Connections Spring 2015
www.culford.co.uk
Little Shop of Horrors The Senior School musical, Little Shop of Horrors performed to packed audiences in Culford’s Centenary Hall. This latest interpretation of Menken and Ashman’s award-winning 1982 comedy about the hapless florist, Seymour, and his blood thirsty plant, Audrey II, was a treat that had audiences laughing and cheering in equal measure. The staging, under the experienced eye of Culford’s Director of Drama, Maria Jackson, was wonderfully lavish and brought Mushnik’s florist and Audrey II vividly to life. Heidi Stubbings’ inventive choreography was no doubt as fun to perform as it was to watch. The young cast embraced the darkly comedic plot admirably and their voices soared through the songs, from the loving, ‘Suddenly Seymour’ to the light-hearted, ‘Be a Dentist’. The orchestra was led by Director of Music, Peter Burge, whose arrangements supported the vocals brilliantly. The show enraptured its packed audiences with one tweeting, ‘Wow what a show Little Shop of Horrors. Outstanding performances. Felt like a night at the West End!’ Maria Jackson, commented: ‘It was a real treat to work on Little Shop of Horrors. The 71-strong cast and crew delivered remarkable performances and a production that was an absolute credit to their talent and enthusiasm’. Visit www.culford.co.uk for a full photograph gallery.
Scarlet Simmons, who played Audrey, is raising money for the Vienping Orphanage, Thailand, where she will be working in the summer. To do this she is selling DVD copies of Culford’s performance of Little Shop of Horrors, for £5 each. Please contact Senior School Reception on 01284 728615 or email reception@culford.co.uk if you would like to purchase a copy.
Culford Connections is a termly newsletter for Culford School bringing together news from the Senior, Prep and Pre-Prep Schools
New Cambridge and Norwich Bus Routes From 2015 Culford will run a shuttle travel service for pupils living in the Norwich, Cambridge, Ely and Newmarket areas. The Culford Express will run a daily shuttle service from Park & Ride stations each morning and return each evening. This means that children who live in Cambridgeshire and Norwich will be able to enjoy a Culford education as they will only have a journey of 40 minutes on an express shuttle. If you’d like to know more about the Culford Express, then please get in touch with our Admissions Team on 01284 385308 or email admissions@culford.co.uk
New 3D Printer at Culford Thanks to a generous donation by Culford parents, James and Clare Taylor, the Design and Technology department are the proud owners of a new 3D printer, which is already being used by pupils in their work. The Taylors work in the design and construction industry and one of their daughters, Prep School pupil Harriet (U2), is particularly interested in DT. Headmaster, Julian JohnsonMunday said, ‘We were delighted with this most generous gift. Such facilities allow our pupils to be more ambitious in what they do, stretching themselves further than they might believe possible. That truly is what education is about.’ James and Harriet Taylor with Mr Devlin, Head of DT
Senior: End of Term Results For getting excellent results in the mock AS and A level exams, the following Certificates of Academic Excellence were presented at the end of term assembly: Lower Sixth: Riana Harvey, Anna Flynn, Jack Veitch Upper Sixth: Siqi Fang, Kieran Dibley, Eleanor Weller-Poley, Michael Knowles The following benefecits were presented to those who received a large number of academic achievement certificates this term: Silver (20+ certificates) Fourth Form: Lucy Flynn Bruce Xiang Gold (30+ certificates) Fourth Form: Mary Grace Godfrey Annastasia Hutchinson Sixth Form Certificates of Achievement were awarded to: Lower Sixth: Upper Sixth:
Anna Flynn Josh Irvin & Eleanor Weller-Poley
PELTS: Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills awards were awarded to: Fourth Form Overall Winner: Mary Grace Godfrey Lower Fifth Overall Winner: Emily Harris Upper Fifth Overall Winner: Frederick Allum For a full list of the forty-one pupils who were presented with Bronze benefecits, and the other winners of individual PELTS awards, please visit www.culford.co.uk/seniorawards
Do You Tweet? Culford now uses Twitter. To follow us just search @CulfordSchool for the latest news, sports results and events.
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Prep Deputy Head (Academic) Q&A Describe yourself in three words. Determined, passionate, energetic. How did teaching start for you? At Heath Mount, a delightful Prep school in Hertfordshire, as a teacher and Assistant Housemistress. Whose brain would you have liked to have? I think Abraham Lincoln; I studied American Politics and he was my favourite president. Poetry or prose? Prose, definitely – I love reading everything except horror stories. Which work of literature has had the biggest impact on you? Emma by Jane Austen. It was the first of my GCSE set texts and I adored it from the very first page. What were you doing 10 years ago? I was Head of Boarding and Head of Juniors at Ashfold Prep in Buckinghamshire. What is the single most valuable thing you have learned? Persistence beats resistance! What would you be doing if you weren’t a teacher? I’d be a journalist or working in politics.
Claire Bentley
Senior: CCF Inspection Day 20 March 2015
Culford School’s Combined Cadet Force held their annual Inspection Day on Friday 20 March. The day began with a parade and inspection on the North Front, followed by a variety of activities which gave the cadets an opportunity to show the assembled dignitaries, parents and visitors all that they have achieved during their training. The visiting Inspecting officer, Air Commodore Dawn McCafferty, who is Commandant of the Air Cadets, complimented the cadets on their excellent drill and turn out before the drill competition ensued. The morning’s parade concluded with an aerial salute at 11.55am when a Tornado from RAF Marham performed a low level flypast, much to the cadets’ and visitors’ appreciation. The Inspection Day’s activities included a flight simulator run by the RAF section, a close quarter battle exercise, a first aid stand and a tug-of-war. A number of the events were staged on a competitive footing and were hard-fought, reflecting the pride that exists within Culford’s CCF. The afternoon ended with the awarding of prizes by Air Commodore McCafferty and in the evening a formal dinner was held in the superb setting of Old Hall for the senior noncommissioned officers, parents and guests. The guest of honour was Air Vice-Marshal The Hon. David Murray CVO OBE whose after dinner address spoke of service’s benefits to society and to the individual. This was another highly successful annual inspection for Culford School’s CCF which was very much enjoyed by all who attended. Culford’s CCF has over 60 pupils participating every week on an afternoon which is dedicated to service; in addition to the CCF, as part of the Pathfinders activity, pupils are involved in First Aid, Fair Trade, Navigation and improvised shelter building as well as charitable activities including visiting residential homes for the elderly.
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Academic
Senior & Prep: Science and… Scholars’ Programme Continues In February, Dr Claire Higgins, an Old Culfordian and lecturer in Tissue Engineering in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London, returned to Culford to give a seminar to Culford’s Scholars. Dr Higgins attended Durham University to complete a BSc and a PhD and then did post-doctoral work at Columbia University in New York. Although her topic was of immense complexity, Dr Higgins communicated her message in a way that was both clear and challenging.
Dr Claire Higgins with Holly Jaycock and Head Boy Kieran Dibley.
In March, Culford’s new Head of Science, Darren Rees, delivered a seminar on ‘Science and History’. The lecture showed pupils the journey that science has taken over the last 400 years. A key message from Mr Rees’ lecture was that sometimes it is more beneficial to spend time just thinking about something rather than simply learning; all great scientists were also great thinkers.
Senior & Prep: Maths Challenge for Pupils
Senior: Brains at the Ready
Every year, Culford Sixth Form pupils take the Senior Challenge paper, run by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. Back in November, one pupil, Siqi Fang (L6), did particularly well, answering an amazing 121 out of 125 questions correctly. This meant that Siqi qualified for Round 1 of the British Maths Olympiad. Siqi managed to answer three of the six challenging questions, which put her in the top 300 pupils and earned her a Certificate of Distinction.
Dr Guy Sutton, a neuroscientist and Honorary Special Lecturer at the University of Nottingham, came to Culford School’s biology department for an exciting ‘Brain Day’. The enthusiastic Dr Sutton talked to the pupils about neurobiology. He introduced them to the complex workings of the nervous system and the brain. To put learning into practise, there was a chance to witness a brain dissection. At the end of the day, Dr Sutton also gave a talk to Culford School’s Medical Society, comprised of Sixth Formers who are particularly interested in pursuing a career in health care.
Other Culford pupils took the Intermediate Maths Challenge in January. Certificates were awarded to 33 pupils. Those who received Gold were Upper Fifth pupils Max McCrea and Vivian Cheng and Lower Fifth pupils Celina Yan and Charlie James. Max and Celina have also been invited to sit a follow-on round with Mary Grace Godfrey (F4), who also did particularly well for her age on the paper.
Senior: Yorkshire Geography Trip In early March, 27 Lower Sixth geographers travelled up to North Yorkshire for their AS Unit 2 field trip. Staying at the Cranedale Centre in Kirby Grindalythe, the pupils were taught by highly qualified teachers about extreme weather, urban rebranding and flood management. They also enjoyed trips to Scarborough and Malton.
Senior: Physics Trip to Switzerland In a first for Culford School, in March a party of Upper Sixth physics students travelled to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland. This was a fantastic opportunity to visit the facility where the existence of the Higgs boson particle was recently confirmed and where cutting edge physics research is being carried out. The students learned that, following a recent upgrade, the LHC will now undertake experiments into the nature of the universe immediately after the Big Bang and which will, hopefully, shed light onto the nature and existence of dark matter and dark energy.
Senior: EPQ Projects Four Upper Sixth pupils are taking A-level Extended Project Qualifications this academic year. The EPQ is a self-directed project where Sixth Formers can choose to explore a subject they are passionate about. The EPQ is worth extra UCAS points and is popular with universities. The diverse subjects the pupils are exploring are: Natalie Ratcliffe’s ‘What are the dominant themes in the Literature and Painting of the Romantic Period in England between the dates of 1750 and 1850?’; Kristin Chirica’s ‘How have China’s economic reforms from 1978 shaped their current economy?’; Elliot Philips’ ‘Does occupation or gender influence somebody’s sense of humour?’; and Kieran Devlin’s ‘How has stick design innovation changed field hockey since the introduction of astroturf?’.
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Pre-Prep: World Book Day in March Culford Pre-Prep pupils enjoyed participating in World Book Day. There were several Harry Potter characters, a few Frozen characters, a Jacques Cousteau and a Paddington Bear. Some of the Pre-Prep staff appeared dressed as ‘Where’s Wally’ and ‘Where’s Wanda’ characters. The children were keen to talk about their characters and discuss books that they particularly enjoy reading. Each child went home with a World Book day token.
Prep: Bookbuzz for Third Form Pupils in Lower Third have taken part in ‘Bookbuzz’ this term. This is a reading programme from Booktrust, which supports schools to encourage reading for pleasure, independent choice and develop a whole school reading culture. All pupils in Lower Third have been encouraged to participate and have enjoyed the opportunity to discover and share exciting new books. As part of the programme, pupils gave a short presentation to their classmates and wrote a review of their Bookbuzz books.
Pre-Prep: Mad Science Club Culford Pre-Prep have added yet another fantastic after-school club to their collection; Mad Science Club with Supersonic Sam. It takes place in Culford Pre-Prep’s Weston Hall on Wednesdays from 4pm-5pm and, following a demonstration session last year, it already has 22 Pre-Prep children attending every week.
Charities Pre-Prep: Red Nose Day Fancy Dress The children were proud to have raised over £80 for Comic Relief.
Senior: Raising Funds for Malawi Lower Sixth students participating in the forthcoming Malawi trip presented their researched projects to the Rosetta Trust this term. The trustees, school governor Neil and his wife Nicola Gillis, who are current parents, generously donated £8,000 across four very worthy causes: the Good News Orphanage; Project My Girl; Madzi Alipo! water projects; and Tilitonse Community Centre. A Ceilidh earlier in the term also raised £1,500 towards the team’s trip.
Prep: £1,000 for Community Foundation Culford Prep pupils presented the Suffolk Community Foundation with a cheque for £1,000 at a presentation assembly in February. Mr Tim Holder, a representative from the Community Foundation, personally accepted the donation and spoke to pupils about the charity. The cheque is a result of the numerous fundraising events supported by the Prep School PTA including the Christmas Fayre which was run by Upper Third Pupils.
Senior: All We Can Week This term’s All We Can Week has been in aid of two small local charities that care for those with cancer. The pupils have been able to pin thoughts to a cross in the Chaplaincy Centre and pray for those they know who have suffered or continue to suffer with cancer, or give thanks for those who have recovered. They also had a non-uniform day to raise money for the charities.
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Trips & Activities
Senior: House Concerts Entertain
The Edwards House Concert in January 2015, hosted by Tom Fisher (U6) and Elliot Philips (U6), included a wide variety of acts, from finely tuned musical performances to unique and highly original acts, this was a night to remember! The Jocelyn House Concert ended with a rendition of Shine by Take That performed by the whole House. Housemistress Miss Kaye commented that it ‘was wonderful to see so many first-time performers conquering their nerves and participating with such enjoyment’. In March, Ben Brown and Aaron Powell were MCs at the Cornwallis House Concert, a spectacular night which included a memorable speech from Jack Veitch about Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS), for which a grand total of £390 was raised. The Fitzgerald House Concert also raised £430 in aid of The George Pantziarka TP53 Trust last week. Their concert included Zumba, solo performances and a charity fashion show.
Senior: Skiing Trip to Italy During the Christmas holidays a group of Senior and Prep School pupils and staff travelled to Bormio, Italy, to enjoy a skiing trip.
Arts Prep: Catherine Howells Wows on Cello At just 12 years old Catherine Howells (U3) has already gained her Grade 8 with Distinction on the Cello (and is due to sit her Grade 8 Oboe in 2015). She has also been selected to study at the prestigious Junior Guildhall School and has become a regular performer both at Culford and in public concerts. Most recently, Catherine performed at London’s Theatre Royal for an AMBER Trust concert.
Pre-Prep: Speech and Drama Week Pupils at Culford Pre-Prep have enjoyed participating in Speech and Drama week this term. Through the theme of ‘Finding Nemo’, PPR enjoyed pretending to be lots of different sea creatures, such as whales, jellyfish and sharks. PP1 were transported to the African plains and danced to well- known songs from ‘The Lion King’ while PP2’s workshop was based on the story of ‘Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat’.
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Senior: Caring for Self on Wellbeing Day Culford’s Sixth Formers enjoyed a Wellbeing Conference. The day was designed to help the students understand the real benefits of wellbeing, encouraging them to make this a part of their lives. The event, in its seventh year at Culford, was run by Carole Baker, Director of The Self Centre in Bury St Edmunds. Taster classes took place throughout the day in activites such as Pilates, Tai Chi and Yoga.
Prep: Cadogan House Tobogganing Fun Boarders in Cadogan House have taken part in some fantastic weekend activities this term. The pupils particularly enjoyed their recent tobogganing trip to the Ipswich Ski Centre. Although teacher Mr Calvert was nervous coming down the slopes, the children took to it straight away and thoroughly enjoyed their day.
Senior: Fourth Form Rock Out Culford School became a School of Rock in January as musicians from Industry Education in Music spent a day with our Fourth Formers. The pupils had the chance to take part in a variety of music workshops, including how to practice and perform as a band and learning about the technical aspects of musical performance. There was also a workshop on music journalism.
Sol Chosen as Cathedral’s Head Chorister Culford School pupil Sol Franklin (L5), has been commissioned as Head Chorister at St Edmundsbury Cathedral. Sol, an Academic Scholar at Culford, has sung at the Cathedral for almost five years and spends about twelve hours a week there, singing three mornings and two evenings as well as most of the day on Sundays. Sol says “I’m really pleased to have been given this position and really enjoy singing at the Cathedral. It is also helping me with my Latin and music GCSE courses”. Sol, Head Chorister, with James Thomas, Director of Music at St Edmundsbury Cathedral
Senior: Hannah Littlechild New Leader Sixth Former Hannah Littlechild (L6), has been chosen as the new leader of the Suffolk Youth Orchestra, which is conducted by Philip Shaw, Head of the Suffolk County Music Service. Being selected as leader means that violinist Hannah, holds the position of second-in-command of the entire orchestra, behind the conductor. Hannah is taking Grade 8 on both violin and piano in 2015.
Sport Spring 2015 has seen another season of sporting success at Culford, both for individuals and teams. There is not the space here to include all of our sports stories, so please find some highlights below. To read more please visit our website, clicking ‘News and Events’ under the Pre-Prep, Prep, Senior or Sixth Form sections. www.culford.co.uk
Prep & Senior: Cross Country Stars Culford pupil Olivia Allum (F4) has qualified for the Cross Country National Schools Championships after a successful run at the Regionals, which took place on Saturday 7 February. Olivia finished 7th in her race, placing as the top Suffolk runner in the Girls’ U15 category. Several Culford runners took part in the competition, including Charlie Wakefield (L3). Charlie had a great run, finishing 6th overall and claiming a place as the 2nd Suffolk runner. Charlie has now progressed as far as he can this year, in his age group and is looking forward to competing next year.
Senior: Tom Races for Team GB Tom Hudson (F4), has had an excellent alpine season. His string of great race finishes, including a 2nd place in the Slalom at the English Interschools Race, meant that Tom was selected to represent Great Britain this spring. British Ski and Snowboard invited Tom to join the U14 Boys’ Team to race for Great Britain at an international competition in Italy. Tom finished 13th in the Slalom, which was a great result. Inès Sanmartin Arbones (F4), has also had a good season, winning a Giant Slalom race in her native Spain at regional level and has been selected to compete in the Spain Cup competitions.
Prep: Tennis Stars Represent Great Britain Three of Culford’s youngest tennis stars achieved some fantastic results whilst competing against France in the Great Britain Under 12s Internationals. Lower Thirds Kylie Bilchev, Derrick Chen and Matthew Gedney travelled to France in January after being selected for the Great Britain Team. They each took part in four games with Kylie winning them all, Derrick winning two out of four, and Matthew winning one.
Senior: Hockey Highlights Cuford’s boys enjoyed some notable victories in the 2014-15 season, including the 1st XI’s 1-0 victory against The Leys in March, and 6-1 win over Norwich School in January. Other Culford teams also managed impressive wins with the 2nd XI seeing off the excellent Woodbridge side 3-1 and the U14A’s comprehensive 6-0 win over Wisbech Grammar. Culford didn’t have things their own way the whole time though, and draws and defeats had to be borne along the way. Throughout the ups and downs, however, all the teams showed tremendous team
Senior: Netball Highlights Culford’s netball teams have had a very busy season, competing in over 60 matches. They have notched up some impressive victories such as the 1st team’s 42-12 win over Royal Hospital School led by captain Ciara Morrell, the 2nd’s 30-10 defeat of Wisbech Grammar, the U15’s 39-9 triumph over Wisbech Grammar and a great 27-13 victory over an excellent Wymondham College side. The U16 team won the County Tournament and competed at the Regional Finals.
spirit. Such is the interest in boys’ hockey that Culford now turns out no fewer than six teams, all of whom are improving year by year under the expert tutelage of Culford’s Head of Hockey, Matt Copping and professional coach Leonie Kammeijer. In a season that saw great individual personal performances in every game it is hard to single out the stars of the season, but special mention must go to, Robert Kleuss, Alex Blumfield, Matthew Mitcham, Lewis Bovington and James Gibbs for their tireless efforts and goal scoring abilities.
Several of the season’s games could have gone either way. Indeed, two ended in a draw and in several others only a few points separated the girls from victory. Despite such frustrations, the girls never lost their enthusiasm for the game or their sense of team spirit and that doubtless aided them along the way. All the girls deserve congratulations for their fine efforts on the court but special mention must go to some of the Players of the Match, including: Rosie Andrews, Alicia Hatwin, Emma Howard, Maria Owino and Yaa Zuta.
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Celebrating
30 Years
at Fieldgate
Culford Pre-Prep School enjoyed a day of celebration at the start of March to mark their 30th anniversary. Culford Pre-Prep, also known as Fieldgate, opened its doors in 1985 and has been growing ever since.
Pupils, teachers, parents and guests came together for a presentation assembly and balloon release before sharing their fond memories of the school, both old and new. During the assembly three Sixth Form pupils, Jessica Suckling, Elliot Phillips and Ciara Morrell who have been at Culford throughout their school life, spoke movingly about their time at the Pre-Prep. Susanne Kohl, former Governor also spoke to the children about the “Little School”. Pre-Prep and Nursery Head, Sarah Preston said, “It was lovely to see some of our Sixth Formers talking about their experiences and using words such as inspirational, happy, caring and fun to describe their time here.” Each pupil was also presented with a commemorative china cup which was commissioned by the Pre-Prep PTA to celebrate the day. The morning concluded with a whole school birthday balloon release and a slice of celebratory cake baked by Pre-Prep Class Teacher Kelly Harrison.
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© 2015 Culford School Photo credits: Warren Page, Wendy Turner Editorial contact: communications@culford.co.uk © 2013 Culford School Photo credits: Warren Page, Wendy Turner, Andy Abbott, Peter Joarder Editorial contact: marketing@culford.co.uk