LYCEE FRANAIS CHARLES DE GAULLE - Lycée Français Charles ...

LYCEE FRANÇAIS CHARLES DE GAULLE
BRITISH SECTION
NEWSLETTER
WINTER 2011
Record A level results in the British Section
In an astonishing set of A level results British Section students delighted
themselves, their families and their teachers with their success. 32 A* grades
were achieved. 64% of A levels were either grade A* or A, a significant
increase on last year’s previous record. Nicholas Shulman achieved 4 A*
and is studying engineering at Cambridge. Other students who achieved at
least 3A* were Constantine Fraser, who has gone to Oxford to read
Philosophy and Modern Greek, Rebecca Cassin-Scott (Imperial—Medicine)
and Alex Bell (Cambridge—History). Virtually all of our university applicants
were accepted by their first choice of university. They are heading to locations
as far apart as McGill in Canada and St Andrews in Scotland.
Congratulations to all of our successful students and to their teachers!
Inauguration of the Ros Nichol Computer room
Students and teachers have been delighted with the new computer room,
named in honour of Mrs Ros Nichol, our greatly respected former Head of
British Section. Mr. Bruce Nichol came to open the room along with his two
sons. In a very moving speech Mr Nichol paid tribute to Marwan Kawadri and
Alexis Alafouzou who have won a special award in honour of Mrs Nichol. In
a separate private ceremony after a reception M. Vasseur presented Mr
Nichol with a medal personally awarded to Mrs Nichol by the French
President, Nicolas Sarkozy. The medal was awarded in recognition of Mrs
Nichol’s dedication to the Lycée. Our grateful thanks to the APL for financing
the new room.
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GCSE Success Stories
Congratulations to all the successful students who took GCSEs last year. The
results were up on last year at A* and A grades as 62.5% of the results were
achieved at this level. Students who achieved particularly impressive results were
Eliza Joseph, Matilda Ettedgui, Augustine Cerf, Magali Aurand, Anton Firth,
Célestine Fraser and Helena Fraser. 12 students achieved over 6 A* and 17
obtained over 4A*. There were a lot more A* grades in many subjects than last
year. In English, Geography and History there were double the number of A* grades.
A tough Maths exam resulted in slightly lower grade boundaries but resulted in a
bumper number of A*s! Well done to the students and their teachers!
2GCSE Geography Fieldwork Trip to Swanage – Jurassic Coastline
Investigating Coastal Erosion
This year it was decided within the Geography Department that the students
would be fully challenged for their controlled assessment task and they would
be sent to the famous south coast of England, the Jurassic Coast. This
coastline is famous for its coastal landmarks, like Old Harry, Durdle Door and
Lulworth Cove, two of which we were lucky to encounter close up. All of
these landforms have been shaped by the power of the waves coming off the
Atlantic and lead to either erosion and deposition. During the trip the
Geography group stayed at Leeson House, which is a fieldwork centre for
school groups. It is also famous as it is where the Allied Commanders stayed
during the preparation for the D day Landings in 1944. This is a fantastic
centre which is headed up by a team of geographers who helped the students
in the classroom and on the beach. We spent two days on the beaches of
Swanage and Lulworth Cove collecting data for the write up of the controlled
assessment. The students worked in groups to measure the profile of
beaches, measure wave height, measure pebble sizes and roundness. Back
at the centre they were guided in how to use this data in terms of presentation
and how the findings may be used to fit their hypotheses. The staff and
students fully enjoyed the trip – especially the trip to see Old Harry on the last
day. Many thanks to Mrs de Silva for organising and to Miss Fletcher and
Pauline Lockwood for accompanying the students.
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New History Textbook by Dr Carr
Congratulations to Dr Carr who has published a new text book on the Second World
War for GCSE History. It is available nationwide and is published by the History
Association.
Travellers
On Friday 16 November, Mrs Elisabeth Blanchet, photo journalist, came to
give a talk to TAL Spanish group about Gypsies and Travellers in the UK, and
Ceaucescu's orphanages in Romania.Elisabeth illustrated her talk with very
interesting, poignant photos and the first half was mainly dedicated to the Irish
Travellers living in Bermondsey and Westfield areas. She has been getting to
know them over the last 9 years, and has been accepted in their communities,
even invited to weddings and funerals; most of them are very keen to be
photographed. Elisabeth has published articles in "Time Out", the "Evening
Standard", and various French publications. With interaction from the
students, she essentially explained their life choices, the prejudices they face
in today's society, and the non-conformist values which make them a
community. This is part of the A Level 2nd year programme and most
students will have had the chance to reflect, form their opinions and then
express themselves in Spanish to prepare the written examination. This guest
speaker was a breath of fresh air in a heavy syllabus where students need to
express strong opinions in advanced Spanish, and although the subjects were
very serious, Elisabeth delivered her talk with humour and sensitivity. Many
thanks to Mme Menant for arranging the visit.
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TAL go to the Opera
TAL History students enjoyed a successful and thought provoking opera trip. They
saw The Passenger at the Coliseum - a Polish opera about an Auschwitz guard and
inmate meeting in later life. It was very moving with wonderful choruses and scenes.
Many thanks to Dr Carr for arranging this memorable outing.
Tennis Team top of the League
We are delighted to report that the Tennis Team completed their run for the
Eagon Tennis Team Year 8 & 10 tournament. They have qualified in the top
16 teams in the UK out of over 600 teams that participated. They fought with
courage and determination against St Bede’s School knowing that the
opponents have a full time tennis coach at school and train four hours daily.
Unfortunately the Lycée team had to concede but not without a fight. Our
intrepid tennis team goes from strength to strength. This year they have come
top in the YAEGON Year 10 Boys’ Division 1 League. This term they also
beat Southgate School in North London convincingly. Well done to the team:
Alexander Mardinian, Sebastian Cubbon, Stefan Davis and Sebastien
Mathieu. Thanks to Mr. Mardinian for arranging all the matches and for
managing the team with such aplomb!
Top swimmer
Quentin Seconde-Kynnersley in 2GCSE has been ranked one of the top
twenty swimmers for his age group in the country. Quentin, who devotes
much of his spare time to practice, gets up extra early to brave the local pool.
He is hoping to represent Great Britain at Olympic level in the years to come.
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Spring Term 2012
Key Dates for your diary
4th January—start of term
16th- 18th January – meetings for 4 e students for British Section
19th January - 4 e parents’ meeting for British Section
11th January—AS retakes/external exams begin
28th January— 2nd February Epinal exchange in France
3rd February— 9th February—GCSE mocks
10th February—2GCSE A level preparation day
13th February—24th February—half term
27th February –2nd March—AS and A level mock exams
6th March—UCAS evening for première parents
7th March—UCAS evening for PAL parents
14th March – 3GCSE parents meeting for work experience
29th March—5th April— Epinal exchange here
9th April—20th April—Spring holiday
23rd April— start of summer term
Flying Start Awards 2011
Congratulations to the 33 British Section students who were awarded a flying
start award this term for beginning their new courses with such enthusiasm!
PAL Tutors Unlimited
An enterprising and very supportive group of PAL students have volunteered
to help 2GCSE and 3GCSE students with any work they find difficult. Many
thanks to Helena Fraser and Charles Evain for launching this exciting
initiative. Also thank you to the generous PAL students who have so kindly
offered their precious time to help those in need: Quang-Vinh Banh, Suzie
Lust, Stefan French, Magali Aurand, Helena Cavell, Alexia Viulchis, Dina
Shour,and Amandine Braun.
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Tal Historians visit the Old Operating Theatre
Tal historians had a very interesting outing to the Old Operating theatre in London
Bridge where they enjoyed a fascinating lecture about surgery in the past. A very big
thank you to Dr Carr for arranging the visit.
Economics Prize Winners
Jenna Julius and Marwan Kawadri in TAL are the DSC Economics Essay
Prize Winners 2011. Daniel Stewart & Co. City stockbrokers and investment
bankers, kindly agreed to sponsor this essay competition. TAL students were
asked to write an essay of up to 2000 words on an economics topic of their
choice over the summer. The winners will be receiving a certificate
and a book token. The standard of essays was very high and all
students are to be congratulated on their efforts. Our thanks go to DSC for
awarding the prize and to Mrs Hibbert for arranging the competition.
Forthcoming trips in the British Section
Dates Year Destination Organiser Subject
25/01/12 27/01/12 PAL
Flatford Mill Field
Studies
J DE SILVA Geog
28/01/12 02/02/12
3e GCSE
europ.
Epinal B NEVE Maths
01/02/12 05/02/12 PAL et TAL New-York I RANKIN Arts
02/03/12 05/03/12 TAL Geog.
Dorset (Leeson
House)
J DE SILVA Geog
05/03/12 08/03/12 3/2 GCSE Berlin J GOODMAN Maths
30/03/12 04/04/12 TAL biology Denmark ATWEDDLE Bio
Improvement in attendance
M. Simon is delighted to report a significant drop in our absence rate this
term. He wishes to thank all the parents for their support and their prompt
communication of any absence to him.
Epinal exchange – accommodation urgently needed!
Please speak to M. Simon if you would be willing to accommodate a student
on the Epinal exchange from 29 th March to 5 th April 2012. Many thanks.
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Goodbye to Pauline Lockwood
The British Section is very sad to bid farewell to Pauline Lockwood who has
been an excellent surveillante for almost three years. She has always been
very hard-working, cheerful and helpful. Many students have been helped in
their studies by Pauline, who is leaving us to start a new exciting career at
Agence France Presse as a journalist. We wish her every success in the
future.
A very Happy and Healthy New Year
to all our students, parents and staff from all of us in
the British Section !
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