BVC News Autumn 2019

Autumn 2019 Issue 30

News

The magazine of Bottisham Village College

Inside this issue High School Musical Enrichment Day House News Trips Careers Sports News & lots more news and information

Achievement through inspiring, caring, enriching

Message from the Principal Dear Readers, Happy New Year to you all. We hope you all had a wonderful break and are ready and raring to go for Spring term.

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

It was an exhilarating, exciting and energetic Autumn term for us here at the college especially for one particular group of students: our new Year 7 cohort. Arriving at the college a day before their peers, they had a chance to settle in, understand how secondary school operates and, importantly, how to buy their lunch! We have been delighted by how they have made the transition from primary so easily, as shown by their involvement as a year group in the trips to Framingham Castle, participation in the college cross-country events, attending the pantomime and their healthy competitive spirit during our first Enrichment Day of the year: well done to you all.

It is also encouraging to see students engrossed in books in our library at lunchtimes and hope that our word of the day and enrichment reading list for all students is supporting students’ love of language and storytelling. I cannot express enough the importance of reading and the impact it has on students’ education and, after having seen so many students take advantage of our wonderful new library, our hope is that more students undertake this activity both in school and at home during 2020.

It was also a term where we reconnected with former students, as we aim to add to our list of alumni from all walks of life. We have heard from students who have made so much of their lives and now want to give back to their secondary school, through a range of means: mentoring students, offering work-experience or even helping with fund-raising. Should you wish to be involved or know of any former students, please ask them to sign-up: https://www.bottishamvc.org/college-information/bvc-alumni As ever, BVC is committed to our community: our newly lined swimming pool continues to impress; the modern, recently-equipped fitness suite and our range of Adult Learning opportunities continue to flourish.

A highlight of last term took centre-stage in November: High School Musical, produced and directed by our wonderful Performing Arts Faculty was superb, especially the participation of so many students involving themselves in so many aspects of the production, memories they will cherish for years to come. Congratulations to them all.

We will be updating our website on all the opportunities on offer this term and also sending out our annual parent questionnaire to find out your views about your children’s education. Thank you to our governors and parent forum for all their support with developing the Village College further.

If you are interested in getting involved in some way please contact my PA Jane Taylor on jtaylor@bottishamvc.org and please keep in touch with day to day on our social media sites.

Mrs Jenny Rankine

2

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

The house system has increased its presence this term with the addition of house logos outside the Evan’s Auditorium. The house names and logos were chosen with both staff and student consultation, and it is great to see them now on display for all to see on a daily basis.

Our first House Enrichment Day took place in late November, with students taking part in activities that extend and enrich the normal curriculum. Examples of this included: Year 7 competing in swimming galas and team fitness challenges; Year 8 completing language themed treasure hunts and trying to build the tallest tower in maths; Year 9 creating aboriginal art and competing in coding games in computer science; Year 10 partaking in democratic elections inspired by the last 300 years in history, and Year 11 doing a big knowledge quiz in English. However, undoubtedly one of the highlights of the day must be the year 10 and 11 students who performed snippets of scenes from Peter Pan, incorporating elements of dance, drama and music.

The final positions of the Enrichment Day competition and comments from House Leaders and Ambassadors are below.

As an Aqua House captain I was given the opportunity to have a walk around the lessons to see what exciting things were taking place. During the first session of the day, Year 7 were in PE and I went to support the Aqua teams taking part in End Ball, Fitness, Football and Swimming. The Aqua End Ball team (Libby, Tina, Evie, Aleeya, Eva) did a fantastic high intensity warm up at the start of the session. The atmosphere in the swimming pool was great with the students cheering each other on in fun races. Mr Darling’s choice of music was very motivating and the students were working really hard.

Year 8 were doing activities in Maths, Modern Foreign Languages, Technology and Food. I went into Mr Lindsey’s lesson the group were building paper towers to hold a 5kg weight. Unfortunately Aqua didn’t win the challenge however they did get lots of house points. In Modern Foreign Languages the houses had to travel from one country to another and were trying to crack the codes to the puzzles. In Food, the teams were making chocolate logs which looked and smelt amazing. Well done to Molly, Aleeya, Libby and Hannah (team 1) and James, Oliver, Sam and Zak (team 2). In Technology with Mr Bowell, Aqua were making catapults which seemed to be going well. Overall a brilliant day, well done Aqua house!!

by Amelia We saw excellent examples of students upholding all five Terra house values exceptionally well. There were many students who were working extremely hard, achieving points for their house. Terra did exceptionally well in technology where the year 8s won the catapult building challenge and demonstrated fantastic teamwork. The year 7s, who played football, had the smallest team, but still did very well. Even though in a few subjects, Terra did not do so well, the effort shown was incredible. Many points were won and we think Terra has a good chance to win this Interhouse competition! Even if we do not win, we still have more chances throughout the year to earn house points.

Pedes in Terra ad sidera visus! With feet on the ground, look up to the sky!

by Joshua and Timothy “This term we welcomed two new forms into the Ignis family: Mr McGregor’s 7.1 and Miss Lovelock’s 7.5. We hope students in year 7 will work hard to earn lots of house points for the team over the coming years!

On Enrichment Day, it was a joy to see students from all year groups working with others from Ignis house. We had success in the year 8 boys’ football competition, taking 1st place! Additionally, a group of year 10 and 11 students performed a scene from Peter Pan the Musical, featuring music and dance. It was a beautifully poignant piece with some outstanding performances.

Some students in particular have been flying the Ignis flag with great aplomb. Jack, Charlotte, Ben, Scott and James are our top house point earners at the time of print. Well done to these 5, and everyone else that has earnt house points for Ignis this term!”

by Mrs Parsons Over the course of the first Enrichment Day of the year, Ventus house continued to thrive as we always do. From coming 1st, 2nd and 4th in year 7s boy’s football to creating aboriginal art pieces, we collected hundreds of house points throughout the whole day and everyone gave their all. In English, year 9 students completed a quiz about Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and did challenges involving poems. One Ventus group managed double the amount of points of all the other houses combined, so well done to Lewis, Adam, Abel, Josh, Ruby, Caitlyn and Ned. In performing arts, Faith, Felix, Nathan, Isaac and Tilda performed a great showing of Peter Pan. Students in Ventus house completed a variety of different tasks in the hope to defend the title of ‘interhouse champion’, from discovering about climate change and its effects, to designing their own democracy, to making Yule logs and gingerbread men, it was a day everyone could get stuck in and enjoy.

by Ned As usual it was an absolute delight to witness the great work being completed by Aether house on Enrichment Day. In every classroom students were hard at work and eager to show me what they were doing to earn points for their house. Some areas of particular strength for the house were Performing arts, English and languages. Staff across the school were incredibly complementary about how well the students got on and that it was a fiercely competitive day. Being able to visit such a range of students within the house and see how much effort and enthusiasm went into the day made me very proud to be the Aether ambassador. A huge well done to all involved in the day, and here’s to a really successful Spring term for Aether house!

by Mrs Palmer

We have been successful in bidding for a grant through the Opportunity Area to help us set up and establish a nurture department at BVC.

The Duke of Edinburgh award programme has been an active and thriving part of school life so far this academic year. There are many highlights to celebrate for students across many year groups; from the year 9 students starting out and enrolling onto the Bronze programme, to those at the end of their DofE journey with BVC, seeing the year 12 students being presented with their Bronze and Silver certificates at Certificate Evening.

At the beginning of October those Year 11s taking on the brave and courageous Silver award scheme “enjoyed� the opportunity to complete their 3 day assessed hiking expedition, camping in the beautiful fells of Yorkshire.

Despite a wet and windy weekend, the students remained in high spirits and showed great teamwork and resilience in their bid to complete this challenging endeavour. With three other sections to complete on the Silver award, we look forward to celebrating them completing and receiving certificates later in the year. We are also thrilled to announce our new DofE student Ambassadors, who will be helping to promote DofE programmes to other year groups, assist the DofE staff team and develop their own leadership skills in the process. These are Caitlin Nixon, Joshua Tabakov and Verity Zeid.

The School is delighted to see over 100 Year 10 students participating in the bronze award programme this year; demonstrating the high levels of enthusiasm, comradery and ambition this year group possesses. Students have been working hard volunteering in community projects, participating in sporting activities and developing creative skills they might not have otherwise found opportunity to do. In September, it was a proud moment for BVC to be given a certificate from the DofE regional office acknowledging the 884 hours of volunteering BVC students gave back to the community throughout 2019, and we look to increase this number in the coming year.

Seeing students engage and grow during the DofE programmes is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a DofE leader. The DofE staff team would like to thank all the students for the hard work and dedication; all the volunteer staff who help support students on the DofE expedition weekends; and to all the unsung adults who support students by providing opportunities for placements, or who offer to be assessors and keep the students accountable during their DofE journey. Thank you all!

The DofE Staff team

The department is called The Coral, and it provides targeted support for a range of different students who may need some extra support in developing the skills to do well in school.

As part of the support and training that we are receiving, we are fortunate to be working closely with Nurture UK, to embed the Six Principles of Nurture, both within the Coral and within the whole school. These are:

The Coral has two full time staff members, Miss Gallagher and Mrs Doughty, as well as Bella and Hendrix our emotional support dogs. Bella and Hendrix have particular skills in offering comfort, consistency, care and cuddles with nonjudgemental support to students who are currently receiving Coral interventions.

We are very excited about the future development of the Coral, and the additional capacity that this gives us to support our students at Bottisham Village College.

Mrs Camilla Saunders SENCO

Have you herd the moos?

In spring 2020, 40 Cow sculptures all uniquely decorated by artists will appear in Cambridge’s streets, parks and open spaces. They will graze outside for 10 weeks, forming a fun, free, family-friendly art trail for residents and visitors to follow. Following the art trail, many of the sculptures will be auctioned to raise vital funds for local children’s charity, Break.

We are delighted to have adopted a smaller ‘mini moo’ which will be decorated as part of the Learning Programme and also be displayed as part of the adventure. After 10 weeks on public display mini moo will come back to pasture at the college and take it’s place in our sculpture trail.

We would like to thank Morgan Sindall for donating our mini moo and giving us this opportunity. Watch out for updates on this project on our twitter feed and in the Spring newsletter.

Why a cow?

The Cow sculpture has been specially commissioned and created by Wild in Art’s Creative Director Chris Wilkinson just for Cambridge. It is inspired by the rare Red Poll cattle breed, which in the warmer months you can find grazing on Midsummer

#cowsaboutcambridge

Year 11 Art & Design students had the opportunity to go to an exhibition and meet the staff at Babylon ARTS in Ely where they gave a brief overview of their different areas of work. The students were able to see quirky Lego 'still-life' scenes of artist Sara Amond and talk to her about her work and sources of inspiration. Students also saw the Eduardo Paolozzi exhibition. Paolozzi is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art and this exhibition, curated by Goldmark Gallery, featured the full range of his print work including many signed pieces.

Visiting Babylon Arts was an exciting experience as it gave me the opportunity to explore different styles of art, learn about art based careers I could possibly pursue and speak to artists about their careers and inspiration. Learning about how social issues and conflicts can be conveyed within a piece was something I found particularly interesting. Having spoken to people with different careers, it has opened up my mind to the variety of jobs there are available and how to get into them. Lastly, speaking directly to artists about their work gave me the opportunity to ask them questions and find out what inspires them and why they are so passionate about what they do.

by Olivia www.babylonarts.org.uk

On Tuesday 10th December 84 year 7 students and 6 very excited staff members, set off in their carriages to watch Cinderella the Pantomime at the Cambridge Arts Theatre.

We laughed, we booed, we danced and we sang. We were in awe of the magic we saw. It was also an added delight to watch a BVC star on the stage, our very own Oscar Vaughn.

We were extremely proud of his excellent performance.

Zerrin “Miss I want to see it again! It’s so great that we get to see something we have been learning about” Olli “Miss the two ugly step sisters were so funny! We have taken inspiration from their characters to use in our own performance!”

by Miss Rankine

The Bottisham Village College Teaching and Learning Strategy: Evidenced Based Teaching

After months of meticulous preparation and hard-work, our class of 2019 approached the GCSE examination season as our best-prepared group of students ever. As a college, our focus this year was to help the students, alongside their subject knowledge and skills, to develop an awareness of what would be expected of them in the exam: What is the examiner actually assessing? How long should I be spending on each question?

What is the most effective revision strategy for this subject?

Our mantra came from one of our students: “I perform best in exams where I am clear of what is expected of me, when I know my enemy. This phrase certainly stuck with us.

We care passionately about the progress our students make while we support our students through their years at Bottisham Village College. There is no doubt that our teachers will make a difference to how well our students achieve in their final year and beyond. However, when you explore the thousands of research studies on different approaches to teaching, it is apparent that some teaching strategies have far more impact than other teaching strategies do. To ensure we maximise the progress our students make, it is essential we follow the evidence. We have broken our teaching strategy into 4 strands:

The Learning Journey

BVC’s progress figure was significantly above national data;

In terms of attainment, the college is in the top 25% of schools nationally;

Access & Challenge for All

Responsive Teaching

Authentic Care

As we communicated to you all, our focus on “The Learning Journey” includes teachers helping to make the learning stick, specifically using Knowledge Organisers.

These can be found at this website address: www.bottishamvc.org/curriculum/knowledge_organisers/

22% of students had 5+ GCSEs at grade 7 or above, putting us in the top 20% of schools nationally for that figure; 54% of students achieved a grade 5+ in English and maths, putting us in the top 20% of schools nationally for that figure.

We were delighted to have worked with such a focused and hard working year group and we wish them all the very best for the future.

Year 10s solve the ‘murder’!

The Cambridge Launchpad initiative gives young people the chance to visit an organisation and take part in an employer led challenge. Six of our year 10s visited Horizon Discovery and took part in a challenge where they examined a crime

Students have responded brilliantly to this aspect of the strategy, as they regularly recall information and key knowledge in lessons, as well as with their extended learning.

Teaching and Learning is our core business and this strategy has already proved to be a significant driving force in our community.

scene and collected a ‘blood sample’ from which they extracted the DNA and analysed it to find out who was the culprit. They were using real life techniques and guided by volunteers from Horizon who work with these techniques every day. During the course of the day, the students also had to prepare and give a presentation, take part in a quiz and answer questions about DNA extraction.

At the end of the day, the team from Bottisham were adjudged to be the winners! An excellent result and well deserved.

by Mrs Slipper

Thank you to everyone who helped raise the magnificent sum of for Children in Need

What A Difference A Word Makes!

New Literacy Strategies at Bottisham Village College This term we were delighted to launch several new and exciting literacy initiatives across the college.

With literacy at the heart of students’ learning at Bottisham, we have challenged all staff and students to acknowledge, utilize and incorporate our Word of the Day into their daily teaching and learning. We have been overwhelmed with how students have taken to this and the plethora of staff, students and parents who have recommended some of their favourite words to use each day! In order to access our Word of the Day, simply follow us on Twitter where the word is posted every morning.

We have also started our KS3 Reading Programme with all Year 7 and 8 students. Each student has been issued a Reading Record Book and challenged to record their reading habits each day. These books allow students to summarise plots, analyse characters and record key events in their novels. This provides students with an opportunity to exercise their inference and deduction skills which supports them in accessing more challenging texts at KS4. Faculties also use the books to set reading activities in order to extend students’ knowledge of complex topics both inside and outside the classroom. There is also a handy section for students to write the Word of the Day as well as their own sentence example!

The introduction of our Reading Record Books coincides with the release of our Enrichment Reading List earlier in the term. The list contains a wide range of aspirational academic and fictional texts which each faculty, in the college, recommends for our students. These texts have been carefully selected by our leading professionals and will support and strengthen students’ understanding of advanced subject areas.

You can access the Enrichment Reading List here: https://www.bottishamvc.org/college-life/the-library/enrichment-reading-list/

by Mr Cameron Hawes, Associate CLT

News from the Library My name is Mr Ricketts and I am delighted to be the new librarian at BVC.

Next term, there will be a new incentive starting: Borrower of the Term, which is hoped to encourage new readers to come and borrow books from the Library. The overall aim is that everyone will be able to track how many books they have Reading for Pleasure is an important borrowed and I’m sure a lot will compete to be the ‘Top part of our students’ education and Borrower’. More information will be available on this in January. the library is a key place to endorse We have new stock coming in regularly so please come and this. It’s great to see that the library is have a look to see what is new; if you’re the first to borrow the a popular environment for our book, you’ll be the first to read the book! students and many come during break and lunch time to read their books. Furthermore, seeing a high If there are any students, who enjoy reading comics or volume of books being borrowed and returned, it is clear that magazines, please let me know pupils have a broad range of genres that they are interested in. and I can see if they can be As well as reading, not only is the library a place to read for ordered. If you have any specific enjoyment but also as a place to socialise by playing board enquiries about books and you games and completing puzzles in an atmosphere that is calm can’t find what you’re looking and relaxing. for, please also let me know and I will be more than happy help.

In the first week of December, the Scholastic Book Fair proved to be successful making sales around £200. We had a range of Finally, I would like to thank books available for students to buy and the stationary attracted everybody for welcoming me to a lot of interest as well. Books that were the most popular were the College - I am enjoying the David Walliams’ ‘The Beast of Buckingham Palace’ and Phillip new challenge.

Pullman’s ‘Dark Materials’ trilogy. I would like to thank in I wish you all a Happy New particular the students who helped volunteer during their free Year! time – their help was greatly appreciated!

Mr Ricketts

Made famous by Zak Effron, High School Musical is a production which took Bottisham by storm this term, with a myriad of students and staff involved.

Based on the struggles of Troy played by Merrick, as he attempts to supress both his feelings for Gabriella (Isla) and his love of singing, the production magically explores the idea of difference, tolerance and acceptance. With some wonderful hits to boot, Bottisham students all excelled: Jacob was convincing as Ryan, the sidekick to Sharpay, played with ferocity by Safira: these two were quite the combination.

All three nights gave the audience a quite stunning performance and gave students from all walks of BVC life the chance to perform, the chance to see the fruits of their labour and the chance to excel: musicians, dancers, make-up and back-stage. Congratulations to them all. Of course, special mention to Mr Brewer and the rest of the Performing Arts Team, as they gave their time so willingly.

I wasn't originally planning to act in High School Musical, I was actually hoping to be involved in the technical side of production. The performing arts teachers said to me that I should consider auditioning, and I've never appreciated any advice more. I was really surprised when I was cast as Chad - I wasn't really expecting to be cast at all!

Just before we broke up for the summer holidays, all the named cast were brought together to meet and have a read-through of the script. This was a great opportunity to meet everyone and have a giggle at how cheesey some of the lines in the script were. Most of the other people in the cast were new faces to me, and it was lovely to meet them. Over the course of HSM we've become really great friends, and they're all amazing people!

Rehearsals started just after the summer break, and we had about 3 months to put the show together. This involved blocking scenes, learning all the dances, working with the crew and much more to bring everything together. When we got closer to the performances, the cast were involved in promoting the show. We were selling tickets at school, telling everyone we'd ever met about it, and generally spreading the word about HSM as much as possible.

The performances were on the 26th - 28th November. It was amazing to see everything come together, and I really enjoyed showing what we'd been working on for 3 months. We had a great audience for all 3 nights filled with friends, family and teachers.

Overall, I've had an incredible experience doing High School Musical. If there's one thing I can take away from this, it would be to take any opportunity made available to you.

by James , Year 10

In September, right at the very start of the new term, over 80 year 10 students, accompanied by their history teachers and other members of staff, went on the school’s annual visit to the battlefields of the Somme. This trip is usually undertaken by year 9 in the Spring, but, due to concerns about possible Brexit disruption, the visit had to be postponed.

During the day, students visited the Thiepval Memorial to the missing of the Somme, where they searched for the names of the Hancock brothers from Fulbourn, both of whom died on the first day of the battle, and learnt about the layout and organisation of the Commonwealth War Graves. They also went to a German cemetery, the Lochnagar Crater, and, a highlight of the trip, the preserved battlefield at Beaumont Hamel, scene of one of the tragedies of the first day, when the soldiers from the island of Newfoundland were ordered to attack a heavily defended position, and were virtually wiped out as a result. Finally, the group visited the Dartmoor cemetery, created during the fighting, in a trench, where the members of the Devonshire regiment placed their dead following their first attacks. This included William Noel Hodgson, author of the famous poem ‘Before Action,’ written when he knew that he was going to die in the attack. The students laid wreaths at these sites, and spent time looking at the graves, seeing the ages of the soldiers, and looking at the messages that their families had paid to have inscribed on the grave stones.

As usual, the students behaved impeccably on the long trip to and from the Somme, disembarking at the end of the day from a litter free bus, and maintaining their cheerfulness despite delays on the way home. This year, normal service will be resumed, and the current year 9 will go on the trip at the end of April.

On Thursday 10th and Friday 11th October Year 7 went on their annual visit to Framlingham Castle with the history department. The students were taken all round the castle and had different activities to complete throughout the day, all to do with medieval England and their current history lessons. Overall the students had an enjoyable time and learnt many interesting things.

Carly and Billy summarised the trip for us: “When we went to Framlingham Castle we went up to the top of the castle and we walked around. We learned why some of the castle had holes in the top of its walls, because it was harder for attackers to reach you and easier for you to use your bow and arrow. We learned that William wanted to take Harold’s place as king and took Framlingham Castle. Later on Henry broke down Framlingham Castle and it was a long time before anyone rebuilt it.” by Carly “I very much enjoyed going to Framlingham. When we arrived the first activity we did was a fun activity where we walked around the moat counting as many arrow holes as we could. After, we walked around the castle walls and learned that if the enemy managed to capture part of the wall the defenders would burn down a wooden bridge and then kill the enemies that had been trapped. Also we learned about someone called Hugh Bigod, who owned Framlingham, and about barons and power. Then we headed back to school and we were all sad that such a good day had come to a close.” by Billy

In July, we launched an exciting new trip for Year 8s on Activities Week – “A Taste of Europe”.

Mr Andersen, Mrs Kennedy, Mr Lindsay and myself took 40 students to mainland Europe, where we stayed in a Youth Hostel very close to the Belgian Coast. This was the perfect location for short journey times for our day-trips, as well as relaxing evenings on the beach.

Our excursions included a day in Brussels, completing a dinosaur quiz at the Museum of Natural Sciences, time around La Grande Place to see the beautiful buildings, the famous Manneken Pis statue before going inside Atomium, with spectacular views of the capital and an impressive light installation. On Wednesday, we travelled to a very different Belgian city – Bruges. Here we had a relaxing river cruise, explored the market with all its flowers and fresh produce, then visited two very unique museums – a chocolate museum and a chips museum, both providing us with tasty typical Belgian treats.

Thursday was our Dutch day, travelling to the Neeltje Jans Deltapark to experience a storm surge simulator, see the sea lions perform a show, and a boat trip on the Oosterschelde.

On both travel days, we spent time in France, visiting the Musée Dunkerque 1940, the cathedral in Saint-Omer, and a shopping mall with the perfect opportunity to buy rather a lot of French sweets and presents for family members.

Due to the success of this trip, I am looking forward to taking another group of students abroad in 2020, so they too, can discover more hidden European gems.

by Miss Dimelow (trip leader)

During activities week we went on the Taste of Europe Trip. We went to Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Some of our highlights from the trip were visiting Brussels and eating their famous delicious waffles, a boat trip along the canal in Brugge, closely followed by the chocolate and chips museum. Not to forget our daily evening trips to the local beach, playing frisbee and watching the sun set.

Overall we had a great time with lots of amazing memories to remember.

By Lily

THE GREAT BVC EUROPEAN

2019

There is nothing that we in the Modern Languages Department like better (after languages of course!) than cake! So what better way to combine the two, but with the Great BVC European Bake Off.

This year the event took place on the 4th October, and we had a huge number of fantastic entries. We also had a very special guest judge in the form of a real live former finalist of the Great British Bake Off itself, Mr Ian Cumming.

Ian was extremely impressed with the standard and range of the entries. He tasted every single one and made tasting notes for the contestants to read. In the end, there were three winners, shown above.

Best Tasting Bake Emily Year 8

Best Decorated Bake Ellen & Summer Year 7

As well as being blown away by the sheer number of entries plus the inventiveness and creativity of our students, we then sold the bakes in aid of Stand Up to Cancer, which raised a total of £145.03.

A huge thank you to everyone who baked, or bought a cake and of course many congratulations to our worthy winners.

Overall Winner - Peace Cake

This term has been busy for careers with the delivery of a wide array of events, all aiming to support our students develop a career-ready mindset.

In October, the College hosted the annual Post 16 evening where a number of 6 th Form organisations and vocational colleges, employers and training providers were able to help with information and advice to support effective, impartial decision making. Earlier in the day, Year 11s had an apprenticeship assembly, delivered by Form the Future and the company also gave a similar presentation to parents on the evening. Additionally, later in the month, CV writing workshops delivered by The Skills Service, aimed to help Year 11 students to craft effective CVs, which they can then bring to their mock interviews due to take place in January 2020. A great opportunity to get feedback from real employers! Yet another Year 11 activity was provided to students when they had an in-class talk from someone with a pharmaceutical background. This shows how careers is being embedded in the curriculum.

The importance of STEM cannot be underestimated, and a group of Year 9 students were able to gain first-hand knowledge by talking to a variety of companies at the Form the Future ‘Opportunities Ahead’ event. Feedback included comments such as: “we got to speak to people with different jobs”, “they told you how they got to where they are now”, “I got told more about apprenticeships” and “I didn’t realise how many jobs/apprenticeship options there were”. These students can take this timely knowledge forward as they begin the process of choosing their GCSEs. Again, to help our Year 11 students gain an understanding of the plethora of prospects that could be available to them, the whole year cohort attended a Careers & Skills Fair at Ely Cathedral. The majestic surroundings really made this event special and our students returned to school having gained a wider perspective of the opportunities available.

The very next day, all Year 9s participated in the Young Enterprise ‘Learn to Earn’ activity, supported by volunteers from the world of work. Our visitors praised the way students responded to the activities and applauded those who were brave enough to stand up in front of their peers and state their career aspirations. A comment from a member of staff stated “For many it has been the first time they have thought about income and expenditure in relation to their chosen job”. It was an eyeopened for a lot of students and one comment summed up the event with “today was an opportunity to allow us to see what the real world is like especially dealing with money and jobs”.

Our Year 7 students have started working with the Skills Builder Partnership which aims to develop eight core employability skills including listening, presenting, teamwork, problem solving, creativity, aiming, high, leadership and staying positive. Form tutors will deliver the activities during form time and students can consider how they use the skills learnt in their lessons and other areas of their lives.

I have been working to update the careers webpage to ensure the information remains current and meets the needs of the whole school community. To this end, assemblies have raised awareness of this valuable tool, urging students to embrace it as their own careers resource. Our open and transparent ways of working, is noticed by many local organisations who are delivering assemblies to our students, to raise their awareness of the possibilities available to them.

Please visit our careers pages at https://www.bottishamvc.org/curriculum/careers/

I would like to thank William, Jack and Thilde for making the presentation on the right to fill my new display board. It was all their own ideas and I couldn’t be happier with it.

I am sure you will agree, the College has worked hard to provide our young people with a range of careerrelated opportunities that encourage the development of transferrable skills and qualities to support future career goals. Going forward, the New Year will continue to be busy and very exciting for Careers at Bottisham!

Best wishes The Careers Team

BVC puts students’ Future First We have joined a programme run by the national education charity Future First which helps state schools and colleges develop ‘old school tie’ networks allowing them to harness the talents and experience of alumni to support the current generation.

We are asking former students to inspire our current students to career confidence and academic success. This can be done in many ways, including:  Acting as a mentor to current students (in person and/or online)  Provide work shadowing or work experience opportunities for current students  Fundraise/Donate for specific school needs  Be on a poster displayed in school  Talk to current students about what you've been up to since leaving We are one of a thousand state secondary schools and colleges across Britain which have worked with Future First. Future First’s vision is that every state school or college should be supported by a thriving, engaged alumni community that helps it to do more for its students. More than 240,000 former students nationwide have already signed up to stay connected with their old school. They’re motivating young people as career and education role models, mentors, work experience providers, governors and fundraisers.

Beth Goddard, Future First Director of Programmes, said, ‘The transition from school to work is challenging for students and the benefits of employer encounters in the classroom is now widely recognised. Alumni volunteers who can share their careers experience, broaden students' jobs horizons and act as relatable role models are an integral part of any good school careers curriculum and helps inspire and motivate students to success, regardless of their background.'

Former students can register with Future First by clicking on the link on our website https://www.bottishamvc.org/collegeinformation/bvc-alumni/ We already have 68 ex-students signed up but would like many more. We look forward to hearing from you!

News from Adult Learning We had a fantastic start to the Autumn term with news that once again, we had a 100% pass rate for our adult learners who attended our Maths GCSE course last year. Their hard work paid off and by gaining their Maths GCSE some of them have been able to apply for higher level qualifications or a change of career.

We also had wonderful results for our adult learners who gained RHS Level 2 Horticulture qualifications. The RHS theory courses are well established evening classes, but we were able to offer the practical qualification for the first time last year, as the National Trust have kindly allowed us the use of some plots at Anglesey Abbey gardens for daytime courses on Fridays and Saturdays.

It is not all hard work though! …….. We have lots of courses which are for fitness, fun, or to learn a new skill which have continued to thrive this term. We launched a new Spanish for Beginners course as well as an exciting ‘Just Look Up!’ – Astronomy for Beginners course which was so popular that the learners have requested a follow-on.

Weekend workshops with a Christmas theme at the end of November produced some wonderful ‘Glitzy Glass Christmas Decorations’ and ‘Wintery Lino Prints’. Our ‘Cook with your Kids’ workshop provided a perfect opportunity for family fun and messy hands making Christmas biscuits and a Festive Chocolate Yule Log. So why not join us for a course or workshop in the New Year? Our programme for the Spring term 2020 can be viewed on our website along with booking details. We offer a wide range of subjects from Woodwork and DIY to Patchwork and Quilting, but we are always looking for news ideas so if you would like us to provide a course which is not currently offered, please let us know.

Remember, if you work for any of the schools within the Anglian Learning Trust, you are entitled to staff discount of 20% off any Adult Learning course or workshop, so we hope to see you soon!

Happy New Year from The Adult Learning Team

www.bottishamvc.org @CommunityEdBott BottishamAdultLearning

OUR MENU With our fantastic new menu delivering high street style favourites with great taste and high quality you will not be stuck for choice…

In addition to our varied hot lunch menu we also offer a range of other options to ensue we meet the needs of Bottisham students.

On a daily basis we offer a colourful salad bar, jacket potatoes with a range of tasty hot and cold fillings, freshly prepared stone baked pizza and pasta, delicious sandwiches and a variety of tasty fruit and desserts.

SINGLE USE PLASTIC We are delighted to support Bottisham Village College students by removing plastic water bottles from sale. We have now replaced these with a carton of water, which will be available to purchase in the new year at 55p

Our next theme day – Pancake Day

We are extremely excited that our refurbishment plans for the Sports Centre are now complete. The swimming pool has been re-lined and the changing rooms given a much-needed makeover. In addition, the fitness suite has all new gym equipment including 3 treadmills, 2 bikes, 2 cross trainers, ‘smith’ machine and full set of dumbbells.

Our 2020 membership marketing plan kicks off with the ‘New Year New You’ where if you join in January you don’t pay anything until February Our Double Trouble giant inflatable allows fun for everyone in the family! Race against your friends to see who can slide into the pool first.

A party room is also available for hire if you don’t want the fun to end after the pool party. Bring your own food along, play party games, play music and more Inflatable Pool Party

Party room hire

Days available

Saturdays & Sundays

Saturdays & Sundays

Times available

4.15pm - 5pm

5pm - 6pm

5.15pm - 6pm Cost

£120

£28.50

We have many facilities that can be hired including our Sports Hall, Gymnasium, Dance Studio, Netball courts, Full size 3G pitch, one full size grass pitch & one full size Rugby pitch. Our state of the art 3G pitch is fully floodlit and can be split into 1 full pitch, 2 half pitches or 4 quarter pitches. The gym and sports hall can be used for 5 a side football, basketball, cricket, badminton and much more.

For all queries or to book please call 01223811121 or email sportscentre@bottishamvc.org

Hockey It has been a busy fixture list for hockey with teams fielded from all years on a weekly basis against other schools within our district. Some of the main highlights were: Year 7 District Schools Hockey Tournament Year 7s were successful in qualifying for the semi finals, winning 4 matches and drawing 1. They narrowly lost out to the eventual winners Chesterton and finished 3rd overall out of 12 schools. Well done girls!

Year 9 District School Hockey Tournament The Year 9 team were successful at the preliminary stage, winning all matches in their group. They subsequently went on to the finals at Cambridge University Hockey pitches and played Chesterton CC and Parkside school. They successfully defeated Chesterton 2- 0 and drew with Parkside to win the overall competition. In addition the girls have not lost a game all season and this is a huge achievement.

Well done Becky, Liv, Liv, Celia, Harmony, Connie, Molly, Rose, Zoe, Katie, Jess and Ellie!

We went to Wembley!

Cross Country On Saturday 7th September 70 students went to support the England Football Team in their Euro 2020 qualifier against Bulgaria.

After a highly successful trip in 2018 students went to cheer on the three lions once again. It was a fantastic afternoon for the students to visit the iconic Wembley venue which will host all of England’s Euro 2020 fixtures including the final of the competition. Students got the opportunity to take in the atmosphere around the ground, see England win 5-0 and see their heroes. It was a fantastic trip for all students and staff involved and one which hopefully will be repeated in the run up to the Euro 2020 Championships. Thank you to all staff involved in the organisation of the trip; Mr Darling, Mr Compton, Mrs Lawton, Mr Andersen, Mr Fox, Mr Rogers and Miss Driver.

2019 was once again a highly successful year of cross country. Students in years 7,8 & 9 participated in cross country during PE lessons for the first two weeks after October half term. Students had the opportunity to achieve personal bests around our 2km loop which takes students into the village of Bottisham.

On Tuesday 3rd December 40 students participated in the District Schools Cross Country event held at Netherhall School; within this event students had the opportunity to run against students of other schools within the district. Well done to all students that took part with a special mention to Charlie , Oli , Grace and Mia all from year 7 who qualified for the next round, which is the County Schools, also to be held at Netherhall School in January.

Students that qualify from that competition qualify for the Anglian Schools competition before competing for a place at the English Schools National Championships in March.

Rugby

The year 7 rugby A team put in some fantastic performances in their maiden district tournament, losing only one game to the eventual winners, St Bedes. Many students had only been involved in a handful of competitive fixtures before the tournament, and they came away with 1 loss, 1 draw, and the rest wins, ending up in 5th place out of 16. Their final playoff game against Impington was a particular highlight, comfortably winning by several tries to secure eventual victory.

Athletics Plus Indoor Competition Back in October seven pupils from a range of years travelled to Swavesey to compete in a mixture of indoor athletics events ranging from Sprints, Jumps, accuracy throws and relays. Again this event was a great success.

We are now focusing on the next event which is the Multi Sports Festival at the end of January 2020.

We were proud to be one of only 4 schools in the district who fielded a year 7 B team, showing the exceptional strength in depth we have had with year 7 rugby this year. The boys involved developed their knowledge and skill level immensely throughout the day, also ending up in 3 rd in their pool.

The year 8 rugby team improved upon their year 7 rugby performance and came away with a handful of wins at their district tournament.

Year 9s embarked on their first season playing 15 a side. The team turned out strongly in training and they managed to build a very strong team with much talent.

The year 9’s improved with every game they played, especially in their District tournament where they grew as a team putting in some consistent performances and dominating in the physical encounters. I’m really looking forward to seeing them progress further next year.

Rugby

Girls rugby has been positive again this year. A mix of year 7 - 10 students experienced a morning of coaching and development, before moving on to full contact games in the afternoon at the Girl’s Rugby Festival in Great Shelford.

In December the girls travelled to Cambourne Village College to play a touch game with mixed year group. Bottisham consisted of mainly year 7s and Cambourne mainly year 11’s, but due to amazing improvement in their game play the girls came away winners by two tries! Well done girls!

Year 4 Winter Festival On Wednesday 16th October Bottisham Village College hosted the Year 4 Winter Festival which included activities of ‘Capture the Flag’ and Football. Sports Leaders from Year 8 led the primary pupils through activities before playing friendly games.

Over 200 Primary School pupils attended from our local feeder primary schools. The remaining sports festivals will take place next year during the spring and summer term.