26 minute read
LOCKDOWN
from Caterhamian 2020
VISOR PRODUCTION
Our hardworking 3D department joined forces with Prep School Art to produce 200 visors in one day! The visors have been distributed around the North Tandridge Primary Care Network and are already being used to protect workers at local residential homes and GP surgeries.
he production of the
Tmasks has evolved over the past week to speed up the process and make use of more accessible material and fabrication techniques. Last week, the initial design took the 3D printer 12 hours to print four head bands using 63 metres of PLA (a biodegradable plastic derived from corn starch mounted onto a reel). This was clearly too slow, so the volunteer team designed and manufactured its own ‘low tech’ visor from clear PVC, foam, elastic and snap poppers which could be quickly assembled.
A new design is set to speed up production further still with a version suited for hospital use with no fabric parts. Kitronic who supply primary and secondary schools with materials for Design & Technology have shared a different visor design which can be quickly laser cut from sheet polypropylene.
STAY HEALTHY –JOIN THE CLUB ON STRAVA
Since moving to virtual school, members of the Sports Department set up a Strava Club, this tracks your exercise and posts it onto the Caterham School Strava page, competing and seeing how active we are as a community.
PPE FOR CARE WORKERS
The support effort by the Caterham community is global with amazing support from our overseas pupils and Old Caterhamians.
Lucy G, with the help of friends and family, is spearheading a brilliant effort to provide significant PPE provision for care and health workers in Caterham and beyond. In addition to starting a fundraising campaign on Instagram, (with brilliant posters designed by fellow pupil Sophie T) Lucy is working hard arranging purchase and shipment of CE certified masks to Caterham. Great work Lucy and team!
This support is in addition to the many boarding families who have already donated and sent masks and PPE via the School’s boarding houses.
AMAZING
£7K Raised for SASH
The English Department’s Saturday night quiz, which began as school community fun during lockdown has raised almost £7,000 for SASH, the charity for East Surrey Hospital and the care and services provided by Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust for people across Surrey and Sussex.
Mr Nick Crombie, set the wheels in motion at the start of lockdown and the event has proved so popular that he has kept it going, raising the brilliant sum for the NHS and gaining a global audience.
r Crombie said: “The
Mquiz started five weeks ago as an opportunity to get our community in one place on a Saturday night, aiming to bring their ‘big night out, back in’. We have grown over this time and now see upwards of 200 teams compete every week, some tuning in from Oman, New Zealand,
Sweden, America, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
“On Saturday 18 April we decided to make it a ‘Dress for the NHS’ quiz – encouraging families to put on a costume, or to dress fancily, whilst making a donation to SASH
Charity, our local NHS Trust. So far we’ve raised over £6658 and it’s still rising. We are so proud to give this money to such an amazing cause at a hugely challenging time.”
The initial target set by Mr
Crombie was £500 but this amount was passed before the quiz even began. The school had emails and calls from former pupils across the world who were keen to join the community effort and donate for the cause.
Mr Crombie added: “The amount raised has been brilliant but It doesn’t surprise me in a way – the sense of community pulling together has been awesome and this is just one of the ways our community has got involved to help others.”
MORE FABULOUS PHOTOS FROM OUR SATURDAY NIGHT QUIZ....
PA SUPERHERO AWARD FIRST WINNER ANNOUNCED
Many congratulations to Mr Crombie who was nominated and voted to be our very first Caterham School Parents’ Association Superhero!
The comments we had from parents throughout the school community were heartfelt and amazing – here are just a few:
He vowed to read every night and he even brings pupils past and present (and so far one teacher) to sing! I’ve learned so much about him (he’s never poached an egg!) and what a nice man he is and how well he engages with the children and how they look up and respect him…..then there is the weekly quiz, researching all the questions, taking all the grief and providing hundreds of families with entertainment and humour. The Quiz really is the highlight of our week. Then there is the fundraising for East Surrey Hospital SASH raising £7,000. Need I go on? – Mr Crombie for the first PA Superhero award! Thank you.
So thank you Mr Crombie from all of us for your amazing work at keeping everyone engaged and connected, entertained and may be a little bit smarter.
PM Pays Tribute to OC Professor Nicholas Hart
We are incredibly proud of Old Caterhamian Professor Nicholas Hart for his amazing, lifesaving work treating Boris Johnson and so many coronavirus patients in his role at Guys and St Thomas’s, London.
The NHS has saved my life, no question.
ick was given high praise from the
NPrime Minister with his (and his colleague Dr Nick Price’s) name included as a tribute to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symond’s new born son.
Professor Hart, director of the Lane Fox
Respiratory Service at Guy’s and St Thomas’, is one of the most experienced specialists in treating patients with chronic respiratory failure. Dr Hart attended Caterham School and progressed to achieve BSc (Hons) in Anatomy and MB BSS (Hons) University of London,
MB BS (Hons) and then PhD at University of
London, Royal Brompton Hospital in 2004.
In a tribute to Professor Hart and all who looked after him in hospital, the Prime Minister said: “the NHS has saved my life, no question”.
After spending three nights in intensive care,
Boris Johnson added that he had witnessed the
“personal courage not just of the doctors and nurses but of everyone: the cleaners, the cooks, the healthcare workers of every description, physios, radiographers, pharmacists”.
Paella Online
Spanish Upper Sixth Form pupils Mollie and Jeremy participated in a Spanish live remote Paella cooking lesson with Mr Garcia, conducted in Spanish. Mollie cooked a very healthy traditional vegetarian dish whilst Jeremy ended up with a mouth-watering seafood paella. An amazing achievement for their first time cooking – buen provecho!
CATERHAM MFL Business as usual
It was business as usual for the Spanish Department, connecting with the LAE Stratford pupils via Micorsoft Teams.
Mrs Nye, Mr Parker and Mr Garcia continued to support the Lower and Upper Sixth pupils during the school closures, interacting and discussing Hispanic themes with them. Saskia has just received an off from Warwick University to study International Management – great news
WELLBEING WEBINARS for Parents
Each Wednesday during the summer term our Pastoral Team have led Wellbeing webinars to support parents and pupils throughout lockdown, coping with change and other pertinent topics relevant for teenage life and beyond. These were incredibly popular with a huge number of parents joining in from across the community.
ANNIE HELPS THE SCRUBS EFFORT
Fourth Year pupil Annie has been using sewing skills, learnt for her Duke of Edinburgh Award, by making scrub bags for the NHS. Taught to sew as part of her DofE skills programme, Annie was invited by the local scrubs making team to make the scrubs bags from donated pillowcases for the NHS. Annie is really enjoying the challenge, along with doing her bit to help. A great way to connect and give at this time. Go Annie, we are so proud of you!
SHOUT OUT FOR SCRUBHUB
A huge thank you to everyone who donated material on Saturday 24 April ! The school minibus was filled with donations and delivered to parent Laura who is using it to make scrubs for local GPs as part of national network ScrubHub.org. uk. Have a look at some of the first designs that will help to put smiles back on the faces of patients across our local area.
CARDS FOR CARE HOMES
First and Second Year pupils have been busy making cards and writing messages for the staff and residents of local care homes. There were delivered in the first week of May and will certainly have bought some colour and joy to the recipients.
TALKING ITALIAN
Third Year pupils studying Italian got the chance to put their spoken language skills to the test in May as 35 English and Italian pupils (and three teachers) met up via Google Meet.
Caterham pupils and their new friends from Vaiano Cremasco were able to ask each other questions and hear the replies spoken in a native tongue. Both sets of pupils had been well prepared, spoke confidently and were fully engaged in the dialogue that took place. The partnership between our schools has been in place for seven years and virtual learning has allowed us to see the potential in this way of communicating, something that can be continued into the future.
Storytime Live Hits 50!
On Sunday 3 May, Caterham English celebrated their 50th consecutive live show by inviting some incredibly talented performers to soothe the soul on a Sunday.
Over the past eight weeks, the Department has read three novels, seen over twenty pupils perform music, hosted seven quizzes and raised nearly £7000 for charity all thanks to your incredible support. On Sunday, each singer brought something different from their original performance and we even had a world exclusive from Ashleigh Davies, who performed her new single for the first time live. The videos have been watched over 450 times on our story and a huge thank you to Millie, Becca, Alyssa, Ashleigh, Charlotte, Olivia, Anna Davies, Anna Wright, Nathan, Drew and Megan.
Thanks go to Ellen (Upper Sixth Form) for the amazing sketch of the Instagram live shows.
ZACHARY AND RAJAN PERFORM
Lower School pupils Zachary (Second Year) and Rajan (First Year) showcased their talent in May adding a Bollywood vibe to their brilliant cover of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’. With Zac on vocals and Rajan’s cool beats on the table, it wasn’t to be missed. Congratulations to both boys!
Trinity Group 1500m VIRTUAL CHALLENGE CUP
In the middle of May, 144 Caterham pupils completed in the first every Trinity Group 1500m Virtual Challenge Cup, against 14 other schools.
his was an event open to all
Tpupils from the First Year to Sixth Form, where each pupil had to run 1500m as quickly as possible.
The focus of the event was to encourage as many pupils as possible to be active and represent their respective schools. In the end, over 1500 pupils took part in the competition.
Take-up was particularly strong in the First, Second and Third Year groups. Our Second year placed second out of 15 in both the participation event (42 pupils) and the boys’ event (ben W in 5.19 minutes). Our First Years came fourth in their event, with 38 participants, the same number as the Third Year.
There were a number of outstanding individual performances, with the top Caterham times as listed below. All Caterham athletes should be very proud of their efforts – irrespective of their times, as they brought great credit to the school in this event.
First Year – 38 Participants
Ryan R – 5.30 mins Estee N – 5.59 mins
Second Year – 42 Participants
Ben W – 5.19mins Eloise A – 5.46mins
Third Year – 38 Participants
Nick S – 5.43 mins Izzy H – 6.02mins
Fourth Year – 19 Participants
Jonny N – 5.58 mins Grace G – 5.54 mins
Fifth Year
Josh C – 5.15 mins Lauren B – 6.39 mins
Sixth Form
Issac S – 5.48 mins
FIRST YEARS SOLVING THE MYSTERY
1W were given a choice of recipes and ideas to create and bake Sherlock Holmes and Hound of the Baskervilles inspired biscuits in their lesson.
The class enjoyed cooking together over Google Meet with a little help from some willing parents and with some amazing results; any that went awry were quickly added to the list of the Hound’s victims with the help of some red icing!
Will their biscuits enhance their powers of deduction as they try to solve the mystery of the curse of the Baskervilles?.. only one way to find out…
TANZANIA We Made it!
In just 15 short days the Caterham community travelled the 10,975km to reach Tanzania.
Having set ourselves the target of arriving in Tanzania by the end of May, we are astonished at how quickly we were able to cover this ground.
Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed KMs to this challenge. We hope you have enjoyed it – we have certainly loved the feeling of what a community effort this was. Day in, day out, off we went on cycling, walking and running adventures – family collaborations or individual efforts – and we did this together. Just amazing.
There have also been some extremely generous donations to our Just Giving page –thank you so much to everyone that has contributed towards our target. St Catherine’s Hospice will certainly appreciate it too.
FORM CATCH UP
FIFTH YEAR BACK TO SCHOOL
Mrs Pearce and the Fifth Year tutor team were delighted to welcome Fifth Year pupils back to school in the last week of term to hand back their textbooks and collect lost property. It was great to hear how they have been making the most of lockdown, and enjoying their Inspire Course.
10,000 PIECES OF PPE FOR LOCAL HEALTH & CAREWORKERS
A phenomenal effort of support for the local Surrey community from the Caterham global family came to fruition in early June with the arrival of 10,000 pieces of PPE at North Tandridge Primary Care Network – all fundraised for, sourced, arranged and donated by Caterham boarding pupils and their families.
he project was spear-
Theaded by Lily G with support from her friends Ethan L and Electa Y who were moved by the shortage of PPE for health and social care workers and how it was affecting the local community in Caterham and Surrey. The need first came up in a regular online catch up between Mrs Quinton, Head of Beech Hanger Boarding House, and her House pupils. The pupils’ responded almost immediately, keen to help in any way they could.
Lily said: “I have quite a few amazing friends helping me out through this process. They have been supporting me and money collection couldn’t be done without them.”
The project was no mean feat but Lily and her friends took on the challenge and brought about a result that will support GP practices and almost 40 care homes across the North Tandridge area and beyond for several months.
CATERHAM ATHLETIC PROGRAMME
KM CHAMPIONS
At the start of May we launched our CAP KM Championships, were we challenged our CAP athletes to run and cycle as many KM as they could during the month of May. The response was superb and the KM Champ titles were decided by a mere few KM - incredible.
Huge congratulations our CAP Champions: l Top Runner: Megan S l Top Cyclist: Max T l Top Combined Runner and
Cyclist: Max T Very honourable mentions must also go to the following pupils for their fantastic efforts - it really was so close at the top! l Karlijn R l Theo B l Izzy H l Niall M Akey part of our CAP programme this term has been to focus on the opportunities that ‘lockdown’ has presented us, as well as finding new and innovative ways to stay motivated. Many of our CAP pupils seem to have now discovered a new love for cycling and running! Both fantastic ways to enjoy the outdoors, both as part of an intense bit of training and also some enjoyable family outings.
Both physical and mental preparation have been a key factor in our meetings and in the weekly tasks set. There have also been opportunities to get a bit more creative with our nutrition and our recovery processes, due to the extra time we have to focus on these things.
We are very proud of how our pupils have approached this period of time and how they have remained just as committed and determined to work hard and continue to improve despite the constraints that they face. They have all found ways to overcome any obstacles in their way, which will only serve to make them even better prepared for competitive life as and when it returns.
ABSOLUTELY SUPERB
Virtual Sports Day 2020
SPORT DURING ARTS WEEK SAW PUPILS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE PART IN A VIRTUAL SPORTS DAY, WHILST COMPETING FOR THEIR HOUSES.
here were eight different
Tevents for pupils to participate in, with a points system designed to encourage and reward maximum participation and effort.
Pupils entered more than 1500 events over the course of Arts Week, with Mr Taylor’s Circuit Challenge proving the most arduous task. Stay-at-home Shot Put, Household Hurdles and Lockdown Long Jump were the events with the highest participation.
“It was absolutely superb to see the number of you who joined in and took part in Sports Day - in excess of 300 pupils submitted results.” During the Sports Day competition, pupils had the opportunity to upload photographic evidence of them completing their events. A large number of pupils sent in wonderful photos of them competing. Other pupils used this as an opportunity to support the Black Lives Matter movement by contributing black screen photographs, echoing the support of the movement from professional sportsmen and women across the globe. As a school, we are delighted to see our pupils supporting this positive movement for change and demonstrating their awareness of issues affecting our local and global community.
3D DESIGNERS
Third Year pupils were working on an ‘inclusive design’ project in May, we took time out to use our single period in a separate creative task. Pupils were tasked with ‘Producing a digital message for those affected by Covid 19. The message could either be for the UK or the world. The only limitations were that is must be produced using digital media such as apps on their iPads.
Isolation does bring some challenges to teaching 3D, however Second Year pupils have made great strides during our recent ‘Upcycling Project’. They were tasked with finding unwanted, broken, unused items or even waste packaging (in their homes) to upcycle into products. Some amazing products were created including a bag woven from newspaper (Isabel T), a hand decorated tray made from MDF (Millie Y) and a mini greenhouse made from plastic bottles and timber (Isabelle P).
ust three months later,
JCCV Global is the biggest Covid-19 volunteering organisation in the world, operating in over 40 countries with 100 voluntary staff around the world and 35,000 volunteers in its network. His organisation was recently recognised by the United Nations, with UN agency UNESCO publishing a video about CCV Global, thanking them for their work across the world during the pandemic.
CCV Global’s mission is to tackle the effects of Covid-19 around the world. The organisation connects volunteers with those who need help through an app, meaning
Old Cats Praised by
UNITED NATIONS
In March, former pupil Rory Moore set up Coronavirus Community Volunteering (CCV) to encourage his friends to help the vulnerable during the pandemic.
that those self-isolating can get assistance with basic tasks like shopping or simply have a chat over the phone to prevent loneliness.
The app provides an innovative digital solution to the challenges of self-isolation: by partnering with community organisations across the world, CCV Global helps volunteer groups (that often rely on dated tools like Facebook groups or community lists) to access more people that may need help in the area. This ensures that people who are not part of community groups or do not have a volunteering service in their area are able to access the help they need.
CCV Global also uses its global network and platform to promote fundraising initiatives that are linked to Covid-19. You can find out more about the organisation at: ccvglobal.org.
LOCKDOWN CRICKET SUCCESS
With cricket suspended due to the Covd-19 pandemic, most Caterham pupils have had to contend with live online coaching sessions through the Summer Term via google meet, however, Lower Sixth Form pupil Nathan has continued his development with Surrey County Cricket Club’s Elite Player Group (EPG).
uring the first part of
Dlockdown Nathan’s training was overseen by the academy’s strength and conditioning coaches and largely consisted of a series of self-lead fitness training sessions including two 5km runs, two sprint sessions and home strength sessions every week. There was some competition added to the mix with four internal 1km time trials and several 2km time trials, where
Nathan recorded some extremely impressive times.
Once the ECB lifted the ban on ‘live training’ the EPG returned to training at Surrey’s Guildford ground twice a week, where bowling, batting and fielding were added to the arduous fitness program. This allowed Nathan to focus on specific areas of his skill development that he had been working on through the winter here at Caterham and during the Surrey EPG program. Nathan has continued to develop his already impressive pace, whilst also honing his accuracy, during this first phase of training before returning to competition. We wish him well for the rest of the summer and hopefully he will be able to test his skills in some fixtures before the summer is out.
It has been an extremely difficult summer term for all the cricketers, but especially 1st XI captain Ankush, who was due to lead the team this year, which would have been his fourth season in the team. We would like to thank him for the tremendous commitment that he has shown to Caterham cricket in his time at the school and wish him the very best for all his future endeavours. We would be delighted to see Ankush and his fellow cricketing leavers, return to Homefield in the not too distant future.
A Taste of SPAIN
In May Lower Sixth Spanish pupils enjoyed an online lesson with Mrs Nye, from her home kitchen!
he demonstrated in Spanish
Show to prepare a traditional Tortilla Espanola. During a live remote cooking lesson, the whole group was able to produce a tasty menu consisting of marinated olives, Spanish omelette and tomato salad as Mr Garcia guided them, in Spanish, through the process. Everyone enjoyed the results – yum!
Later the same week, the pupils were given a taste of life under lockdown for Spain as Mrs Nye’s sister, Mrs Mountain (a teacher at the Complutense University in Madrid) joined their lesson and described in Spanish how the lockdown has impacted Spanish society. Pupils also heard from Mrs Nye’s mother about what life had been like under Franco’s rule in the Basque Country in northern Spain. T¡Excelente trabajo chicos y chicas!
FIRST Virtual Running Fixture
On Thursday 14 May, 118 First and Second Year pupils participated in the first ever Caterham School Virtual Running Fixture against KCS Wimbledon and RGS Guildford where the challenge was to run for 20 minutes and cover as many metres as possible.
he number of pupils that
Tparticipated in the fixture was both remarkable and inspiring – as were some of the distances covered by our pupils!
I am proud to say that Caterham had the most participants in the fixture overall, the highest number of Second Year participants, the equal highest number of First Year participants, as well as the highest percentage participation rate in First Year, Second Year and overall. Remarkable facts!
The total distance covered by the Caterham pupils in 20 minutes was 365,800m – all of which count towards the KM’s for St Catherine’s Challenge.
There were also some outstanding individual performances:
In the U12 section, Ryan R came third overall, with a distance of 4970m, Estee N came 4th overall, covering 4780m. Other notable performances included (this is not an exhaustive list) Niall M 4700m, James T 4500m, Tilly G 4364m.
In the U13 section, Sam G came second overall with an excellent distance of 5070m covered in 20 minutes. Ben W came fourth with 4660m and other excellent performances (again not an exhaustive list) included Sam H 4600m, Eloise A 4370m and Karlijn R 4160m.
There were plenty of other remarkable performances throughout the competition, Ruby S providing real inspiration and every pupil who participated can be extremely proud of themselves, as we are of them.
MR BAGGS, DIRECTOR OF SPORT
ACADEMIC SHORT SERIES 2020
As some surrendered to lassitude and despondency, many in the Caterham community grabbed the opportunity lockdown offered for research and reading and the chance to be academic in a new medium.
lowly at first as staff
Spresented their thoughts on Bruegel, Auden, Elgar and Kant, but with steadily building momentum, the Academic Shorts series took shape. It wasn’t long before the pupils were in on the game, kicked off by Katie (Lower VI) and her award-winning discussion of conceptual art which was soon followed by a flood of eager scholars and filmmakers who discussed topics from game theory and fluid dynamics to Joseph Conrad and Ronald Reagan. Old Caterhamians contributed wonderfully too, notably the Rev’d Canon Chris Pullin, Chancellor of Hereford Cathedral, who spoke of his love of Dante, and from a more recent vintage Thomas Land on solitary bees.
To hear all parts of the community speak with passion and erudition on such diverse subjects was truly inspiring in difficult times. A special mention should go to Holly (Fourth Year), whose remarkable film on Catullus garnered high praise from two Oxford dons; and to Mrs Hunter and Mr Quinton for their two splendid films each. The undisputed master of the genre, however, was Dr Scott, who wowed us three times over with his engrossing discussions of black holes and Chernobyl. As in so many other ways, Caterhamians rose to a new challenge and a new way of studying and in so doing created what may well be a feature of scholarly life here for many years to come.
The full series can be seen on Twitter (@CaterhamEnrich) and Instagram (@CaterhamEnrichment).
MATHEW OWEN SENIOR ENRICHMENT TUTOR
TRADERS IN THE MAKING
Fifth Year Business Inspire pupils have been exploring the world of the stock exchange in the last half of the summer term.
They have come away with an understanding of what stocks and shares are, how markets work, the skills required in picking the right stock and the pitfalls that come with market crashes. When trading their own virtual £100,000, our budding investors had a very tough introduction to the risks and rewards associated with share trading and have had to navigate continuing volatility in the FTSE 100. A particular well done to Fenton & Reuben who both managed to net positive returns at a time when few others could (including Mr Moore!).
Key Worker SUPPORT
KEY WORKER SUPPORT HALF-TERM FUN
The School was open for business during May half-term with an ‘Activity Camp’ provided for the children of keyworkers. Our camps have become a valued community resource at this time, with the majority of the attendees being from local primary schools other than Caterham. It was a great pleasure to act as a local ‘hub’ in this way and offer and exciting range of activities.
