News@Com Spring 2016

ISSUE 41, SPRING 2016

The Magazine of Comberton Village College

Education Secretary visits Comberton — Page 3 OFFICIALLY OPEN: Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan (left) and South Cambs MP Heidi Allen at the official opening of The Cabin.

Comberton congratulated It seems that letters from Government Ministers are rather like buses; you don’t see any for a long time and then two come along at once!

On Thursday February 4, the school hosted a visit for the Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, who both performed the official opening ceremony for the Cabin, and then joined the Middle Leaders group for a question and answer session to discuss current educational policies and provision.

This was a good opportunity for us to discuss with Nicky Morgan the areas within education that we would want to see developed over coming years, and she listened with interest and offered to follow up several of

these areas with further responses. Following her visit we received a letter of thanks for hosting her visit and she further offered to follow up on items discussed.

It was therefore a curious piece of timing when on February 18 we received another letter, this time from Nick Gibb, the Minister of State for Schools.

This letter was particularly pleasing to receive, as he was offering congratulations on our pupils’ excellent performance in their examinations last summer.

The progress made by this cohort of pupils placed Comberton Village College as one of the top 100 nonselective state-funded schools in England.

This is an incredible achievement and those pupils are to be heartily congratulated for this.

It is the case though, that actually this achievement

happens also because of the excellent work and collaboration of many alongside these pupils; their parents and carers, the teachers and all the support staff in school and beyond who work with these young people.

I would therefore like to offer both my thanks and congratulations not just to the pupils, but also to those who worked alongside these young people to produce such excellent outcomes.

We look forward to the current Year 11 pupils producing a similar set of results to bring us a further letter from Government ministers!

Peter Law, Head of School

The toughest job selection task of all . . .

Over the time which I have worked at realised the huge ability and skills of Comberton Village College (which I fear to the individuals in front of me, and say is many years more than I might like to the difficulties this would present in confess…), I have been involved in making selections. interviewing for countless teaching posts and Having concluded the interviews, support staff positions. the two panels met to discuss these I therefore thought that when asked to and to deliberate about who would interview for the Head Prefect roles this make up the team of Head Prefects. would be a very straightforward task. I was This was one of the most wrong… challenging conversations I have The process of applying to be in the Head been involved in for some time, as Prefect team is rather like a very rigorous job all the candidates were excellent application. Year 10 pupils who wish to do so and had much to offer. have to produce a letter of application which The five candidates who did not get outlines why they are suitable for this task appointed to these posts were all and what skills they would bring to it. offered positions as senior prefects They also have to fill in a detailed application and will use their excellent skills in form and need to get references from staff these positions.

CHOSEN FOUR: The new Head Prefect team. members, who would recommend them for Our four pupils who are going on to this post. form our Head Prefect team are There is then a first selection stage, where the Head of Student Leadership, Head of Callum Harvey-McMahon, Katie Hodge, Yanick Ndjana and Lucy Yeomans. I am Year and Assistant Principal go through all of the applications, to select those who sure they will be a formidable team and I look forward to working with them over the will be called for interviews; it is a hotly-contested post and many pupils apply. This coming year.

Peter Law, Head of School year, we invited nine pupils to be interviewed.

The interviews take part in two stages. The first interview panel is made up of the Head of Student Leadership and the current Head As each year group nears the end of their five The process gave us valuable life lessons; Prefect team. becoming more familiar with the atmosphere of years at Comberton, the process of application The candidates are asked to produce a short presentation on any the various types of interviews, and also how for a Head Prefect role is launched and this topic that they are passionate about, and are then asked to plan in advance. year was no different, questions about this.

We were also introduced to writing an There were numerous parts of the application The Head Prefects also use their experience of their work over application form in a style similar to a CV; to complete including predicted grades, the last year to ask the candidates questions to see how they something that we will be doing soon. awards, responsibilities and a formal letter to might respond to the challenges that they have faced.

Already we have been tested with many Mr Munday, plus the successful shortlisted The second interview panel consisted of the Head of Year, various roles such as helping to conduct applicants had to endure two interviews.

Assistant Head of Year, Head of School and a Governor. During interviews for new members of staff, as well as The first was a formal Interview with a panel of this interview pupils were asked to reflect on the leadership giving them the grand tour. We are truly two senior staff and a governor and the second challenges associated with this post and also had a wider range grateful for being chosen to fulfil the role, and was an informal presentation on what we are of questions, such as discussing who they considered to be an look forward to working with the new prefect passionate about. example of inspirational leadership and why that was the case. team on the many challenges ahead.

This was conducted by a panel of the Current So on Wednesday January 13, the nine pupils assembled to go Lucy Yeomans, Callum McMahon, Head Prefects, the Year 7 school council, and through the interview process as described above.

Katie Hodge, Yanick Djanda two teachers.

The interviews lasted for the day, and as the day progressed I

Life lessons from application process

Contents q Education Bigwig Drops In — Page 3 q CAT News — Page 4 q Beetlemania grips CVC — Page 5 q Attendance Matters — Page 6 q Poetry by Heart — Page 7 q Library News — Page 7 q Staying Safe Online — Page 8 q Year 7 Oscars Night — Page 18 2

q Languages round-up — Pages 8 & 9 q Year 8 Venetian Ball — Page 9 q Science Round-Up — Page 10 q Sixth Form News — Pages 11-14 q Snowsports Special — Page 17 q South Cambs School Sports Partnership round-up — Page 18 q Sport — Pages 19-24 News@Com

CABIN OPENED: The official opening by Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan, who also chatted to pupils and staff.

Education bigwig pops in Education Secretary Nicky Morgan made a whistlestop tour of Comberton and officially opened the new multi-million pound centre for students on the Autistic Spectrum.

Arranged with just 24 hours notice, Ms Morgan, accompanied by South Cambridgeshire MP Heidi Allen, toured the building, dropping in on after-school activities, and met staff and students based at The Cabin before answering questions posed by teachers in a Middle Leaders’ meeting.

Ms Morgan, on her first official visit to Cambridgeshire, was clearly impressed by what she saw; chatting with students both at Book Club in the library, watching a dance class and at the newly-built Cabin, which opened in September to replace two dilapidated portable classrooms and and now helps up to 60 students on the Autistic Spectrum.

She met some of the students and staff based there as well as Comberton governors and the heads of the three other schools in the Comberton Academy Trust — Claire

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS: Nicky Morgan quizzes students at Book Club (right) and is in the hotseat as Comberton staff ask her about a range of current educational issues (below).

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Coates (Cambourne), Simon Holmes (Melbourn) and Scott Hudson (Voyager).

“It was a pleasure to visit Comberton Village College following an invitation from Heidi Allen MP. I was struck by the strong sense of community throughout the school,” she said. “It was an honour to officially open The Cabin built with a grant from the Education Funding Agency and it was lovely to meet so many pupils, parents and staff that contribute to making it such a success.”

After unveiling a plaque commemorating her visit, Ms Morgan took centre stage in a regular staff meeting to answer questions on a range of issues including PSHE, the future of non-Baccalaureate subjects, careers guidance, the difficulties of recruiting good teachers to expensive places like Cambridge and the development of GCSE exams for less well-known languages.

Ms Morgan added: “I welcomed the opportunity to meet with teachers and staff for a Q&A session where we covered a wide range of topics including PSHE, Ebacc and careers guidance. I always find these sessions extremely valuable and thoroughly enjoyed the discussion.”

She also promised to provide answers to any questions she was unable to answer fully and invited all staff to contact her if they wished.

Comberton Executive Principal and Comberton Academy Trust Chief Executive, Stephen Munday, who showed Ms Morgan around, said: “It was great to be able to host the Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, at short notice.

“She provided an ideal visitor of note officially to open The Cabin’s excellent new buildings. She then took part in a lively and interesting question and answer session with our Middle Leaders that was a genuine discussion across a range of current educational issues.

“It was a significant encouragement to us all to have had this visit and it provided a strong affirmation of all the excellent work done by all staff at Comberton Village College.”

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COMBERTON ACADEMY TRUST NEWS

Voyager’s rapid progress made.”

The inspection also included the Voyager’s Sixth Form, which was rated as good, with the report stating that the academy is The was the verdict of Ofsted inspectors when they visited popular and that numbers in the Sixth Form are increasing. An the Trust’s Peterborough Academy earlier this term and increasing proportion of students go on to university and for the moved it out of special measures. vast majority, they are the first in their family to do so.

Inspectors noted that behaviour and attendance have Behaviour in the Sixth Form is rated as exemplary. improved markedly since the last Ofsted visit, identifying that Daniel Taylor, Head of Sixth Form, said: “The Voyager’s Sixth pupils are safe, and feel safe.

Form is one of its strengths. Our pupils and teachers work very They praised the Principal, Scott Hudson, who took over last hard and achieve good results. summer, and said that the new leadership team have “We are particularly pleased that the report highlights the role established a very positive culture and ethos. our Sixth Form students play in the rest of the school, helping Mr Hudson said: “This report notes the progress we have younger pupils through mentoring for example.” made since the last inspection and we should all – students, Stephen Munday, Chief Executive of CAT, which has staff, parents and governors – take pride in that. sponsored The Voyager since 2011, added: “We are very “Coming out of Special Measures is an important milestone pleased that the strong progress now being made at The and is a testament to the hard work and commitment of all Voyager is properly recognised in this report. members of the Academy.

“It is a strong vindication of all the hard work from many people “However, we fully recognise that we still have a long way to associated with The Voyager and in particular of the excellent MILESTONE: Principal Scott go to ensure we deliver the highest quality of education Hudson has led Voyager out of leadership now being provided by Scott Hudson, the Principal, across all areas of the Academy. and his senior team. special measures.

“As the report says, we need to further raise standards of “Of course, it is crucial that we now push ahead further and see teaching and to narrow the gaps in achievement between standards increase further so that we can be sure that that the very good education different pupil groups. we want for all pupils is a reality.

“I am pleased that the report identified that our self-evaluation is precise and “As part of this, we are very pleased to be entering into a strategic partnership with accurate. We are aware of our strengths and areas for development and will be Thomas Deacon Academy in Peterborough in order to provide further capacity to studying the report’s recommendations and making further changes to address all support further rapid improvement in pupil achievement. This is good for everyone.” of the issues it raises, as well as building on the improvements we have already

Most areas of The Voyager Academy are making rapid progress.

Two schools in talks on joining Trust Two new schools are consulting on joining the Comberton Academy Trust.

Gamlingay First School, currently a maintained primary phase school with pupils up to Year 4, is consulting on becoming an Academy and joining the Trust, while St Peter’s, a stand-alone secondary academy in Huntingdon, is consulting on joining the Trust.

Numbers of pupils from Gamlingay have attended Comberton Village College over the years. The school wish to join a local trust that can strengthen their position moving forward in the new educational landscape and the Comberton Academy Trust makes sense on several fronts.

Trustees have agreed to the possibility in principle and are now awaiting the outcome of the consultation. It could lead to the school joining the Trust at a point soon after Easter.

If this happened, the Trust would then look at arrangements for the school carefully and consider what further developments might most benefit education for all involved.

If all proceeds as it might, this could mean St Peter’s joining the Trust in September.

St Peter’s already has a significant partnership with the Trust. It is the only school outside the Trust that joins in with our annual Trust-wide reviews of our schools, led by our Director of Education, Paul Lawrence.

They also involve themselves significantly in our professional development programmes aimed at improving general teaching and work in partnership with our maths and science departments.

COUNTING DOWN? Gamlingay could join the Trust next month.

Both of these possibilities would mark a further significant development in the work and remit of the Trust. Both have the potential for mutual benefit, strengthening the schools involved and providing further capacity and expertise to the current Trust.

Sign to save valuable languages projects A petition started by a Comberton Academy Trust teacher to save languages provision to schools is closing in on its 10,000-signature target.

Jane Driver, who is Head of Languages at The Voyager, has petitioned the Government to stop cuts to key language learning projects rolled out by Routes into Languages (RiL), an organisation funded by the Higher Education Council for England.

Funding is due to stop in July and Ms Driver, who previously worked at Comberton, started the on-line petition just before Christmas. She has already collected more than 7,900 signatures but needs to reach five figures before the Government have to respond.

Last year RiL supported activities for almost 150,000 students in the UK including those at schools across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Ms Driver said: “Unlike other organisations, they work together with schools and teachers to develop collaborative projects aimed at promoting languagelearning at GCSE and beyond.

“The ability to speak another language is a skill that is in high-demand by UK businesses, who are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit UK residents with foreign language skills.

“Last year, for example, RiL East, which is based at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge, engaged with 18,970 pupils from 114 schools in the

region, of which 5175 pupils were from 46 schools in deprived areas.

RiL East also runs some of the projects which have been rolled out nationally, including the very popular Foreign Language Bee for Year 7 students, which was created by Ms Driver while she was teaching at Comberton .

It attracted more than 72,000 participants last year and this is set to rise again in 2016. The national finals in Spanish, French and German take place at ARU in the summer.

To sign the petition, called ‘Stop the Government from cutting funding for Routes into Languages’ go to https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/111879

For job vacancies across the Trust, visit the CAT website at www.catrust.co.uk 4

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Beetlemania grips CVC Sacrifice. Transformation. Alienation. So ran the thematic thread of the exciting new production at Comberton. You really had to get yourself into ‘The Cocoon’ for the mindexpanding, sense-shaking experience of — Metamorphosis!

Both claustrophobic and expansive, the staging arrested the audience from the start. The Asylum-esque acting space with its white walls circumscribed our vision; yet the area felt open too with the sweeping sheets and curtains ending an airy, wisp-like, dreamy quality, enhanced by the stark and atmospheric use of lighting.

The soundtrack, composed by Comberton’s own Music Tech students, dominated the space: heartbeats helped internalise the events, an almost industrial hum haunted the audience, evoking the angst of the Samsa family as much as it conveyed the essence of a modern cityscape.

Perhaps the most disturbing elements of the soundscape, however, were the scuttling clicks of the insect joints creaking and insect legs tapping hard surfaces.

COCOONED: A kilometre of sheeting was used to surround the set of In an opening sequence that perfectly captured the soulless, work-a-day Comberton’s production of Steven Berkoff’s Metamorphosis. routines of city life, the cast were at their most versatile, creating a series of Pictures: Charlie Rayner. striking silhouettes, which included the arresting opening symbol of a human clock ticking away.

Quickly though, the focus narrowed around the superb Dan Davey in the lead role of Gregor Samsa.

Out of sync with the rest of his family, the troubled, introspective Gregor must confront the alienation which results from his self-imposed martyrdom to support his sister, mother, and father.

Davey’s hoarse voice powerfully suggested his inability to communicate, while Gregor’s struggle, his cries and contortions were visually enhanced by Rob Slatter, as the protagonist’s shadow or alter ego. An ever-twisting Slatter scuttled hunchbacked about the set with, seemingly, two pairs of elbows. Gregor’s paralysed voice and tortured limbs were brilliantly mirrored by Slatter’s silent, arachnid crawling.

Heinrich Verwoerd’s Mr Samsa was a powerful, selfish patriarch whose superficial control is ultimately undermined by overly grand gestures and bombastic dismissals of his son’s problem. Verwoerd’s skilful portrayal of this domineering, bullying approach ensured the audience’s disgust at his insensitivity.

Contrastingly, Emily Dowd’s assured Mrs Samsa vacillated dramatically between compassion and horror at her son. She effectively captured these wild swings of mood in classic Berkovian fashion to render the character almost two-dimensional until the very end, where her last eye-contact with her son was profoundly moving.

Daughter, Greta, played by the wonderfully expressive Alice Heydinger, drrew the audience’s sympathy, unlike the others. She is the bravest and the most loyal to her brother for the whole play… almost; her shocking abandonment of her Gregor at the end is every bit as brutal a transformation as her brother’s into a beetle.

Though the play was predominantly focused on exploring the metamorphosis within the family, the outside bowler-hatted world did force its way in.

Chief Clerk (Ashley Kemp) nailed the proud, officious functionary of the business world to a T. Meanwhile, the demanding lodgers (Tinie Cohen, Conor Hunt, and Oli Wilkinson) provided some unnerving comic relief, simultaneously dark and slapstick. The laughter was uneasy.

The versatile physical ensemble provided enormous vitality, establishing or reinforcing moods from the playfully routine, to the menacing, amplifying Gregor’s despair and the allconsuming nature of the self-sacrifice by which he is ultimately destroyed. Their focused and stylised performance controlled much of the pace and added texture to Gregor’s inner world.

The use of movement within the group conveyed a striking impression of a single entity which swarmed, crawled and grabbed. All this was further enhanced by the simple, timeless monochrome costumes, one of the more direct nods to Franz Kafka’s original early 20th Century tale.

Mike Ryall, English Dept

Tension-filled night of horror

SETTING THE SCENE: At the Fortune Theatre in London.

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On Thursday 8th February a group of Year 9s went to see The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre in London.

The whole thing was terrifying throughout, forcing students and teachers to scream and jump out of their seats (or whack their elbows on the seats in Miss Hillman’s case).

It was well-presented with a huge reliance on your imagination to understand the tension-filled storyline.

The acting was flawless and the few

props were almost able to morph into other things when the story was narrated.

Only casting three people in this play was definitely not a disadvantage to them and just added to the terror.

Each and every person in the theatre was sitting very low in their seat, which created a great atmosphere.

Overall it was the best theatre trip I’ve been on and I’d definitely recommend it to anybodt, whether they like horror or if they don’t.

Bea Greenhalgh (9R)

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Making every word count Poetry By Heart is an annual competition in which competitors learn two poems off by heart and perform them to audience members and a panel of judges.

I heard about this competition in the Comberton newsletter and I was curious about what poetry they might have in the anthology of poems.

I expected to just see traditional and classic poetry to choose from, but I was pleasantly surprised by the range of poems from hundreds of years ago to very recently.

And the poems were interesting — they were about all different topics and voiced strong opinions, important thoughts, but most of all they needed to be performed.

I decided to compete in the first round of the competition with poems ‘Divorce,’ and ‘Invictus.’

It was a lovely experience and we got some very useful feedback for future performances.

I then went on to compete in the county rounds in which I swapped ‘Invictus,’ for ‘Envy.’

I expected around 30 competitors to be there, but there were only five! It was a really laid-back evening: the judges, audience and speakers were all friendly. During the course of the evening competitors took turns in performing both their pre-1914 and post-1914 poems and, while the judges were scoring, we got to BEST IN SCHOOL: Comberton’s top two with members of the English Department. learn more about each poet.

Poetry By Heart was a brilliant experience that gave me more only great to be performing, but it was really entertaining and enlightening to hear confidence with public speaking. others perform and learn more about the poets and poems.

Because we got to hear each others’ performances in the county rounds, it was not Martina Cohen (10M)

Books take centre stage On Thursday March 3, CVC celebrated World Book Day in style!

Different departments dressed up as characters from selected novels and the English Department held a cake sale, raising £120 for the Library.

Students were handed vouchers enabling them to get either a free or discounted book.

The day showed just how highly CVC values reading for pleasure.

SPOT THE NOVEL: Members of the English Department Look out for more this time next dress up — but what’s the book? year!

Reading challenge The Comberton librarians will be launching the annual READATHON after Easter.

Each Year 7 student will be given a sponsor card so they can ask as many family and friends as possible to sponsor them during a four-week period.

The students will be asked to read during the designated time.

Whatever their level, every pupil will be able to take part and set their target accordingly. It could be that their particular target is four novels or perhaps five newspaper articles, 20 jokes or 10 pages of a book.

Every student is different so every target will be too!

Look out for the sponsor cards coming home.

All the proceeds go to children’s charities such as CLIC Sargent and Together for Short Lives.

More titles on way Following Comberton’s success last year in winning an RNIB competition, the national charity for the blind are sending more books in braille and large print to the library.

Among those on their way to Comberton are all the titles on this year’s Carnegie shortlist.

This means the library is able to expand its braille and giant print book collection, which is fantastic for our visually impaired students.

The link with the RNIB has proved invaluable and we would again like to thank competition winner Gabriella Borinuoluwa (10E).

Julie Peck, Librarian

Stock up locally!

BEFORE AND AFTER: ‘Wally’ in the library at the start of World Book Day and then at the end of the day which saw Year 7s able to pick a book from the collection in the library.

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With the exam season just around the corner, don’t forget that the library has a selection of school equipment for sale at very competitive prices.

You can buy essential items for exams; revision cards, highlighters, pens and pencils and a variety of maths equipment as well as book covers, art books, glue and much more.

All items are for sale during 8.00am–5.00pm, Monday to Thursday and 8.00am-4.00pm on Friday.

Cash sales only. The library is unable to accept cashless catering cards for payment.

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Interact has plenty to offer The Interact club was delighted to welcome Mr Dover and Ms Slamainte from the Rotary Club to one of our meetings at the beginning of the year.

Following this meeting we are very excited to announce that participation in Interact can now count towards accreditation for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, as well as being a fantastic way to help you build your skills and contribute to your community.

When she visited, Ms Slamainte spoke to us about a fantastic opportunity to work with the Rotary Club in investing money in businesses and individuals in other countries to help them improve their own lives and communities, which we are looking forward to starting.

This year we are also working for EACH — East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices — and hoping to raise lots of money and awareness for them over the rest of the year.

A recent Valentine’s Day fundraiser got 2016 off to a great start; many thanks for your support with this, and do keep your eyes peeled for our next event.

We are currently recruiting new members and will be electing a new committee later in the year, so if you would like to come along and find out more about what you could gain from being a part of Interact and how it can help you, please do pop in to ML5 on a Monday lunchtime to have a chat with the current members.

Chance to be teachers Language Leaders is a programme dedicated to Year 9 students. It involves teaching three lessons to primary school children in groups of three.

At the beginning of the programme we went on a training day to Anglia Ruskin University, at which we learnt about presentation skills and how to construct lessons.

We are now attending sessions one lunchtime a week with our groups and are working on preparing Powerpoints and worksheets for the primary IN COLOUR: A primary Spanish lesson. children.

We have already been into one of the feeder primary schools to teach our first lesson to the pupils there, who seemed to enjoy it a lot, and are looking forward to delivering our second lessons.

Imogen Sutherland (9T and Ana Ward (9N)

ON TOUR: Students visit Bad Hersfeld just before Christmas.

Exchanging A fantastic Ceilidh to celebrate St Patrick’s Day also marked the end of this year’s German Exchange programme.

Visitors from Comberton’s German partner school in Bad Hersfeld headed home last week after seven-day stay with their partners from not only Comberton but also Cambourne and Melbourn village colleges.

As well as the dance finale – after which the Germans headed home overnight – the visitors spent time in school and at home with their partners, went on a tour of Cambridge on foot and by punt, spent a day in London and another at Harry Potter World.

The trip to England followed another successful visit to Germany.

Thanks to the wonder of technology, most participants, in Years 8, 9 and 10 had been in contact with their partners and host families before arriving at the

Obersberg school, where everyone was paired up and headed off home to spend, what was for some, their first night in Germany.

The group was quickly reunited the next day when we received an official welcome from the school principal and a tour of the school, before heading down into town to get a first taste of German Christmas markets and taking a guided tour of Bad Hersfeld.

The next day, Saturday, was spent in host families, but many pupils met up in groups to enjoy some fun activities together. There were already many tales to tell when we met up on Sunday to travel to Eisenach together to tour the Wartburg and its medieval market as well as the Christmas market in the town centre.

It was a cold day and pupils soon learnt to order a ‘Kinderpunsch’ or two to stay warm as the wind whistled through the castle.

Key steps to staying safe online Earlier this term, all Year 8 students took part in a workshop session regarding e-safety.

An interactive discussion was led by Mr Mannas, who used real time data, obtained via a voting system, to highlight key factors around e-safety.

When considering e-safety, we ask students to consider certain aspects of their online behaviour to minimise the negative features associated with web technologies. We always ask students to consider the following four points any time they login to a social network.

1. Know who you are talking to 42% have over 300 online friends 59% have accepted a friend request from someone they don’t know in the real world.

41% have asked someone to be their online friend despite not knowing who they are.

It is essential to understand that online predators use social networks as a way to meet and initiate contact with possible victims. Agreeing to be online friends with people you don’t know in the real world increases the possibility of contact with these predators.

2. Consider your profile and the impression it gives about you 26% have not set up privacy settings on their main social network account.

50% have either all or some accounts with no privacy settings.

Online predators and cyberbullies often target

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accounts which are not set up as private as information and images can then be accessed by the online world. Colleges, Universities and, more commonly, employees look at online profiles before making selections about possible appointments and getting it wrong could even hinder the chances of obtaining an interview.

3. Consider the images/videos you post 28% have taken an image on their phone which we would consider inappropriate for an image on a social network site.

15% have posted an inappropriate image on a social networking site.

20% have shared an inappropriate image via text message.

An inappropriate online image can range from posting images of students in school uniform to nude/naked selfies. It’s essential to remember once an image has been posted/sent all control has been relinquished.

4. Think before you post 32% have posted at least one message/comment that they thought would be hurtful or derogatory.

55% have read at least one message/comment about themselves that was either hurtful or derogatory.

Due to the lack of empathy associated with the online world, messages on social network sites are often more explicit and hurtful than a verbal confrontation.

This type of cyberbullying can escalate at an incredibly rapid rate and can involve large numbers of people.

PARTY TIME: At the Year 7 Oscars Night.

Glitz and glamour On the March 2 a little bit of awards show glamour landed in Comberton. Year 7 students danced the night away dressed for the red carpet. Some were dressed as movie stars and others as characters from their favourite film which included: Zorro, the White Rabbit from Alison in Wonderland and even Michael Jackson during his Moonwalker period.

Students enjoyed socialising with other people in their group and took part in best dressed and breakdancing competitions.

Very many thanks go to the Year 7 Pastoral team for organising and running such a wonderful event and to the KS4 helpers who came along too.

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Boys buzz into regional finals TOURISTS: The German visitors learn a bit about Comberton and what their visit will entail.

experiences . . .

On Monday we were all back in school taking part iin activities with our exchange partners — baking Christmas biscuits, playing sports, designing and painting bags or being reporters. Thankfully the biscuit makers shared the fruits of their labours to keep everyone going until lunch!

On Tuesday we weren’t sure what to expect from our trip to the salt mine, but it was a real highlight. We had an amazing tour, racing through underground tunnels in trucks.

The next day we visited Erfurt, in the former East Germany, where we took a guided tour of the city and visited the Christmas market.

On our last day, after time in lessons with our partners, we celebrated the highlights of our stay with an evening party before the customary farewell tears as the coach left our German partners behind.

Leigh McClelland, MFL Dept

Three boys will represent Comberton at the regional finals of the Routes into Languages Spanish Spelling Bee at The Voyager Academy in Peterborough after the Easter holidays.

Ben Lione, Adam Vlasits and Kai Sun have reached the third stage of the national competition for Year 7 students after coming through the class rounds to qualify from the Comberton school showdown.

And there’s no doubt that Adam will be really feeling the pressure as the trio learn their third set of 50 Spanish words — his older brother Daniel won the national crown a couple of years ago!

The class competitions took place just before Christmas with Hayden Hodson, Charlotte Hazel,

WINTER FUN: At a German Christmas market.

Sarah McClaren, Isobel Roberts, Emily Norman, Emma Banks, Michal Lorenc, Emma Stewart, Amelie Nugent, Krina Kanefu, Sam Cary, Haide Nie, Athena Hughes, Kate Walsh, Adam Vlasits, Kai Sun, Anna Crossley, Ethan Davy and Ben Lione qualifying to battle it out to represent Comberton.

They worked hard at home and on Thursday lunchtimes with Mrs Shehi-Morelli and the Spelling Bee Leaders to learn the next 50 words for Stage 2.

Huge congratulations all those who have competed throughout the year, and many thanks to those who continue to support the Year 7 students in their preparation for each stage — it wouldn’t happen without you.

Claire Jones, MFL Dept

Having a ball!

MAGNIFICENT MASKS: A selection of the accessories at the Year 8 Venetian Ball.

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The Venetian Ball for Year 8 was hosted by teachers and Year 11 prefects. All our form tutors were there, and it was a great event to have together.

This time it was formal, so we had to wear a tie (boys) and everyone dressed up to the fullest extent. Lots of people wore very intricate masks with their costumes so it felt very fancy.

There were ruffles, feathers and lace all around, making the evening glamorous and interesting.

Each table had placards on them, but there was an absence of candles (health and safety!)

We all ate spring rolls, samosas, crisps, cheese sticks, eclairs, cookies and muffins from platters brought by attentive Year 11 volunteer waiters and waitresses.

After we had finished eating and talking, our next destination was the dance floor. Once the flashing lights and beats had started, even the teachers couldn’t resist joining in!

We danced the Macarena, sang to all our favourite songs and, of course, did the whipnae nae.

It was an event to remember, with sore feet from dancing the night away and lots of stories to tell. Thanks to all people that helped to organise — it wouldn’t have been possible without you.

Harry Walkow-Foster (8T)

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HELLO FROM SPACE: Comberton tunes in as Tim Peake talks to students from the International Space Station.

A glimpse into space . . .

When astronaut Tim Peake gave a live broadcast from the International Space Station, Comberton students were some of the lucky ones that got to hear and watch it.

All the Year 7 stiudents having a science lesson at the time (and a few sixth formers and teachers too) got the chance to watch the live feed in the Sixth Form Lecture Theatre.

I found Tim Peake really interesting because he performed a number of funny tricks and answered some questions from students who were lucky enough to be able to talk to him.

My favourite trick was when he played ping pong with a blob of water and two ping pong bats. I was amazed and found myself laughing out loud as I watched Tim playing ping pong with himself. The water was slower than I expected and was as wobbly as jelly as it ‘ponged or pinged’ between the bats. The balls were unpredictable and kept floating off near the walls of the space station! The bats were

made from hydrophobic material which repelled water.

There is no gravity in space so if you let some water out of a water bottle it would just float around in a blob forever until you drank it or caught it!

Tim also tried another trick, where he spun a microphone around when the presenter on Earth was speaking which annoyed the presenter enormously as people were looking at Tim and not the presenter!

At one point in the interview Tim was asked, “What was (his) favourite button?” Tim replied the button that opens the door to outer space. I would be extremely scared to press that button!

Overall the interview was an amazing experience; it was wonderful to get an insight into how life is away from Earth. I am surprised that Tim seems to have adapted to his new Space Station life so quickly; I can’t wait for the next broadcast to gain another glimpse into outer space!

Athiene Maslin (7E)

Science comes alive for students of all ages!

A team of 30 Cambridge University Science and Engineering students visited Comberton to take Year 7 science lessons.

They were part of “Cambridge Hands on Science” or CHaOS. Although they didn’t bring chaos, they brought extremely interesting and interactive science demonstrations that Year 7 thoroughly enjoyed.

This included a mechanical arm that GETTING INVOLVED: Year 7 pupils with Cambridge students could operate, University CHaOS students. skulls from various animals, interesting pulley systems, extremely strong magnets and much more.

All students were certainly “hands on” during the day, as they had the chance to be actively involved in the demonstrations and offer explanations for how they worked.

Year 7 were enthusiastic and were impressive in their science knowledge and understanding that they showed that day.

Tim Rocks. Science Dept

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Late last year, students from both Year 10 and Year 11 went to the Apollo Victoria theatre in London, to enjoy a learning-filled day at ‘Science Live!’

We saw six different lectures from professionals in many different areas of science, along with two lectures on exam and coursework technique from an experienced science examiner.

We saw some of Britain’s top scientists speak, such as Professor Alice Roberts, a Clinical Anatomist from the University of Birmingham, the very famous Professor Robert Winston, who talked to us about his work in human fertility, and Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Physicist at the University of Surrey.

Professor Dave Cliff, talked to us about his work in computer science, and gave us his knowledge about the unbelievable new developments shortly to be upon us in the world of computing.

His talk was called Computer Whizz: The best is yet to come, and it involved telling us all about billionaires, and teaching everyone very important rules about how to become one. For example, patenting your brilliant idea for a product, waiting until it’s cheap enough to make yourself a profit, and subsequently becoming a billionaire!

Personally, my favourite speaker was Andrea Sella, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at University College London.

His talk was my highlight, not just because he showed us a pretty impressive practical experiment, but because it was engaging, and I think all students on the trip will agree that we learned a lot from his talk.

Overall, it was a thought-provoking, exciting and informative day. Although the coach back from London was very delayed, we all agreed that it was definitely worth it, and we all enjoyed having the extra time to talk about what we had learned on the way home.

Imogen Lewis (10R)

News@Com

There’s so much going on It’s been another busy term in the Sixth Form with students taking part in a wide range of charity events, trips, presentations from visiting speakers, enrichment activities, university visits, interviews for higher education and employment and, of course, still finding time for their academic study.

The term began with Year 12 A-level students sitting their mock examinations. For many this was their first experience of exams at Comberton and the

atmosphere outside the exam hall was one of nervous anticipation.

The students approached these exams with maturity and determination and I was incredibly impressed with their conduct throughout.

Following these examinations decisions were made regarding exam entries for the Year 12 students as we navigate our way through the A-level reforms.

Year 13 A-level students have been busy covering course content and preparing for their mocks, which took place earlier this half term.

As we move into the final term of the year the public exam season is well and truly upon us and we wish all

students the very best of luck.

Year 12 and Year 13 BTEC students have been completing their assignments, which have included a combination of presentations and demonstrating practical skills, as well as writing reports.

In addition to all this hard work the students have raised money for many different charities including Sports Relief, Child in Need, SportsAid, The Little Princess Trust and Mental Health Awareness, with many more activities planned for the coming term.

Lorna Conroy, Head of Sixth Form

Preparing for the next steps WORKING TOGETHER: Japanese students join a Sixth Form science class.

Japanese connection Comberton Sixth Form was delighted to welcome 32 Japanese students and four teachers for a morning two weeks ago.

The Japanese students study in five different schools in the Sendai region of Japan and were visiting the UK as part of an English immersion, cultural and science trip organised by Select English in Cambridge.

After a welcome by Stephen Munday and Stephen Winter, the group presented some interesting facts about Japan to some of our Sixth form students, took a tour of the Sixth Form and then observed some Science lessons as well as interacting with more of our students.

Visiting Japanese students are set to become a regular fixture in the Sixth Form in coming years as the link with Kobe University Secondary School in Japan has been ORIGAMI: Students have a go at the Japanese art confirmed. of paper folding.

We will be welcoming five Japanese students to Comberton in June and, the following year, 10 Year 12 students (current Year 11) will go to Kobe in June 2017.

If anybody feels that that would like to host one of our Japanese visitors ithis summer, please email Alison Shorten at ashorten@combertonvc.org

Message is clear . . .

REGRETS: A scene from Walking Forward’s ‘Wasted’.

News@Com

On Thursday March 10, Year 12 were given the opportunity to watch a piece of theatre from the touring company Walking Forward.

The production, entitled ‘Wasted’, incorporated a unique blend of film and live theatre, and was a powerful and groundbreaking piece of drama that explores the issue of drug driving within modern youth culture.

This educational drama addressed some of the moral issues linked to driving under the influence of drugs which was based on a true story; exposing the emotional and psychological impact of events that took

place right in front of the students.

With documentary footage and flashing images on screen, mixed with energetic action on stage, the experience was exceptionally powerful.

Even the most hardened, streetwise, nontheatre going individuals were moved from laughter to tears in this stylish and powerful piece of theatre. As with all of Walking Forward’s productions, ‘Wasted’ was executed at a highly professional level with a very clear message…we all have choices and we need to make the right ones!

Jez Frost, Head of Drama

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COMBERTON SIXTH FORM

One hundred and twenty-six of our current Upper Sixth students have enrolled in the UCAS cycle this year, the mechanism through which applications are made to gain places to study at Higher Education institutions.

Students are now in the process of receiving offers from their chosen universities and I am pleased to report excellent progress, including our first offers from Oxford University although previous leavers are now enjoying life at Cambridge!

After successfully negotiating the entrance examination and interview process, both Maddy Tomlin and Lola Moutel-Davesne have received offers to study History at Exeter College and Mansfield College respectively.

We also have students well-placed to progress on to study a wealth of different courses, from traditional academic subjects, such as Mathematics at Bath, Warwick and Imperial Universities, to more vocational routes, such as nursing, teaching, and architecture qualifications. Our congratulations rightly go to all our university applicants on their successes so far.

As in previous years, the process for guiding our next cohort of students to make decisions about their progression beyond Comberton Sixth Form was furthered, when all students attended a ‘Futures Day’ event at the college on last week.

This gave students the opportunity to consider the possibilities beyond Sixth Form and to listen and seek advice from a very experienced University Admissions Director, Mike Nicholson, from the University of Bath.

Students had the opportunity to research university courses, apprenticeships and workplace opportunities, to begin to prepare for the applications process, and to listen to former students working for the same institution (Ernst & Young), who had gained entry via different mechanisms. This will allow them to consider the relative merits of graduate recruitment opportunities and school leavers’ programmes.

Students will continue this work in earnest with their tutors, a taster experience at Leicester University, a UCAS convention where they will have the opportunity to meet representatives from Universities across the UK, and with a UCAS Information Evening for parents all planned to take place following the AS examination period in the summer term.

Hannah Powell, Deputy Head of Sixth Form

Sixth form students enhance their learning with a

COMBERTON SIXTH FORM

London calling. . .

MAN IN DOORWAY: A shot taken in London by Matilda EXPLORING: The urban art in Brick Lane VIEWING: A look at others’ work.

Carling.

And so began the rest of our day, travelling from the National Portrait Gallery to the At 8.20 on the first day of the half-term holidays a group of National Gallery, to the British Museum, recording and analyzing (supposedly) as we dismal, exhausted teenagers (who wanted a lie-in) were forced went. from their beds to congregate on a train carriage heading to Because I like to make things difficult for myself, I chose art and photography Athe great capital of London. level, and so spent the second day with the photography group (who were thawing However, on arrival the mood was lifted as we attended the Vogue 100 exhibition, out from the day before). which celebrated a century of British Vogue magazine since 1916.

We had the opportunity to go to Liverpool Street and Brick Lane; exploring the vast This was most definitely the highlight, for me at least, of the weekend. The exhibition expanse of the cultural significance London is known so well for (including a dodgy displayed the changing tastes in clothing and fashion and demonstrated the advance man on a bike). We then went to the Saul Leiter exhibition at the Photographers in photographic genre and style.

Gallery and later had the chance for retail therapy in Oxford Circus.

Sophisticated, cultured, and inspiring, the small in size, but not in content, show Back at King’s Cross Station, we did some atmospheric night photography before executed a timeline of some of the most artistically creative photographs of the returning home to Cambridge — overall an exciting and motivating weekend! century.

Matilda Carling (L6-JD)

There’s so much more to chemistry On March 7, I had the opportunity to attend a series of lectures in London run by ‘A-Level Chemistry Live!’ on topics ranging from the not-so-rare ‘rare earth metals’ to the unusual and unexpected properties of water.

Each lecture was carefully crafted to push our understanding of topics from our course but still at a level to which we — as an audience of students — could understand.

To top it off, the lectures were delivered by inspiring chemists at the forefront of their topics.

The first lecture was on the lanthanides (a rather forgotten about period) and the road to their discovery delivered by Dr Andrea Sella from the University of London.

He took the audience on a journey of the lanthanides — first discovered in Sweden— to their modern use within old-fashioned lamps.

This lecture was followed by one delivered by Dr Philip Ball about the weirdness of water. Some of the properties highlighted were how water was less dense when solid and then the obscure property of water being most dense at 4°C — scientists of all ages would struggle with that concept!

Third on the list of lectures was the fantastical and microscopic world of Nano-technology, presented by Dr Suze Kundu from Imperial College London.

From our knowledge of organic chemistry she delved deep into the science behind graphene and some of its wonderful properties.

The final lecture was delivered by Dr Peter Wothers and focused on the topic of spectroscopy. He was able to relate the fundamental science behind how such a widely used analytical device works. To finish the experience we had a masterclass on exam techniques from a Head Examiner; these tips included how to read the question effectively and methods of correctly answering questions in a concise manner.

The experience as a whole was very rewarding and inspiring; it emphasised that there is still a world of science far beyond my course to be discovered.

If anybody had the chance to go I would highly recommend attending as the experience will provide you with a new viewpoint to futures in Chemistry (and science).

Luke Grisoni (U6-JM)

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WHAT IS IT LIKE? Students gain an insight into the life of a scientist.

Biologists’ taste of The Babraham Institute is a worldrenowned biomedical research campus, located just a short distance from Cambridge.

The site specialises in the research and discovery of key cellular processes, such as how cells communicate (signalling), how the body’s immune system communicates and develops, epigenetics (the activation or deactivation of certain parts of our DNA) and general research into the cell’s nucleus.

Year 12 A Level Biology students were given the opportunity to experience some of these aspects through various different.

hands-on experimental projects.

My group, for example, were trying to determine whether one of three types of gene was present within a colony of bacteria, by introducing a chemical which removed it from the bacteria, allowing us to see it when put through an electric current.

We were able to do this experiment with actual researchers at the site, who assisted us (particularly me) when we got it wrong. One of the group leaders at Babraham, Simon Cook, then gave us a presentation explaining how cancer can develop if the cell’s internal ‘messaging

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wide range of national and international trips and

Immersed in Spanish life school. Maths, science, Valencian (apparently another language) and English, which was actually really quite hard, allowed us to experience what everyday life is like for a Spanish teenager.

After a quick journey we arrived in Valencia and nerves started to kick in, realising After classes and a quick lunch at our homes, we headed for Valencia's Bioparc, a that we were soon to stay with a family that we had never met before. modern zoo displaying all the creatures of Africa.

However, after meeting our families, we quickly realised that we were in good hands It was an incredible experience for all and allowed us to see Africa in Europe. The and it was not going to be as terrifying and awkward as first anticipated. giraffes in particular provided much entertainment for all, especially Ben! We then After a short drive around the immediate vicinity to our respective homes, we had our headed back on our bikes to our houses for the rest of the day. first taste of Spanish culture in the form of a traditional Spanish paella ¡Qué Rico!

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday saw us undertake a myriad of different activities from cooking paella in a modern kitchen to pretending we were four years old again After a short rest and some much needed sleep, we hit the town with our hosts to on the Gulliver recreation park! In between these activities we met so many nice see the sights of the old district and taste the traditional delicacy of chocolate con people at school and outside of it, while just about managing to communicate with churros. some fluency.

Quite a few selfies and mix tape shots later, we returned home for dinner and our It was an experience all of us will never forget and the friendships we have made will first evening with our incredibly friendly Spanish families. most definitely continue into the future.

Monday was the day of truth as we had our first immersion lessons in a Spanish We want to say a huge thank you to Señorita Vázquez for organising the trip and to Mr Southcoat for simply being present, as well as all of the lovely Spanish people who made our visit so memorable and enjoyable. Over and out.

Year 12 Spanish group, the best en todo el mundo!!

THE FULL EXPERIENCE: For Year 12 students on the half-term Spanish immersion trip to Valencia.

Year 12s set off on their Spanish immersion trip to Valencia at the crack of dawn, surviving on just a few hours’ sleep!

TALKING: To those who work in the industry.

world of work system becomes disrupted.

Some of Dr Cook’s work has been cited more than 900 times due to its importance in advancing our understanding of cancer.

Other groups carried out projects involving protein production in cells and molecular biology.

At the end of the morning, members of the Babraham Institute answered our questions on how to become involved in biology and medicine as a career.

They shared their favourite and least favourite aspects of the job. The trip certainly made me realise the immense amount of work, complexity and dedication involved in the pursuit of making all our lives better, the results of which we will feel for many years to come.

James Piggott (L6-MR)

News@Com

The Level 3 BTEC Business students visited the Sky Television Careers Academy in London as part of their ‘Careers in Business’ project.

Students were given their own ‘I-pad’ at the start of the day and were provided with a skills questionnaire to complete online.

This was followed by a session with the interactive ‘learning wall’, where they were able to explore a variety of the business’s functions such as Sky News, Customer Services and the future technologies.

The students also had the opportunity to explore Sky’s working environment, and were given an exclusive tour of the Sky Sports television studios. This included a visit to see Sky Sports News being filmed live and a trip to the Sky Sports Cricket television studio, where they learnt about the show’s production process.

During the morning session, we were visited by Sky’s Company Secretary, Chris Taylor, who provided a fascinating insight into his career and business experiences, followed by a question and answer session. Chris spoke about his experiences in Sky, working alongside the board of directors, and the challenges he had faced during his career progression from a catering student to the top of the Sky hierarchy.

Following lunch, students worked in teams on a business challenge, which involved designing a new marketing campaign for the Sky Disney Movie channel. They then presented their ideas to the rest of the group.

This task gave an opportunity for the students to demonstrate their enterprise skills and business knowledge within the context of a media campaign.

This was an engaging, insightful and rewarding experience, which allowed the business students to experience a dynamic and professional working environment while considering their own personal skills and careers development.

ON THE INSIDE: BTEC Business students were able to see Sky from inside.

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COMBERTON SIXTH FORM

Reach for the Sky!

More trips and visits at home and abroad

The call of the snow Eighteen lucky sixth formers are spending Easter in the United States.

The group of skiiers and snowboards — along with Mr Mannion, Mrs Fisher and Miss McClelland — are spending five days at the Snowy Owl Inn from where they will travel to the New Hampshire resorts of Loon and Waterville.

Après ski activities include snow tubing and bowling while the hotel also offers an

indoor swimming pool.

As if that wasn’t enough, the group will then travel to New York City for dinner at the Hard Rock Café via a major shopping outlet.

On the last day they will be visiting Top of the Rock in New York followed by a trip to the 9/11 Memorial Fountains. After a final look around NYC sites, they will travel back from JFK airport to the UK and arrive back on March 31.

TRIP OF A LIFETIME: Snowsports at Loon Mountain and Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, followed by a chance to see New York.

COMBERTON SIXTH FORM

‘Fond memories’ of very wet trip The day of the geography Malham Field Study trip finally came upon us with a great cold, wet and most importantly a great start to our preparation for our Unit 2 exam. deal of apprehension, anticipation and ultimately horror at the fact we would have to For many it was the trip of nightmares but at the end of the day, the staff at the stand in a river in Yorkshire for a weekend (with a forecast of torrential rain for 48 Malham Field Study Centre and the Comberton staff, made it bearable and I know I hours!). will look back at it with fond memories.

However, although most people will believe the contrary (especially Tilly), it wasn’t I would just like to say, on the behalf of all Year 12 geography students, a huge too bad, and we were able collect some cracking data with the help of the truly thank you to all the staff who gave up their weekend for us and to the Malham lovely members of staff from both Comberton and the Malham Field Study Centre Centre staff for the hospitability and great advice.

We – a group of 40 intrepid AS Level geographers accompanied by five staff Dan Norman (L6-GM) members, who were abnormally excited by the notion of spending their weekend freezing cold and with no mobile signal — arrived in the depths of deepest darkest Yorkshire fearing the worst.

After a short tour of the beautiful Field Study Centre overlooking Malham Tarn, we were allocated rooms and given time to settle in before our first lessons began. We were introduced to our study, our hypotheses and sampling methods. This, curiously, involved going out on to the lawn to RIVER inspect the molehills, which took most of us by surprise.

WORK: After a few inspired photos of the lake, we returned to the classroom to Year 12 have a final wrap-up of the day’s work which was followed by a students wholesome dinner (at least I thought it was) and some much needed R & collect R before going to bed, completely exhausted. data Saturday, the day of truth, finally arrived as this was our day of data samples collection in the river. To start with, we arrived at the classroom and were during introduced to our data collection methods and given some helpful tips to their ensure that we would be able to get through the day without getting too Yorkshire wet or drowning! field trip.

After this, we collected our data collection equipment and loaded ourselves into a somewhat damp minibus which would take us up to the river. Upon arrival, we walked, for what felt like ages, to the mouth of the river which was actually further downhill than anticipated due to the The Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions for the Gold Award 2016 and Gold Award 2017 biblical amount of rainfall which preceded us. groups are under way.

Already completely soaked, we began collecting our data which involved This year’s group headed to Grafham Water for a Training Weekend, which included walking across the channel in order to take measurements and collect detailed navigation practice, night navigation and a physical endurance challenge. rock samples as well as other tests which formed part of our data sets.

Following this, they will be heading to the Lake District on 26th March for their And we all had to do this in what felt like sub-zero conditions and I had a Practice Expedition involving four days and three nights roaming the mountains and hole in my wellie which made the whole experience just a bit more wild camping. Update to follow in the next News@Com. terrible. Despite this, we were able to collect some brilliant data with the help of the Malham staff whose knowledge of the river was invaluable.

The Gold 2017 group is newly formed and includes 17 sixth form students at CSF. About three hours later, we arrived back at the minibuses, all looking Their first expedition will be in the Chiltern Hills alongside the Bronze DofE groups for forward to a warm meal and dry clothes, especially the dry clothes! a weekend in this Springl.

On our final day, Sunday, we, again were treated to a delightful As part of their Gold DofE programme, students will assist the Year 10 Bronze breakfast. We then had a few hours of lessons to help us summarise, students with their navigation and camping skills. analyse and evaluate our data before we had to leave.

Students will work alongside staff and volunteers to recap their basic skills and share The five-hour journey home was one of mixed emotions, pure joy of their knowledge. They will then complete their own walk on the Sunday as a teamreturning to civilisation and most importantly WiFi (which Caitlin promised building activity. These students will also accompany the Bronze assessed expedition she would never leave again!) and a sense of sadness that we would be in October 2016 to assist the participants. leaving a truly beautiful place and lovely people who had helped us so The Gold 2017 group will spend the first year working towards their volunteering, skill much in preparing our data. But, for many, the first emotion was more and physical sections of the award before starting their own expeditions in 12 months’ dominant! time.

Overall, the Year 12 Malham field trip was a mixed bag of pain, laughter,

Countdown to gold expedition

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Scholarship opportunity Two students are in the running for a prestigious snowsports scholarship after the Comberton’s Development Course.

thereby ended up actually skiing across a vast area of the Aosta valley on a broad range of pistes.

Year 11 skiiers Jamie Johnson and Lily-Mae Segrave were both filmed by trip organisers Interski to be considered for their scholarship programme next winter.

The scholarship funds training to BASI standard and includes sessions in the UK with four weeks of residentials during the winter school breaks in the Aosta valley, Italy, where the Comberton trip was based.

The duo were among a number of accomplished skiiers and snowboarders on the trip, with some having their skills assessed and filmed for inclusion as one of their GCSE PE practicals.

There were also some complete beginners in the party of 43, who set off for Italy for some early season snowsport at the start of the Chritmas holidays.

The group was fortunate to be able to stay in the lovely Hotel Valdigne situated in the pretty little village of Morgex.

The Interski co-ordinator told us that this is one of the first hotels Interski used more than 30 years ago and that it is still run by the very welcoming Adelina and her family. We soon appreciated why the company have been returning guests there for so long.

Snow conditions were not fantastic in Cormayeur at the start of the week so the party transferred to Pila to ski the high north-facing slopes.

TALENT IS SPOTTED: Lily-Mae Segrave and Jamie Johnson were filmed for Later in the week they returned to Cormayeur for the last few days and a possible ski scholarship.

And just a few weeks later . . .

What a difference a few weeks can make!

The snow was piled high, we couldn’t get the coaches to the hotel! It really did look like a scene from a Christmas card when we arrived back in Italy for the Foundation Course at half-term.

More than 100 Comberton and Cambourne students heaved bags from the three coaches through this snowy wonderland to the welcome of the Hotel Telecabine.

Following the best lasagne lunch we had ever tasted, we headed up the mountain to be sorted with boots, skis, boards and poles.

Following an early night, our morning larks were

greeted by blue skies, bright sun and glistening white snow. With a sense of anticipation, we headed off to meet our instructors and into our snow sport lessons; the first ever for many of us.

After our morning of new exertions — ‘are you sure my ankles should flex that far?’ — it was time for an early lunch in one of the mountain restaurants.

It’s amazing how hungry you get skiing and boarding, and a lunch of classic Italian pasta and pizza, washed down with the thickest hot chocolate ever seen — it requires a spoon to retrieve it from the mug — was all very welcome.

Our afternoon lessons were followed by a retreat to

the luxury of the hotel and a chance to rest weary, aching limbs.

Dinner in the hotel dining room was followed by a range of après ski activities, including a disco, ice skating, a visit to an ice cream parlour for the best ice cream we’ve ever tasted and a very lively night out at the pizzeria.

With many thanks to all the pupils, teachers, Mums, Dads and younger siblings for a very enjoyable week.

Nick Evans , Snowsports Co-Ordinator

Planning ahead Over a number of years we have found that the best way to provide information about next year’s snowsports courses is to invite all those interested in participating to the trip reunion from the current year.

At this event we show pictures and video clips of the activities on the courses, talk about the organisation of the trips, and possibly tell one or two of the funny, not-at-all embarrassing, stories.

If you are interested in participating in any of the snowsport activities being organised for 2016-17 and would like to know more, please join us at the reunion evening on Thursday April 21 at 7.15 in the Performance Hall.

There will be information available for the Foundation and Development courses in Italy, snowboard taster sessions at Milton Keynes and the ski and snowboarding options for Activities Week.

Board not bored!

FUN IN THE SNOW: During the Foundation Course at half-term.

Forty-two Year 7 students will have the opportunity to learn how to snowboard this spring.

Three trips, each comprising 14 students, will visit Xscape in Milton Keynes and receive professional tuition in a two-hour snowboard lesson.

This offers a great introduction to anyone interested in snowsports and snowboarding and requires absolutely no experience.

The dates of the trips are Tuesday May 3, Wednesday May 4 and Tuesday May 10. On each date the minibus will leave Comberton at 3:00pm and return at approximately 9:30pm.

Year 7 have been told about this opportunity in assembly and a letter has gone out via CombertonPost. Any questions should be addressed to organiser Matt Mannas.

In the event of over-subscription names will be drawn from a hat and a waiting list will operate.

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

Leaps and bounds . . .

Teams of Year 3 and 4 gymnasts from 12 South Cambs primary schools took part in the South Cambs School Sports Partnerships Key Steps Gymnastics Competition at Comberton Village College.

The mood was quietly focused while the children demonstrated their skills on the vault and floor in front of the judges and spectators.

At stake was the chance to represent South Cambs SSP at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough School Games Spring Festival, with the top two schools qualifying to take on the best from across the county.

The mixed teams of six children all had to perform a vault and then either a floor or body management routine with each performance given a score out of 10.

Individual scores from both disciplines were BOXING then combined to give an overall team score CLEVER: out of a maximum of 120.

The competition was fierce and fewer than five A Coton points separated the top five teams. With strong gymnast on the performances from the whole team it was vault box.

Linton Heights who claimed the title.

It was certainly close though, with last year’s winners, Coton, finishing just 0.4 behind. Both teams represented South Cambs in the Spring Finals earlier this month. In third place were Meridian School, newcomers to the event this year.

The top three highest scoring individuals were also awarded medals, with first place going to Isabella Howarth (Meridian), ahead of Lucy Phillips (Bassingbourn) and Manuela Jiggins (Coton).

Qualified young judges from Melbourn, Cambourne, Swavesey and Cottenham village colleges as well as coaches from the County Young Coach Academy did an expert job in scoring, keeping the competition running smoothly and encouraging and supporting the young gymnasts.

The ‘Spirit of the Games’ award went to Jeavons Wood Primary School for showing great determination, while supporting and encouraging their team mates.

Claire McDonnell, South Cambs School Games Organiser said, “The young judges did an exceptional job; we couldn’t have run the competition without them.

“It was really pleasing to see the standard of gymnastics, I think it gets better every year.”

Caldecote snatch runners-up spot It was a competitive afternoon at Swavesey Village College as 19 teams battled it out at the Partnership tag rugby north cluster event.

The competition for Year 5/6 teams was a qualification round for the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Sainsbury’s School Games Spring Finals with the top team going through to represent South Cambs alongside Steeple Morden, winners of the south cluster event.

The competition was played in a round robin format before qualifying through to either Division 1, 2, 3 or 4 based on their results.

The teams winning through to the top division included reigning champions Fenstanton & Hilton as well as Over, Caldecote, Swavesey and Histon & Impington.

As expected the second round of matches were much closer with some really competitive play.

SPIRITED: Dry Drayton’s Spirit of the Games winners.

Fenstanton proved too strong for any opposition

though and remained unbeaten throughout the competition to retain the title. Caldecote were runners-up.

The new ‘Spirit of the Games’ award went to Dry Drayton, Cambridgeshire’s smallest primary school, whose team played with great determination and displayed great teamwork and respect throughout the competition.

Claire McDonnell, Partnership Manager said: “It was an exciting afternoon of competition.

“It was nice to see so many different schools represented in the competition; we have had 36 teams take part in our tag rugby events this year, which is fantastic.

Fenstanton and Steeple Morden represented South Cambs SSP at the Spring Finals on March 17, as did Haslingfield and Hatton Park, who qualified in the small schools competition.

Spreading the health message Earlier this term the SCSSP held its first can now help educate and upskill their Change 4 Life Champions and Mentors colleagues and potentially other schools training. locally.

Ian Rose, a two-time Paralympic Judo There are now 10 Change 4 Life clubs in medal winner, gave a great motivational South Cambs and to celebrate, a Change talk to inspire them to inspire others to 4 Life festival was held on March 21 at reach their potential.

Comberton Village College, giving the There were 10 schools from South children the opportunity to show what Cambs and Cambridge at the training, five of which brought children to be trained as champions, including Monkfield Park and Meldreth.

These children have been attending the Change 4 Life club in their school and have seen the benefits.

They are now sharing the healthy, active lifestyle message, that Change 4 Life promotes nationally, within their school.

While the children were learning to be Champions, the Change 4 Life club deliverers were training LEARNING: Ian Rose helps train Change to be mentors. These deliverers 4 Life Champions.

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SMALL SCHOOLS CHAMPIONS: Meldreth Primary School.

Flying the flag for Cambs Teams of children from across Cambridgeshire recently joined in the English Schools FA county finals at King's School, Ely. Three tournaments took place at the same time — an under-11 mixed sevena-side competition, a small schools event and a girls' competition.

Congratulations to Meldreth Primary School and Histon & Impington Junior School, who won the small schools and girls competitions respectively, with Jeavons Wood finishing in a respectable second place in the girls event. All three schools had qualified for the County finals as South Cambs representatives and Histon Juniors and Meldreth went through to the regional finals which were due to be played at Thamsemead in South London this term.

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JUST BEACHY: Both Coton and Haslingfield’s Year 4/5 dances were based ‘On the Beach’

A chance to dance!

The Annual Comberton Family Dance Share took place earlier this month with five Comberton or Cambourne feeder Primary Schools performing and watching examples of dances all the way from Year 3 to Year 12.

Rebecca Tyrrell, Head of Dance, and all her Year 11 Dance Leaders from CVC were on hand to ensure that each school had plenty of practice time and that every pupil performed to their best ability.

The units of work from The Vine had the theme of ‘Machines’ while Caldecote’s unit of work was ‘Cold Places’.

SELF-IMAGE: The theme for the KS3 dance leaders’ piece

Years 4/5 from Coton and Haslingfield both used ‘On the Beach’ as their inspiration and finally Monkfield Park’s Year 5 class had the ‘Victorians’ as theirs.

CVC performances had a range of themes, with Year 7 girls performing Bollywood, Year 9 girls and boys looking at ‘Addiction’ through dance while the Year 11 GCSE students’ work was their group Swansong Performance.

A DVD resource has now been produced for all the schools to use within their Dance Lessons as inspiration of what can be achieved.

All the Primary School pupils had a fantastic and positive experience, with many thanks to Miss Tyrrell for helping to co-ordinate and refine each of the dances performed.

URBAN: A performance by students in Year 8.

East call-up as Micah hits new heights Micah Gillings has been called up to the Under-16 East their opponents’ defence. both the District and County tournaments. A narrow of England basketball squad. two-point defeat by Chesterton in the County Cup pool In the District preliminary rounds at Swavesey, the The tall Year 10 is a real prospect for the future if he meant that the boys could not qualify to the further boys had excellent wins over the hosts and Melbourn, keeps improving at his current rate. rounds. Kayde Sylvester nearly snatched a victory in but could not defeat a physical Parkside team, who Two other members of the Under-16 Comberton team, the game when his half-court buzzer-beater rattled in won a tight game by three points sending them through Patryk Przewozny and Theo Rutherford, have also and out of the hoop to the relief of the Chesterton to the finals at Long Road Sixth Form. really improved over the last two seasons and are players.

The Under-14 team played some excellent games in hoping to carry on their At the District tournament at basketball development at the Swavesey, the boys came Long Road Basketball Academy away winless with losses to next year.

Chesterton (again) and the Their team has shown great hosts in two very close improvement during the season, matches. in which they competed in the It is a great credit to them County and District that we had more than10 competitions. players available for each In the County Cup, they were game and some real comprehensive winners against improvements were shown The Perse, where their offense by many of the boys in Year really clicked and they scored 8, who will play at this age more than 50 points. group again next year.

They missed out on qualification The well-attended lunchtime for the next stage as they were basketball club is paying unable to overcome a quality dividends with some real defensive performance from St positives shown in the Bede’s in their second game. quality of the teams’ play Their last game saw them come this year. Signs are good for up against a strong Cottenham next season. side and their efforts fell short Fraser Kelsall, PE Dept when they had trouble finding IMPROVING: Comberton’s under-16 team made progress through the season. opportunities to break down

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The power to inspire On Thursday March 3 PE teachers Jane Clarke, Jo Pattrick, Claire McDonnell and Executive Principal Stephen Munday attended the annual Youth Sport Trust conference.

This is an incredible event where teachers attend to learn of the latest innovations and outstanding practice within PE. We were treated to some exceptional presentations and speeches from Baroness Greenfield, Dr Bird and Tim Shriver.

Baroness Greenfield provided compelling arguments and evidence for the need to leave our digital screens at home and get outside into green open spaces, indeed our health and wellbeing depend on it.

Dr Bird managed to ensure that everyone in the room felt very uncomfortable with the thought of sitting down as he confirmed the importance of being on our feet for our health and longevity rather than sitting

importance of the Special Olympics.

In addition, the excellence of our PE department was highlighted by Jane Clarke leading a clinic for delegates on ‘The Future Proofing of PE’, highlighting how to make PE at the heart of the school, developing students’ health, well-being, life skills and character.

Jo Pattrick led a session on a recent pilot scheme we have been running called ‘My PB’. This initiative explores the importance of PE in developing essential FLEXIBILITY skills such as empathy, resilience, motivation, LESSON: determination, aspiration among others.

For Stephen The chair of the Youth Sport Trust is Baroness Sue Munday Campbell and she always delivers truly inspirational from Pussy workshops and speeches.

Cat Doll She provided head teachers, senior leaders and PE Kimberley teachers with no other option than to fully appreciate Wyatt. the importance of PE in the whole education of students not least their health and future well-being. down for long periods of time, further supporting our However, perhaps most important were the tips Mr form time walk in the morning.

Munday gained from Kimberley Wyatt, Youth Sport Finally Tim Shriver pulled on our emotions as he Trust ambassador, professional dancer and Pussy Cat eloquently explored the need for inclusive PE and the Doll on the importance of flexibility and suppleness.

Rowers reap rewards There was plenty of success for Comberton students at the annual School Games rowing competition at Cambourne Village College.

Up against the hosts and Cottenham Village College, students had a mix of competitive and friendly rows, with all taking part in a timed individual row to see who could go furthest, followed by some mixed team friendly races.

Students worked incredibly hard and showed fantastic team spirit, cheering and coaching each other.

Sixth former Steven Levett, our resident rowing coach, ensured that students worked themselves to exhaustion!

Oona Lonergan won the Year 7 girls’ competition with a distance of 451 metres in two minutes while Will Woodward came second in the equivalent boys’ event with 471 metres.

In the Year 8 boys competition Lewis Hall won with 556 metres ahead of Tom Sharrock in third with 532 metres and Fox Pollock (fourth) with 493 metres.

In the Year 11 competition Anne-Marie Verwoerd took top spot for the girls with 1300m and Paul Sayle also won (1457m), both in six minutes.

All schools showed great sportsmanship and worked incredibly well together when performing in the mixed team competitions.

OLYMPIC PARK: Netballers on their way to the Copper Box in London.

International inspiration MAXIMUM EFFORT: At the interschools rowing competition at Cambourne Village College.

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A group of netballers from Comberton VC, Cambourne VC and Cambourne Netball Club all joined together to travel to the Cooper Box arena to watch England v Australia as part of the International series.

The girls were treated to front row seats as they watched a competitive battle between the two teams. Despite some excellent play from the England squad, the Australian team were very strong and took a convincing lead from the third quarter.

The girls soaked up the atmosphere and made the most of their excellent seats to get lots of autographs signed by the England players at the end of the match.

Many of the girls were inspired by what they saw and, hopefully, will use the experience to help them in the netball season.

If any pupils would like to play more club netball, Cambourne Netball Club are currently recruiting players in all years from 7-11. Training takes place on a Thursday evening at Cambourne Village college from 5.30-7.00pm. All new players are offered two free trial sessions.

For further information please contact the club at cambournejuniornetball@outlook.com

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Staff clock best times

FASTER: Comberton’s ‘super seven’ who all set personal best times at the Cambridge half-marathon.

Seven of the eight Comberton staff who took part in the Cambridge Half-Marathon set personal best times.

Head of PE Jane Clarke, Head of Dance Rebecca Tyrrell plus PE teachers Julia Scarboro, Paula Fisher and Kirsty McKenzie all recorded their fastest times for the 13.1-mile race, as did Head of Year 7 Marielle Burgess and cover supervisor José Morá.

Only Heidi Clarke, who works at Comberton Sports and Arts, missed out on a best time and put that down to having had flu during the build-up to the race at the end of February.

Pupils rise to challenge Another action packed inter-form competition saw students put through their paces in a challenging crosscountry race and a hotly-contested hockey tournament.

The Year 7 boys had been honing their skills throughout the hockey unit of work, all building towards a highly-anticipated competition.

Each form group put forward an A and B team and set about using their knowledge and tactics to come out victorious over the two leagues.

The results went right down to the wire and in the end M came out as worthy winners, followed closely by B and C. The Year 7 girls embarked on their second cross country run of the year, and conditions could not have been more different to the first. This time the runners were faced with a dry and fast course, which allowed a large number to gain PBs. With excellent running and constant jostling for position, Alice Daniels came out victorious in the X half, with Dulcie Gilbertson second and and Katie Elkington third. In the Y half Lily Goodwin won, followed by Kate Walsh and Amy Farrell.

This run saw the start of a new scoring system, with the first five runners home from each form group scored their position in points (1st place = 1 point, 10th place = 10 points) and the form with the lowest total would be crowned winners. This meant all runners had an impact on the overall result and led to finish-line sprints to secure the fewest points. Across the year group O and T were the overall winners.

Year 8 had a football tournament for the boys and cross-country for the girls.

The boys, all full of confidence, and desperate to be crowned champions were given the added bonus of having qualified officials for all their games.

The Year 12 and 13 BTEC students were completing their football refereeing award and lent their skills for the competition.

Again all tutor groups fielded an A and B team and both competitions were fiercely competitive; the play was interlinking, scoring a range of goals with a few upsets along the way.

There was a constant change at the top of the table with the opportunity for all IT’S ALL OVER: Girls in 7Y at the end of their cross-country run. teams to claim victory. However, it was M in the X half and E and the Year 7 Overall Leaderboard Y half, who finally came out on top. All pupils should Total Points be congratulated; it was a fantastic tournament from Boys Girls Overall start to finish.

C 10 9 19 The year 8 girls were embarking on their second O 9 13 22 cross-country run of the year, and were eager to run M 12 10 22 well and all embraced the new scoring system.

B 11 11 22 During the warm-up there was talk of tactics and E 7 9 16 strategies on how to secure the fewest points possible.

R 4 5 9 Again the course was dry, but there was a fierce T 7 10 17 headwind that proved difficult and positions in the main N 3 12 15 pack constantly changed. This was by far the closest V 10 10 20 contest with just a few points separating first and fourth place. Taking the win for the X half was O and for the Year 8 Overall Leaderboard Y half, R. Individual accolades went to Eleanor Davies Total Points (first) Sasha Bottali (second) and Evie Joseph (third) Boys Girls Overall from the X half, and Hannah Williams (first) Bethany C 10 11 21 Martin (second and Emma Hayward (third) from the Y O 10 12 22 half.

M 13 7 20 B 10 12 22 E 13 6 19 Congratulations to Year 7 pupil Lily Goodwin for her R 8 14 22 achievement when representing Cambridgeshire at the T 11 8 19 Anglian Schools cross country championship in N 6 6 12 Boston.Lily was running for the minor girls team and V 8 11 19 finished 39th in a very strong field.

Lily runs for Cambs

Coton lead the way into netball finals Coton and Caldecote each secured two top three finishes in the High 5 Netball Tournament hosted at Comberton and run by the Year 12 BTEC Sport students.

Coton topped both the A and B team competitions to lead the charge of the 12 competing teams, who now all go into the finals at Impington Village College after the Easter holidays.

Caldecote were third in both the sections, Haslingfield taking runners-up spot in the A event and Meridian finishing second in the B competition.

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ALL GO: Action from the Primary Schools’ High 5 netball tournament at Comberton.

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National runners-up Comberton has the second best under-15 girls’ school squash team in the country.

And they missed top spot in the National Championshps at Nottingham by the narrowest of margins, going down 3-2 to Gosforth Academy.

The team of Casey Miller, Ellis Miller, Millie Prothero, Alicja Emmans and Millie Banks were rewarded for earlier wins in the knockout rounds of the competition with a place in the finals for the best eight schools.

The girls’ quarter-final opponents were Downhouse School, and they came back from 2-1 down to win 3-2 thanks to victories from the Miller sisters and Millie P. Gosforth Academy have strength in depth, with both their A and B teams reaching the Nottingham finale. And it was the B team who provided Comberton with their semi-final opposition. Again Comberton found themselves behind, this time 2-0.

It meant both the Year 10 girls, Casey and Millie P had to win to keep Comberton in it. Casey took her match in straight games after a nervy start while Millie won the first set, lost the second then maintained her composure to take the decider 11-9.

With the match all square it was left to Ellis, the youngest member of the team, to get Comberton into the final.

Ellis got off to a flying start, dominating the first game and winning 11-4. The second game was neck and neck, with both girls exchanging points and reaching a tiebreak. Ellis kept her nerve and won a marathon 15-13.

The final clashes were the best of five games, so the girls all had to regroup and recover for their third match of the day.

Millie Banks was first on court and went down 3-0 to a strong Gosforth No 5.

Next on were Casey and Alicja, looking to get wins on the board for Comberton.

Casey had a hard-fought first game, but despite trailing 6-10, managed to turn the game around and won 13-11. The next two games were smooth sailing as she clinically picked her opponent off with some superb volleying.

Alicja put up a brave fight against, but her opponent had too much for her and she was defeated 3-0.

With Comberton 2-1 down, the pressure was once again on Ellis and Millie P. Ellis gave her all against a tricky left-handed opponent but went down 3-0, narrowly losing the crucial second game.

In Millie’s match the first two games were very close and split evenly before Millie took control of the middle of the court to overpower her opponent and take the match 3-1.

Comberton coach Rob Dadds said: “Well done to the girls for some fantastic performances and great effort in all their matches on finals day, in the knockout

NATIONAL FINALISTS: The under-15 team (above) finished second and the under-19s (left) were fifth. rounds of the competition, and for the amazing achievement of finishing second in the country!

“Many thanks for the hard work of Julie Miller in organising the girls’ fixtures and to all the parents who helped transport the players to their matches.”

The following day the three youngest players, Casey, Ellis and Millie P joined two sixth formers, Charlotte Davies and Hannah Gingell, to play in the Under-19 National School Finals.

Having finished in fifth last year, the girls were hoping for a place in the top four.

Unfortunately for the team this time, the draw was pulled out of a hat and the girls played their main rivals, Gosforth, in the first round….and narrowly lost 3-2.

This put Comberton into the group playing for positions 5- 8 only.

They faced High Wycombe School, dropping only one game in all five matches, then took on Wycombe Abbey for fifth place. The girls stormed through their opponents without dropping a single a game and finished in the same spot as last year.

Courts full of players Since September, Badminton club has been extremely busy with KS3 and KS4 students filling the courts each Friday afternoon to play recreationally and competitively.

This year, students have been involved in the Sainsbury School Games competitions at KS3 and KS4 with their performances going towards Comberton’s overall position in the league.

Notable performances have come from the KS3 boys who won their tournament and the KS3 girls, who were second and third in theirs.

COMPETITIVE: Comberton’s representatives at the county schools individual championships.

Getting to grips with the bat Jamie Segal swapped his tennis racket for a bat to reach the semi-finals of the Cambridgeshire Schools Table Tennis Assoication’s individual championships at Coleridge School.

The Year 10 student lost 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 in the battle to get into the final. Fellow Year 10 students Michael Baker and Alex Sellars were knocked out in the group stages.

However, Michael’s Year 7 sister, Lily, finished second in her age group, beaten only by a much more experienced player on a fun day for all involved.

Back at Comberton, table tennis club has been well attended since September with students regularly attending to improve and develop their playing skills.

Players have been involved in the Sainsbury School Games competitions at KS3 and KS4, with their performances going towards Comberton VC’s overall position in the league, the results of which will be confirmed next term.

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TEAM PLAYERS: For Comberton’s badminton teams.

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Harry earns a CAT call REACHING OUT: Comberton students at the Outreach Show.

Students show off skills Comberton students were once again invited to take part on in the annual dance show organised by Cambridge Performing Arts and the Body Work Company Dance Studios.

The dancers performed in The Great Hall Theatre at The Leys School earlier this term. The show featured performances from Comberton VC, The hosts, The Perse School, Cambourne Village College and students studying at Body Work.

It was the first time that some of Comberton’s AS Dance work was showcased, which was a huge privilege and exposed the hardworking and talented dancers at Comberton.

Eighty Comberton dancers performed in total ranging from Year 7-12.

Head of Dance Rebecca Tyrrell said: “We were the most represented school in the show and the pupils behaved impeccably and performed fantastically. I was very proud of the dancers and they too should feel proud of their hard work and commitment.”

Classes offer so much ON THE CAT-WALK: After being identified as having exceptional potential.

A Year 8 pupil has been identified as having exceptional potential in dance.

Harry Walkow-Foster has been given a place on the CAT scheme (Centre for Advanced Training), which is a nationwide project funded through the Department for Education’s Music and Dance scheme.

He explained: “Many dance centres around England take the CAT scheme — for me it was important to find the right one to suit my style and needs.

“I travel on the train for 50 minutes to The Place, or London Contemporary Dance School. In my Saturday session I do 1.5 hrs of Contemporary dance in a class of about 10 people (the audition process is quite tough, so is the scheme), where we work on fundamental dance techniques — posture, arms, stamina, ability to comprehend movement etc.

“Then I take ballet. We work on basic ballet movements, including pirouettes, bar work and other different dance combos. Then I have Creative, which is a great session in which not only do we get a release from the sometimes tough confines of technique classes.

“We improvise movement — looking at how dances are choreographed, and the many components that go into it: as well as how emotion is conveyed through a piece. It’s great to hear each person’s opinion about the piece that someone performs — it helps you see it through a wide range of perspectives.

“I have so much support provided from by this scheme. It means that anyone, from all walks of life, has the opportunity to become someone great at something they love. Every Saturday I look forward to what is ahead, because I feel lucky that I have found what I enjoy, and what I hope to keep enjoying for a long time.

“Every session is just a stepping stone in our journey to get better. Every teacher is there to help us be the best we can be. We also have other sessions for physiotherapy appointments, flexibility training and Easter and Summer intensives in which we extensively hone our skills as a performer.”

Comberton’s Head of Dance Rebecca Tyrrell said: “Harry also regularly attends after school dance classes and is part of junior Response, a dance group that students audition to be in.

“I am thrilled that he has been accepted on to the CAT scheme and, knowing what a hard-working and passionate dancer he is, I have every confidence he will continue to grow as a performer and choreographer. Congratulations Harry!”

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PERFORMERS: At the Winter Dance Showcase.

Picture: Charlie Rayner

Students who performed in the Winter Showcase had no time to rest on their laurels after another sell-out dance extravaganza.

They started working almost immediately on the pieces which were showcased at this week’s Easter Show on Wednesday.

Head of Dance Rebecca Tyrrell said of the winter spectacular: “It was another fabulous show, which showcased the students’ hard work, dedication and passion for dance.”

It was equally well-received by the students themselves.

Alice Heydinger (9E) said: “All the dances in the show started being prepared at the very beginning of the term. The four classes I attended taught me new things.

Firstly, and inevitably, I learned new moves! I also learn how to warm myself up and stretch, which is very useful, and I improved my variety of movement which then helped me to choreograph my own routines for that show and many other dances for future shows.

“Working with the professional teachers and lots of friends to create a show dance is something I look forward to every week. I love to do the dance classes and as a consequence of the fun I had last term I now attend even more dance classes.”

Alice O'Connell (9R) commented: “Not only did I love learning the different routines and working with the dance teachers, I also enjoyed just dancing with my friends and enjoying it together. We learned lots of different tricks and moves which I will be able to use again in other dances! I can't believe we manage to fit it all in and learn and perfect it in about 7-8 weeks.”

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Setting sail for France!

Arthur Connolly will be working on water this summer.

While his fellow Year 10 pupils are busy with their work experience placements, Arthur will be representing Great Britain’s under-16s at the European Laser 4.7 sailing championships in France.

Not that he will be having an easy time of it with sailors spending around seven hours a day alone during international sea-based events.

The competition will also require total concentration as well as a high level of physical fitness over the eight days of competition.

And he expects to be back for a land-based placement during the second week of work experience!

Inspired by his older brother who was already a keen sailor, Arthur took up the sport five years ago after picking up a bad injury playing rugby. It is something the whole family have become hooked on as they like the combination of athleticism, strategy and quick-

thinking involved.

He has been racing regularly since 2012 and is currently in the top 20 Laser sailors in his age group in the UK, having switched from Optimists in 2014..

It’s a sport that involves long hours on the road as well as on the water as the 15-yearold trains at Lymington Yacht Club, with former GB Olympian Hannah Snellgrove, and Weymouth, as well as at GB CALL: For Comberton’s Arthur Connolly Rutland Water in the East season so he will be hoping for rough seas in France.

Midlands with the UK Laser Association.

The Dutch and Spanish are the teams to beat across a He is also a member at Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in range of conditions, but the GB juniors come into their Burnham-on-Couch in Essex, where he started racing. own if the weather’s bad as they do a lot of winter sea This summer’s competition will mark Arthur’s last year training. in the juniors as he moves up to the youth section next

It all adds up to a pro deal Tom Meechan is wearing a number these days rather than teaching students about them.

The 25-year-old former Comberton maths teacher (above) has a new career — as a professional footballer!

He has joined League Two side Newport County after his goalscoring exploits for Godmanchester and St Neots caught the attention of a number of League clubs.

He scored 53 in one season for Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division Godmanchester, then was the top scorer for Evostik League, Southern Division, St Neots with a division-best of 21.

After finishing his degree at Birmingham University, he completed a PGCE conversion course and started work at Comberton, alongside playing for Godmanchester.

“To start a teaching career is quite hectic," he said.

"Training during my PGCE year and being first year as a teacher, it was quite difficult to juggle playing football at the same time, with all the travelling and everything involved in that.

“I think I will miss teaching, I did really enjoy it, but it's too good an opportunity to turn down to become a footballer."

Not bad for a player who was not even considered for his university’s first team.

Another Channel-hopper English vaulting champion Lexi Day has been invited to two England training camps this spring.

She is due to go to Ermelo in The Netherlands next month, followed by a trip to Belgium in May. Her call-up follows victory in the child individual class at the national championships last term after only taking up vaulting a couple of years ago.

It is a success all the more remarkable as Lexi suffers from bad asthma attacks which have seen her referred to the Severe Asthma Clinic at Addenbrooke’s.

However she tries not to let it interfere with her school work or her vaulting — best described a gymnastics on horseback — which she does two or three times a week at the College of West TRAINING IN EUROPE: For Lexi Day. Anglia.

Sporting success rewarded

Twenty-one Comberton students were among almost 250 Year 11s from across the Cambridge area to receive a Roy Burrell award.

At a ceremony at Netherhall School, the students, who have all gained at least District representative honours or’ equivalent in their chosen sport were given a commemorative medal.

The Roy Burrell awards were set up by the Cambridge and District Secondary School Sports Association (CDSSSA) in honour of the former Chesterton Community College deputy head, who died aged just 49, but was passionate about sport and engaging young people in it.

Those who attended heard from Max Holden, who collected a medal while at Sawston Village College and who is now combining studies at Hills Rd Sixth Form College with a professional cricket career with Middlesex and playing for England under-18s and under-19s.

He told them the only way to achieve to work hard. This was echoed by the other guest speaker, John Willis, who has overcome severe disabilities to not only gain a law degree from the University of Cambridge, but also to take part in a range of sports. He also told them to never give up.

Despite having no fully formed limbs, he is using the power of sport to bring together disabled and nondisabled people through adapted sporting activities.

He is also undertaking a Road2Rio challenge where he aims to participate in every paralympic sport before the Games in Rio this summer.

Through his Power2Inspire company he is also aiming to get 9330 people to be involved in an ‘Inclusive Kilometre’ to match the 9330km from Cambridge to Rio. More information is available at www.power2inspire.org.uk Comberton Deputy Head of School Sean Sycamore, the out-going chairman of the CDSSSA, said: “We are delighted to celebrate the excellence, particiaption and sportsmanship that is characteristic of sport in Cambridgeshire. Many congratulations to all the award winners. We encourage you to continue to enjoy your own and others’ success through sport.”

Representatives of 40 different sports, as well as leadership, were honoured.

Comberton’s winners were: Sam Clarke (athletics), Patryk Przewozny (basketball), Sean Purser (cycling), Kiron Austin, Dan Summerfield (both fencing), Immy McNally, Ellie Abraham, Robert Slatter, Lily-Mae Segrave, Matt Chandler, Katie Mortimer (all dance), Annalie Barker (horse riding), Angus Thomson, Karti Malik (both cricket), Joe Thompson, Henry Breeze (both rugby), BADGE OF HONOUR: THe Comberton students who attended the Roy Natasha Howard, Millie Emmans (both swimming), Steve Lewis (football), Sophie Coomes, Alex Cooke (both leadership).

Burrell Awards ceremony with their medals.

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