Spring Newsletter 2023

Spring 2023

CHERWELL SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

Opportunity, Responsibility, Excellence

Dear Parents/Carers

Welcome to our Spring newsletter. As usual I do hope you enjoy the opportunity to learn about the range of things that have been happening in school over the past two terms

Spring is always a time for great optimism and the school is getting a big lift from the work going into supporting projects aimed at combating climate change. As I have been reminding students in my assemblies, it is easy to feel a bit helpless as an individual or even as a community (like a school) in the face of a global issue. It is always easy to say it is someone else's problem because the issue is such a big one. That said, we have been acting in small ways, both individually and collectively, to make a difference.

We have labelled the next 10 years at school as a decade of nature regeneration. During Winter and early Spring there has been a significant planting initiative that you can read more about on pages 8 and 9. One of the joys of this work is that most of the energy and drive is provided by our Sixth Form students. They have led the assemblies with the younger children and have been inspirational. A lot of our talk has been about legacy - leaving something in a better place than you found it - it is to our students' credit that this means a great deal to so many of them. There is a lovely quotation linked to an ancient Greek proverb that can be paraphrased as “You know you are in a good place when people plant trees under the shade of which they will never get to sit”.

Success in the area of biodiversity has also encouraged us again to think more deeply about waste reduction and we will be working with our Sixth Formers to pilot some new approaches as we move into the Summer.

You will note that I wrote to you recently in relation to fundraising work we are doing to support projects designed to improve the toilet facilities for children especially on South Site - this is necessary and overdue. The Friends of Cherwell remain key to our success in fundraising. Their commitment to the school is heart-warming. There are multiple reasons why that isn’t an easy project but we are determined to make a difference. If you can support, please do so by using this link to the https:// friendsofcherwell.org/toilets-2023/.

It is always a delight to look through the newsletter and reflect on all of the opportunities that we have been able to open up to students. We are always looking to support new initiatives especially those that come from within the student body - I was particularly taken by the Bands night that involved some of our most accomplished musicians working alongside students who have never played an instrument or performed before. You can read more about this on pages 52-53. continued…/

Inside this issueWelcome Friends of Cherwell:Page 2 & 3

Careers Convention:Page 4 - 6

Investors in Careers Award Year 9 Careers Fest:Page 7

Cherwell School Sustainability Action Winter 2023:Page 8 & 9

Academic Enrichment:Page 10 - 16

Oxfordshire Teacher Training:Page 17

School Experience Days at Cherwell:Page 18

Paid Internships Programme:Page 19

Geography News:Page 20 & 21

MFL News Page 22 - 27

Duke of Edinburgh Bronze:Page 28 & 29

Duke of Edinburgh Gold:Pages 30 & 31

Library News: Pages 32 - 34

English Dept News: Pages 35 - 37

Science Enrichment:Pages 38 - 47

Performing Arts, Dance. Drama, Music:Pages 48 - 53

Year Team News:Pages 54 - 59

PE News:59 - 61

Secure Locker Rentals:62 - 63

As always at this point in the year we are thinking deeply about our students who are heading into public examinations with GCSEs and A Levels starting next term. We know they have worked so hard and are well set up with revision plans over the holiday period.

If you are concerned about your child being able to structure their revision do note that we have updated a number of essential videos that can be found here: https://www.cherwell.oxon.sch.uk/426/revision-information

Thank you for your continued support for the school. We have really enjoyed welcoming parents and carers back onto site for our in-person meetings for Year 7 and 9 students recently. Events such as these do help us to feel connected in ways that we recognise have been harder in recent years.

Finally, do have a wonderful, relaxing holiday and we look forward to welcoming our students back to school on Monday 17th April.

Wishes Chris Price Headteacher

This year the Friends of Cherwell have funded a number of projects for the benefit of students including providing 30 keyboards and music workshops for our Performing Arts Department; and the creation of an ecology garden on North Site. The Friends are now working to support vital improvements to our South Site toilets.

These projects are made possible by the generous donations from our school community.

Regular monthly donations from parents can make a massive difference to the opportunities the school can provide to all students.

You can set up a donation online either by standing order or by card payment via the website: www.friendsofcherwell.org

The Friends of Cherwell is an independent charity run by parents and former parents. (Registered charity number 1183779)

Best

We were delighted to welcome back employers and training providers to Cherwell in January, for the first time in 3 long years (thanks to covid).

Students from Years 9 to 13 and their parents and carers were invited to the event, where they met a variety of people at over 50 stands, covering a range of career areas and training opportunities. It was a brilliant and positive evening. The feedback on our students was overwhelmingly positive, as participants were impressed with their level of engagement, their politeness and how confident and articulate they were.

By Mrs L Dale

Careers Convention

26 January 2023

For Years 9 to 13 students and their parents and carers

By Mrs Dale

Positive comments from participants:

Thank you for inviting us to what was a brilliantly organised and thoroughly enjoyable event. We were very impressed with the calibre of student and the level of interest shown – this was by far the best careers event we have attended in the last 12 months. We look forward to returning next year.

Savills

It was an absolute pleasure. I took over 200 leaflets with me and left with about 5! I think you have quite a few future solicitors on your hands.

RWK Goodman

A really lovely evening at every level! There is always such a grace and professionalism about everything Cherwell does - really enjoyed it, and such lovely young people and their parents.

Bristol School of Acting

It was a great convention with a fantastic attendance, thank you for the opportunity.

Warburtons Building Services

Grateful thanks to: Abingdon and Witney College, ACE Training, Armed Forces, Bicester Village, BMW Group, Boomsatsuma, Bristol School of Acting Oxford, City of Oxford College, Connect 2 Care, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Darke and Taylor, Dr Alessia Gargiulo, Dr Arpana Pal, Dr Jim Hague, Dr Cathy Scott, Dr Sarah Pendlebury, Earthwatch Institute (Europe), Engineering Trust Training Ltd, Greene's College Oxford, Health Education England, HIT Training Ltd, Ignite Sport UK, Institute of Chemical Engineers, Introtrain - Hair & Beauty, Jason Davis, Jessop & Cooke, Leonardo Royal Hotel, Kellogg College, Lincroft Meadows Care Home, Lucy Group Ltd, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford Direct Services, Oxford Eye Hospital, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford International College of Beauty, Oxford University (apprenticeships), Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxfordshire County Council, Apprenticeships (Health and Social Care), Andy Pillidge, Popham Hairdressing, Royal Air Force, Ruskin College (part of Uni of West London), RWK Goodman, Savills, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Shaw Gibbs, St Clare's College, University of Bath, University of Northampton, University of Oxford, Warburton Building Services

The Cherwell School is proud to have recently achieved the Investors in Careers Award, a national quality award that recognises that the school made good progress in meeting national standards in the provision of careers education, information, advice and guidance

Mr Hopkins and Mr Jarvis took a group of Year 9 students to the Careers Fest event at the Kassam Stadium. They were able to meet and talk to various employers and training providers about apprenticeships and careers.

By Mrs Dale

Chris Price, Headteacher and Jason Davis, Careers Adviser

Cherwell School Sustainability Action: Winter 2023 Tree Planting

…

On two cold Wednesdays, 58 students gathered together to plant 22 trees on both our North and South Sites. The tree planting is the second biodiversity action of this academic year (the first being hedge planting) that is aimed at providing habitat and food for various species and shade for students and buildings in what will be increasingly hot summers. We have been supported in this action by Oxford University’s Wytham Woods team, who gave expert tuition to our students on both the particular benefits of the species they planted and how best to plant them. Students planted both potted and bare root Silver Birch, Rowan and Small Leaved Lime trees. Volunteers students from Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 were randomly selected from a larger pool who applied to take part and were mentored by our Year 12 & 13 student Sustainability Reps. We plan to do further planting over the next ten years to form part of a decade of nature restoration.

Silver Birch Trees (13 planted)

Silver Birch trees reach around 30 meters in height, and form a canopy of gently drooping branches causing dappled shade in Summer, with the leaves turning a beautiful yellow before dropping in autumn. Silver birch is monoecious, meaning both male and female flowers (catkins) are found on the same tree from April to May. The seed is distributed by the wind in the autumn.

Silver Birch provides food and habitat for more than 300 insect species. The leaves support a range of moth caterpillars including the buff ermine, light emerald and poplar hawk moth. The numerous seeds are a popular food for small birds such as siskins, redpolls, goldfinches and greenfinches. Aphids feeding on the leaves provide food for blue, coal and long-tailed tits, and willow warblers.

Birch wood is tough and heavy, making it suitable for furniture production, handles and toys. It was once used to make hard wearing bobbins, spools and reels for the Lancashire cotton industry. The bark is used for tanning leather. Information taken from The Woodland Trust & RHS (Royal Horticultural Society Websites

Rowan Trees are recommended by the RHS as a plant that supports pollinating insects and is idea for small gardens

By Mr S Cappleman

Rowan

(Mountain Ash) Trees (7 planted)

Rowan Trees reach around 15 meters in height and can live around 200 years. Leaves are ‘pinnate’ (like a feather), comprising 5–8 pairs of leaflets, plus one 'terminal' leaflet at the end. Rowan is hermaphrodite meaning each flower contains both male and female reproductive parts. Flowers form in dense clusters, each one bearing five creamy-white petals. Pollinated by insects, the flowers produce small berries that gradually swell and ripen to a bright orange colour. These berries are a favourite of a range of birds who disperse the seed in their droppings.

Rowan supports lots of wildlife. The leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of a range of moths, including the larger Welsh wave and autumn green carpet. Caterpillars of the apple fruit moth feed on the berries. Rowans flower from May to early June, providing nectar for bees and other pollinating insects. The berries are a rich source of autumn food for birds such as blackbirds, mistle thrush, redstart, redwing, song thrush, fieldfare and waxwing.

Rowans are hardy trees and are often found on exposed mountains, from which they get their other common name ‘Mountain Ash’. Information taken from The Woodland Trust Website

mall Leaved Lime Trees (2 planted)

Small Leaved Lime Trees reach around 20 meters in height. Leaves -shaped with a pointed tip, 3–8cm in length. Limes are hermaphrodite, meaning their flowers have both male and female reproductive parts. The flowers are green-yellow, have five petals, and hang in clusters of 4–10. They have a rich, heavy scent which attracts many insects, particularly bees. They produce a small fruit with an attached small leaf that catches the wind to help distribute the seed.

Small Leaved Lime are often found in ancient woodland. Its leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of many moth species, including the lime hawk, peppered, vapourer, triangle and scarce hook-tip moths. They are very attractive to aphids, providing a source of food for their predators, including hoverflies, ladybirds and many species of bird. Bees, also drink aphid honeydew from lime leaves. Information taken from The Woodland Trust Website

European Parliament Ambassador Schools

Contact: enrichment@cherwellschool.org

What does being a European Parliament Ambassador School mean?

The EPAS programme connects 1500 schools across Europe into a collaborative international network of young people, challenging them to run activities promoting discussion, debate and activism about issues that affect young people across Europe. As an European Parliament Ambassador School, we can connect students with global leaders across Europe, experts in a range of fields and insights into careers beyond the UK.

Euroscola Conference: Strasbourg

20 of our Year 12 and 13 students travelled to a one day conference in the European Parliament (Euroscola), with delegates from the 27 Member States. The conference theme was sustainability. Before the conference, they went sight-seeing in Strasbourg and worked with other schools and with experts from the EU and Court of Human Rights. They also enjoyed a half-day tour in Paris on our return journey.

World of Work: Sustainability and Green Futures

Contact: enrichment@cherwellschool.org

World of Work: Sustainability and Green Futures

Our Year 12s successfully completed a day of work-based placements. Through the generous support of 16 different employers, they were able to test out new sectors, developing their team work and taking an interdisciplinary approach to the theme of sustainability. Find out more about our World of Work days on the Sixth Form website

Sustainability Seed Fund Prize winners (sponsored by Deloitte)

Swimstainable Breastfeeding Swimwear (Y.O.U. Underwear: Anna, Audrey, Charo, Keira, Lotti, Orli, Pearl)

AT The Bus Safe Space Pop-Up (AT The Bus: Jessica)

Future Potential Fund winners (donated by Charity of Thomas Dawson)

Bartek Michalik (Barker Brettell)

Emilija Malova (Y.O.U. Underwear)

Grace Mpokosa (Oxford United)

Tom Wiater (Army)

Individual Prizes: Head Teacher Commendations

Abigail Earl (Oxford North)

Alba Huerta (Y.O.U. Underwear)

Angelos Katso (Oxford United)

Arlo Thomas (Guardian)

Bartek Michalik (Barker Brettell)

Bella Hawkswood (FCDO)

Ben Brown (Oxford North)

Ben Ross (Barker Brettell)

Beth Weinkove (Uncomfortable Oxford)

Chelsea Krasniqi (Oxford Policy Management)

Ciara Stimpfig (Oxford Policy Management)

Daise Thomas (Medicin Sans Frontieres)

Danhwi Yoon (Guardian)

Edith Barratt (Oxford Policy Management)

Eleanor Gatten (Guardian)

Elinor Thornley (Uncomfortable Oxford)

Ella Thornburn (Uncomfortable Oxford)

Eloise Austin (Uncomfortable Oxford)

Elsie Powell (Oxford Policy Management)

Emil Harris (Hale Dynamics)

Emilija Malova (Y.O.U. Underwear)

Emily Barr (Oxford North)

Emily Thete (Oxford United)

Enya McGuinness (Oxford Policy Management)

Esther Reid (Uncomfortable Oxford)

Fiona Baker (Guardian)

Gabriel Torrance (Deloitte)

Grace Mpokosa (Oxford United)

Grace Sadan (Y.O.U. Underwear)

Hana Horbury (Oxford Policy Management)

Ines Carvalho (Guardian)

James Clarke (FCDO)

James Ingram (Barker Brettell)

Jemimah Pritchard (OPM)

Jess McCreadie (AT The Bus)

Jiwoo Seo (Facebook)

Lina Ben-Adel (Y..O.U. Underwear)

Linzzie Gikory (FCDO)

Lucy Keeling (Oxford Policy Management)

Mair Drummond-Curtis (OPM)

Marko Babic (Oxford United)

Millie Chettleborough (OPM)

Millie Petrovic (Oxford North)

Narian Madar (Oxford North)

Niya Paul (Barker Brettell)

Parami Ranasinghe (Medicin Sans Frontieres)

Pou Man Aaron Liu (Barker Brettell)

Riyanshi Gupta (Medicin Sans Frontieres)

Ruairi Gardiner (Oxford North)

Saleem Nassar (FCDO)

A HUGE thank you to all of the employers that gave up their time to make our World of Work days a success!

• Army

• AT The Bus

• Barker Brettell

• Deloitte

• Facebook (Meta)

• Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office

• Fresh Cut Video

• Guardian

• Hale Dynamics

• Médecins Sans Frontières

• Oxford North

• Oxford Policy Management

• Oxfordshire Teaching Schools Association

• Oxford United

• Uncomfortable Oxford

• Y.O.U Underwear

And, of course, our wonderful keynote speakers:

• Mark Beard High Sheriff of Oxfordshire and Chairman of Beard Construction

• Carrie Quinlan BAFTA-nominated actor and comedian (and former Cherwell student)

Rachel Hinton (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) said:

“The World of Work day at the Cherwell school provided an excellent opportunity for students to engage with the real work questions. The engagement was exceptional. Many of the students came having read up on the topics, and with a keen interest to learn more. Without exception they engaged with the discussions in an intelligent and respectful manner. From the start they were willing to enter a new space ‘the world of work’ and to role play the very real scenarios they will experience in future. It is exciting to see the emerging talent in this group; Cherwell is building the leaders of the future. Thank you to all the students who engaged so fully.”

Contact: enrichment@cherwellschool.org

Sir Keith Willett (NHS England) Fireside Chat

A talk and Q&A session with Professor Sir Keith Willett, NHS England, trauma surgeon and government advisor and Ben Keeble, paramedic team leader (and former Cherwell Student!).

Students discussed the development of the NHS, public health policy, the future of medical careers and the challenges facing the NHS in a post-Brexit and post-COVID landscape.

Merging Minds with the University of Oxford

An interactive day of Computer Science and Philosophy, through a series of six gaming stations looking at how future technologies can be used for collaborative thinking.

Students played games and discussed their opinions with researchers, creative technologists and other young people as part of University of Oxford and the Big Data Institute’s research.

Trinity Talks: The Spark of Life

A talk from globally renowned physiologist Dame Frances Ashcroft on the electrical activity of the body regulates our lives from the moment of conception to our last breath.

Students heard an inspiring "20 year odyssey" from initial research to clinical application and how a scientist's fascination with figuring out why things work can change lives in wonderful ways.

‘Inspiring People’: An Evening with John Simpson

An evening with distinguished foreign correspondent John Simpson, the BBC’s World Affairs Editor - including a private reception with John Simpson and students from St Edward’s School, with informal conversations and discussion.

Students enjoyed amusing, provocative and inspiring anecdotes from a career spanning 140 countries and over 50 years of reporting.

Sixth Form Open Evening

Over 50 Year 12 and Year 13 students represented the school brilliantly as ambassadors. They had a range of roles, including:

• Tours

• ‘Human Library’

• Subject stalls

• Q&A talks

One Year 11 parent said:

“

The students were so helpful, articulate and inspirational and my child is now really looking forward to hopefully joining them in the Sixth Form!”

Thank you to all of those who volunteered their time!

Get Involved!

We have many opportunities for our Sixth Form students to get involved in the school (and local) community.

You can find more details and our current opportunities in the weekly student bulletin! If you have any questions, email us at

Riya Gupta (YEAR 12) was awarded the Hassan Hussain Science Award, presented by Mr Bashir Hussain in memory of his son. Riya is the 14th recipient of this annual prize.

Hassan Hussain Science Award

We have been delighted to welcome 13 visitors to Cherwell over 2 days as part of our School Experience programme. This is a joint venture with the Department for Education and Oxfordshire Teacher Training to welcome potential applicants to the teaching profession and into our school, for them to experience a typical school day, observe lessons in their chosen subject, and to talk to our current teaching body about teacher training and what it’s like to teach at Cherwell.

This is a superb way for anybody interested, or just curious about entering the teaching profession to really get a feel for teaching, and our visitors were highly appreciative of the experience. They particularly like the opportunity to speak to our current Early Careers Teachers about their training and the support they have received from experienced colleagues during their first year at Cherwell.

Each visitor got to observe lessons across our student body, ranging from Year 7 history to Year 13 Physics, and all commented on how this gave them a real insight into the curriculum, how they got to see different styles of teaching, and the positive learning atmosphere they saw at Cherwell.

One of our visitors commented: ‘I was already decided but the SEP day helped give me confidence in my decision and makes me excited to pursue a career in teaching’

Many thanks to all colleagues who were involved in the organisation and observations throughout the day, We are hopeful that we will be to welcome some very high calibre trainee teachers to the school soon.

If you are interested in or curious about training to become a teacher, Cherwell is the lead school for Oxfordshire Teacher Training. OTT has a superb record of outstanding teacher training across Oxfordshire and would welcome applications from our Cherwell community. lSCAN the QR code for more information about how to apply.

https://oxfordshireteachertraining.co.uk/

If you are interested in attending a School experience day, visit this website

https://schoolexperience.education.gov.uk/

And if you are currently an UNDERGRADUATE studying Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Computing or Modern Foreign languages (Or know someone who is!) we are running a PAID teaching internship scheme at Cherwell In June/July 2023.

If you are interested, or want to investigate on behalf of someone who might be…please email: teachinginternship@cherwellschool.org

By Mr Littlewood, Head of Geography

On Tuesday 31st January 2023, fifty Year 12 Geographers, accompanied by the Department staff and some students and staff from the Swan School made their way to Trinity College on Broad Street to use their new auditorium for a workshop on GIS by Mr Laurie Stevens from ESRI. This software is widely used in industry and the government to map data spatially and look for patterns and trends to help with analysis, policy and more. The students had a seminar and demonstrations on how to use the software, including the use of Survey 123 to collect their own data live in the field, which will be vital for their NEA Fieldwork Research Project. They also did an exercise mapping different data sets onto Birmingham, for one of their case studies and to inform a further fieldtrip later in the term.

As examples, please see two websites managed by ESRI, which give an idea of what the software can look like - monitoring sewage discharges into rivers in the Thames Valley (https:// www.thameswater.co.uk/edm-map) and tracking Scottish gritters(!) (https://trunk-road-grittertracker-scotgov.hub.arcgis.com/).

Many thanks to all the staff for accompanying, to Trinity College and Oxford University for hosting, and to Mr Stevens for delivering such an interesting and useful seminar and workshop.

Laurie Stevens

GIS Consultant at Esri UK

On Tuesday 7th February, 65 Cherwell Geographers from all year groups gathered in the North Site Hall along with some students from across the city to watch a lecture given by Professor Danny Dorling from Oxford University, entitled 'World and UK Population: Trends Past, Present and Future'. It was a fascinating insight into how population links to development, and how the nature and forces within a country can be influenced by external and internal population trends. My thanks go to Danny, and to the Oxford Geographical Association for allowing us to host this lecture. We hope to continue to host more going forwards.

Professor Danny Dorling

On Monday 27th March 56 Year 12 geographers, including some from our neighbours at the Swan, travelled to Birmingham City Centre for a pilot study day to help them prepare and research their Non Examined Assessment. We trialled lots of different human geography fieldwork methods and sampling strategies throughout the day, and focussed on how these methods could be used successfully in the students projects. We started at Five Ways Station, and walked up the canal to Gas Street Basin. We then explored some contrasting residential areas, and did some questionnaires around the Bullring Shopping Centre, finishing in Digbeth. The trip was blessed with good weather, and was a very successful experience which we hope to repeat in the future. Thanks go to all of the students who represented the school so well, and to all of the staff for their excellent and dedicated work to help the trip go so smoothly, including Miss Alexander, Miss Pearson, Mr Huck and Mr Burton. Finally thanks to the staff who helped to plan and administrate the trip, Miss Barrett, Ms De Ceglie and Mrs O’Driscoll.

By Mr Littlewood.

By Mr Mehrabian

It has been another very busy term for the MFL Department. As I write this our German exchange is arriving today and our Year 10 and 12 French students are currently enjoying the highlights of Paris. In addition to teaching languages, part of our remit is to run trips and organise extra-curricular activities. This term has seen many students taking part in these.

Cheney-Cherwell German A Level Murder Mystery

On Thursday 15 December six A Level German students from Cherwell made their way to Cheney to join four of their A Level German students for a murder mystery: Murder on the Piste. The setting was Kloisters, Switzerland so all students were dressed in woolly hats and scarves. The murder victim was Richard Pickle who had been killed by an exploding snowman. The students took on the role of the eight suspects: Matt A Horn, Ava Lanche, Onna Toboggan and Walter Emmental to name a few. There were eight rounds and in each round all the students had to ask and answer questions - Alles auf deutsch, natürlich. Lots of German was spoken and lots of German Christmas food was eaten. The killers turned out to be Jacques Frost and Sophina Salopette.

Onatti Theatre MFL Performances

We were fortunate to have been invited to two separate MFL theatre performances for German and Spanish this term. The Spanish play was called 'Mi personalidad' and the German play was 'Im alten Saloon'. The plays were performed by two actors, who successfully took on more than one role. The actors made the play accessible by using language that students have accessed in their lessons. Many of the students were surprised at how much language they understood, and we were delighted that some of our parents could also attend.

UK German connection - Visiting German teacher

Our sixth formers very much benefitted from a visit from Johannes Kraemer, an English teacher from Bonn. In a Year 12 German lesson, Johannes talked about the education system in North Rhine- Westphalia, and in Year 13 classes, Johanes was able to support our students with their 2 minute presentation for their Independent Research Project; which forms part of the spoken component.

Oxford University MFL Sixth Form Day

More recently, our A Level linguists attended a day at OUDES where trainee MFL teachers delivered sessions in French, German and Spanish based on cultural aspects of the course. These were run in the target language and gave Cherwell students an opportunity to work with students from different schools in the area.

I first remember waking up at 4 o’clock in the morning, waving my family goodbye and heading out to the Cherwell school. Once I arrived at the car park I sought out my friends, got registered and we were off! Off to France, where we would be bathing in culture. The trip to the euro tunnel was pretty standard, and it smelled of oil. We carried on in the coach for a bit before arriving in Lille, our first destination.

We marched through the city of Lille in search of the Christmas market. We arrived and I was instantly amazed; the architecture and statues all around were a sight to behold. We all registered to be sent off into groups with our friends. My friends and I walked around at first just bewildered by the detail in every stall of this Christmas market, this ‘Winter Wonderland’. Unsurprisingly, my friends and I suddenly realised that hunger had managed to catch up with us, so we searched for the food stands; almost straight away we discovered a churros stall. Me and my friends bought two bags and shared, and even then we had enough to hand out to other people, the churros being so extremely sweet and filling as they were. To finish off our first adventure, went on a gigantic Ferris wheel. This Ferris wheel was without a doubt the best part of the trip for me, as I got to sit above the rooftops of Lille with some of my best friends watching the sun set: I wish to one day go back to the same Lille Christmas market when I'm older.

As much as it pained me, we had to leave to move on to our accommodation. One short coach journey later and we had arrived. As soon as we got in, I dumped my stuff in my room and lay on my bed for a minute, exhausted. I got changed into comfier clothes and headed down stairs towards the dining room. Alongside the food and chatter with my friends, it was shortly apparent that a quiz was going to happen; my table came second which we were all pretty happy with. After the quiz I brushed my teeth and then talked for an hour with my friends; I can't remember what we talked about but that doesn't matter as I was talking with my friends in France.

Contrary to my mates, I actually had a pretty good sleep. Next morning, and another short coach journey later, we arrived in Saint-Omer, a town in north-eastern France, and our next stop. We stepped out of the coach confronted by a closed “pop-up” fairground. We were handed a question sheet about Saint-Omer, which proved to be rather difficult as the answer to the first question was in a shop that had closed down. Nevertheless, we marched onwards arriving in various places around the town, such as a church, a boulangerie and a lovely little cafe where me and my friends had a hot chocolate. Although our visit to Saint-Omer was short, it will not be forgotten.

We left Saint-Omer with a heavy heart, as the inevitable journey back to the UK dawned upon us. Our sadness was interrupted though, as we were treated to a showing of how a bakery works. I got to watch a baker, in person, kneading bread and baking it. I got offered to knead a piece of bread myself and I took it. All I can say is that it looked most certainly unfit for consumption. All of us students were treated to a pain au chocolat. The once again we hit the road back to England.

On the way back we travelled on the ferry, and like typical teen idiots me and my mates went to the arcade before anything else. Eventually we got our heads together and decided to go onto the top deck and watch as we disembarked from France back home to England. We quickly enacted the titanic scene and returned inside. For our last meal of the trip we decided to order a pizza, even though the food wasn't good we still enjoyed it.

Continued…/

Arriving back in England, we re-entered the coach, and embarked on the homestretch. I remember it was during the world cup semi-final match between Argentina and Croatia. At one point somebody whipped out a speaker and started playing Christmas songs. As we sang I slowly started to recognise more and more roads.

With a pair of exhausted legs and a pair of half closed eyes, we pulled into the south site car park. Some of the teachers talked about the trip before we left. I saw my mum and said my thanks to the teachers, and just like that it was over. I hope to keep on learning French so when I pay France a visit again I can get around and have as good a time as I did on this trip.

By Edgar Parsons - Year 9

Lille Christmas Markets

Saint Omer

Bonjour! We are Year 9 students who have recently been on a school trip to France! Here is a review of some of the things we experienced.

On Monday 12th December, we rose for an early morning of travel. The coach left at 4:00 am but before we could get on the bus we met with our groups. The leaders of the groups were: Ms Sherrington, Ms Garcia, Ms Ressot and Mr Fieselmann, then everyone got onto the bus. Though the trip was long, many of us just decided to either sleep or listen to music, and it was lucky we had a great driver who let us eat on the coach. We got to the Eurostar in the morning and drove on to it after waiting for our train to be called. It was terrifying, some people got out to walk around but we stayed in the coach and listened to music to relax ourselves. The journey was quicker than expected and we only spent about half an hour on the train. When we drove out we were in France!

Our first stop was Lille’s Christmas market and we were all very excited. As we drove closer to Lille, we started seeing some large buildings, which some people thought were the Eiffel Tower! We weren't anywhere near Paris and some of the buildings they were pointing to were actually electrical towers, which made it even funnier.

We arrived at Lille around 13:00 and were given a worksheet to fill out about Lille’s Christmas market. We got off the coach and wrapped up warm as it was a little chilly. We got into a group of six, having less than three people in a group was dangerous because if someone injured themselves the injured person would have to be left alone while the other went for help. The Christmas market was beautiful! It had colourful lights and wonderful displays! After one hour of looking through the market our group got hungry and everyone bought crepes! We all ordered in French to the best of our abilities and ate our freshly made crepes on the way to meet the teachers. We checked in with the teachers at 14:00 and then we were allowed another hour to explore and fill out our sheets. Once we filled out our sheets because of the cold our group looked through some shops and then bought hot chocolate in a small cafe. It was delicious! After we had finished our drinks three members of our group went on the massive Ferris wheel. At first it was terrifying because of the sheer height of it, but once we got used to it we were able to appreciate the remarkable view. After everyone was back on the ground we went back to the meeting spot which was by Lille’s famously large Christmas tree and started heading back to the coach.

The drive to our accommodation, Chateau d’ebblinghem, was about an hour and a half long and by the time we arrived it was dark. We found out we were all staying in the same building and we were told which floor to sleep on. We had to have four people per room so our group split up and we found a room, we were given a few minutes to settle in before we went down to dinner. The dinner was a traditional French Christmas dinner, it wasn't the best meal, but it was nice to sit and eat with our friends after our event filled evening. After dinner we went back to our rooms where we played uno until the teachers came to tell us lights out and we started to get into bed. The girls down our corridor started yelling and having pillow fights but after they fell to sleep we all slept soundly.

In the morning we woke up feeling rested after our long day before. Breakfast was mini pastries and they were delicious, our table ate them all very quickly and drank our juice. We packed up quickly and got on the coach once again to go to Saint Omer. Some groups teamed up when we got off the coach and everyone worked together to complete our task. We got to see a breath-taking cathedral and buy lots of tasty treats. Many people bought some bread or baguettes, some even bought over 10 baguettes! As the baguettes were cheap and quite yummy.

Our time in Saint Omer was shorter than Lille but it was a really enjoyable experience. We got on the coach and once again set off to our final destination before we returned home. We went to an Artisan bakery and were given a free pain au chocolat each! It was delicious! We were then shown how to bake bread and how a bread oven worked. The bakers and workers were very kind to show us how to make bread and give us a free treat. It was really interesting and fun when we got to shape our own bread. We were also allowed to buy lots of things in the bakery and we all had fun buying pastries for our families. It was sad when we left the bakery but we got onto the coach and drove to the ferry.

On the ferry our group bought a pizza from the ferry cafe which was disappointing but it was okay as we had snacks with us. We explored the ferry and went up to the top of the ferry where it was extremely cold and very windy but it was cool to see the ocean. We arrived back at Cherwell at 10:30pm to greet our parents and go home and relax after our fantastic trip to France.

It was a wonderful experience, and we thank our teachers for bringing us, as some of us had never been to France before, it helped us to understand their culture and language more. If given the chance, many of us would one hundred percent do it again, and we recommend it to the next Year 9’s to come.

Au revoir!!!

(written by Maddy Smith and Summer Foley)

DUKE OF EDINBURGH Badbury

125 Year 9s students took part in the Bronze expedition in March. They had some big challenges with the weather but they did fantastically. BXM (the company we work with to support these expeditions) were impressed with them too and said they were one of the best groups they’ve had in a while. Thanks to Ms Overbeck, Mr Huck and Rosaria. Special thanks to Ms Slater for popping in and bringing dinner. Well done to all the students too!

Camping Westmoor Farm Bampton

DUKE OF EDINBURGH GOLD EXPEDITION MARCH 2023

NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY

The Cherwell Festival of Reading 2023: A Compass of Words

Our Festival of Reading this year was focussed on the idea of navigation, on finding our way across sea or land. Can books be our compass, whenever we are navigating through life? With this question in mind, we selected ten books for South Site and ten for North Site. During the fortnight, we discussed their content and mutual connections, met authors, received gifts, created beautiful objects, learned new skills, watched old and new films and listened to great music. It was a gorgeous festival.

Book binding Work-

Sedgwick’s tweet

More authors, including Yeva Skalietska (You Don’t Know What War Is) and Anthony McGowan (Dogs of the Deadlands), will talk to our students in the next couple of months, and we feel very excited.

We loved discussing concepts such as liminality and resilience with Julian Sedgwick, author of the wonderful Tsunami Girl. A particularly fun moment for South Site was when the book club wrote messages for the students of the future, sealed them in a tin box and locked it in the notorious, and rather creepy, storage room whose tiny door in the library has made generations of students wonder: “What on earth is in there”? To be opened in 2043!

A highlight for North Site was speaking to author Mae Gaynor about their novel, selfpublishing, and creative writing - students asked about their own writing projects, how to edit them, and bring them to life. We can’t wait to see how these turn out! We also hosted a very successful ‘Send a book to a friend’ event, making beautiful cards and packages to recommend our favourite books to staff and students across North Site, drew quite a crowd to watch a series of Georges Melies silent films in the fiction library, and hosted a student band to play their music! A special thank you to all involved.

Some of our Year 7’s are now involved in Readathon: a sponsored charity reading event that we feel, as a school, is important in helping to give back to the community. If your child, or a friend’s child, is involved in this, please support in whatever way that you can! They’ll be helping children in hospitals to get books, as well as helping themselves educationally. We do appreciate that the financial situation for many is difficult currently and we do not want anybody to feel pressured into committing if they are unable. However, there is no donation too small. Thank you.

We felt that the Festival of Reading was a perfect time to make our pledge to stop protecting the books with plastic covers. Following the example of the City of Helsinki libraries and the Kuopio public library (both in Finland), we felt that part of navigating the world we live in was recognising the challenges within it. To my knowledge, we are the first library in the UK to have taken this important step.

‘Fridays For Future’ have demonstrated that the young generations have developed a high degree of awareness of the problem posed by climate change. It is youth libraries, therefore, who should take the first step and go plastic free before any other library. For the time being, only new books and those whose plastic covers have been damaged are being involved in this project. However, the idea is to gradually involve all of our books. I am deeply impressed by our students’ commitment to this cause so far. We can do this only together.

Author - Mae Gaynor

‘Send a book to a friend’

NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY

Other Library News:

The South Site Book Club (by the way, the official name of this group is now “There will be biscuits”) has sent a box of gifts to a class of Year 8 students in Monaco who are reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in their English lessons. They put in sophisticated handmade bookmarks about this novel, a copy of a book we love (Cardboard Cardboys by Brian Conaghan), a wreath of dried roses and twigs from our playground, and a bundle of our “postcards from a book”. We’re excited to find out what they will send to us! Our thanks go to English teacher Angela Berrichillo, in Monaco, for joining in this initiative.

Terrific news from our Manga & Comic Book Club: some months ago, our members took part in the ReadingZone Create a Comic Competition, run in partnership with The Phoenix Comic. Bruno and Emil (Year 7) have been chosen as the Runners-Up in the Secondary Category for their comic strip “The Return of Vector”! Lilliebeth (Year 8), with her comic strip “Creak”, has been shortlisted. This is a fantastic achievement, congratulations, guys!

By Dr Bonsaver Bruno & Emile Comic strip

Photo “box of messages”

The creepy storage room

ENGLISH DEPT NEWS

Year 7 trip to the RSC to watch 'The Tempest'

On Thursday 9th February, we took fifty Year 7 students to watch Elizabeth Freestone's production of 'The Tempest' at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon. Year 7 students are currently studying 'The Tempest' in their English lessons so this was a fantastic opportunity for them to develop their knowledge of the plot and experience a live production. This was a brilliant adaptation of Shakespeare's text and we particularly enjoyed discussing how the casting of Alex Kingston as Prospero shed new light on the relationships in the play. A great day was had by all!

By Miss S Reeves

KEY STAGE 5 ENGLISH DEPT

Professor Emma Smith’s lecture on critical perspectives of Hamlet January 10th, The Swan School

Eighty of our Year 12 and 13 A Level English students had the opportunity to attend a lecture and Q+A session at the Swan School delivered by Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies, University of Oxford. This was organised by the Swan School and attended by A level students from across a range of Oxford schools. There was a real sense of excitement as students listened to a lecture which focused on how Hamlet was designed to entertain a 16th century audience and sparking thought about the question of how much a play ever directly reflects its society. There was an excellent Q+A session after the lecture, which continued for half an hour longer than expected, with genuine enquiry and debate.

Chaucer’s World Study Day February 21st, Weston Library and Ashmolean Museum

Sixty Year 12 A Level English students attended a study day organised by the Bodleian’s Weston Library, encompassing a wide range of enrichment activities. The day started with a thought-provoking lecture by Professor Marion Turner entitled, ‘Chaucer’s Women: a textcentred approach to understanding Chaucer’s innovative development of female characters, exploring their sources from across Europe, their historical contexts, and the responses they elicited’. This was followed by a carousel of sessions involving a seminar by Lucy Fleming on Chaucer manuscripts, an introduction to Chaucer’s Books by Dr Nicholas Perkins and a guided tour of Chaucer’s Material World by Dr Jim Harris of the Ashmolean Museum. Student feedback was unanimously positive: the day brought the context of their set A level text alive and made them think about mediaeval studies in a new light.

By Mrs U Eve

SCIENCE ENRICHMENT

Terms 3 and 4 have once again seen a wealth of science enrichment opportunities on offer for all our students, including various events and competitions for KS5 students to the annual whole-school Science Fair.

Year 8 Bubbles Show:

In January, all our Year 8 students were treated to an interactive presentation brought into school to experience some of the weird and wonderful properties of bubbles.

Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize for 2022:

In January, we submitted our final entries for this year’s Book Prize. Our panel of Year 7 judges are to be commended for their commitment to this project and their incisive critical reviews of the 6 shortlisted books. The final winning book was ‘If the world were 100 people’, by Jackie McCann and Aaron Cushley, although our favourite was ‘Fourteen Wolves’, by Catherine Barr, a story of rewilding through a family of wolves in Yellowstone National Park, beautifully illustrated by Jenni Desmond. Many thanks to all our reviewers!

SCIENCE ENRICHMENT

Year 10 GCSE Science Live

In February, we took 40 of our Year 10 Triple Scientists to this exciting event to listen to talks by 5 of Britain’s top Scientists: Professor Lord Robert Winston, Professor Andres Sella, Professor Steve Jones, Dr Kate Lancaster and Dr Hannah Critchlow. They were also given top tips for success in examinations from an experienced GCSE Science examiner.

SCIENCE ENRICHMENT

Science Fair 2023

Science Fair photos - see following pages

We were delighted to be able to hold our annual science fair again this year. We had over 100 students submit 55 projects, and as always our judges were hugely impressed with the scientific knowledge, research skills and creativity on display by all our participants. They were especially taken by the sheer enthusiasm of the students!

Prizes: Congratulations to all our prize-winners (although of course they are all winners for taking part!):

• Individual winner - Arthur Hammond 7BSD: Can a plant navigate a maze as it grows?

• Individual runners-up - Victor Cheinic 8ERD: Making a Robotic hand that Copies my hand AND Milo Dale 9CS: Does Cress grow in different pH scales?

• Group winner - Joanna Vella & Trixie Newman 7JSH: Do different colour lights affect solar powered items?

• Group runners-up - Marc Jones 7DP, Oliver Hart 7DP & Guy Herrington 7KS: Mining in space: is it possible?

• Public vote - Sophie Meredith 12FJ: Endogenous Networks: How are our cells connected?

• Sustainability prize winner - Lana Stafford 7JSH, Liv StoreyJadhav 7BSD, Rahel Edemariam Dwan 7JME & Effie Cross 7RHK: What happens to waste after it has been collected?

• Sustainability prize runners-up - Audey Godfrey-Prewett 9BF, Olive Scott 9DBS & Rebekah Smith 9MD: Sustainable House

SCIENCE ENRICHMENT

I was excited to win the sustainability prize with my team and get to shake hands with Mr Price!!!!

- Lana Stafford 7JSH

I loved exploring other student’s science interests and explaining to others how my own project worked alongside my group. I enjoyed this because I learned so much from others and hopefully they learned a thing or two from me! -

Olive Scott - 9DBS

I enjoyed participating in this year's Cherwell School Science Fair because it helped me set deadlines, work in a team together with Ollie and Marc. Most importantly, learning something new about the world that we live in and what impacts we make and how it affects everyone and everything, not just me and my family, friends etc. Thank you - Guy

Herrington 7KS

Taking part in this year's fair meant that I got to share experiences, learn new things from different peoples projects, see different years working together and as well develop my communication skills and was a fun experience

overall -

Sabeen Hussainy 10TT

I loved spending time with my friend and putting our project together. Although stressful at times it was an amazing experience and I hope to do it again next year -

Thalia Sanders 8BEN

Student Science Fair

Quotes:-

As a student who came from a different country (Korea), presenting in English was thought to be a challenge. But I wanted to overcome this personal barrier, which I drew from long time ago and be the better version of myself from this opportunity. I am glad that I was confident enough to take part in, and meet people who are enthusiastic in science like me -Jiwoo SEO12JEE

It was fantastic to have the opportunity to put a presentation together about a topic that really interested me and to share it with everyone at the fair. It generated a lot of interest and that was very rewarding!

- Sophie Meredith 12FJ

SCIENCE FAIR

SCIENCE FAIR

SCIENCE FAIR

SCIENCE FAIR

SCIENCE ENRICHMENT

KS3 Science Club

Thanks to Miss Baker-Smith & Mr Egan, we have been able to run our Science Club weekly in terms 3 and 4. A small but dedicated group of students have been involved in a variety of science related activities, from flame tests to creating balloons for eggs! We look forward to continuing next term with more weird and wonderful science.

YEAR 13 DNA Days

In February and March, we were able to take all of our Y13 Biologists to a DNA workshop at the Natural History Museum in Oxford. DNA technology is a substantial part of their year 2 course, and the day gives students hands-on experience of the techniques which they have learnt about, and allows them to use these to investigate human evolution.

SCIENCE ENRICHMENT

Physics Year 12 Challenge

Thanks to Mr Drakely, some of our Year 12 Physicists took part in the Senior Physics Challenge this term - this is an exciting opportunity for students to stretch their problem solving skills and apply fundamental physical principles to novel situations. We look forward to sharing the results of their successes soon

British Biology Olympiad

In March, over twenty of our students took part in this year’s advanced problem solving competition for A level students. Congratulations to all of them for participating, and especially to the following students for receiving awards:

Year 12:

• Bronze - Adrian Poma, Lily Lim-Holmes & Beth Weinkove

• Silver - Sophie Meredith

Year 13:

• Bronze - Ariane Small

• Silver - Sara Jones & Aman Kumar

• Gold - Rowan Hector-Turnbull

From Ms Ghaffar, Science Enrichment Coordinator; follow us on twitter: Cherwell School Science @Cherwell_Sci

PERFORMINGARTS NEWS:

We have had yet another busy term in Performing Arts, across Drama, Dance and Music. A number of extra curricular activities, trips and workshops have been running and allowing students to access activities beyond the curriculum.

Dance

In January, Miss Rose took Year 9 students to London for Dance’s annual trip to Pineapple Dance Studios, where they spent the day learning about different choreography and working with West End professionals.

The following day, Year 10 GCSE Dance students went to see Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty in Milton Keynes which they all absolutely loved. At the end of January, Juka Dance came in to run a dance workshop with our KS3 Dance Club and Year 10 GCSE dance students which was a wonderful opportunity for students to work on their choreography skills and learn new dance techniques. Next term, Year 10 dancers will have the opportunity to participate in a workshop to learn professional repertoire with Flexus Dance Collective, who have a reputation for inspiring creative and engaging dance performances.

KS3 Dance Club continues to meet each Tuesday after school and they are currently preparing for an upcoming performance, with the date to be announced.

By Ms Rose

PERFORMINGARTS NEWS:

Drama

It has been busy for our Drama Department. In drama, students at GCSE and A Level have enjoyed brilliant workshops by the world renowned Frantic Assembly. The workshops enabled students to gain first hand experience of the style of Frantic Assembly. We then took over 50 students to see the brilliant production of Othello by Frantic Assembly at the Oxford playhouse.

We have also taken our GCSE drama students to see the new play Brown Boys Swim at The Northwall, written by the highly acclaimed and local playwright, Karim Khan. Khan was a winner of THE SCOTSMAN

FRINGE FIRST AWARD and BBC POPCORN AWARD FOR BEST NEW PLAY for Brown Boys Swim. We were then really lucky to have the Northwall visit Cherwell to hold a workshop with our GCSE drama students, based on the play.

GCSE drama students enjoyed a fantastic trip to Milton Keynes theatre to watch a brilliant production of Blood Brothers by Willy Russell.

PERFORMINGARTS NEWS:

In January, students in Year 10-12 were involved in a fantastic production of Twelfth Night which was performed at The North Wall Theatre for one-nightonly. After months of rehearsals, students did an amazing job of performing in front of a sold-out audience and had rave reviews from those who came to see it.

Year 11 and Year 13 Drama students had their practical GCSE and A Level Drama exams with a live examiner that visited in February. Students worked incredibly hard and we were really proud of their achievements. It was a celebration of all their hard work and rehearsals over the course of their studies.

Year 13 Exam work

Year 11 Exam work

PERFORMINGARTS NEWS:

Year 12 and 13 A Level Drama students went to see Complicite’s production of Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead at The Oxford Playhouse in March, an amazing opportunity to see an awesome theatre company perform an incredible play adaptation based on the International Booker Prize Nominee novel.

KS3 Drama Club has been meeting on a Monday after school and regularly attracts 50-60 students each week. This is fantastic. Students involved are now working on rehearsals for an upcoming production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Ms Wigham and Mr Sullivan at The North Wall Theatre (dates to be confirmed).

Music

By Ms Wigham

Music have had a full on term, with lots of extra curricular activities and trips happening alongside recitals and practicals.

In March, students from our KS4 and KS5 extra curricular groups were rewarded for their ongoing dedication to the performing arts with a trip to see Phantom Of The Opera on the West End stage in London. It was an amazing experience for students and the performance was incredible, some students were singing it on the way home!

PERFORMINGARTS NEWS:

We have had our GCSE music practical week in the department, where GCSE music students worked hard to complete their compositions and record their performances for 60% of their GCSE final grade. It was a long week and students worked tirelessly to complete all of their work by the end of the week.

Year 12 and Year 13 have had further A Level Recital Evenings at school in March, performing pieces that they have worked on in preparation for their final recital in May of Year 13. They performed brilliantly to a fairly large audience of friends, family and teachers and we were all very proud of them.

Following this, a choral workshop with Opus 48’s Music Director, David Crown, for our Senior Choir. Thanks to Opus 48’s kind donations, this workshop is delivered free of charge to students and the school and is a valuable experience for our young singers who dedicate their time each week to the choir.

A new event on the calendar was our first ever Bands Night in Music 2 in March, where students in various bands from Key Stage 4 and 5 participated in a relaxed evening of live music. Students performed covers of songs and also performed some original songs. We were so impressed by the way Year 12 students Ibs Price and Joe Edwards Philips managed the whole event so effectively. Thank you to Matthew Coatsworth for coming and taking some brilliant photos of the event.

PERFORMINGARTS NEWS:

Coming up in the Summer term, Year 12 and 13 students are going to the Royal Festival Hall to see Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Year 9 and 10 musicians will be going to see the Music of The Lord Of The Rings and Beyond performed at Birmingham Symphony Hall in May. Our Year 10 GCSE Music group will also have Unbeatable Energy come in to run a Samba Drumming workshop, in preparation for our Summer event in July. Mrs Hollindale

YEAR 7 NEWS

By Mr Massiah & Mrs Blake

It has been delightful to see Year 7 students continue to settle in at Cherwell and become fully -fledged Cherwellians. There has also been great engagement in extra-curricular activities! We are very proud of the sporting achievements of our boys and girls football teams who have achieved great things on the pitch. A number of Year 7 students took part in tree planting, which will leave a living legacy at the school and it was one of the highlights of the year so far to see the enthusiasm and expertise of students expressed at the Science Fair. We learnt many things, ranging from how gravity batteries work to why geckos can walk up walls! We also had the appointment of the new Deputy Head of Year 7 - Amanda Blake - who continues to build on the positive relationships she has forged with many of our Year 7 students! We look forward to the end of term celebration assembly where we will celebrate the collective and individual successes within the Year 7 community!

With best wishes,

Mr Massiah and Mrs Blake Head of Year 7 & Deputy Head of Year 7

YEAR 8 NEWS

By Mr Madden & Mrs Goble

Our Year 8s have enjoyed exploring new opportunities this term with more extra-curricular clubs, World Book Day, the Science fair and music concerts. All of this alongside working hard in lessons and continuing to be the best version of themselves.

We started off the New Year in assembly thinking about how we wanted to challenge ourselves to be the best person we could be. This has been evident with students' involvement in extracurricular clubs as they continue to be a success once again this term. The netball team have proven to be fierce competitors against other schools in the county and the football teams continue to do well at a local level. It is not only their skill and ability level within these sports that make them so successful, but their sportsmanship and camaraderie as a team that make them so amazing. Thank you to the staff who are providing our young people with these opportunities to develop and grow into well rounded young people.

Our budding Scientists also presented their projects at the Science Fair this March. The effort and contributions that these young Scientists have made is remarkable, they worked excellently as a team, were thoughtful in relation to their questions and theme and resourceful in their research. All of these are skills that support them on their journey through school and beyond.

We are really enjoying seeing so many of our students want to help others and hope this continues. We wish all of you a very happy Easter and a restful break.

Mr Madden and Mrs Goble Head of Year 8 and Deputy Head of Year 8

YEAR 9 NEWS

By Mr Jarvis & Miss Evans

It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know Year 9 students over the past two terms as their year leader. They have really impressed me with their mature attitude towards selecting their GCSE options, which for many students has been one of the biggest educational decisions they have had to make in their schooling career.

In addition, the Year 9 cohort have had their first taste of experiencing a GCSE through their Citizenship lessons, where they are fully embracing the challenge.

We are delighted to see so many students take part in extra-curricular activities, including the Magistrates Court Mock Trials and the Science Fair. Many students are taking the opportunities on offer to them but as always, I would encourage more students to take part. Further information about what clubs are on and when, can be found on our website.

As we move into the final two terms of the academic year, we ask that students reflect on their time so far in Year 9 and continue to develop positive habits, such as, being organised with all books and equipment, prompt to school and being open to change, all in preparation for the demands of their GCSEs in Year 10.

We hope all students and parents have a wonderful Easter and we look forward to seeing them at the start of the Summer term.

Best wishes

Mr Jarvis and Miss Evans Assistant Head Teacher (Head of Year 9) and Deputy Head of Year 9

YEAR 10 NEWS

Miss Bristow & Mrs Kidd

This term Year 10 have demonstrated real commitment to improvement, responsibility and excellence.

Last term, the students of Cherwell School were set the challenge of staying “C-Free” for the term. We are incredibly proud to announce that just under 200 students achieved the “CFree” and we were able to celebrate the success of the year group. The students who were successful were placed in a draw to win an Amazon voucher and the winners were: Maia Amir, Zainab Hasib, Raihan Banerji, Sally Naserllah and Jonia Hasler. Congratulations to all students who remained committed to outstanding behaviour, commitment and improvement all term.

At the beginning of the term, Year 10 sat their first mock exam. The exam was their Citizenship mock in preparation for their Citizenship GCSE exam in the Summer of this year. Students conducted themselves sensibly and with responsibility. It was a good opportunity for students to practise checking their emails from the exams office, making a note of where they should sit and what time to be ready. Students are expected to make sure that all mobile phones and watches are in their bags and turned off and they have their equipment ready for the exam. It was great to see so many conscientious students who had clearly been revising and quizzing each other using the revision cards they had been making. The high expectations they had of themselves and their keen motivation to do well was evident. Congratulations Year 10 on a successful first mock examination.

This term, the Year 10 Netball team has gone from strength to strength, winning all of their games both at home and away.

Thank you to Ms Woodcock who motivates and encourages the team to keep getting better and develop an ethos of support and pride in their sport. Ms Woodcock never fails to email about how proud she is of their conduct when they represent the school. Well done to the netballers!

Finally, last week, a group of Year 10 girls took part in the Science Fair. The group were investigating whether the colour of light would have an effect on the growth of their Petunia plants. Each girl thought carefully about the environment in which they would grow the plant and ensure that each member of the group had the same soil, temperature and water in which to grow their plants. The only difference was the colour of the light. The girls were able to explain in great detail why the white and the purple light had the greatest effect. Their knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject was astounding and it was great to see girls leading the way in Science within the year group. Well done girls!

Overall, Year 10 have had a busy term on their return to school after Christmas. We continue to feel a sense of pride in the year group and how they continue to develop and grow as well rounded young people. Congratulations to Year 10 on a successful term. We wish you all a Happy Easter.

Miss Bristow and Mrs Kidd Head of Year 10 & Deputy Head of Year 10

YEAR 11 NEWS

By Mr Hopkins & Ms Wells & Ms Devine

This term has been a busy one for Year 11 as we move towards the Summer period and the season of exams.

Last term, the students of Cherwell School were set the challenge of staying “C-Free” for the term. We are incredibly proud to announce that the majority of students achieved the “C-Free” and we have been able to celebrate the success of the year group. The students who were successful were placed in a draw with the winners receiving an Amazon voucher. Congratulations to all students who have demonstrated outstanding behaviour, commitment and improvement all term.

This term has enabled the students to continue with their period of perfect preparation for their Summer exams with the completion of the core mock exams. We have been so impressed with the conduct and effort the students have shown during this time which is reflected with the positive responses and confident feedback once leaving the exam hall. The core mock exams have again highlighted two key themes of focus at this crucial stage. These are being fully equipped with specialist subject equipment and punctuality to school. From experience, we know a calm and settled start to the day is mirrored within the exam hall whereas a rushed start to the day is likely to have a similar outcome. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the exams team and invigilators who do such a brilliant job in ensuring the students are equipped and ready for the real exams.

The Year 11 students have been invited to have a 1:1 guidance meeting with a senior colleague in school around their next steps, applications, support and guidance based on their current progress review data. The students tell us that they find these conversations powerful and impactful as they recognise their hard work, effort and commitment towards their futures. We have reflected on this process, and for the first time this year invited all students to attend these meetings to discuss their sixth form applications, college course or apprenticeship routes. Jason Davis, our careers advisor, has also been on hand to support those students who require some additional input to help make an informed decision.

Away from exams, we are busy behind the scenes fundraising and planning the celebration events and Year Book. These are both student led events with designated student groups helping to shape the event how they would. A massive thank you to Ms Wells and Miss Devine for overseeing.

Overall, we are extremely pleased with how well Year 11 are doing across all aspects of school life. We continue to feel a real sense of pride and privilege to be able to see their development as we approach the final stages of the academic year. We wish you a very Happy Easter and look forward to the final push at the end of the year.

Mr Hopkins, Ms Wells and Ms Devine Head of Year 11 and Deputy Heads of Year 11

YEAR 12

Ms Kelbrick & Mrs Fisher

Another busy term for our Year 12 students has shown them working incredibly hard in their A level subjects and EPQs, while making the most of the ‘Beyond Cherwell’ extra curricular opportunities we offer in sixth form.

Students prepared for and then delivered their EPQ presentations at the end of term, and their supervisors were delighted by the quality of research as well as their confident delivery. The presentations show how lucky we are as a school to have such dedicated students who are both interested and interesting! The variety of topics is superb, including ‘Why have contemporary teenagers been drawn to nihilism?’ by Tom Wiater, and Jiwoo Seo’s ‘Will NFTs become the gateway to the Metaverse?’

Year 12s have also been making the most of their electives. Electives are a range of nonacademic experiences/courses. They are an opportunity to take a break from studying within the school day and to try something different. Options include ‘Live Lounge’ (whose members organised a bands’ night at the end of term), ‘3-D forms and vessels’ where students create their own works of art (see pics below) as well as meditation and a range of sport and language options.

Year 12s have been offered the chance to be part of a variety of international trips this year. With our status as a European Parliament Ambassador School, 24 sixth formers participated in a trip to the EPAS Euroscola International Conference in Strasbourg this month. Students attended the ‘environment, sustainability and green futures’ conference and managed to fit in some sightseeing in Strasbourg and Paris. Have a look at the pics in the Newsletter Enrichment section. Our other trips to Cyprus and the Baltics this year offer students more fantastic opportunities for enrichment and fun.

We hope all our hard working students have a relaxing and well-deserved Easter holiday and we look forward to seeing them when they return.

Ms Kelbrick and Mrs Fisher Head of Year 12 and Deputy Head of Year 12

YEAR 13

Ms Fowler & Miss Howse

Having just completed their mock exams, Year 13 have had yet another busy and productive term. We were delighted with the mature and responsible manner in which they conducted themselves for these mock exams, which have been their biggest challenge to date. As the term comes to an end students will continue to focus on their studies, most notably reflecting on feedback and using this to help them prioritise revision over the Easter break. Many subjects have now finished the delivery of content and will focus on revision and exam preparation after the Easter holiday. Attendance to these lessons will be invaluable as students prepare for their final exams. With the end in sight we are thrilled to invite students to the Year 13 Celebration Event at The Crazy Bear in Stadhampton on Thursday 27th April - We are very much looking forward to celebrating their hard work and achievements. (Full details of the Celebration Event have been sent via email).

We wish Year 13 a Happy Easter and as always encourage them to enjoy time with family over the break.

Mrs Fowler and Ms Howse Head of Year 13 and Deputy Head of Year 13

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

MULTI-GYM NEWS:

The multi-gym has been available for Year 11-13 students who are interested in learning and/or developing their strength and conditioning abilities. Mr Tricker and Mr Archer have had the gym open every lunch time and after schools on Wednesdays and Thursdays. They have seen massive progress to those who have consistently been coming to the gym and have developed a fantastic gym culture amongst the students. Their key principles have been ensuring that students understand correct technique and knowing when to increase the intensity of an exercise, focusing on compound lifts such as back squats, bench press and deadlifts. Special mention goes out to Ethan Khokhar, Matts Kruger, Taeho Lee, Clement Bou Man Au, Jeremy David and Noel Siju who have shown substantial commitment both during their lunch times and for the after-school sessions. The school looks forward to seeing the apparent growth in participation and progression in the student's strength and conditioning.

FOOTBALL

Cherwell has entered in an U12&13 and U14&15 girls 5-aside football tournament. Easy to say these teams have done an amazing job displaying their skills to an outstanding level. Coached by Miss Katie Cox and Mr Grant Madden the U12&U13 and U14&U15 teams had fantastic results which meant they proceeded past the first round that included The Oxford Academy, Greyfriars Oxford Catholic School, Cheney School and Oxford Spires Academy. The girls will now go on to compete in the county 5-aside tournament where we wish them the best of luck!

By Mr Archer

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

YEAR 7 NETBALL

The Year 7 netballers have developed their gameplay so much in the last few weeks. Considering many students came to Cherwell without a baseline knowledge and understanding of the game, they have picked it up really quickly and are beginning to show good potential! We have played a few friendly matches and games within the City League which has provided us with learning opportunities and valuable experience. We have a couple more matches in the league and I am really optimistic that we will secure some wins!

All the students who come training continue to show enthusiasm, motivation and commitment to our training sessions and I am really proud of their accomplishments. After a full day of teaching, they are my little rays of sunshine on a Monday afternoon and I have enjoyed coaching them immensely. Well done on a great year, Year 7s!!

YEAR 8 NETBALL

By Mrs Green

The Year 8 netballers have gone from strength to strength and have really begun to use more tactical gameplay and to play smarter instead of harder. We have played some friendly matches and games within the City League and I am really pleased that we have secured all wins so far!! We still have a couple more matches to play in the league so continue to wish us luck!

Every week, the students come to training and show a great positive attitude and enjoyment for our sessions which makes it a joy to coach them and I look forward to seeing them continue their success as they move through the

Well done on a superb year, Year 8s!!

By Mrs Green

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

YEAR 9 & 10 NETBALL

Coached by Miss Kathryn Woodcock and Miss Sarah Mawhinny, the U14&U15 netball teams have displayed a high quality performance while competing in the City Netball League.

The U14s have had a dominant season which reflects in their results, winning every game by 15+ points against The Oxford Academy and Rye St Antony School. The U15s have also had a standout season, currently winning two of their three games, with special mention to their win over Greyfriars Oxford Catholic School. Both these teams are nearing the end of their competition and we have high hopes for their placings.

By Mr H Tricker

CHERWELL RUGBY CLUB

An exciting addition to the School’s Extra Curricular Programme in 2022/2023 has been the revival of the school Rugby Club! The club has been run weekly since the beginning of the school year, the Year 7 & 8 boys have trained Mondays and Year 7 & 8 girls on Tuesdays. To add to this, Mr Jarvis has challenged the Year 9 boys to create a team, in our first training session this week we had 29 boys participate.

The growth within the Year 7/8 boys group has been extremely pleasing; coaches Mr Archer & Mr Tricker have been proud to see students who had never touched a rugby ball now confident in the rules and game play. The Year 7/8 girls persisted to try and grow the programme but struggled to get traction, we will persevere to grow this group next season.

The Rugby Club season will come to a conclusion on Sunday 18th of March as a group of 14 Year 7/8 boys go to Magdalen College School to compete in a invitational 7's tournament

This term has been a busy one for Year 11 as we move towards the Summer period and the season of exams.

By Mr Archer