'Celebrate!' Issue 35
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Celebrate!<br />
The official newsletter of King Edward VI School<br />
‘100% Authentic: Accept No Imitations’<br />
INSIDE<br />
Into the Foreign Office!<br />
News from our<br />
Six Colleges!<br />
Poetry Please!<br />
Counting Down<br />
to Two-tier!<br />
Our school year ended with its familiar combination of<br />
fundraising and silliness. In readiness for travelling to<br />
South Africa to undertake charity work, former<br />
Deputy Head Boy Sammy Hepper organised a<br />
'Gunge the Teacher' event - which proved as popular<br />
as might be expected.<br />
The gunging machine itself was a work of<br />
craftsmanship, as this moment of imapct on Science<br />
teacher Ian Stewart demonstrates. Inside, read more<br />
about our silly – and serious – activities over the past<br />
term, and news of developments in the year ahead.<br />
ISSUE <strong>35</strong> | 06 JAN 2016
HEAD<br />
LINES<br />
Welcome to a special edition of Celebrate!<br />
in which we look back over the autumn<br />
term and look ahead to an exciting year.<br />
In September this year we will welcome<br />
our new generation of Year 7 and 8<br />
students and, frankly, after all the talk and<br />
all the hype, we cannot wait.<br />
The past term shows just how much we<br />
will be able to do to give exciting new<br />
opportunities for our new recruits - within<br />
the classroom and around the school<br />
generally.<br />
We are pleased that the autumn term<br />
cemented our academic reputation with<br />
two great sets of results at GCSE and A-<br />
level, supported by spectacular successes<br />
in sport, and an unrivalled programme of<br />
activities in the arts, debating, and a range<br />
of Sixth Form events.<br />
None of it happens by accident. I continue<br />
to be inspired our brilliant team of staff,<br />
ably supported by a governing body that<br />
holds firm to the values of our school, and<br />
parents and other supporters who<br />
continue to give us such confidence.<br />
Here's to a happy, healthy, groundbreaking<br />
2016.<br />
Maths Magic<br />
By Emily Radcliff, Head of Mathematics<br />
We are proud that our students get some of the<br />
best Mathematics results in Suffolk. As a result,<br />
visitors are coming to see more of our approach<br />
to teaching and our use of problem-solving<br />
techniques. The aim is to help students to think<br />
more deeply about Maths, rather than just<br />
working through a textbook.<br />
Celebrating a<br />
Golden Autumn<br />
By Beverley Tucker, Deputy Headteacher<br />
The autumn term always begins with the excitement of new<br />
students in Year 9 and our Sixth Form, the nervousness of the<br />
first few days, and then the reassurance as the school gains its<br />
rhythms of lessons, assemblies and extracurricular activities.<br />
Here's a flavour …<br />
Breathtaking 'Joseph'<br />
By Mark Hird, Assistant Headteacher (Arts/Gifted & Talented)<br />
Our annual school musical always energises the school<br />
community, and this year's show – 'Joseph and the<br />
Technicolour Dreamcoat' – was chosen to include performers<br />
from some of our partner middle schools. That made it even<br />
more of a community event. The individual performances,<br />
ensembles, music, stage-management, front-of-house and<br />
technical work were all of a superb standard. Well done and<br />
thanks to everyone – students and staff - who was involved.<br />
Action-Packed<br />
Learning Centre!<br />
By Bridget McMillan, Librarian<br />
Celebrating Celebrating Enrichment Achievement<br />
The Learning Centre is at the heart of our school. We<br />
like the way you can walk straight from Reception into<br />
this vibrant hub for students of all ages. The past term<br />
included a wonderful range of events: visits from<br />
authors organised by our Reading Champion, Phil Daw;<br />
guest speakers for our Open Minds Talks; international<br />
events; a Guitar Hero contest; plus the much-awaited<br />
return of Snowball the hedgehog.<br />
Book Mastermind<br />
Suffolk Book Mastermind is open to students from Years<br />
7, 8 and 9. Thirty Year 9 students took part and<br />
answered 20 questions in two minutes, on a fiction book<br />
of their choice and general knowledge. The winner was<br />
Oliver Cotton 9DN who won by half a point. Ollie will<br />
represent us in the Western Area Final next term.<br />
Poetry Please!<br />
By Mark Crossley, GCSE English Coordinator<br />
The winner of our first Poetry by Heart competition is<br />
Elif Mutlu (pictured on the right). She gave near-perfect<br />
renditions of 'You are old Father William' by Lewis<br />
Carroll, and 'Heart and Mind' by Edith Sitwell. With her<br />
are runners-up Izzy Geatches (left) and Martha<br />
Roberts, and Mr Crossley, who organised the English<br />
Department competition. The judge said “Everyone did<br />
a fantastic job to learn two poems off by heart really<br />
thoroughly. They then overcame their nerves to wow<br />
the judges with their recitations. Elif is a particularly<br />
effective public speaker and we wish her all the best as<br />
she prepares for the next stage”. Elif will now go on to<br />
the county competition, in February, taking on winners<br />
from all over Suffolk. Elif said “It really was good fun<br />
getting to know these poems. I've really enjoyed the<br />
opportunity”.<br />
Remembrance<br />
By Geoff Barton, Headteacher<br />
Each autumn more than 400 students gather in St<br />
Edmundsbury Cathedral to remember the former<br />
students from our school who gave their lives in wars<br />
and conflicts. It is a sombre, poignant occasion, but<br />
also an uplifting one when members of our current<br />
school community meet former students and members<br />
of the Old Burians Association.
Celebrating our Six Colleges<br />
By Peter Wright, Senior Assistant Headteacher<br />
Our Colleges are now very well established in<br />
making sure all our students belong to a smaller,<br />
caring community, with older students able to<br />
support younger ones, and opportunities for a range<br />
of enrichment activities. Here's news from our<br />
Colleges in the autumn term …<br />
Wyken College<br />
By Penny Hunt, Head of College<br />
Welcome to the new Wyken Student Leadership team.<br />
Ickworth College<br />
By Andy McLellan, Head of College<br />
Leaders 2015 – 16<br />
Elveden<br />
Celebrating Enrichment<br />
By Sharon Shelley, Head of College<br />
Last term was Elveden's most successful yet. Ably led by<br />
Kevin Collins and Caitlin Brinkley our College Leaders<br />
have excelled themselves, arranging a number of events<br />
and activities enjoyed by all.<br />
Hengrave<br />
By David Gower, Head of College<br />
The Hengrave College year ended with an uplifting<br />
and entertaining achievement assembly organized<br />
by Tamara Benford-Brown, Ellie Barford, Shannon<br />
Bailey and Maddie Hamilton. Other notable<br />
achievements include Alice Plampin in Year 12<br />
gaining a place on the British Film Institute's<br />
prestigious scriptwriting course in January.<br />
Wyken Intra-college tournament<br />
Doing their Best!<br />
Congratulations to the following Wyken students who made<br />
exceptional effort throughout the autumn term:<br />
Year 9: Kirsten O'Brien, Sophie Skrimshire, Roisin Coveney,<br />
Erin Gibson, Ellie Parker, Rowen De Frias.<br />
Year 10: Lucy Cooper, Esther Jones, Joshua Watkins,<br />
Rachel White.<br />
Year 11: Will Allsopp, Georgia Bowen, Kallie Farthing,<br />
Isabella Geatches, Jaime Poole.<br />
Extra-Curricular Superstars:<br />
It is great to see so many Wyken students getting involved in<br />
our extra-curricular activities, especially sports clubs.<br />
Meanwhile the Wyken Intra-college tournament has seen<br />
the Sixth Form battle it out in a series of superb challenges.<br />
Most notable for their high levels of participation are:<br />
Rachel White, Sophie White, George Anderson, Louis<br />
Clarke, Josh Gauld, Joe Keylock, Jay Proctor, George<br />
Sanders, Theo Stasiak, Owen Smith, Milo Bustin, Scarlett<br />
Guy, Lucy Cooper, Holly Orme, Jasper Skeates, Bailey<br />
Frost-Smith, Nyan Horne, Cameron Palmer, Bill Tooke,<br />
Eleanor Llewellyn, Poppy Thomas, Emily Sleightholme, Tio<br />
Yikona, Scarlett Guy, Kirsten O'Brien.<br />
Kentwell<br />
By Rob Johnson, Head of College<br />
Well done on the appointment of this year's Ickworth<br />
College Leaders:<br />
Joe Dobbyn, Patrick Gembis, India Thompson, Zoe<br />
Pettit, David Longuet, Richard Humphreys, Katrin<br />
Abdelgafar, Holly Dodds, Peter Scotford, Chloe Read-<br />
Marsden and Samantha Davis.<br />
All students have worked incredibly hard in the<br />
classroom producing work to a very high standard,<br />
and they have started to explore ideas and prepare<br />
activities to raise money for the NSPCC.<br />
Exceptional Effort:<br />
The following students have produced work to an<br />
excellent standard, made strong contributions to the<br />
extracurricular life of the school, and been role<br />
models to students across the school and wider<br />
community.<br />
Dorothy Hill, Jessica Durrant, Matilda Potter, Abigail<br />
Gardner, Grace Batterbee, Sam Waterson, Hephzibah<br />
Van Giap, Leah Charlesworth, Will Pettit, Elliot<br />
Marison, Henry Steele, Max Morley, Gabriella Mann,<br />
Holly Clements, Emily Dwane, Rachael Clark, Oscar<br />
Dewhurst, Callum Morton, Josh Boughton, Daniel<br />
Davis, Matt Jackson, Gabriella Bantick, Georgia<br />
Priest, Sam Batterbee, Daniel Palmer and Evangaline<br />
Murray.<br />
The bucket collection for Syria was outstanding with<br />
£472.00 raised by the College Leadership team. More<br />
students than ever have been listed on the weekly<br />
Elveden Roll of Honour, with Patrick Laycock taking pride<br />
of place with an appearance every week.<br />
Young Citizen of the Year<br />
Many congratulations to Elveden<br />
student Connie Gibbs for being<br />
awarded the St Edmundsbury<br />
Young Citizen of the Year Award.<br />
Connie's mother Zena died of<br />
cancer when Connie was just<br />
seven. In the past term she has<br />
raised in excess of £30,000, and<br />
inspired all of us.<br />
Melford College<br />
Rebecca Taylor, Head of College<br />
Special congratulations to Sam Cumbers who<br />
attended a Suffolk 'Inclusive Sport Festival' as a<br />
Young Ambassador. His role was to inspire young<br />
people with a wide range of physical and mental<br />
disabilities, during a day-long sports festival. He<br />
was supported by ex-professional footballer<br />
Christian Roberts (Bristol, Exeter and Cardiff FC).<br />
Sam said: "It was a great opportunity for me to<br />
reinforce to younger students that disabilities are no<br />
barrier to participation".<br />
Kentwell Bronze Merit Achievers:<br />
Several achieved their Bronze Award at the end of last year for<br />
receiving 125 merits so far this year. Merits have been<br />
awarded for 100% attendance, punctuality, homework, attitude<br />
to learning, participating in clubs, effort and questioning.<br />
Well done to: Shannon Bailey, Lucy Lofting, Henry Skillern,<br />
William Moody, Jasmin Raja, Robert Compton, Harry Sykes,<br />
Jasper Chase, Fergus Vickery, Lewis Cosgrove and Martha<br />
Williams.<br />
Other notable Kentwell achievements include:<br />
Jake Jarvis has organised a chess tournament in<br />
school. Winners will get the chance to play more<br />
skilled opponents in the county.<br />
Haaris Khan took up<br />
karate in 2010. He is<br />
now an adult brown belt<br />
and has won many gold<br />
medals - including<br />
representing Team GB<br />
in August 2015 at the<br />
World Martial Arts<br />
Championship where<br />
over 800 athletes from<br />
many different nations<br />
competed.<br />
Welcome to the Melford Student Leadership team. Lots of<br />
our students took an active part in the benchball<br />
competition, organised by the new team. The winner of the<br />
lower school competition was tutor group NX (Miss<br />
Nixon's) - again! Against the odds, SX beat WB in the<br />
Sixth Form competition.<br />
Meanwhile, College Leaders have been raising money for<br />
Bury St Edmunds YMCA. They organised a Christmas<br />
chocolate delivery service, where staff and students could<br />
pay to have chocolate delivered to someone in school. It<br />
was a pleasure to welcome members of the YMCA team<br />
into our Achievement Assembly at the end of term, where<br />
they received our first donation of the year, all raised by<br />
students in Melford College.
Celebrating Enrichment<br />
Celebrating Enrichment<br />
Celebrating Sport<br />
By Geoff Barton, Headteacher<br />
Last term was one of huge successes – in sport, the<br />
arts, debating and in the next phase of our<br />
international work. All of this happens because we<br />
have staff who are so committed to the power of<br />
extra-curricular learning that they willingly give up<br />
lunchtimes, after-school sessions and, often,<br />
weekends. Many thanks to them all.<br />
Into the Foreign<br />
Office<br />
By Sharon Shelley, Teacher of Government &<br />
Politics<br />
International<br />
Developments<br />
By Danny Burton, Head of Community Sport & International<br />
Leadership<br />
Last term we welcomed a group of 17 students from Avenor<br />
College in Bucharest for a week-long visit. It is the<br />
beginning of a new partnership to help our students learn<br />
more about Romania and Eastern Europe. Our students<br />
organised a number of cultural and academic visits, and<br />
took Avenor students to lessons and to our weekly debating<br />
tournament. The visit was a resounding success and we all<br />
look forward to the return visit in March this year.<br />
Drama News:<br />
By Jonathan Lodge, Head of Drama and Performing<br />
Arts<br />
It has been an exceptional year so far for Drama. As<br />
well as 'Joseph', there was a workshop on King Lear<br />
led by the Shakespeare Schools Festival team,<br />
especially for our students. We were also delighted to<br />
welcome our new Sixth Form Drama company, Hawk<br />
and Handsaw, who gave a stunning performance of<br />
Martin Crimp's 'Attempts on Her Life'.<br />
By Gary Clarke, Head of Physical Education<br />
We had an autumn term in PE and sport with many<br />
spectacular successes. We are especially proud to have<br />
gained Gold Award status from the Youth Sport Trust for<br />
the breadth and depth of our sporting provision. Here<br />
celebrating are some of our outstanding students across<br />
a range of sports.<br />
Achievements over the past term included:<br />
Last November two of our most talented Politics<br />
Year 13 students, Grace Edwards and Daniel<br />
Wood, represented our school at the Foreign<br />
Office, participating in a mock EU Council debate.<br />
They took on the role of Finland, and debated so<br />
successfully that the Council accepted the<br />
amendments proposed by our students to a piece<br />
of environmental legislation.<br />
Trips and visits also enhance what students learn in<br />
lessons. Our History team took a superb group of students<br />
to the Normandy battlefields – one of several they run each<br />
year, and our annual Iceland trip by the Geography team<br />
was a considerable success.<br />
Kingettes Go to Westminster<br />
By Alex Fouracre,<br />
Our new female singing group are strong on close<br />
harmonies and soulful sounds. They were honoured to<br />
be invited to sing at the Houses of Parliament for MP<br />
Jo Churchill, at a prestigious reception. They did us<br />
proud with their performance and professionalism.<br />
Our U14 and U15 Volleyball teams finished 2nd and 4th<br />
respectively in the West Suffolk Volleyball competition -<br />
both teams now qualify for the finals<br />
U15 Football: County Upper 0 - King Edward's 2, part of<br />
the English Schools FA Cup, and the team are now<br />
waiting to discover their next opponent<br />
U14 Football: Remain unbeaten this season with a 2-2<br />
draw away to Samuel Ward Academy thanks to a late<br />
equaliser from Louis Clarke. The result means the team<br />
finish top of their league.<br />
Georgia Does It Again<br />
Before Christmas the Arsenal Ladies first team won<br />
the Continental Cup Final and our very own Georgia<br />
Allen was in the squad. The game was played at the<br />
New York Stadium in Rotherham and televised on<br />
BT Sport. Georgia's combination of sporting talent,<br />
academic success and amazing organisational skills<br />
continue to inspire.
Counting Down to<br />
September<br />
The year 2016 promises to be our most exciting<br />
since 1972, when King Edward VI Grammar<br />
School merged with the Silver Jubilee School<br />
and moved to our current site. In September we<br />
will welcome new Year 7 and 8 students and,<br />
after many years of planning, take our place as<br />
one of the proud 11-18 secondary schools that<br />
are at the heart of the English education<br />
system. We will be using the two terms ahead<br />
to get ourselves ready for the new students<br />
who will join us in Years 7, 8 and 9 – building on<br />
the strong foundations of the Bury School<br />
Partnership over the past three years.<br />
Debating News<br />
With successes last term propelling us to the Cambridge Union national finals,<br />
a visit from the General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers<br />
to watch our Friday night debate, and our students featuring in a national<br />
training video, it is proving another great year for debating.<br />
News from the Old Burians'<br />
Association<br />
By John Ottley, Secretary:<br />
November saw a particularly moving shared Act of Remembrance in the<br />
Cathedral as over 400 former and current students gathered to remember<br />
those Old Burians lost in the three major conflicts of the 20th century as well<br />
as Adam Drane (killed six years ago this month in Afghanistan). Three<br />
memorials in the North Aisle list their names – in the place where pupils of<br />
the School have worshipped since 1550.<br />
As we move into another calendar year it is encouraging that the list of<br />
events planned for 2016 is greater than in previous years, and is likely to<br />
increase further as a result of the efforts of the 'Towards 2020' initiative led<br />
by an enthusiastic band of recent leavers. If you play hockey, cricket, golf or<br />
tennis, please make sure you join the database of players we can call upon<br />
as we organise matches in future years with school teams. Just send me an<br />
e-mail (johnottley@oldburians.fsnet.co.uk)<br />
King Edward VI School<br />
Grove Road | Bury St Edmunds<br />
IP33 3BH<br />
01284 761393<br />
admin@king-ed.suffolk.sch.uk<br />
www.king-ed.suffolk.sch.uk<br />
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our Business Office on 01284 716180