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@ Gryphon Gryphon Photography Competition Harvest & Christmas Appeals New Wildflower Meadow @GryphonSchool
TheGryphonSchool
@thegryphonschool
AUTUMN 2020
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2. WELCOME At this time of year, we are usually in the middle of rehearsals for the school production, planning our beautiful Carol Service in Sherborne Abbey and looking back on a term packed with trips, visits and events. Instead, we are looking back on a term unlike any other. At times, it has felt as though we have been in a dystopian play – never quite knowing what the next scene would bring! That having been said this newsletter illustrates the extraordinary lengths that our staff have gone to in enabling most lessons to have continued as “normal” for the vast majority of our students. I am very grateful for the tremendous teamwork and mutual support that been at the heart of our school this term. Our school continues to be a place where life can be lived in all of its fullness. As we look forward to Christmas, I hope that there will be time for us all to reflect on some of the positive things that have come out of 2020 and to look forward to a new year with all the joys and challenges that it will bring. At the end of our Carol Service we often use this blessing, instead I would like to share it with you as we look forward to 2021: “may the joy of the angels, the eagerness of the shepherds, the perseverance of the wise men, the obedience of Joseph and mary and the peace of the Christ-child be yours this Christmas and always”.
mErry CHrISTmAS
In 2011 The Gryphon Foundation (formerly known as The Digby and newland and Foster Educational Foundations) was established and registered with the Charity Commission. This Foundation has three core purposes: 1. Assisting in the provision of facilities and special benefits for the education of students at The Gryphon School 2. Funding prizes at Prize Giving and Celebration of Achievement events 3. Providing grants to present and past students (up to age 25)
A charitable Trust that provides financial support for present and former students
An application form is available for those interested in applying for a grant. The Trustees meet at least three times per year to consider applications. The Foundation is fortunate to benefit from the assets and income of the former The Digby and newland and Foster Educational Foundations. The Foundations had supported the students of The Gryphon and the former schools for many years. The Gryphon Foundation aims to benefit from future investments, gifts and legacies so we can continue to enhance the outstanding opportunities and facilities at The Gryphon. If you would like to make a donation to the Foundation, please contact mrs Edwards. As a registered charity, we are able to claim Gift Aid on donations from qualifying individuals. Current students or past students can apply for grants using the form on our website.
Gryphon music Department awarded music mark Award
nicki Edwards - Headteacher
The Gryphon Foundation
Congratulations to the Gryphon music Department who have been awarded the music mark School award for 2020-21. Dorset music Service nominated the school, for the value that we place on music, and our commitment to a broad and balanced curriculum. music mark is the uK Association for music Education; they champion and support access to music for all children and young people.
To find find out for support To outhow howtotoapply apply or to make a donation to the charity for support or to make please visit The Gryphon Foundation at a donation to the charity www.gryphon.dorset.sch.uk please visit The Gryphon Foundation
www.gryphon.dorset.sch.uk
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3. Overflowing with generosity & kindness Throughout the first lockdown there were inspiring stories of kindness and generosity within and flowing from the school community. This has continued to be evident throughout this current term, too. Our Harvest appeal resulted in a huge response from students and staff, with hundreds of food items being donated to our 2 local Foodbanks. Through video interviews in Acts of Worship, the school community learned about the mammoth demand on the Foodbanks in the early weeks of the first lockdown. Over the summer, requests for food parcels returned to a more normal level but have risen dramatically more recently as the economic realities of the pandemic are taking hold. The response to the Harvest appeal this year was one of the most generous we have ever had. many thanks to those of you who gave. The same week as the harvest donations were collected, the next opportunity for
remembrance generosity was launched. FCSI is a Salisbury based charity which works with poor and marginalized people in Bulgaria throughout the year. At Christmas, they give out shoeboxes filled with Christmas gifts, which are donated by people in Britain. The gifts are received with much joy – as is the knowledge that people are holding them in their thoughts and sharing love and kindness with them. The Gryphon School has supported this initiative over the past few years, and we were delighted to be able to support it again despite the pressures of Covid-19 and many shops being shut. In mid-november, 85 boxes began making the journey from The Gryphon School to Bulgaria. Huge thanks
to all who took part in bringing joy to so many people once again this year.
During the day, the school had joined in an Act of remembrance, created by miss Dodgson, before morning break. The Act of remembrance included images of the effects of war around the world (including the bomb damage in Sherborne in 1940), poetry read by members of staff with direct connection to the forces, the Last Post and reveille played by mr Fox and a reading of the “roll of Honour” by mrs Edwards.
Sowing our Wildflower meadow The Gryphon School is very proud to be continuing work with Operation Future Hope to rewild the grounds. During 2019 the hedgerows have grown into homes for birds, while the verges of the sports fields have become wildlife corridors. On the top field a bank of unmown grass is now home to small mammals which have attracted a pair of kestrels to nest locally. This coming spring we look forward to seeing blossom on our new row of hawthorn and blackthorn trees. Eco-club, which used to be a lunchtime club for all year groups has had to change this year, it is now eco enrichment, taking advantage of a period 5 slot when year 12 students take part in activities which enrich their learning beyond their subject choices. We have them to thank for continuing to keep recycling as a priority and for bringing their creativity and new ideas to the table. Late in October, eco-enrichment planted a new bank of wildflowers with Operation Future Hope which will bring even more wildlife to our grounds. The students brought incredible energy and enthusiasm to the task, first mixing the seed in with compost before carefully spreading it across ground that had been prepared earlier. To finish the task the ground
members of the Old Fosterians’ Society gathered in school at 4pm on november 11th to commemorate the members of Fosters’ School who gave their lives in the World Wars. The “roll of Honour” was read by Philip Dolbear.
needed to be trampled, as if by a herd of bovines as would occur naturally. Our flowers will bloom in spring, in more positive times and will not just be a wildlife haven but also one for our students to feel the mental health benefits of being closer to nature. mrs Cavallaro
We are a no-idling site The Gryphon School actively discourages idling vehicle engines on our school site. We thank you for turning off your engines while you wait. your action supports us to provide a healthy environment for our school community and to reduce our carbon footprint.
They shall grow, not old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we shall remember them.
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4.
Prize Giving unfortunately due to Covid-19 we were unable to hold our usual Prize Giving evening at Sherborne Abbey. We would however like to congratulate all the students below, whose names will appear on our honours boards.
GCSE Highest Academic Achievement Emilie Bonay Ruby Clayton-Webber Lucy Jones Caitlin Toogood Isabella Whitmore
This year saw over 80 students from Year 9 sign up to the Bronze Award (our highest number so far)
Duke of Edinburgh Award Programme Doing your Duke of Edinburgh’s Award during a pandemic is important, definitely a challenge but not impossible and here is why. Whilst almost all clubs and extra curricular activities at school across the country have been curtailed, the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme at The Gryphon School is flourishing. The school has even booked 7 teams in for the Ten Tors Challenge 2021, hoping things will improve after Christmas to allow our young people to take part safely. This year saw over 80 students from year 9 sign up to the Bronze Award (our highest number so far) and Silver & Gold registrations are strong. Despite the regularly weekly meetings not running, students have started Covid-safe activities that count towards their volunteering, skills and physical sections. Students from The Gryphon are helping at food banks, supporting ethical research on Zooniverse and helping map remote locations for charities as part of the ‘missing map Project’. no one can doubt the benefit of physical activity during lockdown: many students have taken up walking around their local area, keeping them fit & active whilst learning more about where they live. Students and leaders regularly send in pictures of mountains they have climbed or local Trig Points they have found, to the DofE Gryphon Facebook page. Students continue to learn skills at home such as playing
musical instruments and many have started to practice cooking and baking new recipes under parental supervision. Keeping students engaged during these uncertain times is important. Changes to the DofE Awards during this strange time has made finding an assessor harder - many teachers have stepped up to help out, with tutors mentoring students through their sections and writing the report at the end. The school has nearly 400 students doing their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, double our normal numbers. We are continuously looking at options to ensure students from last year’s cohort will be able to complete their expedition when it is safe. We are confident that as things start to improve we will be able to do this because of our dedicated team of qualified leaders and volunteers. Over the last few years the school has trained 7 mountain Leaders, 24 moorland Leaders and in October we saw three more volunteers qualify to lead groups on Dartmoor. Having this large pool of experts is impressive for a state school and something we are immensely proud of. Completing a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award keeps students focussed, and also gives them something special to put on their CV and to talk about at job interviews in the future. It is never too late to start your DofE Awards – just speak to mr Cooke.
A level Highest Academic Achievement William Coleman Oskar Maitland Hetty Richards
Contribution to School Life GCSE
Emilie Bonay Ella Buttle Ruby Clayton-Webber
A level Aaliyah Hassan Anna Peet
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5.
Snap it, Send it, Win it! – The Gryphon Photography Competition
Work with Children and animals There is an old expression (credited to W.C Fields) amongst photographers and filmmakers to “never work with children or animals” So when our Headteacher suggested a photo shoot with the two school dogs I thought what a great chance to prove Fields wrong. mrs Edwards initially approached me with the idea of photographing not one but two dogs together for the cover of the school newsletter. It was apparent one of the only times when the two dogs were available (they both have very busy timetables!) was during our year 12 Enrichment programme. Perfect, I thought, let’s get the students to create and take the image. At the start of our period 5 enrichment session, our year 12 students had no idea what lay ahead for them. I am sure they thought I was going to send them out on another photography quest around the school! All of the students it seemed had a great love for dogs and were exceptionally excited at the opportunity of spending an hour photographing two much loved pets. Once Lola and Perran arrived, our year 12 students set about the task of setting up a Christmas tree and props (in november!). Once we had our lights, reflecting boards and camera set up and in place, one of the most fun and enjoyable photoshoots started to take place. Keeping the dogs in position and holding their attention was a job for their owners (mrs Edwards and Diane) whilst the year 12 students set about the job of lighting and creating the pictures. Initially we photographed one dog at a time, getting them used to the studio lights, flash units and the excitement of a colourful tree all set up, to their credit our school dogs are very relaxed and seemed very much used to being the centre of attention. Our year 12 enrichment students did an outstanding job of trying different lighting styles and camera positions as well as ensuring they stayed calm and relaxed so as not to stress out our two stars in any way. After a while, we decided that the best way to keep two inquisitive canines in one place for the same shot was to get some students to help keep them there! This resulted in the lovely group photograph that we ended up with. I think something in the region of 200 images were taken and then narrowed down to the best of the best. There is no way that the image could have been created without the help of my enrichment group and all credit should really be given to them for proving Fields wrong. nigel White - Head of Photography
Hot on the heels of the school’s amazing efforts to create and send in images to our Instagram feed during the first lockdown period, november saw the launch of the schools “Snap it, Send it, Win it” photography competition. The photographic competition is open to all students in years 7,8 and 9 and is aimed at encouraging students to take a closer look at the world around them and realise that even in these troubled times, that we live in an amazing part of the world. Students are able to enter as many times as they like and at the end of each term a panel of judges will come together and decide the best images from each year group. Tutor groups will then get the chance to vote on their favourite from the finalists. We became aware during the lockdown competition that our lower school students have some outstanding skills as photographers and the photography department wanted to find a way to help promote and reward this. A first place prize will be awarded to an overall winner from all three year groups as well as individual students being able to win prizes for their tutor group. We aim to publish the images on our school Instagram photography page #gryphonphotographers as well as create a display in school so students can view the submissions.
How to Enter: 1. Take a picture on the theme – “Where we live” 2. Email the picture to mr White nw@gryphon.dorset.sch.uk from your school email account 3. Ensure the subject heading has the title “where we live” as well as your tutor group 4. Tag the school Instagram account as well #gryphonphotographers ( this part is optional) A reminder of the rules: • The picture must be created by yourself • The picture can be taken on a camera or mobile device • Emails muST BE SEnT FrOm A SCHOOL ACCOunT • Pictures are not allowed to be created on school grounds • People must not be identifiable in the picture • All current social distancing guidelines must be followed • Please be aware all entries will be posted to the school photography Instagram account • Judges decision is final
nigel White, Head of Photography
Creative Design This term students have been working across a variety of projects in Creative Design, including Architecture in year 7, Flight and Set Design in year 8, and Extreme Shelters and Character Design in year 9. Through these projects students work on their drawing and rendering skills as well as developing ideas and concepts. Each students has a chance to experiment with different materials and learn new techniques before putting it to the test to design and create their final piece. Students in year 10 and year 12 have been embarking on their new GCSE and A Level courses, focusing on learning and understanding the four assessment objectives: Develop, Explore, record and Present. They have all had a strong start to their courses with year 12 entering their final stage of their workshops before embarking on their own personal investigations in February.
year 10 have been exploring and developing projects on the theme ‘Structure’. They have created their own towers and explored the idea of flexible structures such as pavilions. The students are now working hard to develop and design their own pavilion structures using both physical models and CAD software. Our year 11 and 13 students have not missed a beat, working hard to develop a personalised and meaningful investigation. Developing ideas, exploring new materials or refining their techniques they are all focused and creating high quality, interesting and intriguing projects. We are really excited to see where each and every one of them takes their designs and we look forward to sharing their hard work with you in the summer months. In the meantime, here are just a few photos of what everyone else has been up to!
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6.
Year 9 “Black History Month” Competition
Head of year 9 mr Wake organised a competition for his year group, to celebrate Black History month in October. The theme was ‘What does Black History month mean to you?’ and students were invited to create a poem, artwork or a research project. We received some incredible entries, but the top 3 were as follows: 1nd Cali H (9Pmu) (Barack Obama) 2nd Emily S (9CWD) (Black Fist) 3rd Talya T (9JmG) (”I can’t breathe”) A huge well done to all who entered. mr Wake was blown away with some of the entries and the amount of time that was spent on some of the projects! Incredible work!
year 9 Geography A group of year 9 students have received Headteacher Commendations for their fantastic geography homework. They were tasked with producing a leaflet, which informed people what to do if there was an earthquake.
Head of Geography, mrs Dutton praised their excellent work, and Assistant Head mr Lawson presented them with certificates. Well done to rich P, Ella W-m, Laura J and mary F.
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Sixth Form
you can now foll ow The Gryphon Sixth Fo rm on In stagram @gryph onsixthfo rm
Alumni: Josh Tregale Josh, 18, finished his studies at The Gryphon Sixth Form last summer. He decide to postpone his place to study Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London so that he could focus on Mock COP26.
Award Winning Amber! One of our brilliant year 13 students has gone from strength to strength with her filming. Amber, who was awarded the scholarship for Contribution to School Life when she joined, used the money to pay for the course with the national youth Film Academy. When she was completing the course she made a film with the national youth Film Academy which won Best Comedy and Best Producers at the Oniros Film Awards in new york. She was also nominated for ‘Best Director’ and the film was nominated for ‘Best Short Film’. The film was premiered at raindance Film Festival in London, and has been sent to lots of other film festivals and competitions and we are awaiting results. Amber wasn’t originally going to be the director for this film, however she took on the role of director during the shoot, due to unforeseen circumstances so now has the credit as co-director as well which is amazing. Amber also made another film during lockdown starring Isla, her sister, called ‘Breathe’ which was selected for the Cinemagic film festival which then enabled her to participate in free webinars with ros Little (Costume designer - Poldark, All Creatures Great and Small), Debbie Wiseman (Composer – Wolf Hall), John Lunn (Composer - Downton Abbey), nick Palmer (Art Director – Black mirror, mamma mia), and John Powell (Film Composer – Shrek and How to Train your Dragon). It was also nominated for Femme Fatale Film Festival and Lift Off Film Festival/ Global network. We look forward to seeing her down many a red carpet over the years to come!
Last week I unexpectedly discovered a new nature reserve near Sherborne. I had been driven to Holway Woods by Channel 4 news for them to find a cinematic backdrop while they interviewed me. While in the forest, we had a Zoom call with a fellow climate activist in the Philippines. She told us about being hit by yet another cyclone. Having only just swept the mud and water from her family’s home the water came flooding back in. This is the reality of climate change. Droughts, famine, flooding, cyclones, fires and severe weather are all exacerbated by the climate crisis. These all have the most severe impact on the poorest and most vulnerable in the world, the very people who have contributed the least to cause the issue. Climate change is a humanitarian issue and has a direct impact on the lives of many people around the world. Whenever climate change has been taught in education it has always been abstract ideas like tiny temperature rises and gasses in the atmosphere. In reality, it tears families apart and infringes on human rights. That is why when school was closed in march I got more involved with climate activism, particularly with Teach the Future (TtF) which campaigns to have climate change on the national curriculum. Each year the united nations holds a climate summit called COP where world leaders are supposed to work together to tackle the climate emergency. COP26 would have happened last month in Glasgow but due to COVID-19 the event was postponed until next year. When this news broke there was a sense of frustration and despair among those involved with TtF. Then somebody said, out of the blue, ‘Why don’t we do our own?’ From there mock COP26 was born; an online event run by young people with young people representing their countries as delegates. For the past 3 months I have been working as an Event Coordinator for mock COP26 which happened online between the 19th november and 1st December. We had speeches from high profile public figures including the COP26 President, un youth Envoy, un Special rapporteur on human rights and the
environment, the High-Level Climate Action Champion for un climate talks, scientist, economists and youth activists. All of the content from mock COP26 can be viewed online on our youTube channel www.youtube.com/c/mockcop26. The conference mirrored some of the processes of COP summits although some changes were made to increase inclusivity and accessibility. Like with COPs the event ended in a global statement declaring what actions and policies the over 330 youth delegates representing more than 140 countries would commit to. Our final global statement was sent to all heads of state and to the Secretary General of the un. It can be read at www.mockcop.org/treaty. At the start of 2020 I could never have predicted the situation we currently find ourselves in. But I equally wouldn’t have thought it possible that I would have been in conversations with the Cabinet Office, WHO and un. Or interviewed by international press, having been a part of such a brilliant project which had over 2.5 million uses of #mockCOP26, over 250 articles and a reach of over 60 million people. It is so crucial to look beyond the disruption and setbacks this pandemic has caused and to see the opportunities. The recovery from this situation has the potential to leave a lasting legacy and signal a new phase in our commitment to the preservation of our natural world and those who live in it. www.mockcop.org www.teachthefuture.uk/
Sixth Form Virtual Open Evening On the 4th november we hosted our first ever Virtual Sixth Form Open Evening. Despite missing the crowds of students and parents that we get from across the local area, we still hope that it gave a good feel for what the Sixth Form at The Gryphon is like. Students Tom B and molly m described how they have found the Sixth Form, and how they settled into a new environment and the demands on them. By hosting a live event, we were still able to interact with people by taking any questions that they had. It was also recorded, so any time people want to watch it they are able to do so. We are also massively grateful to Amber, Zoe and Phoebe who made a brilliant video showing a Day in the Life at The Gryphon Sixth Form. The three of them certainly have a bright future in the creative arts ahead of them.
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PE
It has been a strange start to the year for the PE department with changes having to be made to the curriculum and no fixtures allowed. We have been lucky enough to be able to teach a variety of practical lessons to all students, with students starting the year with lessons in Dance, Gymnastics, rounders, Cricket, Volleyball, Fitness and Badminton. THEORY FOCUS:
Cricket: As the country went into lockdown in march we were unable to take part in the traditional summer sports. As the weather was still warm and dry in September we managed to fit in a half term of cricket which the students really enjoyed. Some closely contested innings during lessons ensured the bowlers were on top form and the batters had to work hard to find gaps in the field. year 7 in particular thrived on the competition that was set up and every single run made a real difference. Table Tennis: The KS3 mixed groups have been looking at improving their Table Tennis skills this half term and have been playing lots of competitive games. One game that has really worked on their accuracy within a game is Battleships. The groups have been very successful at placing their ships in hard to reach areas of the table, but with practice we have had lots of sunken ships! Sixth Form Enrichment - Football: With external fixtures being on hold during these difficult times, the year 12 football squad took it upon themselves to organise an epic internal fixture between themselves. With a huge socially-distanced crowd in attendance, both teams were absolutely brilliant, playing some fantastic football and displaying a quality attitude. After 90 minutes, it was 2-2 and it took an unbelievably tense penalty shoot out to separate them with the ‘Bibs’ coming out victorious! Hopefully this talented group of players will get a chance to represent The Gryphon before the end of the year! Sixth Form Enrichment - Hockey: not to be outdone by the boys, the year 12 girls organised their own highly anticipated hockey fixture. Once again, we were so impressed with the skill level on display and the attitude of all the players as they competed in a fantastic manner! However, this game was a slightly more one-sided affair with the Blue team winning 5-1! Well done to Ella for getting Player of the match! The hockey girls are hoping to take on a team of boys in what we can only assume will be another fierce contest!
Year 10 BTEC: year 10 BTEC Sport students have been working hard at the examined syllabus for their qualification. As their exam approaches in the new year they have been focussing on the components of Fitness, how they are utilised in sport and also how to develop those components to better themselves. revision sessions outside of lessons have already been well attended and will continue to run in to the new year for students to continue to consolidate their knowledge and understanding. It has been wonderful to see their positive engagement in their work and their passion and drive to achieve their brilliant potentials. Year 11 BTEC: It’s great to see how engaged the year 11 BTEC Sport students are with the current unit of work, which is based around developing their own 6 week personal exercise plan. Students choose a component of fitness to work on, for example aerobic endurance or strength, and then will design their programme to specifically focus on developing this component during their programme. The motivation shown by them to really improve an area that they feel would really benefit their sports is exceptional, and will mean their work on this unit will be really focused. They can be seen in these pictures performing their initial fitness test, the score of which they will log and compare after 6 weeks of work in the fitness suite and hopefully improve upon markedly! Year 12 BTEC: Students in year 12 have been learning the names of muscles in their body through song. They recently performed their muscle rendition of ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ with actions to the class. We hope this active way of learning specific content will help the students in their Anatomy and Physiology exam in may. Students in year 12 have also been exploring jobs roles within the sports industry, and were tasked with creating videos about the stranger jobs within the sporting world. Here is a picture of a group who researched information and created their advert on Grounds Keeping, in particular on the golf course.
Year 13 BTEC: The students in year 13 have been working hard this half term on two units. The first unit is looking at the factors that affect Sports Leaders in preparation for them leading sessions in the new year. It has been an interesting time looking at the psychological side of leadership, especially in the current climate with Elite Sport being effected by Covid-19. In their other unit, year 13 are looking at how to work with clients who have a range of exercise goals and potential health problems. The group have completed a variety of health monitoring tests on each other, looking at how to take blood pressure and calculate BmI. Year 12 A Level: Our year 12 A Level PE group have been getting to grips with several psychological topics, and linking them really well to personal experiences. Students have been encouraged to put these theories into practical situations, including leading others in several sporting scenarios using different types of guidance, and presenting eloquently in front to the class on a given theory of arousal in sport. It is great to hear students linking the theory covered to so many personal sporting experiences, analysing what has and what hasn’t applied to them and others they have played with and against. With these references, the theory becomes much more personal and the ability to recite topics in exam questions becomes much easier! Year 13 A Level: year 13 Sport studies students have returned to school with focus drive and determination. Having them back in the classroom to see their thirst for knowledge has been fantastic. Alongside their continued work through the key curriculum topic areas they have also begun to combine their knowledge of varied topics areas within their coursework element of the course. They have begun to think about themselves as performers and link in their theoretical knowledge of the sports psychology and sports physiology units to help them discuss why certain aspects of their performance maybe positive and why other aspects of their performance may need a little more work.
The Gryphon School, Bristol road, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4EQ School and Sixth Form – T: 01935 813122 • F: 01935 816992 • E: office@gryphon.dorset.sch.uk • Conference Centre – T: 01935 810103 • F: 01935 816992 E: conference@gryphon.dorset.sch.uk nursery – T: 01935 810112 • F: 01935 816992 • E: nursery@gryphon.dorset.sch.uk The Gryphon School is a member of the Sherborne Area Schools’ Trust, a company limited by guarantee. registered in England with Company number 08130468