MVC News Summer 2016

MVC NEWS

MVC summer 2016 v16_comberton temp.qxp 12/07/2016 10:42 Page 1

www.mvc.org.uk

01763 223400

www.facebook.com/MelbournVillageCollege

Summer 2016

The News Magazine of Melbourn Village College, an Academy of The Cam Academy Trust

South Cambs MP visits Melbourn — Page 2

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MVC News

Students wow local MP

LEARNING CURVE: MP Heidi Allen met staff and students on her first visit to Melbourn Village College.

Melbourn’s new senior prefects were thrown straight in at the deep end when they performed their first official duties.

Rose Pedge, Emily Littlewood, Rebecca Webb and Alex Farrow were only appointed a few days before South Cambridgeshire MP Heidi Allen visited the school for the first time.

But the Year 10 students showed some of the qualities which earned them the job as they chatted effortlessly to their VIP visitor about their school, how it has shaped them and their aspirations for the future.

Ms Allen came out saying: “Wow – you have some seriously ambitious pupils here!”

During the day she also met Melbourn Principal Simon Holmes, dropped into a maths lesson and chatted to Assistant Principal John Barnes and Pupil Premium

and Young Carers champion Caroline Deadman about the ways the college is improving outcomes for the 65 students in receipt of Pupil Premium because they are in low-income families.

Melbourn has developed a wide range of strategies to help these students make the same progress as their peers — closing the gap nationally is a current government focus. These include everything from homework clubs, mentoring, a summer school for new Year 7 pupils and intervention groups for English, maths and science to providing resources, uniform and even breakfast and other financial support.

“You can really see what an individual difference it makes to students,” said Ms Allen, who has offered to help with further work in this area.

The South Cambs MP has now visited all the village colleges in her constituency and said: “It’s a system that works very well and you wouldn’t want to change it.”

Creating new opportunities for all

Each learner is unique, therefore, all learning experiences must take into account the abilities, interests, and learning styles of the individual.

Learning is more effective when students enjoy what they’re doing, therefore, learning experiences should be designed accordingly.

Learning is more meaningful and enjoyable when content and process are learned within the context of a real problem, when students use authentic methods to address the problem, and when they want to have an impact on

EXPANSION PLAN: For Melbourn’s enrichment activities.

a real audience.

Enrichment learning and teaching focuses on enhancing knowledge and acquiring thinking skills. Based on local resources, student population, school leadership dynamics, and faculty strengths and creativity we are aiming to develop the talent potentials of young people at Melbourn.

We will do this by systematically assessing their strengths and providing enrichment opportunities, resources, and services to develop these strengths.

The new approach to enrichment at Melbourn will improve the academic performance of all students in all areas of the regular curriculum and blend standard curriculum activities with meaningful enrichment learning.

From September 2016 small groups of students accompanied by relevant subject teachers, will visit and interview Cambridge University academics in a range of areas and will embrace the wide range of opportunities within this area of South Cambridgeshire.

Additional work with the local area will link Melbourn Village College with a range of groups, including primary schools, sports clubs, youth groups and businesses. This work will be led by the School Council and aims to bring the community together through a variety of enrichment activities.

The enrichment activities that have taken place this year at Melbourn have been wide and varied. However, we feel that increasing the number and quality of enrichment opportunities is vital for all students and will allow them to flourish both in and out of lessons. Information on enrichment activities taking place at Melbourn is available on our website.

John Barnes, Assistant Principal

q Caring for Young Carers — Page 3 q Volunteers’ Community Spirit — Page 3 q Latest Trust News — Page 4 q Modern Languages Latest — Page 5 q Science Round-Up — Page 6 q Royal Visit for Cadet — Page 6

q Primary visits — Page 7 q Bloomsday — Page 7 q ‘Aim for Better Each Day’ — Page 8 q Cause for Celebration — Page 8 q Artists go Pro — Page 9 q Sport — Pages 11 & 12

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Contents

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Caring for young carers

MVC News

MVC has been recognised for its efforts in making sure students don’t miss out on education because they are young carers.

ways, including homework clubs and drop-in sessions with Young Carers champion Caroline Deadman.

Vital information about how to identify young carers is made available to all school staff, and noticeboards and the school webpage let students and their families know where to go for help.

To help schools support young carers, the programme offers a step-by-step guide for leaders, teachers and non-teaching staff, with practical tools

In April they earned a bronze award from The Young Carers in Schools programme, which helps primary and secondary schools improve outcomes for young carers, and have now applied for silver.

Principal Simon Holmes said: “Supporting Young Carers is just one aspect of the work that we do, often behind the scenes, to help our students on the path to achieving their potential.

“This award is recognition of that work and as such it is very pleasing to have received it.

“When I attended the MindEd conference on Mental Health, one speaker recalled that she didn’t realise she was a young carer until long after she left her school, let alone receive any support or understanding. By raising awareness and supporting these children, we are trying to ensure that can’t happen again.”

To achieve the Bronze Award Melbourn demonstrated that it supports young carers in many RECOGNITION: Of MVC’s work with Young Carers.

designed to make it as easy as possible for schools.

Staff can also receive training through webinars and events and the programme also features a newsletter each term highlighting relevant policy developments, spotlighting good practice and giving updates on the programme’s successes.

Gail Scott-Spicer, Chief Executive of Carers Trust, said: “Schools play a vital role in a young carer’s life, but many care for relatives without their teachers even knowing what they do. On average young carers will miss half a day of school each fortnight as a result of their caring role, so the steps schools take to identify and support them can have a huge impact on their learning, wellbeing and life chances.”

Jenny Frank, young carer programme director at The Children’s Society, is confident that the Young Carers in Schools Programme will bring about national change. “This is a giant leap forward in the way schools can make sure no child misses out on an education because they are a carer,” she said. “Importantly, we are not just telling schools to improve, we are giving them a clear set of steps to help them improve their support systems, and then recognising the work they do with young carers.”

Volunteers show true community spirit

A group of Melbourn students received high praise for giving up a day of their school holidays to host the Easter Celebration of Ages lunch.

The 20 students from across the school, plus catering manager Lynn Gregory and her team, laid on a meal and company for 160 senior citizens from the village.

Backed by Melbourn Parish Council, who arranged transport and paid for the lunch, the biannual event — a similar lunch is held in December — was again hailed a success.

STUDENT District Councillor Jose Hales said: “I would like HELPERS: to thank everyone who gave up their time to help At two with a cracking event. Feedback from the guests community was extremely good as usual, with extra praise for events in the students, having given up part of their holiday Melbourn. and the fact that they were so attentive and Young and old got together in Melbourn to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday last month. professional. The food went down a storm, as did And there was no need to worry about the weather as Melbourn Village College staged an indoor street party the tea and cake that followed. for 160 guests in the school hall.

“The Maître D’, a young man by the name of Ryan, Students from the college left their uniforms at home as they joined members of the community to help serve was very good and brought a nice calm to the an amazing spread of sandwiches, sausage rolls and cakes, including 20 birthday cakes with the message proceedings and we would like to extend our ‘Happy 90th Liz’, which had been prepared by MVC catering manager Lynn Gregory. thanks to him and his colleagues.

The tea party is one of several that Melbourn staff and students have run each year since 2013. They are “Last and certainly not least, is a thank you to the supported by District Councillors Jose Hales and Val Barrett and funded by Lightsource community grant college for hosting the event, but a special thank money held by the Parish Council. you to Lynn Gregory, who organised the students, The parties, usually held at Christmas and Easter, are aimed at bringing older residents from Melbourn and Meldreth together with the college students, for a good chat, music and food. The Queen’s birthday was a good the food and the setting up of the hall etc. Without excuse for an additional get-together and included a rousing rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ as well as a range of the help of Lynn, this event would not have taken place.” patriotic tunes played on the piano by Melbourn Head of Music Paul Belbin and Principal Simon Holmes.

The most moving scene was when former soldiers stood to honour the Queen when the National Anthem was played, which brought tears to the eyes of many.

Students ran the free raffle and handed out a special Queen’s birthday cake as first prize and 10 tubs of chocolates to the lucky winners.

One of the students said afterwards: “I loved it. I like meeting new people and I felt I was really helping.”

Jose, who also helped host the event, said: “These parties are always so popular, bringing the generations together which is so important for building a strong community.”

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New name as Trust grows THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST NEWS

The Comberton Academy Trust has a new name.

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

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

secondary and primary school level as well as strong provision for those with special educational needs.

Already this year Gamlingay First School became the first primary-phase provider to join the Trust and St Peter’s School, an 11-18 school in Huntingdon, is expected to join in September.

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

Executive Leader.

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

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

Working towards shared international goals

What does it look like when you put international learning right at the heart of the Africa. The videos show students in Pretoria talking about development in the area curriculum? where they live, and are used in lessons to further understanding of the topic.

Providing ‘education with an international outlook’ is one of the five core principles Similarly, data is also being collected from partner schools in Germany, Spain, of the Trust.

Japan and Peru, which will be used by Year 7 students for their mathematics dataThe British Council’s International School handling projects. A questionnaire asks for all Award provides the ideal framework for sorts of information, from shoe size to average coordinating international activity and has time spent on homework each day. helped to structure activities, as well as Teachers at the Trust are also working hard to giving each school something to work set an example for their students and embed towards: the international dimension to learning even “Creating a sense of shared ethos and further. values across very different schools can be Some teachers at Cambourne are developing a challenge, but sharing the objective of their own skills so they can teach parts of their attaining and maintaining the International subject in Spanish.

School Award is tangible and something all They are aiming towards a term’s worth of schools can readily sign up to,” said Rachel modules in art, music, geography and history Hawkes, the Trust’s Director of International routinely taught in Spanish. Some Year 7 Education and Research, and Modern students have already had a maths lesson a Languages teacher: week in Spanish.

“There are so many advantages to working JOINT TRIPS: Students from three schools in Germany.

Taking on board practice developed at The together across the Trust. It enables us to Voyager Academy, there are plans to develop share expertise, learn from one another, run joint exchange programmes, raise the a more cohesive assembly programme in other schools across the Trust, with a profile of language learning, and create a real shared sense of identity. focus on global themes, as well as continuing to join forces on activities such as “The goal is for all schools in the Trust to have Full Accreditation status (with the exchange programmes. Students from Comberton, Melbourn and Cambourne British Council) by 2017.” shared this year’s German Exchange and Comberton and Cambourne students Comberton has a long-running programme of international activity and International were on the French and Spanish Exchanges together earlier this term. All three School Award Full Accreditation status. A new focus there is on widening the colleges have run separate trips to the same Spanish town, working with the same benefits of international work in other areas of the curriculum. schools and collaborating on the travel arrangements through a Spanish facilitator.

Within the Year 9 International Development Geography module, students study “We want our students to learn and understand more about the people they are video material which has been produced by their partner school in Pretoria, South connected with across the world,” said Dr Hawkes.

Mentors play key role

GET TOGETHER: Languages staff collaborate.

Staff join forces on curricula changes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And this week members of the public, who will play a vital role in the Language Futures programme, were being trained before the student learning gets under way in Comberton, Cambourne and Melbourn village colleges in September, The programme is designed to offer students the opportunity to learn whichever language is most relevant to them. In school they will be taught how to learn the skills which they apply to a specific language of their choice, with the support of mentors.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Georgia flies flag for East region

MVC News

A Year 9 student who has been learning Spanish for fewer than two years has finished in the top four of a national translation competition.

Georgia Seaton took fourth place in the grand final of the Spanish section of the Translation Bee run by Routes into Languages and held at Anglia Ruskin University.

She was the only student representing the East region in Spanish, French or German to secure a top-four finish as students from The Coopers’ Company and Coborn School, London, and Altrincham Grammar School for Girls dominated the leader boards.

The Translation Bee is a spin-off of the foreign language Spelling Bee established several years ago and only started last year. However, this year is the first time Melbourn have entered and Georgia, along with Daniel Arthur, Matthew Booth-Brown and Maddie Sparkes, came through class and school rounds to represent MVC and the East at the finals.

They were among 121 finalists of 7,659 students who started the competition across the three languages.

In the first round students have to translate as many sentences as they can in a minute from English into their chosen language in the present tense. The school round sees the addition of the future tense and by the final, sentences could have been in the past as well.

Melbourn Deputy Principal Regina Lawrence, who is also a language teacher, said: “It was a fantastic effort from Georgia and nice to see her flying the flag for the region. Well done to all our students, LEADING LIGHT: Success for an MVC student. particularly as they have been learning Spanish for under two years.”

Students’ Spanish trip boosts confidence

Year 8 students enjoyed a fantastically successful educational trip to Spain.

The group of 24 spent five days in the beautiful town of Comillas in Cantabria, Northern Spain — another example of the great new opportunities offered by the thriving Spanish department, working in partnership with other schools in the Trust, which run trips to the same place.

The college was delighted to be able to offer this trip for a second year and it included Spanish lessons given by native speakers, academic and social interaction with Spanish students and presentations

in Spanish in front of more than 60 people.

There was also the opportunity for sightseeing at the Altamira Cave, viewing the stalagmites and stalactites at El Soplao, visiting El Capricio de Gaudi to learn about artist Antoni Gaudi’s style of architecture, and Cabarceno, the largest national park in Europe, which is also a rehabilitation centre for sick animals. There students and staff were particularly impressed by the birds of prey show.

They also ate paella, sampled speciality cakes in a local café, learnt flamenco or played football and relaxed on the beach with students from Salesianos

MVC success in online contest

IMMERSED: Students soak up the food and culture during the Year 8 trip to Spain.

Students in 8M1 and 9M1 took part in the Language Perfect World Series online languages competition.

They answered a total of 109,091 questions and MVC came sixth in England for Spanish, out of 41 schools.

Georgia Seaton was the top-scoring student and won a Gold Award, as did Jessica Taylor, Jenny Elliott and John Hinton. They were in the top 2% of 330,000 competitors from around the world.

Silver certificates went to Oliver Habergham, Rebecca Taylor and Daniel Arthur, bronze to Emily West, Matthew Spence, Maisie Rogers and Finlay Downham White and 11 students won a credit award.

Well done to all who participated.

School in nearby Santander.

The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience with Lucy Froggatt commenting: “It was really fun and we learnt a lot,” and Penny Lowe describing it as “an amazing experience.”

Matthew Spence said: “I really liked the chance to see a different food and culture,” while Leia Clarkstone added: “It was really fun — we did a lot of different things.”

Deputy Principal and Modern Languages teacher Regina Lawrence, who led the trip, said: “I have been leading foreign language visits for over 20 years now, and this trip was the best I’ve led in terms of what it gave the students; language learning, experience of the food and culture of the country, the chance to get to know young people their own age, and all this while staying in a lovely hotel with a pool, which we enjoyed in the evening!

“Our students have not only improved their Spanish, but grown in confidence all round too.”

REUNITED: MVC and Spanish students meet up again.

History and Spanish combined Earlier this term we were delighted to welcome back at MVC our friends from Salesianos, a school in Santander.

Our year 9s had met them last year when they went on the year trip to Spain.

They spent a lovely day together at Duxford

Imperial War Museum, finding out about different

air and land-based warfare. The day culminated in our students making a presentation on the Battle

of Britain in Spanish (and the Spanish students in English).

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It really is rocket science MVC News

‘Rocket Science’ in STEM Club has been a success!

finally confirmed by Tim Peake after his return from six months on the International Space Station, so students were pleased that their This was a nationwide initiative by the RHS prediction was correct.

Campaign for School Gardening and the UK They concluded that the lower growth and Space Agency. measurements of the space seeds might be Two kilograms of rocket seeds (Eruca sativa) due to the fact that they were exposed to returned safely after six months on the increased doses of radiation and/or lack of International Space Station and Melbourn was gravity. one of 10,000 schools given some of the ‘space The students have been writing up the project seeds’ to grow, along with some from Earth (red as a powerpoint presentation to proudly display and blue packets). on a noticeboard in the school administration Students did not know which seeds came from SOWING A SEED: From earth (left) and one that corridor. space so tried to predict that from the results. went to the International Space Station.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of The seeds successfully germinated on day STEM club for the last two years. Dr Dyer, the These were recorded and entered on a national three, though there was a difference in the seeds science technician, has really been impressed with database, which will be eventually analysed and from the different colour packets (93% red v 77% the enthusiasm of the students and high quality of published. Unfortunately, a lot of the seedlings did blue). projects they have produced. die over the very hot Bank Holiday weekend, but STEM Club members carefully monitored their Next year, STEM club will move from lunchtime to an enough survived to continue measurements. growth and carried out some measurements, such as enrichment activity and will be led by Mr Wright, so when they developed two ‘true’ leaves as well as the From the results, MVC students predicted that the please watch out for that! two seed leaves. seeds in space were from the blue packet. This was

That’s egg-cellent

EFFORTS RECOGNISED: Students with their certificates of success from the on-line biology competition.

Students know their biology More than half the MVC students who took part in an online biology competition received an award.

In total 41 of the 77 mixed ability Year 9 and 10 students who took the Society of Biology’s annual ‘Biology Challenge’ received a gold, silver, bronze, highly commended or commended certificate.

Students had to take two on-line quizzes worth a total of 120 points and those achieving 80 or more received a gold award. Silver went to those with

more than 72 points and bronze was more than 64 points.

Year 10 student Dylan Miller finished top of the chart as the only MVC student to gain gold, followed

by Harry Gee, also of Year 10 with silver.

Year 9s Max Walker, Greg Ferrie, Alex Selby, Matt Booth-Brown and Fred Close were among those gaining bronze, along with Year 10 Conor Waring.

Girls from MVC’s STEM club were invited to “STEMettes Day” in London, aiming to inspire girls in the workplaces for Science, Maths, Engineering and Technology.

Ten girls spent time with staff from the global technology company “Accenture”, building their own mobile phone apps. The girls then presented their apps to a panel of industry experts and received feedback on their designs.

Jenny Elliott (Year 8) won the people’s prize for innovation and design, and Charlotte Van Bochoven (Year 7) won the industry panel’s prize for overall best app and presentation.

“All the girls had a fantastic time, and this has really opened their horizons to other careers in the science and technology industries,” said science teacher Cat Rich.

MVC STEM Club took part in the Comberton Academy Trust’s STEM Competition, with Comberton and Cambourne Village Colleges, each entering two teams.

Students had to engineer their own “egg bungee”, designing and building it themselves before competing.

Having won the first round, Melbourn this time took second place, pipped by a team from Cambourne.

Science teacher Cat Rich said: “I am really proud of what our students managed to achieve in such a short amount of time.

“Sadly, we did have one egg casualty though, meaning we had to withdraw one team!”

Melbourn Village College are due to host the last round of the competition, which is likely to take place early next term.

App-solutely fabulous day out

SHOW TIME: An MVC pupil presents.

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THE DROP: Students at the egg bungee challenge.

Royal visit for cadet

HONOUR: For Luke Yates.

Year 8 pupil Luke Yates found himself in the presence of royalty earlier this term.

The 12-year-old was one of a select group of St John Ambulance cadets chosen to be at the opening, by the Princess Royal, of the charity’s new Cambridge headquarters.

Melbourn-based Luke has been with St John Ambulance for just over a year and trains with the Royston branch. He was one of just seven cadets chosen from the different groups which meet in Cambridge and the surrounding area to be at the royal opening of the Goodman Centre in Cherry Hinton.

The Queen’s only daughter is the Commandant in Chief (Youth) for St John Ambulance.

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MVC News

Year 6 taste life at MVC INTRODUCTION TO SECONDARY SCHOOL: Year 6 students spent the day at Melbourn as part of their induction.

We were delighted to welcome our new students to MVC last month, for an exciting, challenging day-long taste of what they can expect when they join us in September.

During the Induction Day it was very impressive to see new students so full of enthusiasm and so ready to make friends with each other, and I was particularly pleased to see students from different primary schools together at lunchtime.

Students experienced a range of lessons, including Art, English, Dance, Maths, Music and Mandarin, showing them a range of the interesting subjects on offer at MVC.

The prefects commented on the students' mature attitudes, which showed that they could work well with our older students. Mr Holmes commented on their imaginative participation and their good problem-solving skills as all engaged fully and smiled throughout the day.

It's an exciting time for them and us, as we look forward to our new Year 7 cohort starting the next part of their education.

This followed a very successful Induction Evening, when parents and students met their form tutors.

Newton 1 were delighted to meet their form gerbils and the Lewis students enjoyed discussing the recent rugby results with Mr Palmer, who has joined us from Australia!

Mr Holmes welcomed parents and students and

Almost 100 youngsters were given a taste of the Far East when they spent the day at Melbourn VIllage College.

The students from five of the college’s cluster primary schools enjoyed a Mandarin Day — ahead of the introduction of the language into the curriculum for all Year 7 students from September.

As well as learning how to say the names of the animals of the Chinese calendar with MVC’s enthusiastic and animated new Mandarin teacher Xuequn Fan, the students extended their knowledge in a range of other subjects.

The youngsters, who were grouped so they could make friends from different primary schools, went on a rotation which also included

dance, RE and geography.

Each group created a dance based on a Chinese love story, which was likened to Romeo and Juliet by members of staff, learned how to fold paper in an origami session and discovered facts and figures about China and its people.

It was a successful day with Jack, from Harston & Newton Primary school, commenting: “I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to learn more.”

Kelly Coghlan, who organised the event, said: “The primary school pupils all worked very hard and seemed to really enjoy the day. They were very well looked after by Melbourn prefects and Year 8 helpers and all enjoyed taking home their origami as well as a Melbourn water bottle and certificate of achievement.”

Insight into China for primary visitors

CHALLENGING TASK: Students read aloud from James Joyce’s classic, Ulysses.

introduced the new prefect team, who spoke of their MVC experiences.

He also introduced Mr Fan, our new Mandarin teacher, who will be joining us in September, as the language becomes part of the curriculum.

We hope to encourage parents to get involved in this new learning opportunity.

Mr Barnes also discussed the exciting range of new activities on offer from September to enrich the curriculum.

In addition, Mr Holmes offered an insight into the cross-Trust sharing of curriculum resources, which benefits all students within the Trust, building on our knowledge and expertise in delivering an interesting curriculum for all learners.

Sarah Hallam, Head of Year 7 & Primary Liaison

Students read aloud to help Melbourn Bloom

ORIGAMI: At the Year 5 Mandarin Day.

MVC students have helped recreate a classic novel from the 20th Century.

The students again took part in the Bloomsday celebration staged by villagers in Melbourn, having helped make the inaugural event a success a year ago.

It is based on a similar day in Ireland where James Joyce’s book Ulysses was based and students gave open-air readings from passages of the work at various locations around the village.

Considered one of the most influential writers of the last century, Joyce’s bestknown novel is a day in the life of advertising salesman Leopold Bloom.

The students all read beautifully in a number of locations not conducive to reading out loud — for example at the traffic lights outside the Co-op, in the

butcher’s and the Premier convenience store. The venues were chosen as the modern-day equivalent of the sites important in Bloom’s day.

The day in question was June 16 1904 and 112 years later that day was again recreated in Melbourn as villagers dressed in early 20th century attire and relived scenes from the modern masterpiece.

The whole event, which took place over three days and also featured speakers on major international development issues, local creative writers and a public lecture hosted by MVC. There was no charge for any of the events, but all donations have been sent to WaterAid, which helps some of the world’s poorest communities source safe drinking water.

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‘Aim for better each day’ MVC News

Not even the buzzer marking the end of the school day caused a stir in a whole school assembly with a difference last month.

Staff and students were so rapt with inspirational guest speaker Alistair Patrick-Heselton that nobody moved as he spoke about his life to a packed hall.

Alistair had already seen the ups and downs of professional football before injury forced him to change tack. But he was still playing semi-

professionally when his life was changed forever in 2006.

He had his head literally split open after being catapulted from a car in a crash that killed his best friend. He spent months in a coma. When he came round he was told he might never walk again and that wherever he was with his recovery in five years was likely to be as far as he could go.

However, he worked incredibly hard to not only regain his mobility, but to play his beloved football again. Four years after the crash, he joined the team

A cause for celebration . . .

Celebrating success was the focus of the evening as youngsters from MVC’s partner primary schools gathered for an inaugural awards evening.

Having spoken to MVC students during the afternoon, paralympic athlete Alistair Patrick-Heselton was then the guest speaker and, as well as giving out certificates of achievement to students in Key Stage 2 for everything from maths to dance and swimming to language learning, he inspired them with his story.

Having kept the audience of adults and children totally absorbed as he outlined the incredible ups and downs of his life, he then went on to hand out framed certificates for outstanding achievement at a range of events staged at MVC in the last year.

The winners of the sporting achievements, including netball, football and swimming, were joined by students chosen for their outstanding endeavour at the Year 5 humanities day, the Year 5 Gifted and Talented maths sessions, art and MFL taught by Melbourn teachers in the primary schools and dance.

Melbourn Principal Simon Holmes said: “It was fantastic that so many pupils, their parents and teachers from our partner primary schools were able to attend this event.

“Alistair was an inspirational speaker as you could see by the long queue of children wanting selfies and parents thanking him.

“Successful people are those who get up and carry on after setbacks and his life has been full of ups and downs.”

for Cerebral Palsy or brain injury sufferers and has since played for England and competed at the Paralympics in London four years ago, although he can’t head the ball and knows that a serious blow to his scull could kill him.

Working as a mentor for the Youth Sports Trust, he now talks to youngsters about his experiences and how to ensure nothing holds you back, whatever happens. And he told the Melbourn students: “whatever you do, aim to do it better the next day.”

ALL-ROUND INSPIRATION: Alistair PatrickHeselton with MVC students and (below) handing out awards to primary pupils.

Magical Wembley day out for lucky Ewan

Year 9 pupil Ewan Walpole was handed the trip of a lifetime after his recycling project impressed the college’s governors.

Chair of governors Sue Williamson said: “The governing board of Melbourn Village College is very impressed by the work that Ewan Walpole has done on recycling. He has had the determination to introduce new ways of recycling at MVC and the PERFECT VIEW: Seats confidence to present a film to the on the halfway line at governing board.

“At MVC we recognise the talents the FA Cup final were Ewan Walpole’s reward of every child and we are for his recycling delighted that we were able to present Ewan with three tickets for project. this year’s FA Cup final, donated

by SSAT, the schools, students and teachers network.”

Ewan’s recycling project is part of his Awards Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) Geography short course, which offers alternative study route, complementing Melbourn’s ethos of Everybody is Somebody.

Here Ewan reviews his big day out.

“I was given some tickets for the Cup final because I had worked hard on a

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recycling project at school.

“I went with my Dad and Grandpa.

When we arrived there were thousands of people, Wembley was packed.

“I was so excited, the crowd was noisy and lots of people were waving flags.

The drums started and people started dancing on the pitch. Tinie Tempah was there. Then they played the National Anthem and we all stood up.

“The match kicked off, Crystal Palace scored the first goal. Everybody cheered apart from me. Juan Mata equalised for Manchester United almost immediately. So it was 1-1.

“Earlier Chris Smalling had fouled a Crystal Palace player and got booked.

Then in extra- time, Smalling fouled

again and got sent off.

“Near the end of extra time Antonio Valencia’s cross was cleared only to Jesse Lingard who volleyed the second goal for Manchester United. I jumped up and cheered as loud as I could. Man United won the cup!!

“The whole day was so exciting. It was the best match I have ever seen.”

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MVC News

Debate differs from Brexit reality Although, as we now know, the actual result was very different, the majority of those at a lively debate by a group of young people, including past and present MVC students, was that Britain should stay in the EU. The panellists included former students Sam Robinson (Portsmouth University) and Torrin Wilkins (Long Road Sixth Form College), Charlie Arbon, who is currently in Year 9, and the chair was Lizzie Quinlan, who left Melbourn in 2007 and is now teaching History in Bishop’s Stortford.

The topics covered were: the Economy, Security, Democracy and Global Challenges.

The audience at The Hub in Melbourn were treated to an evening of informative debate with Sam and Ollie Kenzie speaking for the remain campaign and Torrin and Charlie speaking for the UK to leave the EU.

TO REMAIN OR TO LEAVE: Young people debate the EU referendum.

The panellists and chair were aged from 14 to 25 and gave an articulate representation of young peoples’ views, with excellent interaction with the audience.

County Councillor Susan van De Ven said: “MVC students past and present did a marvellous job in the EU debate held on June 1st at the Melbourn Hub. “You would have loved to see Lizzie Quinlan, now a History teacher, in the chair, with fun and flair. The youngest was Charlie Arbon, who at age 14 really deserves praise for his preparation and poise. Torrin Wilkins and Sam Robinson were wonderful as well.

“The audience all found it a refreshing and hopeful kind of occasion, because of the way the team of young people presented themselves and engaged with each other.”

Artists’ chance to go pro

The class of 2016 GCSE art group were given the amazing opportunity to hold their GCSE art exhibition in the Upper Gallery at The Plough in Shepreth, using a dedicated art space which hosts exhibitions all year round.

It was great for the students to see their work professionally hung in the beautiful rooms there. The atmosphere was buzzing at the preview evening as students proudly showed their work to parents and friends.

Mrs Heeks and Mrs Reade, MVC’s art teachers, were delighted with the exhibition, which “embodied the creative energy, dedication and technical skill of the class of 2016 GCSE Art students”.

Marjorie Shaw, an invigilator who supervised the students during their 10-hour GCSE exam, said that it had been “a privilege to be able to witness the creation of the work from a blank sheet of paper or board to the finished piece.

“The exhibition included all the finished work plus all the preparation which shows the amazing knowledge and talent of these students.”

ON SHOW: GCSE art work on display at the Upper Gallery.

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

Schools race into finals

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

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

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

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

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

It’s a wash-out

The South Cambs School Sports Partnership’s Year 4 Mini Olympics was cancelled for the first time in 12 years after torrential rain submerged the Cambridge University Athletics Ground.

Ducks enjoyed a splashing time as the grass became a pond and there was standing water on the surfaced areas too.

Around 1400 children from 43 primary schools from across the district were due to take part in a day of athletics based on the Olympic and Paralympic sports.

Fowlmere fly high UNDER WATER: A duck moves in

Fowlmere were among the four teams flying the flag for South Cambs at the High 5 netball event.

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

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

New for this year’s competition was a special ‘Spirit of the Games’ award which has been introduced to support the work being done in schools to encourage children to think about the lessons that can be learned through sport and the importance of values such as respect, determination, teamwork, honesty, passion and self-belief; not only in sport but everyday life. The ‘Spirit of the Games’ award therefore recognises those individuals that have shown good sportsmanship and best demonstrated these sporting values and was judged by the sports leaders.

Among those to receive this award were Meldreth’s Lola Brown.

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

Claire McDonnell, Partnership Manager, said: “There were some excellent performances on the day so congratulations to all of our winners and well done to everyone who took part.”

Rain doesn’t stop play!

FINALISTS: Harston & Newton (left) and Meldreth.

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

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

The teams of two boys and two girls from Meldreth, Haslingfield, Linton Heights and Harston & Newton made it to the finals as the top teams from the qualification rounds played in May. The final round of matches were tense with three

teams still in with a chance of claiming the title of SSP Champions, which eventually went to Haslingfield for the second year running.

Meldreth Primary School managed to hold Harston & Newton to a 2-2 draw in their final match, which meant the latter had to settle for the runners-up slot ahead of Linton and Meldreth Haslingfield and Harston & Newton represented South Cambs SSP at the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough County School Games Summer Festival.

Getting the balance right!

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

Children in reception and Year 1 at a number of schools took part in 6 x 30 minute lessons where they developed their balance and spatial awareness while learning to ride a bike without stabilisers.

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

All primary schools will have the opportunity to access Balanceability training from September 2016.

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Off to Rio via Melbourn!

MVC News

Olympic diver Dan Goodfellow went back to school when he returned to MVC earlier this term.

The 19-year-old, who is set to represent Great Britain in the 10m synchro competition at the Games this summer with new partner Tom Daley, was visiting friends in the Cambridgeshire area where he grew up and popped in to catch up with PE teacher Kelly Coghlan.

She was a key teacher when he attended the college from 2008-2013 and played a vital role in helping him balance his school and diving commitments.

Dan said: “My form tutor and mentor Mrs Coghlan helped me a lot with combining my training and school work by communicating with my teachers, coach and mum.

“She made it possible for me to train and compete during school time as well as doing enough work to gain good GCSE grades.”

Dan, who moved to Plymouth as his exams were starting, teamed up with Daley on the highest board earlier this year following his successful comeback from a shoulder operation which sidelined him for most of the 2015 season.

The pair earned their Olympic place by taking World Cup bronze in the host city in February. They went on to cement their partnership by finishing second overall in the World Series after medalling in all four rounds — the first Britons to do so.

He returned from the final leg in Russia, where he and Daley finished third, to train for the European Championships in London.

There he and Daley just missed out on gold in the 10m synchro event after a disappointing final dive cost them top spot, losing out to the Germans by just 0.96 points.

However, they remain positive for the Olympics with Daley telling the BBC: “I think we have lots of positives to take from that performance. Yes, we wanted the gold

FIVE-STAR RATING: Jake Moxham has qualified for a handful of events at the National Swimming Championships.

Another medal haul for swimmer Jake

Jake Moxham will contest five events at the British Swimming Championships in Sheffield at the end of July.

It has been confirmed that he has qualified for the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle as well as the shortest distance in butterfly and backstroke.

The Year 9 pupil recently collected five medals at the East Region Championships and has now moved into the performance squad at his club, City of Cambridge, as he steps up the pace ahead of the nationals.

At the regional competition, the teenager took gold in the 50m backstroke, silver in the 100m backstroke and 50 and 100m freestyle and bronze in the 50m butterfly.

He now catches the train from college for two hours of evening training twice a week and on four mornings he trains for between 90 minutes and four-and-a-half hours, only having Sunday off.

Another mentored by PE teacher Kelly Coghlan, Jake trains in both Cambridge and Royston.

He also spends some of his school PE lessons on swimming-specific training.

Mrs Coghlan said: "Jake is highly motivated and an excellent role model to the rest of the students at the school. His achievements are excellent and we support him the whole way."

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REUNITED: PE teacher Kelly Coghlan and diving ace Dan Goodfellow, who she mentored when he was at MVC. medal, and yes it was really close, but it was the highest score we've got on our first two dives all year; it was only two points less than our personal best and we missed two dives.

“There's still a lot more room for improvement, but we'll let them have this one and take them at the Olympics.”

Goodfellow and Daley are now focussing on the build-up to the Games, which start on August 5th.

Mrs Coghlan said: “We are all incredibly proud of Dan; he has worked so hard to be where he is today and we wish him all the luck in his diving career, especially at Rio.”

EUROPEAN TITLE: For Dominic Clemons

Clemons on trail of golfing glory

Dominic Clemons has his sights on more golfing glory this summer after winning the US Kids European Championships, an international event in Scotland, earlier this term.

The Year 9 pupil, who has been playing competitively since he was four, is now lined up to play in another international event, the English under-16 McGregor Trophy as well as the under-18 Midland Boys’ Championships, the English Schools Under-16 championship and the Faldo Series.

Dominic, a member of the Gog Magog Club in Cambridge and the Hanbury Manor Club in Hertfordshire, first won the European championships in 2012.

He currently plays for both the Herts under-14 and under-16 teams, captaining the former, and is a member of the England under-16 regional squad.

Wimbledon reward

Promising player Thomas Cockman watched Centre Court tennis at Wimbledon this summer after his efforts at the Royston Club were noticed.

The Year 9 student (pictured with his coach) was given tickets for the showpiece event after being highlighted as their best under-16 player — although he is still just 13.

18-year-old record is broken

Jasper Bridges smashed the long-standing Year 9 school javelin record at an event hosted by Bottisham Village College.

His throw of 34.20m was 70cm further than the record set by Neil Hayden 18 years ago.

Jasper was obviously very pleased with his efforts considering that he was throwing into a slight head wind.

In the Year 7 competition Callum Simpson was the winner throwing 24.66m, but missed out on the record. His best for the school finished a metre short of the three-year-old record.