FOCUS Senior
Summer 2021
Adventurous Activities
An Alternative DW
With the cancellation of the 2021 race there was great disappointment from all, but not to be put off, as soon as permitted we came up with an alternative challenge for the pupils to put all their hard training to good effect! We devised the BC K2 50 challenge which in essence was to paddle the entire length of the Basingstoke Canal (50km) and 30 portages, in one journey. Training sessions were a tough jump up in hours and kms paddled, but on Sunday 2 May, 25 paddlers chose to take on the challenge, and supported by their parents and a team of staff, we saw the entire fleet complete the challenge and rightly feel very proud of their achievements.
Ten Tors Re-invented
Fourth Year and Lower Sixth students were disappointed to receive confirmation that this year’s Ten Tors challenge would be cancelled. In its place, a new challenge emerged: a route from School and Funtington Churchyard, the site of the grave of Richard Churcher. With routes extended to reach the coast at East Head, the ‘College-to-Coast Challenge’ was created - a 45-mile (72km) route with a total 1,034m ascent and a 35mile (56km) route with 810m ascent. 27 students completed the challenge over a weekend in May and were met by a wall of admiration and pride by the reception committee of parents, friends and staff.
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Kayaking
Our Lower Sixth Adventurous Activities students had a lovely paddle on a winter’s day as they ventured out on to Petersfield Lake for some kayaking after their introductory session in the school’s indoor pool.
FOCUS Senior
OSCA
Another lockdown presented further challenges, but in line with the OSCA ethos we were determined to do all we could to keep the programme running; with creative thinking and planning we have been delighted to be able to reschedule and run all our evening OSCA challenge sessions for the 122 pupils who have taken part. As always, OSCA sessions and learning have been filled with fun and learning as Oscaneers have built and raced chariots, survived a tsunami, catapulted their way up the leader board, rock climbed, lit fires without matches and cooked their dinner, orienteered, pitched tents, learned first aid, worked with knives to make useful campfire gadgets to cook on, route planned and so much more. In addition, Scuba diving introductory sessions took place this term, as did our three watercraft days in Chichester Harbour where canoe adventures were a firm favourite.
DofE Project
Shooting Practice
In June, the inaugural Clay Target Club meeting blasted its way into the skies over Longmoor Ranges. Cadets from the Upper Sixth Army Section took to the new shooting discipline quickly and accurately, and were soon hitting a variety of targets with a mixture of 12 and 20 gauge shotguns. Whilst all participants shot well, special mention goes to George McCurrach for hitting an impressive 16 of the 20 targets presented to him.
13-year old pupil Rufus has approached the volunteering section of his Bronze DofE Award with a unique project: he has composed a song to raise awareness of environmental issues and recruited two musicians, based in Germany, to record it! The musicians work with Rufus’s father in Munich and recorded the song in a small music studio to create a demo for Rufus to share. Rufus explains, “We used BandLab to record each layer of the composition and Dima and Fernanda had lots of ideas which sounded great, they would sing and play guitar and I would watch and listen via Skype. We would then discuss different ideas; it was brilliant for me to learn from such talented musicians. I discovered that working in collaboration really helped bring the song to life.” Rufus is now contacting local, national, and global environmental charities to share the song and his message.
FOCUS • 3
CCF Exercise Night Owl
The mid-June heatwave found the Third Year cadets on the school’s land at Penns Place, completing an overnight exercise to demonstrate their field administration and field skills. Exercise Night Owl tasked the cadets to establish a triangular platoon patrol harbour, sleeping under bashas and cooking ORP (operational ration packs) on hexistoves. From there, the platoons conducted night-time recce patrols of the wider area, seeking to find and observe the perennially resurgent HFF (Hampshire Freedom Fighters) in their ongoing paramilitary quest for county self-determination. Demonstrating their tactical movement and observation skills, the platoons patrolled out to establish observation posts to observe the enemy activity undetected, then withdrew to their harbours, providing an intelligence debrief to an officer the following morning, using an area model constructed using natural materials. The heat subsided as the sun sank in the evening and all enjoyed a (short) night under the stars, before sunlight and the dawn chorus signalled reveille at 0530.
Master Cadets
Two of our senior NCOs, George McCurrach and Ben Taylor, passed the interview for the prestigious Master Cadet award and Seb Kelson will have his during the summer break.
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FOCUS Senior On Your Bike The Navy section enjoyed a fantastic field day out at Queen Elizabeth Country Park earlier this term, taking part in some mountain biking and orienteering activities.
Jasper Browne
Sixth Former Jasper Browne has been selected to represent the CCF on a new RAFAC Commandant's Advisory Panel, advising the Commandant of the RAF Air Cadets and the RAFAC Senior Leadership Team on issues affecting cadets. The panel aims to empower cadets, equipping them with a greater voice and opportunity to shape, influence and effect change.
Sergeant Success
Congratulations to Holly, Josh, Maddie, Olivia, Nathan, Matthew, Holly, Lola, Sebastian, Kit, Archie and Tom who have been promoted to the rank of Sergeant after successful completion of the Senior Cadet Instructors Cadre, an optional subject designed to increase cadets' knowledge of the techniques of instruction, offering early experience of the art of leadership. Cadets learn how to instruct up to and including 2-Star standard cadets in drill, turnout and military knowledge, skill-at-arms, fieldcraft and navigation.
On Patrol
The return to face to face training has seen the site very busy on a Tuesday evening as the Third Years develop and practise skills in navigation and patrolling, using school site and college’s farmland to east of Penn’s Place; the Fourth Years continue with Skill at Arms and the Fifth Years experienced TIBUA (Training in Built Up Areas) in the corridors around the gym. The Lower Sixth also prepared and delivered a demonstration of a section attack to the Army Section.
Back In Action
It has been incredibly pleasing to see the excellent Royal Navy cadets back in action after lockdown, and even though we kept in touch with some outstanding remote interaction, nothing beats being together as a collective and proud unit. Every cadet is challenged to display the teamwork, problem solving and leadership skills that will stand them in good stead not only in the section but in everyday life.
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Art
This year’s GCSE and A Level students have not only had to deal with the normal pressures of completing their canvases for the end of year examination and exhibition, but have had to do this with the added burden of two long periods of lockdown. Despite this, the standard of the work being produced was outstanding in both cohorts, as you can see from the work illustrated here. Acting Head of Art, Mr Robertson, said, “We are very pleased with all of the effort and commitment shown by the students in both their classwork and the work they produced remotely during the lockdown. They should be very proud of their achievements, especially in this very unusual and testing period of their education”.
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FOCUS Senior
Land Art
Over the winter lockdown, lower school students have been looking for beauty in their surroundings and noticing the small things around them. This has led them to explore our environment and experiment with ‘leaving a human mark.’ Mrs Roff said, "Inspired by British Land Artists including
Richard Long, Andy Goldsworthy and Hamish Fulton, students have created these amazing pieces within nature. A timely tribute to when we all stopped and noticed what we have around us. Stay creative, mindful and united with the power of art and photography".
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Sixth form
Sixth Form
During the lockdown we took the opportunity to create a new social space for the Sixth Form, by joining two classrooms in the Forrester Centre together. The light and airy space has a serving area for breaktime snacks and drinks, as well as a social space and a work area.
Careers Our Careers programme continued during lockdown, with a final ‘Career Bite’ of the Spring Term focussing on Engineering. Dr Jon Allin, Chief Technology Officer at leading multi-national Engineering firm Permasense, delivered a brilliant talk about the numerous career pathways in Engineering and how to choose and navigate them, offering great advice about accessing courses at university as well as sharing the qualities required to be an Engineer. Also in March, students from the Fifth Year and the Sixth Form participated
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in a Crown Court mock trial in a threehour online workshop. Ahead of the trial, participants were sent a link to a webinar presentation providing an overview of the English legal system and possible careers in law, as well as a set of instructions (as barristers would receive from solicitors) along with the case files, advised which role they were playing, and how to prepare for it. On the day they were presented with a true-to-life interactive experience of a criminal law case in a virtual Crown Court, with them assuming the roles of barristers and witnesses.
FOCUS Senior
Aspiring Medics
Sixth Form students and aspiring medics, Ben Botham and Ellie Houghton, have successfully participated in the Winchester Rural North & East Primary Care Network’s Covid-19 Vaccination Programme. This valuable volunteering opportunity was seized upon by the students who both have ambitions to become doctors and wished to gain vital hands-on work experience for their chosen medical career paths. Ben and Ellie have found the work to be both hugely rewarding and exhausting, perhaps affording them a glimpse into the real world of medicine.
Lockdown projects included the laying of an all-weather surface on the Ramshill lawn. Already a firm favourite amongst the students, the surface means the area can be in use much more during the year, and during the winter it prevents students traipsing mud and grass around the school, and home!
Fun in the Sun!
Life Skills Talks
The Lower Sixth enjoyed a very special Enrichment Activity recently - yoga in the bluebell woods!
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, which focuses on Nature this year, a group of Lower Sixth students went for an outdoor exercise and yoga session in the glorious afternoon sunshine.
Early in the Summer Term, the Upper Sixth had two talks as part of their Life Skills programme. Patrick Foster spoke memorably about his own personal journey fighting a gambling addiction, while Barry Evans of DRED UK, a visitor to Churcher’s for many years, delivered a message about drug and alcohol awareness.
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Performing Arts
Jackson Wilks
Fourth Year Jackson Wilks has successfully won a place in the National Youth Music Theatre and will be performing in The Hunchback of Notre Dame in Manchester Cathedral. He was required to submit films of his performances then take part in live auditions and call backs (to more than 800 applicants!) over Zoom. Jackson works with Mrs Hall on LAMDA and Mrs Pardoe on his singing.
ONLINE
Showcase Goes Online
extremely hard during rehearsals, even more so than they would in a usual year, given the social distance requirements. However, they remained resilient throughout and the fruits of their labour really paid off - you only have to watch the video to see that! Our dancers also showcased their skills, with a lovely contemporary duet performed by Amy Lloyd and Jasmine Sutton, and then a Grade 8 Ballet piece performed by Charlotte Evans.
A Final Performance
going on, something else popped up or contradicted their original thought, throwing it all up in the air again. There is a reason classics become classics, of course, and the cast and crew certainly had a lot of fun with this one; a wonderful way for some of our Upper Sixth thespians to take their final bow on the school stage!
Instead of our usual live event, our Drama & Dance Showcase came in a virtual format this year. However, the quality of performances was as professional as ever! Our GCSE & A Level students got to showcase their devised and scripted performances, with styles ranging from Bertolt Brecht’s Epic Theatre, to Greek Theatre and then more contemporary pieces including the methodologies of Frantic Assembly. Students worked
Affiliated to The British and International Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech Patron Her Majesty the Queen
Year 7 Poem
1st Place —Felix
Snell
Outstanding performance and presentation ….. wonderful infectious and engaging sense of humour. Brilliant. 2nd Place
3rd Place
Ruari Watt
Elsie Ashby
LAMDA Success
32 LAMDA pupils took part in the Chichester Festival of Music, Dance and Drama. With Covid restrictions it was certainly a challenge, with the festival taking place entirely online. Participants were required to submit recordings of themselves performing set poems and their own choice of prose. Every Churcher’s entrant scored in the 80s and 90s, which is an incredible achievement! Special mention must go to Felix Snell, Ruari Watt and Elsie Ashby who came 1st, 2nd and 3rd in Year 7 verse, Katerina Masic and Freya Wilson who came 2nd and 3rd in Year 8 and 9 verse, Ben Shine came 1st in Year 11 verse and Rupert Haworth and Phoebe Pyke who came 1st and 3rd in Reading Prose. In the Musical Theatre section and winning the overall cup for best performance, Jackson Wilks won with an outstanding score of 94, the highest score the adjudicator had ever given!
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As life, hopefully, begins to return to some sort of normality, what we could all do with is a good laugh… and this half term, Mr Lofthouse’s Senior Production of Tom Stoppard’s surreal comedy The Real Inspector Hound has certainly provided that! Just when the audience thought they were beginning to grasp what was
FOCUS Senior
Remembrance Concert
Carol Service
For the Carol Service, we moved location to St. Peter’s Church to film each year group choir singing their own separate carol. Some clever filming enabled us to re-create the carol service as close to the ‘real’ event as we could, complete with the traditional prayers and readings. The
Senior Choir proceeded down the aisle with the traditional ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ (with Bella Cox singing the solo for the first verse) and we concluded with the stunning Fourth Year choir lifting the roof of the church with ‘Hark the Herald’ – they made almost as much sound as the whole choir and congregation put together in a ‘normal’ year!
The virtual concert produced a stunning outcome given that the choir were all recorded in year group bubbles, then filmed separately outside. The wind and brass players from the orchestra had to record themselves at home individually and the string players were recorded separately in their bubble groups to form the orchestra. After all this, the amazing tech team then spent countless hours piecing it all together! The end product was a beautiful video, fit for any Remembrance Concert, consisting of the Junior Choir singing ‘Seasons of Love', the Senior Choir singing ‘Fields of Gold’ and ‘Red is the Colour’, the orchestra playing the Egmont Overture by Beethoven, all interspersed with three lovely solos by Bella Cox, Ben Daunter and Anna Lezdkan and of course the fabulous Barbershop ensemble singing ‘Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag’. The beauty of the virtual video is that it will be a lasting memory from this extraordinary year!
SENIOR SCHOOL PRODUCTION 2020
Follow # the
Star
Rock School
In what has been a ‘rocky’ year for everyone, our Rock School drummers, bassists, singers, guitarists and pianists have been hard at work honing their craft. This has included any number of online workshops and remote challenges, as well as four amazing ‘Year Bubble’ videos that the students put together to keep their thirst for performing suitably quenched. The creativity, talent and humour shown in these exceptional performances is remarkable. If you haven’t seen them on our YouTube page yet, you must do so, performances feature music by The Beatles, ZZ Top, Fall Out Boy, and Imagine Dragons.
COMING SOON
Spring Concert
We became even more technically adventurous for this venture, hiring in a film company to film the Senior Choir in the College grounds, singing ‘Waving Through a Window’ from Dear Evan Hanson. The resulting stunning video also featured a gloriously enthusiastic rendition of ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ by the Junior Choir, together with three brilliant solo from three of our Upper Sixth musicians Alfie, Ella and Florrie. The Upper Sixth strings then excelled themselves with a performance of ‘Winter’ from the Four Seasons.
Premier Inn
Follow the Star
Our Senior Production was based on the nativity story, but with a contemporary twist! We had to find very creative ways of showcasing the production, given the restrictions on the attendance of audiences, therefore instead of them coming to us, we brought it to them! Our movie version of the story meant that viewers could watch it in the comfort of their own homes and enabled our very talented cast to experience being the star of their very own movie!
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Arabian Nights A sultry Mid-Summer’s Eve should have been the perfect time to transport our audience to the Middle East for the Lower School production of Arabian Nights… however, the British weather had other ideas! Nevertheless, our hardy First, Second and Third Years braved the relentless wind and rain to deliver a stellar performance on a colourful, purposebuilt outdoor stage. The cast, crew and
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production team certainly rose to the challenge of putting on a production in a pandemic; from rehearsing online only, to year-group bubbles, all while wearing masks and sharing parts to ensure the widest possible participation for our keen young thespians. The end result featured almost 70 actors (and a puppet!) and was a fantastical end to what has felt like an incredible year!
FOCUS Senior
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Sport
Cricket
After last year’s no show we are all so pleased to see cricket return to Churcher’s College, but in a cruel twist of fate we have had to struggle our way into the Summer Term dealing with one of the wettest Mays on record! We have of course done everything possible to get games played and it certainly beats lockdown, but ultimately it is all credit to the children and staff who have put on brave face and displayed the ‘can do’ approach that we all love and admire. It is a tremendous spectacle seeing the fields full of cricketers, both boys and girls, on a Saturday and now that parents are allowed back on site to watch the fixtures it almost feels like things are back to ‘normal’.
Churcher's Champions
Netball Fitness
In February, Churcher’s Netball invited Saracens Mavericks Superleague player, Jo Trip, to deliver a remote netball fitness session. Over 50 girls from First Year to Upper Sixth took part in a 60-minute circuit session which included footwork, cardio, muscular endurance and muscular strength - there were lots of red, sweaty faces and high intensity activity!
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The Churcher’s Champions festival proved the highlight of the internal sporting programme in the Autumn Term, with more than 400 Churcher’s pupils took part in competitive rugby and hockey matches with winners’ categories including individual outstanding performers, and team awards for matches and overall year group achievement. Students competed for teams inspired by Old Churcherian (OC) sporting heroes: Calum Chambers, Fiona Pocock, Joe Atkinson, Georgina Tuffin, Margie Pedder and George and Will Cairns.
FOCUS Senior
Hockey Club
During the lockdown period after Christmas we started a remote Hockey Club over teams led ably by our Senior Captains & Vice Captains with skills, tips and tricks galore! We even finished with some hockey specific yoga from an external instructor.
Rounders
Rounders, a sunny beach, a hovercraft journey and ice cream! What a wonderful way to spend a Spring afternoon for our U13 girls. Thanks Ryde School with Upper Chine, Isle of Wight for a great time!
Netball Club
Throughout lockdown, the extra-curricular Netball Club met on a Thursday lunchtime and frequently had over 45 members attending across all year groups. Each week offered a new and fun-filled focus; some of the highlights were an interactive netball quiz, Churcher’s Netball Bingo Captain’s Takeover with Katie Harris and Isabelle Brower and The Ramseyer sisters led a fantastic fitness session. The sock shooting championships also created quite a stir with 48 competitors faced with the challenge of shooting 15 pairs of socks into a bin 5 metres away.
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Technology Faculty
Online Lectures
Lockdown has put paid to most trips and visiting lecturers this year but we managed to get a couple of remote sessions for our Sixth Formers with Computing in Action lectures held in November with impressive titles including: ‘MENACE: the machine educable noughts and crosses engine’, ‘Algorithms from 13th Century Venice’, ‘Logic and Mathematics’ (how Alan Turing set about solving this), ‘Computer Science - not for girls?’ and ‘Robots that work together’. We also attended a remote lecture from Warwick University on ‘The spread of misinformation’.
D&T has a New Home!
What a difference a year makes! We’ve finally moved in, the boxes are long gone, the equipment is up and running and we can now enjoy the fruits of the school’s collective labours. Our new accommodation boasts three state of the art workshops with built-in extraction, a whole host of new equipment from the statement pieces such as 3D printing equipment, laser cutters capable of cutting through sheet steel to the smaller equipment aimed at reducing queuing
time. We have two 25 seat CAD (computer aided design) suites where pupils use CAD modelling software to generate a range of design ideas; these can in turn be sent to the broad spectrum of CAM (computer aided manufacturing) facilities to make the various elements of their designs. Our modelling room is a collective space where all teaching groups can jointly use the facilities to test their design ideas prior to final manufacture. As you can see, the D&T staff have good reason to smile as we start this new chapter at Churcher’s.
Cyber Centurion
Cyber Centurion is a competition aimed at encouraging a thriving pipeline of Cyber Security talent for an ever-growing industry. We entered a junior and senior team, competing in three rounds of really challenging tasks this year, all done remotely over some 16 hours with no help. Combined scores put them in the top 75 in the country!
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Lockheed Martin Competitions
Churcher’s has performed well over the last few years in both the Lockheed Martin Cyber and Code Quest competitions. They require the teams to solve a series of challenges against the clock, some requiring some quite advanced cyber security techniques. We entered
novice and advanced teams in both competitions, with both teams winning in the Code Quest and our advanced team achieving Third Place in the Cyber Quest. Cups are on their way to add to our collection… we are going to need a new cabinet!
FOCUS Senior
Charities Taking on the 100 Challenge
The Summer Term rolled around quickly and Captain Sir Tom’s family decided to launch a 100 Challenge for students and adults all over the country. The Captain Tom Foundation was set up to support causes that were close to the inspirational centenarian’s heart. The advertising campaign included Dame Judi Dench eating 100 Maltesers, David Beckham doing 100 keepie-uppies and lots of other celebrities getting involved! Churcher’s students across the First, Second and Third Years undertook lots of different activities: 100 lengths of the pool, 100 cricket balls bowled and 100 netballs shot were some of the challenges which helped raise £485! 1N did the 100 metre ‘Wacky Races’ as their contribution... the rule was: there were no rules! They pogoed, cartwheeled, stilted and hopped… some of the boys even managed a quite successful ‘twelvelegged race’!
Christmas Jumpers
Last year’s Christmas Jumper Day for Save the Children was bigger than ever with the Third, Fourth and Fifth Years joining the Sixth Form in wearing their Christmas Jumpers on the last day of the term and raising £684 - much more than previous years! Along with the Christmas Jumper Day, the Charities Committee also ran the much loved Reindeer Run for Chestnut Tree House for the First and Second Years, raising a huge £1,363.76.
South Downs Way
Bomber Challenge
Three Third Year pupils, Jack, Luke, and Fynn rode the South Downs Way this Easter holiday to raise money for their First Challenge trip to Romania, where they‘ll be volunteering with a community development project and trekking through the Carpathian Mountains. In addition to funding their trip, they also committed to donate
25% of the money raised to two worthy charities, Dementia UK and Prostate Cancer UK, both charities which they have seen the effects of in their own families. Their 100-mile off-road route started in Winchester and finished in Eastbourne and took in over 4,000 metres of ascent!
“I decided to take part in The Lancaster Challenge 2021 and raise money for the RAF Museum. The challenge was to walk, run or cycle a minimum of 80km from January until the 17th of May 2021, based around the Lancaster Bomber because this year marked 80 years since the aircraft took its first test flight. I started the challenge towards the end of January and reached my initial target of 80km by midMarch. I decided then to up my target to 150km. In lockdown it was much easier to go on daily walks or runs. After the Easter break when we went back to school, I found it harder to find the time to do my walks and runs. However, I persevered and by the 17th May I had completed just over 150km, raising £200 as well.” Barney Clifford-Brown, First Year
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Clubs
Equestrian News Cake Decorating
Lunchtime Baking
Some eager First and Third Years enjoyed learning how to make bread, pizza bases, focaccia and cinnamon buns in virtual Thursday lunch time sessions during the latest lockdown. They were great at working through recipes and following live demos, and letting us know the outcomes of their creations!
Further enhancing their culinary skills while confined to home, pupils from the First Year, Second Year and the Junior School have been taking part in Cake Decorating Club, learning how to make edible roses, bows and teddy bears to decorate cupcakes. Weeks of practice culminated in the chance to show off their skills in a Valentine themed bake-off!
85cm Novice Eventers Challenge
Championship - Livi Moss, Clemmie Foster, Megan Barnes, Orla Brady
95cm Intermediate Eventers Challenge
Championship- Clemmie Foster, Bels Foster,
Let’s run, walk or cycle the 8,919 km to Mude in Nepal. How many km can you do?
Megan Barnes, Megan Dyer
United Kingdom Germany
105cm Advanced Eventers Challenge
Poland Ukraine
Championship - Megan Barnes, Bels Foster,
Kazakhstan
Austria
France
Churcher’s College
75cm Mini Eventers Challenge - Orla Brady, Livi Moss, Megan Barnes, Annabel Hewett
Churcher’s to Mude YOU ARE HERE
The second May bank holiday weekend saw four Churcher’s teams competing at Hickstead, having all qualified in February for the National Schools NSEA National Eventers Challenge Championships at all four levels. Churcher’s were competing against schools from all over the country with massive classes of over 40 teams. We finished in the top 10 in many of the competitions. Well done to all the students involved.
Romania
Italy
Greece
Mude School
Turkey
Iran
Afganistan
leader board 1 ................................................................. 2 ................................................................ 3 ................................................................
Pakistan Saudi Arabia
Nepal India
4 ................................................................ 5 ................................................................ 6................................................................. 7 ................................................................. 8 ................................................................ 9 ................................................................ 10 ...............................................................
#ChurchersToMude
For more information and to submit your distances visit Firefly or speak to Mrs Taylor
The Road to Nepal
On our return to school in the Spring, the PE Department launched the 2021 'Churcher's to Mude Challenge’, a fitness initiative with a target to cover the 8,919km journey to Mude in Nepal, as a school community. Open to pupils, parents, staff and friends the project aims to get everyone active and raise awareness of the United World Schools (UWS) Mude School in Nepal. At the time of going to press, we have collectively covered 7,563.91 kms, taking us to Northern India, with Sixth Former Henry Plewes covering the most miles, closely followed by First Years Elliot Chisolm and Charlie Stevenson!
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PhilSoc
Sixth Form students have been taking part in online Philosophical Society Club meets during the Spring Term lockdown with sessions led by teachers and students. Topics debated and explored have included Existentialism, Freud’s dream analysis (applying his psychoanalysis on Little Red Riding Hood!), and a discussion comparing the Western and Eastern methods of dealing with depression. The sessions always begin with a presentation and students and teachers then write up one question each, which we vote on. Questions posed are just starting points, our debate can, and usually does, go in any number of directions, as Mr Ostersen, Head of R&P, said: “The aim of these debates is not to increase our ‘cleverness’, but to get wiser.”
Eliza Porter Wright, Alice Robinson.
Dance Club
This year’s First Years have been hitting the dance floor, both learning and choreographing routines in their afterschool club. They even persevered over lockdown, when they could only dance in a box rather than as a group!
FOCUS Senior
Modern Foreign Languages Bon Appetit
Food is obviously important in the French Department! Slaloming whilst tossing crêpes, baking and cooking during lockdown… who knows what is simmering on the back stove for the last part of the Summer Term?! Charlotte was showcasing cookery demonstrations during lockdown, live on Teams from Grenoble, followed by some intrepid chefs in the making, as seen by their culinary delights!
Competition Success
16-year-old Oliver Fogelin has been awarded Bronze in the Advanced Test at the 2021 UK Linguistics Olympiad (UKLO) which puts him in the top 15% of competitors in the country. The Linguistics Olympiad is a competition for students to solve linguistic data problems. UKLO enters at least one team each year in the International Linguistics Olympiad.
Meet the Assistants
Bonjour à tous, je suis Charlotte Falchero, j’ai 22 ans et je suis l’assistante de français au Churcher’s College. Malgré une année pleine de rebondissements, j’ai beaucoup appris et je pense avoir réussi à transmettre ma culture aux élèves de cette école. J’ai été très heureuse de travailler ici.
¡Hola a todos! Me llamo Sara y soy de Madrid (España). Tengo la suerte de trabajar como auxiliar de conversación de español en esta increíble institución como es Churcher›s College. El personal, en especial los profesores del Departamento de Lenguas Modernas y los estudiantes me han acogido muy bien durante estos meses y hemos aprendido muchísimo los unos de los otros. No me voy a olvidar de esta etapa de mi vida y de lo mucho que he aprendido en este centro educativo a nivel profesional y personal. Y por último, pero no menos importante, esta experiencia no hubiese sido igual sin mis dos compañeras, Charlotte (auxiliar de conversación de Francés) y Verena (auxiliar de conversación de alemán). Es maravilloso aprender nuevos idiomas y conocer nuevas culturas, por eso… ¡Os animo a aprender un nuevo idioma y a ponerlo en práctica viajando!
Hallo! Ich heiße Verena und ich bin die diesjährige österreichische Sprachassistentin am Churcher’s College. Ich bin 23 Jahre alt und komme aus Kärnten, dem südlichsten Bundesland von Österreich. Aufgrund von Corona ist meine Zeit in Großbritannien anders als erwartet und vor allem im Lockdown war es oft nicht ganz leicht. Trotzdem machte ich viele schöne Erfahrungen und durfte sehr viele tolle Menschen kennenlernen. Die Arbeit mit den Schülerinnen und Schülern macht mir sehr viel Spaß und ich lerne dabei auch sehr viel Neues. Ich bin mir sicher, dass ich sehr viel von meiner Zeit am Churcher’s College für meinen späteren Beruf als Englischund Italienischlehrerin in Österreich mitnehmen werde und ich bin sehr dankbar für die unvergessliche Zeit hier!
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History A Family Connection
Parent Claire Brockdorff gave a fascinating talk to more than 80 pupils and parents about a family connection to the 1944 plot to kill Hitler. A relation by marriage of Fritz von der Lancken, one of the plotters, she gave us a personal glimpse into the terror of planning this attack and of being caught. She explained how after the plot failed, Fritz was arrested, put on ‘trial’ and then hanged in September 1944 - by a piano wire; a gruesome end. However, Claire ended on an uplifting note; in an annual ceremony, new recruits to the German army pledge to preserve the legacy of the plotters and to do what is morally right and not follow orders blindly.
ACADEMIC LECTURE SERIES
ACADEMIC LECTURE SERIES
THE JULY BOMB PLOT 1944
Claire Brockdorff will be giving this talk about a family connection to the 1944 plot; she is a relation by marriage of Fritz von der Lancken, who was General Olbricht’s adjutant and one of the plotters. Thursday 4 March 2021, 5pm ACADEMIC LECTURE SERIES
‘The Provisional Government of 1917, Russia’s Great Lost Opportunity?’ By Chris Corin
Wednesday 21 April 4:30 - 5:30pm Lecture Theatre
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The Communist Project
In April, Upper Sixth Historians attended a talk by prominent Sussex author and Kremlinologist Chris Corin, ‘How far was 1917 a watershed in Russian History?’ The talk was framed by a contextual profile of the Soviet diarist Lev Kopelev, who maintained his belief in the Communist project, despite his imprisonment and torture by the secret police. The students were invited to compare the effects of the Bolshevik Revolution, not only with the earlier February coup, but with the economic changes imposed on the Soviet people in the 1930s.
Could France’s experiment with Constitutional Monarchy have survived? by Prof William Doyle
Thursday 11th March 2021
A Capricious King 4:30-5:30 Lecture Theatre
Upper Sixth Historians attended a very thought-provoking lecture on the 'Failure of Constitutional Monarchy in France 1789 - 93'. Professor Doyle is a renowned expert in his field, and his early writings ignited a teenage Mrs Jolliffe's enduring fascination with the Gallic revolutionary experiment. He constructed a fairly damning assessment of Louis XVI, highlighting his lack of political dexterity, and inability to react appropriately to the radicalisation of his subjects. In response to a number of very apposite questions, the speaker argued that even the most determined and cunning ruler would have found the events of 1789-1793 challenging and so this guileless and capricious French king was left floundering by the tide of history.
FOCUS Senior
History Society
Did you know that Hitler was Time Magazine’s man of the year in 1939? That’s just one point we debated in our first History Society meeting, when we argued “Which dictator was worst: Stalin, Mao or Hitler?”. The group has come together to look at key historical figures (we also debated the ‘virtues’ of Mrs Thatcher, Emmeline Pankhurst and Elizabeth I) and events beyond the curriculum. Dipping into the dynamic font of all knowledge, otherwise known as Mr McLearie, History Society sets out to bring history alive for any Sixth Former who enjoys learning new facts and arguing controversial points.
Napoleon's Legacy ACADEMIC LECTURE SERIES
A Survivor's Testimony
In January, Fourth Year pupils took part in a national event to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. They joined 800 other schools around the country to watch Holocaust survivor, 90-year-old Eve Kugler, share her testimony. This was an incredible opportunity for our pupils to hear, first hand, what happened to Eve and her family, and provided an important opportunity to reflect on the lessons of the Holocaust and how we can all act to ensure that anti-Semitism and racism of any kind, has no place in our communities and societies.
Napoleon: Where did it all go wrong? By David Andress Prof of Modern History, University of Portsmouth
Prof David Andress gave a wonderfully informative lecture on Napoleon’s paradoxical legacy. Was he a military genius or a ‘battlefield monster’ who decimated his soldiers for his egoism? Was he the moderniser who saved France from chaos, or did he simply build on other men’s work? Was he the champion of progress or a nepotistic snob? Andress explored all of these dichotomies and came to the definite conclusion that he was a tyrant and a scourge. Our students gained a great overview of this complex historical titan (whilst also eating delicious Belgian ‘Waterloo’ buns!)
Monday 24th May 4:30-5:30pm Lecture Theatre
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Trips 'Never Such Innocence' Competition
Kitty Hogg
We had some fantastic poems and art work sent in for our annual World War One art and poetry competition. The winners were announced as Henry Murphy, Jane Lang-Horgan, William McIntyre, Joe Nighy, Kitty Hogg, Jessica Lin, Katerina Masic, Joe McSweeney, and Rufus Knight after a very hard decision making process!
Katerina Masic
Katerina has been awarded an Honourable Mention in the Art competition for the age 11-14 category for the piece Despair. The ‘Never Such Innocence’ judging panel were deeply impressed by all of the entries, and had a tough time selecting the winners, the work was of such an exceptional standard. They received over 3,000 entries from 99 countries around the world. Very well done, Katerina!
A White Man’s War?
Never Ending Night Duty
A Great War was being waged throughout nations
Blood pink fingers of the sunrise reach across the sky,
And to every person who heard it, a great temptation
Men fall like rain drops and seep into the ground.
The Sikhs and the Africans and the Indians too
The approaching roar of shells is the battle cry,
Felt that they’d help us out and cross the great blue.
Shouts of chaos from stretcher bearers remain the only sound.
But far from the idea of glory and fame,
Again, and again my raging rifle shuddering,
These poor hungry lads were made to feel shame:
Gun powder singeing my skin.
“you’ll all be digging trenches, so you don’t end up dead”
Beneath the thin ocean of gas, I’m choking,
Their Marshall up on his high horse had said.
The dugout’s snuffed out candles, the only light now, is within.
They were not allowed to use weapons
I’m staring at the blazing shells, scanning over the trench.
But they gave their blood
The muffled roaring of guns further down the line
While they were exhausted,
Echoes and booms as my nose catches the stench
In that horrible mud.
Of death and of fear and of flesh, but luckily not yet mine.
With the war then won and the army disbanded
The whistle rings in my ears like an alarm bell,
These shell-shocked men came to Britain and landed,
Awakening me to pass over the top.
But far from being praised as heroes and saviours
Wandering wisps of smoke walk the battlefield hell,
They were lynched and discriminated and other awful behaviours.
In my brain I have to, nothing telling me not to stop.
Joe Nighy
So next time you read a book about World War One Remember it was not just some white boys out fighting the Hun If you had felt what they felt and seen what they saw Would you just call this a white man’s war?
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Joe McSweeney
FOCUS Senior
Model United Nations
The Model United Nations (MUN) club has had a busy two terms, despite the lockdown preventing us from meeting in person for so long. In March, 11 of our Lower Sixth participated in two online conferences. debating with delegates from all over Europe and were able to listen to some exceptional opening ceremony speeches, including one from a current UN representative. During the
period of remote learning, MUN club met each week to discuss, learn and plan for our own mini-conference discussing ‘the question of corruption and violence in Venezuela’, which we were able to hold the first week back to school. In the Summer Term we were delighted to invite Second Year pupils to become part of the MUN club - 25 budding young
diplomats represented six delegations from China, Tunisia, Argentina, Spain, Portugal and the Philippines. They debated a whole range of topics during the day, including; the question of racial equality and education, and the question of political usage of the media.
Geography Sweet Treats
Tim Marshall
In April, students, pupils and parents were invited to attend an online talk at the Royal Geographical Society by bestselling author Tim Marshall on The Power of Geography. This was a fascinating and insightful journey through a selection of key countries, and near space, from his latest book “Ten maps that reveal the future of our world”.
The Lower Sixth enjoyed a ‘sweet’ Geography revision lesson when asked to use their favourite snacks to portray coastal sediment cells and management in high and low wave energy environments. Geology was colour-coded using Skittles, Mars Bars and Fudges represented coastal groynes, and sections of sea wall were fabricated from Munchies cubes.
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Year 6: End of an era! Whilst studying their geography topic of Australia, 6H enjoyed getting out into the outdoor classroom to search for natural materials to create a variety of aboriginal symbols.
For their Ancient History studies, Year 6 were tasked with papyrus writing, composing the diary entry of an Ancient Egyptian involved in the construction of one of the Great Pyramids. During lockdown they got creative at home, baking Egyptian flatbread and making a cartonnage pencil case!
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Well done to Year 6 Poetry Club for winning the 2020 Holme Grange Poetry Performance Remote Competition. They performed and sent in via video link, Hilaire Belloc’s amusing poem ‘Jim’ which is a cautionary tale for children to do what their parents say, or they might get into trouble! Mrs Roberts, who runs the Poetry Club, notes that we have won this challenging competition three times in the last five years. Huge congratulations go to Zoe, Edith, Zoë, Emma, Tatym and Scarlett, who all helped design and choreograph this year’s submission!
FOCUS Junior
Year 6 began their citizenship curriculum in their pyjamas, of course, with a lifesaving session in the pool - the children learnt some invaluable skills here. They were coaxed through entering the water safely, using objects to aid their buoyancy, treading water and diving for sunken objects.
Year 6 welcomed back Nurse Julia to take them through the basics of first aid as part of their citizenship curriculum. The children learnt about some of the common injuries they may come across and how best to deal with them, including sprains, bleeding, head injury, asthma, choking and the recovery position. As always, the final part of the citizenship curriculum is the Masterchef challenge. In groups, the children found a recipe, selected and budgeted for their ingredients and created a tempting menu with cooking instructions. After this preparation and a demonstration, they were given 45 minutes to create their dish. They were encouraged to cook a simple meal safety and hygienically, while showing an understanding of a healthy balanced diet. Well done, Year 6, for rising to the challenge!
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World Book Day It proved to be a very different kind of Book Day thanks to lockdown but all the children enjoyed author ‘visits’ online, reading-based activities and the usual dress-up day, both at home and at school. It was especially lovely to see the children’s inventive paperback book folding and it looks like a few of them might have a new hobby! Year 6 virtually ‘met’ the author of one of their studied books, Vashti Hardy, and Year 5 even got their hands on some signed copies after their author ‘visit’ from Tom Palmer!
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FOCUS Junior
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Outdoor Fun
Santa's Visit
What a busy week build-up we had to Christmas! A careless Father Christmas crash landed on our site and there was plenty of Christmas excitement to boot. A huge thank you to the PA for their support in not only supplying the gifts but to the Year 6 PA reps for setting up the grotto – it was a beautiful alpine scene. The site team deserve a special mention; it really was a collective effort to create a very special memory for the children and one which we very much hope will be everlasting for the children.
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FOCUS Junior
We Love Our Outdoor Classroom
It may have been a chilly autumn day, but there was plenty of warmth in Year 5 by the campfire, carving chalk and drinking hot chocolate. It was the perfect way to spend an autumn Friday afternoon… there were roasted marshmallows, too!
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Sport Bikeability
29 children from Year 6 took part in a Bikeability workshop this term run by Pedalpower Training. The children went over the basics in the playground before venturing onto the roads with their Leaders. After eight hours of cycling we were very proud that the children all attained their Level 2 certificate and the instructors commented on how hard the children worked and the excellent progress that they had made.
Morning Yoga
For those early risers who wanted something to help them start the day right during lockdown, Mr Forbes ran a ‘Wake up and Stretch’ morning yoga session. As part of the daily stretching routines, pupils were also set a challenge to have a go at Crow Pose. The entries were fantastic, with some children even managing to transition up into a headstand!
PE Bingo
During lockdown, as a little something extra for those who wanted to join in, Mr Pickett and Mr Blackman set up a weekly PE Bingo Challenge Card. The children had to film themselves completing the activities on the card to be awarded Dojo points.
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FOCUS Junior
Kickboxing
Lockdown PE for the Juniors saw the introduction of kickboxing as a new activity. The requirement for not much space and very little equipment made it perfect for wet winter days when we were all shut in at home. The children really got stuck in and made fabulous progress!
Swimming Gala
The first of our swimming galas saw the children in Year 4 putting in a fantastic performance to show how hard they have been working in lessons. At a time when so many of the large-scale sporting events had been cancelled, it was a fantastic sight to see the children working hard to win points for their House and having a great time. Well done to Rother House who won the event, with Arun in 2nd, Hamble in 3rd and Meon in 4th.
Back in the Pool
The gala started with the fastest boys and fastest girls’ race, which definitely lived up to expectation. An incredibly tight photo finish saw Olly Heapy take the gold, Archie Nighy taking silver and George Eaton coming away with bronze from the fastest boy’s race. The fastest girl’s race was equally as competitive, with Zoe Houghton winning in style, Kitty Ivanov claiming silver and Emma Waller close behind with bronze. After the excitement of the medal races, every House competed in a
front crawl, breaststroke and backstroke races, with each race earning points for the house. Everyone swam amazingly well, producing some awesome races and did their house proud. The Gala finished with Arun claiming victory in the 4 x 25m relay, followed by the highlight of every gala, the Float Race, won by Rother. Congratulations to Rother, who were overall winners and well done to all who competed.
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Charity & Guild Awards
Fundraising
Congratulations to Will in Year 6 for raising £195 for the ABF charity for injured soldiers. He took part in the Operation Bletchley coding mission and walking/running 12 miles.
Red Nose Day
We had such a fun day in school for Red Nose Day with all our different outfits! Many thanks to all those that made donations; we are delighted to have raised more than £1,200!
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FOCUS Junior
Guild Awards
Well done to all the children who have been working on their Guild Awards over lockdown. Achievements include Amber’s dog biscuit project for the RSPCA, letter writing to an elderly lady who doesn’t receive much post and has been feeling rather lonely, sleeping in a den made for the residential section and raising money for the Liss Food Bank.
Hug a Hospital
Many of the classes have been working on making cards for the Hug a Hospital campaign and we have been so pleased with the children’s heartfelt and thoughtful responses to this activity. The aim of the task is to send a card to raise the morale of our amazing but exhausted nurses working with Covid-19 patients throughout the UK.
Fish and Chip Babies
Mrs Y-P was delighted to be able to deliver large bags full of clothes to Winchester Soroptimist International. This included pillowcase dresses for the international ‘Dress a Girl Around the World’ project which aims to provide suitable clothing for girls in Africa, India and Nepal to wear to school. Without these ‘pillowcase dresses’ they would not have the clothes they need to enable them to attend school. This time we have also made baby clothes and hats for ‘Fish and Chip’ babies who otherwise are wrapped in newspaper when they are born.
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Art
Year 6 Abstract Art
Year 1 made clay models
Model Pupils
We had hoped to visit the Southampton City Art Gallery to see the Edward Burne-Jones paintings which celebrate the story of Perseus, but Covid restrictions prevented our trip. Instead, we read the Greek myths, wrote our own stories and finished off the unit by making clay heads of Medusa. The results were quite terrifying as you can see!
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Picasso
Year 4 have been studying Picasso. Looking at his Blue Period they empathised with the poor and homeless people he painted and after being photographed in sad poses, they traced themselves and painted in watercolours using tones of blue. They then looked at his Cubist still life work and his Three Musicians painting. Using observational drawings of musical instruments, the children created overlapping sections which they shaded using oil pastels to create their Cubist effect. Our musicians had their photo taken playing instruments in small groups. Working in pairs, they then combined two different photos to get a cut-up Cubist effect.
FOCUS Junior
Year 1 create art from nature
Year 4 Art Club drew animals in chalk and charcoal and were then introduced to Andy Warhol’s Endangered Animals series where unusual colours were incorporated over black and white photos. They then copied this style to depict another animal, using soft pastels. Year 2 get messy!
Hobbit Inspired Art
Year 3 listened to extracts from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien before researching features that a dragon might have, such as claws, scales and wings. They drew out their dragon and painted with watercolours, then created a background using a range of media and techniques.
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Music & Drama
Cats
Did you know that the collective noun for a group of cats is a GLARING of cats? This term saw a lot of feline glaring going on, as Year 4 performed their amazing production of Cats! The show included three songs, two dances and two performance poems and the standard of singing and drama was very high. With furry ears, cuffs and tails, every child took part with enthusiasm and created an incredible visual show.
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FOCUS Junior
Crikey Moses
Just before the Easter break, Year 5 were able to finally put on a performance of their long-awaited Year 4 production, ‘Crikey Moses’. With the obvious restrictions in place, it was
Percussion Fun
a recorded show but this did not stop the children giving it their all and singing out loud and clear in true Churcher’s style. Ancient Egypt came to the Junior School in style!
In the early years, we use all types of percussion instruments to practice our rhythm skills. We enjoy playing in time to different styles of music, keeping to a steady beat and following a conductor. We took turns giving musical instructions to our friends and having lots of fun!
Playing Together
In Years 5 and 6 we have enjoyed creating a class orchestra using tuned percussion. We worked hard to learn our individual parts first then we came together and had to listen carefully to fit our part alongside the other sections, staying in time, counting our rhythms and following the conductor!
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Nursery & Reception Busy baking falafel
Designing alien underpants with repeating patterns
Look what I bought at the flower shop Mission control calling all aliens
Olympics here we come!
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Reception children have embraced being back in the classroom and returning to their familiar routines, playing with their friends and exploring new learning.
FOCUS Junior
What a delicious looking picnic
What everyone needs is a nurse princess
Books and stories have played a big part of our learning recently and the children have enjoyed several writing and maths activities linked to some great stories such as Errol’s Garden, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and Handa’s Surprise. We have been using our Tuff Trays with props and resources to try and encourage the children retell such stories practically with their friends. Seeing them bring the stories alive is a wonderful thing to watch!
We took great care of the bulbs we planted
Look at our careful observational sculpture
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Learning About Other Cultures
Inspirational Figures from History
In Years 1 to 4, children thought about what it meant to be fair as a warm-up towards discussions of inequality and racism. Years 1 to 3 learnt about some important black people in history, including Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Junior. They were asked to 'walk in the shoes' of Rosa Parks by writing a letter as her, explaining the thoughts behind her actions. They were also asked to copy the style of Alma Thomas in creating abstract art. Additionally, in Years 3 and 4, children found out about the arrival of the Windrush Generation to the UK and Year 4 wrote moving diary entries about the culture shock children experienced on arrival.
Chinese New Year
We had to celebrated differently this year, as we were all in lockdown, but nevertheless the children threw themselves into the spirit of the day and enjoyed Chinese arts and crafts and Mandarin lessons. The children of keyworkers who were in school were lucky enough to have a Chinese meal for lunch, too!
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Oli Heapy
FOCUS Junior
Freedom Quilt
In Year 4, the children were also taught about the meaning of slavery, through the story of Clara and the Freedom Quilt, and contributed to the Upper School combined art project. Over half term, we managed to assemble the resulting patchwork quilt, which represented the children’s ideas of freedom and their understanding of some of the symbols used in the Secret Underground Railroad maps.
Black History Day
Years 5 and 6 started the day by considering their dreams. We had some inspirational answers to the question – what is your dream for yourself, your community and the world? History Monitor Oli H led an assembly on Martin Luther King, in which the children with blue eyes were asked to vote on whether the rest of the children should have an additional task. Not surprisingly they
found this process unfair and this enabled them to consider issues pertaining to segregation and rights. In Music, Miss Stone introduced the children to the Mwamba Children’s Choir and their version of Siyahamba. We then worked on making a newspaper of the key moments in black history that changed the world, with the children selecting a character from history to research. A range of people featured in our newspaper including
Crispus Attucks, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Hank Aaron, Barak Obama and John Kent. To end the day, we completed a STEAM challenge based on Katherine Johnson and the book ‘Counting with Katherine’. The children learnt about her inspirational story and the calculations that she completed to help land Apollo 13. They then had to design their own space capsule and modify it to slow its descent.
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Back Together Again
We Dont Miss Learning From Home!
Keyworker children enjoyed a socially distanced picnic out in the sun in the last week of lockdown and had great fun preparing an art work surprise for their friends, ready for their return the following Monday.
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FOCUS Junior It was lovely to be together with our friends after lockdown. Year 4 had a scavenger hunt on the school field and enjoyed working with each other, inside and outside, of the classroom. It was great to finally be back at school!
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Celebrations for the College's tercentenary will commence this September at the start of the next academic year, when the new Music School will open alongside the Goodfield Centre. If you have any questions or ideas relating to the 300th anniversary, please contact Nick Smith in the Development Office at nsmith@churcherscollege.com.
Churcher’s GCSE Art - Zoe Blackburn
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