an expert on curriculum matters in schools: Mr Ed Compton, Deputy Principal

In May this year, 26 enthusiastic Bottisham students from years 9 & 10 along with 3 (equally enthusiastic) members of staff took part in the French exchange. On Wednesday 8 th May, we welcomed our visitors for a week in the UK where they sampled life in England and took part in a variety of activities and local visits. They also joined our lessons one day and they were very impressed by our college and its facilities. We had a very informative joint visit to Cambridge with our exchange partners where we were able to visit some of the colleges and King’s College Chapel. After their departure, we didn’t have to wait long to be reunited as, on May 22nd it was our turn to travel to France.

“The Journey to France, although hectic, was filled with nervous excitement to be seeing our partners again and experiencing French lifestyle and culture. With two hours on the coach to the airport and an hour flight with another two hours on a coach in France, people certainly started to get a little restless but positivity remained high.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by all of our exchange partners and their family for our first experience of a typical French life. My partner- Alizee- and her family were really accommodating and friendly which helped make the transfer a lot more comfortable and a lot less awkward. She and her family spoke no English and while communication was a struggle at some points, I quickly picked up key vocabulary and understanding them became a lot easier!

The French exchange has really boosted my confidence in not only French-speaking itself but also with socialising and putting myself out of my comfort zone. Whilst speaking and writing French is still a little bit of a challenge for me, listening and understanding French has become so much easier and I have found myself becoming more outspoken in lessons.

Overall, I highly recommend taking part in the French exchange for anyone who is interested!”

Tilly

“On the day after our arrival we went to school with our exchange partners.

Catching the bus at a ridiculous time in the morning we got to school ready for our lessons. Experiencing the typical French school day was interesting and quite entertaining. We got to listen to a lot of spoken French and new vocabulary during our lessons. My favourite part of the day was at lunch when we got to meet all of their school friends and loads of new people. The next day we went to the historic town of Pau. Unfortunately the weather was horrible so we couldn’t go for our picnic on the grass, instead we visited an art museum then went to a shopping centre for lunch. Thereafter we bought some gifts and we walked to the castle. It was very impressive and gave an insight into French history. It was a very busy day and we all slept well that night.”

Maddie

Our Dutch exchange this year was very enjoyable. As the visitor’s bus pulled in we were filled with excitement to finally meet our exchange partners in person after many texts and calls. That night we spent time to get to know each other, and plan the activities for the rest of their stay.

The next day we spent an hour together in lesson at school, before taking a refreshing walk to Anglesey Abbey, where we met the students from Witchford VC, and the rest of the students from AVR. We spent an enjoyable couple of hours looking around the historical Abbey and learning about its past and its artwork. Once we had returned from the Abbey we ate lunch in the cafeteria and had an intellectual lesson on the history of our school.

The next morning, once we had arrived at school, we took a quick tour, then got picked up by the school bus to head to Cambridge. When we arrived we went on a walking tour of Cambridge, ate lunch and were given free time to spend shopping.

Afterwards we went punting and saw the university colleges before heading back home and saying goodbye to our friends on the bus.

This has been an exciting year at Bottisham Village College for the arts, having impactful artworks installed in the college to complement our existing sculptures and illusionary art created in the Morris Wing has made staff and students engage and interact with art in thought-provoking ways.

During the last few weeks the Creative Design faculty has been a hive of artistic activity. We have been very lucky to have sculptor, Matt Sanderson, creator of the World tree and Berserk, and street artist Seth Wells (SNUBB23) working with us to produce large scale works of art that will go on permanent display in the college. These works make a real statement and engage everyone’s attention immediately.

Students really benefited from seeing the work develop quickly, in front of their eyes over the course of a couple days. They were able to discuss with the artists, the inspiration behind the imagery and the different techniques used to create it, whilst being treated to small group instruction in spray can art and wire modelling. Students discussed access routes into an art career and the possibilities that are available to them beyond college and onwards into higher education. A great opportunity for those interested in taking their passion and talent further.

The college also welcomed printmakers from the Curwen print study centre in Linton to work with our Year 10 Art students. Some fantastic work was produced demonstrating how talented our young adults are. They were introduced to the intaglio printing process and also worked on their Lino cuts, developing techniques they can apply to GCSE coursework and beyond.

On Tuesday 25th June we had our annual private view of the GCSE Art and GCSE Design technology exhibition. Final pieces from all students were displayed and admired by all who attended. Parents and families of students were invited to the viewing and were very enthused to see the amazing range and quality of work on display. The students studying these two courses throughout year 10 and 11 have taken great pride in exploring ideas and creating individual outcomes to the fullest of their abilities. This showcase demonstrates what talented individuals we have had the pleasure to teach, and also watch discover their creative potential. All staff involved wish them the very best for the future.

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It has been a busy term for the Performing Arts team!

The Year 10 Drama leaders have spent the last 4 months working on “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” with the Year 7 & 8 Drama Group. Completely student lead, the team have done a fantastic job directing and rehearing the production from scratch. With their first public performances just after half term to parents and Year 5 students from Bottisham Primary, the guidance and tuition of the Year 10 team created a performance that was full of character and some very comical moments that were enjoyed by all.

Audition fever hit BVC shortly after half term as we announced our upcoming production of High School Musical. Tension on the night was high but the Performing Arts team were hugely impressed with the professional and supportive way the students conducted themselves throughout. Lots of performers really upped their game and gave us some very challenging decisions, but with the cast list finally up we can’t wait to get rehearsals underway in September. The number of students joining the production and technical teams has also been extremely impressive and we look forward to this being an exciting event for the whole BVC community in the Autumn term. Go Wildcats!

Earlier this year students in years 7-9 were offered a fantastic opportunity to take part been a busy with termprofessional for the Performing Artsfrom team which started with a bang with the Spring inItahas Dance workshop dancer Katie Dance East.

The dancers were given a thorough and technically upAuditorium. and then taught a than 80 students from Showcase, our first major event indemanding BVC’s newwarm Evan’s More sequence which was creative and dynamic.mix Having had time to rehearse and perfect all year groups performed an eclectic of Dance, Drama and Music that included Jazz, Conthese sequence studets then had the opportunity to choreograph their own pieces temporary, Classical, Pop and Physical Theatre. With class work, extracurricular groups, and inspired by the sequence they had learned and reflected their own creativity.

Theinterests, session disciplines, and talindependent performance pieces it really the diverse finished with a sharing of some really fantastic work from the students and an ents of students at BVC. The evening was a great opening event for the team and will become invitation to take part in Dance East auditions in Ipswich. Thank you to Katie for a regular fixture on the Performing Arts calendar. leading the session and a big well done to those who took part.

The Year 10 Drama leaders have spent the last 4 months working on “The Lion, The Witch and

th This has seen our year of dance withinCompletely curriculum dance lessons.

Dancehave students enjoyed Theyear Wardrobe” with5 the Year 7 & 8leadership Drama Group. student lead,GCSE the team coming in to key stage 3 lessons and offering their expertise to the younger students.

Much of the done a fantastic job directing and rehearing the production from scratch. With their firstlesson publicis spent with the dance leaders giving feedback to individuals and groups to improve their performance and choreography performances just after half term to parents and Year 5 students from Bottisham Primary, the skills. Dance leaders have also been encouraging groups to communicate well and supporting students with their guidance and tuition of the Year 10 team created a performance that was full of character and literacy when completing their learning journeys.

some very comical moments that were enjoyed by all.

Audition fever hit BVC shortly after half term asYears we announced our upcoming of together Ignite, the 7, 8 and 9 Drama club, have production been busy putting High School Musical. Tension on the night wasrendition high butofthe Performing Arts team were hugely a festival William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s impressed with the professional and supportive way the studentshave conducted Dream. Together the students worked themselves hard to interpret and realise text,their studygame Shakespeare’s Iambic Pentameter, and hone their throughout. Lots of performers reallythe upped and gaveuse usof some very challenging performance skills to create a production that was both funny decisions, but with the cast list finally up we can’t wait to get rehearsals underway in Septem- and entertaining.

Theand group took their performance the exShakespeare ber. The number of students joining the production technical teams has also to been st Festival on Monday 1 July, hosted at Netherhall School. was a tremely impressive and we look forward to this being an exciting event for the whole BVCItcomfantastic evening, filled with many different works and styles of munity. Go Wildcats!

Shakespeare, that left the students feeling proud of what they had accomplished over the last term and inspired to Music finished off the year with their traditional Summer Concert, again for the first time this continue exploring the dramatic world of Shakespeare. year in the Evan’s Auditorium. Featuring everything from Pink Floyd to Moana, and Irish Folk to We finished with the Summer Concert, forand the first time insome the Evan’s Auditorium.

Chopin, it off wasthe anyear evening thattraditional celebrated the best of BVC featured stunning perfor- Featuring everything from Pink Floyd to Moana, and Irish Folk to Chopin, it was an evening that celebrated theTechbest of BVC mances from across the year groups. As usual the event coincided with the GCSE Art and nology Showcase and during the interval the audience had the opportunity to view this amazing display while entertained by groups of buskers and a glass of Pimms.

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At the end of an incredibly demanding and intensive examination season it is time to say a fond farewell to our Year 11 students. The level of hard work and organisation in preparation for these exams was inspirational and we certainly feel deserves rewards from the results, which will be celebrated on Thursday 22nd August.

To celebrate the end of their time with us, we had two wonderful events for Year 11: Celebration Day and the Leavers’ Ball. Celebration Day on 10th May was an opportunity to share memories of the last five years at Bottisham and finished with an incredible show demonstrating the diverse range of talent amongst our students with star performances from a range of groups and individuals. By the time the day finished with a rousing ‘good luck’ speech from Jessica, there was barely a dry eye in the building.

Bottisham was brought to a standstill for the Leavers’ Ball at the end of June, as the community turned out in force to celebrate our students graduation. Onlookers clapped as, one after another, fabulous dresses and sharp suits made their way up the red carpet, having been chauffeured by a range of luxury vehicles, a tank and an aeroplane! The sun was shining as students made their way through to the marquee on the Principal’s Lawn and the dancing started early but carried on well into the night. It was a truly magical evening enjoyed by students and staff and the school would like to offer huge thanks to Mrs Cook and the Ball Committee for organising the evening. Photographs of both events are available on the school website.

Good luck Year 11. You have been a brilliant year group for five years and everyone here wishes you happiness and success for your futures.

Mr Lamb, Head of Learning Year 11

Trip to the

On Friday 12th July, 41 year 7,8 and 9’s went to the Science Museum in London. The pupils had a fantastic day, they enjoyed seeing indoor lightning and experimenting with dry ice. The pupils spent the day looking around the museum as well as enjoying the hands on science and maths in the Wonderlab Exhibition. As well as having a great time at the museum the pupils also enjoyed a sightseeing tour of London lead by one of the teachers.

Innovators Project Day Back in May, Cambridge Consultants welcomed Year 7 students from 4 local schools including BVC to learn more about the product development process within the technology sector. Through giving students an insight into the day-to-day roles of a technology developer, Cambridge LaunchPad aims to inspire young people to consider the career options available to them in STEM. (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) Activities started with a brainstorming exercise to come up with as many ideas as possible to solve a problem. Ambassadors explained how this process is used by consultants at the start of every project and how teams then work together to develop their ideas further. The challenge was then introduced, to create a product to help a one-armed user eat a soft-boiled egg and toast soldiers!

In the afternoon students worked with TinkerCAD, a 3D-CAD software, to design and print an egg holder that could be operated with one arm and coded a robot arm using Robot Programming Language. Each team presented their findings and products to the group, including the spife – a spoon with a knife’s edge; Eggbert sEgger – a cutter that removes the top of an egg; and the Egg Hammer to crack the shell and remove the top.

Year 7 student Ellie said “STEM is a science and engineering program. Me and 5 others from our school went and took part in a few activities like 3D printing, pretending to be cars, and making boiled eggs with one hand and eating biscuits. We met other school people but found working together easy considering we had just met. We all had a great time at STEM and we got pen freebies!”

Over the course of the day, 50 volunteers currently working in the industry, supported and encouraged the students during each activity. By introducing young people to a diverse range of inspiring role models, Cambridge Launchpad provides an opportunity for students to explore a variety of roles, gain hands-on experience and engage them to work in these jobs in the future.

Hello everyone.

As we come to the end of another academic year, I look back over the past 12 months with enormous pride. So many career activities have taken place and so many students have had the chance to interact with local organisations that it makes my head spin! Everyone her at Bottisham Village College has embraced a careers ethos and we are all working to make sure that we continue to develop a dynamic programme that supports the development of employability skills to meet the needs of an ever changing labour market.

This term Year 9 were able to ‘Build a Business’ as an enterprise challenge with the Skills Service. Groups of students were tasked with designing a product which they then marketed and ‘pitched’ to their peers. The aim, was to encourage enterprise and entrepreneurship. As a result, students developed valuable skills such as team building, problem solving, communication and presentation skills as well as financial awareness.

Year 9s also had an amazing opportunity to visit Anglia Ruskin University to take part in career – related activities. These included sessions with paramedics, a War Horse puppetry workshop, Instagram and the rise of social influencers, Mission Impossible and a tour of the Art and Design School. This event was only for our College and a huge thank you goes to the ARU team for arranging this bespoke event.

A number of Year 10 Business Studies students participated in a project devised by Turners of Soham which they then presented to the employer. It was a fantastic opportunity for these students to receive feedback from a ‘real’ business. We hope to work with more local employers to embed careers in the curriculum and our grateful thanks go to Turners for supporting our College.

An assembly by a representative from the Sanger Institute and a presentation from Manchetts raised students’ awareness of apprenticeship opportunities and helped them to see that there are a variety of pathways open to them beyond Year 11. Workshops from AIM Apprenticeships supported Year 11s interested in this option and the presenters helped participants to explore opportunities and the application process.

Year 10 Students attended taster days at prospective 6th Forms and at local further education colleges. These are great opportunities for young people to ‘see’ if they are comfortable in different settings, to find out what is right for them and where they feel they can be most successful.

A group of Year 10s were able to work with professionals from the construction industry on an Eco Hub project and on the final PSHE day all Year 10 participated in employability workshops arranged by Form the Future and delivered by volunteers from a number of industries.

On the same day, Bottisham Village College had its first Careers Fair. Representatives from organisations including, Bidwells, Addenbrookes, Grafham Water, John Lewis, Waitrose, Cambridge Junction, Astra Zenica, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge 105 Radio, Cambridge Water, Canbrionix, Flok Marketing, Royal Navy, the Huttie Group, Turners of Soham, Cambridge University Press and Newmarket Race Course all provided a memorable experience for students and staff alike. The Henry Morris Conference Room provided the space which was buzzing with chatter from start to finish. Every student had the chance to attend – that’s over 900 students in 4 hours! Employers said that our students were the most interactive they had encountered at similar events. It was a fantastic morning which I hope will become an annual occasion.

Going forward, we will work hard to ensure all our students continue to have the chance to participate in engaging career activities which encourage them to gain knowledge and skills to support their future employability.

Best wishes, The Careers Team Follow us on twitter @bvccareers Email us on careers@bottishamvc.org

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Since Easter, fourteen students and four members of staff have taken part in ‘shadowing’ the Carnegie Medal.

Established in 1936, the Carnegie Medal is the UK’s oldest and most prestigious children’s book award, judged by librarians from across the country. Previous winners include C.S. Lewis, Penelope Lively, Terry Pratchett, and Anne Fine.

On 18th June, our group got together to watch the Medal winners being announced in a live broadcast from the British Library. First, students took part in one of my notoriously hard quizzes. Then we watched history in the making, as Dominican-American author Elizabeth Acevedo became the first writer of colour to win the Carnegie Medal for her book The Poet X. In her inspiring acceptance speech, she talked about her time as a teacher in New York, and the students who gave her “permission to write a story about young people who take up space, who do not make themselves small, who learn the power of their own words”.

The Poet X is a verse novel (a story told in poems) about Xiomara, a teenage girl who finds her voice through slam poetry. It explores themes of identity, freedom, religion, and first love. We recommend this novel for older students who

Although Bottisham Village College is closed over the summer, our Community Library is still open on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings, as well as Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Getting a library card is totally free, and reading over the summer is one of the best ways to expand your mind and get a head start for September! Younger children can sign up to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge, while those aged 12+ can volunteer to help run the challenge. Please ask at your local library for more information.

It’s with great sadness that I have to say goodbye to BVC this term. I’ve loved being part of the community here in Bottisham, especially this year with the move to the new Library, shadowing the Carnegie Medal, two successful Book Fairs, and the launch of our Booklings student volunteer group. Between BVC Library and the Community Library, we’ve borrowed over 10,000 books since September - an increase of nearly 8% on the previous year!

I wish the new Library Co-ordinator every success and I can’t wait to see how the Library grows and evolves in the future.

Ms James

Creating a Better Environment The year 8s have been working with the canteen to reduce the amount of plastic that is being used. We have moved away from plastic cutlery and have moved to wooden instead. In addition, we have taken away plastic cups and found a replacement. The Eco-Warriors are currently looking into getting a re-useable water bottle to prevent the amount of one use plastic used when getting a drink of water.

“Year 7s have been working on creating a better school environment by doing a daily litter pick.

As new members of the school community, when Year 7 came to College they noticed there was a lot of litter. All the Year 7s had to work together to stop it and get rid of it. This has helped Year 7 develop teamwork as a year group.

In form time, year 7 have been picking up paper, cardboard and plastic all over the grass areas of the school. If you look now, from then, you will see a huge difference in litter and now the school looks a lot cleaner. It has been rewarding to see the difference within such a short space of time.

This is important because animals could die if they ate the plastic and littering is bad for the environment. It can’t be recycled if it is on our field and not in the bin.”

Bin 4 Bottisham

by Hanna, Year 7

Carl and his catering team have had another busy term serving meals to the pupils. We have seen the introduction of new concept pasta bar called Pasta King. A large pot of pasta topped with a sauce from a selection available every day for £2.00, available to take away.

We have also relaunched our salad bar, these fill your own pots are now offered in a new cardboard pot to cut down on single use plastic and choices vary daily.

We have also had a smoothie bike visit the school with our dietician.

Pupils were able to choose their own fruit and create a smoothie using pedal power! This was very well received by all the pupils that had a go and we also learnt some helpful hints on sugar swaps.

September sees the start of another term of promotions and theme days starting with a pop up ‘build your own healthy burger’, Halloween and bonfire night. Further information will be sent out nearer the time.

We are extremely excited to share with you our refurbishment plans for the Sports Centre. At present, the swimming pool is being re-lined and the changing rooms given a much-needed makeover. In addition, the fitness suite will also undergo some changes with new gym equipment and set up. The new gym equipment will include 3 treadmills, 2 bikes, 2 cross trainers, ‘smith’ machine and full set of dumbbells. In addition, we will be having new upholstery on all our resistance machines.

This is a significant project and therefore the swimming pool and changing rooms are now closed, to allow the work to take place. The first day the swimming pool will be back open will be Monday 9th September. If it is possible to open the swimming pool facilities earlier, we will inform you via our social media sites.

Please note: all other aspects of the Bottisham Sports Centre membership will continue to be available as normal; Badminton; Tennis; Fitness Suite and Fitness Classes. www.bottishamvc.org/sportscentre

Adult Learning Open Evening Thursday, 12th September 7.30 – 8.30 pm Come to meet the tutors and see what is on offer!

Please note this is not designed as an enrolment evening, so please don’t wait until September to book a course.

You can book a course at any time by visiting our website, where you will find full details of each course and information on how to book.

‘Hum Memorial Trophy’ The annual staff cricket game between Bottisham Village College Staff and Swaffham Bulbeck took place on Friday 5th July. The occasion also marked the inaugural ‘Hum Memorial Trophy’ in tribute to Graham Barker, a valued member of the BVC site team, who sadly passed away last September. Graham was a former student, long serving member of staff at the college at the time of passing and also a valuable member of the local community.

The game was well attended by both staff, members of the local community and students, with Swaffham Bulbeck taking the narrow victory. Highlights of the evening in the field included Mr McGregor’s one handed diving catch, Mr Perry getting a wicket with his first ball and bowling the captain of Bulbeck for a golden duck. And with the bat, Mr Compton scoring 61 and Mr Darling 41 to ensure we set up an exciting finish.

The game was also a fundraising event for the ‘Hum Memorial Trust’ which has been set up to raise money for sport and health for the school and the local community.

On the night in total £181.60 was raised. Thank you to everyone who donated and support this fantastic cause.

There will be more events taking place next year.

Hope to see you all next year…

TRIPS! On Saturday 25th May, 32 excited students went to Lords Cricket Ground for the Royal London One Day Cup final. This was the first occasion that Bottisham students had the chance to visit the home of cricket which is also the venue for this years world cup final and ashes test match against Australia.

Students enjoyed the occasion of visiting this iconic sporting venue as well as Somerset beating Hampshire to become champions. During the game students had competitions to predict the score and number of wickets every 10 years which added in a level of competition. After being seated with the Somerset supporters all day became accustom to ‘Somerset la, la, la chorus’. Overall, a fantastic trip and one hopefully many more students will have the opportunity to experience in the future.

Early next term 70 students and 7 staff will have the opportunity to cheer on the three Lions at Wembley once again. The second Wembley trip will take place at the start of term as England play Bulgaria. We are hopeful that this trip will be as successful as the last one which took place last November. Keep an eye out for the Christmas newsletter to see how we got on.

Cricket Year 7 and 8s participated in a cricket game against Soham Village College. Students had the opportunity to represent the school and apply the skills they had developed in lessons. All participating students played really well and represented the school perfectly.

Rounders With a great turnout for Thursday club night and regular weekly fixtures vs St Bedes, our year groups were fully prepared for the tournaments. Year 7 finished 2nd in their recent tournament at Bassingbourn and our Year 8 team were victorious in theirs, playing 7 schools, winning 6 matches and losing only 1! Well done girls!

‘Game of our Own’ Students have been involved in the ‘Game of our Own’ programme to try and promote girls participation in football. They have been working hard to do this by asking students for their opinions and running some sessions for year 7 & 8 students. Last week the FA and Youth Sport Trust came in and filmed the session. They wanted to see the amazing work the girls were doing and the impact it is having. In addition to this we were lucky to have Rachel Unitt ex-England player come in and support the programme and the work the girls are doing. The team are looking forward to continuing this next year.

Summer Primary Festivals This term has seen a number of primary school festivals take place including the KS1 Cricket Festival, Y1 Tennis, Y2 Multi Skills, Y3 Mini Olympics and Y5/6 Athletics. All festivals have included schools from our neighbouring feeder schools and been led by our fantastic sports leaders. The festivals have included different stations and activities based around a theme providing the opportunity for our sports leaders to improve in confidence of delivery to young pupils.

The sport leaders demonstrated leadership qualities of the highest standard inspiring the younger pupils. The primary school pupils found the festivals very exciting and we look forward in welcoming them to Bottisham in years to come.

Athletics This term has been an exceptionally exciting term for athletics, with a well-supported attendance at Athletics club, regularly seeing 50+ athletes each week.

On 15th May we hosted a Year 7 and 9 athletics fixture; there were 8 other different participating schools for the fixture. For year 7 this was the first time at representing the school in athletics across the different events. Overall, across the fixture Bottisham finished 4 th.

Stand out performance was Billy White (Year 9 Boys) who achieved the Shot Put school record throwing 12.99m; a fantastic performance so early in the season.

Through the rounds of weekly fixtures we saw great performances from our new year 7’s and years 8,9 & 10 were really focusing on improving their personal bests and potentially breaking school records, some of which have been in place for decades!!

On the 26th June we took over 100 athletes and sports leaders to the Cambridge athletics venue to compete in the Jubilee Cup Athletics completion against 9 other schools from the district. All athletes points are added together culminating in an overall school winner.

Some highlights of performances from the day were:

Year 7 Girls

Year 8 Boys

Girls

Boys

 Suad Musah 3 in the  Logan Johnson winning 200m the Long Jump & 3rd in nd the 200m  Poppy Budd 2 in the Javelin  Joe McGonigle 2nd in nd  Victoria Kuetgen 2 in the High Jump the Long Jump  Charlie Rickett 3rd in the 100m & 1st Relay team

 Liv Bradley 2 in the  Hamish Jennings 2nd in the Shot 800m  Lilia Halyova 2nd in the  Nathan Hassall 1st in the Javelin Long Jump.  Celia Tabakova 2nd in the Discus and 3rd in the Relay.

Year 9

Year 10

rd

Girls

Boys

Girls

 Kira Sturmey 1 in the  Charlie Stoodley 1 in Triple jump and 3rd in the 300m with a school the 200m record  Milly Struthers 3rd in  Billy White 1st in the the discus.

Shot  Faisal Musah 3rd in the triple Jump. st

nd

st

Boys

 Annabelle Bentley 3 in 300m  Emma Huckle 1st in the 800m  Scarlett Bailey 1st in the Hurdles  Maddie Townsen 3rd in the Javelin. rd

 Clinton Frank 3rd in the 100m  Sam Chapman 2nd in the Triple Jump

Outdoor Athletics PLUS Back in June Harvey, Sami, Oli, Kai, Kyle, Hanna and Logan competed in the Outdoor Athletics PLUS competition at the athletics track in Cambridge.

Despite the torrential rain, all of the pupils loved competing and trying out new athletics events, trying to beat previously set bests from other schools athletes, or directly competing against them.

This event builds on what our pupils experienced this year for the first time and we are now looking forward to taking more pupils from Bottisham, in more events next year.