sUCCess Magazine Autumn 2010

sUCCess the news magazine of Ullswater Community College

School

ISSUE 2 AUTUMN 2010

in style

Students wear our new uniform with pride

U.C.C.

Ullswater Community College WE GET THE RIGHT RESULTS

A taste

of Science

smart!

Look

THE new school uniform has been a great success with staff and students alike. Although there has been some controversy around the decision to have blazers, no one can deny that the new uniform is smarter and more stylish.

From the beginning of the new school year, UCC set out to ‘Look the part’, ‘Act the part’ and ‘Think the part’. The decision to adopt the new uniform was made so that our students look just as smart as they act in class. The improvements reflect the way we think about ourselves and the ambitions of the school as a whole.

Year 7 student Sophie Heron said: “It looks smarter than the old uniform. I like wearing it and I like the badge on the blazer pocket.”

IN June, Year 5 and 6 students from nine primary feeder schools attended the Science Days at UCC. They took part in two scientific investigations; solving a river pollution mystery to save the fish, and how to keep a water supply safe and survive in the jungle.

All pupils learned new skills and thoroughly enjoyed the experiences;

Home-grown produce: Joe Nettleton, Year 10.

one student said ‘I really enjoyed using the Bunsen burner for the first time, and didn’t know that red cabbage juice could change colour’. The winners in each event won a prize, and everybody went home exhausted but rewarded – many couldn’t stop talking about it back at home and school!

Alex Ford, Science Teacher

Looking the part: Imogen Carrie and Thomas Little, Year 7.

Nigel Pattinson, Headteacher

Reduce, reuse, recycle AN ‘Eco Cube’ event, aimed at making our students think about the natural environment, was held around the campus in July.

Students learned about the benefits of cycling from the Britain’s Got Talent BMX bike team who impressed the students with their amazing stunt demonstrations. Musicians Bang On wowed the crowds with their recycled instruments, while the award-winning Fairly Famous Family entertained the students with their unique recycling theatre show. Students and staff also attended a spectacular fashion show with outfits made and modelled by students from recycled materials.

Michelle Lewin, LRC Manager

THIRTY-FOUR students have been boosting their Maths skills during the summer and autumn terms as part of the national One-to-One Tuition scheme. Grant funding has enabled them to have ten extra Maths

Ully makes his debut

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lessons each to help them to catch up with their peers. Chloe Greaves commented, “I learned my times tables,” while Brett Herlingshaw said, “I’m more confident now”.

Rebecca Parris, One-to-One Tutor

Italian on the menu

MAKING the decision to have a school mascot is easy, but choosing and designing a good one is far harder. However, thanks to all our Year 7 students, we are proud to welcome Ully, the new UCC wolf mascot.

Students in Year 7 were given the opportunity to create and design an original school mascot with the award-winning Manga artist Kate Holden. There were so many fantastic designs that we decided to ask the whole year to vote for the best. The winner was Amy Robinson, whose distinctive design encapsulates our school spirit. Ully will represent the school at a variety of sporting, business and enterprise events.

Michelle Lewin, Learning Resource Centre Manager

News in brief One-to-One tuition thrives

LEARNING a language doesn’t have to be boring. The Year 10 GCSE Italian group managed to improve their Italian speaking skills while taking a lunch break at Gianni’s restaurant in Penrith.

Grace Murray said her spaghetti carbonara was “fantastico”.

Winning design: Amy Robinson, Year 7.

Heather Hird, Italian Teacher

Fresh from the farm EVERY week, student Joe Nettleton brings a range of home-grown meat and vegetables into school. Recent contributions have included venison, trout, fennel, asparagus and sugar snap peas.

Joe, who lives on a local farm, thinks that his home-grown food tastes better than shopbought items. “Knowing where it comes from is very rewarding and makes you want to eat it and appreciate all the hard work that’s gone into growing it,” he said.

How does Joe feel about raising animals that are eaten? “I know that our animals have had a good life,” he concludes.

Joy Albert, Food Technology Teacher

Race to Taiwan IN early October, students from Ullswater Community College gathered at Derwentwater to compete against five other schools in a Dragon Boat racing event to help raise money for their trip to Taiwan next May. Eight Year 9 students from UCC will be joined by 32 students from the five other Cumbrian Schools. So far, they have secured sponsorship from NBM and Riverside Recruitment, and raised £300 themselves to pay for the trip.

Greg Kent, Geography Teacher

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Ullswater Community College WE GET THE RIGHT RESULTS

t h g s t i l R resu

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of both students and staff, grades at GCSE, AS and A-Level are exceeding expectations WITH 87.4 per cent of Year 11 achieving five or more A*-C grades in their GCSEs, students exceeded even the new Headteacher’s highest expectations, and Ullswater rocketed into the top 10 per cent of schools nationally on measures of ‘Value Added’. This meant that an additional 80 young people achieved the benchmark compared with the year before. More than half (53 per cent) also achieved five or more A*-C grades including Mathematics and English, an increase of nine per cent on last year.

This success sets the scene for further progress over the next year, and results already obtained for the current Year 11 suggest that further records will be broken.

At AS and A-Level, the College’s results were also very strong, and our students were able to compete effectively for the best Higher Education places in a year that has been very difficult for young people across the country.

Nigel Pattinson, Headteacher

I knew the students were going to do well through their module results and performance in lessons.

However, they did even better than that. Their achievements have created a real buzz in school as other students realise they can achieve great results too

e h T

Chloe Loftus

e

d a r g e h t Making

What are your plans for the future? I want to go to university and travel. In the future, I want to work in the police.

Which subjects are you currently studying? AS Law, Citizenship, Drama and General Studies.

What advice would you give to this year’s Year 11 or 12?

Stick at it even when you’re stressed and want to quit.

Angharad Jenkins

What grades did you achieve, in which subjects? A* in GCSE RE, A in Art, English Literature, Drama, Maths, Citizenship and English Language. B in History, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Science B and ICT. How did you feel when you collected your results? It was a relief that all my hard work had paid off. What advice would you give to this year’s Year 11 or 12? Try to go to as many revision sessions as possible because they really do help.

Ed Campbell

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Joe Reid

What grades did you achieve, in which subjects? Grade A in AS-Level Accounting, Biology, Chemistry and Maths. What are your plans for the future?

To study Medicine at university.

THE staff at Ullswater are very fond of their students and, from the beginning of September, it was clear there was a collective determination to achieve something special this year.

We offer a wide range of subjects in Year 11 that students will find both interesting and enjoyable. Some of the highest performing students also achieved qualifications in vocational subjects provided through local colleges and training providers.

The biggest gains, however, were achieved through regular checks on progress and the provision of additional support when necessary, which helped to generate confidence and improvement. All departments ran extra classes, often in the evening and during school holidays.

Nigel Pattinson, Headteacher

Impressive gains

Sarah Campbell, Head of Year 11

What are your plans for the future? To study Music at Newcastle University.

Which subjects are you currently studying? A-Level Music, History and Maths. What advice would you give to this year’s Year 11 or 12? Do what you want to do for your future, not what other people want you to do.

Success through support

Rachael McCandlish

What are your plans for the future? I would like to be a medical officer in the RAF. Which subjects are you currently studying? AS Italian, Biology, Chemistry and Maths.

Jonathan Pickup

What grades did you achieve, in which subjects? Grade A* in GCSE Geography, Resistant Materials and Citizenship, grade A in Media, English Literature and English Language, and grade B in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, ICT and RE. What advice would you give to this year’s Year 11 or 12?

Study subjects you enjoy because when the workload increases you are more likely to work hard and succeed.

THE Governing Body is, quite rightly, delighted with results at all levels in the school this year, not least because of what this means for students and their aspirations for the future.

Over the past year, there has been an astonishing level of commitment from everyone involved with Ullswater Community College to produce the best possible outcomes for all our students.

It is clear to us all that this is not the end of the process of improvement at the school, but the beginning of what we expect to be further impressive gains over the next few years.

The parents, students, staff and Governors are committed to ensuring that the school continues to build on this success and we are enjoying playing our part in this exciting chapter in Ullswater’s development.

Ian White, Chair of Governors

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Ullswater Community College WE GET THE RIGHT RESULTS

Learning at leisure

Made with love: Marieke Evans, Holly Roddis, India Vecqueray amd Imogen Robinson, Year 8.

s t r a He for hospice

AS part of the Giving Nation Challenge, Year 7 students worked with local charities Eden Valley Hospice, Penrith Mountain Rescue, the Great North Air Ambulance and READ International (Tanzania Link) to set up a social enterprise that supported each charity.

Each charity set their respective Tutor Groups Dragons’ Den-style challenges to

IN July, 30 Year 7 students took part in the Gifted and Talented Residential Summer Camp at Glaramara. The funfilled week included activities such as ghyll scrambling, coracle building and tackling a via ferrata.

Two Year 10 students also took part in a week’s residential at Lancaster University during the summer.

The verdict? “It was a worthwhile experience. I’ll be keeping in touch with some of the people I met,” said one.

Jo Jenkins, Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator

Awards evening

produce an item or service that would benefit their charity. After a series of knockout rounds, the winning team of Marieke Evans, Holly Roddis, India Vecqueray and Imogen Robinson, represented UCC in the Cumbrian Final at the Swan Hotel on 1st July, where they won the award for best presentation. Judged by representatives from the Citizenship Foundation, their social enterprise involved

designing, making and marketing a range of chocolate hearts that could be sold to support Eden Valley Hospice.

This was followed on 5th November, by an event at Rheged, in which the girls were among artists and famous personalities (including Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton) selling hearts, both chocolate and wooden, to raise further funds for the Hospice.

John Sander, Head of Citizenship

Young entrepreneurs IN June, 33 Year 9 Gifted and Talented students took part in a two-day Enterprise-style event with four other Eden schools.

The aim of the programme was to develop a marketable business idea, which included allocating company positions, building a prototype and producing a video advertisement. Each team undertook ‘tasks’ to earn money to buy materials for their prototype.

The winner was chosen after a peer presentation, during which each ‘company’ delivered their ideas to each other.

The students said it was “fun”, “intriguing”, and gave them “an insight into what it takes to be an entrepreneur”.

Jo Jenkins, Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator

THE annual Business and Enterprise Celebration Evening took place on 14th October at the North Lakes Hotel and Spa. The guest speaker was David Sharrock, Managing Director of the Cumberland Pencil Company.

Almost 70 students from Years 7-13 received awards in a wide range of categories. These included Sounds of the Beacon Radio Station, Work Experience, Fair Trade, the Ready Steady Cook competition and the Euro Quiz. There were also awards for two primary pupils and for a student from Kirkby Stephen GS, linked with our community Business and Enterprise activities. Business of the Year was awarded to the North Lakes Hotel.

We would like to thank local businesses Armstrong Watson, Primasonics International Ltd, Westmorland Ltd and Cranstons for sponsoring some of the awards.

Shirley Ivinson, Assistant Headteacher

Labaid loaders: Bronwyn Musgrave and Adam Fishwick, Year 8, with technicians Sarah Yallop, Jill Barry and Richard Scoffham, and teacher Ben Harnett.

Special

delivery

THE Science Technicians spent a few days in July decluttering the Science department and putting together 12 large boxes to send to schools in Africa.

The boxes contained a variety of equipment that is no longer needed by the department, including old goggles, microscopes, old-fashioned

balances and large ammeters.

The Stobart Group kindly offered us space on one of their wagons to transport the boxes down to the charity Labaid, based in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, which sorts the equipment and ships it to Africa.

Sarah Yallop, Science Technician

In business

YEAR 10 students have taken part in an Enterprise Day entitled ‘We’re in Business’, run in conjunction with NatWest bank.

The theme for the day was the London Olympics 2012.

Each team acted as a catering company, and their brief was to arrange an annual dinner for 100 sporting celebrities, themed around the country they represented. The budget was £1,800.

The students took on the roles of project manager, finance director, catering consultant, design team, etc, which helped to improve their communication and team-building skills.

Student Garry Holmes said: “I learned a lot about Romania and gained a better understanding of how a business works.”

Shirley Ivinson, Assistant Headteacher

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Ullswater Community College Wetheriggs Lane, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 8NG Telephone: 01768 242160 Email: admin@ullswater.cumbria.sch.uk Website: www.ullswater.cumbria.sch.uk

Produced by Words&Pictures. Tel. 01943 854800

tour Rugby

Year 7 settle in IN the first half-term of the school year, all Year 7 students take part in a two-day residential to help them settle into school.

During this time, they are introduced to the ethos of the school, particularly Business and Enterprise, and are taught how to develop skills such as leadership, teamwork, risk taking and decision making.

Students are challenged through a range of team-building activities in which they try to set new records and be ‘the best form in the year’.

AFTER more than two years of hard work, on and off the field, a 64-strong party from UCC set off in July for South Africa.

The first stop was Cape Town, where the teams enjoyed fixtures against Parel Vallei and Excelsior high schools.

We also took the cable car to the top of Table Mountain, saw the seal colony off Hout Bay, visited Robben Island, spotted whales in Hermanus, enjoyed the local theatre in District 6 and toured Langa, one of the oldest townships.

Next stop was Stellenbosch, where we played Swartland High School, and had a training session at the Rugby Academy.

In Johannesburg and Pretoria, the teams took on Eldoraigne and Allen Glen high schools before they enjoyed three days of safari at Mabula Lodge.

For a full tour report, and details of results and fixtures, please visit our blogsite at http://uccsouthafricarugby. blogspot.com Marcus Castle, Teacher of PE/Head of Year 8

Ian Tuer, Business and Enterprise Co-ordinator

‘Capitall’ experience THREE years ago, I started showing one of my grandparents’ Appaloosa horses called Capitall Karen. As she was a yearling, she could only be led, so my first show was in the young handler’s class.

I show in English and Western style, and have won prizes in both. My most enjoyable wins were BAPs Northern Presidents Trophy in the first year and receiving WPPA Young Producer of the Year 2009. This year, I have broken my own mare, and showed her successfully at the APHC UK Nationals.

Steven Thomas, Year 11 Having a ball: Ryan Martin, Year 11, and Ged Key, Year 9.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

Trophy triumph: Steven Thomas and Capitall at the British Appaloosa Society Nationals in 2009 (courtesy of David Sellars, Official Photographer, Weston Lawns).

STUDENTS taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award have had a busy few months.

In June and July, all 18 students passed the Bronze-assessed expedition, while five students took, and passed, the Silver expedition. Although the Gold practice expedition was held in adverse conditions, all seven students passed, and are now expected to complete the Gold-assessed expedition to North Wales next summer.

In addition, five students passed a Bronze-assessed canoe expedition on Derwent Water in September.

Meanwhile, at the recent Business and Enterprise Awards Evening, Thomas Batty, Matthew Derbyshire and Joe Reid were recognised for their Organisation, Leadership and Determination through the various stages of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards.

Louise Auchterlonie, D of E Co-ordinator