CVC July 16

In excess of £3,500 has been handed over to three charities thanks to the generosity of staff and students at Comberton.

More than £900 was raised for East Anglian Children’s Hospices (EACH) in memory of former student Maria Wray when the school and sixth form held a Purple Day. The charity also received a share of the more than £1,000 collected by Year 7 from their fund-raising efforts.

Purple was Maria’s favourite colour and everybody at the school was invited to wear something in that colour or purchase a purple ribbon for £1. Maria’s friends from the Sixth Form worked very hard to produce the ribbons and to fund-raise on the day.

Staff at The Centre and Sixth Formers, who were Maria’s peers, both held purplethemed cake sales at break and lunch. Further funds came from an Easter/Purple raffle run by the library.

Maria was just 17 when she died at the EACH hospice at Milton last October. The Cambourne student had been studying at Comberton since she was 11 despite an on-going battle with cancer.

Lynn Stewart, Comberton’s Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator, said: “Maria was an inspiration to us all with her determined attitude and bravery. Raising money for EACH seemed very appropriate to help other young people in Maria’s position.”

A further £1,634 has gone to Sport Relief as the proceeds from a non-uniform day and sponsored mile at the end of last term.

Staff and student support for the second ‘CVC Mile’ was excellent on the day and family and friends were very generous with their sponsorship.

Many students decided to come in fancy dress and find novell ways to complete the mile to help increase their sponsorship.

There were students carrying each other on a stretcher, pupils in a wheelbarrows, three-legged pairs and on space hoppers, all adding to the atmosphere of day.

Sport Relief nationally this year raised more than £68m.

As well as EACH, the money raised by Year 7 will be shared by Cancer Research and the Beaumanor hardship fund.

Cancer Research were also the beneficiaries of Year 8’s cake sale, which raised more than £200.

Assistant Head of Year Rebecca Tyrrell said: “We raised a very impressive £215.75. I would like to thank everyone for their support, especially the students, who helped to organise the event, set up the cake sale, sell the cakes and most importantly bake/donate the cakes. The cakes that the students brought in looked fantastic and tasted delicious.”

Student homes in on her dream career

Year 11 student Alexia Sloane is closing in on her dream of becoming a professional composer.

Following a commission last November for the Cambridge Music Festival, her piece for oboe and violin, entitled Phantom, was performed at the Cambridge Guildhall by two musicians from the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

In April she was commissioned by the Britten Sinfonia to compose a piece live on stage at West Road.

Alexia, who is a member of the Aldeburgh Young Musicians, a centre for advanced training, is currently working on a 40-minute piece scored for two concert flutes, two alto flutes, a cello, a bass clarinet, a harp, a celeste, an SSAA boys' choir and an SSAA girls' choir.

She is hoping the boys’ and girls’ choirs will be the King’s College choristers and the St Catharine’s

q Hard Work Pays Off Page 3

q Encouraging Healtier Choices Page 3

q Prefects’ Training Day Page 4

q CAT News Page 4

q Students Voted to Remain Page 5

q Getting Bits working correctly Page 5

q Be Alert to Dangers Page 6

q Students rise to Challenge Page 6

CAKES FOR CHARITY:

Sixth formers sell cakes and ribbons for EACH (above) and Year 8 set out their stall for Cancer Research.

girls choir, both based in Cambridge. Last month, following several late auditions, Alexia was awarded places to study composition at all the London Junior Conservatoires she had applied to — the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, Trinity and the Guildhall.

ROYAL WELCOME: For Alexia Sloane.

Contents

Being spoilt for choice and facing one of the most difficult decisions of her life, Alexia, who is visually impaired, has chosen the Royal College of Music and has had to relinquish her place with the Aldeburgh Young Musicians. Some of her compositions can be heard via her former website at www.alexiasloane.wordpress.com. Her other pieces will soon be added to her new site www.inspirarts.com, currently under construction, in early September.

q Flying the Flag at Games Page 7

q Artists Inspire Page 7

q International Round-Up Pages 8-10

q Sixth Form News Pages 11-14

q Focus on DofE Pages 16-17

q South Cambs School Sports Partnership round-up Pages 18-19

q Sport Pages 20-24

Hard work pays off

Comberton Village College has been nationally recognised for its students' exceptional performance in last summer's GCSE exams

Educational Outcomes data analysis from the Schools, Students and Teachers network (SSAT) has shown that the school is in the top 10% of non-selective schools nationally for students' attainment (based on students' best eight average point scores) and the top 10% nationally for progress made by pupils between their Key Stage 2 results at primary school and their Key Stage 4 results

The school's SSAT Educational Outcomes awards will be presented at a regional celebration event to draw attention to the work of high-achieving, improving and

innovating schools and teachers

Last summer 72% of Comberton students achieved five A*-C grades (based on first entry) with the figure rising to 75% for best entry

Students nationally are expected to make three levels of progress during their five years at secondary school Of last year's Comberton cohort more than 65% achieved at least four levels in English and 52% in maths

Comberton's Head of School Peter Law said: "We are delighted to receive this award which reflects the excellent work from our students, along with the dedicated support from their parents and our teachers “These pupils have achieved outstandingly well in all aspects of their work, including the academic curriculum that this reflects, and we wish them all the

best as they go on to many further successes in years to come "

Sue Williamson, Chief Executive of SSAT, which was formed from the former Specialist Schools and Academies Trust four years ago, said: "It's my great pleasure to commend Comberton Village College on their excellent 2015 performance, and to have the opportunity to highlight and share their great work at the SSAT Educational Outcomes celebration evening "I hope that SSAT's Educational Outcomes awards will highlight the professionalism, commitment and hard work of the leaders, teachers and students at Comberton Recognising and sharing successes like this is at the heart of SSAT's mission "

Helping encourage healthier choices

TASTE THE DIFFERENCE: Staff and students tuck into free porridge and fruit during Healthy Eating week

The advent of Healthy Eating week in June has sparked a number of changes to the food available at Comberton.

Porridge is now available free of charge from 8am-8 20am to encourage all staff and students to have a nutritious breakfast each day

Pizza, garlic bread and veggie rolls will no longer be available for breakfast, but bacon rolls, cereal, toast and fruit will still be on sale alongside yogurt, granola, fruit compote and the porridge

Sweet treats will only be available be available twice a week, with flapjacks and other cereal-based bars on a third day

During Healthy Eating week, as well as introducing porridge, students were given the chance to try a variety of fruit and veg during one lunchtime, thanks in part to Tesco, who donated a selection of produce.

The following day the focus was on drinking enough water and year groups set up water stations at break and handed out urine colour charts to check hydration levels

Thursday was a ‘get active’ day with PE staff putting on a range of activities

including hula hooping, rowing, skipping, football and basketball at lunchtime.

Food was again the theme on Friday when students were challenged to ‘try something new’ from a selection of alternative tasty treats

Head of PE Jane Clarke, who oversees the Healthy Schools initiative, said:

“We have recently been focusing on the choices students make when purchasing food from the buttery at breakfast, break and lunchtime

“We continue to educate students about the benefits of exercise and eating healthily within curriculum areas such as PE, food and nutrition and PSHE

“However, we do feel that we can do more to help ensure students are making healthy choices during the day that will not only benefit their well-being, but also their concentration and levels of fatigue.

“The number of sweet things that students have been purchasing caused us some concern and we want to try and educate students to make healthier choices ”

Training day challenges test new prefects

We are becoming accustomed to our new prefect roles, on Monday 13th June all prefects had a day off timetable to take part in training

The training began with an introduction from Mr Sycamore, highlighting the significance of our new roles, followed by various team-building activities These included a series of problems to be solved against the clock and building a tower as tall as Mr Southcoat, from just three sheets of newspaper, for a maximum of 30 points

Although challenging at times, through perseverance and determination, these activities allowed us to complete challenges while getting to know members of our Prefect Team

Our Head of Year, Mr Pollock, kickstarted the afternoon with a few words before Mr McKenna introduced some

trust activities It was interesting as well as enjoyable to participate in an active analogy for a skill that will become very important as we continue working as

prefects

For the final period of the day, Mr McKenna continued with the Senior and Head Prefects in a drama workshop, showing us how to speak and be calm in front of an audience Despite the, at first, wacky activities, we soon became accustomed and took the tasks in our stride and finished the useful day in a fun and engaging way

WORKING IT OUT: At a day of training for all the new prefects

Overall, the day was very successful and allowed all of us to work with, not only our immediate Prefect team, but the different roles as a whole We hope to put this training into good use over the coming year

Katie Hodge, Head Prefect Team

New name as Trust grows

The Comberton Academy Trust has a new name

From this summer it will be known as The Cam Academy Trust to reflect that it is now a strong, locally-based Trust of Academies with representation from different schools phases

It is also a statement of intent for future development staying local with strong representation at both

secondary and primary school level as well as strong provision for those with special educational needs Already this year Gamlingay First School became the first primary-phase provider to join the Trust and St Peter’s School, an 11-18 school in Huntingdon, is expected to join in September

Further primary schools expected to join the Trust will be overseen by the newly-appointed Primary

Executive Leader

Chris Jukes, currently head of Garden Fields, a primary school in St Albans, will take up the post in January 2017

Stephen Munday, Chief Executive of the Trust, said: “This locally based model of education will stay true to its roots: seeking excellence for all and with our schools at the heart of their communities ”

Working towards shared international goals

What does it look like when you put international learning right at the heart of the curriculum?

Providing ‘education with an international outlook’ is one of the five core principles of the Trust

The British Council’s International School Award provides the ideal framework for coordinating international activity and has helped to structure activities, as well as giving each school something to work towards

“Creating a sense of shared ethos and values across very different schools can be a challenge, but sharing the objective of attaining and maintaining the International School Award is tangible and something all schools can readily sign up to,” said Rachel Hawkes, the Trust’s Director of International Education and Research, and Modern Languages teacher:

Africa The videos show students in Pretoria talking about development in the area where they live, and are used in lessons to further understanding of the topic

“There are so many advantages to working together across the Trust It enables us to share expertise, learn from one another, run joint exchange programmes, raise the profile of language learning, and create a real shared sense of identity

“The goal is for all schools in the Trust to have Full Accreditation status (with the British Council) by 2017 ”

Comberton has a long-running programme of international activity and International School Award Full Accreditation status A new focus there is on widening the benefits of international work in other areas of the curriculum

Within the Year 9 International Development Geography module, students study video material which has been produced by their partner school in Pretoria, South

Similarly, data is also being collected from partner schools in Germany, Spain, Japan and Peru, which will be used by Year 7 students for their mathematics datahandling projects A questionnaire asks for all sorts of information, from shoe size to average time spent on homework each day

Teachers at the Trust are also working hard to set an example for their students and embed the international dimension to learning even further

Some teachers at Cambourne are developing their own skills so they can teach parts of their subject in Spanish

They are aiming towards a term’s worth of modules in art, music, geography and history routinely taught in Spanish Some Year 7 students have already had a maths lesson a week in Spanish

Taking on board practice developed at The Voyager Academy, there are plans to develop a more cohesive assembly programme in other schools across the Trust, with a focus on global themes, as well as continuing to join forces on activities such as exchange programmes Students from Comberton, Melbourn and Cambourne shared this year’s German Exchange and Comberton and Cambourne students were on the French and Spanish Exchanges together earlier this term All three colleges have run separate trips to the same Spanish town, working with the same schools and collaborating on the travel arrangements through a Spanish facilitator “We want our students to learn and understand more about the people they are connected with across the world,” said Dr Hawkes

Computer science teachers from Voyager, St Peter’s, Cambourne and Comberton met to discuss the new curricula at GCSE and A level

While this wasn’t the first time of working collaboratively, they enjoyed being able to put faces to email addresses of new colleagues!

Some excellent lesson resources were shared, particularly activities to engage students at the start of lessons

Diane Taylor, Comberton Head of Computer Science, said: “The schools vary a little in the courses which are offered, but it was agreed to do some moderation of GCSE coursework across schools, and share the planning of Year 2 of the A level course, ensuring we work to the same standards and our students get a similar experience in each school ”

On the same training day, languages teachers from Comberton, Cambourne, Melbourn and Voyager also joined forces

Comberton’s Head of Languages Róisín Cox said: “As we are facing new specifications in GCSE and A-level in September there is a lot of work to do so we thought many hands make light work! It was a very useful and productive day and we all really enjoyed collaborating Work has continued throughout this term ready for September ”

Mentors play key role

A new initiative to help students learn a language of their choice has been launched across The Comberton Academy Trust

And this week members of the public, who will play a vital role in the Language Futures programme, were being trained before the student learning gets under way in Comberton, Cambourne and Melbourn village colleges in September,

The programme is designed to offer students the opportunity to learn whichever language is most relevant to them In school they will be taught how to learn the skills which they apply to a specific language of their choice, with the support of mentors

Anybody with a knowledge of and love of language can get involved but initially the Trust has been recruiting voluntary community mentors in Afrikaans, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Welsh

Mentors are asked to attend a weekly after-school session whenever they are able (on average every two-three weeks) to support learners of their language

The programme is being overseen by Rachel Hawkes, the Trust’s Director of International Education and Research, who said: “Language Futures mentors are motivated to volunteer for a variety of reasons

“Some are parents who value the opportunity to get to know their own child’s school Others are considering teacher or teaching assistant as a possible career option and see this as valuable professional experience

“All love the language they know and have a passion for sharing the language and its culture with a future generation of speakers This is the essential requirement for a Language Futures mentor!”

JOINT TRIPS: Students from three schools in Germany

Students voted to remain

Thursday June 24th 2016 is a day that will be remembered for very many years as the day that the United Kingdom (seemingly not so United...) voted to leave the European Union.

Clearly this is a decision that will affect the young people of this country into their futures, and the vast majority of the pupils at Comberton Village College were not eligible to vote in the referendum

Therefore, on Wednesday 23rd June, Comberton

staged its own referendum

All Comberton pupils in Years 7-12 were given the same simple choice that faced the nation: should the United Kingdom stay in the European Union, or should it leave?

The votes were counted and the returning officer (a Government and Politics teacher!) declared the results at the end of the day

Eighty per cent of all CVC pupils had voted to remain It was therefore something of a surprise to me to find the following day that by a margin of four per cent the

May Ball is grand affair

They arrived in jeeps, vintage cars, limos and more but there was one thing all the Year 11 students arriving at the May Ball had in common they were all immaculately dressed in smart suits and beautiful ball gowns

They were joined by members of staff for an evening of celebration at the new venue of Manor Barn in Harlton

Parents and friends had formed a guard of honour to welcome the students and then drifted away to leave the party-goers to first enjoy a non-alcoholic ‘champagne’ reception, followed by a hog roast, salad and cakes and then hours of non-stop dancing

One of the organisers, Agnieszka Barcz-Morgan, the Assistant Head of Year, said: “It was a wonderful evening and a fitting way to celebrate the last gathering of this year group as a whole

“The change of venue was a great success and staff, students and parents all commented on what a good choice they felt it was ”

Getting

all the Bits working correctly!

This year all Year 7 have received a Microbit from the BBC

In computer science lessons we have been using these to make the LED lights flash and make games on them So far we have used the Microbit website to

create and download code on to our Microbits We have used commands like “show string ” and “forever” and “when A is clicked” to show a word eg ‘Hello!’

We can expand our skills in future lessons One of the harder skills was making a clicker counter which involved lots of technical trials and errors Some of us managed to do this very well In future we will be using our Microbits to create more games such as rock, paper scissors Some students of 7T said this about the microbit: “We were amazed when we started using the chip as it was really fun and it also enhances our learning ” “It’s very easy to use and I think it’s good ” Lauren Cave and Thomas Arkesden (7T)

country had voted to leave the EU

Not surprisingly, reactions to this news were mixed

One teacher wore a black tie throughout the day; another told me what an opportunity this represents

The following Sunday I had been asked to speak at a local church and had cause to reflect upon the values that underpin education Comberton, as part of the recently renamed Cam Academy Trust, has five core values at its heart, one of which is “education with an international outlook” reflecting the fact that in an ever-more connected world we live in a “global village”

The week after the referendum Comberton was hosting visiting students from South Africa and Japan and a group of students departed on an exchange trip to Peru

Before the end of term we had pupils going on Activities Week trips to Spain and France

While the country no doubt faces some uncertainties in the months and years to come, one thing that is certain is that we will continue to foster strong links with our international neighbours and this remains part of our core

A further certainty is that pupils have never been more interested in politics debates have been raging on this topic for weeks and will no doubt continue for a

Jedi training will return

When your instructor is wearing a top that clearly states ‘Warning: contains violence’ you know you’re in for something exciting

This is exactly what a group of Year 9 boys experienced when they were invited to take part in an unarmed stage combat and light sabre training workshop.

From head drags and throat grabs to Jedi warrior training, the workshop physically pushed the students to realise the importance of communication and physical control with precise synchronised movement

Using specialist training weapons, the group spent three hours developing the key skills in attacking others and in defending themselves in armed combat and experienced the training programme that actors would go through over several months in preparation for a performance or recording

The workshop, delivered by True Edge Stage Combat, was hugely successful and will be returning next academic year watch this space

Students rise to the challenge

We arrived to rain in London and went to Lindley Hall, the setting for the UKMT Team Challenge final.

We went to our table, number 37, and prepared for the poster round of the maths competition. We constructed a beautifully-presented poster on the mathematics of folding. However, for some strange reason, we didn't win this competition.

We took part in a group circus round next, travelling around eight different stations, answering questions within five minutes. The next challenge to overcome was lunch. During this event we lined up and chose some of the many sandwiches, but only one cake.

Then we participated in the group shuttle round, where we struggled to achieve excellence as the time limit of eight minutes restricted us from being fully confident in our answers.

The penultimate round was the infamous crossnumber. Surprisingly, this was the most pleasant round.

Lastly we tackled the relay round, where maths is combined with running to answer as many questions as possible in the time limit.

Callum’s and Raphael's running helped us to claw back some valuable ground.

Be alert to the dangers

What exactly is Geotagging?

Geotagging involves "tagging" a geographical location to something like a social network status update, a tweet, a photo or something else you post online. How does Geotagging work?

If you take a photo with your smart phone that has location services enabled, you are very likely embedding your GPS coordinates unknowingly to that image. This is not obvious because the coordinates don't appear on the screen or anywhere on the image that you can see so it seems innocent enough.

There are predators who can access software that allows them to decipher information from these photos that can put children at risk. With most phones, location services tend to be on as the default setting and this is where the Geotagging gets its information. It is not only smart phones, but some new digital cameras capture geotagging information through their built-in GPS unit which will include shutter speeds, flash and GPS coordinates as well. Many online sites

where we store our photos and photo editing/storage software will often bring up a map showing you exactly where that photo was taken.

What are the dangers?

Posting images, tweets or status updates online can give away locations. For instance images taken at

home could be used to find out where a child lives. Those who regularly post could be monitored and routines established allowing locations or routes to be predicted. What can be done to minimise the risk? You can switch off location services completely. Alternatively you can select which applications have access to your location services. You can therefore still allow a navigation application such as google maps to use your location but could turn it off for social networking applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Snap Chat etc.

Access to these settings are phone dependant. If you have difficulty finding these settings you could search on the web or contact your network provider. Limiting access to images can also minimise risk. Therefore it is essential that privacy settings are set when using social networking applications. Ensuring online friends are known in the real world is another way to control who has access to personal information.

Matt Mannas

MILESTONE: David Ashpole’s 85th birthday celebrations.

clocks up 20 years

David Ashpole celebrated his 85th birthday at the college on the 21st June. David has been teaching adult pottery and painting classes at Comberton for 20 years, since he retired as Head of Art at a school in Cambridge.

David plans to continue teaching his daytime Painting and Drawing class on Monday mornings “as long as his knees hold out”.

For more information about this class or anything else in the new 2016/17

programme, please check the college website. Copies will also be distributed door-to-door in mid-August. We will be offering lots of new courses from September, including free Maths and English GCSE, Art History, Sign Language, Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction and Italian Cookery. For further information contact commed@combertonvc.org or 01223 264721.

1700 schools from across the country had taken part in the regional finals but only 88 elite teams, like us, made it to Lindley Hall. We finished in 40th place, so came in the top half. Callum Martin (9B), Raphael Edwards (9M), Callan Chambers (8O) and Willem Pye (8T)

TOP HALF: For the CVC maths team.

Flying the flag at Games

Comberton will be represented at the ‘the Greatest Show on Earth’ for the third successive time when students fly to the Paralypics in Brazil tin September.

Twelve students 10 from Comberton and two from Cambourne head to Rio where they will be hosted by families of pupils at the British School of Rio (BSR)

The trip is the culmination of three years of planning and partnership with BSR that saw Comberton students visit Brazil to be a small part of the ‘Street Child World Cup’ two years ago and has seen BSR students visit CVC on four occasions

The focus of the trip will be watching the Paralympics, following on from previous exciting trips when when 35 staff and students went to Beijing in 2008 and an

incredible 800 Comberton pupils travelled to London in 2012!

This year the group has tickets for a number of events including wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball, athletics in the Marcana stadium, and indoor cycling Activties away from the Games will include shadowing pupils for a school day, visiting all the famous sights in Rio, and travelling to the border with Argentina and

RIO-BOUND: The staff and students heading for Brazil to watch the Paralympics and see the sights

getting wet in the spectacular waterfalls of Foz do Iguacu!!

Final plans are being put in place and last-minute checks are being made ahead of departure on September 5

Plans are already being considered for Tokyo, Japan, 2020 so watch this space!

Nigel Carrick, Assistant Principal

Range of artists and styles inspires students

Applied Art students in Year 10 went to London for the day and visited the Bankside Gallery and the Graphic Arts exhibition at Somerset House

Jenny Flack (10E) wrote this report: “I found the trip really helpful and inspiring First, we took the train from the Cambridge station to King’s Cross, where we then boarded another train and made it to our destination after all of us managed to keep up with a powerwalking Mr Feijoo in a rush to catch the train!

“We went to the Bankside Gallery to look at various different artists and their work as part of the International Artist Exhibition Charlotte Baynes' works were very popular among us

“Then we walked to the Somerset House, enjoying the sun Once we arrived, all of us bundled into the entrance of the building and grabbed as many leaflets as we could possibly carry to stick into our sketchbooks once back home

“Inside the Somerset House, there was a wide variety of works and artists of all different styles The rooms were swarming with artists and people wearing brightly-coloured clothing and lots of self-published illustration and graphics work

“We spent time looking at the work and sketching ideas which we could later take back to the classroom once we returned to school We all left satisfied with our visit and walked towards the train station to make our way back to Cambridge ”

The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding children’s book. It was started by a self-made, Scottish industrialist called Andrew Carnegie, who loved books and libraries. During his lifetime he managed to set up more than 2,800 libraries in the English-speaking world

This year a group of students from Years 8, 9 and 10 met every Friday lunchtime to discuss and review the eight shortlisted books They started with assistant librarian Julie Peck at the end of March and finished on the 20th June, when the winner of the shortlist was announced Impington Village College hosted Carnegie Day this year and CVC students attended, with five other secondary schools

This gave the students the opportunity to discuss the books further and interact with pupils from other schools

“We had a great time deciding who ‘our’ winner would

be and guessing whether it would match up with the judges’ decision,” said Mrs Peck. “After lunch we looked at the Kate Greenaway Medal illustrated shortlist, to decide if the judges’ choice was appropriate ” The winners were ‘One’ by Sarah Crossan and ‘The Sleeper and the Spindle’ by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Chris Riddell

The Library launched READATHON in the summer term and invited Year 7 and 8 pupils to take part

The students were given a sponsor card and asked to get a few sponsors then to read what the liked and keep a record on their sponsor card Students set their own challenge; some chose to read a few articles or one story, others several novels and some joke books or e-books, anything in fact, that they liked to read for pleasure. The challenge raised £421 00 for READATHON, whose money goes to help children with cancer or disability and children’s hospice services It also raised £89 of free books from Scholastic for the library and four £5 book tokens

Thank you from the library to all those who got involved and helped in a small way Julie Peck, Assistant Librarian

INSIDE AND OUT: Applied Art students at Somerset House in London

CELEBRATION OF BOOKS: The Comberton book group at Carnegie Day

A taste of France

This was the second year running that the French Exchange has gone to Angers.

During the trip we experienced lots of new things, including learning what living in France is like and how it compares to England.

We also visited many other places including Puy de Fou. This is a historical theme park with different shows taking place in one large space. The shows included amazing animals like tigers and lions as well as plays about Vikings and Romans.

All these shows had great special effects like explosions of fire and moving scenery.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to visit the castle of Angers but we did explore the city. We took a small train through the streets to get an idea of the beautiful scenery. After the tour we went shopping at two big shopping malls as well as trying out fantastic French chocolate.

At this point, one group got a forfeit and had to dance with some members of the public.

On Wednesday we went into school to watch two French lessons and then we got half a day off, a habit we are trying to introduce at Comberton!

Most of us went into separate groups with our partners to have a fun afternoon in the sun. Some groups tried bowling, while others got very competitive in laser tag.

It was a week packed full of fun and new experiences.

Maya Hellin (8N) and Christina Russo (8V)

Taking a lead

Year 9 students can opt to become Languages Leaders in Spanish, French or German to gain an award. To achieve this they have to plan and deliver three lessons to primary school pupils.

Here Ana Ward (9N) talks about her experience: “This year we were French language leaders, and had a really good time doing it!

“Being Language Leaders meant that we had to teach three lessons of French to a class of primary school children, and our class was Year 5 at Caldecote Primary School.

“As well as teaching the lessons, we had to plan them, including games and worksheets into our resources, and reflect afterwards to see what we could do better next time.

“Our first lesson was on Christmas, as we taught it in December, and featured French words such as bonbons, which are sweets, which the whole class really enjoyed!

“Our next lesson was on café food, and we got the students to design their own café, with signs for all the foods they were selling.

“Finally, we taught our last lesson this term on animals and pets, with a popular game about chanting returning for the third time.

“We also gave our class stickers and sweets at our last lesson, for being so hardworking and developing their French so much within the three hour-long lessons we had.

“Overall, Language Leaders has helped our French develop, as well as teaching the Year 5s, and it has also helped greatly with our confidence speaking it, so we would definitely recommend it to any keen Year 9s next year!”

ALL TOGETHER: French

‘A great experience’

Comberton has had yet another fantastic year competing in the Foreign Language Spelling Bee, sending not one but two regional champions to the national final, which took place on July 1st at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

Year 7s Kai Sun and Adam were two of just 104 students competing for the title of national champion in Spanish this year from the 75,000 who entered the competition in September — a fantastic achievement!

Kai said: “Being at the Spelling Bee national finals was a great experience. It was well organised, the atmosphere was intense but friendly, and the competition was very close. The support from the parents and teachers was great. Nobody who took part could have got to the finals without their ceaseless support.

announced a tie-break that I was in which was being filmed by Anglia News! The participants in the tie-break were then interviewed by the reporters, too.

FINALISTS: Comberton’s Year 7 duo.

“I felt really nervous when it was my turn to do my minute, and it didn’t help that the judges

“All of the finalists were amazing, as they all performed extremely well.”

In line with previous years, Comberton also had representation at the national finals from the Spelling Bee leaders, who have worked on a weekly basis to help support and prepare our competitors.

As well as our competitors, former winner Daniel Vlasits (Year 9) was recognised for his commitment to supporting the competition, being the only winner this year of the award of the Spelling Bee Leader, from Sarah Schechter, the project manager at Routes into Languages, the organisers of the competition.

Huge congratulations to all students involved.

Claire Jones, MFL Dept

CVC make competition debut

A dozen Year 8 and 9 students from Comberton went to Anglia Ruskin University on 15th June to compete in the final of the Routes into Languages Translation Bee. It was a fantastic achievement and a privilege for us to have 12 of the last 121 students competing, out of the 7659 who started the competition in September.

It is the first year that Comberton has taken part in this competition at this level and the students involved did a brilliant job of representing CVC; to recognise their efforts they were rewarded for their efforts with certificates and medals.

Although on this occasion Comberton did not

have any representatives in the top four at the end of the evening, students described the afternoon as “a great experience”, and the MFL Department are very proud of the way in which they prepared for the competition, and their courage in competing in front of an audience.

Congratulations to Maya Hellin, Elodie Freebairn, Sama Malik and Chaaya Malik from Year 8 and James Stephenson, Alex Bentley, Joe Sandford, Tayin Douglas, Nagi Tateno, Rosie Reade, Zak Bowyer and Bea Greenhalgh from Year 9 for their excellent attitude and hard work, both in advance of the competition and on the day. Well done all!

BUZZING: Translation Bee finalists from Comberton, Cambourne and Melbourn.

and CVC students who took part in the exchange.

TEACHING: Language leaders taught three lessons.

Making friends for life

The students from the Spanish school ‘MM Rosa Molas’ came to stay with their English partners on the final leg of the Spanish Exchange.

Everyone was extremely excited to see each other again as it was six months since the Comberton students went to Zaragoza.

In their time in England the Spanish students enjoyed several trips to Cambridge, a day trip to London and a punting expedition.

My favourite was going bowling with all our exchange partners in Cambridge, after which we went out for dinner.

When we all went to the Grand Arcade the Spanish girls came back with an enormous amount of bags; it seemed as if they’d bought something from every shop in Cambridge.

SHAKESPEARE RAP: One of the Project Day activities.

The souvenirs went down very well, with Miguel Lorente buying at least 16 items for various family members and himself. The favourite was a ‘Cambridge University’ item of clothing, which had been bought by almost all the Spanish students.

On the Sunday, we visited ‘The Backs’ and saw the colleges. When we got home, we had a traditional English Sunday lunch of Roast Beef with all the trimmings.

After a day when our guests went to London, where they had a boat tour on the Thames, saw the sights

and had shopping time on Oxford Street, we had a day of activities and teamwork.

The next day the Spanish group enjoyed a day punting in Cambridge; had a picnic on the boat, and got off to see some historical buildings at various points. When the dreaded Thursday came, goodbyes were said (some of them very emotional) and we watched as they got into the coach, waving and inviting us back for the summer.

I’m happy to say I’m going back to visit in August. Everyone got along very well and we have all made unforgettable memories and more importantly, lifelong

Trip makes big impression

A group of Year 7s went to Comillas, a village in the north of Spain in the region of Cantabria, where we all enjoyed lots of exciting experiences.

For example, we went to multiple caves, had a laugh with some Spanish students and did a quiz, (won by Señorita Vázquez's group), and enjoyed some great food!

After a good night's sleep, all the Year 7s were treated to two hours of Spanish lessons! Lunch was next and it tasted amazing. After that we enjoyed interactive football, flamenco and art with the Spanish students before heading to the beach with our new friends. Most devoured some local ice cream in some new flavours — 'mora' and 'avellana'.

On the second day we visited Altamira, a cave that contained prehistoric paintings. The genuine cave was damaged by all the tourists so Altamira is a replica. There were cave drawings of bison, handprints and more! We had a fantastic paella at the restaurant and went shopping in Santander in the late afternoon. The best part of the day was churros-tasting ¡Ñam ñam!

The next day we went to another cave, El Soplao. This one was not a replica and was amazing! The ceiling was adorned with stalactites while the floor was covered with stalagmites, ageing from a few thousand to a million years old. As well as that, our fantastic guide, José, led a linguistic workshop. In the afternoon we shopped in the beautiful town of Santillana. We later returned to the beach and had a swim in the hotel pool.

Monday was our last full day and also our last Spanish lessons! After saying our goodbyes, we headed to Cabezón and were shown model huts, where the Cantabrians defended their homes from the Romans. We pretended to be Romans and Cantabrians during the Roman invasion. Next, we went to the Capricho de Gaudí, meaning the passion of Gaudí. It was a beautiful house made so that you move around during the day, following the sun. Once we had explored the house, we went to a café in Comillas where we tried Cola Cao and 'torrijas'. For dinner on that day there was a delicious squid dish.

On the last day, we packed the coach with our luggage and set off for Cabárceno national park. We saw bears, gorillas, rhinos and many others and it was awesome! Then it was time to head to Bilbao, say thank you to José and catch our flight home.

Overall we all loved Spain and were sad to leave! A special thank you all the teachers because without them the trip would not be possible!

By Adrien Buckland (7M) and Ben Chung (7B)

PHOTOCALL: For students on the Double Club trip.

friends.

Ben Jones (9V)

When I was reunited with my Spanish exchange, Andrea, I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait to show her around both my school and Cambridge. She joined me in my classes and got to know my friends and my teachers. She also had a go at doing some English classwork. After school, along with most of the other exchanges, Andrea and I went bowling and had dinner out. We both had a brilliant time and it was a great way to reconnect. During the weekend we went to Southwold beach, where Andrea had her first British fish and chips, and went shopping and sightseeing in Cambridge.

On the Monday and Wednesday, the exchanges went to London and Cambridge.

In between, we all had a projects day. We learnt about Shakespeare and made up our own potion recipes based on Macbeth. Later, we met up with some of the other exchanges and had a great evening playing frisbee and eating sweets.

Saying goodbye was heartbreaking. There were many hugs to be had and lots of tears. I hope to see Andrea again.

Fiona Musto-King (9N)

FOLLOW THE SUN: Students learn about the beautiful ‘Capricho de Gaudi’.

Stadium visit is grand finale

On Friday 1st July Mr Pollock and Mr Mora accompanied 15 Year 8 students on a visit to the Emirates stadium in London, home of Arsenal Football Club.

The students chosen were invited to take part, having attended the Arsenal Double Club (a series of six after-school training sessions in both Spanish and football) this term.

They have worked hard to learn language for meeting new people, describing others, talking about football matches and explaining what you might wear to a match, as well as developing their football skills.

Mr Mora and Ms Jones have really enjoyed working with them in these sessions and have been very impressed with their progress both on and off the field.

The stadium trip was an ideal way to round off the course, with the Comberton students receiving excellent treatment on the tour and getting the chance to learn more about Arsenal, as well as being tested on all their new language skills!

Another first

Comberton has just completed its first international exchange trip with Kobe University Secondary School in Japan

Six Japanese students arrived at CVC where they were warmly welcomed by the Sixth Form Student Council

They attended a number of Sixth Form lessons, ranging from Biology to Sociology and also organised and led a presentation on the three most recent earthquakes in Japan and their effects on the local community, both physical

and psychological

The visiting students also presented on their chosen research projects for their trip; topics included behavioural economics, the EU referendum, vaccines, sustainable mass transit and the effect of urbanisation on villages

Special thanks goes to the host families for their warm hospitality and to the Student Council who supported the visiting students

Comberton is now planning to take 12 students to Japan next year There are also plans to organise a trip to Japan for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020

Comberton welcomed its first visitors from a school in Japan

South African visitors have a ball . . .

Comberton has once again welcomed a group of staff and students from our partner school in South Africa

The two teachers, Jan Strumfer and Phelisa Soxujwa, and six learners Molemo Kalolokesya, Kamogelo Mogoboya, Kamogelo Sebothoma, Palesa Kambula, Koketso Motsemme and Masego Matjiane, spent two

weeks staying with host families and experiencing life in Comberton, Cambridge and London

Here Miss Soxujwa shares her thoughts “My first impression of the UK was that it was not so different from South Africa We both drive on the left side of the road and the signs seemed easy enough to decipher

“One of the major differences I noticed when we arrived in Cambridge however ,were the smaller roads I found it particularly interesting that cars were parked right on the street, and that other cars had to take turns in order to pass through Something like that would never work in South Africa

“On the second day, we were taken on a tour around the school I must say it is a very beautiful place and I love how the pupils' work is displayed around the school, I think it is a great way to

LIVING OUT OF A SUITCASE:

Jane Wilson talks to Year 7 about life as a travel writer

motivate them That is definitely a practice I want to take back home with me

“We have done loads of interesting activities such as bike riding to a Burwash Manor in Barton, the Year 11 May Ball and a guided tour around the City of Cambridge

“We went into many colleges and had the history of the city narrated to us while punting on the River Cam

For our last weekend in the country we headed to London where we went on the London Eye and took a boat ride on the River Thames as well as visiting the world famous Madame Tussauds

“Kamogelo Sebothoma went to Manchester with his host family He described the experience as the most amazing time of his life He got to see the stadium where his favourite football players play and that was a dream come true for him

“ the visit was an amazing experience We were all very excited to learn, share knowledge and to simply enjoy the country ”

Travel writer offers top tips

Year 7 were lucky enough to have a travel writer called Jane Wilson visit us in the library in May

She met us there for a talk on travel writing where she read some of her most inspiring extracts and discussed with us what it's like to be a travel writer

I enjoyed the way that she used small, everyday things to inform you about the country she was describing An example of this is when she read out a really vivid piece on Nepal. In this piece she was visiting the outside wooden shed-like toilet when she came across a praying mantis!

She described this like a riddle so up until the last few sentences we thought that the thing she was describing was a human

This first extract that she read out was my favourite and most memorable These beautifully-described everyday encounters inspired me to write in more detail and passionately about things that everyone does all the time This draws the reader in and keeps them interested, included and entertained

I hope that having the privilege of meeting a travel writer and receiving a talk about her work will have helped me to get a better mark in my English assessment!

Lily Goodwin

(7E)

VARIETY: The South African visitors admire the Corpus Christi clock and dance at the Year 11 ball

NEW PARTNERSHIP:

Bringing back the past

Comberton Sixth Formers have been working with staff at a local care home in a new initiative to help residents with dementia.

The students have been using their enrichment time on a Wednesday afternoon to create the ‘All About Me’ project with Joe Ballard, the Activities Co-ordinator at Home Meadow Care Home in Toft The aim is to help residents unlock treasured memories

As part of the project, the 15-20 students, who were learning about various aspects of health and social care, interviewed the residents to help capture a potted history of their life, bringing out poignant memories

home residents who have dementia.

This information was then brought together in a pictorial storyboard that is displayed in the residents’ rooms and used by the staff as part of their care plan

Comberton teacher Richard Waller and Joe Ballard began working together two years ago Their aim was to help students learn more about dementia and the care setting, and to allow the students to contribute towards the home and the work of the team

Joe said: “This is a fantastic project which has really

brought huge benefits to our residents and to the home as a whole The storyboards the students have created are really quite emotive and will help our staff refer to key stories or special memories, which can offer comfort in times of confusion or distress or simply help them access a part of their life they may have forgotten for some time

“Many of the residents recognise the students when they arrive and are extremely pleased to see them, so

some lovely relationships have been formed

“We try very hard to create a positive and enjoyable environment for our residents and initiatives like this allow us to find new creative ways of engaging with those living with dementia ”

Mr Waller, who is responsible for Community Projects at Comberton Sixth Form, said: “We enjoy a fantastic relationship with Home Meadow, which has allowed us to bring different generations together to contribute to the experiences of those living in the care home

“Projects such as ‘All About Me’ allow the students to work with the residents by focusing on different mental and sensory skills

“Memories are often confusing and out of sequence when you have dementia, so with skilful questioning, the students can help residents articulate their stories and capture this for them to use as a lasting tool It’s really lovely to observe the interaction between a resident and a student, and to see the pleasure it brings them both as they discover a treasured memory ”

Students’ pictures scoop prizes

A number of our Sixth Form photography students entered two competitions recently

In the Swavesey Camera Club competition, Charlie Rayner won first prize in the under-18 section for his highly-polished portrait work, completed as a professional assignment, in which he had to take a series of profile shots for a well-known musician There was also a second for Meg Kilby

Each year the A level photography students also enter the under-18 competition that is part of the Cambridge Camera Club’s annual photography awards

We entered some very high-quality work and were delighted to achieve second and third place Will Bland received the award for second place with his beautifully-lit triple portrait of a guitarist and Meg Kilby gained third place for her moody and gritty portrait of a figure smoking

Both photographs were featured in the Cambridge News and Will and Meg received their prizes at a ceremony attended by the mayor The exhibitions for both competitions clearly showed the quality of the Comberton students’ work even against many of the adult entries!

We also received some other honours with Emily Kennard, Lucy Bromilow and Charlie Rayner getting a commendation and Emma Davidson and Matilda Carling awarded a highly commended Congratulations to everybody who took part Greg Dean, Head of Art

TOP SHOT: Charlie Rayner’s winning photograph and (above) Will Bland’s prize-winner

A fond farewell as another cohort moves on

Around 140 staff and students from the Sixth Form celebrated the end of Comberton life for Year 13 students with a party at the Cambridge City Hilton hotel

A drinks reception and formal meal were followed by light-hearted speeches and awards from the student presidents Later, staff and students enjoyed donning wigs, hats and glasses for fun pictures in the ‘photo booth’ Lorna Conroy, Head of Sixth Form, wished the students success in their future endeavours and thanked them for their contributions to Sixth Form life

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Students are working with care

Determining cause of death

The Royal Society of Chemistry visited Comberton Sixth Form students to show us ‘Spectroscopy in a Suitcase’ experiments using IR and UV spectroscopy.

The day was presented by Dr Trevor F Emmett BSc (Hons), PhD, FGS, CGeol, F Min Soc from Anglia Ruskin University

He started by introducing us to the problem called “Body in a Lab: Aspirin Overdose” The scenario presented a dead body found in a lab

Mr Blue was known to be taking aspirin and a sample of his blood plasma had been sent for analysis We used UV spectroscopy to determine the concentration of aspirin in the body and ascertain if the amount present was enough to be the cause of death

We then used the Beer-Lambert law to plot the absorbance versus concentration calibration graph for the standards and using this find the unknown concentration of the salicylate present in the plasma Knowing the lethal overdose of aspirin we could compare our results and determine if this was the cause of death

With the infra-red machine we were taught how to operate the software and the hardware to examine different samples We were given the opportunity to test the aspirin samples we made earlier this year in chemistry lessons

“It was an enlightening and educational experience that broadened my understanding of UV and IR spectroscopy,” said Giacomo Castle

The Year 13s looked at determining what blue food dye is actually composed of They used the UV spectroscopy on different elements such as copper and compared the results in the form of a graph with that of blue food dye One, Bill Davies, said: “It was fun and interesting to know what is in blue food dye ” Overall, it was a really enjoyable experience

Tough intro for students

Three Year 12 Chemistry students travelled to Norwich to represent Comberton at the Royal Society of Chemistry Analyst competition

Gala Dalgety, Rafi Borinuoluwa and Kate Jakubiak arrived at the University of East Anglia to find themselves with the challenge of working in the undergraduate Chemistry labs for the day, solving a variety of complex problems both practically and mathematically

The competition involved learning techniques new to the students as well as some they were familiar with A highlight for the competitors was exploring the campus at lunchtime, learning more about undergraduate life and meeting students from other sixth forms

This was the first time Comberton entered the competition and the students completed all challenges set with time to spare Unfortunately the competition was fierce so no win this time, but they can learn from this, ready for the Chemistry Olympiad rounds next year!

Year 13 chemists took part in the Royal Society of Chemistry Olympiad competition and four received Bronze certificates Well done to James Meechan,

PROBLEM-SOLVING: At the chemistry analyst competition

Sam

Coffey, Beth Jones and Kira Nelms

This competition involves answering some of the most challenging Chemistry questions set, with five questions completed in two hours

Bouncing away exam stress

A group of Year 12 and 13 students went on a trip to ‘Bounce’ in Milton Keynes to bounce off some of the stress caused by exams

The opportunities available were great, from individual trampolines to somersault on, to trampoline dodgeball for everyone to enjoy

One of my favourite attractions was the foam pit, which was the perfect place to lose my trampolining socks and to sink

EXPERT GUIDANCE: Scientists from The Royal Society of Chemistry work with Comberton Sixth Formers on spectroscopy

Getting into the brain

Year 12 and 13 psychology and biology students were treated to an exciting session on the brain by Dr Guy Sutton

Dr Sutton is an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Nottingham Medical School. He specialises in the genetics of neurodevelopment and neuropathology and the interactive nature of genetic, biological and behavioural factors in chronic disease processes

The session aimed to take students around and beyond Alevel material and into degree-level concepts and research It was fast-paced and introduced students to the very latest studies, providing an insight into what is current and exciting in brain research The session involved students studying how the brain works, drugs and the brain, damage to the brain, neurocriminology, schizophrenia and conducting a sheep brain dissection!

LOOKING INSIDE: Dissection was part of the Brain Day experience.

All change at the Sixth Form council

As the academic year draws to a conclusion and the Year 13 students have now completed their exams, we would like to thank for their hard work those on the Sixth Form council who are leaving us

However, we are proud to announce our new Sixth Form Council, who are already helping with transition days and taster days for prospective students as well as planning the induction days for the new Sixth Form intake in September. They are: Presidents Emily Dowd, Anushka SullivanHarris; VP Academic & Welfare Mary White; VP Social Raphael Borinuoluwa, Olivia Heaney; VP Communication Anna Bird; VP Environment Sophie Johnson; VP Trust Liaison Heinrich Verwoerd, Kate Hall; VP Charity Ben Whelan; VP BTEC Liaison Charlotte Everrett

Kevin Malzone (L6-LM)

AIRBORNE: Students enjoy ‘Bounce’

‘Make most of every day’

Major brain surgery left Comberton’s longest-serving pupil Olivia Cornick with a number of life-changing disabilities and an uncertain future.

But now, thanks to Riding for the Disabled Association, and her horse Jacko, Liv's life has been transformed and she has dreams of Paralympic stardom Together, the pair have been on quite a journey over the past couple of years, and have an unbreakable bond

“The first time I saw him he was being a cheeky monkey and I thought 'I like the look of him!'," said 20-year-old Liv, who has finally finished her studies at Comberton but is deferring going to university to see where the Paralympic dream takes her "He's got personality; he knows when he can take the mick, but he'll always do the best for you

"He'll always try as hard as he can to get me over that jump, and he looks after me: when I came off one time, he stood and waited for me to get up and back on to him he s so sweet with me "

As the many rosettes testify, as well as being a special partnership, it's a successful one too Liv and Jacko have won countless showjumping and dressage competitions over the past three years and have recently been invited to join the British Equestrian Federation Para-equestrian entry programme: "The first step towards me fulfilling my dream of riding dressage in the Paralympics," she said

It's an amazing feat, given that just three years ago, when she was in Year 12 with her peers, Liv was being wheeled down a hospital corridor to undergo 12 hours of intricate brain surgery However, the surgery didn't go to plan and, as a result, Liv was left battling the effects of a number of conditions

But, despite the lifechanging consequences, Liv described it as the "best worst thing that ever happened to me"

"Not only have I discovered riding as a result, but it has made me realise how precious life is, and how it can change in seconds,” she said “You don't know what is going to happen, so you've got to take each day as it comes and make the most of every single day "

Liv's problems began in 2009 when, out of the blue, she woke up with three paramedics around her "I was asleep on the sofa my sister was next to me and then she woke up to me kicking her She was like 'Stop it Liv', because she thought I was just trying to annoy her, but then she turned around and realised I was having a full-blown seizure," she said

She was rushed to hospital, but doctors didn't think there was anything to worry about and Liv was soon allowed home Everything seemed completely fine – until two years later when she had another seizure in her sleep, "and then I had another one in October 2011, and then started having them when I was cycling to school"

An MRI revealed a 5cm tangle of blood vessels on Liv's brain called an AVM, "a ticking time bomb that meant a brain haemorrhage was inevitable unless it was removed," she explained

Doctors decided on gamma knife radiation rather than open brain surgery, but when she got to London for that treatment, they didn’t think it would work and sent her to Bristol for surgery instead

That wasn't as successful as doctors had hoped, resulting in further complications: "They found out they hadn't got rid of it all and the last bit of the AVM was so deep in my brain they couldn't cut it out," she said

Further surgery wasn't an option, so, she had gamma knife anyway But, there was more bad news to come "I was really, really sensitive to the treatment, much more so than they were expecting, and it left me with a number of side effects "

After a month in hospital, Liv returned home with completely different capabilities, the simplest tasks proving frustratingly difficult As well as weakness on the left side of her body, which forced the keen sportswoman to give up so many of the hobbies she loved she was a junior county golfer the surgeries had left Liv with uncontrolled epilepsy, fatigue and learning difficulties, and it soon became clear life would never be the same again

"I'd hoped for the best and at the beginning they thought I might improve, but after hearing that for a year, you realise 'I'm not going to get any better',” she said "Suddenly, everything seemed really trivial and everything I had previously known was different I found it harder to relate to things: everyone is deciding what club to go to and I'm deciding whether to have brain surgery or gamma knife surgery It put everything into perspective and made me grow up a lot quicker

“But I never thought Why me?' I knew I had to focus on the things I could do, rather than what I couldn't do "

One of those 'things' turned out to be horse riding Desperate for a sport to focus on, in June 2013 Liv joined Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) a charity which supports children and adults with physical and learning disabilities through horse riding classes – and it wasn't long before she was completely hooked

"It was the one thing I looked forward to every single week, which came as a complete surprise to me as mum had always kept horses in the back garden, but I'd never been interested before," she said "The people at RDA were just so encouraging and supportive, and I loved the interaction with the horses, the partnership you form, and the fact you have to put your complete trust in something "

‘THE BEST WORST THING’:

Brain surgery left Liv Cornick with life-changing disabilities, but it also started her on the road to the Paralympics

It would be no exaggeration to say it changed her life "I would have been lost without it," she mused "If I didn't go riding, I would have been focusing on everything I couldn't do, but this was something I loved, something I could put my energy into, rather than thinking about the negatives all the time "

Liv rides with one hand and has specially-made boots to accommodate the splint which prevents her ankle from collapsing The balance and posture proved tricky to master at first, but once she'd built up the strength in the right-hand side of her body, it became clear she was a natural in the saddle

She qualified for the RDA National Championships less than a year later and it wasn't long before she was being scouted for bigger and better things

"After one competition, which actually went really badly, I got an email saying I should apply for the British Equestrian Federation Para-equestrian programme, so I did and I got in," said Liv "I always knew I wanted to go as far as I could in horseriding, but up until then I didn't know how far I could actually go Suddenly I realised 'I can do this!'

"Once I start something, I'm determined to finish it; which is why I'm so excited about where my journey could take me: it has been a gruelling time, but I'm ready for the future "

Liv needs specialist riding equipment to accommodate her disability You can sponsor her at crowdfunding justgiving com/olivia-cornick

From an article by Lydia Fallon, Cambridge News

Slippery slopes and bright lights

Eighteen students and three staff enjoyed a fantastic trip to the United States for five days of skiing or snowboarding in New Hampshire and two days in New York City Year 13 student, Katie Reynolds, said it was a truly memorable visit

“After what seemed like our own private airport check in, we arrived in the USA in no time We were welcomed to our cosy Snowy Owl Inn accommodation by very friendly staff and got introduced to Montgomery the Moose!

“The following morning we woke up to white sights, creating perfect conditions for our first day of two days skiing/boarding in Waterville Valley ski resort

“We then had three additional days at the amazing Loon ski resort with lots of exciting routes and very friendly instructors

“It was a shame, however, that Louis Neal had to have a quick trip to hospital as he continued to try and hug every tree on the resort, but was mothered very well by the two paramedics in the ambulance who loved his accent and big muscles!

“We also had lots of evening activities, including ice skating where Jake Thompson sang “You Sexy Thing” to Isobel Joyce on the announcer’s microphone

from the centre of the Plymouth University ice skating rink bowling, a film and quiz night and even a trip to an outlet mall where the No 1 mission was to keep under our baggage weight allowance of 23kg

TOP TRIP: Students at the summit of the New Hampshire mountains.

“Luckily, Isobella Murray had the pounds button on when weighing her case before departure so had lots of room but not-so-luckily Emily Wannop decided to reduce her luggage weight by leaving her phone at the mall

“Sadly, our five action-packed days out on the mountains came to an end and it was time to set off for part two of the trip New York, New York!

“En route, we stopped at Danbury Fair Mall, where we further enjoyed spending far too many dollars!

Students star on water

As part of the Year 13 BTEC Sport programme, students complete an Outdoor and Adventurous Activities unit which requires them to participate in two outdoor activities

In October, students attended a climbing session at Big Rock, Milton Keynes, where they developed their climbing skills following six weeks of training at CVC. Then earlier this term students met at Grafham Water to complete the BCU 1 star award in kayaks Many of the students had limited kayaking experience, with some being genuinely terrified by the water and the prospect of capsizing.

The BCU 1 star award involves six hours of paddling, where students are given time to develop their manoeuvring skills, including backwards paddling, which some mastered from the start! Students played a number of games on the water and all demonstrated confident paddling by the end of the day

It was a very wet and windy day down on the water, which meant that students did not have to complete a capsize until the end of the day although many of them ended up in the water before this time following a wobble in the boat!

All the students completed the dreaded capsize drill before running to the changing rooms to get warm and dry All students achieved their 1 star award following a challenging day and should be incredibly proud of this achievement. Jo Pattrick

“We then got dressed up ready for our meal at The Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square,where we experienced the stunning lights of NYC and the night skyline

“The next day we had an amazing time visiting Ground Zero and The Rockefeller Centre We then had time to take in the rest of the sights New York had to offer, including a game of American Football in Central Park

“Mrs Fisher managed to visit 12 miles worth of shops in preparation for her London Marathon!

“On behalf of every pupil on the trip, we'd like to say a huge thank you to the dream team of Mr Mannion, Mrs Fisher and Ms McClelland for all their hard work organising such a fantastic experience ”

PE teacher Jason Mannion added: “It was an outstanding trip due to the destination, the attitude of the students, the ski resorts and the American people making us so welcome

“We believe everyone on the trip will never forget the experience and consider it as an amazing experience ”

AMAZING EXPERIENCE: Students will never forget the Sixth Form snowsports trip to the USA

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: The city skyline and selfies on the subway

WATER BORNE: Year 13 students at Grafham Water

Prince drops in to mark 60 years of DofE

MEETING THE CHALLENGES: Comberton’s students get stuck in

Building up to Bronze

Year 10 students had their first taste of the expedition section of the DofE award with practice expeditions in the Chilterns

Such is the interest in the award that Comberton runs two practice weekends with students from Melbourn Village College joining one of them

The weekends, one either side of the Easter holidays, threw up very different weaqther conditions, but everyone got in some good experience ahead of the assessed expedition for everyone, which takes places in the first month of the Autumn term

Here are some student views:

“Bronze DofE is an amazing experience In March, half of the Bronze award went on our practice expedition Although cold, it was extremely enjoyable as we got to practice new skills such as map and compass reading, cooking on a trangia for the first time and learning how to make our way through the hills of the Chilterns

“As this was only our practice expedition, we had an orienteering lesson of the first day and then headed to our final destination of the second day After six hours of walking, my group managed to reach the end of our trek and were greeted with ice cream

“I am looking forward to our real expedition later this year Hopefully we won’t get too lost, although it seems inevitable, and have a successful two-day trip I recommend doing Bronze DofE to any of the younger years as the skills that you learn from it will never be forgotten along with the memories you make ”

Gabby Borinuoluwa and Sarah Kilby said: “The experience has grown us all in many different ways Through this we have all learnt a wealth of important life skills, such as organisation, cooking and perseverance

“When we arrived we set up our tents Fortunately for us it wasn’t raining Cooking our food went reasonably well with many successes like pasta and ramen, though this was not without a few mistakes; the trangia was set on fire and melted and a few groups welded their dinner to the pots

“On the first day of walking we were trained in how to orienteer, which was led by teachers, sixth formers and volunteers

“It was a day filled with singing, food, friends, snow and football Llamas and horses, as well as other wild animals, were seen during the practice expedition At the end of the day we planned our routes for the next day and were visited by Mrs Pattrick’s dog!

“The final day of walking brought physical and mental agony A gruelling physical cliff was between us and the finish line, but once got there, whether it was by minibus or on foot, everyone enjoyed the spoils of burgers, hot dogs and fudge ”

In early May we went to Bottisham Village College to take part in the Diamond Challenge to celebrate 60 years of the DofE Award scheme

It was a really good day as we met many other DofE participants from across the county and took part in many fun challenges that represented what DofE is about teamwork

It was a special day for Cambridgeshire because Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, came and joined in with our challenges and Philip Schofield and ITV came to film it as part of a series of shows Philip and the Prince I had a really enjoyable day and felt honoured to have been part of a special experience!

Laura Mott (U6-RWe)

It has been a busy month for the 16 Year 11 students enrolled on the Silver DofE award

No sooner had they finished their exams and enjoyed their prom, they were off on their practice expedition to the beautiful Dark Peak Area of the Peak District, around The Hope Valley and Edale

Camping was nothing new to the group who had all previously enrolled on the Bronze award (though some have still to complete it).

On Saturday night the group camped in Bamford, near Hope, having spent the day in and around the village hall there, focusing on navigation and route planning in more difficult terrain.

Learning by helping others

As part of the Gold DofE Programme, the Year 12 students are taken along to the Bronze DofE expeditions to support the Year 10 students embarking on their DofE pathway

Over the weekend, students worked alongside groups of Year 10 students to help them to develop their camping, navigation and teamwork skills in preparation for their assessed expedition in the Autumn

In addition, students worked alongside the staff and

DofE volunteers to complete route planning and duties around the campsite, such as cooking and cleaning

On the second day of the weekend, the Gold students were sent on an 18km walk to test their own navigation and physical skills, as well as provide them with an opportunity to get to know each other better

Next term the students will support the Bronze assessed expedition, before they embark on their own expedition training in March 2017

Participants took part in a night navigation exercise, further improving their compass and map skills.

On Sunday, the group took on a demanding expedition, camping at Edale and returning the next day by a different route to Bamford.

Participants walked in groups of between four and seven, and spent some of their time with a member of staff, completing their training, and some of their time working independently, operating under remote supervision

Then this weekend it is the assessed expedition, which also takes place in the Peak District, but this time in the White Peak

It will involve routes planned to take seven hours each day in terrain similar to that experienced for the practice expedition, but groups will walk independently, having to make decisions and navigate unaided, under the vigilant, though often unnoticed, eye of their assessor

This is a fantastic opportunity for participants to really develop their leadership and team-working skills a real challenge that they always find very rewarding

Digging deep for Gold

Year 13 Gold DofE students have been completing their training expeditions over the past couple of months in preparation for their assessed expedition in Snowdonia later this month

They began with a training weekend at Grafham Water, where students were set a variety of tasks to test their physical abilities, navigation (day and night) and camping skills Then it was off to the Lake District for an even tougher challenge Laura Mott reflects on Grafham: “Having arrived at 10 o’clock we got our maps ready and we learnt our first lesson remember a map case and compass! Then we set off It was boys versus girls to see who could walk the 15km around Grafham water the quickest There were three girls Laura, Lucy and Charlotte and four boys Liam, Charlie, Owen and Tom The girls absolutely smashed the boys by 45 minutes (the boys said they’d stopped to have lunch, but we think that’s just an excuse!)

While we had lunch, we were taught how to use our new Jetboils stoves, with some of them never having been used before! Our second biggest lesson of the weekend was that the macaroni and cheese Mugshot isn’t very nice, but sweet and sour noodles are!)

After this we were taught important navigational skills; for example how to pace out 100m, the importance of taking bearings and taking timings of how long it will take us to walk We also had a quick re-cap in grid references and finding substantial landmarks on the maps, which was all really useful because when we are up in the mountains and the footpath is disappearing and the clag descends in we will need to walk on bearings and work out how far we are walking, in order to stay on the correct route (third lesson clag means fog)

As a group we were good at the navigational skills, but at first we always forgot to time how long each leg would take us We quickly began to pick this up and all went well As we got close to the campsite, we were losing daylight fast, so our navigational skills became very important After getting slightly lost we got back on track and made it to the campsite! We put up our tents and had dinner and thought about how successful our day had been and how pleased we were that it had come to an end!

Or so we thought No! We were off to do night navigation This was probably one of the toughest challenges we faced, because it was pitch black and the clag was very low It tested us on our navigational skills that we had learnt previously and we only had one major error, however this slowed us down, meaning that we only walked 1km in 1 hour! When we eventually got back to the campsite at 1am, we all quickly got into bed and off to sleep

Staff worked with the students for the first two days and put them through their paces, using the navigational skills that they had developed on their training weekend, alongside adapting to the more challenging terrain Students worked extremely hard and coped well when weather conditions led to an evacuation of the first night’s camping spot to a lower/more suitable area

It became apparent that many students hadn’t spent a great deal of time in this terrain and they were surprised at the weather conditions and how frequently they change, as well as how cold it can get Following their first day of walking for seven hours in rain and wind it was a good lesson in kit management and keeping warm

With three more days to go students had to dig deep to find the motivation to continue, as well as start to work closely as a group to support each other

By the final day, students had developed a good understanding of the mountain environment and were working together effectively as a team to support everyone in the group Four days is a long time to be together and as the students become more tired and hungry, it is important that the team sticks together and finds a way to overcome these challenges

One participant, Lucy Booth, wrote:

“The practice expedition was the best and worst experience of my life so far mainly the best and for a less experienced walker I was lucky to have such a great group of people to spend the time with The worst moments (trying to put up a tent on a mountain that was repeatedly

Sunday was the day we bonded as a group because there were no teachers with us and we started to work out who was good at what in the group and people started to work out their roles within the team This meant that we worked well and successfully made it back to Grafham Water in time for pick up ”

So then it was off to the Lake District during the Easter Holidays to complete the practice expedition This was the toughest challenge yet involving students carrying their rucksacks for four days while walking across mountainous terrain The weather provided a variety of experiences for the students including high winds, snow, hail, fog, rain and a small patch of sunshine on the final day

VIEW FROM THE TOP:

Students reach the peak to look out over the Lake District

flattened by the wind, waking up to snow covering our tents, and going without a good night’s sleep) were definitely equalled by the best moments: seeing natural gems of the Lake District, learning new skills that I will take with me when I leave school, and having a lot of fun with other people in a way that you can't experience in other environments Can't wait for Snowdonia in July!”

Liam Hunt has shared this account:

“Overall our Gold DofE practice expedition went really well, despite getting a little lost in some snowy conditions! We managed to stick to our plan and successfully navigated up and down some of the peaks in the Lake District For this expedition we were wild camping each night, so finding somewhere near water, that wasn't too boggy and relatively sheltered, was a challenge but we did manage to find somewhere that we could sleep every night For our last night, we found a spot near a waterfall and when we woke up there was a thick covering of snow, which made it fun packing down tents!”

IN TRAINING: The Gold DofE group in the Cambridgeshire ‘clag’ at Grafham Water and in the snowy Lake District.

Round-up of the latest news from the South Cambs SSP

Getting the balance right

More than 200 four and five-year-olds in South Cambs have recently completed their Level 1 balanceability training award as part of a new programme being run by the Partnership.

Last term Jackie Field, one of the Primary PE Specialists and a Balanceability Instructor, delivered training at Haslingfield, Meridian and Swavesey primary schools with children in reception and Year 1 taking part in 6 x 30 minute lessons where they developed their balance and spatial awareness while learning to ride a bike without stabilisers

The training was so successful that schools have now purchased their own balance bikes to use in lessons and active play

This term training has been taking place at Dry Drayton, Gamlingay First School and Fen Drayton, with a further 84 children mastering their static and dynamic balance on bikes without pedals; enabling them to later transition to a pedal bike in a safe and enjoyable manner

Beth Slater, Assistant Head and Recepton/Year 1 teacher at Gamlingay, said: “Balanceability has been a great success! The children have thoroughly enjoyed each session and in just a few weeks their confidence has grown and developed Lots of them are now attempting to ride their bikes at home without stabilisers

All primary schools will have the opportunity to access

Balanceability training from September

QUALIFIERS: From Coton Primary School

Two schools which feed into academies of The Cam Academy Trust represented South Cambs at the county finals earlier this month

Although results weren’t known at the time of going to Press, both Coton, a Comberton partner primary, and Fowlmere, part of the Melbourn family, were among the four teams flying the flag for South Cambs at the High 5 netball event

They qualified, with champions Histon & Impington Juniors and Fenstanton, after reaching the top division of the main A team shield finals which saw 16 teams compete for honours, having come through two divisional rounds at their local secondary school

Each team played three round robin matches to sort out their divisions and then played others in the same section for final places Histon topped Division 1 after beating Coton 2-0, followed by Fentstanton and Fowlmere

The Plate finals night, for teams in the lower half of their initial local league, saw Meridian, from Comberton, take on Fen Drayton, who went on to take the honours Histon also won the B team competition with Linton as runners-up

WHEELY GOOD: Gamlingay youngsters on their balance bikes

Rain doesn’t stop play!

The top four primary schools from South Cambs came together for the SSP Year 3/4 Tennis Finals night.

With the rain pouring down as schools arrived, the competition was swiftly moved indoors and played with sponge balls

The teams of two boys and two girls from Meldreth, Haslingfield, Linton Heights and Harston & Newton made it to the finals as the top teams from the qualification rounds played in May. All the teams had done extremely well to make it to the finals in a competition involving more than 30 teams

The finals were played in a round robin format with each team playing the other three in timed singles matches As expected the matches were extremely competitive with a great standard of tennis on display and some really close scores

FINALISTS: Winners Haslingfield (above) with Harston & Newton (top right) and Meldreth

The final round of matches were tense with three teams still in with a chance of claiming the title of SSP Champions.

The Haslingfield team kept up their strong play to earn a 3-1 victory over Linton Heights which gave them nine wins from 12 and earned them the title of SSP Champions for a second year running

Meldreth Primary School managed to hold Harston & Newton to a 2-2 draw in their final match, which meant Harston & Newton had to settle for the runners up position with seven wins from 12 Linton finished in third and Meldreth fourth

The teams from Haslingfield and Harston & Newton represented South Cambs SSP at the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough County School Games Summer Festival

Busy time for Leadership Academy members

Young leaders from the SCSSP Leadership Academy have been busy this term with Year 3 and 4 tennis competitions at Melbourn Village College and Comberton Village College and the Year 5 and 6 Quadkids athletics event at the University Athletic Track in Cambridge

On May 24 Melbourn leaders worked hard at their

tennis competition, umpiring and keeping score on eight courts, then the following day Comberton leaders had 12 courts to cover

A selection of leaders from both schools then attended the Quadkids athletics event which saw 220 children taking part The leaders were tasked with looking after groups of children, overseeing events

and supporting the Year 9 leaders

There was lots of praise for their leadership skills from both teachers and parents that attended both events Next academic year we look forward to welcoming Cambourne Village College to the Leadership Academy with their first cohort of Year 10 students

Round-up of the latest news from the South Cambs SSP

Schools race into finals

Coton and Meldreth Primary Schools represented South Cambridgeshire at the County School Games after winning their section of the district’s Quadkids competition at the Cambridge University athletics ground.

They topped the small schools’ section for those with fewer than 120 students in KS2 after amassing an impressive 1580 points a total which would have been good enough for third in the big schools’ event

Quadkids is a team competition with five boys and five girls each competing in a 75m sprint, a 600m run, a long jump and vortex howler throw Individual performances are scored using a points table and the winners are the team with the highest cumulative score

Coton finished more than 150 points clear of runners-up Meldreth, who pipped Harston & Newton by just four points

Coton’s Sasha Osborne, who starts at Comberton Village College in September, was the third highest-scoring girl

The Big Schools competition was won by Histon & Impington They went to the County finals with Swavesey, who edged out last year’s runners-up Steeple Morden

New for this year’s competition was a special ‘Spirit of the Games’ award which has been introduced to support the work being done in schools to encourage

children to think about the lessons that can be learned through sport and the importance of values such as respect, determination, teamwork, honesty, passion and self-belief; not only in sport but everyday life The ‘Spirit of the Games’ award therefore recognises those individuals who have shown good sportsmanship and best demonstrated these sporting values and was judged by the sports leaders

Among those to receive this award were Coton trio Cosmo Cormori Woodcock, Emerson Gilbertson and Sophia Hall, Meridian’s Mark Lightfoot, Meldreth’s Lola Brown and the Jeavons Wood pair of Jack Stevens and Alex Selmes

The event was supported by leaders from the South Cambs Partnership’s Leadership Academy, including students from Melbourn and Comberton, who played a key role in getting all 220 competitors to their events and timing and scoring them

Claire McDonnell, Partnership Manager, said: “It was a great event and fantastic for the children to get to compete at the athletics track and use such lovely facilities, I hope it will have inspired some of them to get more involved in athletics

“There were some excellent performances on the day so congratulations to all of our winners and well done to everyone who took part

“As always we have to thank the amazing sports leaders, who organised and scored the events for us, they did a great job Staff and parents were full of praise for them ”

Lovely weather for ducks

The South Cambs School Sports Partnership’s Year 4 Mini Olympics was cancelled for the first time after torrential rain submerged the Cambridge University Athletics Ground Ducks enjoyed a splashing time as the grass became a pond and there was standing water on the surfaced areas too

Around 1400 children from 43 primary schools from across the district were due to take part in a

day of athletics based on the Olympic and Paralympic sports Partnership Manager Claire McDonnell said: “It’s the first time in 12 years we have had to cancel it

“It’s such a shame, but we really had no alternative as we normally have 350 youngsters taking part in activities on the field and it was completely sodden, with ducks making themselves at home in the water!”

The event was supported by Total Promotions Ltd, who provided all of the children with brightly coloured t-shirts in the colours of the Olympic rings

When the day itself, typically, dawned bright and sunny, some schools decided to stage their own mini Olympics, giving the seven and 8-year-olds the chance to proudly wear their new shirts.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE: The University Athletics Ground at Wilberforce Road on the eve of the Mini Olympics

SMALL SUCCESS: Coton (left) won the ‘Small Schools’ competition, ahead of Meldreth, who snatched runners-up spot

Boys’ festival call

Comberton’s Year 7 boys were due to compete in the finals of their inter-schools tournament earlier this month weather permitting after winning their qualifying games.

The A team, with some experienced cricketers in their ranks, saw off Perse and Sawston to book their place at the Clare College Sports Ground finale on July 7

Their results were not known at the time of printing

In the qualifying competition at Coton, the B team, led by Josh Sweet, soon got used to the format and tactics of the game and some notable performances included Josh’s batting and Vinnie Todd’s bowling An enjoyable afternoon was had by all

The Year 7 girls competed in a cricket festival at Coton

on a sunny Wednesday afternoon

With a few experienced cricketers in the ranks and some that were new to the game, the girls convincingly won their first game with some excellent performances with the bat and some great wicketkeeping by Sasha Tristram

A rest period in between games saw the girls in the cricket nets practising purposefully for their next game against NCA

Despite another good performance from the girls, the umpire deemed CVC on the losing side surprisingly A special mention for both Eloise and Sammy Borcoski for their batting and bowling, which was too good for many in both games

Unfortunately both the Year 8 boys and girls tournaments fell victim to the weather

VARIETY: Year 3 & 4 played a range of sports

Developing key skills

More than 150 Primary pupils assembled at Comberton for the annual Multi-skills event, for Reception and Year 1 pupils

The event began with the event organiser, Comberton BTEC Level 3 sport student Niall Jackson, briefing the schools about how it would run

The pupils were scheduled to visit 30 stations during the event, working on various skills, such as their hand-to-eye co-ordination and kicking skills, through such events as bean bag throwing and beat the goalie

The event lasted for just over two hours, and was very well received

One teacher from Haslingfield Primary described her delight that these events continue to take place

“It is credit to Comberton that such events as these continue and in particular this event as it is important for our children to develop the key skills that they are developing.” she said. “Also thanks must go to Niall Jackson for putting the hard work individually to make sure the event could take place ”

When asked, some of the pupils taking part said the event was “good”, and one of the PE teachers at Comberton said it was “a pleasure” to oversee one of her BTEC pupils running the event.

Niall Jackson (L6-IW)

FESTIVAL LINE-UP: The Year 7 girls team

Invaders have fun day

It was a great afternoon at CVC as more than 150 excited children gathered at the astro, netball courts, and field for an invasion games tournament

The event was designed to provide a new and exciting experience for the Years 3 and 4, as well as to introduce a more competitive side to games

The sports included were quicksticks hockey, netball, tag rugby, mini soccer, and ultimate Frisbee

The rules were simplified so the youngsters had a great time and knew what they were doing Each of the 20 teams each played one, five-minute game of each sport The winners were Meridian team 1, who displayed great teamwork, skill, and enthusiasm They were followed by Haslingfield 4 and Haslingfield 5

The event encountered some slight problems, late arrival of one school, teams going to the wrong courts which resulted in not every team playing every sport

However, the event was still fun and the children didn’t mind playing the same sport twice

The strengths were that it was enjoyed by everyone, the sports leaders were enthusiastic and willing to help, and they adapted the sports to make them as much fun as possible

Overall, it was a thoroughly fun experience for all involved, the event was fun, and the children enjoyed it a lot

and

AWARDS CEREMONY: After the Year 3 and 4 multisports festival.

Tennis festival is a big hit despite the weather

The Year 2 tennis festival at Comberton was smashing even after a venue change due to the weather

Conditions meant unfortunately it had to be moved inside However, this didn’t affect the enthusiasm of both the leaders and participants tand the event was greatly enjoyed by all BTEC students managed to run all 20 stations indoors with the help of Year 9 and 10 sports leaders, who were essential in the smooth running of this event

The leaders helped with setting up all of the stations and then were in charge of one of these each

The feedback that we received from the schools was very positive and everyone

there enjoyed it and would want to attend again

They all complimented the sports leaders and how helpful they were, especially those who were tasked with helping one primary school throughout the event

OVERVIEW: Of the Year 2 tennis festival

The main weaknesses we found from the feedback is that noise in the halls is amplified so at times participants found it difficult to understand the instructions given by the sports leaders This would be negated by running the event outside as planned but if it had to be inside, we would emphasise, when briefing the sports leaders, the need for them to be loud and clear Thank you to those who took part Dom Dunklin (L6-SB) and Adam MacKenzie (L6-GM)

John Harnwell (L6-CW)

Sid Brunsting (L6-CW)

Joe Uttridge, cricket coach

Skier wins free training

Jamie Johnson has been selected for free training as a ski instructor after coming through a rigorous selection process

He was just one of 10 selected from 27 finalists, which included fellow Year 11 student Lily-Mae Segrave, from an original field of around 1500

Jamie’s amazing opportunity came after he and Lily-Mae attended the prestigious Interski Scholarship Selection Day in Manchester

Interski are the external tour provider that the college has used for several years to organise and host Comberton’s snowsport trips

They take around 10,000 pupils from schools in the UK each year to northern Italy, for ski and snowboard trips

To celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary, they introduced a scholarship scheme by which 10 pupils selected from the huge number attending their trips each year are offered training to BASI instructor level qualification both here in the UK, and during the school winter holidays in Aosta Since its introduction in 2002 they have trained 140 students to instructor standard

Jamie will be given three all-expenses paid weeks of training to reach instructor standard he only needs to provide pocket money, clothes and an EHIC card

Training will start in December with the BASI Level 1 qualification which, upon successful completion, will allow Jamie to teach skiing on a dry or indoor slope

Weeks two and three, in the Easter holidays of 2017 are the Level 2 assessment, completion of which will allow him to teach on an open mountain once he is 18

Nick Evans, of the Comberton snowsports organising team, said: “This is great news for Jamie We are very proud of him and Lily, who received a very positive feedback e-mail “We were absolutely delighted that they were chosen from those filmed as part of the group for the selection day ”

SCHOLARSHIP : For Jamie Johnson

Youngsters get on board

On May 4th, a group of Year 7s went to Milton Keynes Xscape to try snowboarding

This was one of three trips, which allowed 42 students to try a new sport. When we finally arrived, we were all so excited We all went inside and checked in Before the lesson, we had about an hour to look around and eat some food

The people who had to hire gear went and did that while everyone else went to get changed. It didn’t take very long. Next, we all went to get our boots, snowboards and helmets That took quite a while because we had to make sure they fitted well At this point we were all really excited

Once we were kitted out it was time to go on the snow We had really nice instructors called Tim and Ollie. We got up to the top of the slope by an escalator that ran up the side of it We were taught how to put on our snowboards and how to avoid crashing into people even though we still did

The first thing we learned was how to go down the slope backwards while stopping and starting. We had a few turns of doing that. After that, we learned how to go diagonally down the slope This was much harder and lots of people crashed

To end it of we all went down the slope sitting on our snowboards It was great fun and we went really fast

Overall, it was a really fun trip and I would definitely do it again! Thank you to all the teachers who took and looked after us

Sources of inspiration for students

From Back Page

Seated volleyball was a lot harder than pupils first expected The principle seemed straightforward, it was a softer ball and a lower net However, it was, in fact, incredibly difficult The pupils were restricted in their movement, and they were unable to intercept the flight of the ball and had to re-develop their tactics and strategies

Curling and Boccia were a real test of skill and accuracy The immediate response of pupils is to use aggression and power, but it was soon evident that these were ineffective tactics and pupils had to develop an awareness of the equipment they were using and think tactically as a team to be successful

The Powerhouse Games was a fantastic learning opportunity for the students and the aim of ‘developing awareness of the ability of both disabled and able bodied athletes’ was clear throughout We would like to thank John Willis and his team for putting on an excellent event and wish him all the best on his ‘Road2Rio’ If you would like more information on his journey please visit his website: http://power2inspire org uk/road2rio/ Michael Wilce

TEST OF SKILL AND ACCURACY: Students try curling

Olympic Skier Ellie Koyander visited Comberton for the second time in May

She shared her experiences with a group of students and give them some insight into how she followed her dreams and aspirations She delivered inspirational talks and practical workshops on building confidence, following your dreams and breaking barriers During the session students worked together to overcome physical challenges and build their communication skills, while having fun

BUILDING SKILLS: Girls work with Ellie Koyander

Ellie competed in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in 2010, aged just 18 and was the youngest member of the GB team.

She proved that if you set your mind towards something and work hard, you can achieve anything

After overcoming injury and many ups and downs in her skiing career

Ellie is now training for the next Winter Olympics in Korea in 2018, where she hopes to fulfil another dream by winning her first Olympic medal.

Jane Clarke, Head of PE

Lydia Barker (7B)

KITTED OUT: Year 7 students ready to snowboard

Hurdler ’s title farewell

Liam Hunt bowed out of life at Comberton after an eight-year stint as an athletics champion.

The 18-year-old won the senior boys sprint hurdles at the Anglian Championships in a time of 15 37 seconds That followed his victory in the same 110m hurdles race at the Cambridgeshire championships, where he also took the 400m hurdles title

There was also a regional medal for Olly Gibbons, of Year 10 He followed his win in the county triple jump by taking second in the Anglian junior boys section with a leap of 10 75 metres That was 19 centimetres adrift of the winner and just three centimetres clear of third

Comberton’s other competitor at the regional event was Sam Clark, of Year 11, who was fourth in the intermediate boys sprint hurdles in 16 44 seconds a

OLYMPIC COMPETITORS: Comberton’s team at the inter-schools Olympic Cup.

Charity run raises cash

Pupils enjoyed Comberton’s second annual Race for Life event held at school

Around 40 students attended the event and ran a 3km course around the field

Great fun was had by all and so far we have raised £163 43 for Cancer Research with donations still coming in

If you would like to send in a donation to congratulate the students on their hard work please use our just giving page at www justgiving com/fundraising/comberton-villagecollege20-06-2016

Julia Scarboro

RUNNERS: Staff and students who participated in the Race for Life at Comberton

Teams shine Coach impresses

Rounders club has been very well attended this summer by all years

There have been some exceptional fielders and some brilliant batting skills displayed

The Year 10 team came second in their group, securing a place in the final rounds and then finished fith overall out of 16 teams Casey Miller was player of the match

The Year 8 team qualified for the finals, but the result was not known at the time of going to Press, while the Year 7 tournament had yet to take place

The Year 9 also did very well and players showed great tactical awareness

The National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships is a truly awesome event where some of the best rowers in the country compete

The atmosphere was fantastic and all our rowers pushed themselves to the limit

Particularly impressive performances came from sixth former Steven Levett, who finished fourth overall

The Year 8 boys also did brilliantly, dominating the top three places in their heat Both our junior boys and girls teams worked together showing great determination I would particularly like to thank Steven Levett who not only rowed brilliantly, but also coaches and encourages all our younger rowers Jane Clarke, Head of PE

race won by Cambridgeshire team-mate Josh Akinwumi, who was more than a second clear of the field

Sam also won the county title in the sprint hurdles as well as the 400m hurdles

Back at Comberton, Wednesday afternoon fixtures have been much disrupted by the weather, but that has not stopped pupils flocking to athletics club on Monday and Thursday afternoons

Students tackle own Olympics

With a squad of more than 50 students Comberton travelled to Wilberforce Road for the Olympic Cup organised by Swavesey

Teachers involved were Miss McKenzie, Mrs Fisher and Mr Kelsall, who all took a turn helping at the finish line with timing and positioning for the track events.

There were 10 schools competing on the day with points awarded for position in individual events

Overall results placed Comberton fourth but there were some notable year team positions with the Year 8 and Year 10 boys’ teams taking runners-up spot in their age group and the Year 10 girls finishing third.

For the Year 10 girls Abbie Hawkins won both long jump and 100m and Gabby Borinuoluwa won shot putt with 8.51m. For the boys, Micah Gillings was first in the 200m, Jack Alexander won his 400m as well as Tom Hamilton taking second place in triple jump with a distance of 10 14m

In Year 9 Mollie Coupar was just 0.1 seconds behind first place in the 100m race for the girls and Sports Personality Kayde Sylvester won his 200m, 0.4 second ahead of his nearest rival.

For Year 8 Emma Hayward won the Long Jump with a leap of 4 6m, Hannah Williams was second in the 800m competing a year up from her age category and Lauren Higgins was second in the shot putt

For the Year 8 boys there were three wins with Alex Anderson taking the javelin, Tom Whinney the 800m and Louis Ripper winning the 300m

Other notable results were Toby Pym, who was second in triple jump and Lewis Hall, second in the 100m

For Year 7 it was very much about gaining experience and learning how an event like this runs in preparation for next year but there were two stand-out performances from Genny Stephenson, who won her 200m, and Joe Wheeler, who was second in the boys’ 1500m.

The Year 7 girls also came joint first in their relay, sharing the crown with St Mary’s

It was a fantastic day and the team was superbly managed by Year 10 Sannah Clay. We were relieved that the rain stayed away, having had three athletics competitions cancelled/postponed in previous weeks due to adverse weather conditions A great way to end the season, well done to all Kirsty McKenzie

OAR-SOME: Comberton’s rowers

ON STAGE: Dancers put on a show at the end of each term

Dancers showcase work

Enthusiastic dancers of all ages have been participating in the wide range of after-school classes on offer at Comberton.

And they have had opportunities to perform their work, with an Easter Showcase taking place at the end of last term and then, after several weeks of learning new dances, the Summer Showcase took place on June 30th

Head of Dance Rebecca Tyrrell said: “We have had two fantastic performances which have showcased the talent we have here at Comberton

“The after school programme is a brilliant opportunity for dancers of all ages and abilities to get involved in dance There are so many different classes and different styles to choose from that there really is something for everyone

“We encourage all students to try out the after school dance programme next term Do not worry if you have never done a dance class before I can help to point you in the right direction ”

Those students who have performed this year were delighted to have participated

Gaby McKeown (9E) said: “The Easter showcase was brilliant Everyone worked very hard to learn the dances so they all looked fabulous in the show In the classes it usually takes us eight lessons to learn the dance then normally in the last one or two lessons we repeat them to perfection

“This was the first time I participated in senior classes They were a lot harder to keep up with, but I managed I took part in; Nikki's jazz and street also senior response, Rosie's contemporary and MJ's street All the teachers are so helpful and encouraging I like doing a range of styles of dance because it stops me getting bored and also so I can try new things “Backstage during the shows are normally quite stressful because everyone is nervous but it is also a lot of fun The first dance I performed in the Easter show, I was very nervous at the beginning but by the end I just wanted to perform again because it was so much fun!”

Rosie Reade (9E) commented: “As a dancer, I think having the shows every term at CVC has definitely improved my confidence a great deal when performing,

which will I am sure will come in very useful in the future, whether it involves dance or not

“What's great about dancing at Comberton is that you get the opportunity to learn brilliant new choreography from a range of teachers and styles, and you can do it alongside friends as it’s relaxed and laid back Not only

important skills, such as working with different people and teachers, being creative with new choreography and mentoring and helping the Year 7s

“Once I had achieved and learnt all of this, it was time to showcase all our hard work and effort Apart from the actual performance, my favourite part of any

DIVERSITY: A wide range of genres and costumes at Comberton’s dance shows

this, but I have made so many new friends as a result of doing dances here ”

Millie Dean (9R) added: “I have learnt new and

production is being backstage You get to see the costumes, the other choreography and have fun with your friends ”

Students revel in chance to make a Big Splash

A glimpse of the sun in a week of horrendous weather allowed Comberton’s Big Splash swimming galas to go ahead And it was successful day with all three galas going smoothly thanks to the Year 12 BTEC girls, several returning Year 13s and beyond and the new Leadership Academy members from Year 9 The winners in each year group were clear cut, with E taking the honours for both Year 7 and 9 and V triumphing in Year 8

7E scored 125 points to finish 18 points ahead of N with B taking third on 100 points 8V totalled 91 points for their victory, ahead of R on 79 and M on 65 And in Year 9, E amassed 86 points ahead of O with 73 and T on 69

WINNERS: The 8V team

WINNERS: The 8V team

Scully earns a pro deal

Former Comberton student Anthony Scully has signed professional terms with West Ham

Scully, who left last summer, has signed a long-term deal with the Premier League club, having come through the youth ranks at the London club

Still only just 17, the Republic of Ireland under-17 captain and member of the under-19 squad from Cambourne was understandably thrilled to sign a deal with the Hammers

“It’s a great feeling It’s a feeling every young boy dreams of, to be a professional footballer,” he said “Now that I’ve earned my first one, the hard work continues to try and earn more with West Ham

“It’s a very proud moment for myself and my family I’ve put a lot of hard work into getting to where I am today and my family have supported me from the beginning

“This last season was a mixture of highs and lows It didn’t start off the best as I unfortunately picked up an injury in pre-season that kept me out until January

“I managed to get back playing in the Under-18s, scoring some goals and also made a few appearances for the Under-21s ”

The power to inspire — part one

During National School Sports Week last month, the Comberton PE Department were championing the ‘PowerHouse Games’ and the ‘Inclusive Kilometre’

The aim of the Inclusive Kilometre is to get more than 9330 participants –one for each kilometre on the Road2Rio This challenges all participants to complete 1,000m in an inclusive way The aim of the event is to develop empathy and understanding amongst participants of what it means to compete with a disability

Power2Inspire aims to promote the ‘Inclusive Kilometre’, and mixed ability sports, as part of a national campaign to bring mixed ability events and inclusion to every school sports day

CHALLENGING: Seated volleyball proves harder than it looks

The pupils at CVC really embraced the challenge, with some excellent ways of completing the distance There was a whole host of different methods many pupils opted to use a football to dribble, juggle or balance There was also a number of pupils who ran it three-legged with a special mention to the Year 9 girls who ran it seven-legged!!

Some of the more creative methods involved walking on stilts, completing a Rubik’s cube, playing the flute

The power to inspire — part 2

AIMING HIGH:

Olympic skiier

Ellie Koyander visited Comberton to tell her remarkable story to a group of students

More details on the sessions she ran for the girls on Page 21

TEAMWORK: Working together during the Inclusive Kilometre

and blindfolded wheelbarrow racing

Years 7, 9 and 10 all completed the ‘Inclusive Kilometre’ and raised more than £500, which will go towards supporting the provision of disability sport and inclusive games

The PowerHouse Games is a variety of events using inclusive sports to challenge assumptions, encourage exploration of beliefs, improve communications and increase understanding of what both able-bodied and

people with a disability are truly capable of

On the morning of the Games, John Willis delivered an assembly to the Year 8

Students outlining the structure of the day and the background surrounding the whole purpose of the ‘Power2Inspire’ movement

This meant the pupils turned up to the lesson fully engaged, well informed and eager to take part in all of the events

The events ran on a carousel with pupils experiencing goalball, VI football, seated volleyball, Boccia and Curling

Goalball saw players diving around on the floor, relying solely on their sense of sound to guide them, it was a fun and exhilarating game with the score ever changing until the final whistle

IV football again had the pupils blindfolded but this time in a penalty shoot-out This meant both the goalkeeper and penalty takers were blindfolded and they had to use a variety of communication techniques in order to successfully participate

Continued on Page ??

GB debut for vaulting champion

Vaulting champion Lexi Day has made her first international appearance

The Year 10 pupil, who has moved into the Junior Class after winning the English Vaulting Championships Individual Child title last autumn, competed for Great Britain in Belgium.

The competition, in a sport best described as gymnastics on horseback, pitted her against youngsters from, among others, Germany, USA and Japan.

It was reward for a hard winter of training in the cold at Cambridge Vaulting Club and she was due to compete for her country again at the beginning of this month, this time in the UK.

After that she will be training all summer in preparation for the English and British Championships in September and October and consolidating her routine for the next round of Internationals, starting at Easter 2017 in Holland

THRILLED: Anthony Scully has signed a professional contract with West Ham

NATIONAL HONOURS: For Lexi Day