News@Com Spring 2008

A Leading Edge Partnership School ISSUE

STATUS SECURE

COMBERTON'S recent outstanding Ofsted inspection has had a major impact on its specialist work.

From September 2007, the system for re-designating for specialist school status changed No longer did it require a new plan to be submitted for approval after a fixed period of time Rather, it became entirely dependent upon the outcome of the next Ofsted inspection A successful inspection (at least highly satisfactory or better) gives the virtual automatic right to continue with the first specialism For Comberton, this implied that we could move on to the next phase of our Sports College specialism (our first specialism)

However, for Comberton, at least as great in significance is the criterion that allows a school to continue into its next phase of all its other specialisms and designations To be permitted to do

this, a school has to be designated as a 'High Performing Specialist School' To achieve this description, a school must be judged as either 'outstanding' or a very strong 'good' in its Ofsted inspection

Given this, Comberton is clearly judged as passing the necessary criterion This means that we can also move into the next phase of all of our other designations:

l Language College

l Vocational College

l Training School

l Leading Edge

For Comberton, this is very significant

We are one of only seven schools in the country to have five separate designations (no school has more than this) No schools now are permitted to have more than three designations unless they already had more than that number by summer 2006

Leading lights

SIX Comberton sports leaders are set to spend a week in China later this year – free of charge.

Director of Sport Nigel Carrick has been at the heart of a plan which will see the half dozen Comberton pupils, probably in the current Year 10, head for Beijing to put their leadership skills into practice.

The trip is a spin-off from the Towards the Olympics project, which enabled a group to visit China last year for a sporting and cultural festival and will see another party go to events at this summer’s Games

Mr Carrick has worked closely with Ken Walsh, of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, which is behind Towards the Olympics.

Together they have secured the funding which will allow the six Comberton pupils and two staff, as well as the same number from Kirkley High School in Lowestoft, to make the trip

The Youth Sports Trust have pledged £5,000 and a further £10,000 will come from Li Nim, China’s largest clothing company run by the former Games gold medal-winning gymnast of the same name “This is a fantastic opportunity,” said Mr Carrick. “I am really excited about the potential benefits for the students involved ” n Turn to Page 3

Such a range of designations has become one of our distinguishing features in recent years All of these designations bring excellent opportunities to all students at the college and often benefit the wider community They also enable us to engage in powerful partnership work with other schools to help us all improve together Each of them also brings in significant additional financial resources that make a real difference

The next phase of all these designations is now guaranteed, under current regulations, until the next Ofsted inspection This was anticipated to be in about three years in the usual phase of inspections However, the Chief Inspector has recently suggested that for schools judged as 'outstanding' there might not be a need to re-inspect until a further six years We shall see!

Stephen Munday

CVC pupils hit the slopes

WE’RE SOARING, FLYING

More than 150 pupils in Years 8-10 took part in two ski courses in Italy this term n Reports & pictures Page 10

THE ARTISTS: Pupils with the mosiacs they made for the new learning area

New space for learning

AN area of the school has been transformed from a storage area into an exciting new learning space

The area is in the English department. It has been carpeted and equipped with new tables and chairs, designed to facilitate small group work, and a set of laptop computers which pupils can use to complete research or written tasks

One of the best things about the new space though, is the amazing art work which makes it almost as good as being in a gallery

This is a series of mosaics which were created by last year’s Year 7 pupils during activities week, under the guidance of Greg

Having a ball . .

NEARLY 200 people

danced the night away at the third annual Principal’s Ball this term and helped give the Comberton minibus appeal a massive boost

The Ball was organised by the CVC Trust Fund and Comberton Leisure and all profits from the black tie event and raffle will go towards the current fund-raising initiative to buy a minibus with disabled access Comberton catering laid on a magnificent buffet and music was again provided by the fabulous Breeze Band, who have played at the Ball since its inception

Principal Stephen Munday said: “Once again, this proved to be a really enjoyable evening for everyone who attended Very many thanks are due to all those who worked hard to ensure that it was such a success All funds generated

will be put towards our new minibus with disabled access so it was more than just good fun: it will help to improve educational opportunities for all young people at the school ”

Meanwhile, the existing minibuses have been helping pupils get home from participating in after-school clubs after the scheme was launched earlier this term

The minibus is initially running on Wednesdays, leaving at 4 15pm, but it is hoped this will increase to twice a week after Easter

There are 16 places available on the bus, which stops only at Hardwick Primary School, Monkfield Park Primary School and Bourn War Memorial Four of these are available free of charge to pupils who can demonstrate a financial need, while the other 12 places are available on a first-come, first-served booking basis and cost £1 per trip

Dean, the Head of Art and Design

They were inspired by a poem which is studied by all pupils in Year 11, so as well as looking amazing, they will help pupils preparing for their GCSE exams

So far the new area has been used by small groups from classes working nearby, for pupils working one to one with teaching assistants, for teachers and pupils talking during ILP sessions, and for a new Year 7 reading club

Future uses could include pupils running their own reading groups at lunchtimes, and booster classes in the run up to SATs and GCSE exams Watch this space!

Eleanor Norman, Head of English

STAYING QUIET: Year 9 pupils during The Big Hush

Silence is money!

YeAr 9 took part in the Big Hush, an annual sponsored silence held by Macmillan Cancer Support. We had to keep quiet for 15 minutes in registration – a rare feat, and much to the delight of our form tutors! – and it was a great experience for us too.

All the money raised will go directly to providing cancer victims with practical, medical, financial and emotional support, that will make a real difference to their lives.

Anne Jones, Head of Year 9, said: “I’d like to say a huge thanks to

everyone who took part in The Big Hush and made this event such a success. The children did well to keep quiet for such a long time and they should be very proud of themselves for raising about £150 that will help people affected by cancer.”

This was the second year that our year group has taken part in the sponsored silence. It is a great opportunity to raise money for people in need and the main thing was that we enjoyed it too!

Alyssa Ralph (9M)

l

The Principal job

HAVING joined Comberton Village in January 2001, it is interesting to reflect on how my role has developed in that time

It has been suggested that letting people know quite what it now involves might be of interest I hope that that judgement is correct Please stop reading if not!

There has, of course, been a very great deal of interest and positive development at the college that has taken up much of the focus of my time I have felt privileged to have had the opportunity to work in my role at Comberton at this exciting time; to work with so many outstanding colleagues, to see so many excellent students achieve so very much and to know the support of so many helpful parents These developments continue and it remains a privilege to be involved in this way

Being Principal of Comberton remains, of course, the mainstay of my role However, I have gradually found myself involved in a range of other roles outside the college

This has been possible fundamentally due to the great strength of leadership at all levels throughout CVC that mean that the strong, effective running of the school does not rely on my constant presence

The senior leadership team is an especially strong one and Comberton is very fortunate to have a remarkably able and committed team of middle leaders In this context, taking on work outside of Comberton has appeared a perfectly reasonable thing to do

the Prime Minister on what education policies might be needed in order to ensure that we have a world-class education system I have been asked specifically to look at how state and independent schools might work together more effectively to achieve this

l Joining the 'National Headteachers' Reference Group' This is a group of 30 headteachers who are invited to meet representatives of the Department for Children, Schools and Families on a reasonably regular basis in order to advise on education policy and to give feedback about the state of play in the education system

l Contributing to the ministerial task force on Gifted and Talented provision in schools This group is chaired by Lord Andrew Adonis and is considering how we can try best to provide for Gifted and Talented young people both in school and out of school

l Acting as a 'Consultant Head' for a small number of other schools on the national 'Raising Achievement' project

This involves occasional meetings with the headteachers of those schools to discuss ways of raising student achievement in their schools

PRINCIPAL ROLE: Working at Comberton is the mainstay of Stephen Munday’s job,

The most significant role that I have is to be employed by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust to help to oversee the national Leading Edge Programme (that Comberton is in) This involves helping to set the strategic direction of the programme, visiting schools on the programme, overseeing national conferences and helping to co-ordinate projects on Maths (with Comberton AST Mark Dawes) and Gifted and Talented provision

Further more recent roles have involved the following:

l Being a member of the so-called 'National Council for Educational Excellence' This was formed by Gordon Brown the moment that he became Prime Minister It is representatives from education, business and various interest groups who are asked to advise the Secretary of State, Ed Balls, and

As you can guess, this gives a varied and very full working life Again, it has been a privilege, as well as being extremely interesting, to have been able to become involved in these projects

I believe that it is directly to the benefit of the college for me to be involved in this work I would not do it if that were not the case The school is fully compensated financially for my time spent on these extra roles Perhaps even more significantly, it means that we have a direct involvement with, and even influence on, key national educational projects and new educational policy

It is fair to say that this does us no harm!

One final point to make about the developments is that they are all only possible because of the great success of Comberton Village College Much as it might be me who happens to be involved in this way, but it is due to the overall outstanding work of everyone at the college that means it is seen so favourably in the eyes of Government and other circles This has led to the invitations Of course, very many other staff are involved in other local and national major projects due to this also All of this work continues to allow us to develop and move forward with new ideas as we continually learn from others

Stephen Munday

Leading lights from CVC Arts officer plan for Comberton

n From Page 1

“The plans have not been formalised yet, but the way I understand it is that one member of staff from each school will fly to Beijing and work for a week in one of the Teacher Training universities with students and tutors on the principles of sports leadership.

“The other member of staff and the pupils will then fly out and the Chinese tutors and students as well as the english pupils will then work for a week with pupils at primary schools in a district bordering Beijing

“We will work on applying the skills of sports leadership and the week will possibly culminate in some sort of sports festival.”

COMBERTON could soon have an Arts Development Officer

It is hoped that the post, which will be funded initially for a year by South Cambridgeshire District Council, will help maximise the use of the facilities at Comberton Leisure for the Arts South Cambs will continue to subsidise the post, but the appointed officer would also need to generate enough income to help pay their salary

Nigel Carrick, who has recently taken over the management of Comberton Leisure, said: “It would be great to have a development officer working out of Comberton, boosting the arts-

based usage of Comberton Leisure as well as developing arts provision in the local community

“Members of staff like Ben Parker (Head of Music) and Mike Sharpe (Head of Drama) have long said there should be more arts-based usage of the facility and the appointment of an Arts Development Officer would help achieve this

“I see the post operating in a similar way to the sports coaches we already employ, working within Comberton, the feeder primaries and the wider community ”

New link is big news

SCHOOLS can wait years and undergo many unsuccessful attempts to establish a fruitful and lasting partnership with a school in a different country.

Perhaps this is one reason why we are so excited and enthusiastic about our partnership with the Modellschule in Bad Hersfeld, Hessen in Germany

Music and learning German have been the cornerstone of this partnership and last year in July the excellent school choir of more than 60 members visited us for a five-day exchange that included a joint concert in our Performance Hall This initial stay laid the foundation for many friendships between German and English students and staff Our return visit in November was equally successful as were the joint concerts

Most recently we received a five-person delegation from Germany including two headteachers, as well as two of the music teachers and choir director already known to us The main focus of their visit was to

see the last night of Geoff Page's Academy of Death as it has, since last year, been the wish of Ben Parker, the CVC Head of Music, Geoff and myself, to mount a joint production of the Academy of Death with our German partner school The magnificent setting we have in mind is a ruined monastery in Bad Hersfeld that is transformed each summer into a 1400-seater venue for a two-month cultural festival

The reaction from our German visitors to the production was incredibly positive and negotiations with the Mayor of Bad Herseld are now under way to see if we can proceed with our plans This would obviously be a highly ambitious but nevertheless hugely rewarding and exciting project and we look forward to bringing you more news about this soon

The recent visit was such a success that its write up has already appeared in the regional newspaper in Germany, increasing our hopes that we will soon be making plans for travel and rehearsals! Rachel Hawkes, Director of Language College

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: Wet Week in Peterborough (above) and Grafitti Art are among the activities available to Year 8 and 9 pupils

A global experience

AT the beginning of this term a small number of keen Year 10 geographers formed a group to participate in a students’ on-line conference

The group is part of the 'Whose World is it Anyway?' on-line conference, which is a discussion forum between groups of students from all over the world

The four topics to be covered this year are all based on global issues The first topic was 'New Technologies: A threat or a promise?' and the group worked well as a team to produce a PowerPoint presentation to enter into the discussion which opened during the final week of February

Students worldwide will be able to comment on the presentation and our group can look at other contributions and comment on their presentations

It is exciting to be part of a global experience!

Siân Goss (10M), Geography Leader

More activities on offer Arts on

FIVe new choices have been added to the wide range of options available for Year 8 and 9 pupils during this summer's Activities Week

Pupils have been able to select from an incredible 20 different opportunities, ranging from sport, art and crafts to podcasts, science and Shakespeare. This year the new activities are a joint MFL and Art trip to Spain, a walking and climbing expedition to the Lake District, Creativity Cambridge, an art, history and creative writing opportunity, Mountain Bike Week and Winter Week, which will involve snow sports at Milton Keynes.

"I am delighted with the range of activities we have been able to offer," said Director of Sport Nigel Carrick, who is co-ordinating Activities Week "Pupils can choose to try something new or focus on something they enjoy." Year 7 pupils will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Comberton's link with Beaumanor Hall while spending activities week there, while Year 10 will be on work experience Activities Week takes place from July 14-18

AN Arts Evening to showcase some of the work that goes on at Comberton takes place next term

A selection of dance, drama and music work will be performed on April 22 in the auditorium at Comberton Leisure

All years will be represented as the audience are given an opportunity to see what goes on in lessons, while pupils get the chance to perform in public

The event follows the success of a similar one last year

Tickets will be available shortly from the Finance Office

Much ado over Mr Bean

YEAR 9 experienced an English day focussed on Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado about Nothing ’ last month

Six actors from the group ‘Shakespeare in Schools’, who are currently touring the country, came to Comberton and worked with us to help us understand the plot and characters and also to help with our Key Stage 3 SATs in May We started the day with a hilarious introduction to the play and the actors They involved us by gathering our contributions with regards to who, from popular culture, we would cast in the play Comedy ensued as the exchange between Beatrice and Benedick was acted out in the style of Posh and Becks and Leonato appeared as Mr

Dining by candlelight

LAST month 130 Year 8 pupils joined 12 staff in a 3 course meal and a disco to celebrate a belated Valentine's Day

Everyone dressed up for the occasion and it was lovely to see the effort made by the girls and the boys, who all had to wear ties for the occasion

The evening started with a delicious meal served by Year 11 prefects and Year 10 students, assisted by Mrs Burgess and Mrs Cullingford

After the meal the raffle was drawn and Valentine cards were distributed by the Year 11 prefects

These, and roses, were bought by pupils for their 'dates' earlier in the evening and some pupils proved very popular, receiving three or four cards each!

After all this, the disco was a great success although many pairs of high heels were abandoned as the dancing got more energetic.

The evening was great fun and there was even some slow dancing to add to the romantic evening

We would like to thank the staff who helped organise the evening and the Year 10 and 11 pupils who made such a fantastic job of serving us. Year 8

Bean The actors had everyone in hysterics

The second instalment came in the form of workshops with the actors By gaining this ‘hands-on’ experience, we took away a better understanding of individual characters’ emotions and motivations at each key point of the play

After lunch, everything culminated in a production of the whole play, which was well-paced and entertaining It was also useful to see the set scenes in context and to appreciate a different interpretation from that which we have explored in some of our lessons

Adam Winch-Furness (9C) and Dominic Cozzi (9M)

SHAKESPEARE WORKSHOPS: Year 9 pupils

see The Bard’s work in a whole new way

DISCOVERING

DARWIN: Pupils involved with the Darwin’s Discovery project

Group focus on Darwin

A GrOUP of Comberton pupils are working on a project called Darwin’s Discovery run by the Community education Dept, which has been granted a Heritage Lottery (Young roots) Award for the project, it is open to students in Years 9 and 10

The group are working with the Zoology and the Sedgwick museums in Cambridge to explore the life and work of Charles Darwin through a number of weekly workshops in different areas:

Art - to culminate in an exhibition; Drama- to write and perform a play; Loan Boxes – to produce materials for loan boxes for schools and Creative Writing – poems, stories, diaries –to publish a collection

DINING OUT: Year 8 pupils

Other activities will include visits to the Zoology and Sedgwick museums for behind-the-scenes explorations of items from the Beagle voyage, a trip to Down House (Darwin’s home and work place for many years), a visit to the Natural History Museum in London and more. Further details and dates from Ms Cook (01223) 264721 or commed@comberton.cambs.sch.uk

Team tackle eco issues

AROUND 30 pupils from Years 7- 10 have joined forces to create CVC's eco schools action team

The reason this group has been set up is to try and raise awareness about climate change within the school and to allow people who are interested in helping the environment to get together and be able to take some action

The main aim for this group will be to try and gain eco schools status for Comberton and to generally make our school more environmentally friendly Some of the ideas so far include improving the recycling facilities, maintaining the conservation area, raising awareness about global warming and looking into things like grants for solar panels and wind turbines

If we are successful we will hopefully have gained bronze status by the end of the year and from there on it goes onwards and upwards

If you are interested in getting involved then come along on Friday lunchtime to GE3 or talk to your geography teacher We look forward to seeing some new faces!

Sam Hack (11E), Year 11 geography student leader

BTEC TRAVEL & TOURISM BTEC HAIRDRESSING VOCAT STUD

Now even more choic

FROM September, Comberton will be offering its Year 10 pupils the widest selection of courses ever

After months of discussions, planning, and consultations, we were delighted to announce to the current Year 9 earlier this term that there would be a choice of six BTEC vocational courses on offer to them

In addition to the BTEC courses in Business, Sport and Art and Design, which Year 10 pupils are studying this year, we have managed to make available to next year’s cohort: BTEC Construction, BTEC Hairdressing and BTEC Travel and Tourism

The Construction course is designed for pupils who wish to work in the building trade, whether that is as a bricklayer, carpenter, surveyor or architect!

Pupils will study three practical modules: Painting and Decorating, Bricklaying and Carpentry and Joinery, as well covering important theoretical aspects, such as Health and Safety and Maths and Science for Construction

Head of Design Technology

Nick Evans is delighted to be running the course, and hopes it will offer a fabulous stepping stone into Level 2 and 3 construction courses at Cambridge Regional College and apprenticeship places

BTEC Hairdressing is a very exci Comberton, and will be run in par Village College.

Swavesey have a brand new, purp complete with reception area, mir also have an ex-hairdresser trained our pupils will visit once a week t ing customers to putting rollers in The Geography department are ex BTEC in Travel and Tourism at C current Applied GCSE in Leisure

Rea Constructive challenge

A GrOUP of Year 9 pupils recently had the opportunity to participate in a BTeC Construction taster day at Swavesey Village College

Pupils carried out a range of tasks similar to those which they might experience while completing the new BTeC in construction

The first challenge was to assemble a traditional roof structure

Working in teams of four, pupils had to decipher complex plans and get all the pre-cut pieces in the correct place and the right way round.

Next on to bricklaying! Not nearly as easy as it looks, but nonetheless some respectable walls grew from their foundations

And finally, town planning! A giant board game with a vast range of issues to consider before the builders could move in.

Our thanks to Swavesey for hosting the day We now look forward to developing our construction skills when the course starts in September

Nick Evans, Head of DT

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Pupils assemble a traditional roof structure

Art and Design students make mark in real world

THERE’S no stopping this year’s BTEC Art and Design students!

At the end of last term, they won a prestigious Sculpture competition in Cambridge

The idea was to design a sculpture out of recycled materials which would be voted on by the listeners of Star Radio and, if selected, would be made into a permanent sculpture to be displayed at the Donarbon Waste Centre in Waterbeach

Abbey Stevenson won with her maquette of a hand holding the world

Abbey and eight other students spent a day receiving the cheque for £1,000 at The Smart Life Centre in Cambridge and being interviewed by the radio station

It was a proud moment for Abbey and a great boost to the BTEC Art and Design Programme

THE vocational aspect of the BTEC Art and Design course means that students have more than their share of trips to find out about Art and Design in the real world

The latest venture was to Cambridge when 22 students were taken on a tour of the Gallery at Kettles Yard where they saw an exhibition of animated films They also discovered the work of Ronald Searle at the Ruskin Gallery and spent time sketching and photographing a coffee bar in town in order to redesign the interior in the style of William Morris or Andy Warhol – work that they are completing at the moment

The trip was a success and we hope to run another one next term

THE trip to and interes

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As we walk take our tim customer se It asked us skills does

WINNING DESIGN: The maquette made out of recycled materials and (inset) designer Abbey Stevenson

We also hope to have one of our designs taken up by the coffee bar – as some include fish tanks, glass ceilings and grunge foil décor Having a coffee in Cambridge could become a little more interesting!

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New cohort flock to join DoE Award

THIS term we have launched the next cohort of students on to the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, and yet again we have been amazed at the response

The Scheme is a programme of personal development, devised to develop key attributes and skills in young people: self reliance, independence, team working skills, commitment, determination and self knowledge, to name but a few Employers recognised DoE in a survey in 2006 as the most important thing they look for a CV when they are looking at what people did at school, because they recognise how much it develops people, and the quality of the person who has managed to complete an Award

We again offered the opportunity to complete the Bronze Award at Comberton to Year 9 pupils and at the parental meeting in February, all 110 sheets we had photocopied were handed out, and people were asking us for more! It looks as though we’ll top last year’s 100 participants

Everyone is busy starting work on their three sections: the skill, the physi-

cal recreation and the service, and looking forward to starting our training for the expedition straight after Easter

The silver students had their first training day in March in the hills round Saffron Walden and we're all looking forward to our Practice Venture in the Dark Peak near Edale in late April

If there are any parents who would be interested in volunteering on the expeditions this summer, please contact us at the college. With five expeditions and over 150 pupils going out this year, we need all the help we can get!!

HIKING: A big part of DoE

Lorna Bateson and Leigh Bellis

Helping their peers

A NUMBER of Year 10 students have volunteered to be peer mentors

The selected few have been chosen to help carefully picked Year 7 and 8 pupils

After handing in their application form, some students were asked for an interview with the Head of Year, Ms Phull, and the Head of the Peer Mentor Scheme, Ms Lyons

Students got a letter telling them they had got a place as a peer mentor or if they were better suited to another opportunity available to them later in the year

The Year 10 pupils chosen are all very eager and excited to be able to help younger students; many of them have said it is a privilege to be able to connect with Year 7 and 8 pupils on a personal level

The peer mentoring team has been on several training sessions, one of which was to do with

confidence through your body language, by Mr Watts, one of the counsellors at CVC

This really benefitted the pupils as they became aware of some tricks to look confident in awkward situations and deal with a range of different issues.

Mr Watts also showed the mentors how to show that you are interested in what some-one is saying without being patronising or sarcastic, by the way you are sitting

The mentors have practised how to be a good listener and how to give good advice, which comes across in the right way, to the younger students

In other sessions the mentors have been taught about different issues they may be faced with and how they can handle the situation appropriately

Many of the skills the students are learning now will help them be a better person to talk to for the rest of their lives

One Year 10 will be paired with an appropriate Year 7 or 8; the pair will meet up once a week Over time the pair will hopefully form a bond and be able to trust and help one another

We are all very excited about the future of the peer mentoring scheme and hope good progress

Not just a vast, empty land Pupils prove worldwise!

COMBerTON finished third in the annual county Worldwise Quiz. The A were edged out in a tough geography competition at Coleridge Community College, which saw The Leys and Perse Boys claim the top two spots.

Comberton eased through the first round with 80 points, seven points ahead, but that didn’t count for anything and with each team member subjected to a timed oral round, the pressure was really on.

Comberton’s B team also competed strongly, finishing sixth with 69.5 points, which was only three behind the second-placed team Comberton’s teams comprised Ali Chilvers, Anna Carter and Sam Prime (A) and Kenny Durrant, Jonny Cronk and Jeff Wilksinson (B). Both teams would like to thank Miss Carr and Miss Holmes for training them and supporting them at the competition

Anna Carter (10N) and Ali Chilvers (10E)

ANTARCTICA – Year 7 have learned that there is so much more to this vast, empty land than you would think

This term we have been finding out about Antarctica’s harsh climate and delicate food chain We’ve studied why it is so vulnerable to global warming and found out what we can do to avoid the problems getting any worse

We listened to a talk by a retired Antarctic scientist, Dr Paren, who spoke in assembly and gave evidence that global warming really is affecting Antarctica

Global warming was a big part of the topic but we also learned about the wildlife and how the animals adapt so that they can survive in Antarctica We discovered why Antarctica has 24 hours of darkness in some parts of winter and we learned about the countries which have made claims on Antarctica

One of the main things this topic has taught us is that global warming is a world problem and we can’t just ignore it

Iris Breward (7N)

CHOSEN FEW: Some of the pupils selected as Peer Mentors

I’d love Mr Bellis if . . .

The DAYS started cold, -10C and then got hotter.

Consulting the weather forecast didn’t help – ‘Das wetter heute’ The problem was, with the clear nights, millions of stars and clear blue skies, we needed to be well protected in the mornings but cool enough over lunch Not a bad problem to have! The previous week had been stormy with poor visibility but that meant loads of snow for us

This year our party of 144 were in the ‘Stegerhaus’ and a ‘new’ hotel, the

‘Schachen’ Both looked after us well and the coaches moved everyone between the hotels for concerts, with dodgy half rehearsed sketches, and discos, with extravagant costumes that were lovingly carried to Italy

No-one will ever forget the ‘Ninja Turtle’ or his sidekick ‘Scooby Doo’ On other nights, after our evening meal, we went to the ‘Almdiele’ pizzeria for yet more food and also to create our own ‘Celebrity Come Dancing’

The social highlight had to be ’Valentine’s Day’ The messages posted on paper hearts spelt it all out ‘I would love Mr Bellis if he woke me up later!’

SLALOM CHALLENGE: Everybody has a go and there are triphies for the fastest

‘Fabulous’ 13 accept mountain challenge

eVerYONe needs a battlecry when tackling a steep slope or the start of a race to boost your ambition and the chosen words for the Development Camp were “We are fabulous!”

There were others but they were bordering on the incomprehensible unless you were part of our skiing family for a week in the Ahrntal valley

We all enjoyed the Hotel Schachen with it’s ‘quaint’ pool which, although the size of a big bath, was the highlight of our après-ski

Our ambitions were to take several steps above being recreational skiers and to be challenged in a mountain environment.

racing techniques were taught by roman, an ex-FIS Italian racer. He is slight with a wispy goatee beard but once on skis he was transformed He was just as capable on one ski turning in either direction as we all were on two Luke White won the boys slalom and managed to get within three seconds of roman. The closest race was in the girls’ group where Sophia Berry beat Izzy Thomson by 0 03 sec

The rest of our time was spent exploring the three resorts nearby and refining our navigation skills

There are several ways to get from A to B in a resort and we found them all, including the children’s magic carpet in a tunnel, which Tabitha fell off! The half-pipe in Bruneck was great fun unless Jonny was heading straight down the camera lens The off-piste was challenging and we all tried to have ‘flexion’ with arms ‘forward’ Our aim was to stop looking like upright english skiers and we managed it

All the Instructors said what a good group of skiers we had brought.

Sarah Hall & Ian Rigg

We also did some skiing and snowboarding! Some were learning for the first time and others progressing to carving It is always amazing the progress people make in only a few days but it is not always easy

After a few days most people are progressing down a run, using the chair lifts, stopping and steering Others move quickly on to ‘toe edges’, ‘off piste’, ‘single ski skiing’ and ‘getting some air’

The intermediate skiers went to another ski area, Speikboden’, where we play in the edges of the piste, in ‘rabbit runs’ and ‘the bumps’ The snowboarders kept appearing from strange places under the chair lifts, finding some ‘deep powder’

The big challenge of the week is the ‘Slalom’ on the last morning Everyone has a go, even if they have to be supported down the course, and get a time in their group with the winners getting gold, silver and bronze medals

The overall winners of the snowboarders and the skiers, both boys and girls, are awarded trophies as ‘Kings and Queens of the Mountain’

Among the snowboarders Bertie Horne was the fastest boy snowboarder and Katie Sims was the fastest girl

Tom Wilmott, in only his second year of skiing, moved up to Group 1 and was the fastest boy, but he was beaten into second place by Anya Hall, who was two seconds faster, and who has now won the race twice, like her brother, maintaining the Halls’ five-year domination of the event

We are so welcomed in the Klausberg by the hotels and the ski school that we will be returning next year but to the two ‘old’ hotels Anyone at Comberton is welcome to come skiing and we had several families join us this year Further information is always available from Mrs Hall on shall@comberton cambs sch uk

Ian Rigg

GOOD GROUP: CVC’s development skiiers impressed instructors

Race on for Sevens glory

COMBERTON Leisure's latest Super Sevens League is well under way

Six teams are currently battling it out on a Monday night over 10 weeks

The reigning champions, The Flowerpot Men, previously known as The Dream Team, are Comberton village's home-grown lads

Hoping to beat them to victory this time round are 'Delboys', 'AFC Spinney', 'The Yellows', 'AFC Antarctica' and 'The Lamb Hunter'

The winning team will be presented with individual trophies during April although they may not have long to hold on to the title as another Super Sevens league is planned for June!

The league also gives two up-and-coming footballers, Liam Molloy and Scott Gibson, from local team Hardwick FC, the chance to referee the matches, with Super Sevens regular Dave Horton who oversees proceedings as well as refereeing himself

Comberton Leisure's Sports Development Manager, Ally Stewart, brought the concept of the Super Sevens League to the astroturf in 2004 and is handing over the reins for 2008 to Craig Rydeheard, who has recently joined the college as a Games Coach

Craig is currently spending some of his time with the team at Comberton Leisure to develop holiday sports courses for children with a particular focus on football coaching for all abilities

It's not all about the lads in Super Sevens, however! For the third year in a row, a women's league will be starting in June, running on the same basis as the men's competition

Please see Cb3 noticeboards and reception nearer the time for more information

Cup runs over for CVC

EDGED OUT: CVC’s under-15 team

COMBerTON’S tilt at the National Schools under-15 squash title was ended in the last 16 for the second year running

They were beaten by Lancing College, a top independent school which specialises in squash, and its team were very strong all the way down

The CVC squad of Tom Symmons, Peter Tasker, Tom Blair, Will Collett and Marcus Connolly all fought well and did Comberton proud

So congratulations to the five players mentioned above, plus Will Harris, our regular No 3 who was unavailable for the final match, and to Sam Bithell, Alan Leung and Jack Murphy, who played as our reserves in various fixtures

Ray Scrivens, Team Manager

COUNTY champions Comberton found their way through the regional rounds of the Minute Maid Cup blocked by a team from St Albans.

On a bitterly cold day and on a sloping pitch at Beaumont School, the Comberton under13 girls were beaten 1-0 in the first regional round of the National Schools Competition

Beaumont fielded some very tall players and some quick ones, especially the defenders who proved an impossible line to break

push harder and the girls began to link passes and move freely, but unfortunately they could not finish the opportunities they created Midway through the second half, Beaumont had a corner where their striker hit the ball very well and slotted it in the top of the goal!

Comberton kept their heads up and tried everything but couldn’t get that crucial equaliser!

IN ACTION: Members of the girls’ under13 team

Comberton attempted their usual free-flowing game but could not find a way through a goalless first half With light fading Comberton realised they needed to

The girls were extremely disappointed and didn’t play nearly as well as in previous rounds but the Cambridgeshire champions should not be down hearted about going out in such a tough tournament

Nathan Rogers

But Year 11 boys still dream of last hurrah

A 3-2 VICTORY over Chesterton kept alive Comberton’s hopes of glory in the Year 11 District Cup

The team hope to make a grand exit from CVC by bringing back the cup before they leave and took a major step in the right direction when they saw off last year’s winners to reach the quarter-finals

But they had to do it the hard way, twice coming from behind against a team which included two boys who will join professional clubs next year And to make matters worse, they conceded the first after only 30 seconds But that shock got Comberton going and they dominated for long periods Chris Roberts equalised after some fine work on the left flank from Tim Heynes

Chesterton took the lead from a set-piece, so with

15 minutes left, the boys had it all to do Heynes, despite receiving a nasty hand injury equalised, and minutes later the team were in dreamland as Josh Iggulden scored what proved to be the winner although only a wonder save from Steve Sexton kept CVC in front

“It was a great all-round performance, but special mentions for team captain Alex Barratt and players of the match Dan Berryman and Ross Thompson,” said Mark Goldring, the teacher in charge

Comberton: Chris Roberts, Liam Healy, Josh Iggulden, Harry Rason, Seth Rutterford, Ross Thompson, Charlie Bowling, Dan Berryman, Alex Barratt, Jordan DavisDoige, Steve Sexton, Greg Baillie, Tim Heynes, Joey Tranham