News@Com Winter2021

NEWS COM

@CombertonVC & @CombertonSF

www.combertonvc.org & www.combertonsixthform.org

The Magazine of Comberton Village College ISSUE 58, WINTER 2021

HELPING TOWARDS A HAPPIER CHRISTMAS — PAGE 3

COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

Walking to benefit others PACE FOR POUNDS: Students on the Walk for the World to raise funds for Comberton’s international partners.

Staff and students were delighted to put The Cam Academy Trust’s International Principle into practice with the return of Walk for the World.

For the first time since 2018 — thanks to inclement weather and the Covid-19 pandemic — the whole school set off on what should be an annual fund-raising three-mile walk.

The sun shone, short sleeves were the order of the day and there was no need for wellies as more than 2000 people enjoyed a leisurely stroll from the college to Toft church, across the Cambridge Meridian golf course and fields (on a public footpath) to Comberton church before returning to school in time for the afternoon buses.

Thanks to donations from families, friends and staff members, there is now more than £4,600 ready to support Comberton’s overseas partners and uphold the Trust principle that ‘the curriculum inside and outside the classroom must have a clear international dimension.’

q Offering Festive cheer — 3 q Gifts that keep giving — 3 q Organised CHaOS — 4 q Curriculum Extension Days — 5, 6&7 q Focus on Careers — 8 & 9 q Trust Latest — 10 q Sixth Form News — 11-14 q Eco Latest — 15

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These partners include Edendale School in Pretoria, South Africa, whose links with Comberton have been going for an incredible 25 years.

Funds from the walk this year will fund specific work in the orphanage there.

Among other things, previous walks have funded two of the orphanage students from Edendale to come to England and spend a week in the college.

Comberton has a 13-year partnership with the Lord Byron School in Arequipa, Peru. During that time, the association has expanded to include work in a group of three orphanages (Casa Hogar) on specific projects.

In 2019, when Year 10 and 11 students were there, they helped children with their chores in one orphanage and supported a regular open morning for elderly homeless people from the local community in another.

The Walk for the World money from previous years has enabled the orphanage to update essential safety equipment (fire extinguishers, fluorescent strip lighting) and replace faulty kitchen equipment. This year we aim to support the education of older children in the orphanages, enabling several of them to continue longer in education.

There is no external funding to support these partnerships and many schools are unable to sustain international links like those enjoyed at Comberton.

Deputy Principal Sean Sycamore said: “We were incredibly pleased to be able to offer this important event for 2021 — particularly following the recent restrictions.

“Students and staff were able to engage in a fantastic community event, raising meaningful amounts of money to support international education — very much in line with the Trust principle of ‘Education for All’.

“With this event taking place outside and within our local community, it really promoted a sense of wellbeing whilst walking across the Cambridgeshire countryside for a worthy cause.

“In excess of 2,000 people were involved in the event, with local community members commenting on how pleased they were to see such an event restored.

“Well done to everyone involved and thank you to the families of our school community for the generous donations made.”

Contents

q Heat project Warming Up — 16 q Junction Visit — 16 q LiteracyTogether — 16 q Socials Return— 17 q MFL News — 18 & 19 q Core RPE Days — 19 q SCSSP Round-up — 20 q Expeditions are Back — 21 q Rugby Festival Delight — 21

q Basketball Battle— 21 q Olympic Aim — 23

q Girls on a Cup Run — 23

q First Hurdle Cleared — 23

q Trying New Sports — 23

q Explosion of Colour — 24

q Fantastic Start for Leaders — 24

q Stars in the Making — 24

Offering festive cheer

COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

A van load of Christmas cheer has been delivered to the Cambridge City Foodbank thanks to the generosity of the Comberton Village College and Sixth Form community.

The items collected have been made into 80 hampers to support the ‘Reverse Advent Calendar’ scheme, which aims to distribute 500 hampers to needy families during the festive season.

Students in Years 7-11 worked in tutor groups to try to collect enough of the items from a prescribed list to fill two hampers each.

Donations from staff and sixth formers were used to make additional hampers and complete those with any missing items.

And although seasonal items like selection boxes, chocolate logs or Christmas cake were included on the list, the plan is also to distribute some necessities such as shampoo and shower gel as well as longer-lasting items like tinned food and dried fruit.

Staff at the Foodbank, supported by The Trussell Trust which provides emergency food and support to people in crisis across the country, were thrilled with the donation.

Jeannette Friggebo said: “Please convey our heartfelt thanks from the Foodbank and Cambridge Sustainable Food, who are assembling the hampers. We are so

grateful for your continued support.”

Comberton teacher Scott Aitken, who oversaw the collection, said: “It was fantastic to once again see the amazing efforts of students at Comberton in putting together these hampers to support the Cambridge City Foodbank Christmas Hamper appeal.

“There was so many hampers made, there was barely room in the van to fit them all in! Through their donations, Comberton students will have made such a difference to so many families this Christmas time.”

David Clarke, Head of the Sixth Form, which added seven large boxes of goodies to the collection, commented: “We are delighted to support this local cause (and the Trussell Trust) as we know that families in our catchment and the South Cambs area will be faced with difficult decisions this winter due to the increased cost of living.

“We support both the Trussell Trust’s campaign for change and the work of individuals such as Marcus Rashford in raising the national profile of the importance of Free School Meals.”

Charity prefects Sam (11R) and Bethany (11C) said: “We as a community are hoping that with this donation we will help other families have a merrier Christmas, without worrying about where their meal is going to come from.”

SHARING IS CARING: Students with some of the donated goodies before they were delivered to the Foodbank.

The gifts that keep on giving . . .

The school Library would like to extend a huge thank you to the generous families who were able to donate books to us in the run up to Christmas.

Their contributions will benefit the whole student body by enriching our stock; keeping it fresh and relevant to all.

The Library keeps an Amazon wishlist throughout the year, and we add titles requested by students and teachers on a rolling basis, as well as titles recommended by library, education and literature professionals.

We use this list to inform our book purchasing at various stages of the year, but as budgets have been tightened in recent times, we have been very grateful for donations from those families in a position to do so.

It has enabled us to retain some of our other services such as our online subscriptions, magazines and eBooks.

The Library and Resource Centre is here for all CVC students, whatever their age or interests, and we hope that everyone can find something to interest, inspire, comfort or inform them.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to the library can do so at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/XOLFYV 9X7FHE?ref_=wl_share Hilary Spargo, Librarian

FOR THE LOVE OF READING: Some of the books that have been donated to the library in the run-up to Christmas.

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COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

Organised CHaOS! HANDS-ON SCIENCE: with the help of the University of Cambridge’s outreach CHaoS programme.

Earlier this month CHaOS, a group of scientists from the University of Cambridge who run various science outreach programmes, came to the school to run an event for students in Years 8 and 9.

Below are reviews from some of the students who attended: “In the CHaOS event we went around different stations to do lots of different science experiments to learn about certain things.

“For example, we learned how hot air balloons work, by using heat from a toaster to inflate a plastic bag which then started to float.

“We also learned how the hand works by using a model with strings to show how the fingers can move.

“I learned a lot from being there — I didn’t know about many micro-organisms and diseases or what they looked like, but I learned about that in one of the stations.

“In another station, I learned about how the ears work. The reason you know where a sound is because your brain measures the distance between each of your ears and the sound — but if you wear certain equipment, you won’t know which direction the sound is coming from. This is why people who are completely deaf in one ear can’t tell where sounds are coming from.” — Audrey (9B) “We were all given the opportunity to take part in multiple scientific experiments and listen to short presentations by volunteers from CHaOS. “Experiments we observed involved the forces of earthquakes, the human skeleton, microorganisms and many more!

“The short lessons were very informative and fun, as we were given the chance to interact with certain aspects of the experiments.

“For example, when learning about micro-organisms, toys were used to demonstrate the different organisms, which in my opinion was unique and effective because it provided a simple yet fun way to learn.

“We also took part in experiments such as the force of an earthquake or a swing. We were able to manually create force which therefore caused objects to move and even fall, which was enjoyable!” — Connie (9I) “I saw how light works and what happens when you heat up air and how earthquakes are effective. And the pH scale and more that I’ve forgotten. Overall it was good — 10/10 would do again.” — James (9I) “During the CHaOS event, we looked at many different experiments from a floating bag to earthquake-proof buildings.

“There was also a model of the lower arm which had cords which you could pull to move the fingers just like your real arm does.

“For the bag experiment, you would place a large plastic bag over a toasting toaster. You would then let go of it and it would float into the air and the longer you held the bag for, the higher it would float up, which was amazing.

“Personally I thought it was awesome. I loved that every station was unique. What made it even better is that you could do every experiment at home with barely any materials.” — Josh (9I) “The CHaOS presentations were really fun. The students were very friendly and it covered many different topics — light, movement, air, microbes and lots more.

“It was very inclusive and interesting. It taught me a lot more about the topics above and was an incredibly enjoyable experience for everyone. It really gave me more of an understanding towards the topics we learnt about too. It was amazing!” — Kathryn (9O) “The experience of CHaOS coming to Comberton Village College was amazing. It was really fun to learn about different elements of science.

“Our favourite experiment was learning about the density of air particles inside and outside of the plastic bag and watching it fly.

“Another good experiment was the earthquake one, we learned lots about what happens during an earthquake.

“We also liked the light waves and we learnt about filters, ultra-violet and white light, also if you burn crystals it will make different colour fire. It was a great place to learn and have fun doing science. Five Stars.” — Anastasia (8O) and Carmen (8O)

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THAT’S HANDY: The hand explained.

A LOT OF HOT AIR: Recreating the flight of a balloon using a toaster and a plastic bag.

SOUNDING BOARD: Students learnt about how the ear works.

Learning new things in different ways

COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

Curriculum Extension Days are an annual event on the Comberton calendar and much anticipated by students.

Normal lessons are suspended for two days and all pupils in Years 7-11 are given the chance to learn something completely new.

This year, for the first time, there was an environmental theme added to the sessions for Key Stage 3 students. Year 7 had a focus on becoming a global changemaker. They looked at various changemakers around the world, who had encountered a problem in their community and then came up with innovative solutions. They then tried to come up with their own solutions for environmental problems. We had solutions that looked at use of plastic in school and how to electrify aviation.

Year 8 looked at future planning, first imagining what an ideal future would look like and then tried to work out what steps were needed to get there.

Year 9 focused on the sixth mass extinction, watching Extinction: The Facts — a David Attenborough documentary and then created posters to help raise awareness of this issue.

Traditionally Year 7 have had one day of science and one of PE and this year was no different.

The science saw them take part in a murder mystery forensic event, while in PE there was a range of activities to try including gymnastics, squash, spikeball and dance.

A highlight for Year 8 is the day trip to Walton-on-the-Naze to look at coastal erosion and its effects.

They also enjoyed a morning with the MFL Department where pupils could choose between a variety of activities including learning capoeira, discovering ancient Italy, learning about Japanese language and culture and learning to play samba music — which was certainly the loudest activity!

The afternoon sessions were devoted to learning about refugees in Cambridge and environmental matters.

As well as their day of environmental and science activities, Year 9 had a day of maths, which included building some incredible models and origami shapes.

Year 10 looked into the future with two days dedicated to preparing for the next steps. As well as the Careers Fair (see pages 8 and 9), they were given guidance of writing personal statements and learning strategies — study hacks — for their upcoming exams.

They also began to work on their Key Stage 4 Computing skills using the iDEA course (Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award) in which they will gain badges for each digital competence they acquire.

Year 11 students studying Creative Arts and or Engineering/Design worked on their GCSE practical assessment or worked towards other specific coursework targets.

The rest of the year group took part in a carousel of activities, including problem gambling, personal relationships, pPost-16 routes, exam and revision techniques, promoting well-being, emergency first aid and CPR and money management.

Assistant Principal Nigel Carrick and Sally Newton, Head of PSHE, started off one morning with an important and sobering message about Sexual Harassment, before handing the stage to Scott Davies, a former professional footballer.

His life had been blighted for more than 10 years by a gambling addiction.

In an engaging 45 minutes, Scott walked the audience through his life story from his first pay packet as a footballer through his tortured years as a gambling addict to his eventual wake up call, trip to rehab and recovery.

Mrs Newton said: “We are very grateful to Scott for sharing his experiences, and we can best thank him by not falling into the same destructive pattern that he did.”

CREATIVE MATHS: Year 9 created different shapes and patterns.

First-hand look at coastal erosion issues

WARNING: Scott Davies spoke about his gambling addiction.

Once had we arrived at Walton-on-the-Naze we changed our shoes to ones over the rip-rap to the bottom of the cliff and picked up a lump of grey clay. that we could get muddy. After that we set off to find the seawall and the He explained that it was London clay and that it’s insoluble, which means it groynes. doesn’t let water in.

But our geography teacher got lost!

We then started the long walk back up the cliff to get to the gabions. There Once we had found the seawall, we figured out that the reason it was there were only a few left that hadn’t eroded and split open spilling all their rocky was to protect the town behind it. As we were doing this a wave came and contents. hit the seawall, soaking our teacher.

After filling in our booklets we went to Then we looked at the groynes, a the Naze tower to get them checked by few of them were broken and our teacher to see if we had done missing their planks. Our teacher enough to go to the shop. then said that the groynes stop Most of us were able to go straight longshore drift from happening. away, but some had to stay behind to Next, we went and looked at rip-rap. finish off.

We all wanted to climb all over Once we had all got to the shop and rocks but weren’t allowed to. bought what we had wanted, we walked Suddenly we were asked “what’s back to the buses. We changed our that?” while the teacher pointed at shoes before we got on to the bus, as the cliff face. they were all muddy from walking.

Only a few people knew the answer.

Then we drove back to Comberton, with our feet sore from walking.

It was an example of slumping and We all went home that day after having a the pupil who answered explained great day with the Geography how slumping was formed and what department! happens afterwards.

SEASIDE INVESTIGATIONS: For Year 8 at Walton-on-the-Naze.

Josh (8E) At this point the teacher climbed

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Solving a murder . . .

COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

When we had finished our introduction to a science topic with our Year 7 students, we wanted to build on their practical skills and scientific thinking, so we ‘murdered a teacher’!

Students walked into the classroom to learn that one of their science teachers had been killed. And one of the other science teachers was the murderer, but which one …

We staged this crime during the school-wide two-day curriculum extension event with all Year 7 students.

They had a single day, split over two 100-minute lessons, to solve the crime.

To ensure students didn’t suspect our crimes, we recorded all the videos and the 999 call outside normal school areas.

We also created a student instruction sheet and uploaded it to the class iPads.

On the day, students used the iPads for everything: to get all clues, find out how to do the experiments, and to keep their notes and findings.

Our technicians prepared trays of equipment, one for each of the four suspects and one from the crime scene.

Students used these for their practical work to gather evidence.

We divided them into five groups and they rotated around the trays.

On the day, we began by playing to students the 999 call made by the Deputy Head of Science reporting the murder, saying who she suspected and why. Next, we showed the students videos of the suspects, encouraging them to use their observation skills to make their first deductions.

For example, the videos identified two of the teachers as hayfever sufferers.

Using our clues and the instructions, students had to put their chemistry knowledge into action to analyse data and pose hypotheses.

They had four experiments to complete (all linked to our GCSE specifications): l Powder analysis and flame tests Compare four solids provided in small Petri dishes with the crime scene sample (which contained potassium ions) using a flame test (GCSE chemistry). l pH analysis of mud Discover which of four mud samples in labelled jars matches the pH of a sample of the muddy footprint from the crime scene, using universal indicator paper (GCSE combined science). l Chromatography Run chromatograms of four pens and compare them with a picture of a chromatogram from the ink of a pen found at the crime scene (GCSE combined science). l Biuret test for antihistamine in urine Test four urine samples for antihistamine (protein)

using a Biuret test to identify which suspects have taken hayfever medication (GCSE biology).

We arranged the clues so there were multiple suspects through the day, which meant students had to work through all the tasks, evaluating the evidence from the experiments to narrow it down a prime suspect.

Some evidence was a red herring, for example the powder analysis. The powder could have been on the teachers’ clothing simply because they were in the same room.

The urine analysis was more reliable, but it led to two suspects, which again meant students had to evaluate evidence.

In their groups students debated the evidence, learning that as they accumulated more evidence the suspect could change.

We liked this aspect as it mimics the cycle of scientific progress where ideas are modified and revised to explain new experimental results.

In fact, as a teaching team we chose this activity because we felt it would reinforce scientific methodology and students’ practical skills, while giving us opportunities to make links with careers in forensics and criminology — all the time keeping students interested.

We’d identified five learning outcomes: developing practical skills; handling chemicals safely; following a method; problem solving and evaluating evidence.

Although we ran this activity with our Year 7 students, we could also use it with older age groups.

We just hope the students enjoyed it as much as we did.

With thanks to our colleague, Nina Bull who now teaches in York, for creating the activities.

Science Department staff

Comberton Village College & Sixth Form Performing Arts are proud to to announce two exciting productions in 2022!

Performed by year 7-9 students Performance dates: July 2022

Performed by year 10-13 students Performance dates: January 27th-29th 2022 6

TICKETS AVAILABLE SOON!!!

COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

Pupils relish chance to try new sports GETTING ACTIVE: Squash and dance were among the activities on offer to Year 7 during Curriculum Extension Days.

The PE department was very excited to once again be able to host Year 7.

Traditionally the PE curriculum extension days have given students a unique opportunity to take part in sports and activities that are not usually taught in the PE curriculum.

This year external coaches were brought in and new equipment purchased to give students the very best experience. Throughout the day, students took part in a 50-minute taster session for a range of sports.

Students were given tuition by Comberton Gymnastics coaches and allowed to use equipment such as balance beams, springboards, vaults, air tracks and specialist wedges that helped them perform a variety of gymnastics skills.

The Cambridge dance company Bodyworks also put on a great session where all students worked through the set phrase and developed their choreography.

A Comberton Squash club coach gave students a brilliant first taster of squash, with a range of fast-paced energy-driven games and drills.

Students loved the opportunity to challenge their peers to squash matches and we hope to see many of them attending the Comberton Squash club.

A first for the PE curriculum extension day was the introduction of Spikeball. We recently purchased eight Spikeball nets as the sport is becoming incredibly popular in America and Europe and we are eager to introduce it to our students.

The taster session was very well received and due to its popularity, we are looking to include it in future lessons and at after-school clubs.

For two of the sessions, students had to show their leadership and teamwork

Exploring cultures across the globe

Year 8 students had a fantastic opportunity to participate in one of five different workshops organised by MFL department, which were run by both visitors and our teachers.

They were able to choose from Japanese (learning some language and making sushi), Ancient Italy, Samba drums, Capoeira and’ Joyful Activities’.

Everyone really enjoyed doing something new, experiencing different cultures and learning new skills and some students have written about their chosen activity.

“I went to the Japan workshop and I learned a lot about Japanese culture and their language. For a starter activity we learned numbers from one to 30 in Japanese and a bit about Japanese culture.

“We went on to make greetings cards with 3D pictures on the front. The final part was make sushi. This is one of Japan’s national dishes and is eaten widely across the world.

“This was my favourite part and making sushi was really fun and

interesting although I also enjoyed learning about Japanese culture and their national dress.” — Aydin (8T) “I spent the day learning about Ancient Italy. For Periods one and two we learned about Mount Vesuvius and made mosaic coasters.

“In Periods three and four we decorated gingerbread men to look like gladiators and then filmed them fighting each other.

I really enjoyed this.” — Isobelle (8N) “The Curriculum Extension Days in Year 8 were my first. They were very enjoyable with lots to do. I learned a lot about Samba, such as where it came from, some of the instruments used and much more.

“We also learned how to play many of the instruments. I really enjoyed making hats with lots of decoration.

“We also made two songs using lots of instruments and then performed them outside. I thought it was really fun and had an amazing day.” — Anna (8N)

skills as they took part in Outdoor Adventure Activities.

The first was a nightline. Students were blindfolded and led into the school’s wooded area, where they had to navigate obstacles relying only on a rope for direction and each other to provide effective communication.

For the final session, students had to work as a team to follow a pre-made orienteering course using their devices to take them around school.

On arrival to the set location they had to complete tasks and answer questions to gain points and work their way up a leaderboard.

Over the two days it was great to see students engaged and enjoying the sessions.

We hope that for many of them we have sparked an interest in some of the activities and they will look to take it up in either our own extra-curricular clubs or join clubs within the local community.

If students are interested in getting involved in gymnastics, squash or dance then please do email the following providers to ask what is available.

Comberton Gymnastics — comberton.gc@btinternet.com Bodywork Dance Classes — we are currently running a six-week jazz and street dance classes please email the PE extra-curricular coordinator Mr Anderson ganderson@combertonvc.org Comberton Squash Club — andydalessandro@aol.com George Anderson, PE Department

GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES: To learn about Samba (top), Ancient Italy (centre) and Japan (left) among others.

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COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

Pupils’ careers insight

A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY: Year 10 students had a chance to meet professionals from a variety of different industries.

The Careers Carousel involved students rotating between four stations of their choice from the 14 available — spending around 15 minutes at each.

It was definitely a great way for Year 10 to gain confidence in talking to a wide variety of professionals, while broadening their awareness and knowledge on the range of careers relevant to their interests and aspirations. It also gave volunteers a great opportunity to promote their business to a large audience, and allowed many students to gain an insight into where they would like to complete their work experience at the end of the year. Some stations that were available included: a nurse, a solicitor, an army veteran, an architect, a professional from the UN, scientists from Springboard, scientists from Pfizer and many more. I feel that it was a beneficial experience for me as it brought further understanding on the career that I would like in the future. A big part of this was the nursing station and the Springboard station as they

were very keen on answering questions that I had with a range of responses that made me feel more confident on the future that I would like to lead in the healthcare industry.

It also allowed me to gain more knowledge on other industries that I didn’t know much about before. My favourite employers were either the nurse or the two physicists from Springboard as they were enthusiastic in promoting my aspirations and provided a lot of advice in what would allow me to achieve my goals. The nurse reassured me about my doubts on becoming a doctor and gave me certain strategies that she found helped her to achieve highly. The scientists from Springboard had engaging activities to do with medical devices, including coming up with an innovative strategy for treating eye infections with a drug to target the affected area, where the Year 10 pupils were assigned to create a mechanism to help achieve this.

Thoughts on the Careers Carousel from other Year 10 pupils below: “Listening to different people talking about their paths

through education and the world of work was probably all-round the best part of the afternoon for me: it really demonstrated that there’s no single, defined path to each career” – Emily (10M) “I found it really interesting to hear about how people got to where they are now, and it was reassuring to hear about how their path changed over time.” – Madeleine (10M) “The Curriculum Extension Days were excellent; especially the careers carousel that was arranged on the second day. It was a great experience as I got to talk to people from different careers about the pathways they took to get where they are today, and about what they do at their jobs on a day-to-day basis. It helped because I was able to learn about jobs and careers that I hadn’t heard of before, and I also got advice from people who work in the field I would like to work in.” – Krisha (10C) “I found it a really valuable experience to talk to adults about how they got to their current job and position.” – Kat (10M).

Diya (10M)

Employers enjoy opportunity to share BACK TO SCHOOL: Former Comberton students Aaron Ginn and Lucy Ling were among those on the careers carousel.

Fourteen different potential employers from very different career pathways attended the Year 10 carousel to help students understand the incredible number of opportunities that are open to them whatever their interests.

And from the feedback, it seems the guests found it as useful and engaging as the students did. Here are some of the reactions: “We were proud to be invited to speak at the CVC Careers Carousel in Oct 2021.

“AG Motors was founded by Aaron Ginn, a past student at Comberton Village College, so we had lots to talk about regarding exams, work experience, college courses, apprenticeships, business management and the roles within the company.

“We felt that the students responded well to the information and we look forward to welcoming a couple next year should they choose to do work experience with us.

“It was a well organised event, and we will be more than happy to attend next year.” — Erica Adcock, Operations Manager / PA at AG Motors.

“I really enjoyed meeting your Year 10 students; hopefully, they found hearing

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about my experience and discussing the opportunities that are available to them useful.

“They all showed a positive attitude which is great! Marshall Centre is committed to inspiring the next generation into Engineering, so it was a great opportunity to speak to your students.” — former CVC student Lucy Ling, Enrolment CoOrdinator at Marshall.

“I enjoyed it. Some were clearly genuinely interested, and nobody was disruptive at all.

“It’s nice to revisit your own decisions, early inspirations and goals, particularly after a long period of challenges and questioning the sanity of your chosen career path.” — Simon Redman, architect at Cowper Griffith.

“It was a real pleasure to take part, and we hope the students found it useful. We were really impressed by your students; a few in particular were remarkably knowledgeable about medical devices! Thank you for inviting us to the event.” — Dr Gabriel Villar, Springboard

Outreach to boost STEM

COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

It is easy to find examples of how Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) have improved people’s lives, especially in the field of medical technology.

Careers based on these disciplines can also be deeply satisfying for the individual, with the potential they offer to combine human creativity with analytical thinking to solve important problems.

There are many routes into STEM careers, from more traditional (like Emmy Noether) to less so (like Florence Nightingale), but today one’s career route is strongly influenced by the subjects one must choose at secondary school, typically around the age of just 14. It is difficult to see how a student can make such an important choice in a well-informed way if they have not been shown what careers in STEM exist, let alone what they are like. It is therefore quite probable that talented students who might love a career in a STEM field might never consider doing so, simply because of a lack of exposure.

Springboard was therefore delighted to accept an invitation from Comberton Village College to take part in a careers carousel. The event consisted of a number of stalls, each set up by a different company; and small groups of students had the opportunity to spend 15 minutes with each company to learn about what they do.

With only 15 minutes to impress eight groups of 12 students, the race was on to inform and engage. To give the students a good picture of what a career in technical consultancy could be like, we decided they should work through a hypothetical project that we might do at Springboard.

The brief: A pharma company has developed a drug to treat bacterial infections in the retina, and they need to find the best way to deliver that drug. They have come to you to map out the options, and develop one of the concepts into a device.

Armed with two whiteboard pens and several sheets of flipchart paper, we got to work.

The students, eager to let their imaginations run wild, started to fire ideas at us.

“Eye-drops!” one student would exclaim to start off the bidding of ideas. “How about contact lenses?” another would chime in.

The ideas were illustrated on the flipchart paper as quickly as they were generated and spanned an impressive range, from drug-infused contact lenses to salves applied to the eyelid.

If they started to run out of ideas, we sometimes asked how they received a vaccine, which prompted many groups to suggest the drug could be injected into the patient’s arm, and some even proposed what they thought was a preposterous idea: an injection directly into the eye.

Invariably, the students were surprised and mildly alarmed to learn that this is in fact a proven method of drug delivery.

The hypothetical pharma company decided this is the most promising route for their application, so we moved on to the design phase.

Our next challenge: with just five minutes, how can we show students who have just started their GCSEs how exciting, challenging and satisfying it can be to develop a medical device, without boring or intimidating them?

We decided we would use a Socratic approach to try to convey that engineering is essentially iterative, and that science provides powerful guidance for that iterative process.

We therefore started by drawing an eye directly facing an unreasonably large needle, and asked the students: “Is this good enough? Can we do better?” This prompted another barrage of ideas, including:

EYES ON: Students are challenged to think about how best to deliver a drug to the retina.

l “Make the needle thinner!” l “Must the injection be through the pupil? Could you inject into the side of the eye instead?” l “What if the doctor’s hands are shaky?

Could you stabilise the needle somehow?”

For each question, we would acknowledge what a good idea it was, and explored some challenges that could ensue.

For example, when we asked what might happen if the needle were made invisibly thin, many students realised that it might become too flexible to successfully pierce the tissue; and some even realised that the flow rate would drop dramatically.

We would then suggest ways that those challenges could be surmounted, which for that example included: l Using a more rigid material for the needle (here we would point at some of our materials scientists who would normally advise the team) l Using a needle with a differently-shaped cross-section (here we would corrugate a sheet of paper and show how much stiffer it became in one direction, and point out some of our mechanical engineers) l Decreasing the viscosity of the drug, shortening the needle length or increasing

Cambridge-based Springboard is a team of engineers and scientists that are driven by a passion for solving difficult technical challenges and developing successful products that help people around the world.They are also passionate about recuiting young people to careers based around the STEM subjects.

This is their review of their visit to Comberton.

IDEAS ON PAPER: A mind map of the ideas generated by one group of students.

the applied pressure (here we jotted down the Hagen-Poiseuille equation to show how physicists can help guide design) We concluded each session by sharing how we had personally arrived at technical consultancy, and taking their questions.

It was inspiring to see the students’ ingenuity and the variety of ideas they generated, and we think they left with a vision of how the science and maths they will study in school can serve as a foundation to a career in STEM. We hope the students enjoyed the experience as much as we did.

Several students approached us after the careers carousel to ask whether we offered work experience placements, which we found an encouraging sign and we are planning how we could make this happen.

We are very grateful to Comberton Village College for the opportunity.

Chris Wordsworth and Gabriel Villar, Springboard

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Trust reaches milestone THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST NEWS

The Cam Academy Trust proudly marks its 10th anniversary this year.

As Comberton VC is the founder member of this Trust it is a time to look back on the many key moments and developments that have taken place over this decade to allow the Trust to get where it is today.

The Cam Academy Trust’s CEO, Stephen Munday, said: “Among the significant disruption and challenges of Covid-19, it would have been easy for such a landmark to go unheralded, but we have so much to look back on.

“While we were always confident the Trust would be successful, we had no idea it would grow into a collaborative

partnership of 12 schools.”

The Trust, originally named Comberton Academy Trust, was formed in the early part of 2011. Due to a growing emphasis on academies working together in formal partnerships, the Trust quickly changed to become a multi-academy trust so that more schools could join and work closely with it.

As this partnership developed it was only right that the name changed with it. Comberton Academy Trust was renamed The Cam Academy Trust.

Stephen said: “While many things have grown and changed, our principles and purpose have remained the same. I firmly believe this has been fundamental to our success so far.”

With the additional schools joining it’s now possible for a person to have their education from the age of threeyears-old through to 18 in a Cam Academy Trust setting.

The Trust has also recently broadened its approach to working with the wider education community, offering ‘associate membership’ to local schools — allowing them to work as part of the Trust, but maintain their own ultimate governance.

Bourn Primary Academy has recently taken up this offer to join the 11 full members of the Trust.

Congratulations to everyone involved with the Trust and its schools for reaching this milestone.

Stephen Munday CEO

Work together for mutual benefit Seeking to work in partnership with others is one of the fundamental principles of our Trust (CAT).

There are lots of examples of how the Trust and our schools manage to do this in good and positive ways.

One interesting development this term has been to enable a new school, Bourn Primary Academy, an Academy church school in the Comberton Village College catchment, to join the Trust as an Associate Member.

This form of membership is enabling the school to work in very close partnership with all other schools in the Trust and to link in with all the services of the Trust while not formally being a member of the Trust.

The Trust also works with other schools and Trusts in various ways. It plays a significant role in supporting the new Teaching School Hub in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, especially in the territory of initial teacher training that CAT oversees.

Sometimes the Trust supports other schools where we have significant contacts and last month CEO Stephen

Munday and Paul Lawrence, the Trust’s Director of Education, spent two days reviewing provision for Streetly Academy near Birmingham.

Mr Munday said: “They suggested that they had found this very helpful. As always with such work, we also picked up several very interesting ideas and areas of practice that are relevant to the Trust’s schools.

‘Mutual benefit’ seems to describe this well.”

WORKS BOTH WAYS: Stephen Munday and Paul Lawrence picked up some new ideas while reviewing provision at a Birmingham academy.

Environmental responsibility is for all

Probably more than ever before, staff and students are all mindful of the seriousness with which we need to take the threat to our environment and to seek to act to counter this.

Many of the fundamental issues at stake were brought to the fore at the recent COP26 conference.

The Trust wants to make sure that it is proactive in its role in this. There is now a clear section in the Trust Development Plan that seeks to take forward positively the environmental agenda.

There are two very obvious things that the Trust can seek to do: l Seek to ensure that all our school buildings and sites are as environmentally friendly as they can reasonably be.

We have had our sites surveyed previously in an arrangement with the County Council to seek to introduce energy-saving measures of various sorts.

The precise nature of these has varied depending upon the nature and context of the sites.

Very recently, the most significant of these developments relates to plans to introduce a major ground source heat pump system to replace all previous oil-powered systems at Comberton Village College.

A major Government grant has been secured for this, together with a long-term financing arrangement with the County Council.

It is probably one the biggest projects of its type in a school anywhere in the country. l Support and develop environmental education at all our schools.

Schools have looked to take forward appropriate environmental education in their own settings and context.

The Trust wishes to encourage this and is supporting a programme being developed at Comberton that could be used by other RESPONSIBILITY: Comberton students talk to the COP26 conference, while at the college schools in the Trust. preparation work is on-going for a ground source heat pump to replace oil power.

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For the latest job vacancies across the Trust go to www.catrust.uk

Support for Oxbridge hopefuls

SIXTH FORM

Both Year 12 and Year 13 have been busy with university preparation.

On November 30th we were able to welcome representatives from Peterhouse, part of the University of Cambridge, who gave an informative talk to 42 Year 12 students about applying to Oxford or Cambridge.

Although this may seem a long way off for the Year 12s there are a number of things they can begin doing now to ensure they have a really competitive application, particularly researching which course they would like to study at university and then completing related super-curricular activities.

This year we have a record-breaking 214 students applying to university through UCAS and it has been wonderful to see all of the offers start to come EXPERT ADVICE: Staff from one of the Cambridge colleges offers in. tips on how to submit a really competitive application for Oxbridge.

Twenty-five Year 13 students have applied for a place at Oxford, Cambridge lead up to Christmas. or for medicine this year and we are hugely grateful to a number of parents who CSF students receive support for all their Post-18 pathways, from university volunteered to give those students a mock interview over Teams this term. student to apprenticeships and employment.

Despite some nerves the students found this to be a really useful experience and great preparation for their real interviews, which have been taking place in the Ellie Jenkins, Deputy Head of Sixth Form — Additional Studies

Return to theatre is simply magnificent It has been just over two years since the Drama and Theatre Studies students have had a trip to the theatre to support their studies — and at last it was possible.

Year 12 and 13 students travelled to the Troubadour Theatre in Wembley Park to see the magnificent stylistic adaptation of Mark Haddon’s bestseller

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

What was amazing was the fact that the play follows the book so closely, leaving out or adding virtually nothing, yet managing to capture the full flavour of the story, if not enhancing it.

The novel itself tells the story of Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old boy who, after the vicious killing of his neighbour’s dog, embarks on a investigation to solve the mystery of who the killer was; but this in itself reveals further mysteries that Christopher is far more connected to.

It is as much comedic as it is tragic, but all wrapped up in the most intense technical cube emblazoned with kaleidoscopic lighting and projections that took our breath away.

The tragedy of the story is bound up in so much charm, whimsy, good humour and virtuoso staging that we only occasionally felt saddened for Christopher, who — convinced his dad is dangerous — embarks on an ill-advised journey to London to find his mother.

Overall, the students were in awe of the exquisite performances by all the leads, as well as the dynamic physicality and versatility of the ensemble; not to mention being wowed by the breath-taking technical elements of the production.

Three words they summed up the production were: dazzling, imaginative and ingenious. A great night to back at the theatre.

LONDON CALLING: Sixth formers finally had the chance to see live theatre to support Jez Frost, Deputy Head of Sixth Form their studies. /Head of Drama

The Prom is on again

Year 13 Leavers Prom is back!

And it promises to be a really fabulous experience.

It will come as no surprise for you to hear that the Sixth Form has not been able to celebrate with the Year 13 students the end of their courses for what will have been three years.

Now 2022 will see the return of the Prom for the present year group, hosted at the new and luxurious Cambridge Country Club in Bourn on Thursday 30th June 2022.

The evening will offer the students a drinks reception, meal and speeches topped off with a late-night disco.

The Sixth Form Council have worked so hard to get the evening up and running and are excited that it has finally been booked and confirmed.

We are now looking forward to a great evening of fun and celebration.

NEW VENUE: The 2022 Leavers Prom will be at the newlybuilt Cambridge Country Club in Bourn.

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SIXTH FORM

Collecting data proves fun IN THE FIELD: Students collect their primary data in town or on the coast depending on their choice of topic.

From 6th-9th October 2021, as A-Level Geography students at Comberton Sixth Form, we visited Swanage in Dorset.

For our A-Level Geography course, two of the topics we study are ‘coastal systems and landscapes’ and ‘changing places’.

For part of our course, we carry out an individual practical investigation, focusing on either coasts, and going to Studland or Swanage, or on place and visiting Boscombe or Corfe Castle.

We were able to choose which of these we focused on depending on our personal interests. We must produce a unique investigation and report, for which we need primary and secondary data — the focus of the trip was to collect the primary data for this.

We arrived at Leeson House on the Wednesday evening, excited to be in a new place and to explore the area the following days.

On the Thursday morning, we spent some time in the classroom finalising whether we were going to do coasts or place for our investigations.

We set out mid-morning to spend most of the day in the locations for the topic we had chosen. This was a great opportunity to see the places before starting to collect our data the following day; it allowed us to gain ideas on what the focus of our project titles could be. For example, the regeneration scheme in Boscombe was a key area of interest for many who chose the topic of place.

Furthermore, we were taught the skills and techniques in order to collect our primary data, such as how to measure the groynes along the Swanage coastline, or how to carry out an effective environmental quality survey at Boscombe or Corfe.

Later that evening, after a nice dinner and a chance to refresh, we spent some time in the classroom creating our investigation title and hypotheses based on all we had learnt that day. By the end of the

evening, a fun games night was a great way to end the day — we did a pub quiz, and played card games and Connect 4, which Mr Aitken was VERY good at!

Over the next two days, we collected all the data we needed by working in small groups, utilising various equipment that we had learnt how to use on the Thursday.

Although we spent a long time collecting data for our fieldwork investigation, it was definitely a lot more fun than we thought it would be!

As well as being with our friends all day, we had a large amount of freedom and were able to do things like going to get food in the towns wherever we wanted.

At Swanage, we even went and played minigolf when we finished. After working hard to collect our data all Friday and Saturday, we then headed home for Comberton on Saturday afternoon.

Chloe (13-SC) and Bethany (13-HH)

International collaboration over play!

Throughout this term, Year 12 and Year 13 students have been collaborating with students from Colegio María Rosa Molas in Zaragoza, Spain, to put on a multilingual play.

The play, ‘Aquellos días azules’ (‘Those blue days’) is based in the early 20th Century and revolves around three characters: the Spanish poet Antonio Machado; Irish poet Oscar Wilde; and French novelist Émile Zola.

The project aims to reflect on the cultural framework in which the writers’ lives took place, while also challenging the xenophobia, anti-Semitism and homophobia at the time.

Due to the international collaborative nature of the project, Zoom was always going to be essential. Microphones were turned on for translating activities, cameras turned on for presentations of our ideas, and, of course, the customary Zoom background filters activated as we worked closely with our Spanish counterparts.

During the October half-term, we took part in a translation workshop put on by professional translator and former CVC teacher Katrina Barnes.

We first looked at the differences between translation and interpretation, with translation being written work (often literary texts) and interpretation spoken work.

We focused on the detail-oriented nature of translation to make our translations as accurate as possible and a lot of research can be put into making sure a writer’s meaning and their literary style is communicated.

The approach of good translation was a four-step process of: decode, translate, research, create. We then focused on some sentences and a poem to see the range of options there are when trying to translate a text.

Overall, the importance of background research before attempting translation was important for us as it underlined how our research into the play’s themes could then help our translation be as effective as possible.

These skills will equip us with the technique to tackle the multilingual production that will be performed in March 2022, in Zaragoza.

A few weeks into the project, we split into groups to research different aspects of the play. We made presentations on various themes such as identity and Oscar Wilde, Europe as a cultural framework, Emile Zola and

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WORKING TOGETHER: Students from Comberton and Colegio Maria Rosa Molas got together in person last week.

the Dreyfus affair, and Antonio Machado and the Spanish Civil War. This research helped to increase our understanding of the context of the play, and it was brilliant to work with the Spanish students in conducting our research.

They were extremely helpful in teaching us about aspects of Spanish culture that we were unfamiliar with, and we hope that we could impart some of our knowledge as well.

By the time that you are reading this, we will have welcomed the Spaniards to Comberton for a week in December, taking part in drama workshops, crafting the text for our very own multilingual play, while they also visited important cultural sites in Cambridge such as the Fitzwilliam Museum, and experienced our changeable winter weather!

The Comberton students can’t wait to visit Colegio María Rosa Molas in March, where we will be performing our joint play, and, of course, reuniting with our friends from Zaragoza!

Barney (12-JD) & Tom (13-JM)

Never give up!

Aged 16 I would have seizures most days, several times a day.

SIXTH FORM

Olivia Cornick spent five years at Comberton Sixth Form battling against the odds to take her A Levels. She has now completed a degree and is studying for a Masters. Now 26, she was asked to write an article to inspire parents of children with additional needs and kindly agreed to share it with News@Com.

When I was at sixth form, I couldn’t even walk down the corridor to class without being escorted by someone in case I were to have a seizure.

A few weeks ago, I found something I’d written down during this time. It reads: ‘see the fire in my eyes, the hurt, the pain, the loss, the struggle — when will this end?’

I can remember scribbling these words early hours of the morning when I suffered with insomnia. I felt lost, angry and trapped in my own body. wouldn’t be capable of achieving my academic, work The reality was this was just the beginning of a or sporting goals; but to me, fear of failure should not difficult journey of diagnosis of an AVM be the driving force behind the way we communicate (Arteriovenous Malformation) inside my brain, that COURAGE: Olivia Cornick overcame to someone. would ultimately need brain surgeries to remove, huge challenges to gain her degree.

We should all have hopes and dreams that are followed by brain damage that resulted in left-sided into nearly every other aspect of my life; it taught me seemingly impossible to strive towards, no matter hemiparesis and learning difficulties. the rebellious act of believing in myself when no one what the current reality is. I think it inspires us to I was told by neuropsychologists I would not be else did. become a better version of ourselves. capable of achieving A-Levels, let alone a degree.

We replaced ‘I can’t’ with ‘this is really hard but I’m A huge driving force for me was having an equestrian The very teacher that worked with me thought it going to try’. This is something we can all do to coach that believed in me in a way no-one else had unrealistic for me to go to university, and the sports overcome any obstacle. before. that I loved I could no longer play.

To overcome sounds somewhat magnificent and His belief in me during my riding lessons refracted And yet 10 years on, I no longer feel like those difficult; but overcoming is often lots of words I so profoundly wrote aged 16 — quite the small acts accumulated — like getting opposite. I feel grateful for the struggles I faced out of bed and showing up when you because my joy now feels more real. don’t feel like it, turning up to class I’m most grateful for having such a supportive when you feel scared, or simply doing family, through the challenges we faced together the work that you’ve been putting off. means we are closer than ever. I have achieved I still tell myself now ‘it is the courage to my A-levels, a first-class honours degree (in continue that counts’. I love the work of Equine Science) and I’m currently studying a researcher Brené Brown, who says ‘if Masters degree (in Strength and Conditioning). you’re going to dare greatly, you’re I have represented Great Britain in para going to get your ass kicked at some dressage and found a passion for horse riding. point. If you choose courage, you will By no means has it been without a challenge — absolutely know failure, disappointment, I had to leave my first year of university after my setbacks, even heartbreak. That’s why seizures caused havoc, I lost the horse of my we call it courage. That’s why it’s so dreams and I’m currently without a dressage rare.’ horse.

It takes courage to overcome and being What I have learned is the current reality of a courageous doesn’t even mean we will situation does not define you or mean it will stay succeed straight away. But if we keep like that forever.

RIDING PASSION: Olivia’s challenges led her to horses choosing courage, keep turning up, day I genuinely believe people had their best and she has gone on to represent GB at para dressage. by day we get a little closer. protective intentions when they told me I

Student shares story to help hospital

Sarah has never had things easy — but she has Some of her observations are nothing to do with her also never let that hold her back. medical history — she talks candidly about being Born with congenital hydrocephalus, Cerebral caught between paediatrics and adult care, the distress Palsy (a left-sided Hemiplegia) a cerebral visual and uncertainty of being in hospital when she turned impairment, with field loss on the left in both 17 and suddenly having to cope with being told her eyes and severe anxiety, she has had to work mum could not longer stay on the ward with her, harder than most to get to Year 13 at Comberton although she was able to stay in a side room.

Sixth Form.

She is also looking at ways the new hospital can Then to add to her challenges, earlier this year support patients with visual impairments. she was diagnosed with epilepsy and within a However, she is unfailingly positive and concluded her few weeks lost her sight. article by saying: However, she has been determined to share her “Regardless of the challenges I’ve had to face, nothing story — as part of the Press Pack for the has stopped me from living life to the full. I’ve always Cambridge Children’s hospital, which is due to had a love for creative writing, swimming and musical open in 2025. theatre. Each of these have made a difference to me in The Press Pack has given her an outlet for her multiple ways. love of creative writing, but has also offered the “My wonderful family aren’t the only people who have SPEAKING OUT: Sarah has shared her supported me. All of the staff at my sixth form have opportunity to explain the barriers she faces. been absolutely outstanding, and their support is only In an article written for the hospital’s website, story for the new children’s hospital. one factor that has contributed to my sixth form she said: “I have had 11 operations so far: eight on my brain, two on my legs and one on my eyes. Although most of these experience being so enjoyable.

“Everyone at my sight charity, Cam Sight, have always supported me. They were when I was much younger and I can’t remember them, many of these have always cared about me so much and I’m so happy to be a part of such led to overnight stays.” an inspirational charity.

But she added: “Having multiple complex disabilities has made life harder “My name is Sarah and I’m 17 years old. My life has been full of challenges, for me than the average person. It doesn’t stop me from doing the same but I will never give up.” things as everyone else, but I just do them differently.”

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Lowering carbon footprint SIXTH FORM

Members of the sixth form’s enrichment environmental group have been looking at ways to lower your carbon footprint. Charlotte (12 PG) and Jess (12CR) share their findings after using the WWF carbon footprint calculator questionnaire: https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/

Clothing

l Consume less and consume sustainably We live in a culture of disposable fashion which is taking its toll on the environment. Try to consume less and consume responsibly by buying from sustainable and high-quality brands or secondhand shops, rather than constantly replacing clothes with cheaper alternatives. This will stop the waste of resources in manufacturing, it also cuts down the transport costs and carbon cost of the supply chain too. Fewer clothes being transported means fewer emissions and trucks on the road. l Buy secondhand A shift to more sustainable shopping practices requires us to appreciate what we already have. Shopping secondhand is an excellent way to act with our wallets and change the economy for the better. Charity and secondhand shops have excellent product control procedures, which means the clothes within them are of the highest quality.

You can get the clothes you want for a fraction of the cost — both economic and carbon costs.

Food

l Eat ‘in season’ Everything you buy has a footprint, so try to choose products that have been sustainably sourced.

Buying seasonally produced food supports your local agricultural economy but it also helps the environment by cutting down on the packaging, transport and high intensity farming process needed for out-of-season foods. Seasonal food is often also cheaper. l Eat less meat and dairy One of the most important changes you can make to the environment is changing your diet. The production of meat and dairy products is one of the major causes of greenhouse gas emissions. So why not cut meat from your diet and have a more carbon friendly dinner. l Add some variety The way a food is farmed is a hugely important part of how sustainable that type of food is. Constant farming of the same crop types will drain nutrients from the soil. Then farming this crop all year long will give no time for the soil to recover.

By having a colorful plate, we will be ensuring a more nutritious, natural, flavourful and exciting meal — one that is in sync with your ecosystem.

Travel

l Cycle The most eco-friendly mode of transport is cycling, it creates no emission, uses no resources, and keeps you fit and healthy. And if all that doesn’t sway your opinion — you will save money while helping save the environment. By cycling more, you are also taking cars off the road that would otherwise cause congestion

Pro fooball insight Level 3 BTEC Sport students took part in a performance analysis session this term with Head of Performance at Cambridge United, Matt Walker.

Matt introduced the students to the range of recovery technology options available to first team players as well as the GPS vests used to monitor their performance.

They used these within a practical session of football, tracking their maximum speed, speed endurance and ground coverage and comparing these to the averages of players at Cambridge United.

Matt also discussed career pathways and options into professional football, allowing students to consider the range of roles available to them.

The content covered by Matt supports the work the students have been doing in their Level 3 units, including practical sports performance, sports injury management and professional development.

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and pollution. l Use public transport Public transport is a great alternative to driving and will reduce your carbon footprint dramatically. By taking the train or bus, it means fewer cars on the road overall, resulting in less carbon dioxide being produced.

And the cars that remain would have quicker journeys due to decreased congestion on the roads, again resulting in a CO2 reduction. It will also give you added time to read or listen to music on your journey. l Drive smarter If you must use your car, then use it properly. There are some bad habits people have that make the impacts of cars a lot worse. Smarter driving can help limit some of the emissions of car usage.

Removing excess weight from the vehicle will also help improve fuel efficiency.

Having the correct air pressure in your tyres results in better petrol mileage, better handling of the car, cheaper maintenance costs and a smaller environmental impact. This simple step can make a big difference. By slowing your travel speed by 10km/h, you could improve your car’s fuel consumption by 25%.

Appliances

l Switch energy providers Changing your energy provider is an excellent way to influence your environmental impact on a national scale. Ask your parents about your current energy provider. Renewable Energy companies have been driving changes in the energy market and are now providing cheap and sustainable energy. By choosing one of these providers, you are limiting your own footprint, and supporting our shared future. l Make the switch Energy efficient bulbs can last up to 25 times longer than traditional bulbs, they also use 80% less power to provide the same light. They are a better option in terms of product cost, energy cost and will limit the amount of time you waste changing bulbs. Making the switch really is a bright idea. l Embrace new technology Your home can now be controlled by the touch of a button, one usually found on your phone. While this may sound like a gimmick, it is a great way to monitor your energy usage and adapt to a more environmentally friendly way of living. Why power and heat rooms no-one is in? This SMART technology can help limit the impact your home is having on our shared home.

LATEST TECHNOLOGY: Students learn about and try out some of the equipment used by Cambridge United.

More still needs doing

COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

I’ve been campaigning for climate justice for many years, and in Year 5 I was asked to write a letter to world leaders by Aled Jones, from the Global Sustainability Institute (GSI).

Sharing the eco bricks story SPEAKING OUT: On the climate crisis.

As part of their STEM project on using eco bricks for construction, two Year 10 students, Livie and Alisha, presented their findings to the Green Zone at COP26 in Glasgow.

The eco brick project has already been adopted by Comberton’s partner school in Bangladesh.

They started by collecting litter from around their community and used it to create the eco bricks which are being used around the school as part of a planting project.

The letter was to address what I thought world leaders should do about climate change, and the GSI was going to ask children all over the world, who were interested in environmental issues, to write letters like it which they would compile into a document read by world leaders at COP 26.

Since I had written the first letter, a year or so later I was asked to be involved in a similar project, a film with young people talking to world leaders about climate change. The film would be shown at COP 26 as well. I recorded myself reading aloud my letter.

Recently, BBC Look East was told about my letter, and decided to film me at school reading it, to show as part of a programme about climate change to mark the COP climate conference.

They liked what I had to say, so asked if I could be interviewed live on the programme, at Cranfield University. It was a very exciting but terrifying experience! It was also interesting as I got to see how live TV works.

Then day before the film I was in was shown at COP, they interviewed my mum and me at home — but not live this time, luckily! It was shown the next day. I feel very fortunate to have had these opportunities.

I think that COP 26 went well in some ways, but a lot more that needed to be done that wasn’t.

I think it is great that America and China, two of the biggest carbon emitters, agreed to work together in trying to stop the worst effects of climate change, and that many countries (if not all the ones which needed to) have signed an agreement to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2035.

However, these and the other positive things to come out of COP 26 aren’t enough and the time scales for change don’t make sense if we are to actually save the planet.

The ‘phasing down’ instead of phasing out of coal was a huge blow, as well as big countries’ refusal to pay for the climate damage they have caused for smaller nations.

The problem is, we don’t have time for talking anymore. If we want to reduce the worst effects of climate change, we need to act right now.

Freya (8N)

Getting together online During COP, as part of the Connecting Classroom programme, Comberton’s Eco Group organised an online climate conference with the six schools involved, three in the UK and three in Bangladesh.

The other schools were: Coleg Meirion Dwyfor, a Sixth Form College in Wales; Sutton CofE Primary School near Ely; Sreepur Govt Pilot High School, Gazipur; Khalishak uri Govt. Primary School, Dhaka; Azim Uddin High School, Kishorega.

Next we split into breakout rooms with students from each school and looked three questions:

Discussion 1: How much our country is contributing to climate change and what are the main sources of greenhouse gases. What can we do as a country to reduce our climate emissions?

Discussion 2: What effects/impacts might we see as a country due to the effects of climate change? What can we do as a country to adapt to climate change?

Discussion 3: What can we be doing as individuals about climate change — this could include personal actions, household actions, contacting politicians, student climate strike?

The largest lesson!

Students from Comberton attended remotely the world’s largest lesson which was broadcast live from COP26.

A recording is available here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HExapQfulPg&t=826s Online were students from all over the world — Peru, South Africa and Italy to name a few.

The lesson consisted of a summary of climate change, the effects that it has, solutions including a look at farming and diets.

This coincided with a focus on climate change in lessons at Comberton on the Friday (which had been nominated as the ‘Youth and education day’ at COP), where teachers were encouraged to look at some of the issues and solutions, including watching some documentaries on iplayer: such as — Climate change: Ade on the frontline (a documentary than can Eco group Year 7 and 10 pupils be recommended) and Shop well attended a Youth Climate Summit. for the Planet (a guide to what you They watched a documentary on some can do in your home to help the of the facts surrounding environmental planet and your finances). matters being discussed at COP26.

Tuning in to summit

RECYCLING: Pupils talk about their eco bricks project (top), which has been adopted in Bangladesh.

Screens go off . . .

Comberton is implementing a screens-off policy in computer rooms, the library and Art 1.

The IT department has set the computers to hibernate after 30 mins. (Thank you IT!)

This requires the pupils to be aware of moving the mouse to ‘wake’ the computer.

Thank you everyone in helping the school move towards Zero Carbon.

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COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

Heat project warming up

PIPING HOT: Some of the internal and external work already undertaken as part of Comberton’s decarbonsiation project.

The major decarbonisation project at Comberton Village College is now well under way, with a substantial amount of the heat network pipework being run across the school buildings.

The first two phases of this project have been delivered with excellent care and attention through the close working partnership between Cambridgeshire County Council, Bouygue E&S solutions, the Trust and specific College staff.

The aim is to provide us with a green energy source for the future, whilst also protecting the current education of every student at Comberton by minimising disruption.

This is a major investment for the College — secured by the Trust and Council, with £1.9 million of grant funding towards the £3 million capital cost of the project from Phase 2 of the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

The rest of the funding is coming from Cambridgeshire County Council, which has agreed a lease with the Trust.

This will allow the council to recover its investment, while the Trust will still deliver a saving. A key feature of the agreement is a performance guarantee on the projected energy savings. The low carbon

On safari . . .

heat network will reduce carbon emissions from the college’s heating by 233 tonnes of CO2e (a 66% reduction) in the first year.

As the grid electricity used to drive the ground source heat pumps is further decarbonised, this saving will increase to 313 tonnes (an 89% reduction) in year 20.

The project will take the secondary school completely off oil heating and replace oil boilers, that were approaching the end of their life, in 10 different plant rooms.

As well as reducing carbon, the project will save the college around £40,000 per annum compared to the cost of operating and maintaining oil heating.

The next two phases of the project are very significant as we will see the activation of the newly installed heat network, using a temporary oil energy supply.

This will enable the boiler rooms to be decommissioned and converted to energy centres in preparation for the longer term, ground source heat supply.

Phase four will see the mobilisation of two drilling units on the school site. At this stage, there will be areas of the car park designated as ground heat source supplies.

Given the complexity of the school’s use of this area and the use by our local community beyond school

Forty-one students and staff visited Woburn Safari Park to celebrate the end of term.

It was hard to know who was most excited as the animals clearly loved having visitors, while the pupils had a fantastic time.

Highlights included watching four monkeys hop from minibus to minibus, getting up close with the rhinos or seeing the lions sniffing the minibuses.

Away from the animals, the drop slide and pedaloes were also popular.

CHEEKY MONKEYS: Their antics were among the highlights of the trip Pictures: Callum (11V)

The Library has been hosting part of the sixth form enrichment programme again this term.

Enthusiastic students have been supporting some Year 7s with their literacy development programme.

Making literacy even more fun with games and quizzes, Year 12 students provide some dedicated 1:1 time to the youngest year group.

Choosing to work with younger pupils provides valuable experience to those hoping to enter educational and caring professions.

For others it is a welcome change to an intensive academic schedule.

Promoting a love of reading in the wonderful school library setting is a fantastic experience for all.

Literacy together!

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hours — every effort to minimise the operational disruption is being considered.

We do anticipate the first borehole (of approximately 60 holes in total) will be opened on the 17th January and be drilled to a depth of 215 metres.

The final drill hole is due for completion in early May, with the decarbonising benefit being effective from September 2022 onwards.

While this project is an improvement to the physical infrastructure of the College, students will also have the opportunity to work with the county council and our main contractor (Bouygues) to further develop their knowledge of the potential for green energy.

Projects in Maths, Geography and a wider school presentation are being arranged to benefit current and future students.

We are thrilled by the works being undertaken and the decarbonisation potential of such work for the college.

This is in addition to the Solar Photovoltaic panel installation and LED lighting upgrades which we recently completed across the full campus.

Currently the project is ahead of schedule and we hope this continues as we head to the more challenging periods of seasonal weather, particularly with the scheduled groundworks.

Sean Sycamore, Deputy Principal

Key messages Year 7 and 8 students from The Cabin spent the day experiencing a live show for the first time in two years as Comberton renewed their association with The Junction in Cambridge.

Pupils saw a wonderful, relaxed performance of The Snow Queen,

highlighting the importance of friendship and caring for others at this time of year — as well as providing some festive cheer!

It was an excellent day for all involved and The Cabin team are grateful for the opportunity to be involved with a fantastic show.

WORKING TOGETHER: Year 12 students work with Year 7s to help make literacy fun.

Going out at last!

COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

For their first ever off-site social, 150 Year 8 pupils descended on Cambridge Leisure Park to take part in an evening of bowling.

The atmosphere was fantastic with both pupils and teachers thoroughly enjoying the event.

Despite some extremely suspicious techniques involving bumpers and zigzagging, pupils were remarkably successful.

Congratulations to Rocco (8V), who managed to beat the rest of his team despite a broken collarbone.

Special mention to the pupils who bravely fought get into double figures.

The overall winner was Sid (9N) with an impressive points total.

A huge thank you to Mr Roberts and his unparalleled organisational skills in running the trip.

Students celebrate the end of term together HAVING A BOWL: Year 8 students enjoy an evening of bowling in Cambridge.

Year 10s celebrated the end of term with a festive social in the Performance Hall.

The staff offered sweets and drinks, as well as a range of board games to play and then we watched a festive movie.

Following an online vote, we chose to watch Nativity, which led to lots of cheerful singing throughout the evening.

Lots of us wore Christmas jumpers and other festive wear, which brought a really cheerful atmosphere to the afternoon.

To top it off, every student then got a pizza to themself!

Thank you to the wonderful Mrs Larter and Ms Quick for providing the year group with a great evening!

Charlie and Kate (10R)

FESTIVE FUN: The Year 10 social in full swing.

ADULT EDUCATION AT CAMBOURNE, COMBERTON and MELBOURN VILLAGE COLLEGES ʹ SPRING TERM 2022 Weekly classes commence 10th January 2022 COURSE COFFEE TASTING/ROASTING/BARISTA SKILLS Courtyard Café, Papworth (18th Jan) COUNSELLING ʹ an introduction INDIAN DELICIOUS VEGETARIAN DELIGHTS SILVER JEWELLERY for beginners/improvers YOGA YOGA for bad backs GUITAR for improvers GUITAR intermediate level YOGA YOGA

VENUE

Cam VC Cam VC Com VC Com VC Com VC Com VC Mel VC Mel VC Mel VC

TIME

COST

7-9pm

£50

7-9pm 7-9pm 4.30-6.30pm 6.30-7.30pm 7.40-8.40pm 7-9pm 7-9pm 6.30-7.30pm 7.45-8.45pm

FREE £58 £116 £53 £53 £106 £106 £53 £53

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Spanish silver for pupil COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

A Comberton student has finished as runner-up in a national languages competition.

Avia (8B) was second in the nationwide final of the Routes into Languages Spelling Bee for Spanish, maintaining an impressive run of podium places for Comberton students since the competition was created.

The results of the Year 7 competition, which took place at the end of the summer term, were only announced when school restarted in September.

The pandemic meant that the finalists, who also included Joanna (8C) and Yahel (8B), had to compete on camera rather than in person and judges used the summer holidays to check and verify all the entries for the deciding round.

At the beginning of Year 7 there was a class competition where students had to learn how to translate and correctly spell 50 words and were tested on how many they could recall in a minute.

The best students went on to the school competition where another 100 words were added to the original 50.

For the regional competition that was upped to 200 words and competitors were filmed and the recordings sent to Routes into Languages.

The format for the final was the same and Avia, who was also second in the regional final, claimed Comberton a place on the rostrum for third competition in a row .

The competition was devised by former Comberton MFL teacher Jane Driver, who is now Deputy Head at Queen Katharine Academy in Peterborough, in 2009.

It was piloted in the East, went national in 2010-11 and now has mass participation by schools across the country via Routes into Languages.

Comberton has a proud history in the Spanish section of Spelling Bee, which also offers competitions in French and German.

Pupils have represented the East at the national final every year since Spelling Bee’s inception and have finished in the top three on five occasions, including Sarah (now 10V) who was third in 2019 and Abigail (now 9T), who won in 2020.

Previously a Comberton student won in 2014 and another was runner-up in 2017.

Sharing the love

The Teaching Leadership Programme is a unique opportunity for sixth form students to experience language teaching and share their love for language learning with students from the lower school.

This Erasmus+ funded Project has been recognised by the European Commission and recognised as an example for excellent practice.

We want all students to start a journey in which learning a second language helps them reconnect with their own identity and expand their horizons.

The program will culminate in a cultural exchange to Zaragoza, Spain, where our sixth form students will have the opportunity to gain firsthand experience of teaching English as a foreign language, bringing the English curriculum alive for the Spanish pupils.

Lexy (13-PV) said: “From the beginning, I've loved the sounds of Spanish and when I learnt how to say them well, I found I could speak it very well. I was very inspired by my learning experience. As I love the idea of teaching, I thought why not combine them and get some

more teaching experience.

“I love teaching some Year 7 students Spanish after school. I enjoy seeing their progress and their growing passion for the language.

“Overall, I think it's an incredible experience that's going to help me a lot in my future career, having exciting experiences like going to Spain to help the Year 7s be immersed in the language, meeting new people and to help me be a good role model for the bilinguals of the future.”

Olivia (12-PV) said: “Before we were able to start planning our lessons, we received training which involved everything from safeguarding to understanding what makes a good language teacher. This was a really important part of the process as it allowed us to make sure we were prepared to take on this different role in the classroom environment and helped us to begin brainstorming ideas of what activities we could include in our lessons.

“We also received a booklet with lots of tips and help which definitely made it less daunting when it came to delivering the first lesson!”

TOP TUNE: 7E were voted the winners of this year’s Spanglovision competition.

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ON THE PODIUM: For second place in the national Spelling Bee final.

FIRST LESSONS: Language leaders in action at Barnabas Oley Primary School.

New leaders go to work

Year 9 language leaders put their training into practice last week when they taught the first of three lessons this year to primary school pupils.

Years 4-6 at Barnabas Oley Primary School were the delighted recipients — they gave the Comberton students a round of applause — of lessons planned and delivered by leaders, who received training earlier in the term.

That introduction was a day in the sixth form lecture theatre.

Students reported that it good fun and

exciting.

“We were first of put into teams where we were put into groups of four and named after Hogwarts houses.

“We played games and quizzes to help us learn about the different strategies of teaching and the ways people learn.

“Lastly we presented our PowerPoint that we made for the day, giving everyone a little sample of our teaching methods and strategies.

Overall it was fun and enjoyable to be there.”

Learning languages opens up a whole new world!

The bare necessities are honest work and lots of practice. However, stand by me and I’ll explain that learning languages with music aids our memory.

With that in mind, the annual Year 7 Spanglovision competition aims to kickstart language learning by practising pronunciation, exploring translations and having fun.

It’s ‘all right’ if you’re not the world’s best singer!

This year’s theme was “Songs from films” and each tutor group learned their own song in Spanish. These were judged with

great solemnity by all tutor groups in Years 7-11. 7E were crowned champions with their rendition of De Nada (‘You’re Welcome’ from Moana). A million dreams were realised with their prize of a muchcoveted non-school uniform day.

Muchas gracias to all involved and a huge congratulations to all of Year 7 for their fantastic performances and hard work.

Hallelujah, this article is over. Sorry about the theme, I was feeling un poco loco.

Clare Allinson, MFL Department PS: The other songs were Circle of Life and La Bamba!

Singing to learn

Penpals meet by video exchange

COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

Students in 9 Sevilla and 9 Granada are participating in a penpal project with two groups from our partner school in Zaragoza, Spain.

Traditionally, this involved sending letters to each other, but this year they have sent a video introducing each other and have filmed around the school in different lessons so that students at Colegio María Rosa Molas can see Comberton and meet their penpal partner.

Comberton students also received a shoebox with typical goodies from Spain, and have sent one with goodies from BOX OF GOODIES: Students prepared England, including tea, jaffa cakes, a map, posters and Christmas cards. a box of items to send to Spain.

Throughout the year, the groups will be doing more activities, some of them live, with some via Flipgrid and videos.

Clubs help both organisers and participants!

Vocab Learning Club is held weekly — every Thursday lunchtime — for Years 7 and 8.

It involves learning the vocab that students have been set from Spanish, German or French on Quizlet.

This club will help students develop more knowledge in a language and practise revising well. It will help with long-term memory and increase success in vocab tests and in their chosen language.

There is also Vocab Retest Club, also run by International Leaders Sarah, Jasmine, Lucy, Krisha and Tierney, for students in Years 7 and 8 who might not have achieved the mark they were hoping for in their weekly test.

It involves students spending 10-15 minutes revising the vocab before doing a retest of 10 words from the list, in the weekly vocab test.

This club also helps the leaders develop communication skills and learn how to be patient, as different students learn at different

rates, using different methods.

Additionally, it develops organisational skills as leaders must ensure that the right resources are available to help them get the most out of their revision time.

There are also languages homework clubs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, also run by Year 10 International Leaders Lucy, Lily, Karima, Tierney, Bethan and Emily, who are honing their skills.

Some of these skills include strengthening the vocabulary of their languages, further enhancing confidence, and improving public speaking and listening skills.

The languages homework club takes place every Tuesday at lunchtime in MFL6. It is for anyone in Year 7 or Year 8 who hasn’t completed homework for a class and needs to come and complete it with some additional assistance.

Or, if that isn’t the case, it is for people who can’t access the Wi-Fi on their iPad at home and would like some help to complete their homework

within school.

Students can bring their lunch and have a fun time, experiencing new ways of learning and developing their language skills.

This club involves students going to MFL6 and completing any homework that needs to be finished. However, by attending to the languages homework club, students can have some additional help the leaders.

The leaders can help students with homework for German, Spanish and French. They look forward to meeting you at the club.

The other club run by the hard-working leaders is Film Club, which takes place every Wednesday lunchtime for Years 7 and 8.

Students can watch films in Spanish, French and German in MFL5. This club is perfect to improve your language listening and reading skills as well as expand your range of vocabulary.

Further, it offers insights into different cultures through the stories and themes shown.

‘Can violence ever be justified?’

Year 11 took part in their final RPE Conference morning earlier this month about religion, war and conflict as well as what life was like being in the Armed exploring the ethical question, ‘Can violence ever be justified?’

Forces.

The four sessions gave pupils the opportunity to explore issues of conflict, Pupils further explored Christian teachings on war and peace in a session run violence and peace from a variety of perspectives, specifically Christian and

by WCCYM and local Christian ministers, who led classroom activities exploring Sikhi standpoints as we welcomed representative different religious sources and teachings on issues speakers from these faith groups. of war, terrorism and pacifism.

Year 11 listened to a presentation from a Sikhi In a final session, Year 11 considered the use of Educator, who explained his beliefs and practices, nuclear weapons in warfare, exploring the historical and how he sought to live at peace with himself and events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWII, before considering the arguments for and with the world around him. against Trident, the UK’s nuclear weapons system.

In another session, a Christian Army Chaplain, who Year 11 showed great maturity as they engaged in had also served in the military for eight years, spoke these challenging ethical topics and will be about how his Christian beliefs had informed and equipped to articulately engage in future debates challenged his views of war, conflict and being in the and apply this learning to other areas of the army.

RESOURCES: For the Year 11 curriculum.

Pupils asked insightful and challenging questions Conference.

Insight into incidents of social injustice

Year 10 had their first RPE Conference morning based on how to respond to Social Injustice. At the start of the day, we were given a brief introduction on the Holocaust, followed by an eye-opening presentation, given by a Holocaust survivor Eva Clarke BEM. She talked about her mother and family’s experience during the time (seeing as though she was only a baby) and how her life was impacted by the horrific events.

Mrs Clarke also discussed how the events of

the Holocaust shaped her life differently and it was inspiring to get an insight on how her childhood differed from ours.

The second half of the morning focussed on the American Civil Rights movement and the leading figures who fought for social justice and worked for peace, for example: Rosa Parks, the Freedom Riders and Dr Martin Luther King Jr. We then ended our morning with a visit from some volunteers from the Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign, where we were given a

task to help prepare for the arrival of Afghan refugees and come up with a list of essentials they might need as they resettle in our area.

This first RPE Conference morning was not only inspiring and eye-opening, but it also gave Year 10 lots of knowledge about important events in the past and events occurring still to this day — and how we can now do our part to help those who are experiencing injustice.

Diya (10M), Melina (10N) and Karima (10V)

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

Pupils are full of running

START TO FINISH: The opening strides of a cross-country race and (right) medals and certificates for the top three in each race.

The South Cambs School Sport Partnership cross country competitions for small and large schools returned at two venues.

Youngsters in Years 3-6 competed against their peers in individual races and those who entered every boys’ and girls’ race at each year group also battled for the team prizes.

Partnership Manager, Claire McDonnell, said: “It was lovely to see so many children enjoying themselves and having fun together.

“There was lots of determination on display as the children took on the one-mile courses and it was great to see them all supporting each other and cheering on their teammates.

“We have missed putting on events like this; they are really good fun but also so important for children’s physical and mental health. It was lovely to see smiles back on the children’s faces.”

First off on a beautiful autumn day at Milton Country Park last month were the small schools for fewer than 120 pupils in KS2, where almost 400 children from 11 schools took part in an event that had been suspended for two years due to the pandemic.

The first three finishers in each race received a medal and certificate, while in the team competition it was the top three runners from each school that scored.

Harvey, from Thriplow, and Sophie, from Harston & Newton, successfully retained top spot from 2019 but in a different year group.

Harvey won the Year 6 race from schoolmate Ozzy with Joe (H&N) in third.

Sophie also finished ahead of a classmate as Ruby took runners-up spot in the

Great to be back!

Year 5 girls’ race.

Hayden made it a Year 5 clean sweep for H & N by winning the boys’ race with Thriplow also on the podium thanks to Simon’s third place.

Bourn pupils have been missing from SCSSP competitions in recent years but returned with a bang.

Amelie won the Year 6 girls’ race from schoolmate Mia, while Thomas saw off Hari (H&N) to take silver at Year 4 level. Albert also finished second, ahead of Thriplow’s Ted, in Year 3.

Thriplow duo Molly (Year 4) and Esme (Year 3) also finished as runners-up in their races.

With five top three places in the four Year 5/6 races it was Harston & Newton who took the team title followed by Bourn. It was a similar story in the Year 3/4 team competition, with Harston & Newton again coming out on top thanks to a lot of top 10 finishes.

In the large schools’ event at Wimpole earlier this month, there were podium finishes for Dexter (Hardwick & Cambourne), who won the Year 3 boys event, and Grace (Meridian), who was second in the Year 6 girls, a result that helped Meridian finish third overall in the Year 5 and 6 team competition.

Ms McDonnell added: “We couldn’t have delivered the Wimpole event without the support of 32 sports leaders from Comberton Village College, who marshalled the route, acted as sweep runners, led the warm-up area and helped with the finish line — so a big thank you to each and every one of them.”

It has been a busy term for the South Cambs SSP as all of their programmes and events have got fully back up and running in schools.

Staff have been working alongside classroom teachers in 15 primary schools to provide regular teaching support for PE lessons as well as delivering Play Leaders training for Year 5/6 children in more than 20 schools and supporting them and Midday Supervisors to facilitate more active playtimes.

Other popular programmes have been the new Scootability lessons, which teach Year 1 and 2 children to ride a scooter safely, and balance bike training for Reception and Year 1 children, which teaches them to ride a pedal bike without the use of stabilisers and develops their balance and spatial awareness.

Another popular new programme this term has been Yoga, which is delivered through storytelling and role play to engage children and make it fun while developing their strength and improving their concentration and emotional wellbeing.

The Partnership has also again run many of their popular competitions, including football and cross-country, but also some new events such as an Outdoor Challenge Event. This was hosted at Comberton Village College and targeted Years 3 and 4 children who lack social skills or confidence, with the aim of encouraging teamwork and problem solving and supporting children’s social and emotional development.

Sixteen schools entered teams of four that took part in a carousel of activities including battleships, rollerball, team score and cross the vortex. All were led by a great group of 28 sports leaders from Comberton, who gave up PROBLEM-SOLVING: An outdoor challenge for their day off to help.

Years 3 and 4 pupils.

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All Bee-ing well

EXPERT GUIDANCE: From the sports leaders.

Comberton hosted their first primary netball tournament since the pandemic with the return of the SCSSP annual tournament.

It was a busy event in the first round of the ‘Bee Netball’ competition with 10 teams participating in 24 games inside 90 minutes. The teams were expertly guided by Comberton’s Year 10 sports leaders, who officiated by umpiring, scoring and timing the games as well as offering to coach some of the teams.

The event was one of six — the others were at Melbourn, Cambourne, Linton, Swavesey and Cottenham — in the first round. A second round is scheduled to be played in March, with the South Cambs finals nights for all teams in April or May. Which finals tournament each team plays in is dependent on where they finish in their local league.

Coton 1 were the eventual winners ahead of Meridian 1, Barton and Barnabas Oley 1, with plenty to play for in the second round.

Expeditions are back!

COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

After two years of cancellations and postponements, Comberton was finally able to run a Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition earlier this term with those taking silver heading to the Chilterns for their assessed expedition postponed from the summer.

Here, Head Prefect James (11N) recalls highs and lows of the weekend.

We all arrived at school for the start of the day and people would come up to us and ask to hold our bags or ask us how much they weighed.

We then got on the bus and drove to the Chilterns. When we arrived we had to walk to our campsite for that evening.

On the first day, the weather was great, and the sun was shining most of the day.

The walk was hard, but, as it was the first day, motivation was high and everyone made it through the day without getting lost.

We pitched camp when we arrived and were given stoves so we all made our dinners. (My group had sausages and Smash.)

The second day was a bit of a challenge; the weather had changed, and it rained all day! Despite the ups and downs and a few tears shed we got to the next site.

With our kit soaked and our clothes wet, we all worked together to get camp

set up and laid out our sleeping bags to, hopefully, dry out for the night.

The community spirit created by the tough situation was one of the tightest I have been part of with everyone working for each other and helping one another.

After a hard night, everyone got up, put away the wet kit and made some warm breakfast.

As it was the final day the motivation to get going and get it done was high and everyone set off on time.

The walk was the shortest and my group went through Tring Park and the centre of Tring, which were both beautiful and one of my favourite parts of the whole expedition.

The most amazing part was as our group arrived, several other converged and the majority arrived back to the coach together.

The whole experience was very challenging, and some parts really tested my mental and physical resilience, but we managed to keep together as a group, and we did it together.

HAPPY CAMPERS: Weather for the first day was good, but it didn’t last!

Expeditions 2022

March 18-20 — Silver Practice, Grafham Water May 13-15 — Bronze Assessed A, Grafham Water June 10-12 — Bronze Assessed B, Grafham Water July 2-5 — Gold Practice, Peak District (Dark Peak) July 12-15 — Silver Assessed, Chilterns

Festival delight for Comberton players

Comberton recently took Year 7, 8 and under-16 teams to the Shelford rugby festival where they faced Swavesey and Sawston.

The Year 7s made easy work of their opponents, winning 56-14 and 28-5.

All the boys played superbly and showed great maturity, especially when the rules were adapted to help their weaker opponents have more of a game. Player of the tournament was Tabe, for his lightning fast runs and big tackles.

The Year 8 team also found similar success, beating their opponents 27-5 and 18-5.

There were a number of strong turnovers to regain possession of the ball, along with very fast individual runs from the backs.

Player of the tournament was Charlie for his consistently good performances.

Unfortunately for the U16’s some of the teams had to drop out last minute so their only opponents were Sawston, who brought only 12 players.

This meant that a number of the Comberton players chose to show great sportsmanship and volunteered to play as part of the Sawston team.

The match was very closely contested and both teams played exceptionally well.

The final score was 24-14 to Sawston with two of the tries scored by Comberton players who had volunteered to switch sides!

In all it was a good afternoon of rugby and we are looking forward to continuing the success into next season.

Six in valiant battle as Covid strikes team

The senior basketball team had their first fixture of the 2021-22 campaign against The Perse.

What started off as a very strong squad of 11 dwindled to six due to Covid cases and isolations, but the team remained focussed and were determined to put up a good game.

We were met with a 15-man squad and a packed balcony of spectators ready to cheer on the home team, so we knew we would be up against it.

Early on the teams matched each other point for point, with some individual brilliance and solid defensive team play.

Going in to half time the scores were tied and we had a real game on our hands.

Fatigue started to kick in and energy levels were draining as the second half progressed and it became apparent that The Perse’s squad size would be significant.

The Comberton boys pushed through and ran themselves in to the ground. With a really strong finish, the score ended 36-28 to The Perse.

We very much look forward to the return fixture with, hopefully, a fully fit and available squad.

BATTLERS: Comberton’s squad was reduced to six

by Covid and enforced isolations.

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COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

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Rising star’s Olympic aim COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

Charntay Naidoo has her eyes on a very big prize.

Goal-happy girls go on a Cup run

FIRST TITLE: Early success is fuelling an Olympic dream.

She is hoping to emulate the likes of trailblazing women’s boxer Nicola Adams and bag an Olympic gold medal.

And the Year 10 has taken a very important first step by winning the National Junior Development title.

She is now waiting to hear whether that has earned her a place in the England junior squad.

She took the title in her first fight to earn an impressive reward for her dedication and ambition.

“I feel wonderful,” she said. “I have been boxing for five years, train five days a week and I love the discipline, the exercise, the feeling of fitness and the sense of achievement.

“Now I’m just going to keep boxing and going forwards. I’d like to get to the Olympics, become a world champion and more!”

Chantay trains at the Saints Boxing Club in St Neots.

Comberton’s under-15 football team are through to the last 32 of the girls’ English Schools National Cup after a thrilling victory in the fourth round.

Having been forced to change things around due to goalkeeper injury, Comberton took time to settle as the team traded goals throughout.

The match against Shenfield High School was locked at 5-5 when the full-time whistle blew. In a tense extra 10 minutes, Comberton scored twice to go through 7-5 thanks to goals shared between Isabel (10B), Maddie (10N), Olivia (10V) and Gwen (10T).

Those were the first goals Comberton had conceded. After a bye in the first round, they had a thumping 13-0 victory against Etonbury Academy in the second before booking their fourth round slot with an 8-0 victory over King James Academy, Royston, in round three.

PE teacher Abbey Cotton said: “They have demonstrated excellent effort and determination in these games, with some spectacular goals so far!”

MARCHING ON: Comberton’s girls are into the fifth round of the The under-13s had their first game against Robert Bloomfield under-15 National Schools Cup. Academy, a strong side from Bedford. They played very well as a teams who finished third and fifth. new team and battled hard to create good scoring opportunities.

Coaches’ players and players’ players so far: Jenna (9C), Gwen (10T), Holly Unfortunately, they lost 4-1 but there were plenty of positives.

(10T), Maddie (10N), Ellen (7I), Anna (8N) and Kim (8C).

They then had a friendly tournament at Soham Village College, entering two

First hurdle cleared

Two Comberton students who reached the national finals of the English Schools Cross-Country Championships last time it was held in 2020 have taken the first steps towards this year’s showdown — in a different age group.

Emily (11R) and Jacob (11N) both ran in the junior section as Year 9 students last time, but earlier this month they raced through the Cambridge and District Championships — the first qualifying round — to book their places in the intermediate race (for Years 10 and 11) at the County Championships early next year.

On a very cold morning at Netherhall School, Emily saw off all-comers, leading from the start to win her section.

Jacob was one of four other Comberton qualifiers who finished in the top 15 to earn the right to represent Cambridge and District at the county competition.

The others were Emily (10M) and Amie (11T), who finished behind Emily in the intermediates, and Jenna (9C), who qualified in the junior section for Years 8 and 9.

Well done to them and the other 29 Comberton competitors who tackled the tough and hilly course in an event across all year groups which attracted runners from 19 secondary schools.

NEVER CHALLENGED: The leader from start to finish.

HAVING A GO: Pupils tried a number of different inclusive activities.

Trying new sports

Pupils enjoyed a chance to try out some different activities as they represented Comberton and the Cabin at the South Cambridgeshire Panathlon Challenge.

Competing against four other schools at Impington Village College, Comberton’s two teams of five took part in a range of inclusive activities, including indoor kurling, boccia, adapted tennis, adapted cricket, target throwing and bowling.

Pupils showed excellent teamwork and had a great time and were rewarded with the team of Alana (7M), Arianna (7M), Molly (7E), Kevin (8C), Sonny (8C) and Aydin (8O) taking second place and the other team of Jack (9O), Raven (9C), James (9I), Regan (9M) and Cody (9O) finishing fourth.

Panathlon give young people with disabilities and special educational needs the opportunity to take part in competitive sport, but also gives young sports leaders the experience of helping at these events.

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An explosion of colour!

COMBERTON VILLAGE COLLEGE

Fifteen Year 7 pupils were very lucky to be invited to the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough School Games Colour Run.

It is the first time this event, organised by Living Sport to provide a positive experience of sport and physical activity for young people, has taken place so both pupils and staff were unsure what to expect!

It was aimed at those in Years 6, 7 and 8 who have struggled with social isolation and anxiety following the Covid-19 pandemic and had more than 400 participants.

The event provided a fun way for young people to re-integrate with their peers, to find and develop their resilience, meet new people, and improve their physical and mental wellbeing in an enjoyable and safe environment.

After registering, the pupils were welcomed into the event village which was filled with fun activities for our pupils to experience.

From samba bands to graffiti artists — the atmosphere was electric! A particular highlight was the smoothie bike, where pupils pedalled on a bicycle to power a blender.

After pedalling away they were rewarded for their efforts with a healthy smoothie they had just made! Perfect fuel for the run ahead.

It was then time to begin the 3.17km course around Milton Country Park. It was at this point we realised just how much colour is involved in a colour run!

The horn sounded and an explosion of colour was to be seen! The event had begun and pupils took the course at their own pace, enjoying the sights and colour stations around the route.

The ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos speak volumes, with pupils fully embracing the day and enjoying the benefits of physical activity.

It was hard to drag us away from the event; unfortunately we could not stay there all day.

It was very memorable for many reasons, and it certainly isn’t every day you come home from school with pink hair…

Thank you to all at Cambridgeshire & Peterborough School Games for hosting this event.

Rebecca Kingston, PE Department

Sports leaders off to a fantastic start

BEFORE AND AFTER: Pupils at the inaugural Cambridge and Peterborough Colour Run at Milton Country Park.

Our Year 10 Leadership Academy pupils have been very busy already this year and they have made a fantastic first impression.

They have helped at SCSSP events such as the OAA festival, the Bee Netball League and a primary school cross-country event for a whopping 850 competitors at Wimpole Estate.

Many of the leaders have taken up the fantastic opportunities on offer and have already completed courses in Netball umpiring and Football refereeing.

Their presence has also been appreciated at after-school clubs, where many of our sports leaders have been helping our younger year groups at football, hockey, netball and squash clubs.

Collectively, the Leadership Academy pupils have already clocked up more than 250 hours of volunteering since September! A special mention goes to: Isabelle (10T), Isabella (10B), Karima (10V), Charlotte (10B), Jessamy (10C), Liv (10M) and Georgia (10E) for recording the most hours so far!

Stars in the making as girls try rugby LEADERSHIP IN ACTION: Year 10 Sports Leaders get stuck in.

INTRODUCTION TO RUGBY: For a group of KS3 girls at Shelford Rugby Club.

Shelford Rugby Club hosted their annual Girls’ Rugby Festival earlier this term.

The Comberton girls had a fantastic time developing their skills and taking part in some friendly competition against other local schools.

The event showed we have some great talent within our KS3 girls and some potential for some brilliant future rugby stars.

A standout for the competition was Tegan (7C), who was awarded our player of the tournament.

Tegan fully embraced the afternoon. Despite never playing rugby before, she showed some real talent.

She even came away with her own Shelford Rugby top!

Well done to all involved.

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