News@Com Winter 2007

No resting on laurels after outstanding Ofsted report

POINTING THE WAY FORWARD

The highest possible Ofsted inspection outcome for the college was both a great encouragement and a key pointer for the future

On 9 October, the school received a so-called ‘Reduced Tariff Inspection’ (RTI) It was the lightest touch inspection that exists, deemed appropriate given the school’s track record

Two inspectors inspected the school for one day and gave feedback at the end of the day It marks a significant shift in the inspection system that places the onus on schools to have full and rigorous self-review procedures. The purpose of the inspection is to test the school’s own judgement and to seek confirmation of the basis of the judgements

The only disagreement that the inspectors had with the school was to insist that the two areas where the school graded itself as ‘good’ should properly be graded as ‘outstanding’. hence all 26 areas that are graded in an inspection were deemed to be ‘outstanding’: a very unusual and extremely encouraging result

Clearly, everyone at the college was delighted with the outcome and the kind words written, such as the quoted parent who stated that Comberton Village College ‘ is what one would like all state schools to be’ however, it was also helpful in identifying how the school can and should move forward from here everyone at the school is keen to engage with this agenda

We have no intention of resting on our laurels, but are keen to think how we can improve the educational provision for all students The action point suggested gave a clear guide for this: ‘Continue to develop new courses and

options, including vocational provision and personalised learning programmes, that meet the individual learning needs, aptitudes and aspirations of all students ’

Through full engagement with this agenda, we can look forward to trying to do better for all our students That will always be our aim

Stephen Munday, Principal

20-page Ofsted Special

CAVING AND MATHS

REVISION: A weekend away for a group of Year 11 boys was one of the enrichment opportunities highly praised by Ofsted inspectors l Full story Page 3

EXCHANGE:

Performing abroad

TWeNTY- TWO pupils and three members of staff spent five days in Germany last month as part of Comberton’s first music exchange with Modellschule, from Bad hersfeld near Frankfurt

One of the 14 international trips available to Comberton pupils this academic year, those involved stayed with families and spent time sight-seeing, experiencing life in a German school and preparing for a joint concert with their hosts earlier in the year the 60-plus strong German choir spent five days with Comberton pupils, that visit culminating in an unforgettable concert in the Performance hall Comberton pupils put in plenty of practice before flying out to Germany, knowing they have a lot to live up to Comberton pupils performed a variety of solo and ensemble pieces with groups, including a jazz band, small string and wind ensembles and a vocal group

New travel plan . .

A NeW scheme to enable all Comberton pupils to experience an international trip during their time at the college has been launched

Funded from a variety of sources, a Bursary Account has been established to enable pupils who would not otherwise be able to go to apply for financial assistance

Parents will be asked about their financial status, and the responses pupils give as to why they should go on a particular trip will affect whether they are given a bursary. Director of Sport, Nigel Carrick, who is overseeing the scheme, said it is important that every pupil has the opportunity to access an international trip during their time at Comberton

But he stressed that the £10,000 a year account will be used to thoughtfully “We are looking for pupils to tell us how

they have made a positive contribution to the school in any sort of way,” he said “The amount we can award is not fixed – a group of staff will meet to discuss each application – but we want pupils to realise that they are expected to give something back to Comberton This could be in the form of form, year or school council reps, by speaking in assemblies about their experience or writing articles for this magazine or the website

“They will also be expected to outline how they can help meet the cost of the trip they want to go on; for example by saving some of their paper round money each week

“Our international trips are a highlight for many of the pupils who go on them and we are keen that these opportunities are open to as many of our students as possible ”

‘It (the college) is constantly seeking ways to increase its effectiveness’ Ofsted

l Outdoor Education —3

Taking the plunge

IN THE SWIM: Two pupils did a sponsored swim to help fund their trip

WE are very excited about going to the Beijing Olympics next year, and in order to raise some money for our trip we decided to do a sponsored swim

We went to Parkside swimming pool on a teacher training day and the swimming pool was relatively quiet we ended up having a swimming lane to ourselves. We both managed to do 50 lengths of the pool with our friends (Katy Elliot, Ellie King, Samantha Barham and Rebecca West) cheering us on. Together we have raised around £200

Natalie Beer (9O) and Georgia Hennessy Jackson (9I)

INSIDE THIS SPECIAL ISSUE

l Pupils Influence how they Learn —3

l Pushing the Boundaries 4 & 5

l Leading by Example 4 & 5

l Benefits for everyone —6

l Sharing Expertise —6

l Life in the AST Fast Lane —7

l Teachers make the Grade —7

l Pupils get to the Heart of Matters —8

l New Council starts Work —8

l Let’s make ithis Personal —9

l Focus on Vocational Studies 10 & 11

l The Smoothest of Moves 12

l Fuelling thought and Friendship 12

l Nurturing Special Talents 13

l Official Ceremony opens Cabin 13

l Good Helping of Health 14

l Many Ways to Help 15

l Pupils Flock to DoE 15

l From Writer to Judge 16

l CVC Team conquers Concorde 16

l How I became a Space Pirate 17

l Cooking up a Storm 16

l Fieldwork brings GCSE subjects to life 18

l Countdown to World Premiere 19

l Ski Record 19

l Champions at the Double 20

l Sporting Pupils Impress 20

l On the March 20

MUSIC

Pupils and staff before the trip to Germany last month

Outdoor education .

TEAM-

WORK: A skill shown by the Year 11 boys in the Peak District

SeVeN Year 11 boys travelled to the wilds of the Peak District for a weekend of serious outdoor pursuits last month.

Both staff and pupils were delighted on arriving to discover that we had been upgraded from the basic camping barn we had booked (no beds, no heating, no electricity, one room) to a much better barn with lights and heating!

techniques – how to move safely on rock in preparation for more climbing techniques to follow in the spring Then the boys set off on an 11km hike which they led themselves

It was an exhausting, but incredibly memorable trip, and more than anything, the boys’ ability to work together as a group and support each other, was really impressive! Well done lads!

‘The college successfully identifies the needs of the wide range of students and is quick to identify initiatives that will strengthen its provision and better meet these needs’ Ofsted

however, we barely got to look at it before we were out on a night navigation activity The boys successfully camouflaged themselves from us for 20 minutes, although we were slightly suspicious of the huge number of owls there seemed to be out in the woods that night! Saturday was packed: we squeezed ourselves through tiny caving challenges with helpful names like the mouse hole! Then we were off weasling – which involved squeezing ourselves through loads more tiny holes – this time above ground Abseiling, team challenges, and more night navigation followed On Sunday, we looked at some scrambling

Pupils influence how they learn

‘The elected college council and Pupil Learning Group take their responsibilities seriously and are able to influence the work of the school’ — Ofsted

The Pupil Learning Group was set up in the autumn term of 2006. Its aim is to encourage pupils to think about learning and to allow pupils to have some influence on how they learn at CVC.

This is different from the activities of the School Council, where pupils concentrate on issues at Comberton that affect them outside of the classroom.

The group consists of boys and girls from all year groups; they were initially chosen by random selection, but other interested volunteers now attend meetings as well. The group has elected its own chairman and officers. It meets once per half term in lesson time and sometimes during registrations as well.

The Pupil Learning Group looks at some of the ideas studied by the staff’s own Teaching and Learning Group.

This term, both groups are looking at assessment, and the PLG is doing a survey on what sorts of marking and feedback pupils like on their

One of the boys said: “The best bit of the weekend was the caving It was different and something I would not have ever done if I hadn’t gone away on the weekend I also learnt some maths and did my first ever revision out of school!”

The aim of this project, which has also seen the group go hiking in Snowdownia, is for pupils to develop self-esteem, improve motivation and commitment, encourage teamwork, build relationships with their peers and staff, develop new skills, and make them feel a part of the school, and proud of their contribution to it

Lorna Bateson, Head of Student Leadership

MEETING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE: Students on the Pupil Learning Group hold regular meetings

work and find most useful

Last year, the group worked on a number of areas: it carried out a survey into why some pupils don’t like putting their hands up in the classroom and made proposals to staff on how this might be addressed

The pupils took part in a trial of new homework resources for the county library service and reported on this to all year groups in assembly. They are currently helping in a review of the school website. We have a noticeboard opposite the Common Room. Anyone interested in joining the group should speak to a group member or to Mrs Coates.

Pushing the boundaries

The regular timetable was suspended for two days earlier this term as pupils were given the opportunity to expand their knowledge in various subjects in a different way

A range of exciting and unusual activities were on offer to the different year groups, providing the kind of enrichment opportunities that so impressed Ofsted inspectors

Year 7 spent one day working in groups on one of three science projects

They were given a problem to solve, designed experiments, collected data, analysed it and produced a poster report of their findings A group from 7M won the overall poster competition.

On the other day, Year 7 focussed on sport with kabaddi, trampolining, golf, dance, cricket or judo and table tennis on the programme

Year 8 took part in Tai Chi, Capoeira, hockey (in Spanish), Spanish ICT and watched the Lion King on DVD in Spanish to enhance their language learning within the curriculum Then on the other day they went with the geography department to Walton-on-the-Naze

Year 9’s range of DT activities included Ready Steady Cook! where groups

SOMETHING DIFFERENT: Tai Chi at Comberton

STUDENT

LEADERSHIP

ROLE: For Hannah Powell

‘Students are given many opportunities to assume responsibility and to develop their leadership skills within and beyond the college community’ Ofsted

worked to design a dish to be sold as a cooked-chill product from a range of ingredients They also used CAD to design the packaging In addition they designed wind-powered vehicles, with a competition to see which went furthest, and paper rockets, which were launched on the back field Then in maths they looked at two of the four activities, which were Win Nim involving aspects of mathematics known as Game Theory; Springfield Maths where Pupils explored how Bart's maths book, homer's dartboard etc might look if the digits 8 and 9 did not exist; Golf Ball Packaging: A supermarket has asked for help in creating the perfect Christmas Present for golfers Pupils needed to design and make packaging for 4 golf balls As well as maths there was scope for creativity and Geometrical Art: During the afternoon the pupils transferred their own design to big boards, several of which now adorn the walls of the maths corridor

Pupils in KS4 also took part in activities to extend their learning, while keeping their GCSes firmly in mind

Their activities included the Arts, Science and english doing tasks that give them coursework marks

‘An exceptional range of enrichment opportunities means that students are able to thrive socially as well as academically’

— Ofsted

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: A wind-powered vehicle

Leading by example

IT hAS been a busy term for the Student Leaders at Comberton Village College, as they fully take on the roles they gained in the Spring Prefects have helped organise Race Nights, the sale of poppies round school, run form rep meetings, and interviewed potential staff Student Leaders have been working on the school production, Academy of Death, developing our environmental work, and supporting the new Year 7 There have been two big developments this term: one is our new cohort of Cabin Student Leaders, who are working to support the pupils with Asperger’s who are members of the Cabin; and the second is that Ms Powell has come on board to support Miss Bateson with the development of student leadership at Comberton

Miss Bateson said: “hopefully, under her hugely expert guidance, the students will go from strength to strength!” Ms Powell added: “I have recently been asked to work with Miss Bateson to develop CVC's opportunities for Student Leadership even further and I am very excited about this new challenge

“We were delighted by the positive response from Year 11 on hearing of the opportunity to work as Cabin Leaders and by the excellent standard of the application letters

“Looking to the future, we are already finalising the process for appointing next year's Student Leaders as well as the Prefect team More details will be given to Year 10 soon, so look out for this!”

Walton trip ‘a great day out’

YeAR 8 went to Walton-on-the-Naze as part of their programme for Curriculum extension Days, with half the year going one day and the other half the next

We started off going to the tower and then set off to walk along the coast to the Naze

Along the way we did many activities such as beach material surveys, field sketches and a groyne height survey before stopping for a wellearned lunch in the Naze, which lived up to its reputation of being beautiful and a great habitat

Thumbs up for the Humanities option

WE did some really awesome activities during Humanities Week, when we went to a site near Oxford for part of the time and also had day trips to Cambridge.

This was part of Activities Week for Years 8 and 9 and it was fantastic.

The activities included Jacob’s Ladder, high wire course and the 3G force giant swing, which was the best there.

Miss Hutchinson went on it with a boy called Will and when the swing dropped Miss Hutchinson screamed so loudly she nearly deafened him.

One other really cool activity was the giant zip wire, which was excellent.

With all the activity, we had to cool off so we also went to an outdoor pool before coming home

The next day we went into Cambridge and to the Buddhist centre, learning facts about Buddhism and we also tried to meditate

We went back into Cambridge again the following day and went punting on the River Cam, which was really good We were also allowed to go shopping.

Altogether we had an excellent week and we would definitely recommend this choice for Activities Week

Charlie McLaughlin and Parisa Parmar (9C)

for wildlife

We discussed what this land was used for and who would come here before setting off back to the Tower, where we did our final activity –estimating erosion dates

We evaluated our findings and checked out the shop before heading home This trip was a great day out and a great educational experience

Jack Gale, Teddy Elbourn, ruby Breward and Freddie Hedges (8M)

ROPED AND READY: Pupils wait for their turn on the high wire course

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: Pupils tackle Jacob’s Ladder during Activities Week

Key skills to help

WHEN we were chosen as Year 7 Centre Leaders we spent a whole day in The Centre on a training course learning how to help and support the new year 7s. This included counselling skills and other important skills

We have got to know our forms, learning the pupils’ names and their personalities. This also involved us coming into school while we were on our summer holidays.

Now we go and see our forms every Wednesday and help

them with any problems that they have and to get to know them better

What have we learnt by being Year 7 Centre Leaders?

"I've learnt that I need to be more responsible, and more caring "

"I've learnt how to be more caring to others and helpful "

"I've learnt to be more responsible "

Leanne Gillett (11O), Lucy Dean (11C) and Siobhan Nair (11O)

CENTRE ROLE: The Year 11 pupils who help in The Centre

LEAN ON ME: Pupils at work on Walton beach

Benefits for everyone

COMBeRTON’S Training School work continues to make a major contribution to school life in a number of different ways.

There are a significant number of projects currently under way which aim to share good practice and encourage staff development

There is a flourishing Teaching and Learning Research Network with Chesterton School, Saffron Walden County high School and King edward’s School, Chelmsford.

Staff share their reflections on good practice and other research and the group is holding their third bi-annual conference in Chelmsford next month

Work with Cambridge University is currently focussing on Dialogic Teaching (questioning in the classroom) and we are exploring ways of encouraging more Masters level work in schools using the Questioning project as a pilot

With the Teaching Development Agency, work is on-going to look at ways to develop more effective Assessment for Learning, while Comberton is involved with the Cambridge Consortium in a Sharing Good Practice project eventually there will be five separate projects on the go, three of which will involve Masterclasses, Coaching and Peer Observation and School Research using a new research-dedicated website Finally, in another collaboration with Saffron Walden, those on our Graduate Training Programme are being encouraged to undertake research while training to develop their own professional learning

‘Strong partnerships at local, county, national and even international levels make a very positive contribution to the college’s development and the outcomes for students’ Ofsted

Sharing expertise

SPeCIALIST teachers in a range of subjects are working in partnership with The harbour School at Wilburton

As part of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust Leading edge partnership work, which was praised in the recent Ofsted report, pupils at the harbour, a 914 all boys school, are taught by Comberton teachers in Pe, DT, Drama, MFL and english

Athletics club becomes permanent

THE Cambourne Community Athletics Club has gone from strength to strength

A six-week pilot was so successful the club has become permanent

The club is a partnership between the South Cambs School Sports Partnership, which includes Comberton and its feeder primary schools, South Cambs District Council and Cambridge and Coleridge Athletics Club.

The club aims to introduce children from aged seven to athletics and then offer them progression to C&C when they are 11 However, anybody is welcome to join, not just those

who know they want to take up athletics. Comberton-based Femi Akinsanya, who runs the club, said: “The great thing about athletics is that it helps children develop skills that are required in all sports agility, balance and co-ordination These are key elements to all activities and are part of the PE national curriculum.”

In the winter the club meets at Monkfield Park Primary School on Mondays from 4.00-5.00pm. For more information, contact Femi on 07801 978484 or South Cambs Partnership Development Manager Claire McDonnell at CVC.

Class is a big success

A JOINT initiative between Comberton, CABMAG and South Cambridgeshire District Council has been so successful that it is being rolled out in two other secondary schools

Mums’ and Daughters’ Personal Safety and Self Defence sessions will be held at Melbourn and Bassingbourn village colleges after the inaugural session was set up by healthy Lifestyles Mentor Amy Connell, who is employed to work at Comberton and its feeder primary schools by CABMAG (the Comberton, Bassingbourn, Melbourn and Gamlingay extended Schools locality partnership), Ten pairs of mums and daughters attended the course at Comberton, which proved an excellent fun learning environment

The sessions, funded by South Cambs District Council, included theory and practical work on personal safety, attack situations, identifying risks of attack and physical defence situations

Comberton Deputy Principal and AST, Mary Martin, who is overseeing the project, said: “It’s very different over there to life here at Comberton and we are trying to adjust while using and sharing our good practice in another context ”

She is teaching english and this term has worked on a joint project between KS3 pupils at the harbour and Comberton to produce a film on Peace in time for Christmas

In MFL, another AST, Director of Languages College Rachel hawkes, has been using CVC resources to teach Spanish, while in Drama, Mike Sharpe, also an AST, has a number of projects on the go his work has included basic drama skills with Year 6, Macbeth with Year 9 and some classes in anger management

Sean Pollock, a Pe AST, works with virtually every pupil at the school, while Mike Bull uses his engineering background to teach a variety of skills for KS3 DT project work

“An example project this term was the Steady hand Game, which some pupils may remember from a few years back,” he said “Although they are somewhat lively, they enjoy practical work and most pupils took home a completed game ”

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP: CVC Head of Drama Mike Sharpe with Harbour pupils

LEARNING TOGETHER: At the mums’ and daughters’ self-defence sessions

‘The staff, 13 of whom are advanced skills teachers, are the college’s greatest resource; they provide outstanding teaching; excellent care, guidance and support for students; and are outwardlooking in seeking improvement and in the wider contribution that they make through the college’s many different partnerships’ Ofsted

Becoming an AST

I AM the latest teacher at CVC to qualify as an Advanced Skills Teacher, bringing the grand total to 13 To achieve the status you have to go through a rigorous assessment.

Life in the AST fast lane

LIFe as an Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) is frenetic, thought-provoking and extremely rewarding

is why I also get involved in some health-promoting work here at Comberton

NEWEST

This involves an assessor observing lessons, interviewing pupil, parent and colleague panels, and scrutinising the documentary evidence you provide to support excellence in six categories: results; subject knowledge; planning; teaching & managing; assessment & evaluation; advice & support.

Being an AST means that you have designated time on a weekly basis to support other teachers both in your own and in other schools by delivering training, facilitating collaboration and sharing good practice.

It’s wonderful to share with and learn from every teacher and school I have the opportunity to work with Leigh McClelland

Teachers

My AST status is linked to Comberton’s sports specialism so I spend quite a lot of time working in our primary schools delivering Pe lessons alongside primary teachers

I also organise the Year 6 athletics festival, Year 5 swimming gala, annual dance share and lots of other events where children from our primary schools come to the college to get a flavour of sport and Pe here

I also work with our Partnership Development Manager, Claire McDonnell, supporting Pe across the wider school sports partnership This means that I go even further afield to schools across the South Cambs area, supporting the delivery of Pe and sport

VARIED

In addition, I manage the CABMAG extended schools project, working with the healthy Lifestyle Mentors to develop extended provision in Comberton, Bassingbourn, Melbourn and Gamlingay

This project has a healthy lifestyles focus, which

make the grade

CVC ARe proud to announce recent research awards all from Cambridge University

We try to encourage staff in general to reflect on their practice in order to improve Teaching & Learning in the classroom; this reflection can occur in informal ways involving dialogue about understanding with pupils in the lessons or more formally using questionnaires, pupil interviews, observations, focus groups, etc Staff who engage in formal research take this reflection some steps further and make it systematic and examine their findings against known literature and practice

This encourages a theoretically grounded but dynamic and critical approach to "what works" in Teaching & Learning and allows staff to articulate this knowledge internally and beyond our shores through professional networks We have a new current "crop" of seven staff pursuing further

degrees and hope to have more in the future english teacher Georgie horrell is now Dr horrell after completing her PhD, researching Southern African literature

The other four all have Med degrees after work in a variety of areas

Another english teacher, Claire Salmon, made 'A critical study of top-set Year 10 boys: teaching and learning about Original Writing in the context of a single-sex class' to understand how the boys' learned, worked and responded to various teaching styles and each other in the classroom head of Geography, Lorna holmes, investigated the possible transfer of thinking skills across three subject areas - Geography, Pe and Spanish

"I wanted to see if students found it possible to transfer skills, what the barriers were, what could facilitate transfer and finally if it helped enhance

Finally, in addition to all this I teach here at Comberton This year I am teaching an amazing group of sports leaders in Year 11 who, next term, will go out into the local primary schools to deliver Pe lessons themselves

As one of the team of ASTs who have the privilege of working closely with our primary schools, it is great to see our KS4 pupils going back to their primaries and helping the children there

As you can see from all this, life is never dull!

For example, on a Week A Monday I taught a year 7 Pe group (very talented bunch), my Year 11 sports leaders and a Year 1 gymnastics lesson at Bourn Primary School I also coach the year 7 hockey team

Sometimes I do forget where I am going and meet myself coming back, and for some reason I have developed the nickname ‘Dizzy’ in the Pe department, but I blame the job! And, honestly, I wouldn’t change it for the world

Ally Brennan

geographic understanding," she said Re teacher Louisa hutchinson's thesis was entitled 'Understanding the pupil- teacher relationship in a year 10 Philosophy and ethics class: the moral dimension of teaching and learning'

The focus of the study was care and empathy and the appropriateness of caring for one's pupils and the different role of the teacher

Rebecca Gale, who teaches science, looked at the Attitudes and Practices of Cigarette Smoking Among Students in one Secondary School ' "Based on findings from this research and the literature review of the field of adolescent smoking

I put forward a list of recommendations to the SLG of possible strategies that could be used with the aim of reducing the level of adolescent smoking among our students,” she explained

AST: MFL teacher

Leigh McClelland

ROLE: For AST

Ally Brennan

Pupils get to the heart of matters

CITIzeNShIP is delivered across the curriculum at Comberton, but every year there are five Personal Development Conference Days

These days provide us with an opportunity to examine an issue in depth and to work with many members of the community

The second PD day of the academic year was held last month

The focus for Year 10 was government and democracy In the morning pupils took part in a series of workshops, which encouraged them to examine the reasons for using their vote in the future and to identify the key views of the main political parties

Pupils examined Jamie Oliver’s ‘Feed Me Better’ campaign as an example of how people can influence public opinion and challenge the status quo In the afternoon pupils were given the opportunity to ask their own questions and express their own views in our annual Question Time event

We were very fortunate to be joined by Mr Andrew Lansley MP (Conservative), Mr David howarth MP (Liberal Democrat) and Daniel zeichner, the Cambridgeshire Parliamentary Spokesperson for the Labour Party

The panel received some challenging questions from the year group; hot topics included climate change, the voting age and questions about the services for young people in the local area

Year 8 followed a similar topic as they participated in parliamentary style debates, made their own decisions on public spending and thought about their views on the monarchy.

Year 11 continued to prepare for life beyond CVC as they identified top tips for interview situations and practised their own presentation skills They also received key information about financial services and developed key skills, such as reading bank statements and writing cheques

The BBC Spendaholics programme was used as a stimulus for discussion about attitudes towards money and spending

Years 7 and 9 followed personal and social aspects of the programme Now in their second half -term, Year 7 thought about

issues around self-esteem and the importance of maintaining positive relationships with others

An episode of The Simpsons formed an important stimulus for discussion along with popular psychological theories about the needs of human beings

Year 9 used an exciting new resource, L8R, to reflect on the nature of healthy relationships and how they can look after themselves, emotionally and physically, as their personal relationships change in the future

It was certainly a busy and interesting day, not to mention the excitement which was generated by the School Council elections

Congratulations to those who were elected and well done to all the candidates Many thanks, also, to previous members of the Council; they can be very proud of their achievements

Becky Lewis, Personal

New council start work

COMBERTON’S new School Council are hard at work following elections during last month’s PD Day

Led by the Head Boy and Head Girl, the council comprises two representatives of each year group, a boy and a girl.

As members of the School Council, these pupils will be involved in a variety of activities. They will be consulted on issues which arise throughout the year, such as new developments and systems within the school

They will also meet weekly to discuss current issues and the whole school discussion topic

During this half-term all year groups have been looking at the issue of healthy lifestyles.

Each Year Council is making a series of recommendations on such issues as healthy eating, physical activity and sources of information and support. The School Council will collate these ideas and take a set of proposals to Senior Management in the new year

Development Co-Ordinator

THE POLITICS GAME: Year 10 pupils meet (from left) David Howarth MP, Andrew Lansley MP and Daniel Zeichner

GETTING TOGETHER: Comberton’s new school council

‘What the school should do to improve further continue to develop new courses and options, including vocational provision and personalised learning programmes, that meet the individual learning needs, aptitudes and aspirations of all students’ Ofsted

INDIVIDUAL NEEDS: A pupil follows the Entry Level Science qualification in the Centre

Doing what’s best for each pupil

WHEN some pupils reach Year 10 and 11, the traditional GCSE model is not suitable for them and does not meet their learning needs.

To cater for these pupils, the Centre may be involved in running an individual programme for the pupil, often delivered by a highly qualified Teaching Assistant.

For example, in Year 10 at the moment, a pupil is studying for his Entry Level Science qualification in the Centre, rather than attending science lessons

Let’s make this personal

'PeRSONALISeD Learning' has been a buzz phrase in education for a number of years now.

At CVC, we've always been committed to offering the best possible curriculum to every child and this means offering as many opportunities for choice as possible

One of the most important ways we do this is through our options process in Year 9 Unlike most secondary schools, we do not insist that pupils select one subject each from a set of option 'blocks'

Instead, we invite students to choose from the fullest range of subjects we can provide, and Deputy Principal Peter Law has the unenviable task of trying to sort these into a viable timetable

We're currently investigating how to further broaden this range of choice by including more vocational courses and we're collaborating with nearby schools and colleges in order to be able to offer the widest possible range of courses when the government's new Diplomas come on line

Further to this choice for everyone at the end of Key Stage 3, the college also tries hard to meet the needs of particular stu-

CENTRE OF ATTENTION:

The Centre runs 10 different groups to help meet the individual literacy needs of pupils

This is delivered by TAs, who have attended the exam board training for the course. It involves them in working individually with the pupil, doing practical and theory tasks that are very much related to real-life situations.

Another pupil in Year 11 has already achieved her Bronze and Silver entry level science qualifications and is working towards her Gold award.

The TAs report that working in this way allows the pupil to work at a suitable speed and on appropriate tasks, leading to a sense of achievement, the development of independent learning skills and much greater retention of information over a period of time

The pupils themselves report that they enjoy the work, especially the experiments and really feel that they are learning well in this way

We can also make great use of different learning environments, such as the school fields, and engage in long-term projects such as growing plants

A classroom isn’t the best learning environment for everyone!

Irayna Owen

dents in very many ways

We are an Ambassador School for Gifted and Talented pupils and offer a range of AS level courses to extend very able pupils

Our Specialisms in Sport and Languages offer a host of opportunities for pupils to extend their skills and knowledge outside of the classroom

Other students find the boundaries of school constricting by the time they reach Year 10 and appreciate the opportunity to go out on extended work experience; some may begin an apprenticeship early

Study support groups operate in Years 9, 10 and 11, where pupils can be offered individualised guidance with their studies

A very exciting current development in some departments is the whole realm of on-line study where pupils can complete units of work at their own rate These developing technologies are perhaps the mechanism that will enable us to personalise the curriculum most radically for everyone in the future

Claire Coates, Deputy Principal

Meeting individual needs

IN order to cope successfully with the demands of the secondary curriculum some pupils need a more personalised approach to literacy development early in Year 7 all pupils are assessed in reading, spelling and writing and information from primary school is also used to build up a profile of pupil needs

Some pupils are then individually interviewed by the teaching staff in the Centre, and an individual support programme offered where needed

This may be inclusion in a spelling club, or extra support with reading, the support of a mentor once a week to help solve issues and improve organisation or a weekly lesson with a Learning Support Teacher in a small group

Currently we have around 10 such groups running in the Centre meeting the individual needs of Year 7 and 8 pupils

each pupil has their own learning plan and works towards their own objectives, designed to improve their reading, spelling and writing skills and to raise their confidence in tackling work in all subjects

VOCATIONAL STUDIES

‘The Key Stage 4 curriculum provides suitable options for students of all abilities, including work-related learning and voacational courses. Nonetheless, the college recognises the need to develop a wider range of courses and options to better meet the individual needs of students’ Ofsted

FOLLOWING a BTeC programme is an exciting way to study

Full steam ahead for BTECs

It gives pupils the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding that they will need in the world of work BTeC courses are very different to traditional GCSes as they put the pupil in charge of their own learning; they are practical in nature and there are no exams!

At Comberton this year we are offering three BTeC First Diploma courses, which are Level 2 qualifications, equivalent to four GCSe grades A*-C

All of them consist of six units of study, each of which is assessed through one or more assignments that pupils complete as the course progresses For example, in Business pupils have already successfully completed the four assignments in Unit 1, and will by now know what they achieved for it Three units are core knowledge needed for that work context, the other three are

more specialist units which staff have selected to best suit their pupils

As the course is based on continual, individual assignments, pupils need to become more independent learners We don’t stand over the pupils all the time, checking what they are doing; we support pupils to become more mature and independent, more self-reliant and organised Some find this easier than others, but hopefully everyone will feel the benefit – all the feedback from future employers is that these are key attributes that they are looking for when recruiting staff

The final aspect of the course is getting people in from work places to talk to pupils, and getting pupils out into the work environment to conduct interviews, take tours and learn about their subject in the work context Pupils’ work experience at the end of Year 10 will also be focused this year on the vocational subjects they are taking,

All fired up for fitness

STUDeNTS have approached the new BTeC Sport (exercise and Fitness) course with a new lease of energy

They are excited about being the first cohort to go through the course The enthusiasm ensures all lessons have a buzz of excitement to them, as pupils are keen to develop their knowledge of different sports

This term they have been preparing for primary visits as sports leaders and will also look at obtaining various refereeing and sporting qualifications

The lessons will take on a more practical nature next term and in the terms that follow Timetable planning allows pupils on the BTeC exercise and Fitness course to have one Pe lesson every day of the week

and places are already being sought by staff and pupils as I write!

We have already started to build up links with local (and some national) companies, but we are very keen to build up more If you work for, or indeed run, a local business that would be keen to build a relationship with us and our pupils – at whatever level – please do not hesitate to get in touch with me through the college Whether it is in the area of business, sport, design or catering, we are keen to hear from you, and to explore how our pupils can learn from your expertise, and how our motivated, keen pupils can contribute to your business

Lorna Bateson Director of Vocational Studies

The basics of business

THERE are 33 pupils studying BTEC Business this year, and you couldn’t ask for a more committed, interested group of pupils.

Our first core unit has involved looking at the basics of business, and pupils have been keen to share stories of their parents’, uncles’, aunts’ or friends’ businesses – everything from plumbing to consultants

There has been regular e-mail contact between pupils and Dr Bateson, Ms Bateson’s dad, who runs a big international company, and visitors to our lessons to share their experiences have included: Ms Julie on how the administration area supports the school; Ms Powell on the role of the HR team; Mr Cray talking about his experience working as CFO of a big multinational, and Mr Munday on how to write objectives and targets, and how to then staff a large school most effectively to meet those targets.

Pupils have then taken all this knowledge and written learning resources, posters, and presentations, all of the highest quality. In the New Year the groups will look in greater detail at the financial principles of business

Phillip Evans, the Deputy Principal in charge of the 14-19 Curriculum and a BTEC Business teacher, said: “I’m really pleased to be involved in the teaching of BTEC Business and am hugely impressed with the commitment and enthusiasm of the students in both Year 10 groups

“We’ve all enjoyed the emphasis on the practical learning styles that reflect business practice – so plenty of presentations, teamwork, and research alongside the acquisition of knowledge

“So, if you’ve ever wondered how a franchise like Burger King operates, or what the difference is between a ‘plc’ and a ‘Ltd’ company –just ask a BTEC Business student!”

BTEC ArT & DESIGN

BTEC SPOrT

Art in the real world

BTeC Art and Design is an exciting course for lovers of painting, drawing and making.

Look out for future projects around school such as a “live” architecture project and a Fashion Show at the end of the year

The two groups lost no time in becoming acquainted with the expectations of the new course – they started by getting plastered and then spent several lessons getting to grips with a load of rubbish!

BTeC is about vocational education That means that learning is very much linked to the real world of jobs and skills

Projects are based, wherever possible, on live briefs In this case, students grappled with the 3D ideas of form and structure in order to design an entry for Star Radio’s Re-cycled Sculpture Challenge

This has meant working with clay, plaster and wire; learning how to carve stone and thinking up innovative ways of combining “rubbish” to create art

For one double lesson a week pupils have been looking at Urban Art as a theme for their work

We have looked at the artist Jamie hewlett, who draws and animates the visuals for the band

Gorillaz

Pupils have learnt his techniques and succeeded in achieving some great work in their sketchbooks

We then moved on to spray can art and explored the techniques of this for a few weeks

Nicola Powys & Greg Dean, course tutors

RECYCLING: Pupils create sculptures from ‘rubbish’ as part of their courseworkand for a competition

Artist’s life is hard work

TWENTY BTEC Art and Design students visited Andy Tanser’s studio at Wysing Arts, Bourn, to find out about stone carving as part of their Sculpture Assignment.

Although very cold, the sun shone and the students were treated to a slice of an artist’s life, which, most agreed, was much harder work than they thought!

Wrapped up in assorted old clothes, the students chipped away at lumps of sandstone with huge mallets They learned that Andy trained with Rattee and Kett – but had to make coffee for two years before they would allow him to hold a chisel! He progressed, however, and is now a Master Carver with commissions ranging from Westminster Abbey to portrait work in New York. All in all, a valuable experience for our budding artists and designers – and despite numb fingers, several clamoured to “come back next week” as they loaded their fledgling sculptures into the minibus.

URBAN GORILLAZ: Pupils’ work (right and below) and (above, left), the work that inspired it

The smoothest of moves for pupils

ALMOST every student at CVC – and certainly those who came up from one of the Comberton feeder primary schools – will understand why the inspectors thought transition arrangements are so good

Over the past years, the number of events, visits and learning activities that take place between primary schools and the college has grown into an enormous programme

As soon as one Year 11 cohort has left in May, the relevant head of Year directs all her time and energies towards making sure that the new Year 7 has a smooth induction

Key events like the Athletics Festival and Science Challenge, as well as the all-important New Intake Day and information evening, help to give the new pupils a taste of college life before they arrive in September

Throughout the year many of our Advanced Skills Teachers visit the primary schools, teaching classes to Year 6 in a range of subjects and working with the primary staff to ensure that the pupils’ learning between Years 6 and 7 dovetails neatly

Transfer between primary and secondary school can be an anxious time but CVC tries very hard to make this as smooth as possible for new students One parent wrote last year, ‘I have been very impressed by the amount of thought and effort that is put into the transfer process You have set a very high standard to live up to ’ We’re glad the Inspector thought so too!

Claire Coates, Deputy Principal

BREAKING THE ICE: The annual Primary Schools’ Athletics Festival is about much more than a day of sport

‘Excellent transition arrangements ensure that pupils make a seamless transfer from primary schools and are able to settle quickly’ Ofsted

MONEY

MATTERS: Pupils hard at work at the Year 6 maths club

Fuelling thought and friendship

FOR a number of years students identified as gifted and talented in mathematics from many local primary schools have been invited to join our Year 6 maths club

About 35 students attend sessions at Comberton after school one night a week during the autumn and spring terms where they undertake a range of mathematical activities ranging from developing winning strategies for some number games, to looking at the mathematics behind bungee jumping; from investigating the Konisberg Bridge problem to looking at the mathematics

behind the design of flags

Through the sessions, led by staff from the maths department at Comberton, students are encouraged to articulate their mathematical thoughts both with students from their own primary school and with students from others

Feedback from students and parents has shown that the students arrive at Comberton excited about the mathematics that lies before them and excited about renewing friendships that started at the club

Helping hands to step up

BRENDA Taylor and Pat Gifford are the brains and brawn behind much of the hard work that goes into organising the transfer process between Comberton Village College and the sixth form institutions (Hills Road, Long Road and Cambridge Regional College). The recent 16+ evening (which was so well attended by year 11s and their parents/carers) was organised by Mrs Taylor and Mrs Gifford. Both ladies co-ordinate all the application forms and entry paperwork required by the sixth form colleges and help ensure that things run smoothly.

Mrs Taylor also helps organise the careers input on the PD days and Mrs Gifford organises all the connexions appointments. So if you're in Year 11 make sure that next time you see either of these ladies you say an emormous thank you

YOUTH CLUBS

Comberton Youth Club Mon 7 30 – 9 30 pm

Cambourne Café Tues 3 30 – 6 00 pm

Cambourne Senior Youth Club Thurs 7 00 – 9 00 pm ACTIVITIES

AFTEr SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Art Club Mon 3 00 – 4 00 pm

Cooking Up a Storm Mon 3 15 – 4 45 pm

Fencing Tues 3 00 – 4 15 pm

First Aid Tues 3.00 – 5.00 pm

Pottery Weds 3 00 – 4 30 pm

Red X Babysitting Tues 3 00 – 4 30 pm

Yogavate Mon 3.00 – 4.00 pm

‘The college’s strongly inclusive approach ensures that students of all abilities, including those with special educational needs, make outstanding progress’ Ofsted

Nurturing special talents

COMBeRTON has been working consistently at the leading edge of Gifted and Talented education for several years now

The school has a proud tradition of ensuring that provision for every student in its care offers challenges designed to meet their needs, including, at the very highest levels, the Gifted and Talented individual

This commitment has been reflected, of course, in some impressive exam results, with an exceptional number of passes at the top grades of A* and A

Work begins well before students arrive at CVC, however, with staff working closely with primary school colleagues to identify students with exceptional ability – and potential – in particular areas

At the earliest opportunity students are also given the chance to enrol with the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY), enabling them to access a number of online and out-of-school opportunities

Staff then continue to use a variety of evidence sources to review progress at CVC and seek routinely to ensure that students are catered for

appropriately in their daily lessons For our gifted and talented students this often means promoting a particular spirit of enquiry through higher order thinking tasks and skills-based activities

In terms of the curriculum it means offering opportunities for students to work beyond their phase: through the Free Standing Maths Qualification, for example, or AS Level courses in economics and Critical Thinking, or even through accelerated studies in some subjects At other times it can mean responding flexibly to a student’s needs by providing an individualised timetable to help nurture a particular talent

LEADING

LIGHTS: Hannah Dickens (left) and Anna Fitzmaurice with Principal Stephen Munday

Top marks for star duo

TWO students, Hannah Dickens and Anna Fitzmaurice, achieved a remarkable treble this

summer

Both girls were entered for the three separate AS level 3 courses that are available at the school: AS Critical Thinking, AS Economics and the Free Standing Maths Qualification

Just attempting all three qualifications in addition to their GCSEs was no mean feat. The fact that both girls then achieved A grades in all three courses was nothing short of remarkable. Many congratulations to both students for such an outstanding achievement.

The school also takes seriously its commitment to the pastoral care of such students, recognising the particular pressures that they may face and providing individual mentors for talented students to help them balance their commitments extra-curricular enrichment opportunities are plentiful: the number of residential trips offered in the last academic year totalled 35; and this is neglecting the countless non-residential opportunities provided in the shape of lunchtime and after-school clubs, visiting speakers, annual

Official ceremony opens Cabin

COMBeRTON’S specialist centre for pupils with Asperger's Syndrome was officially opened this term Professor Simon Baron Cohen, the Cambridge University guru on autism and Asperger's, performed the opening ceremony he welcomed the recognition, through the work of the centre, of the difficulties children with Asperger's face at school

Six students currently attend the Asperger’s Centre, known as The Cabin It has a maximum capacity of eight pupils

Four members of staff are currently supporting the students within the mainstream school

as part of Local Authority's inclusion initiative They are head of Centre Peter Allcock and Communication Support Assistants Jo heesom, Jane Kilby and Gillian hefferland

events and one-off competitions

Perhaps unsurprisingly then, CVC has found itself held up as a model for excellent practice in this field, fulfilling roles in recent years for the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (as an Ambassador School) and the Specialist Schools’ Trust (as a Mentor School) and even attracting interest from visiting colleagues from New zealand, Australia and South Korea

Stephen Leggott, G&T Co-Ordinator

FRAN Dignan, a former pupil with a visual impairment, achieved an A grade in her GCSe Art examination last summer Fran’s performance is truly outstanding Like many students at Comberton who have received support throughout their five years, Fran has exceeded all expectations She has gone on to further study at a residential RNIB college in Worcester

Good helping of health

‘Students understand the importance of a healthy diet and respond positively to the college’s promotion of healthy lifestyles’ Ofsted

OUT

IN THE

OPEN: Fresh air and exercise for families on the Fun Walks around Cambourne

Out and about

NeWCOMeR Amy Connell has a key role in the promotion of healthy lifestyles at Comberton

She is the healthy Lifestyles Mentor for the Comberton family of schools and works with all the schools and a number of partners to help set up initiatives which can then be sustained within the schools

A recent initiative was Family Learning Week, which was celebrated by Cambourne schools, The Vine and Monkfield Park, in partnership with the Wildlife Trust and Parent Support Advisor helen Ashcroft, who are both based in the new village Two Fun Family Walks around Cambourne were held with Jenny Mackay, from the Wildlife Trust, providing detailed information about the wildlife in the local area

highlights included seeing a green woodpecker, which made a loud laughing call known as a 'yaffle' The lakes around Cambourne, countryside views, haws (on the hawthorn bushes), rose hips, crab apples and bryony berries were all spotted, providing evidence of a good year for fruits and berries, which is excellent news for lots of wildlife!

Refreshments were provided afterwards as well as during the walk with blackberries and sloe berries both being tasted from the bushes!

Feedback from the parents included ''good walk, pleasant company and interesting information about the route'' while another parent said that the walk had been a positive experience for their family because ''it is good exercise for me and the kids''

SO TASTY: Former pupils join Principal Stephen Munday for lunch in the dining hall

A PROJeCT to encourage children to develop a healthy lifestyle is about to welcome its fourth intake

The TeAM (To energise And Motivate) project is run by South Cambridgeshire District Council and the Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trust, with support from the Comberton, Bassingbourn, Melbourn and Gamlingay extended Schools Locality (CABMAG)

The 10-week course, which starts next month, is aimed at pupils in Years 3-6 who are concerned about being overweight

Youngsters take part in confidence-building, nutrition and exercise sessions at Comberton Leisure led by professionals from the child and family nursing team, the community pediatric team and qualified sports coaches

Parents are given access to the fitness suite at Cb3 while their children are exercising, to enourage all members of the family to become more active and eat healthier food

Lynne Potter, health and exercise Specialist, said: “We have now run three TeAM courses, involving more than 36 families determined to develop a healthy lifestyle together The 2007 course was particularly well attended and for the first time we included an orienteering session at Milton Country Park and a martial arts (Tae Kwan Do) session

“The end of course assessments confirmed that all of the children had improved stamina, increased activity levels and cut down on the time spent watching TV or playing computer games

In for lunch

COMBERTON’S lunches are so delicious they are worth coming back to school for.

That was the opinion of a group of teenagers who left Comberton last summer.

They took advantage of a training day at Hills Road Sixth Form College to accept an invitation to lunch with Principal Stephen Munday and Pastoral Secretary Brenda Taylor

Meanwhile Catering Manager Debbie Rogers reported that pupils have adapted well to the Government-ordered changes in what’s available, particularly at break

Sales of pitta bread have increased signficantly, with hummous the most popular accompaniment, although many pupils buy them on their own

Jacket potatoes sales are up to more than 70 per day following the introduction of the jacket potato bar at the start of term.

Baguettes sales are now running at around 120 a day double what were sold this time last year, while pupils are also buying around 120 reduced fat pizzas each day

“This resulted in a reduced BMI and waist measurements by up to 5cms ”

Following the course the participants have gone on to join regular clubs

“The healthy Lifestyle Mentors help within school to reinforce the healthy lifestyle changes after the course ” Participants receive a follow-up assessment after six months and Lynne was delighted with those results

“I found that most families were managing to keep on track demonstrated by futher improvements in stamina and reduced BMI and waist measurements,” she said “One child started with a waist of 75cms (>98th centile) reduced to 72cms after 10 weeks (>91st centile) then further reduced at six months to 68cms (>75th centile)

“This is a very significant change as waist measurement is a good predictor of future health and the likelihood of developing heart disease or diabetes

“More importantly the children were enjoying their new activities and if they find something they enjoy they will stick at it and become healthy active adults ”

Anybody interested in joining the next TeAM project should contact Lynne Potter on (01954) 212042 for more information

CVC Community Education Adult Activities 2008

Please see the website or contact us for a full list of activities in 2008

Classes include: Sculptural Ceramics (Mon Eve), Sculpting Heads (Weds eve), Computers for Beginners (Mon am or Mon eve), Dreamweaver (Weds Eve), Webpage Design Part 2 (Mon eve), Word Processing & Desktop Publishing (Mon am or Mon eve), Men’s Cookery (Mon eve), Traditional Indian Cookery (Wed eve 4 wks), Reflexology (Mon eve), Tai-Chi (Mon eve), Yoga (Mon eve), Salsa Beginners and Salsa Intermediate (Wed eve).

Tel: 01223 264721

Email: commed@comberton cambs sch uk

www commed combertonvc org

Pupils flock to DoE

IN September, Comberton’s biggest ever Bronze group descended en masse on the Chiltern Hills to do their assessment weekend

The group was so large that it had to be split in half, with each group in a different campsite on the first night but all 100 pupils and 20 staff and volunteers meeting at one campsite on the second night, before setting off in opposite directions again for the last day. Everyone passed. We also held our inaugural Presentation Evening last month when all the projects produced by Bronze and Silver participants were on display alongside presentations from all levels of the award, including the Gold group that went to Switzerland in the summer.

Recruitment for the 2008 participants is now under way. Will the next cohort be even bigger? Leigh Bellis

‘Many (students) are acutely aware of their role as global citizens’ — Ofsted

BEST FOOT FORWARD: Pupils on the DoE bronze assessment weekend

Many ways to help Cash for cancer care

The school has a very strong pastoral system which involves most members of staff in some way

All students in Years 8-11 receive ILP (Individual Learning Plan) sessions with their tutor at least once a term This is an opportunity for pupils to discuss their learning, choices and identify any barriers to success

Lots of students will require some form of extra support while at CVC exam stress, arguments with friends or troubles at home might mean that they need a little extra help to stay happy and confident at school

Additionally, specialist counselling, family therapy and one-to-one support with specially trained staff are among the services offered through The Centre, led by Lil Davies

Other students might require a different type of support: maybe they are having trouble settling into school, thinking about their choices when they leave Comberton, struggling to organise themselves properly or just need an extra adult to help keep them focussed In these cases, students might be offered a mentor

A number of mentoring schemes run successfully at CVC

In Year 11 about 20% of students will be offered a mentor to ensure they reach their true potential and feel supported through what can be a

demanding year

To help students make crucial choices about what to do after CVC, they are supported by Connexions staff, business mentors, other specialist staff and the school librarian

All Year 11 students are invited to the 16+ evening to hear about their choices at 16 and to meet members of staff from colleges they may wish to attend

In March we hold the Apprenticeships and JobSeekers Convention

This is when students in Years 10 and 11, who are interested in applying for an apprenticeship or job when they leave school, are invited to hear a talk about the process and meet key apprenticeship and job providers from the local labour market

Two key members of staff who organise these events are Mrs Brenda Taylor and Mrs Pat Gifford Not only do they help with the arrangements and planning of these two major events, but they also ensure that the enormous amount of paperwork Year 11s generate in applying for courses at 16 is organised and sent to the right place at the right time

Year 11 have a lot to thank these two members of staff for!

‘The college provides a safe and supportive environment and is attentive to all aspects of students’ health and well-being’ Ofsted

MACMILLAN runs a huge coffee morning each year which is one of the biggest fundraisers in the UK for their Cancer Care fund

This year’s event took place on Friday September 28 and there were more than 42,000 nationwide here at Comberton we had a coffee morning too Year 9 brought in cakes and we sold these as well as some kindly donated by the Wicked Cake Company

We set up in the dining hall at break and then took the remainder around at lunchtime

Overall we made about £175 which we sent off to Macmillan

I’m sure everyone had a great time roseanna McMahon (9r)

Year 10 Peer Mentors are students who work with identified Year 7s, who might have found the transition to secondary school stressful the Year 10s receive a series of four carefully planned sessions to equip them with the skills they need to talk to younger pupils

There are also other opportunities throughout the school for students to be paired with a mentor and we are really excited that all members of the school community can be involved in mentoring Teaching Assistants and support staff have volunteered to work as mentors (after training) to support students of all ages

The school can feel rightly proud when Ofsted say that we provide an outstanding level of information, advice, guidance or a little extra support when needed

Antoinette Lyons, Head of Student Guidance

From writer to judge

IN May last year, some pupils from all years were encouraged to enter a national competition for budding young authors.

The task was to write a short story, not exceeding 500 words, about time travel The prize was to be part of the judging panel for the 2007 Booktrust Teenage Prize – an award designed to recognise and celebrate the best contemporary fiction written for teenagers

With people entering from all over the country and only five places on the panel, the chances of winning were slim however, I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the five young judges. An unexpected phone call nearing the end of the summer holidays informed me that the six shortlisted books were on their way, and I had a little over a month and a half to read them and decide which ones I felt worthy of winning the Booktrust Teenage Prize

I was thrilled to be on the panel, even though it was hard work reading all the books as well as keeping up with schoolwork

I managed though, and just before the October half term I took my first of two trips to London to meet up with the other judges and decide on a winner

On the way there I was very nervous and wondered what the other judges would be like but, when I arrived, I got on really well with the other four short story winners

Also there was Angela Wilkinson, a librarian (Chair), Tom Gatti, a journalist who writes for The Times, Anthony McGowan, last year’s winning author, and Isabelle ellisCockcroft, a school student and one of last year’s young judges

We took a long time to come to a decision we all had our favourites which we stood by but in the end, we came out with a winner This was only to be announced at the award ceremony two weeks later, so I was sworn to secrecy about the whole thing

The award ceremony was my second trip to London The building in question was very grand, with a gold plaque and a security guard at the gate, and I was at first unsure whether we were at the right place

We went up to the 10th floor, where there was an amazing view over the Thames, and we were served canapés before the ceremony started

Marcus Sedgwick was the winning author with his book ‘My Swordhand Is Singing’, but he was

‘The

not the only one to receive a prize

NATIONAL JUDGE: Matthew Sawyer’s short story won him a place on a panel to choose the winner of a national fiction prize

The other young judges and I also got awards, namely a silver, star-shaped paperweight each, as a thank you Afterwards, we all went around and got our books signed by the authors I was surprised that Meg Rosoff, author of ‘Just In Case’, told me to watch out for falling bricks! It made me laugh though

Overall, it was a fantastic experience which I will never forget I also hope to return next year as part of the judging panel, so fingers crossed!

You can read my story, as well as those of the other young judges, at www bookheads org

Matthew Sawyer (11r)

CVC team conquer concorde

DuxFORD’S Imperial War Museum, home to one of the prototypes of the supersonic airliner Concorde, was the venue for a winning flight by a model of Concorde flown by a team of CVC students. Douglas Buisson, Chris Hughes, Michael Longson and Tim Shaw, now in Year 10, won the 'Senior' category of the BMFA/BAe Systems Flight Challenge

They had to fly three model aircraft that they had built two British Model Flying Association designs and one of their own design

WINNERS: Comberton’s magnificent men and their flying machines

This third one had to be a scale model of a British Aerospace aircraft and they chose to build a model of Concorde.

The models were flown in sequence as many times as possible over a 30-minute period to accumulate the longest total flight time.

The appearance of the scale model was also judged

Flight time and model score were added together and the CVC team had a winning total of 1,410 points.

All flying took place in the new Airspace building at Duxford and the team took the opportunity to look inside the full size Concorde that is housed there.

The Flight Challenge trophy that they won is now in the cabinet in the school reception.

I started attending the “Young Actors Company” in midAugust last year

It’s a drama club with an agency attached

One afternoon in February, we got a phone call to say that, if we wished, I would be put forward for an audition for a part in an exciting new CBeebies music series called Space Pirates There were two child lead parts, one for a boy and one for a girl

The series started last month

‘How I became a Space Pirate’

So one Thursday, I went to the audition at BBC TV Centre in London I was one of the first to arrive As more and more children came in I started to get nervous Finally there were about 60 boys and girls and we walked over to another building for the audition

Unfortunately I had to go first I performed my poem, told a joke and did “my party piece” which was to sing a song called “Fly me to the Moon” As I walked out of the door a tall lady gave me a script She took me back to Mum and asked if we could stay till 6 00 Then she asked me to learn my script They put us in partners to perform the script and told us they would phone us if they wanted us to return for another audition

I did get a call to go back and this time there were six girls and six boys We had to perform a script in pairs again

We did this a few times with different partners and then I was asked to come back for yet another audition the next day This time there were three girls and three boys and six men who were auditioning for the lead male part Again we performed a script in different combinations and after a long day we went home

A few days later my Dad told me that I had got the part and I was absolutely shocked because I wasn’t expecting it After the auditions came four costume and wig fittings I had a costume which looks like it’s made from

Cooking up a storm

THIS term 10 Comberton students have been ‘Cooking up a Storm’ in the new after-school class at 3.00pm on Mondays.

Among the items they have cooked all using fresh ingredients and avoiding processed foods are meat balls in tomato sauce, stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon and gingerbread.

The class restarts after Christmas for another six weeks and is open to all years.

Adults have also been busy cooking too as part of the evening class provision, which has included 10 weeks of Men in the Kitchen with top Cambridge chef Hilary Cacchio on Monday evenings and Traditional Indian Cookery with Rama Ram on Wednesday evenings.

Both these classes will also be available again in January, with new recipes.

Please contact the Community Education department for further details of these or other courses on (01223) 264721, e-mail to commed@comberton cambs sch uk or check the website

space parts, a pair of very large space Ugg boots, a red wig and a very interesting hat, complete with a motorised bird on top

Soon I met the boy I would be working with, a nine-year-old called Connor We spent almost every moment of the day together each morning, we would meet at breakfast then spend all day at the studios together until dinner at the hotel, after which we would spend the evening memorising words for the next day Next day, we’d begin the whole cycle again

The rehearsals started at the beginning of the summer term and there were two weeks of rehearsals where we’d run through two or three scripts each day

Then we’d have a block of three weeks of filming where we’d do roughly one script per day

Then back to rehearsals and then the second block of filming I prefer filming because you get to do everything for real, using the props on the set and in costume, although it does take a long time to have make-up and hair done

My hair was pinned up in funny little curls and the make-up lady would put a sock thing over my hair before she put the wig on and stuck it down Then she’d put black on my face to make it look dirty!

My studio was two minutes away from the Big Brother house I never got to go inside, but I did get to see it being built and I met some of the guards Altogether, I missed 10 weeks of school and I know you are probably thinking how lucky I was, but I still had to have three hours of tutoring each day and we had to work through half-term and on Bank holidays Missing school isn’t all fun Unfortunately, I missed out on art, drama, music and Pe which I enjoy It also meant I missed all my after school clubs Most of all I missed my friends, but I tried to see them at weekends as much as possible

The last day of filming was, of course, the worst day, but it was also the best day and it was great to say that it was finally finished

On the last day, Connor and I both got to film a small shot and sit in the van (where the director sits and shouts at the stage director to tell us to do stuff) We got to count down, say “cut” and do other things directors do It was really fun

Since the show is a music series, there were lots of guests including some quite well known artists, Jamelia, the Cheeky Girls and McFly

A few months after filming finished, I was called back to do a voice over

This is where you record some speech that would be used over something like a video or credits playing It was so cool just like a radio station with the microphone, the headphones, the TVand the green light that turned on when you had to speak And then it was time for the show, which has been on at the weekends It’s been pretty strange seeing myself on television

Kirsty rider (8C)

‘The students’ achievement and their personal devel-

opment are outstanding’ Ofsted

TV STAR: Kirsty Rider (right) in Space Pirates on CBeebies

‘The curriculum is broad and balanced and provides a good range of opportunities for students’

Ofsted

Speakers are up to scratch

COMBeRTON preserved its recent proud record in public speaking and debating with another superb performance in the South Cambridgeshire Under-14 competition

The Year 8 team of hattie Algar, Peter Sayer and David Snelling secured an excellent third place finish as they argued for the motion ‘Young people should be encouraged to take risks, both in and out of school’

The competition, organised by the Rotary Club and held this year at St Mary’s School, attracted 11 other teams from schools across Cambridgeshire who discussed a range of topics over the course of the evening

Despite a very high standard of competition, the CVC team earned a top-three finish and received special praise from the judging panel for their strong ideas and effective use of humour.

This is the sixth consecutive year that a team from CVC has finished in the top three of the competition, which is a fantastic record

While the Rotary event involves limited entries, CVC students interested in public speaking can now at least look forward to an internal individual competition which will be open to all in the new year

Fieldwork brings GCSE subjects to life

YeAR 11 geographers went to Dorset to conduct fieldwork and collect data.

It was an early start for the three-and-a-half hour trip to the Isle of Purbeck

After arriving in Corfe we walked around the village, some people visited the historical Corfe Castle and witnessed cannons being fired during a demonstration

After doing our work we headed down the road to Swanage

We went off in our groups to get a taste of the area by filling in our coursework and collecting information from fellow tourists (very politely!)

When we were there the annual folk festival was in full swing and we were treated to the sight of Morris dancers in the street with some of the boys trying to join in with the routines (I’ll leave it to you to figure out whom)

We also visited the famous Lulworth Cove and the surrounding landmarks as we carried on with our visitor surveys and sampled the various delicacies such as local ice creams and homemade fudge

On our last day we finished off our work in Swanage and had the chance to relax (a bit!)

The majority of the group

then boarded a boat which showed us Old harry’s rocks and took us to Poole harbour

In the evenings we had our write up sessions at the youth hostel and then we could play games such as Twister, watch the TV, chat or sleep

Obviously very few people slept throughout the trip for various reasons (like alarm clocks going off in the early hours of the morning), which resulted in the journey home being very quiet with the exceptions of the few snores and the odd scream at the film that we were watching

All in all the entire trip was very successful and a good laugh, so we would like to thank the staff for taking us and for helping us throughout the time we were there

Sam Hack (11B)

ON THE BEACH: Year 11 geographers at Durdle Door

FLANDERS EXPERIENCE: Year 11 historians in Belgium

The reality of WW1

EARLIER this term 70 members of Year 11 and several members of staff left Comberton for Belgium on the GCSE history trip to see the World War One battlefields of Ypres and the Somme.

The Somme was the site of one of the biggest British offensives, from July-November 1916.

The first day of the Battle of the Somme saw 60,000 casualties (around 20,000 deaths) which remains one of the worst days in the British Army’s history

After a long coach journey, we finally arrived in Belgium, at around mid-afternoon (continental time) and went to a museum and the first of many key sites, which included the Lochnagar crater, made by one of two huge mines set off on the morning of the Battle of the Somme. We also attended the extremely moving “Last Post”, played on the Bugel, at the Menin Gate

The thing that struck most people was seeing a cemetery every five minutes as we drove though Belgium and France, emphasising the number of men that died for their country.

This was a unique school trip as it was entirely dedicated to remembrance and everyone who went thought it was thoroughly worthwhile. Thank you to the staff who organised and accompanied the visit

James Davenport (11T) and Stephen Clarkson (11E)

Countdown to world premiere Academy of Death

The world premiere of a new musical will take place in Comberton next month

Academy of Death, written by music teacher Geoff Page, will be performed by a cast of 70 in the auditorium at Comberton Leisure Academy of Death is a macabre tale of murder, blackmail, misery, madness and romance, based on the historical events surrounding the notorious Doctor Knox, the edinburgh-based surgeon who was prepared to go to any lengths to source the cadavers he needed to further knowledge of the human anatomy

Dr Knox's assistant Alfred Fettes (Aaron CohenGold) has fallen in love with the beautiful Isabella (Jenny Bane) he thinks that he can win her love by giving her a dazzling diamond ring; but is the price too high, and what or rather who will he have to sacrifice in order to afford it? head of Music Ben Parker said: "This is probably the most inspiring project any school could ever take on Geoff has presented the College with a brand new show of exceptional quality "

Work on the production, which is led by Mr Page (composer and musical director) and a dedicated team of staff from the school, including Jane Menczer (director) and Claire Salmon (co-director), began in June Rehearsals are well under way; the cast are bubbling with enthusiasm, and Academy of Death promises to be a highly entertaining and memorable experience

One pupil, Verity Algar, of Year 10, said: "It is so fun being part of a new

LIMBERING

UP: Cast members from Academy of Death

venture, and the fact that it has never been performed before adds a whole new exciting element Anyone that sees us, prepare to be freaked out!"

Jo Instone-Brewer, of Year 9, added: "Mr Page's music is very inspiring and very different from many musical styles I love this musical, it has a brilliant plot "

Academy of Death will run for five performances (Tuesday 29 January Saturday 2 February 2008) and tickets cost £6-7 (full price), £4-5 (concessions)

To find out more about the show, including audio clips of some of the music, visit the website: www academyofdeath com

For details of the performances, please email theprincipal@academyofdeath com or ring (01223) 262503

CVC edged out Record numbers to ski

The ski and snowboarding season is here again and we are looking forward to going back to St Johann in Italy, with the Development course next month and the Foundation Course in February This year the Development Course is a smaller group of advanced skiers, plus Mrs hall and Mr Rigg, and for the first time we are flying to Verona and then transferring to a new hotel, the zum Schachen both exciting developments

The Foundation Course is the biggest in Comberton's history with 145 pupils, parents and staff travelling on three coaches at the start of half- term

The programme of skiing and snowboarding will again culminate in the exciting final-day slalom races while the evenings' entertainments wouldn't be the same without our fancy dress disco, concert and trip to the pizzeria! Many have skied with us before, but we are thrilled to welcome lots of 'first-timers' from Year 8 and 9 into our seven beginner ski groups and two snowboarding groups

FUN FOR ALL: On Comberton’s ski trips to the Italian Alps

COMBERTON narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-finals of the under-16 National Schools Netball Championships County Tournament at Peterborough Victory in three of their five games was not quite enough to see them into the last four of the event in Peterborough as they went out on goal difference

Comberton beat Abbey 7-4, Peterborough High 10-7 and Soham 4-3, but lost to Cambridge rivals Perse 10-3 and Netherhall 9-4. Charlotte Blows was voted CVC’s player of the tournament

Comberton: Juliet Gillam, Sinead Thomas, Charlotte Blows, Rebecca Robinson, Jessica Moore, Ayesha Greed, Lydia Foster, Harriet Sewell

‘An outstanding range of events, trips and extra-curricular activities, including an impressive number of sporting, musical and drama clubs, complements the curriculum and broadens students’ experiences’ Ofsted

‘Participation rates in the vast range of extra-curricular activities are impressive, with three-quarters of students attending out-of-school sports clubs’ Ofsted

Champions at the double

COMBeRTON are the county as well as the district schools Year 9 rugby champions

After their victory in the Cambridge and District Schools Tournament, they followed up by sharing the Cambridgeshire title with Sawtry Village College – for the second year running

Comberton fielded a strong team in the 10-a-side tournament at hinchingbrooke School, huntingdon, last month and cruised through the pool stage with victories over St Peter’s, huntingdon (35-0), the hosts (255) and Longsands, St Neots (40-0)

The try by hinchingbrooke was the first Comberton had conceded this season and when the teams met again in the semi-final the Cambridge school were again pushed all the way

It was all square at 15-15 before late tries by harry Mills and Jack Murphy, who also scored the winning try in the District final, took Comberton into the final showdown

George haworth put Comberton 5-0 up in the final before a lapse of concentration allowed the Sawtry winger to run the length of the pitch to tie the scores at 5-5 – the same as the previous year

In late October, the District tournament at Shelford, organised by Comberton Director of Pe and Sport Nigel Carrick, attracted 14 teams On their way to a 5-0 final win over Bottisham, Comberton won their group stage without their opponents’ scoring, then saw off Cottenham in the semi-finals

Mr Carrick said: “The rugby was played in a fantastic spirit of fair play and sportsmanship A total of more than 250 pupils were involved It was a tight competition, which could have been won by any one of eight teams ”

UNBEATEN CHAMPIONS: The Comberton Year 9 squad (above) and (top) preparing to scrum

l Comberton was the only school to field three teams at the Year 7 district tournament and performed impressively The A team were fifth, the B side won their half of the competition with the C side finishing fifth in the same half head of Pe Sean Sycamore said: “Overall the results are very good and it was great to see so many students representing Comberton in such a competition We were the only school to travel with three teams which gave more students an opportunity to experience District tournaments; a trend which I hope will continue ”

Sporting pupils impress new PE

eARLIeR this term the Pe department ran interform competitions within Year 7, 8 and 9 core lessons The three year groups played invasion games and competed for their forms within their half year group In addition, the students all completed a fitness run from Toft church to Comberton church The idea of both activities is for students to work together as a team to support one another in achieving a collective success, while maintaining a high standard of sportsmanship

As a new head of Department, I have been overwhelmed by the support and encouragement that

the 750 or so students have given to one another I have also been particularly impressed with the effort and commitment displayed by all students involved The level of sportsmanship has also been outstanding with students clapping one another at the ends of each game and throughout all the runs on the finish line

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff who supported the Pe department for all their hard work across the very busy two weeks, and to congratulate all students who took part in the competitions Well done!

Sean Sycamore

On the march

COMBERTON are through to the second round of the under-15 boys National Schools Squash Championship.

A comprehensive 5-0 win in their second group game ensured the team, which includes one 14-year-old, two 13-year-olds and a 12year-old, are still in the competition

The victory over King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, followed a walkover against St Peter’s, Huntingdon.

The two-highest scoring teams progress and victories for county under-15 champion Tom Symmons, Peter Tasker, Will Harris, Tom Blair and Will Collett meant Comberton were one of them, regardless of their result against Tendring Technical College, Frinton-on-Sea, Essex. Comberton’s two reserve players, Alan Leung and Jack Murphy also won their matches 3-0.