Newsletter 20th March 2023

Kindness, Trust, Respect, Honesty, Tolerance

Diary Dates

The Week Ahead

Trial Exams (Years 11 and 13)

8:00am Monday 13th March to 4:30pm Friday 24th March

Please see the final page/s for timetables

MUN Conference

9:00am-12:45pm, Saturday 18th March

Year 12 Personal Statement Workshop

9:15am-12:35pm, Saturday 18th March

French Art Day 8:00am-2:45pm, Tuesday 21st March

Year 9 and 10 Netball Match 4:30pm-5:30pm, Thursday 23rd March

Shakespeare Festival

7:00pm-10:00pm, Thursday 23rd March, The Shaw Theatre, London

Round Square European Conference

Thursday 23rd – Monday 27th March

Historical Association Great Debate Final

10:00am-2:00pm, Saturday 25th March, Windsor Castle

Looking Further Forward

Year 8 Parents’ Meeting 5:00pm-7:30pm, Tuesday 28th March

Unicorn Easter Egg Raffle

1:00pm-2:20pm, Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th March, outside the Gilt Hall

Year 13 Service Placement 1:25pm-4:00pm, Wednesday 29th March, Leybourne Lakes

Trampolining Competition

9:00am-3:00pm, Thursday 30th March, Rebound Centre, Gillingham

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 20th March |Week A

Spring Arrivals

After months of cold weather, snow, and torrential rain, we are delighted to see signs of spring blooming in our School grounds Thanks to our dedicated gardening team, these are looking as beautiful as ever, and we look forward to watching the gardens blossom and change as we move towards summer.

We are pleased to welcome many visitors to Cobham Hall this weekend, and we send special thanks to our gardener, Mrs Adams, for her lovely photo of the sea of daffodils that will greet them.

Saturday will see more than 50 external delegates from local schools join us as our exciting MUN conference begins

We anticipate much fascinating debate and look forward to seeing who will win the “Best Delegate” award.

We are also delighted to host our latest CSI Cobham whodunnit: Who Murdered the Deputy Head We will be joined by 26 pupils from local primary schools, working alongside our own students to investigate the ‘crime’ while learning fascinating techniques from the world of forensic science The students have new evidence to scrutinise, including oil, cupcakes, fizzy drinks and sweets, and a set of all-new suspects up for analysis. See later pages for further detail about both events.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 20th March |Week A News

Saturday Enrichment Programme

Saturday 18th March at 9:15am12:35pm:

• Art workshop (Years 7-9)

• Service Saturday

Saturday 25th March at 9:15am12:35pm:

• Drama Production

Sunny, Misty Morning

Thank you to Mrs Thompson for this beautiful early morning image of our driveway on Wednesday

Procedure for Student Illness at School

We would like to remind Parents and Guardians that if a student feels unwell at School, our procedure is that they must go to see the School Nurse in the first instance. They should not contact you directly and request collection. Our School Nurse will get in touch with you if the student needs to come home.

Should your child contact you directly, please ask if they have been to see the School Nurse. This is of vital importance from a child safeguarding perspective, and we are grateful for your understanding.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 20th March |Week A News

Anti-Bullying Training

On Thursday, Mr Kipling organised a virtual workshop as part of The Diana Award’s Anti-Racist Bullying Ambassador Training programme.

During the session, students discussed various case studies and examples of racist bullying, with the objectives of understanding what racist bullying behaviour is and how to identify it They learnt to recognise how racist bullying behaviour can make someone feel, and how to respond appropriately to help support others in the School.

The students watched visual representations of discussion topics and were then asked to share their thoughts and feelings while respecting each other’s opinions and being open and honest.

As a result, our students were awarded the certificate pictured above. Well done to all those who attended and contributed, and many thanks to Mr Kipling for organising the session.

Drama A Level Trip

On Thursday evening, our Drama A Level students had an excellent time on their trip to Guys & Dolls the Musical at the Bridge Theatre They immersed themselves in the performance and admired the set design

Science Week: STEM CLUB

This week was Science Week, and Cobham Hall took the opportunity to celebrate by providing the chance for students to take part in a global experiment during STEM Club.

The objective of the exercise was to research various options to tackle our growing climate crisis, to move away from fossil fuels, and embrace electrification. A crucial part of this journey will be the use of bigger and better batteries. The students were therefore tasked with exploring the science behind batteries and why they will play such an important role for a bright energy future.

The students’ results were then uploaded and shared globally so they could see how their investigations compared with other participants’.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 20th March |Week A News

Training for Nationals

This Thursday, Clara, Year 10, used our School swimming pool to train for her upcoming National Artistic Swimming competition on 25th and 26th March in Gloucester.

Alongside her duet partner and another swimmer from the GB Youth Team, Clara showcased an incredibly impressive skillset, including jumps, kicks and lifts.

The session was organised by Jenny Grey, one of the most reputable coaches in England, who provided the swimmers with constructive feedback and tips on their posture, positions and movements.

It was remarkable to see their talent in action and to witness their formidable swimming and breath-holding abilities.

We wish them all the best of luck at their competition next weekend.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 20th March |Week A News

Artist of the Week

The artist of the week is Elizabeth, Year 10. It has been impressive to see Elizabeth start her portraits project and develop it from her initial ideas. She has worked hard to develop her drawing and painting skills as well as learning Photoshop along the way. Currently, she is working in the style of Loui Jover, mixing newspaper backgrounds with graphic-style ink work over the top, and it’s looking fantastic. We cannot wait to see the final outcomes. Congratulations Elizabeth.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 20th March |Week A News

Media Club

Our student Media Club team has been busy creating exciting video content to showcase all that they find special and unique about Cobham Hall. The MUN practice debate has featured, and the students’ latest creation sees our Boarding community saying ‘I love you’ in their native language.

We are looking forward to seeing the team’s next productions and encourage everyone to keep an eye on our social media accounts for them. You can also view their work on our website here

Media Club is always on the lookout for new members, so if anyone is interested in joining, please contact Mrs Ward Vine or Miss Bilal. The club offers students the chance to take on projects and develop their own material, whilst gaining insight into digital marketing and content creation.

Our Student Leadership Team has also been getting creative, producing an excellent video to celebrate International Women’s Day last week on their new Instagram account. They asked staff and students three questions: “What does International Women’s Day mean to you?”, “Who is your female role model?”, and “What does being a woman mean to you?”.

You can view their video by visiting their Instagram account @cobhamhallslt.

Vaccine Update from the Immunisation Service

“This is a reminder to Parents/Guardians to submit a consent or decline for the TdIPV and MenACWY vaccinations via the School-Aged Immunisation Service’s website https://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/imms

The vaccinations will be taking place in school on 31st March 2023 The closing date for consent is 23rd March 2023.

On the same day, they are now running a catch-up session for students to receive their HPV 1 or 2.

The NHS School-Aged Immunisation Service is delivering an HPV Catch-Up session in school on 31st March 2023 If the team has consent on record for your child, they will be vaccinated on this visit. If you have not previously consented and would like your child to receive the HPV Vaccination, please visit their website via the following link: https://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/imms . This link also provides information on the HPV Vaccination that you may find useful.”

Monday, 20th March |Week A News

British Schools Nationals Biathlon

On 12th March, Natasha, Year 12, and Olivia G, Year 10, competed at the British Schools Nationals Biathlon at Abbey Stadium Redditch, Birmingham, having qualified in November.

They came back with great results on both the swim and the run:

Natasha placed 4th out of 16 in the swim.

Olivia placed 12th out of 34 in the run.

Overall:

Natasha placed 11th out of 16 girls in the Year 12/13 category.

Olivia placed 13th out of 34 in the Year 10 category.

Excellent results, well done to both of you.

New Driver Uniforms

Thank you to our mini-bus drivers, Mr Fletcher and Mr Caller, for modelling their fetching new uniforms which arrived on Tuesday. With the addition of a new fleece, sweatshirt and polo, our drivers are all looking very smart and ready for any weather.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 20th March |Week A News

Excellent Class Work

Dr Marin has asked us to share this fantastic work produced by Carmen, Year 8. She created an excellent newspaper on the riots in Pompeii in 59 AD for Latin class last week. Well done on your hard work, Carmen.

(Continued on the following page)

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 20th March |Week A Kindness, Trust, Respect, Honesty, Tolerance News

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 20th March |Week A News

Student Finance Information

As Year 13s approach the end of their UCAS journey, many students and parents have questions about the final stages in their university application process and student finance. Please see the link below from the University of Portsmouth regarding live sessions taking place in March, detailing information on student finance and the UCAS process. The first of these sessions will take place online on 21st March at 6pm.

https://www.port.ac.uk/collaborate/schools-and-colleges/getting-started/livesessions?j=183430&sfmc_sub=120501872&l=51_HTML&u=2264244&mid=515009139&jb=19&utm_medium=organicemail&utm_campaign=&utm_source=&utm_content=&utm_term=

Getting Started: Live Sessions

Get help with each stage of the UCAS process by joining our live webinars. www.port.ac.uk

Cobham Hall Photography

Thank you to Mrs Wood for this stunning photo of Cobham Hall

Coming up: MUN Conference

9:00am-12:45pm, Saturday 18th March

This Saturday, our highly anticipated CobMUN Conference is taking place. This event will see a variety of topical debates, such as Security Council, Human Rights, the Environments and Drugs and Crime.

We wish the participants the best of luck and look forward to hearing all about it. You can follow progress via their Instagram account, @cobhamhallmodelun.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 20th March |Week A News

The Murderer Strikes Again: The Suspects

On Saturday we are welcoming various local primary Schools to take part in our infamous STEM event, CSI Cobham: Who Murdered the Deputy Head. This exciting, crime-solving activity allows students to exercise their investigative skills and use evidence found at the scene to solve the mystery.

Poor Mrs Carney has been murdered again, and this time around there are brand new suspects under scrutiny. We are pleased to share with you the suspect profiles being provided to this weekend’s sleuths:

“Mr Mangan is one of our Drama teachers, and Mrs Carney recently had to address the erratic behaviour caused by his habit of drinking sugary fizzy drinks and eating sweets.

“Mr Janowicz is our Teacher of English as an Additional Language, who enjoys flower arranging in his spare time. Mrs Carney was furious when she discovered that all the flowers in her garden in Rose Cottage had been picked and has banned Mr Janowicz from using any more of the flowers growing on school grounds.

“Mrs Caveney is one of our kitchen team and recently served tea to Mrs Carney and some visitors and used salt instead of sugar in the biscuits, making them all feel ill.

“Miss Williams is our teacher of History, and one of her skills is car maintenance. She often loses track of time when she is working on her own or colleagues’ cars and arrives late to lessons covered in oil. Mrs Carney has had enough of the oil stains on the carpet and furniture in her classroom, which she has instructed Miss Williams to clean.

“Mr Potter is one of our Maintenance Team: all day every day he solves problems for all members of the Cobham Hall community, and sometimes staff give him his favourite sweets, fruit sherbets, to say thank you. Mr Potter has heard that Mrs Carney thinks that he has been sitting around drinking tea and reading romantic novels when he should have been working. He is very upset.

“Mr Kipling is our teacher of Computer Science, and he spends most of his free time perfecting his fairy cakes. Mr Kipling’s talents as a baker are enjoyed by all his colleagues, and he has won competitions with his cakes. However, he has been told that Mrs Carney thinks that his cakes don’t taste as good as Sainsbury’s. His feelings are hurt, and he is angry.”

With each suspect demonstrating a strong motive for the murder, and with no alibis to support their plea of innocence, anyone could be the killer - the students have a challenging case on their hands. We are looking forward to seeing the results of their hard work next week.

Monday, 20th March |Week A News