Box Hill School
November 2020
Latest News
Proud of our Round Square heritage As I am sure you are all aware Box Hill School was one of the founding members of Round Square along with seven others back in the 1960s. Round Square schools share a commitment to character education and experiential learning built around six themes – our “IDEALS” of International Understanding, Democracy, Environmental Stewardship, Adventure, Leadership and Service. The Round Square IDEALS are underpinned by twelve “Discoveries” that students explore on their learning journey: inquisitiveness, tenacity, courage, compassion, inventiveness, ability to solve problems, self-awareness, sense of responsibility, appreciation of diversity, commitment to sustainability, communication and team working skills. There are now 200 schools around the world who belong to the Round Square family and, in non-COVID years, we enjoy a wonderful collaboration with them and often travel and work together. At Box Hill School, Round Square is part of our DNA and imbues everything that we do in a less obvious but still powerful way.
WELCOME We are back again and absolutely delighted to be sharing our news from the last 6 weeks of term. Nobody could have expected such a tumultuous summer of uncertainty when we ended physical school in March, and yet, due to so much hard work by so many, we have returned in amazing strength. At the start of term we were thrilled to welcome all the new students who have quickly settled in to school life. We look forward to a happy and successful year for them all, despite a few understandable nerves at the start we are so proud at how well they have settled in, made new friends and grasped new opportunities.
Re-enacting the Battle of Hastings Sanitised weapons and non-contact combat were the order of the day for our Year 7s as they continued the Box Hill School tradition of re-enacting the Battle of Hastings in History. Using their homemade shields, looking resplendent in the autumn morning light, Mr Vermeulen’s history class marched to the Dalewood lawn to decide who would emerge as the ruler of England. As always, it was a tight affair with Harold’s shield wall protecting the Saxons well. However, William’s clever tactics and the unfortunate arrow to Harold’s eye meant that it was the Normans who returned to Room 8 as the victors (again). Weapons were cleaned with disinfectant wipes, and handshakes and high-fives were put on hold, but it was pleasing to see this tradition continue (safely) during such a difficult and uncertain time. It certainly makes one ponder what our ancestors from centuries gone by might make of the world in which we currently live.
Another year of Exam success Our 2020 exam results were a ‘school record’, which is excellent news, even though we all understand that grades were allocated on teacher predictions and cannot be truly compared with previous years. We can however be proud that teachers served the students with integrity and accuracy but also enabled them through thorough preparation to achieve some excellent results: GCSE pass rate was 91.5% at grade 4 – 9. The national average was 78.8%, we are performing at 12.7% higher overall. A Level out-performed our
The spirit of “Internationalism” This half term the students are focusing on the first of the IDEALS: “Internationalism”. This could be described as ‘global citizenship’ and is a huge strength of the school. Year 7 students have been attending the Round square activity and have been researching symbols of national identity across a number of countries. These have included Austria, South Africa and Italy, as well as many more. There have been a number of areas that they have been looking at including national costumes, national flags and many statues or monuments and what they commemorate. Year 10 students are involved in a four-week Inter-Third Sedan Chair Challenge during tutor time on Fridays. They have researched designs and are now building their sedan chairs made from reclaimed materials sourced from home. There are some fantastic design ideas on display demonstrating their ingenuity and engineering skills. The next stage is to continue to bring in materials to enhance their designs further and score points for ‘suitability and stability’ and ‘aesthetics and decoration’, based on the theme of “internationalism” or their Third! The Round Square committee will be meeting to discuss and arrange a whole school event on Internationalism. The committee is also setting up a diversity group to discuss how to encourage diversity and compassion.
cohort performance target set at the start of the academic year and achieved 56% A*-B pass rate and 98% A*-E pass rate. There was also an increase in the percentage of students achieving A*- C grades at 78%. International Baccalaureate was again strong, achieving a diploma average of 32.5 points, beating the world average of 29.9 points.
New Book Club for Year 9 The launch of our new Year 9 Book Club during the activities programme has got off to a great start. It is an engaging way for these students to facilitate interest, debate and engagement in
Again, we emphasise and
new books and literature. After much discussion the group chose
acknowledge that no exams
to read “Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie and
were taken but the hard work
the “Stormbreaker” graphic novel by Anthony Horowitz.
over many months by all
The group are very much looking forward to future discussions
students and staff is the real
about non-fiction, book illustration and books that have been
reason why these results are
made into films, as well as choosing books to be added to library
so good, and we thank
stock and quizzes/competitions later in the term. We look
everybody for their continued
forward to hearing who will be crowned the “Box Hill Book Lover.”
focus and commitment.
OUR BOARDING COMMUNITY Despite term only officially starting on the 1st of September, due to quarantine restrictions we started welcoming boarders back into our community from the 15th of August. We laid on both our ‘normal’ preschool summer course, and also provided a quarantine provision for students who required it. The pre-school course was a huge success and the students fully engaged in both lessons and other activities available. These included a number of trips such as Hever Castle, a very rainy Oxford and an exhilarating boat trip along the Thames in a RIB, to the echoes of the James Bond theme music! The course ended with a graduation meal and the presentation of certificates which reflected the hard work carried out by the students. It was also necessary for us to provide a quarantine facility for our overseas boarders which necessitated isolating them in the boarding house for 14 days. All of the students not only showed remarkable resilience in what must have been an incredibly difficult time but many of them appeared to thoroughly enjoy the experience - the endless supply of chocolate biscuits and cakes no doubt contributed to this positive outcome! We are thrilled to have all these students now fully immersed in Box Hill school life.
Volcanic eruptions in Geography Our Year 9 students have been learning about plate tectonics and the hazards of volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis in Geography. For their homework they were tasked with building a volcano, making it erupt and producing a video to demonstrate their work using household items.
Team building day for Year 7 During the Autumn term, our Year 7s would usually be enjoying their first of many expeditions, this one being to The Brecon Beacons, which unfortunately couldn’t go ahead this year. However, on Friday 9th October, we couldn’t promise them the hilly delights of South Wales; but they did get a day off timetable and enjoyed a team building day to bond as a year group. In the morning, the students navigated their way around Box Hill on a circular route using their map reading skills. They walked in small groups, each with a member of staff to assist. In the afternoon, a mini tournament was organised by the PE department and students tried out a range of games and activities.
SPORT With coronavirus restrictions in place, pupils have returned to an adjusted PE curriculum and a different structure to their sporting activities afternoons. Pupils continue to be enthusiastically participating in plenty of sport in their respective year group bubbles with our netball, football and hockey players certainly grateful for the wonderful weather up to now! They have all made a terrific start to the term in training sessions by improving their fitness, ball skills, match play and developing their knowledge of the rules. In the absence of being able to host competitive fixtures against other schools we have now started some of our Inter-Thirds events in hockey, cross country and football which has ramped up the competition amongst all our students. ‘Thirds’ are the student ‘houses’ which compete against each other. To confuse matters, there are four of them! When students join the school they are allocated to either Athenians, Corinthians, Olympians or Spartans and will get to cheer on their compatriots in other year groups throughout their time at school, this creates great camaraderie amongst the school community. Pupils have also been getting into the habit of spraying and wiping down equipment, as well as dunking cones and balls in our disinfectant buckets! It has been really pleasing to see them respect these restrictions in a mature manner and be scrupulous in cleaning equipment after use.
“Chicago the Musical” – Live screening We are excited to announce that we are preparing an abridged version of ‘Chicago’ the musical with our senior students. Rehearsals for this took place over half term and we will be releasing a live screening date very soon. Watch this space! We have also seen some excellent emerging talent in our year group bubbles, on a devised piece of drama entitled ‘Stop Making Sense’ which explores the current situation from a variety of perspectives. This too will be filmed and shared. Teaching drama in a socially distanced manner, using a grid marked on the studio floor, has been challenging and exciting and the students have responded creatively to the new parameters as they continue with their practical work. It is absolutely fantastic to see our Drama department yet again bringing hugely creative and highly innovative solutions to the children’s performance endeavours during these times.
In other drama news … Our Drama exam students took their first GCSE or A Level examinations in front of a small invited audience from their year group. These exams took place during the school day. They have worked very hard this term within social distancing restrictions to produce some lovely work and are very proud of them.
Design Technology @BoxHillDT It has been lovely to hear the workshop buzzing with students excitedly starting their first practical projects for the year. Year 10 have been underway with their 3D Design projects, whilst Year 7 have been practising their best scary moves, by designing their “horror special effects” masks, which they will be making this year. The masks have been vacuum formed, which the students loved watching and now they are ready to decorate! We have a new Twitter account, where we will be showcasing lots of our DT work, please do follow us @BoxHillDT and our Instagram page #BoxhillDT.
Music News Ms Jessica Taylor, our new Head of Music, has been busy continuing to plan and provide a broad and enriching programme of music in academic lessons, extra-curricular clubs and ensembles, as well as further developing singing and music composition across the school. Our peripatetic music lessons are back on site, and our DJ-ing, music production and singing lessons are proving very popular! All of course strictly adhering to new guidelines. It is fabulous to hear the sound of music again as you walk past our purpose built music centre. Music scholarships are available in years 7, 9 and 12.
LAMDA The LAMDA exams, which were postponed due to Covid-19, went ahead on Sunday 4th October. 30 pupils took exams ranging from Grade 1 Verse and Prose to Gold Acting, Verse & Prose and Public Speaking. Gold medal candidates were Honor M, Gobind B, Caitlin N, Joseph B and William McK. It was a particular achievement this year as many of the lessons were conducted by Mrs Lowe on Zoom during lockdown. We now await the results with baited breath! Good luck all!
Investigations in Geography In Geography lessons, Year 7 have been carrying out investigations of the school site. They have chosen their own investigation questions, designed their fieldwork, collected data around the school site, presented the data in graphs and are currently analysing their findings. Another very handson experience for them all!
Sixth Form Taster Day for our Year 11 students Our annual Sixth Form Taster Day was held on Tuesday 13th October, providing the perfect opportunity for our Year 11 students to experience all that Box Hill School sixth form has to offer. Students wore smart business attire, enjoyed a variety of taster lessons, got the chance to hear from our A Level & IB Co-ordinators and Careers Advisor as well as listen to what our current sixth formers have to say about sixth form life. Year 11 parents were also invited to attend the “Virtual sixth form information evenings� which included a Headmasters talk, A Level and IB Programme Leaders presentations and talks from all our Subject Specialists.
Co-curricular programme: At Box Hill School we passionately believe that young people are best placed to focus on learning in the classroom when they are healthy, happy, and pleasantly tired out by challenging activities. That is why we offer a diverse programme, with over 50 different activities running weekly. These include; debating, kickboxing, drama, music tech, fashion & textiles, Zen colouring, dance and the Green Team to name a few.
Activities Spotlight Mountain biking Year 10 students have been attending the mountain biking activity each week. They have been cycling off site to a few different local areas to find new and exhilarating trails. In the last couple of weeks the students have been over to Denbies and up Box Hill to test their bravery and fitness. The students are out for the whole afternoon on a Wednesday and have become very skilled in their descents after some very tough steep uphill climbs.
Lego Club Lego Club runs twice a week during the activities schedule for our Year 9 and 7 students. The enthusiastic club members have had lots of fun designing many different creations already this term and are looking forward to the potential opportunity of making stop-motion animated videos.
Gardening We are very fortunate to have our own allotment opposite the school for our students to nurture their crops. Despite lockdown, our gardeners managed to produce some fantastic vegetables. Before the closure of School, students sowed seed potatoes, leeks, sweetcorn and onions. Aided by Mr Savage and Mr Holliman, our Head Groundsman who continued to nurture the crop during lockdown, we now have some enormous leeks! Students will continue to have a lot of fun harvesting the crops and preparing the ground over the Autumn and Winter as well as lots of weeding!
Dance We are very proud to offer an extensive dance programme in a range of styles and disciplines to suit all levels. It has been fantastic to welcome the new Year 7s into their dance classes, which are run as part of the co-curricular programme. Their energy and enthusiasm is inspiring. They have been doing cartwheels, backflips and handsprings, alongside some technical elements concentrating on pirouettes, kicks and leaps. They will be looking at some choreographic elements over the next half term so that their creativity can really develop as well as working on a short routine. We are really looking forward to seeing them perform this later in the term. Dance Company, our most advanced dance group, has had a fabulous start to the term and are working on some technical moves and learning new skills. They have started a new dance to; “I’m a survivor” which they are doing around a chess board keeping them creative and socially distanced all at once! Miss Stredder, our dance teacher, is delighted with how they are progressing. They are hoping to be able to show you some exciting things soon!
Evening and Weekend fun for our Boarders Our six Boarding houses have been super busy socially despite the restrictions of the ‘house bubbles’. They have enjoyed some fabulous house themed social nights including a delicious Thai night, soup night and an Italian evening where they dined on carbonara and al forno pasta. Burmester House, our sixth form girls house enjoyed a German evening, which was led by by our German students, where the girls learnt things about their culture and spent a lovely evening in their house bubble dining in the culinary delights of the German cuisine. There has been a very special 18th birthday to celebrate and also the annual tradition of pumpkin carving not to mention the extensive after school activities programme that is in place for our boarders. Weekends have been busy too with several boarders trips. They were also visited here onsite by ‘Hawk on the Wild Side,’ where they were able to learn from the falconry experts and even got to hold the birds and feed them.
National Poetry day On Thursday 1st October, the school celebrated National Poetry Day by using poetry in as many lessons as possible. English classes listened to poems by Michael Rosen, Design Technology classes heard a poem about losing pairs of scissors and History classes heard one about 1066. Tutor groups listened to poems on the general theme of school. Poetry was also used in Maths and Spanish classes as well as the library and it was fitting that LAMDA students were practising reciting poetry for their upcoming exams.
Life drawing for our Art students Year 12 and 13 IB Visual Arts and A level students have been attending a life drawing class every Thursday. The students are drawing directly from a figure model and are using a range of drawing media and techniques to reproduce the human form. The work will contribute to student coursework and process portfolio. It also helps improve students’ drawing skills.
Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions Dates for the diary: Registration deadlines for 2021 entry: Year 9 applicants Friday 13th November 2020 Year 7 applicants Friday 13th November 2020 Year 12 applicants Friday 11th December 2020
It was DofE expeditions weekend and the sun was shining on the Surrey Hills! We embarked on our first Covid-friendly expeditions of the year in order to complete Bronze and Silver Awards from the last academic year. A number of adjustments were made, in line with DofE including removal of the camping element. 35 Year 10 students completed their Bronze expedition element and 8 of our Silver students also completed their expedition element. The students adjusted incredibly well to these new conditions and should be very proud of their achievements. Well done to everyone who participated over the weekend on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th October and we look forward to launching the next level of awards over the coming weeks.
Assessment dates for September 2021 entry: Year 9 applicants w/c 30th November 2020 Year 7 applicants w/c 11th January 2021 Year 12 applicants Ongoing on receipt of application Chicago the Musical Live screening available TBC End of term Friday 11th December GET IN TOUCH Please contact us via admissions@boxhillschool.com WHO TO CONTACT Claire Jordan, Registrar Emma Bushnell, Marketing Manager
Old London Road, Mickleham, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6EA Tel: 01372 373382 www.boxhillschool.com boxhillschool @boxhillschool
Proud to support the Maggie’s Surrey Cycle Challenge What a glorious day it was on Sunday 11th October when we welcomed the cyclists to Box Hill School to take part in the inaugural Maggie’s Surrey Cycle Challenge. Kitted out in their eye-catching orange kit, they set off at intervals to tackle the 80 or 40 mile routes accompanied by their guides. Along the way, they were refuelled with lunch at the Maggie’s centre at the Royal Marsden Hospital and returned to School to receive their medals at various points during the day. A great day was had by all and it was wonderful to be able to run the event, thus enabling
Maggie’s to raise much needed funds to help those affected by cancer. Congratulations to all those who cycled, helped to fundraise, organised the day and to Maggie’s supporters who came along to cheer and welcome back the intrepid riders. We are delighted to lend our support and to have been part of such a rewarding day.