Charters News Autumn Term 2014
This year’s magnificent drama production of 60s hit musical “Summer Holiday” in November showcased the vast musical and theatrical talents of the large cast and crew. It was quickly followed by our two seasonal concerts: the Winter Concert held in school and the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols hosted by Holy Trinity Church. Like the production, the concerts encourage a high level of participation from students and staff and this year featured nine different choirs and seven different instrumental groups including the school orchestra, playing both classic and contemporary music. Each concert had its own style and created some beautifully performed and uplifting melodies. Well done to everyone involved.
Carpe Diem Co-Heads’ Comments by Martyn Parker and Richard Pilgrim The sunny start of the new school year in September seems to have given way so quickly to the Christmas festivities at the end of term. At our backs we always hear “Time’s winged chariot hurrying near” but though like the great poet, Andrew Marvell, “we cannot make our sun stand still”, we have “made him run” so far this academic year.
It is, of course, always good to start the school year with excellent examination results to proclaim; and last year’s GCSE and Sixth Form candidates did us proud achieving the school’s strongest set of grades across all the different qualifications. We have rightly celebrated these excellent results but, as we always say, Charters is about so much more than academic success. The personalities, achievements and relationships of the young people at Charters enrich our community and are the life-blood of the school. That’s why this year we have launched ‘The Edge’, an exciting and innovative award scheme that captures the personal qualities and contributions of our students … more of that in a moment.
We know that Martha Collison is an extraordinary baker and an attractive personality who charmed the nation; and we were so proud of Lily Meyrick (7M) who had the confidence and ability to sing to an audience of millions on the Chris Evans Radio 2 show recently. These examples are the tip of a ‘can do’ iceberg at Charters. Their efforts stand with those of the young people involved in our exuberant production of ‘Summer Holiday’ and the superb performance of our Junior Girls Cross Country
team who finished second at the National Championships and … well there are so many notable achievements because our students’ mantra has been ‘Carpe Diem’.
The willingness to grasp opportunities to be involved in positive activities has never been more important. Julie Bentley, the Chief Executive of Girl Guiding, explained on a recent edition of Desert Island Discs, that there are so many negative pressures and influences on young people in today’s modern society. She believes organisations like the Girl Guides offer positive opportunities that act as a counterbalance and, we would agree, that the opportunities we offer at Charters have the same effect.
That is why we have introduced ‘The Edge’ for all our Year 7 students and will shortly be doing the same for Year 8. ‘The Edge’ is a scheme for schools to develop and accredit in students those personal attributes essential for employability and success in later life – leadership, organisation, initiative, resilience and communication. The scheme was developed at Charters and is being trialled by many other schools up and down the country. Creating opportunities which build confidence has great value and is part of our role as teachers. Poet, Christopher Logue, sums this up: “Come to the edge. We might fall. Come to the edge. It’s too high! Come to the Edge! And they came, and he pushed, and they flew”.
For term dates see www.chartersschool.org.uk/Term-Dates-2014-2015
The Tirabad Triathlon A Year of Extreme Challenges We are entering the season for setting New Year’s resolutions and personal challenges. Well, this time last year, Dr Nathan Green, Head of Year 7 at Charters, wanted to help us raise money to upgrade facilities at Tirabad. He started with the idea of a triathlon and then thought “extreme”! A normal triathlon would be swim, bike and run. So Dr Green decided on a 10K Dart river swim, 190 miles bike ride from Tirabad to Charters and, not just to run the London Marathon, but to run the 26.2 miles in a bike costume! He has put himself through all of this to raise a target of £10K which will be used to improve resources at Tirabad and if all this was not enough, he competed in an Ironman competition in France as well.
Dr Green said: “Tirabad is a special place worth all the effort. To be able to take “21st century technology kids” to the Brecon Beacons, teach life skills, develop leadership and create a love of physical activity is a privilege. We manage this Centre with two other schools, but only just manage to balance the books each year, because we keep the costs to parents as low as we can. I wanted to do something to raise funds so the Centre can make the investment it needed. To date my Justgiving site (www.justgiving.com/TirabadTriathlonExtreme) has raised £7.5K so I’m just short of my target. Thus my thinking cap is on for what next!”.
Farewell to Staff We are sorry to be saying farewell to two members of the teaching staff this December: Mrs Naessens (Maths) is moving to another school nearer to her home and Miss Holt (PE) has gained a promotion to be Head of PE at Sir William Borlase’s School in Buckinghamshire. We would like to thank them both for all their hard work over the years at Charters and wish them well in their future careers. Martyn Parker and Richard Pilgrim Co-Headteachers
Follow @ChartersCareers on Twitter for latest career opportunities
Charters Connect The alumni society of Charters School
We’re already planning our next event. This time we’re seeking to re-establish contact with former students turning 40 this year or in a year or two either side of that, so if that’s you then we would love to hear from you. We’ve found some photos from that year group. Do you recognise anyone? We think we may have here Fleur Tennant, Robbie Deacon, Catherine Heridge, Kerri Lister, Paul Clayton, Vanessa Steele, Emily Lascelles, Robin Beshoori, Mark Jones, Ruth Owen, Lorraine Molyneux, Emma Rogers and Sadie James. Are you amongst this group or do you know someone who is? Do you have photos we could feature? And who’s that behind the door with an empty tin of Quality Street?
Please let us know your current contact details by emailing cc@chartersschool.org.uk giving your name (and the name you were known by when at school, if different) and your postal address so we can send you an invitation. We’re just as interested to hear from former staff so if we haven’t been in touch with you recently, please email us! Join ChartersConnect on Linkedin, follow us on Facebook or on Twitter (@ChartersSchool)
Saturday 16 May 2015 Now we are 40 years!
Here we think we have found photos of Piers Dodd, Andy East, Giles Crickmay, Mark Jones, Mr Stagg, Andy Bowyer, Kyle Chambers and Phil Mahoney . Are you in touch with anyone here or from this year group? Please let us know. Does anyone recognise the girls in the Sixth Form Common Room?
If you would like help organising a reunion for your year group, please email cc@chartersschool.org.uk
Inside and Outside the Classroom
Mixed Media artwork ‘War doesn’t determine who is right, only who is left’
Winning Art
Students from Years 8 and 9 were invited to submit a House Shield design for our new school flagpole. A huge number of entries were received so many congratulations to the winner of our House Shield competition, Beth Brown 9R. Year 7 students were invited to submit Christmas card designs to win points for their House and, if they wished, have their design made into a variety of Christmas products, including cards, wrapping paper and parcel labels. There was some wonderful artwork and the winner of this competition was Maddie McKee 7A. Amongst senior students, Georgina Boursnell’s mixed media art work for the year 11 Pre Public Exam skilfully reflects on the indiscriminate loss of life in this centenary year of the start of World War I .
Year 7 Reward Trip Lily Jones
Christmas is a magical time of year, filled with happy memories and fun times with your friends. But when you get to go somewhere extra special, with all of your close mates it makes it that much more memorable. London, for me was a highlight of 2014, packed with laughs, cheers and hugs of reassurance. Overall it was a fab night. It started off with a 5 star tour guide experience from Ms Bowie and Ms Boxall “B&B tours”, it was brilliant! This was followed by an outstandingly special 4D cinema experience that showed us around London in a “different” way. Then came the great finale: The Eye! This scarily colossal ride was actually AMAZING! I wish I could do the whole trip again! Thank you Mr Clarke for organising it.
To find out about the Sixth Form see www.chartersschool.org.uk/Sixth-Form-Welcome
Geologists visit Kimmeridge Bay This is the third time the department has visited this geological gem, and this was definitely the best trip so far. This may have been because it was an unusually balmy sunny day with none of the strong winds that we had last year. We were able to work far down the beach and take time to look and understand the geology of the bay. However, it was also such a good trip because the group were so involved in what they could see and learn. The staff really appreciated their positive attitude. We looked at the rock structures, folding and faulting, and learnt how to measure them. We also looked at tectonic jointing and some students found fine doorstops formed by jointing on the wave cut platform. But the highlight of the trip was finding fabulous fossils. The best find of the day was by Harry Pye who managed to find an awesome doorstop with a large fossil ammonite on its top face.
Safe Drive Stay Alive
Last year 1,204 people aged 16-19 were injured on roads in Thames Valley and Hampshire and an average of 4 young people per week were killed or seriously injured.
At a hard hitting presentation Year 13 learnt from the experiences of others the consequences of a casual disregard for focused attention on the road while driving. Real life testimonies from the emergency services, a father who had lost his 18 year old daughter in an accident and a short speech from a girl who had been severely injured in a crash while in her early twenties reminded students of the need to take care driving on the roads.
Year 8 in Paris Over half term, 74 students and ten teachers travelled across the channel to take in the sights of Paris. We had a behind the scenes tour of the Stade de France, walked down the Champs Elysée and saw the Arc Triomphe. Photos were taken of the city from the top of the tallest skyscraper in Paris, Tour Montparnasse, and pupils enjoyed the roller coasters at Parc Astérix. In the evenings, we were entertained by our French animateur, Faisal, whilst feasting on the finest French meals. Here’s what some of
our students said about the trip: “I thoroughly enjoyed the Paris trip because I got to see so many places and I was with my friends. The place we stayed at, named Campus Est, was brilliant. It was clean, had good food and everyone was friendly” Ben McClusky, 8T “The best part of the Paris trip was the Stade de France because it had the players changing room. We stayed at a Campus and there were pitches to play football on. The food was so nice!” Maxime Duggan-Hill, 8S
For Learning Gateway queries see www.chartersschool.org.uk/gateway
Charters Book Blog invites...
Anti Semitism recognised Julie Fitzpatrick
When I first heard there was a new ‘Young Bond’ book being published I thought of the author Charlie Higson and I searched for it online - it said Steve Cole was the author and I thought “who’s he?” I was excited but anxious - was he going to be as good as Charlie Higson….? I received the book a couple of days before Steve’s visit and was enthralled… On Monday 10 September Steve Cole came to Charters. At second break I queued to get my book signed (I had only got to page 76 and boy, it was good!). A group of Bond lovers surrounded Steve and we had our picture taken. Finally fifth period arrived and the wait was over! I saw streams of people heading for the hall and I managed to get a front row seat - a perfect view to see him… You can read the rest of Hugo’s excellent report of the event at http:// chartersbookblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/when-stevecole-visited-charters-school.html
The October weekend to Berlin was a fantastic trip. We consolidated old GCSE facts and learnt lots of new things from our great tour guide, to support our anti-Semitism unit for A-Level. Every moment of the trip was a highlight, even when our feet were in agony and we were all sleep deprived. The holocaust memorial and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp were particularly poignant aspects of the trip that made us reflect about the awful treatment of the Jews and other targeted groups of German society. We went bowling on Saturday night which was a lot of fun and I think we were all very taken with the trip to the Berlin Olympic Stadium on Sunday. It was a brilliant trip that we all took a lot from and understood so much more about the significance of commemorating the devastation of war at the annual Remembrance Service.
More sporting success Charters students competed in the U14 Girls Berkshire Hockey Tournament at Wellington College. After eight tough matches Charters found themselves in the Plate Final against Claire's Court winning in a penalty flicks competition! Well done to all the girls involved in this event. The U13 C and D Netball teams travelled to St Mary’s Ascot for a netball tournament against seven other schools. With both teams winning all of their matches and having exactly the same goal difference Charters C and D teams finished joint winners of the tournament! Very well done to all the girls involved for a fantastic evening of netball.