Thinking of others at Christmas - Gosford Hill School

December 2009 / Issue 4
Newsletter of Gosford Hill School
Mathematics & Computing College
“Proud to be part of the Kidlington Partnership”
Thinking of others at Christmas
Year 7 Coin Collection for BBC Children in Need
As we approach the holiday period I feel very proud at how thoughtful our community is when it comes
to helping others – not just at Christmas but throughout the year. This edition of Gosford Times is full
of articles about helping and supporting others – whether it be a project to raise awareness about
homelessness or adopting the Air Ambulance as a House Charity.
This Christmas sees a difficult time for many families with conflict across the world. It is fitting that our
recent Remembrance Assemblies in school were impeccably marked. At this time of year we try to
instil in our students the importance of remembering the true meaning of Christmas and our
contribution to different charities are a genuine reflection of the young people in our communities.
To celebrate the festive season and for us to have a chance to reflect I am hoping to see you all at our
traditional annual Christmas Carol Service at St Mary‟s Church on Tuesday 15 th December. It is
always a memorable occasion.
In the New Year our senior students take a number of practice examinations which will help them
assess the progress in their learning. Our tracking indicates that many are on target to achieve good
grades but the hard work must continue if we are to achieve this. Thank you to all those families that
have supported us by ensuring students arrive on time to school with the correct equipment.
Finally I would like to take this opportunity of wishing you all a peaceful holiday and wish you a very
prosperous 2010.
Dr Stephen Bizley

Important Changes to the Rewards and Sanctions Systems at Gosford Hill
Gosford Hill received a „Good‟ grading for behaviour in the previous two OFSTED inspections. To build
upon this further, there are some important changes to the rewards and sanctions systems that will start in
January 2010. All students will be informed of these changes in House assemblies before Christmas.
Rewards System
The rewards system is changing. We are endeavouring to embed a culture in which students are routinely
rewarded for doing the right thing. To this end, Gosford Hill is piloting an electronic rewards system that will
automatically give students rewards on a lesson by lesson basis. There are rewards for punctuality,
behaviour, homework/equipment, and effort. If for any reason students do not deserve a reward, teachers
can log in and remove them. Rewards are also automatically removed if a teacher logs an incident on our
Behaviour Tracking System. Eventually, students will be able to log into the rewards system and see how
well they are doing. We hope the new system will go a long way towards making sure rewards are fair and
valued by our students.
Detention System
At present;
- Students will serve penalty time with subject staff if they arrive late to a lesson, do not hand in
homework or receive a second warning for poor behaviour in the lesson
- Students will serve a 40 minute Faculty detention following:
- failure to serve 10 minute penalty time
- truancy
- missing three homeworks in a subject
- lateness to a lesson 3 times
- Faculty parking having received three warnings in a lesson
Changes from January 2010
- If a student misses a faculty detention they will serve a one hour Friday detention on the first Friday
following their missed Faculty detention
- If a student fails to serve a Friday detention, parent(s)/carer(s) and the student will be asked to
attend a meeting in school on the following Monday with a senior member of staff.
- Please note that students who attend college courses are still expected to serve any after school
detentions including on the day that they attend college
- Please also note that the Friday detention will be used to follow up students who do not bring basic
equipment to school (pen, pencil and ruler) in addition to 3 lates to registration in one week and
incidents of poor behaviour at breaktimes, lunchtimes or in between lessons
Thank you very much indeed for your continued support.
Richard Belmont - Assistant Headteacher (Student Support)
Flu Information
Please do not send children with any flu like symptoms to school. If a child is taken ill during the day, their
parents will be called to collect them. Please encourage children to be aware of their personal hygiene
which will help to reduce the transmission of all viruses. This includes:
Washing hands frequently
Covering nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing
Disposing of dirty tissues promptly and carefully
Martin Horton – Business Manager
Newsletter 2

Maths Faculty News
Year 6 and 7 Masterclass in Maths
On Wednesday 25 November thirty Year 7 students were joined at Gosford Hill School by 24 students from
local Primary Schools. Students from North Kidlington, Dr South‟s and Edward Feild came to Gosford Hill
in the morning and enjoyed break time in the school‟s canteen.
Afterwards they spent an hour working on some seasonal
mathematics with maths teachers and Year 7 students from
Gosford Hill School.
Students were asked to
construct a Christmas
tree with one condition –
it must be made entirely
from geometric shapes.
Most students decided to
work with triangles –
although there were
some other shapes
hiding within the trees.
Students had to make
each part of their trees
from an original triangle and enlarge it according to a
mathematical rule of their own choice.
Students enjoyed working with those from other schools, Danny
from GHS said he enjoyed “working with new people” and Sophie
from North Kidlington Primary said “we combined Christmas and
Maths together, making it even more fun than usual”. Further
masterclasses will follow in the New Year.
Jackie Fairchild – Mathematics Faculty Leader & Assistant Headteacher (Specialist Schools)
The Forum Youth Centre
Some of our students have recently met Owen Pinnock (Youth Service area manager for the North) around
school as he has been here during several lunch times with Jilli Rivett (our extended services co-ordinator)
to talk to students about the Forum Youth Centre and the exciting changes that will be taking place there
over the next few months.
Owen wanted to find out what students think of the Forum at the moment, whether they know what goes on
there, whether they attend youth club sessions and what would make them want to go there in future.
Numbers of young people using the Forum have risen recently and this should be set to continue with
increased awareness through Owen‟s visits and the involvement of students in the redevelopment.
The Forum will be closed from January 2010 for refurbishment and when it re-opens in the spring it will be
totally revamped with a band room and a music studio, games consoles and a massive TV screen, a new
kitchen, and a cool new up to date look. Once the refurbishment is complete the Forum will open 4 nights a
week, including Fridays and Saturdays as well as offering outreach and after school sessions.
The Bicester bus will be attending the Forum over the next few weeks with the aim of offering the young
people of Kidlington an opportunity to experience the service. The bus will be based in the car park of
Exeter Hall from 6.00 – 8.30 p.m. every Saturday until Christmas and will recommence after the Christmas
break.
During the closure of the Forum the bus will be operating on a Monday and Saturday evening.
Jilli Rivett – Extended Services Program Manager
Newsletter 3

English Faculty News
Year 7 Enrichment
During the November enrichment window, Year 7
students had the opportunity to complete a variety of
activities that allowed them to explore their literary
interests before writing their own poems.
Students first created a collage promoting their
favourite authors and book titles - Roald Dahl,
Stephenie Meyer, J.K. Rowling and Jacqueline Wilson
were just a few of the selected authors that Year 7
students discussed.
Do you and your child share an interest in any
authors or novels? This is a great discussion topic
for you and your child and he/she may enjoy
learning about your favourites from when you
were a young adult!
Students also explored the funny side of poetry, reading and discussing such poems as, “Danny O‟Dare”,
“The Planet Mars” and “Boa Constrictor”, all by Shel Silverstein. Given the opportunity to display their
sense of humour and creativity, the students worked hard to complete an array of their own crazy poems!
To help prepare the school for celebrating World Book Day on Thursday 4 th March 2010, each student
wrote a poem about heroes. The first three lines of the poem were randomly assigned to Gosford Hill, and
all of our Year 7 students did a wonderful job in completing poems, describing their own ideas of what
makes someone a true hero.
The English faculty selected the top 10 poems and the authors were given an opportunity to finalize their
poems for display in the library. These poets were also invited to share their poems during the Gosford Hill
Poetry Day on Thursday 3 rd December.
Well done to all of our Year 7 students and special congratulations to the following Gosford Hill poets who
wowed us with their hero poems:
Dominic James
Chloe Yeung
Melissa Fry
Katie Smith
Emily Wareham
Lewis Cole
George Jones
Jessica Featherstone
Charlie Akers
Edward Vickers
Kristi Simpson – English Faculty
Gosford Hill Poetry Day
Our inaugural Gosford Hill Poetry Day held on Thursday 3 rd December was a big success, thanks in part to
the Year 7 students who submitted thoughtful and mature prose on the theme of „Heroes‟.
Some of the heroes nominated were firefighters, soldiers in Afghanistan, soldiers in the World Wars - as
well as Mum and Grandma!
A packed crowd listened to the students reading their poems aloud as well as a guest spot from Mr Slater
and a commanding performance from Miss Dracup.
Students had the opportunity of tying poems to helium balloons which were then released in the
playground – hopefully to reach a new audience somewhere in Oxfordshire!
A BIG thank you to everyone who came along.
Sarah Witney – English Faculty Leader
Newsletter 4

Homelessness
At this time of year, it is worthwhile to sometimes
spare a thought for those less fortunate than
ourselves; during enrichment, Year 9 spent the
day reflecting on the theme of homelessness and
how it affects people in Oxfordshire. Students
worked in teams to devise a media campaign with
the aim of raising awareness of the issue of
homelessness. They had to produce a poster,
slogan and leaflet, and then used the media
techniques they had learnt to storyboard an
advert, which they later filmed with handheld
cameras.
There was lots of excellent work produced, including
some particularly powerful acting by Evan Bendall.
The most successful of these campaigns have now
been selected and sent to the Oxford Night Shelter,
an Oxford based charity whose aim is to provide help
and support for anyone experiencing housing issues
in Oxford. The winner will be chosen by the Oxford
Night Shelter Team and some of the users of their
services.
Charlotte Evans – English Faculty
Year 10 Enrichment
On Thursday 12 th of November, Year 10 had a day of English Enrichment. The focus was on speaking and
listening with various activities carried out throughout the day to try and build and improve these two skills.
In small groups, students had to firstly think about what being a good speaker and a good listener entails
and then moved on to demonstrating this in two main scenarios. The first scenario involved imagining a
limited number of spaces left in a secure bunker after a nuclear explosion. There were then heated debates
over who ought to be allowed in so that students could show off their skills.
The remainder of the day was taken up with the final major activity. In groups, pupils had to organise and
present their survival strategy for an imagined plane crash over the icy Canadian landscape. Groups had to
firstly nominate a team leader; look through a list of „useful objects‟ and decide what they would use and
how; then finally discuss and create an action plan for the first three hours after crash landing. The tasks
required quick thinking, good imagination and a balance between listening and responding to others and
voicing independent ideas to the group.
All pupils performed well, allowing them the gain strong marks for the speaking and listening element of
their GCSE. Well done Year 10!
Helena Koufou – English Faculty
Newsletter 5

National Sports Week
The Annual Youth Sport Trust Innovation and Recognition Awards ceremony took place at the School
Sport Partnerships Conference on 14 October 2009. The North Oxfordshire School Sport Partnership was
awarded the Lloyds TSB National School Sport Week Award which went to the School Sport Partnership
that showed the greatest innovation and the highest engagement of schools and Young People during the
2009 week.
All 55 schools in North Oxfordshire signed up to be part of the week and we engaged most young people,
either through participation or leadership. The number of opportunities available to young people during
the week was outstanding across the Partnership. Our prize is a visit from an Olympian to the final
celebration day of National Sport Week 2010 which will be held at BGN School.
Congratulations to all schools in Kidlington for contributing to this prestigious award.
Photos from National Sports Week:
Above: Gosford Leaders have their own sack race at North Kidlington Sports Day
Below: Andy Taylor from Kirtlington G.C. hosted a golf festival with the help of our leaders.
Year 5/6 Tag Rugby Festival held at Statfield Brake
The fifth annual tag rugby festival was held at Stratfield Brake on Tuesday 20 th October. The forecast for
the day was atrocious but there was a window of dry weather during the afternoon that we took full
advantage of. Sixteen teams took part and all five Partnership schools had at least one representative
team. Edward Feild has to be commended for entering eight teams.
Newsletter 6

Leaders from Gosford Hill each led a team through the festival, warming them up and playing small games
with them when they were not involved in a match. Four Sixth Formers, Tom Hounsell, Sam Brooks, Sam
Soroya and Patrick Siret refereed the games.
The overall winners of the festival were St Thomas More
who beat North Kidlington by one try in the final. Joint third
were Edward Feild and West Kidlington. The trophy which
was donated by Gosford All Blacks has been won for the
last four years by West Kidlington School.
St Thomas More School and North Kidlington went forward
to the County Partnership Final on November 16 th at
Stratfield Brake. Students from Gosford have been asked to
lead the festival.
High 5 Netball Festival
This year‟s festival was held at West Kidlington School. Ten teams took part from four of our five primaries.
Dr South‟s team was celebrating Children in Need Day and arrived wearing their pyjamas. That has to be a
first!!!!
We were very lucky to have Miss Rose, PE teacher from Gosford Hill, and Tess Horne from Kidlington
Netball Club umpiring the matches. The children learnt a lot from them throughout the afternoon and the
standard of play improved as the tournament progressed. Each competitor received a certificate on which
was printed an invitation to join the junior section of Kidlington Netball Club on Saturday mornings at
Gosford Hill.
Each team was managed by a Leader from
Gosford Hill School. They warmed them up, ran
small drills with them and guided them through the
afternoon.
St. Thomas More A team won the festival beating
West Kidlington A team in the final.
For more information visit the school web site
or www.northoxfordshiressp.co.uk
Pam Selby (SSCO)
Newsletter 7

Creative Arts Faculty News
The Art Department has been busy over the past month with after school classes, workshops and visits:
Through November in the enrichment window, we had a Year 7 and 8 workshop and took Year 12 and 13
Fine Art and Photography students to Liverpool to the Tate Gallery; the students thoroughly enjoyed the
day even though it was a long journey.
Every week is busy with Year 10 students working every lunchtime on their coursework, Tuesday Year 13
produce extra work for their portfolio, Year 7 and 8 have an after school club on Wednesdays and Year 12
and 13 have life drawing classes on Thursday. Year 9 and 10 students also work in the Department after
school most nights.
The Year 7 Art Club is becoming quite popular with students producing larger design sheets in a variety of
media based on “Organic forms”. Students are developing and refining their observational skills, which will
eventually lead into designs for some sculptural pieces to be produced
.
Students are working with familiar media and techniques and also working with new media, challenging
them to draw and observe differently which will develop their abilities and improve their confidence when
we start to make the sculptures.
For Enrichment, Year 7 students were split between Creative Arts and Design Technology, building on the
foundations they had previously been taught. We decided to follow the theme of “The Environment” across
the year group. Students were divided up into 4 groups within Creative Arts. The group within Art looked at
Oxford for their inspiration to produce card relief panels. The students have already been working with card
relief in their lessons, but this task was to develop their knowledge further, refining their skills but to also
work with different techniques and mixed media.
The pieces produced were very successful and every student completed their panel within the time
allowed.
Newsletter 8

Year 8
Because we only had 2 ½ hours with each group, we decided in the Art Department to spilt the tasks
between the morning and afternoon groups so we could produce some large scale pieces.
Working with the theme of “New Horizons”, we decided to do group work which needs a leader within the
group with good communication skills to organise the rest of the team. The Year 8 students seemed to
enjoy this challenge, and they thoroughly enjoyed the materials being used. As well as team work we also
wanted to work with materials that they hadn‟t used before and to give them a taste of the kind of work they
could do in Year 9.
Again using Oxford Architecture as our influence, we looked at the Gargoyles around the city and also
looked at ones on churches around the country and on the Notre Dame. Students in their groups had to
design their own gargoyle and using only newspaper and string, build up the relief, communicating their
ideas and having roles within the team.
Once the relief had been completed, students started to use mod roc to cover the mechanics of the
construction.
A very messy task but all the students from the morning and afternoon sessions thoroughly enjoyed the
task.
The afternoon group
then had the task of
decorating the relief
gargoyles to look like
stone, considering the
tonal quality of the relief
layers to try and make
the panels look realistic.
Michele Spillet – Art Faulty Leader
There is still a little bit of work to do on the gargoyles, but the
finished pieces were very successful and the students worked well in
their team and communicated their ideas well.
Newsletter 9

Exam Success
Congratulations to Oliver Farley in Year 11 who achieved a distinction in his Grade 8 on Classical Guitar
gaining 91%. Some of you might remember Oli‟s excellent playing on electric guitar in our production of
We Will Rock You earlier in the year.
Year 7 go the Albert Hall
A group of 44 Year 7 students went to the Albert Hall in London to watch the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
perform The Music of Bond. The students were full of excitement and really looking forward to this
excursion to London.
On a wet Friday (the 13 th of November!) evening we set off and made good time in the traffic. On arrival at
the venue the students discovered that the Albert Hall is, in fact, a round building with beautiful decoration
and entrances all the way around. Once we had found the correct entrance and had handed out tickets we
went inside. We had to walk up a stair case and along a long curved corridor until we found the correct
door. As the students walked up a narrow staircase they found themselves looking out across a huge
auditorium. Our seats were just behind the orchestra situated to the right of the famous Organ. The inside
of the concert hall is also in a round and we could watch all of the different levels of seating as well as the
performers and look up to see the famous mushrooms that hang down from the domed ceiling. We were
so close to the orchestra, we were able to see the musicians very clearly and it felt as though we were in
the percussion section! The conductor was Carl Davies (he composed the music for the BBC Pride and
Prejudice Series and Adiamus).
The Narrator was the famous actress Honor Blackman (she appeared in Gold Finger) and she read a witty
script between each number, narrating the history of the James Bond stories and songs. The soloists were
Mary Carewe and Simon Bowman and they sang all the famous numbers starting with „From Russia with
Love‟ , the classics of „Diamonds are Forever‟, „Thunderball‟ to the more modern and most recent of the
Bond films „You Know My Name‟ from Casino Royale. The concert was a sell out. The light show with
laser lights created an exciting atmosphere. Watching and listening to one of the best orchestras in the
world performing with amazing singers really inspired the audience to clap and cheer for two encores.
The students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and were busy buying programs and ice-cream in the
interval. A big thank you to all the students who came on the trip and behaved impeccably and to the staff
Mrs Davys, Mrs Spillet and Mrs Drewett who were able to help make the trip possible.
iRox
Jake Milburn, Oliver Farley and Will Mason had the opening slot at the new iRox Gig at St. Gregory‟s
School organised by the Oxfordshire Music Service on Saturday 28 th November. This is a new interactive
Rock and Pop venture and it was fantastic that Gosford Hill Students were there to open the first concert.
The compere for the evening was Phil Selway, drummer of the band Radio Head who thought the boys
played brilliantly. If you would like more information why not visit the new website
www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/rock and pop.
Starting Musical Lessons
We currently have vacancies for Clarinet and Saxophone lessons with Mr. Chuck Lloyd and Brass lessons
with Mr. Chris Fower of the Oxfordshire Music Service. If any student is interested in taking up a new
hobby and would like more information, please email or pop in and see Mrs. Frankcom in the Music
Department.
Newsletter 10

Christmas Carol Service
As the Christmas lights go up and the shops have all the latest presents on display at Christmas, I hope
that you will be able to join us in the beautiful setting of St. Mary‟s Church, Church Street, Kidlington to
celebrate Christmas with readings and carols on Tuesday15 th December at 7pm. Entrance is free and
there will be mince pies and refreshments provided by the GHSA afterwards. It is a time for the school and
community to come together and enjoy a time of singing and thinking about the message of Christmas.
We hope you can join us and look forward to seeing you there.
String Ensemble
Calling all string players – we have now started rehearsing in A8 every Wednesday lunchtime and hope
you will join in the fun. Our latest tunes are Stairway to Heaven, You Raise Me Up and Scarborough Fair.
Something for everyone I think. I look forward to seeing you there.
Band Jam
Band Jam is every Monday evening 3.30 – 4.20pm in A8. If you fancy coming along and having some fun
singing or playing then bring your instrument, sticks, voice and join in.
Billy Elliot Trip – Thursday 22 nd October 2009
Forty-four Performing Arts and A level students from Years 9 to 13 went to the Princess Theatre, Victoria,
London to see the fantastic musical Billy Elliot, a look back at life in the north of England in the 1980‟s at
the time of the national miners strike. The musical was gritty, original and full of humour. The young lead
character playing Billy Elliot was amazing, displaying his many talents including: singing, tap dancing,
ballet, gymnastics, even flying on a trapeze wire, all performed to the highest standard. The scenery was
cleverly designed to be used in many different ways with an amazing revolving set which rose out of the
stage to become the kitchen and bedroom of the house and had a real impact on the audience.
Memorable highlights from the show included the duet of Billy and his best friend Michael with the dancing
dresses and the miners versus the police in the riot scene. Both were cleverly choreographed. The show
fulfilled its brilliant reviews and, judging by our students‟ enthusiastic response to the show, I hope will
continue to inspire them in their own studies. A wonderful evening and our students were a credit to the
school with their immaculate behaviour throughout.
Rhian Frankcom – Team Leader, Music Faculty
Newsletter 11

ICT Faculty News
Work with County‟s Learning Platform continues, and we are now confident that we have accurate log in
details for parents. This will provide access to your son or daughter‟s time table, and eventually
assessment and attendance data. Currently, Creative Arts and ICT are leading in the use of the Learning
Platform.
Parental log in details should be sent home between Christmas and half term.
The county is now ready to roll out the new email system to pilot schools. Staff and students will soon have
access to an Outlook based system that will be much more user friendly than the First Class email system
that we have currently. Staff and students will be able to access this new system through the Learning
Platform.
After the success of allowing Sixth Form students to bring their laptops into school and connect to our
network, we are planning to roll this out to Year 10 and 11 after Christmas. Detail will come home via form
tutors.
ICT has also had a major input into changing the way the school rewards students. We now have an online
system (currently in pilot phase) which aims to:
1) Normalise rewards culture.
2) Embed a culture in which students are routinely rewarded for “doing the right thing”.
3) Make it impossible for students to avoid rewards.
4) Make it impossible for students not to be rewarded by staff.
5) Embed the perception that rewards are fair and do not favour particular groups.
This is a hugely exciting time for ICT development at Gosford Hill, and I look forward to updating you as
these initiatives unfold.
Chris Hall – ICT Faculty Leader & Assistant Headteacher (Systems & Operations)
Modern Foreign Languages Faculty News
During the recent Enrichment Window, Year 8 had the opportunity to spend half a day learning about the
Berlin Wall. Despite the fact that there had been lots in the news that week about the twentieth anniversary
of the fall of the wall, the majority of students knew very little about the subject. They were shown a
PowerPoint presentation on the history leading up to the building of the wall, videos about escapes, and
they also had the opportunity to take part in role-plays to find out how families felt when they realised they
had been separated from their loved ones. Some groups were able to talk to our Languages Assistant,
Julia, who is from Dresden in the former East of Germany, about her family's experiences.
Everyone agreed that it had been a very informative session which led to many more questions to be
answered and which left many students 'amazed':
“It was shocking to know that soldiers shot their own people.”
“I was amazed that such a wall was built in the first place.”
“It was unbelievable how many people escaped and how they did it.”
We hope that, as Year 8 begin thinking about their options for next year, this experience has made them
realise that learning a language is not just about grammar and vocabulary, but can broaden their horizons
and teach them about other countries, history and people.
Well done to Lucy Truman, who successfully completed the Languages Challenge to find the meaning of a
list of Berlin Wall-related words.
Jane Osborne - Acting Modern Foreign Languages Faculty Leader
Newsletter 12

„Safe Drive, Stay Alive’
On Tuesday 17 th November all Year 13 students attended the annual hard-hitting road safety campaign
aimed at young drivers and passengers called „Safe drive, Stay alive‟. This initiative, run by Thames Valley
Police in association with the other emergency services, is designed to drive home the dangers of driving.
This is the fourth year the graphic show has been staged in the County and it always leaves a lasting
impression with audiences. While many find it „haunting‟ it is undoubtedly compulsive viewing and has
become an established part of Gosford Hill School‟s programme.
Students experience a chilling ride as a re-enactment of a crash involving a group of young people is
shown on film. The film is interspersed with talks from people affected by such incidents - emergency
services, victims and the bereaved – who „step out‟ of the film to speak openly about their feelings,
experiences and life afterwards.
The „Safe Drive‟ initiative aims to reduce the number of road deaths and accidents and increase this age
group's awareness of the dangers that exist on our roads. It succeeds admirably in this aim.
Children in Need
The Sixth Form raised an amazing total of £537.00 in 30 minutes on Tuesday 17 th
November when they made their traditional sculptures. A fantastic effort, so all credit to Miss
Green‟s form who brought in £117.77, Miss Spillet‟s form who contributed £95.35, Miss
Paterson‟s form who collected £91.67 on their own and Miss Reynolds form who collected
£40.94.
Best sculpture was judged this year by deputy head Mr Ward and he awarded the impressive sculpture of
Michael Jackson by Miss Green‟s form as top creative design. There were also commendations for the Stig
design by Miss Spillet‟s form, the Ipod nano design by Miss Dracup‟s form and the clover design by Miss
Morgan‟s form.
See the photographs on the website to see all the entries! Congratulations to all the Year 12 and 13
students who contributed.
Paul Catling – Head of Sixth Form/Year 13 Co-ordinator
Year 7
During the week leading up to Friday 20 th November students in Year 7 collected silver coins to create
money lines. Thames House had the longest line of 9 metres with Evenlode a respectable second with 6.5
metres. Students were asked to estimate the amount raised by each House once they knew the line
length. The total money raised was £141.10.
Pam Davys – Transfer Co-ordinator
Newsletter 13

2010/11 Dates for your Calendar
Training our staff is very important. From time to time in order to secure a quality outside speaker we need
to book dates as quickly as possible to support our staff development programme. Therefore the dates for
2010/11 are as follows:
Wednesday 1 st September - Staff INSET (School Closed)
Thursday 2 nd September - Individual Learning Plan Day (ILP)
Opportunity for Parents to meet with House Leaders and Tutors
Friday 3 rd September - All students in school (Induction and Learning Programme)
Monday 27 th September - Staff INSET (School Closed)
Tuesday 28 th September - Staff INSET (School Closed)
Tuesday 4 th January 2011 - Staff INSET (School Closed)
Thursday 21 st July - End of School Year
Friday 22 nd July - School Closed for students
* An ILP Day for January 2011 will be decided at a later date. Details to follow.
Cherwell House News
It has been an exciting term and a half in Cherwell House.
Our new Year 7s have made an extremely good start to their time at Gosford Hill School. They have been
welcomed brilliantly into the nine forms by the older students and have formed strong relationships with
each other and their teachers. Thank you to all our students, staff and families who have enabled this
transition from our partner primaries to go so smoothly.
In the House we have gone through the process of nominating a new house charity for this academic year.
The tutor groups put forward a wide range of charities for the tutor team to consider. These were cut down
to a short list of three, The Marine Conservation Trust, The Oxfordshire Air Ambulance and Macmillan
Cancer Trust. The students that nominated these charities then prepared presentations and delivered
these in a house assembly. Students were then able to vote for the charity of their choice. The result of this
is that Cherwell House will be supporting the work of the Air Ambulance this year. If any parents or carers
would like to suggest any fundraising ideas or support these events please get a message to Mr Goldring,
the Assistant House Leader.
I would also like to introduce you to the Cherwell House Words To Live By;
Honesty, Enthusiasm, Support, Excellence and Perseverance
These are the things that we want to be famous for in Cherwell House. To support this we are running an
awards system in which students can be nominate each other for showing one of these qualities. They will
then be entered into a prize draw at the end of each term when five prizes will presented.
The winners for Term One are Robert Derbyshire, Abhiram Gudavalli, Tommy Birchall, Scott Willoughby
and Jack Price. Well done to all of them. Prizes will be given out in assembly this week. I look forward to
reading this term‟s nominations.
Wishing you all a peaceful Christmas and New Year from all the tutors and linked staff in Cherwell House.
Ellen Woodrow - House Leader, Cherwell House
Newsletter 14

Careers and Work Experience News
It is a real pleasure to receive the fantastic feedback from Year 12 students, staff and employers involved
in work experience. Our Year 12 students have been to a wide range of different placements including,
local schools, university departments and other local employers. Many students have received excellent
reports which they will be able to use when applying for jobs, college courses or university. They may also
now have more definite ideas about careers they wish to follow or just as importantly not to follow!
A group of Year 12 students recently spent the day at a conference at Unipart, Oxford exploring career
options. This conference was specifically designed for students who may be considering entering the
world of work at 17 or 18 +. A group of Year 11 students attended a similar style of conference hosted by
the Marlborough School where they were able to attend workshops about a variety of Post 16 career
options.
Many of our Year 13 students have already been successful with their university applications. Students are
already being invited for interviews and quite a few are already holding offers for courses of their choice.
They will need to make a decision about which offers to accept and we urge them to discuss this fully
before making their final choices. The University application web site www.ucas.com has useful information
for parents as well as students. Applications for university finance can be made via
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/index.htm but it is not live yet. We will inform students
as soon the site is live for applications for 2010.
The Careers Library has a wealth of resources and expertise to support students in all year groups. The
school has the support of Personal Advisers from the Connexions Service who are also available for
consultation at Parents Evenings.
Dates for your diary:
Wednesday 20th January 2010 5pm-8pm KS4 Choices evening for Year 8 students
Wednesday 20th January 2010 Careers & Higher Education Conference for all Year 12 students
Friday 22 January 2010 3:00 pm-7:00 pm Witney Campus Open Evening
Wednesday 10 th February 2009 6.30pm-8.30pm Gosford Hill School Sixth Form Open Evening
Liz Hounsell – Careers and Work Experience Manager
Governor News
As a new governor I have been delighted to join an active and enthusiastic Governing Body. There is a
very good working relationship between governors and staff and we would like to thank all members of staff
for their hard work during the past year.
Throughout the year the Governing Body deals with many important issues and as I joined the Governing
Body the issue of school uniform was high on the agenda. The last meeting of the full Governing Body was
dominated by this issue and was the culmination of a long period of consultation with staff, parents,
students and suppliers as well as visits to other schools that have been through a similar process. The
governors were keenly aware of the wide range of views on the issue of changing the school uniform and
approached the decision with an open mind. After long and careful consideration the governors believe that
the decision taken to adopt a more formal uniform from September 2010 is the correct one for the school
and we look forward to the report from the working party at our next meeting in January.
If you have any questions regarding the work involved in being a parent governor, issues you would like
raised or feedback you would like to give, please do contact any of the parent governors, contact details
are available from the school.
The Governing Body wish you all a happy Christmas and New Year and we would be delighted if you could
join us for the Carol concert at St. Mary‟s Church, Kidlington on the 15 th of December at 7 pm.
Roger Smith – Parent Governor
Newsletter 15

Congratulations to….
Emma Seward, a former Sixth Form student, who is now in her first
year studying Marketing with Psychology at the University of
Portsmouth, has been awarded a scholarship from the Foresters
(an organisation providing financial advice and products which help
communities across the country by raising funds for charities and
local projects). Emma was also presented with the “Outstanding
Student” award and Young Forester trophy in recognition of her
volunteering, both in the Branch and in the community.
Mrs. Denise Parrott, President of the
Isis Branch of the Foresters presenting
Emma with the Young Forester Trophy
Jack and the Beanstalk
When I entered the Playhouse foyer I was really excited because I
was getting a chance to see all the friends I made last year when I
took part in Sleeping Beauty. I felt so confident. A woman came
down to make sure we were ready to audition. The choreographer
saw me and knew who I was straight away as he recognised me
from last year. First we learnt a dance to be shown in front of the
director, choreographer and the assistant director. Next we learnt a
song to be shown one by one. Lastly we did some acting, where
we were in a school classroom and we literally just had to say what
we wanted to. At the end of the audition, I didn‟t know if I had got
into the pantomime or not.
The next day I got a phone call offering me a place in this year‟s
production of Jack and the Beanstalk. I was really ecstatic because
I enjoyed performing in Sleeping Beauty so much last year! I really
enjoy the audience‟s reaction to all of the funny jokes and silly
scenes. I also love the fact that it feels like we are all one big family
and everybody gets on with each other so well.
Amy Gardner – 9TJKK
Did you know you could have received this
Newsletter by email?
To sign up go to:
http://www.gosford-hill.sch.uk/parentmail/signup
Newsletter 16

CALENDAR & OTHER INFORMATION
15 December Christmas Carol Service – St
Mary‟s Church, 7.00-9.00pm
5-13 January Year 11, 12 & 13 Practice Exams &
Study Leave
18 December Term 2 Ends, 12.20pm 20 January Year12 Careers & Higher Education
Conference at Brookes University
4 January INSET Day 20 January Key Stage 4 Information Evening
5-13 January Year 7-10 Enrichment 22 January Newsletter Issued
HOLIDAY DATES
2009-2010
Term 2
Monday 2 November – Friday 18 December (Early Closure 12.30pm on 18 th )
Term 3
Tuesday 5 January – Friday 12 February
Term 4
Monday 22 February – Wednesday 31 March
Term 5
Monday 19 April – Friday 28 May
Term 6
Monday 7 June – Wednesday 21 July
OTHER DATES 2009-2010
Monday 4 January – INSET Day
Wednesday 27 January – ILP Day
Thursday 1 April – INSET Day
CONTACTING YOUR SCHOOL
Your views are very important to us, whether they‟re about your child, school activities or wider community
issues. For all contact details telephone School Reception.
If you have a concern about your child contact:
The subject teacher - if it concerns learning in a particular subject. Contact Reception to leave a
message or alternatively, if you have internet access, you can ask for their email address.
The Head of Faculty - if you wish to discuss any matter in greater detail.
Their Form Tutor - if it is a more general issue about your child‟s well being.
Staff will endeavour to phone you back as soon as possible. All information is treated in the strictest of
confidence. If you want to raise an issue or query about a more general area of school activity or a
community matter contact a Parent Governor. (Telephone numbers available from School Reception)
SCHOOL RECEPTION: Telephone: 01865 374971
SCHOOL EMAIL: office.4060@gosford-hill.oxon.sch.uk
SCHOOL WEBSITE: www.gosford-hill.oxon.sch.uk
ABSENCE LINE: Telephone: 01865 855378 (please use this number to report absences)
or
email – absence.4060@gosford-hill.oxon.sch.uk
The Parent Support Site has information on supporting your child(ren) in a number of curriculum areas.
Newsletter 17

Canteen
Please find on the following pages, copies of the menus which will be available in the canteen. The first
menu will be available during the week commencing Monday 14 th December 2009 and the second menu
will be available during the week commencing Tuesday 5 th January 2010.
Newsletter 18

Newsletter 19

Newsletter 20

Gosford Hill School Association
Another successful Music Quiz was held on Friday 20 th November 2009 and the evening was enjoyed by
all the teams taking part. The Quiz ended with a „sudden death‟ round to determine the winning team. The
„Right Said Fred‟ team triumphed on the final question to claim victory! Congratulations to the team
members. I wish to express sincere thanks to Dom Ward for setting the Quiz questions and acting as a
superb Quizmaster on the evening, ably assisted by Benjamin Steventon. I also wish to thank all the
GHSA Committee members who organised the catering, provided the excellent supper and ran the bar. We
look forward to our next GHSA Quiz Evening to be held on Friday 19 th March 2010.
A Students’ Prospectus
The GHS music quiz involved a variety of rounds including a titles‟ round, an artists‟ round and a very tricky
Maths round. The quiz was put together by Mr Ward with help from Ben Steventon. The quiz was one with
a tie-breaker between two teams. The victor was Right Said Fred. The rounds were all quite difficult but
most of all the Maths round. This round involved songs that were related to a number which was the
answer to the question. The bonus question was the total of all the answers added up which meant that if
you got one wrong then you would automatically lose another point. The quiz and food were thoroughly
enjoyed by all. It was a great night.
Ross Christodoulou (Right Said Fred)
In addition I wish to thank everyone who responded to our donation appeal. We have only received a few
donations to date, but we will be acknowledging each donation in the near future. If you have not already
made a donation, please consider contributing, to support the school, before the end of this year. Details
of how to make donations are given below:
Please help the GHSA to help the students at the school by sending a donation in a sealed
envelope, cheques made payable to GHSA (together with the Gift Aid declaration below, if
applicable) to Mrs. C. Seward via School Reception.
GIFT AID DECLARATION
Please treat this payment to Gosford Hill School Association as a Gift Aid donation.
I pay Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the tax that the Gosford Hill School
Association will reclaim on my donation.
Signed………………………………………………………… Date ……………….………………...
Please complete the following in CAPITALS
Name …………………………………………………………………………….
Address …………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………… Post code …………………..
Thank you very much.
Michael Ling - Chair of GHSA
Newsletter 21

GOSFORD HILL SCHOOL
Kidlington, Oxford OX5 2NT
LEAD LEARN INSPIRE
YEAR 8 PARENTS & STUDENTS
The Governors, Staff and Students of Gosford Hill School invite you to our
KEY STAGE INFORMATION EVENING
on
WEDNESDAY 20 TH JANUARY 2010
There will be two sessions of formal talks:
5.00pm for Cherwell & Evenlode Houses
5.45pm for Thames & Windrush Houses
followed by opportunities visit faculty information areas and to consult Careers staff, Curriculum
Advisors, Houses Leaders & Senior Staff
Tel: 01865 374971
Fax: 01865 841029
Website: http://www.gosford-hill.oxon.sch.uk
GOSFORD HILL SCHOOL
Kidlington, Oxford OX5 2NT
LEAD LEARN INSPIRE
The Governors, Staff and Students of Gosford Hill School invite you to our
SIXTH FORM INFORMATION EVENING
for prospective Sixth Form students and their parents on
WEDNESDAY 10 TH FEBRUARY 2010
There will be two sessions of formal talks:
6.00pm for Cherwell & Evenlode Houses
7.00pm for Thames & Windrush Houses
followed by opportunities to consult teachers & see displays in faculty areas and our
Sixth Form Centre
Tel: 01865 374971
Fax: 01865 841029
Website: http://www.gosford-hill.oxon.sch.uk
Newsletter 22