DIXIT - 1 March 2019

DIXIT

EDITION 45 1st March 2019

The weekly newsletter for the Holyport College family

Inaugural Sixth Form Ski Trip

Our trip to Zell am See was our last trip (for Year 13) with Holyport and a very memorable one. Besides the amazing skiing and resort, the curling, skittles, ski show and socialising with the group really made this trip one to remember! We all had a great time and we would all like to say a massive thank you to Mr and Mrs Crocker and Mr Nosworthy for putting up with us and making the trip so enjoyable.

Shout out to Linus for being the best dancer!

@holyportcollege

www.youtube.com/holyportal

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DIXIT 1st March 2019

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IN THIS EDITION

From the Sports Field This week’s sports news and upcoming fixtures

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From Expressive Arts News from Art and Drama

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From the Sixth Form Holyport Lectures this week

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From the Music Rooms Music Department news

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From the College An update on our second hand uniform shop

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From the Refectory Next week’s lunch menus

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From the Calendar Upcoming events and dates for your diaries

@holyportcollege www.youtube.com/holyportal 2

FROM THE SPORTS FIELD

DIXIT 1st March 2019

News from Sport Congratulations to Jemima Walsh and Olivia Bennett who have been selected for Berkshire U15 County Rugby Team. Well done girls!

Well done to the U13 girls Hockey team who competed at the Berkshire Hockey tournament on Thursday this week. Some great Hockey played and spirits were high even with the poor weather!  Calling all U13 and U15 girls that want to give Rugby a go… please see invitation below. 

BERKSHIRE GIRLS RUGBY ROADSHOW

Dear Sir/Madam, I would like to take this opportunity to invite your school to the following girls’ rugby development afternoon.

It is an opportunity to both introduce girls to the sport and build upon skills of existing players at U13 and U15 age groups. As part of a recruitment initiative, Windsor Girls are working with the local schools to create a club – school link.

The Club offers rugby for U13, U15 and U18 age groups and are keen to increase their player numbers at all age groups. The club welcomes all new players, irrespective of experience, ability and physical size – rugby is a game for all!

The girls will receive coaching from RFU Level 2 qualified coaches from England Rugby and Windsor RFC. The aim of this event is to give players of all ability from within your schools the opportunity to receive some high quality coaching and some conditioned games experience.

If you could give preference to those players not currently members of clubs, it would be greatly appreciated.

Tuesday 5th March 4pm- 6pm Windsor RFC, Home Park, Datchet Road, Windsor, SL4 6HX If you have any questions or feedback on timings of the event please do not hesitate to contact me. Our aim is to make the event work for you, so we are totally flexible on when it is run to best accommodate you and your pupils.

Many Thanks, Nicola McCombe Community Rugby Coach Berkshire Girls please see a member of the PE Department if you are interested!

@Holy_Sport

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DIXIT 1st March 2019

FROM THE SPORTS FIELD

Upcoming sports fixtures

@Holy_Sport

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DIXIT

FROM EXPRESSIVE ARTS

1st March 2019

News from the Art Room Miss Shears’ Year 9 classes have been looking at street artists Banksy and Roa. They’ve made their own Banksy stencils and had the chance to try it out using spray paint. (A huge thank you to Mrs Wade for helping with this!) Students will now be designing their own stencils-watch this space to see what they create! 

Year 11 GCSE Drama students completed their practical exam today performing to a high standard.

They have been rehearsing challenging plays for 9 weeks and have designed their own costumes and lighting. We are extremely proud of the hard work they have put into their performances and look forward to sharing them with family and friends later this term. 

@HolyportExpArts

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DIXIT

FROM THE SIXTH FORM

1st March 2019

Holyport Lectures Dave Leal travelled down from Oxford University and opened minds to the vast and complicated world of Philosophy, Ethics and Theology. He discussed the importance of being able to hold conflicting theories at once to decide on your own views on these issues. He was a big supporter of following one's thinking as far as it will go in philosophy and then writing about the thoughts created by such a process.

He affirmed his view that ethics cannot exclusively be based on the pursuit of happiness. Our Sixth Form interview probed him on the ideas of Situational Ethics according to Steven Fletcher. The talk ran over time as students had a wide range of questions to pose to the philosopher about who dictates moral standards nationally and internationally.

There was a clear interest in philosophy and we look forward to continuing our discussions with the theologians in the coming weeks.

Next week Everyone’s favourite assembly presenter, Wayne Dixon! Known for his love of Arsenal, icecream and being one of the most charismatic, funny and engaging presentations.

Wednesday 13th March: Manvir Singh, Sikh Chaplaincy. Faith in an Age of Reason continued! What does it mean to be a Sikh in the 21st century?

Thursday 21st March: Adam Afriyie, MP for Windsor. 8 days and counting before Brexit! Who knows where we’ll be!

Wednesday 27th March: Craig Smith Insead Business School, Paris. Finance and ethics, how to make money and help the world Wednesday 3rd April: Katherine Johnson, Author. Writer of “The Silence”, “The Secret” and “Lies, Mistakes and Misunderstandings” on how to get published and write fiction.

@HPCSixth

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FROM THE MUSIC ROOMS

DIXIT 1st March 2019

Music Department news Gifted and Talented Singers go to the Opera On Tuesday, 15 of our talented singers had the opportunity to see a modern re-imagining of Bizet’s famous opera ‘Carmen’. The production is running at the King’s Head Theatre, a studio theatre in Islington and the titular principal role is being performed by a former student of mine, Ellie Edmonds. I felt it was important for our singers to see exactly what hard work and determination can lead to out of an opportunity offered at school. Ellie left our school (also state boarding) in 2008 after GCSEs, having been in all our choirs and productions throughout school. Initially, she had been reluctant to join choir having been turned away from it at her junior school. After a bit of gentle ‘Mrs Bryant Persuasion’ she gave it a go and simply blossomed. She won every local music festival, starred as the Narrator in our production of ‘Joseph’ whilst only in year 7, became the youngest ever member at the time of the National Youth Choir and was eventually offered fully funded boarding scholarships to Wells Cathedral School, The Purcell School and Chethams School of Music for 6th form study. Having spent 2 years at the latter, she undertook a music degree at Birmingham Conservatoire, graduated with a First, winning many opera prizes and then did a Masters degree. She is now a principal with Opera Holland Park and has performed at the Royal Opera House, all over Europe and is still only 26.

This interpretation of ‘Carmen’ featured a new English libretto which balanced comedy and tragedy beautifully, with a great deal of humour. Every inch of the small theatre space was used to incredible effect - we were treated to powerful imagery through ingenious lighting and sound and the singers were accompanied by two simultaneous brilliant pianists, who used a mixture of honky-tonk piano and electric stage piano with effects.

Seeing Ellie sing the very tricky ‘Seguidilla’ with undeniable beauty and tremendous skill whilst undertaking some rather provocative street dance in an attempted seduction is something we are not likely to forget in a hurry!

Ellie was kind enough to come and speak to our students after the show and they were very pleased to meet her! Our students were immaculately behaved throughout the evening and a real pleasure to take them out for the evening. Hopefully this experience has shown them what is possible and just how cool opera can be! Many thanks as always to Miss Lunney for helping me to staff the trip and using her Geography teacher magic to navigate us around North London!

Next Opera Trip - Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’ at English National Opera I still have a few seats left for this incredible production on 12 March. They are free seats given to us by ENO’s Education Outreach department for the final dress rehearsal at the Coliseum. The only cost is for the coach - £16.50 for boarders and £19 for day students (includes an evening meal). This is sung in English and is again a modern setting, so very accessible for the students. Please email me at j.bryant@holyportcollege.org.uk if you would like one of these seats for your child. Our trips must break even to continue, so it is important that we fill the coach to cover the cost of booking it.

@HolyportExpArts

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DIXIT 1st March 2019

FROM THE COLLEGE

Online Second Hand Uniform Shop We are very pleased to announce the launch of our official Second Hand Uniform Shop. You can find it here: http://www.holyportcollege.org.uk/schoollife/uniform/second-hand-uniform-shop/ Payment is by debit/credit card, PayPal or GooglePay and you can collect your items from the College reception one working day after your order has been placed.

100% of the money raised by our Second Hand Uniform Shop will go towards the Holyport College Appeal and we would be very grateful for all donations of good quality uniform. There is a box in reception where you can leave it.

@holyportcollege

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DIXIT

FROM THE REFECTORY

1st March 2019

Next week’s lunch menus Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Cumberland Sausages

Lamb Balti

Chicken Fajitas

Steak & Onion Pie

Pasta, Soup & Jackets

Pasta, Soup & Jackets

Pasta, Soup & Jackets

Pasta, Soup & Jackets

(v) Quorn Sausages

(v) Sweet Potato Balti

(v) Vegetable Fajitas

(v) Mushroom Gratin

Basmati Rice Naan Bread Mini Samosa Onion Salad

Potato Wedges Nachos & Dips Sweetcorn Salad

Mashed Potato Roast Carrots Sugar Snap Peas

Salads & protein items

Salads & Protein items

Salads & Protein items

Salads & Protein items

Lemon Meringue Mousse

Rocky Road

Carrot Cake

Raspberry Jelly

Mashed Potato Baked Beans Broccoli Onion Gravy

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Chicken Burgers

Paninis

Brunch

Fish Bar

Soup & Salad

(v) Southern Fried Quorn Burger

(v) Paninis

Curly Fries Salads

Crisps

Salads & Protein items Ice Cream

Salads & Protein items

Sausage & Bacon Eggs, Mushrooms Beans & hash Browns

Pancakes

Cupcake

If you suffer from a food allergy or intolerance you are advised to consult with the Sodexo manager or head chef.

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DIXIT

FROM THE CALENDAR

1st March 2019

Some Dates for Your Diaries Saturday 2nd March—Friends of Holyport College Wine Night Friday 15th March—Exeat weekend

Spring Concert 26th March - Tickets These will be available via Ticketsource early next week and I will post a link on the @HolyportMusic Twitter page when the website is live.

The students are preparing well but please can parents ensure that soloists and groups are practising outside of rehearsals at school? We will do a final cut in two weeks time of items that are not yet ‘performance ready’, ie at concert standard and these students will be able to perform at the informal summer concert instead.

I am delighted to confirm that Splaat Media will once again be attending to take photographs of the students in the dress rehearsal on stage and these will be available to buy on the evening. Please do bring some money and purchase a precious memory - fantastic Easter gifts for the grandparents!

Mrs Bryant

Brunel House will be organising our fund-raising for Comic Relief in two weeks. Students will be able to wear their own clothes in exchange for £1. Watch this space for further details of activities on the day!

Parents’ Evening Dates 2018/19

Reporting Dates

Year 7 and 8 parents’ evening: Monday 5th November 2018

Year 7/8/10 interim reports—18th January 2019

Year 11 parents’ evening: Wednesday 5th December 2018

Year 9 full reports—25th January 2019

Year 10 parents’ evening: Wednesday 6th February 2019

Year 11 mock exam reports—30th January 2019

Upper Sixth parents’ evening: Monday 25th February 2019

Year 13 mock reports—15th February 2019

Year 9 parents’ evening and GCSE options presentation: Wednesday 24th April 2019

Year 7-10 interim reports—8th March 2019

Lower Sixth parents’ evening: Wednesday

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Year 11 full reports—8th March 2019

May 2019

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