BVC NEWS Spring 2016

Spring 2016 Issue 19

The magazine of Bottisham Village College

Inside this issue    

Sport Relief Sports news Expansion plans Plus lots more news & information

Achievement through inspiring, caring, enriching

A message from the Principal

Bottisham Village College Lode Road Bottisham Cambridgeshire CB25 9DL

As you may already be aware, for some considerable time, we have been very significantly over-subscribed, with increasing numbers of parents, both within and outside our catchment area, keen to secure a place for their children. During conversations with the Local Authority in the Autumn term 2015, we were made aware of plans for significant population growth in our geographical area, which will mean that in order to continue to meet the demand for places we would need to increase to 10 form entry by the end of this decade. I am delighted to report that significant capital funds are now available from the Local Authority to support this expansion.

Whilst there is still a great deal of work to do to confirm final plans, we are now at the stage of preparing a preliminary planning application, which would cover the ‘enabling works’ that would need to be completed before the major project could begin. Outline plans have now been drawn up and these will be firmed up in the coming weeks, prior to their submission for planning approval in April. Please see the centre pages for more information about this exciting project.

So that’s the future; now to the present.

Tel: 01223 811250 Fax: 01223 813123 enquiries@bottishamvc.org

This week, year 11 have been involved in a range of activities to help and support them during this key time in their learning. During an extended motivational assembly, Mr Burgess and Mr Griffiths explained how students can maximise their remaining time at the college in terms of revision, making clear what support is available to them. Additionally, students were formally given their mock results and asked to write a letter to themselves to be opened on 25th August: this is their results day. As ever, having the time to reflect on their learning is invaluable and, in keeping with our ethos, Bottisham students were magnificent in their approach to this. Congratulations to them and we wish them all the best for time ahead.

This only leaves me to wish you all a very restful and happy Easter.

Kate Evans

Dates for your diary “This is an outstanding college, where a very strong ethos of community, high quality learning and aspirational academic achievement exists throughout.”

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SUMMER TERM 2016 Monday 11th April - Term starts Monday 2nd May - Bank Holiday 16th May - Start of Exams season 30th May - 3rd June - Half term Monday 4th - Friday 15th July - Year 10 work experience Monday 11th - Friday 15th July - Activities week Thursday 21st July - Term Ends at 1.25pm AUTUMN TERM 2016 Thursday 1st September - Training day Friday 2nd September - Year 7 only Monday 5th September - Whole School opens Thursday 6th October - Training day & Open Evening 24th - 28th October - Half-term Monday 28th November - Training day Friday 16th December - End of autumn term

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Congratulations are in order for the U13 Bottisham girl’s football team who have qualified to represent Cambridge United for the school’s football league trophy final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 3rd April prior to the Johnstone’s Paint trophy final.

Having previously won the District, County, Regional and most recently Southern Region finals the girls will now face a team representing Shrewsbury Town who were winners of the Northern Region in the final for the prestigious honour of National Champions.

At the Regional stage of the competition, the team comprising of students in years 7 and 8 saw off the likes of Colchester United, Ipswich Town and MK Dons who amongst others, had won their county tournaments without conceding a goal to progress to the next round played on Wednesday 24th February.

Here the girls faced the winners of the other 4 Southern regions in a nail biting thriller hosted by Oxford United. The teams comprising of Brentford, Swindon Town and Millwall all faced each other in the group stages to decide the draw for the semi-finals.

These games were tense thrillers with the order in the group being decided only on goal difference due to a tie for points.

Cambridge United then faced Swindon Town in the first of the semi-final matches. The team from Swindon had travelled with over 60 supporters and the atmosphere was tense. Cambridge went ahead through a great team goal but the score was soon equalised and remained tied for the rest of the half, despite end to end football. The second half opened in a similar vein to the first with Bottisham again edging ahead and then seeming to secure the game with a fine individual goal.

Swindon did not give up however without a fight and following another goal and the momentum swinging in their favour the next 3 minutes required a strong defensive team effort from Bottisham. With a matter of seconds remaining on the clock and Swindon throwing all they could to secure an equaliser Cambridge were able to break away quickly and book their place in the final.

In the final the girls faced a Brentford team who had convincingly seen off their Millwall opposition 8-2 in their own semifinal. As with the previous game the girls got off to a flying start and went ahead early on through a rocketed strike. Going in to half time the score was 2.1 with Brentford having come back only for Cambridge to edge back in front. Another fine goal saw the score line open up to 3.1 with 5minutes remaining. However, two unstoppable strikes and some fine play saw Brentford close the lead. Cambridge reacted in the best possible way to these equalisers and again upped the pressure on their opponents but with less than 1 minute remaining the goal seemed impenetrable. This only led to the ultimate thriller of a climax and with less than 15seconds remaining on the clock the ball found its way to the Cambridge feet once again and following a heart-breaking deflection the back of the net as the final whistle went lending the 4-3 victory to Cambridge.

The squad have consistently shown resilience, strength determination and unquestionable teamwork in their efforts at reaching this stage of the competition and the opportunity to fulfil any footballer’s dream of playing on the hallowed turf of Wembley stadium.

“I am very proud of the girls and overwhelmed with their achievements. They have reached this stage through encouraging each other and showing selfbelief, despite coming up against visibly bigger and stronger opponents. This ensured they enjoyed every moment they had in the competition, playing with huge smiles on their faces. They are a credit to the school, their families and to each other.

I would also like to thank Paul Neary and the team at Cambridge United who have continued to support the girls journey and facilitate the opportunities for them in the competition.”

Natalie Shenton, Teacher of PE

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SLT SELECTED FOR SEPTEMBER Year 10s have been busy applying to be part of the next Student Leadership Team. The team meet regularly with Mrs Evans and Mrs Rankine and work with other key members of staff, to help organise key events; for example Open Evening and end of term assemblies. These meetings also provide an opportunity for the team to discuss key issues of interest or suggest areas for development in the College.

Following their letters of application, the applicants were narrowed down to 14. These 14 students were then invited to a formal interview with members of the College Leadership Team, and also undertook a public speaking activity. After much deliberation, the following 6 students were successful - Pralish Satyal, Imogen Trump, Ruby King, Ed McCann, Harry Winchester and Sophia Abbott. They will formally take on their positions just before the current SLT leave for their final exams. Well done to everyone who applied and congratulations to the final six.

On Friday 18th March, the college supported Sport Relief with a variety of activities.

Students could wear non-uniform for a donation of £1, there were the traditional Bottisham cake stalls and staff versus students badminton.

In total, the grand sum of £1121.25 was raised for this worthy cause.

Of all the money raised by the public through Sport Relief, 50% is used to make a difference here in the UK, and 50% goes towards transforming lives across the world’s poorest communities.

Find out more at www.sportrelief.com

These delicious cakes were made

by William Humphreys in 7.8. In all the sale of cakes raised over £120!

Thank you to Mrs Cook and the Student Council for organising the sale.

Year 7 student Kaisha raised an impressive £50.50 by remaining silent for 12 hours.

Thank you to her friends, family and teachers for sponsoring her.

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Staff volunteered to play badminton against student opponents throughout the lunch break. This raised nearly £70.

Thursday 3rd March was World Book Day (WBD) and Miss Burton, our newly-returned Librarian, celebrated it in style in the Library - with displays, dress-up and the WBD Bumper Book Quiz: twenty literary questions for teams of students.

On Saturday 12th March, 6 Bottisham students and 4 students from BVC’s feeder primary schools went to a judo competition. The Bottisham students won 1 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals, the primary school children won 2 gold and 2 silver medals.

Bottisham students were Ben Shackleton, Harvey Porter, Dale Cortez, Daniel Hames, Oscar Evans and Annabelle Bentley.

I have been told by the British Judo Association, the governing body of judo in the UK, that the new students that have enrolled on the Extended Schools program of judo held on a Monday after school, and the judo club that is held in the Sports Centre on Wednesday evening, have accounted for 50% of the growth of members taking part in judo in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough over the year to March 2016.

Congratulations to all of the judoka involved with this good news.

by Mr Colin Fordham (Sensei Tora Judo Kwal Bottisham)

Lunch time saw a good turnout of students eager to join in and try to win the quiz. Miss Burton says she was delighted with the way the children entered into the spirit of the event. Miss Lawton, Ms Tunley and Mrs Venables were very pleased to have the chance to be in the Library and join in. Miss Burton said she thoroughly enjoyed arranging something special for the children and it was wonderful to see the Library being so well used with everyone having fun.

WBD was the first occasion Miss Burton has had since she came back to school, to do something a bit special for the children, and she is now looking forward to many more.

The next event will be on 23 April: Shakespeare’s 400th Anniversary. Miss Burton is open to suggestions from students as to how to celebrate Shakespeare; thus, if thou hast any goodly ideas, thou shouldst confer with Miss Burton at thy earliest opportunity! Indeed, Miss Burton would be happy to receive ideas for any type of Library event from staff and students. She is thoroughly enjoying being back, seeing lots of familiar faces, and being in one of the places she has always loved best: the Library. Miss Burton confesses that she spent many hours as a teenager lost amid the bookshelves and tells us her favourite ever book is “Starlight Barking” by Dodie Smith (the sequel to the more famous “101 Dalmations.”) Miss Burton’s family used to breed greyhounds and she was very familiar with hearing twilight barking during her childhood. The idea that all the dogs were passing messages to help each other was a magical one, which Miss Burton could easily imagine happening for real when she heard her Dad’s dogs calling to each other.

What is your favourite book, and why?

Miss Burton would love to know!

by Ms Jan Tunley, Administrative & Library Assistant

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In November 2015, Evogreen installed 16.90kWp of Solar PV on the roof of the English block. The installation includes 65 Winaco 260W panels and an SMA inverter. The college now has the capability to monitor online how the system is performing and see exactly how much electricity is being produced.

Evogreen have forecasted that over the lifespan of the project the college will make the following savings: Electricity: Carbon Emissions:

£50,596 137 tonnes

The college have been able to benefit from the Government backed Feed-In-Tariff, this is an incentive whereby the Government pays the college for each kW of electricity they produce. Over the project life span the school will receive £37,938.

Solar is a great way for schools to earn extra money and make significant savings on their electricity supply. It is also a fantastic teaching tool and enables children to learn about renewable energy and ways in which they can make a difference.

Evogreen also contribute to the teaching and learning process , with each installation they supply a Curriculum Assist Programme which gives lesson plans and activities to better explain how the installation works and exactly how it is benefiting the school.

On Wednesday 9th March, the Kick Ash mentors held a cake stall to raise awareness of ’ No Smoking Day’. This was a new departure for our mentors and they wanted to raise awareness to this issue.

You will see from the photograph that ‘Sid the Butt’ made an appearance, wrist bands were also given out and students signed the large Kick Ash footprint supporting our schools “proud to be smoke free” ethos.

by Mrs C Bateman, Operations Manager

A grand total of £86.25 was raised and will be sent to the British heart Foundation along with money raised from other schools in the area who also have Kick Ash mentors.

by Mrs D Cook Pastoral support Worker

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In March, the college hosted a singing concert led by Julie Bristow. Julie works with students at the college and also runs an Adult Education class called ‘Singing for fun’. She has performed professionally since the age of 16 and together with her band , supported the students and adult learners.

The concert featured a mixture of songs performed by Julie and her band, the BVC students and the adult learners, with everyone coming together for the last 2 songs. It was great to see how all the singers with an age range of 11—82 enjoyed the performances and supported each other.

Hopefully this concert will be the first of many bringing together the whole Bottisham Village College community.

If you would like to join the ‘Singing for Fun’ class please contact the Community Office on 01223 811372, all abilities are welcome.

by Mrs L Fox, Adult & Community Learning Co-ordinator

“I was involved in a musical concert that was made up of soloists and the adult education ‘Singing for Fun’ group. We performed two concerts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, both in the BVC Drama Studio. This was a great opportunity for people who had never sung in front of an audience before. It was a brilliant experience and everyone enjoyed themselves singing with a large group of people who ranged from ages 11 to 82.”

by Lily Marty 10.1

The BVC Spring term concert programme was as varied as usual with several students performing for the first time. It was lovely to see so many students performing to a full hall.

Drama students added atmosphere with their lighting expertise and the stage management crew ensured a slick show! There were some wonderful performances showcasing the hard work and talent of our students.

It would be great to have new members join our regular ensembles (jazz band, orchestra 1 and 2, theory clubs, flute group and singing clubs) so please take a look at the extended schools brochure for more details and sign up.

Our next concert will be on Monday 20th June starting at 7.15pm so please put the date in your diary!

by Mrs P Hall, Head of Music

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Fossil Hunting on the Jurassic Coast

By Beth Sampher, Katie Cory and Evie Nichols The Henry Morris Memorial Trust was established in memory of the Chief Education Officer who founded our community education. When Henry Morris died in 1962, a group of his friends decided to remember him by establishing a fund to enable young people to experience the joy and excitement of independent travel and study and thereby be “refreshed and inspired.” The awards are given on the understanding that the young people involved produce a report at the end of their educational experience.

Beth Sampher, Katie Cory and Evie Nichols decided to take advantage of the scheme and set about deciding where they could go that would enable them to produce a great report. The girls all share a keen interest in fossils, so eventually decided on the Jurassic Coast (a World Heritage Site in Southern England.) They had heard that you can find, scattered along the beaches, hoards of 200 million year old fossils. They therefore set out for the West Dorset town of Charmouth, known as the "gateway to the Jurassic Coast", on 11th August, for three days of fossil hunting.

The town is also only a few miles east of Lyme Regis, the town where Mary Anning was born: a famed fossil collector and studier. On arrival, however, their main challenge was…. to put up the tent! Once they had succeeded, there was time for a quick explore of Charmouth Beach and the gathering of their first few fossils there, before heading back to the campsite to cook supper. Charmouth had one more treat in store for them that evening – when they witnessed a meteor shower!

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On their second day, the girls studied Charmouth’s fossils, geology and wildlife, at the Heritage Coast Centre. They then undertook a long walk, as far as Southern England’s highest cliff: the Golden Cap, at the base of which they were rewarded with more fossils.

The day finished with a superb sunset. On their third and final day, the group took a fascinating fossil walk in Lyme Regis, during which their guide identified various fossils found by the girls. At the Lyme Regis museum they found a lot of information about Mary Anning, which led the girls to also explore the church where Mary was buried, and view the Mary Anning stained glass window there. No trip would be complete without a quick survey of the local shops, to hunt for souvenirs.

The girls produced an excellent report detailing their findings on both fossils and the history of Mary Anning. They were very grateful to the Trust for funding the trip and allowing them such a wonderful experience. The group also comments that they came back feeling a little more self-reliant, having learned some valuable lessons about managing money and using a budget. Beth, Katie and Evie had an amazing adventure thanks to the Henry Morris memorial Trust and their own enthusiasm and ideas. This opportunity is open for anyone between the ages of 13 and 19 years who lives or attends school or college in Cambridgeshire … Next year could that perhaps be you?

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Cambridge Museums!

In January and February, several Arts Award trips took place. If you have read of our trips in previous magazines, you will have realised that some of our favourite places to visit are the Cambridge Museums.

This time, students visited the Fitzwilliam museum where they saw a variety of artefacts and art.

Mr Fordham led the first group through to the Egyptian exhibit, which we were all keen to see. We saw the sarcophaguses from different cultures like Greek and Roman and noticed there was a big difference in the styles of decoration and mummification.

Exploring through the ages we discovered the love of stone carving and were impressed by the amounts of different types of carving. When a second trip of students visited, they saw the evolution of writing through the ages from cuneiform to the modern day alphabet. Emma, Sam and Jack followed in the footsteps of the first trip but found areas of interest that varied from the first. Both groups liked the armoury and the intricate engravings combined with ivory and mother of pearl inlay on the weaponry. The armour for the horses was impressive as were the helmets.

Further investigation led the groups to the upper levels of the museum where they worked their way through the various galleries containing ‘Old Masters’. Between Myself and Mr Fordham we imparted our knowledge to the students as they moved from area to area. In the upper staircase foyer there was a mini exhibition of WW2 money. It impacted on all of us as the money was camp money from internments during the war.

After our visit to the Fitzwilliam we also visited The Sedgewick and Anthropology Museums in Downing Street. The difference of lay out and content is huge.

The Sedgewick focuses on Darwinian times, through to the big bang theory. Each section of the museum had segments full of fossils and artefacts. The time walk we took through history fascinated all of us as we went back passed ichthyosaurs and mosasaurs, to plesiosaurs and trilobites right back to the formation of elements. From prehistory back to the Ascent of man and a range of cultures with amazing artefacts in the Anthropology Museum. From Inuit to indigenous people of Oceania, the carvings and relics were eye openers.

The staff in the museums were all very helpful, taking time to explain to all of us about the displays and we all thoroughly enjoyed the experiences. We would all recommend a visit if you have a chance.

by Ms Lisa Damant, Arts Award Co-ordinator

Maths is no challenge to BVC! On Thursday 4th February, 70 students took part in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge (or a Bottisham version of the same competition), aimed at year 9 to 11 students. They had one hour to answer as many multiple choice puzzles as possible. 42 students scored highly enough to receive either a bronze, silver or gold certificate. Particular congratulations go to Tom Harvey , Joseph Irving, Josh Gould, Oliver Enrico, Joseph Beaumont and Charlotte Cuthbert who did well enough to get through to one of the next rounds.

On Wednesday 16th March, I took 4 students to the Regional Heat of the UKMT Team Maths Challenge for year 8 and 9 students. The team consisted of Tony Mills, John Mills, Natalie Greaves and Tom Harvey, selected from high scorers in the Bottisham Maths Tournament earlier in the year. There were a total of 28 schools and 4 complex rounds of puzzles and relays, all with limited time, requiring efficient mathematical reasoning and problem solving. They were delighted to come in FIRST PLACE, securing them a position in the National Final at the end of June. They worked hard in preparing for the event and worked well as a team, encouraging and motivating each other. They took the event very seriously, as was clear from the speed with which Tony Mills ran to the checkpoint during the relay round! It was a fantastic day out and we are all very excited about the final in June.

Coming up soon is the Junior Maths Challenge and students in year 7 and year 8 will be invited to take part.

by Mrs J Goodland, Maths Teacher

Spring is upon us and the Duke of Edinburgh expeditions have started! Back in March, 49 year 11 students who are working towards their Silver Award completed a successful expedition in Derbyshire. Students were able to follow in the footsteps of others, as the Duke of Edinburgh Award celebrates 60 Years.

Over the last 60 years millions of young people across the globe, from all backgrounds and circumstances, have given it their all through their DofE Award.

The DofE leaves a footprint on their lives, as their Award opens doors to new jobs, cements life-long friendships, broadens interests and stretches horizons.

Celebrating their Diamond Anniversary the DofE is calling for everyone to give it their all in 2016, for themselves, their families, their communities and others, and for the DofE, so that the Charity can power generations to come and offer more young people the gift of opportunity.

They would like everyone to take the DofE Diamond Challenge. The Challenge is inspired by the DofE Award, asking you to take on your own adventure, personal or skill challenge. Your challenge can be as big or as small as you like, from kayaking the Zambesi to learning to knit. If it’s a challenge to you, it counts. And the best part is, it’s open to anyone of any age, anywhere!

So if you never had the chance to get involved while growing up, if your kids are doing it now, if you’re doing your own DofE or if you’re just looking for a reason to get out of your comfort zone, seize the day! More details can be found on their website. https://dofediamondchallenge.org

by Mrs K Neville-Jones, DofE Co-ordinator

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The national Return to Teaching programme offers qualified teachers of core subjects who have had a break from the classroom, free tailored support to enable them to return to the classroom. One of the key aspects of the work of a teaching school is to train, recruit and retain the best teachers and Bottisham Village College is one of 40 schools across the country taking part in this initiative next term.The pilot returners’ programme aims to encourage people to return to the classroom with the skills and experience necessary to ensure every child receives a good education. Those teachers who choose to return to the profession bring with them new skills and experiences from their time away that can be invaluable to schools.

Kate Evans, Executive Principal, said: “We are delighted to be taking a leading role in this new programme - we can help teachers get back to teaching the subjects they love. Inevitably after time away from a profession, even high quality teachers need to ensure they are up to date with classroom practice to ensure a good education for our children. We are committed to helping returning teachers gain up to date school experience and curriculum knowledge, and will support those who have a flair for teaching and add value to classrooms. We welcome the additional life skills and experiences that returning teachers can bring back into the profession from their time away from teaching.”

by Mrs A O’Reilly, Director of Anglian Gateway Teaching School Alliance

TeachMeet are regular informal gatherings hosted at Bottisham attended by enthusiastic teachers to discuss how we could innovate our practice so our teaching is more engaging and inclusive. We have discussed and shared many ideas including strategies to develop more independent learners, who are less reliant on their teachers. We discussed and shared more widely a ‘stuckness’ routine which is now routinely shared with students in the college as a strategy to use when they become stuck. A good example of this is “brain, book, buddy, boss”. If a student faces a challenge they are unable to overcome, we encourage them to persevere and think, then consult their notes or a text book, ask a peer and only if all these don’t help ask their teacher.

A key priority for Bottisham Village College is closing the achievement gap for disadvantaged students.

Recently TeachMeet focussed on strategies to use in the classroom in supporting our most vulnerable students to make excellent progress.

In our most recent meeting we focused on how we can develop our reward system to ensure it is relevant to all students in every year group and promotes excellent behaviour and learning attributes, such as resilience.

Our discussions have been shared more widely with staff through an internal newsletter and blog called “Bottisham Buzz”.

by Mr D Fullman, Assistant Principal

Victory in Venice Contestants from 35 countries entered the Arte Laguna Art Competition for an international Prize. My composition, which was part of a collaborative project, was short listed with just 4 others and we were asked to perform it in front of an audience of 3,000 and the judges in Venice. Over the weekend of 19th & 20th March I flew out with the other performers, and film crew, and we managed to win! It was a very enjoyable and overwhelming weekend, flying back just in time for school on Monday morning! We are looking forward to the film, of the performance, being produced. This will be placed in the venue in Venice as well as on various websites.

by Miss Chloe Evans, PGCE Trainee Music Teacher

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Science Club is part of BVC’s Extended Schools Activities Programme. It meets fortnightly and is an opportunity for Year 8 and 9 students to come along and get involved with exciting projects and practical activities that are not taught in Science Lessons at present. This week we had an incredible opportunity to connect with a British astronaut, Tim Peake, who is currently in space orbiting the Earth in the International Space Station. We were part of a video linkup with schools across the UK and we were able to learn about space directly from Tim himself while he is there. The event was called the “Cosmic Classroom.” Tim showed us a novel way to observe the effects of gravity. The students had to stand up, touch their toes and turn around, whilst Tim was also doing the same moves but with no gravity to help.

The weightless results were very different! Then he

showed us a droplet of water in space and played ping pong with it, before adding a fizzy vitamin tablet to the water so we could watch it expand. Tim also answered questions sent in by school children. A particularly interesting one was about how the space station flies: it is trapped in Earth’s gravity, but moves a little faster than the spin of the Earth, so it constantly falls around the edge of the planet’s sphere. It is hence trapped in Earth’s orbit. If you would like to review the interview yourself it can be found here….. https://www.tes.com/cosmicclassroom/ Science Club is amazing and it is also free! Why not come along next time? Look in the new Extended Schools programme for details of how to sign up.

by Mrs A Gruber, Science Teacher

So far this term in Science Club we have been looking at space because of Tim Peake’s recent mission to the International Space Station. On the first week of term, we made rockets and launched them down the science corridor. Well done to Kate who designed the best rocket.

On the second week, we made parachutes. We then went down to the project area to drop them from the walkway whilst they were carrying an egg! All of us failed to safely deliver the egg down to the floor on our first attempt but on the second attempt, after a few quick improvements, two eggs survived! Well done to Pravin, Owen, Felix .… and me of course!

However, none of this was as exciting as what we did on the 2nd February.

At 2pm everyone in science club got to miss lesson 5 and see a live broadcast of Tim Peake answering questions that had been sent in by children who were watching from around the country.

Everyone at science club would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs. Gruber for making this wonderful opportunity possible.

by Natalie Greaves 8.3

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Could you be a friend to The Friends?

The Friends of Bottisham Village College is an important part of the School; raising money to support the educational opportunities for all the students and organising events that link the school, parents and wider community. The Friends is set up as a completely separate charity to the school, which means that it needs people to step forward to make it work.

As parents and staff of BVC did you know that you are all automatically members of the Friends of Bottisham Village College charity? This entitles you to vote at our AGM and also to put forward your opinion on how the funds are spent within the school. Mostly the Charity is supported by parents – some take on an official role as Trustee, others as part of the wider committee, some support at events.

Back in 2013, as a parent of a Year 8, I thought it important to support the Charity when it called for new Trustees to help it continue. Now my daughter is Year 11 and preparing for her exams! I have worked with some very dedicated and lovely people to raise and donate over £30,000 to support our childrens’ education in the last few years. Like me, some of our parent volunteers are parents to Year 11s and, like me, will be leaving the school community at the end of the year. We desperately need more parents from younger years to come forward to support the Charity and the fundraising that we do, which is so essential for our school community.

There is still time in the last few months of school to meet the current Committee and find out more about how it works, so we are reaching out to our members to ask them to step up and be a friend to the Friends. Is this something that YOU could do?

The time commitment is flexible, around about 2 hours per month only. Our meetings are scheduled in advance so it is easy to block the time in your diary. Please contact friends@bottishamvc.org or visit our Facebook page to find out the dates of the next meeting or to ask any questions.

Did you know that one of the major fundraising activities of the Friends is to raise the money for the Year 11 Ball Marquee? This is to reward their five years of hard work and grafting for their exams, by creating a magical space for them. We do this by hosting our own ball on the Saturday 2 nd July, the day after the Year 11 event, and ALL the proceeds go to paying for the marquee.

For me this year, it is especially relevant, as, as a Year 11 parent I am also managing quite a lot of discussion at home about dresses, dates and dancing! My daughter is already ridiculously excited about the Leavers Ball.

So do save the date and book your ticket for the Summer Ball! We have lowered the ticket price this year making it even better value.

I shall look forward to seeing some new parents on the dance floor and hopefully also at one or two of our meetings.

Mrs Rebecca Foreman, Chair of The Friends of Bottisham Village College

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Niall Hooton - Gymnastics Star!

Early in March, Year 7 Student Niall Hooton, a very talented gymnast, represented Huntingdon gymnastics club at the U12 British championships in Glasgow. Competing in all 6 Olympic disciplines, he managed to place 26 th out of 66 athletes. A highlight of the event for Niall was a 5th place in the floor competition! Most recently he competed in the English Championships at Loughborough university and came a very impressive 20th. Well done Niall!

Basketball

Badminton We entered a team of year 8 & 9 boys into the school games badminton doubles competition in February. For many, it was their first experience of a badminton competition. One doubles pair, Stephen Lambert and Oliver Divall, did exceptionally well and came away winners!

Basketball season has been and gone, with Bottisham having teams represent us in district competitions at U14 and U16 level for both boys and girls. The U14 girls deserve special mention, winning their heat and progressing to the final, where they remained undefeated to claim the trophy! Well done to all students that attended basketball clubs and played fixtures this winter.

Gymnastics 3 girls entered the Cambridgeshire schools gymnastics competition earlier in the term. Lucy Ashworth ranked 1st in the U15 age group, with Nell Westbrook coming 4th and Iysha AxonCoates 3rd.

Well done to all of you.

For all information on fixtures and clubs over the coming year, follow @BVCPhysicalEd on twitter!

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Roy Burrell Awards At this year’s Roy Burrell District Sports Awards, we were delighted to have 19 year 11 students receiving medals for representing their respective sports at county level or above. This meant we were one of the best represented schools in the entire county, so well done to all our athletes that picked up medals.

One student, however, went one step further, not only being nominated in the Outstanding Sportsman category, but actually going on to win the award! Jonny Lankfer, who was recently selected to play and train with the England U16 mens’ hockey team, beat exceptional athletes from across the county to claim the top prize. He is the first student from Bottisham to ever win the oustanding sportsman or woman award, and joins an esteemed list of previous winners, many of whom have gone on to have professional sporting careers.

Miss Shenton to run the London Marathon After watching Mr Perry and Miss Davison run the London Marathon last year, Miss Shenton has decided to have a go herself! She is training incredibly hard every week to ensure she achieves her target time of under 4 hours, and is running in aid of WellChild.

If you wish to sponsor her for her heroic efforts, please visit the following page: www.justgiving.com/Natalie-Shenton88

Steven Cahill signs for Ipswich Town FC For the second year running, a BVC student has secured a professional contract with Ipswich Town FC. Following the success of Callum Fullwood last year. Steven has represented the school in football, rugby, basketball, cross-country and athletics and thoroughly deserves the success as a result of his hard work and dedication.

David Dow Cross -Country Star David Dow 9.4 has had a terrific start to his cross- country season. Firstly, he finished in 1st place in the Anglian Schools Cross-country to qualify to represent Cambridgeshire in the English schools competition. At this event he competed against the best year 8 & 9 students from across the country, putting in another heroic run to finish in 4th place. Most recently, he represented England at the Home Countries International in Glasgow and came an impressive 13th. Well done David!