Cotswold News March/April 2015

COTSWOLD NEWS
M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5
Mike Gatting comes to school...
Cricketing legend Mike Gatting OBE joined young cricketers at The Cotswold School to formally launch – and
celebrate - the new MCC Foundation North Cotswold Cricket Hub. While he was with us, Mike also officially
opened our Geography Block with a ribbon cutting ceremony - particularly fitting, we discovered, when Mike divulged
who had introduced him to cricket!
The MCC Foundation North Cotswold
Cricket Hub is one of 29 Hubs
set up across the United Kingdom by
the MCC Foundation (MCCF) – the
charitable arm of the world-famous
Marylebone Cricket Club. The
purpose of these Cricket Hubs is to
identify talented athletes in state
schools, who have displayed the potential
to become good cricketers and
provide them with free, high-quality
coaching. The initiative was set up
after research showed that , in 2013,
65% of the England Ashes team
came from independent schools,
which form just 7% of schools offering
secondary education in the UK.
PE Teacher, Mr Ian Turner is the
MCCF North Cotswold Hub Manager.
He explains: ‘The rationale
behind our bid to become the MCCF
Cricket Hub boiled down to the fact
that a lot of cricket is played in the
rural surrounds of North Gloucestershire
– the catchment area for The
Cotswold School. Despite this, however,
it was clear that local player
numbers were not reflected in
Gloucestershire County Cricket’s
district, county and emerging player
squads. The MCCF Hub programme
has been fantastic for us. We have
initially concentrated on U11 and
U13 boys and girls and have two
enthusiastic squads of 19 young
cricketers who were selected to join
the programme through a trial process.
Those young cricketers selected
have benefitted from a very successful
12 weeks’ of training with dedicated
coaching from
a talented team.‘
Mr Reece Bird, National
Hub Manager
for the MCCF, has
visited the Hub in
action at The Cotswold
School and has
been impressed with
the programme, saying:
“It was great to
see the new Hub up
and running with
many talented state school children
attending. The school has excellent
facilities and a very supportive Head
teacher supporting the programme.”
Mike Gatting OBE was therefore
invited to represent the MCCF and
officially launch the Hub. While
with us he met some of the North
Cotswold’s young cricketers. He
chatted to the cricketers and assembled
fans and spoke to the assembled
guests about the important part
sport can play across a student’s
academic performance. ’I was not
a great student,’ Gatting admitted
‘but when I discovered sport, I developed
discipline and concentration
- both of which helped me to
improve my performance across all
my subjects in school. And as my
performance and marks improved, I
was able to
enjoy school.’
He encouraged
all the
young cricketers
to keep
up their excellent
work
and training.
Having autographed
myriad
bats and
shirts for
c r i c k e t e r s ,
coaches and Mike Gatting meets cricket
guests alike, fan, Arthur Townsend
Mr Gatting
was then taken on to the Geography
Block to officially open the building.
After Miss Emma Griffiths, Head of
Geography, formally welcomed
Mike, he divulged that it was in fact
a Geography Teacher who first introduced
him to the game of cricket.
Our thanks to all the cricketers and
the Sixth Form students who were
involved on the day. You were great
ambassadors for the school.
L-R: Mr Morgan, Miss Griffiths, Mr Gatting and
Mrs Holland

SPECTACULAR
P A G E 2
SCIENCE
British Science week went off with a bang... and out with a solar
eclipse. Head of Science, Mr Redding reports:
British Science week went off with a bang again at The Cotswold School this term
as we took part in the nationwide annual celebration of science, technology, engineering
and mathematics.
Despite coinciding with two days of the OfSted Inspection, our flagship event, ‘Science is
Fun for Parents Too’ was a storming success with staff putting on an excellent show before
planning their outstanding lessons for the next day.
The 600s Chemistry show ended with a deafening bang as Dr Cox
ignited a hydrogen rocket that left the audience both stunned and
amazed. Parents and students enjoyed many other workshops—
including gardening, rocket launching, and the sticky business of
building structures made from pasta and marshmallows—gaining
an insight into the exciting lessons their children
experience in the Science department.
On Thursday, Professor Stephen Warren of
Imperial College spoke to the whole of Year 7 and 8 on
the subject of Invisible Astronomy. After giving an inspiring
view of the wonders of the Universe, Professor
Warren then demonstrated his Infra-Red camera, with the
help of some volunteers from the audience. All the students
were a credit to The Cotswold School, asking some
incredibly insightful questions and fully enjoyed the talk,
especially the chocolates they received!
Amongst the many events in Science week was a popular investigation
into the science of food by Year 10s, albeit with mixed
responses to the taste tests.
Possibly even more popular was a lunch time ‘Demo -Off’ between
the Science teachers. Dr Cox opened the session with his
trademark explosions and Mrs Grimmett flew the flag for Biology
by dissecting a set of heart and lungs from a cow. Mr Macmorland
demonstrated a song being transferred along a laser
before Dr Major tried (and failed) to blow up an
egg. The students’ verdict was that all were equally
good and so should share the coveted prize of The
Golden Spatula.
As the last morning of Science Week arrived, the
school enjoyed the spectacle of the solar eclipse with staff and
students using a variety of methods to safely observe the phenomenon
that will not come our way again until 2090.

P A G E 3
Henry crowned Champ at 2015
Famelab Academy
Year 9 students Henry Cannon,
Tony Zhang and Emma Parker gave
brilliant performances at Famelab
Academy.
After their success in the school final,
Year 9 students Henry Cannon, Tony
Zhang and Emma Parker undertook
some work experience at Reinshaw and
EDF Energy. As part of their prize they
also received a two-day master-class in
communications skills at Gloucestershire
University with Dr Nic Harrigan
in preparation for representing the
Cotswold School at the Gloucestershire
Schools final. This was held at EDF
Energy in front of a very enthusiastic
and supportive audience of students
and parents. All twelve participants
presented some highly engaging three
minute presentations, with Tony choosing
“What’s in your pocket ?”, Emma
After-School
Primary Science
“896 times and counting...” and
Henry “Aphids, aphids, aphids”.
Each talk was followed by some
tough questioning from the judges,
Louise Emerson (CEO Cheltenham
Festivals), Ben Garrod (TV presenter)
and Ben Salisbury (EDF
Energy).
The standard of presentations
from all the schools was extremely
high, and after some
tough deliberation the judges
awarded a well deserved first
prize, of a Raspberry Pi computer
system, to Henry for his
charismatic, elegant and
‘suckessful’ explanation of some
complex biological
concepts.
- Dr B Major
The fourth After-School Primary Science
session again proved a big hit,
with fifty Year 5 & 6 students participating
in two practical activities.
Many thanks go to Mrs Madgwick
and Mrs Neale for supervising the
physiological measurements and
rocket launching activities and to
George Luckett, Zoe Lenihan,
Callum Neale and Paige Duester
who acted as brilliant scientific assistants.
The final session for the year
will be held on Monday 1 st June.
BIG BANG Fair
A group of Year 8/9 students enjoyed a very educational
visit to the national Big Bang Fair held at the
NEC in Birmingham.
The group got to participate
in a vast array
of interactive activities,
view numerous exhibitions
and heard several
excellent talks. They
also got to find out
about the vast diversity of possible future careers options available to them
using their STEM skills. At the end of the day the students didn’t want to
leave and described the event as “awesome”. Many thanks go to Mrs Cefalo for supervising the students on their visit.

Sixth Form Biologists investigate ...
P A G E 4
Sixth form biologists have been busy taking swabs from various surfaces on outside of the school in a research project
being undertaken to investigate the microbiological diversity on buildings.
This national project
aims to help us better
understand how microorganisms
interact each
other and us in the ecosystem.
Samples have been sent to Dr
Anne Jungblut at the Natural History Museum
for DNA analysis with students
keenly awaiting the return of results to
find out about the diversity of Cotswolds microbes!
RED NOSE DAY 2015
Bunnies‘.
A memorable music video – starring
staff from all departments and directed
and produced by Mr Lord and Mr
Smith – was premiered, while Mr Ellis
and Mr Jones entertained with a rapping
challenge and dance-off – both
teachers showing off their newly
acquired break-dancing skills.
On 13th March, brave staff and some
equally brave students took part in a
lunch time show – doing something(s)
funny for money in aid of Comic Relief.
Student presenters Fran Roxburgh,
Jonny Boyd and Pip Cull did a terrific
job keeping the show on track and importantly,
also took the time to remind
the audience of the serious causes for
which the funds were being raised.
The ‘Red Nose Day Extravaganza’ included
competitive face painting (won
by the team of Miss Tattersall and Miss
Brammar), swiftly followed by a popular
marshmallow challenge which required
contestants to fit as many marshmallows
into their mouths as possible
and coherently utter the words ‘Chubby
Finally, Leo May introduced a
group of 7 male staff and students
who braved having their legs waxed
by members of the audience. The
show ended on a high point as Mr
White, Head of Sixth Form, who,
for additional money raised, submitted
to a painful leg waxing at the
hands of staff members: Miss Lorretta
Newton and Mrs Gill
Squires.
Well done to all those who
volunteered to make the Extravaganza—and
all the other
Comic Relief fundraising initiatives
in school—such an
enormous success. We are
delighted to report that a total
of £1001 were raised.

Alumni Jockeys raise funds for charity
We were pleased to host a very successful
charity supper event – sponsored
by Harrison James & Hardie –
to benefit The Injured Jockeys Fund
and the British Heart Foundation in
the lead up to the Cheltenham Festival.
The evening featured BBC Sport’s
Tom Clarkson in interview with 4 superb
jockeys – and Cotswold School
alumni – Conor and Kieran Shoemark,
Tom Bellamy and Sam Twiston-
Davies. (Will Twiston-Davies was
also due to join his fellow jockeys but
had received a call to race in Barbados.)
Tom Clarkson interviewed the jockeys
for nearly an hour asking them about
their work, the issues and dangers they
face, life in the weighing room and
they also offered tips for the upcoming
Festival. The probability of a jockey
falling is 1 in every 7 races, making the
support provided by The Injured Jockeys
Fund so vital.
The interviews
over and
cheese boards
served, a charity
auction took
place featuring
Lots such as: a
day as an
owner at the
races, breakfast
and a morning
on the gallops
with Nigel
Twiston-
Davies and
another with
Martin Keighley Racing. There were
dinners and vouchers kindly donated by
The Hollow Bottom, The Plough Inn and
Stirrups Restaurant. BBC Radio commentator
Cornelius Lysaght gave a lucky
bidder the chance to spend the afternoon
with the 5Live Racing Team at Cheltenham
Races. The final Lot was supplied
by Conor Shoemark: a pair of racing
breeches signed that day at Sandown by a
multitude of jockeys including the legendary
A P McCoy who will be
racing at the Cheltenham Festival
for the last time this year.
P A G E 5
The school hall was transformed
into a dining room to accommodate
150 guests who enjoyed delicious
food prepared by caterer Kate Pennell.
A bar was provided by our PTA
volunteers and guests were entertained
by Blue Anthology – the excellent jazz
trio of: Henry Yates (keyboard), Finn
Pett (double bass and vocals) and Sunday
Lendis (vocals). Waiting service
was provided by enthusiastic members
of The Cotswold School’s Equestrian
Team.
The school would like to thank Tom
Clarkson and our alumni jockeys for so
generously giving up their time and to R
& R Catering for their valuable support
with the event. The event was generously
sponsored by Harrison James
Hardie
CONGRATULATIONS!
Following a debilitating knee injury, Natalie Webb
in Year 11 has fought back to not just catch up on
her school work but to also excel in football.
Working hard to get back to fitness, Natalie trialled and has now won herself a place at the
FA Girls’ Advanced Coaching Centre– part of a bespoke pilot programme designed specifically
to support the progression and development of promising players in the south west of
England. Well done, Natalie on this fantastic achievement!

Netballer Bethan: one to watch...
P A G E 6
Congratulations to Year 9’s
Bethan Gabriel for her fantastic
achievements in netball.
Bethan, at 13 years old, is the
youngest to be selected to play for
the U17 Regional Netball Academy.
Meanwhile, she Captains
Hucclecote’s U14 team, (which
has recently qualified for the Nationals);
and if that was not
enough, Beth is also the youngest
player competing in an adult netball
league for the Hucclecote
Tornadoes.
Bethan also works every Tuesday
night and Saturday morning at a
local gym club, gaining as much
experience as she can in order to
fulfil her ambition of one day becoming
a PE Teacher.
‘The level of commitment
needed for this level of training,
not to mention all the matches, is
enormous,’ says Miss Tattersall,
PE Teacher, ‘And all this is on
top of school work too! We are
so impressed by Beth, her maturity
and her quiet determination
to succeed. She is an inspirational
young person and I have
no doubt she will go far.’
Another young netballer to
watch is Bethan’s sister, Ellie
who is in Year 7. At the age of
11, Ellie has been selected for an
U14 netball squad as part of a
netball satellite programme.
A huge ‘WELL DONE!’ to
both girls!
Where are they now?
We always look forward to news from alumni and recently
had the pleasure of a return visit from Liberty ‘Libby’ Oliver
and Alicia ‘Zuzu’ Stranack. Libby is now in her final year of
Fashion Photography at Falmouth University and was
staging a shoot in our school gym with old classmate Zuzu
modelling. Zuzu meanwhile has just been signed by Chrysalis
Records and we hope to be hearing a lot more from her in
the future! Both Libby and Zuzu sent messages of thanks to
staff for their support over the years adding ‘We wish we
knew then what we know now!’ and ‘We were so lucky.’
Zuzu sent both her apologies and thanks, in particular, to Mr
Pascoe for his patience as her Mathematics teacher!
We are delighted to hear that Lorna Rainey, a particularly accomplished textiles student, has won herself
a place with George Davies’ design company. While we would love to take credit for the introduction,
this is entirely down to Lorna and her considerable talent! We wish her every success.
Finally the last word goes to Sophie Martin who is just finishing an Art Foundation Diploma at Banbury
College following her A* performance at A Level Textiles last year. Sophie has accepted a place at the
London College of Fashion to study Fashion Textiles: Embroidery. She writes to Miss Franklin, Head
of Textiles: ‘The course sounds really great. It focuses on surface decoration from 3D laser cutting to
printmaking and I'm really excited to start. I just wanted to thank you for teaching me everything I
needed to be able to achieve my goals. It is only now that I have been able to truly realise just how much
you were able to prepare me for my future in fashion and textiles. So thank you!’

P A G E 7
Philosophy, Beliefs & Ethics update
Year 10 have undertaken their final Religious
Education (RE) day of the year
on Good, Evil and the effects it can
have on faith, how it causes some to
lose faith and how others can over come
the challenge to faith evil can pose. We
were privileged to have Mala Tribich in
school to talk of her experience during
the Holocaust; in the ghettoes, in
Ravensbrück and Bergen Belsen concentration
camps. This eye opening experience
has had quite an influence on
our students, making them realise the
dangers of discrimination and that
we can help create the society in which
we want to live; one of respect and tolerance.
Year 11 have also participated in their
final KS4 RE day where students explored
the ethical, religious and non
religious issues surrounding the use of
animals in medical research and food
production. This clearly crossed over
into areas covered in Science. Our visitor
spoke about his research into Parkinson's
Disease and how it has helped
develop the drug ‘el dopa’. This day
received great feedback from students
who enjoyed exploring these issues and
nurturing skills such as critical thinking
and evaluation that are valuable in all
subjects.
Year 12 and 13 along with some KS4
students had the chance to hear Peter
Vardy in conference in Oxford where he
spoke about key areas of the A level
course such as the Ontological argument
and also Religious Experience.
This was followed in March by a GCSE
Gifted and Talented trip to see Julie
Arliss in conference with Professor
Tom Gregg and also Dr Mark Lewney.
They explored Oxbridge entrance questions
concerning proof and justification,
philosophical matters such as the origins
of the universe, artificial intelligence
as well as Chaos Theory
This received great feedback from an
excellent group of students who really
made the most of their trip.
- Mrs H Holland
HARRY POTTER DAY
To celebrate the national event;
Harry Potter Night on Thursday 5th
February, the school Library was
transformed into the Hogwarts
Great Hall for a magical lunchtime
celebration.
In true Hogwarts style, pupils who had
signed up were sent wax-sealed parchments
inviting them to attend. On arrival,
each pupil was sorted (by the Sorting
Hat!) into one of four Houses
(Gryffindor, Hufflepuff,
Ravenclaw
and
Slytherin) whilst
two student librarians,
Rosie
Bowers and Amy
Kelly read passages from Harry Potter
and the Philosophers Stone.
The Houses then competed against
each other, answering quiz questions to
win a prize.
The much anticipated and enjoyable
extravaganza was organised and run by
Mrs Williams, our School Librarian
and the current crop of fantastic Student
Librarians: Lewis White, Will
Ballinger, Alaric Whitehead, James
Glass, Rosie Bowers, Megan Hassmann,
Amber Summersgill, Alec
Jenkins, Louise Minns and Amy
Kelly who provided music, sound
effects (think Peeves and Moaning
Myrtle!) and a slideshow of favourite
scenes and characters from the films.
Guest Student Librarian for the
event, Alice Triff conjured up a stunning
batch of Harry Potter inspired
cupcakes for the assembled guests.
A magical time was had by all!
- Ms W Von Zschock
C O T S W O L D N E W S

P A G E 8
A new fashion line launched
Fashion visionary George Davies (the
man behind Next, George of Asda and
Marks & Spencer’s per
una collection) has supported The
Cotswold School’s own annual
Fashion Show through
the George Davies Charitable Trust
for many years. Building upon that
fantastic relationship Mr Davies selected
The Cotswold School as the
venue for a new venture: a show to
launch his own new children’s and
women’s wear range FG4, with proceeds
going to benefit the school community.
This new charitable fashion show venture
was developed by George ‘With a
view,’ he says ‘to bringing the whole
community together – to benefit the
young people and give them a really
exciting experience.’ Mr Davies’ new
collection was modelled by students
from The Cotswold School as well as
from Bourton on the Primary and
Great Rissington Primary Schools .
They were also joined by several
brave members of Cotswold School
staff on the catwalk. Meanwhile, the
talented stylists from VUOLO hair
and beauty in Northleach generously
volunteered their services to ensure
the models were catwalk ready on the
night.
A pop-up shop opened after the show,
giving the audience an opportunity to
try on and buy items from Davies'
exciting new FG4 range.
Mr Morgan said 'the launch of the
FG4 collection at The Cotswold
School was an enormous success. As
well as raising much needed funds, the
opportunity for us as a school to work in
partnership with
professionals such
as the FG4 team
and involve students
has been
incredibly valuable.
While pupils
modelled, others
were involved
behind the scenes
assisting Front of
House, producing
the show's lighting
and sound and
others worked as
photographers.
Just
as George envisaged
at our initial
meeting,
this event brought
our community -
pupils, parents,
friends and local
businesses -
together. The result
was a resounding
success.’
Thanks to Callum
Mitchell, Tom
Wise and Ben
Darwent for their
many hours dedication
in producing
stunning sound
and lighting for
the show. Photographs
are courtesy
of talented student photographers
Holly Markham and Jazz Hill.

P A G E 9

BOOK WEEK 2015
P A G E 10
Our annual Book Week is an eagerly anticipated event
during which we celebrate fiction and non-fiction in all
its forms.
This year, pupils were enlightened and entertained by numerous
guests including: author G.P.Taylor, Illustrator/
Animator Andy Thompson, chef David Kelman, storyteller
Martin Maudsley, British politician Edward
McMillan-Scott, author Jenny Kane along with the Moreton-in-Marsh
book shop, Books Yule Love.
Martin Maudsley delighted year 7 students with his humorous,
quirky and original storytelling, with the extra
ingredient of ukulele accompaniment. It wasn’t long before
pupils were singing the songs as the mythical tales
unfolded.
Year 8 students spent an enthralling day in the Art department
with animator Andy Thompson whose credentials
include working on films such as; Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix, Narnia-Prince Caspian, and Where
The Wild Things Are. Having created story boards students
then used an animation app’ to produce their own
fantastic animated pieces, developing their characters and
story lines with inspiration and encouragement from Mr
Thompson.
Award winning chef, David Kelman impressed Year 8
students with his superb culinary skills and demonstrated
how simple, classic ingredients can be transformed into a
stunningly presented and tasty dish.
Edward McMillan-Scott challenged sixth form students with
a talk about his political life and work, particularly topical
with the General Election
coming up.
G.P. Taylor astounded Year 9
students with his astute, acerbic
character analysis and shared with them his techniques for
creating the sorts of characters that appear in his highly acclaimed
novels: Shadowmancer, Wormwood and his most recent
series Mariah Mundi.
Other events which ran through Book Week included the ever
popular ‘Book Week Bingo’, a BookSwap organised by English
teacher Miss Stevens, and the ‘Whose Reading this Book’ photo
competition. On World Book Day, staff and students dressed up
as characters from books, stage and film. A fantastic £570 were
raised to support the charity Book Aid International which provides
much needed books and training for children and adults in
Africa.
Mrs K Williams,,Librarian

P A G E 11
Year 11 Public Speaking
Having got through to the regional finals of the English Public Speaking competition, Year 11s Emily Coleman
(questioner), Lucy Kitching (chair) and Joe Salf (speaker) attended the Municipal Offices in Cheltenham on the 3rd
February. Competing against Marling, Pate's, St Edward's, Stroud High and Dean Academy, they were the only comprehensive
school represented. The team did very well, gaining a huge amount from the experience. Although they did
not get into the next round, Joe won the Lord Mayor's prize for the best speech - a fantastic achievement.
Mrs Wahlen and Mrs Tupper will be starting up a Public Speaking/ Debating Club for Years 9 and 10, so if
anyone is interested, they should come and see them in H2/3 or simply come along to the first advertised session.
CONGRATULATIONS!
“Congratulations!” to
Year 9’s Harry Lear
who has recently excelled
in a Grade 5
Singles Tournament at
Bridgewater Tennis
Club. Harry saw off a
lot of very worthy
competitors – and a
few more experienced
ones too – to make it
through to the final of
the ‘Spring Grade 5
Multi Event Festival’.
Harry is now
ranked 15 th in County
for his achievements in
tennis.
EXAM & REVISION
INFORMATION
Exam and revision information is published
under LATEST ANNOUNCE-
MENTS on the front page of our school
website for ease of reference.
Should you have any further questions or
concerns about exams (including exam
timetables, getting in to exams, illness
during exams, adjudication, results, resits
or anything at all exam related)
please contact our Exams Officer, Miss
Lorretta Newton on email:
exams@thecotswoldschool.co.uk
C O T S W O L D N E W S

P A G E 12
German Exchange in
Beautiful Bavaria
The first German exchange was in 1990
and so has been going for nearly 25
years! Over the years Cotswold has
shared the exchange with Winchcombe,
Tewkesbury and most recently with
Burford. However we are now the main
organisers and as such have moved the
return visit to Easter which enables
Year10s to participate as it removes the
clash with Work Experience and allows
Year 12s a fantastic opportunity to practise
before the oral. The change from
summer heatwaves to a winter wonderland
where the snow was still thick on
the ground was dramatic, but Bavaria
was as beautiful as ever and the welcome
just as warm from our host families.
Our 15 pupils enjoyed a variety of
activities including trips on the famous
Tegernsee lake, up a mountain on a cable
car, to film studios, to BMW world and to
Salzburg and Munich city centres. Thank
you to Ms Brown who organised it and to
Ms Littler and Mrs Christian for taking
the pupils over.
FRENCH EXCHANGE
Twenty pupils, accompanied by Mme Moss and
Mme Kelman have just returned from our tenth exchange
trip to Collège Charles Le Goffic in Lannion,
BIG BANG Fair
Brittany. The weather was reasonably kind and pupils
had a great time exploring the lovely local coast. Once
we got there the welcome and the hospitality from the
families were so warm and friendly and the ties between
our two schools were most definitely strengthened. We
had a varied itinerary that included an aquarium visit,
treasure trails, biscuit tasting, shopping, an art gallery and
of course the obligatory visit to a French market where the
crêpes stall proved to be very popular! As usual we were
welcomed officially by the mayor and had our photo in the
paper. The bowling alley and the cinema in Lannion were
also much visited as was the local crêperie! The sixth formers did two days of Work Experience in a local primary school, a
shop and a café and to round it all off we had a great social evening with a slide show, karaoke and a fantastic buffet pro vided
by the families. Thank you to Mme Moss for organising both legs and to Mme Kelman who accompanied the group with her.
We have now set up 200 pupil links and many pupils have been back for a second visit on their own!
Madrid!
Every year, Spanish language students
in Year 13 are encouraged to participate
in the Madrid Work Experience trip.
This time seven students spent a week in
Madrid and took part in a Work Experience
programme.
Students worked
from 10.00
until 16.00 each
day in various
well known shops
(Adolfo Dominguez,
Topshop
and Superdry). In
the afternoon the
students organised
cultural activities
and visited places of interest. The
evenings were spent enjoying tapas in
local restaurants and soaking up the culture
and atmosphere of this wonderful city.
This all serves as excellent preparation for
both University applications and
the future. The trip is incredibly valuable:
improving language skills and confidence,
while at the same time offering students
the opportunity to experience living and
working in the Spanish capital. Many
thanks to Miss Tingle for organising it
and to María, our Spanish assistant for
accompanying the group.

Eleven pupils from year 8 travelled to Sibford
School to compete in the annual Elite
Insurance Sevens Series rugby tournament
for U13s, run by Northampton Saints. Seventeen
other schools from across the region
were also competing in this tournament.
The Cotswold team won their group convincingly,
with wins over Chipping Norton
(47-0), Burford (21-5), and Cooper (38
-0); meaning they progressed into
the Quarter finals as group winners.
In the Quarter Finals they
faced a disciplined team from Magdelen
College, but ran out 35-12
victors.
In the semi-finals Cotswold played
Swanbourne School and dominated
the game from the outset with blistering
attacks and resilient defence,
eventually winning the match 40-0. This
put Cotswold into the final where they
faced a very strong Warwick team. The
game was played to a very high standard
by both teams, but Cotswolds determination
in defence and a hat-trick
from stand-out player Freddie Roberts
made the difference; and they won the
game 45-28.
In total Cotswold scored 226 points, and
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
Rugby Sevens Triumph
only conceded 45. A phenomenal
achievement from all the players involved.
Having won their regional tournament,
The Cotswold Sevens team have now
qualified to play in the Seven Series Finals,
held at Franklin’s Gardens – the
home of premiership team Northampton
Saints – in late April. The boys will be
competing against the winners and runners
up of four other regional tournaments
that have taken place around the
country. - Mr C Jones
Team: Bailey Mitchell, Harry Walthew,
Aidan Hughes, Sasha Lee, Milo Wills,
Oli Sammons, Freddie Roberts, Callum
Panchbhaya, Max Sauvagnargues, Alex
Sanders, Chris Jefferies.
Congratulations go to Kelsey Winter,
Callum Rowe and Lily Prothero on
completing their hard earned and well
deserved Bronze DofE Awards.
Year 10 students have been undertaking
some first-aid CPR training and
they have also tried out their expedition
cooking
skills with instruction
from
master chef,
Mr Smith.
groups managing
to get
back to
school before
it got
too dark...
They are now busy planning their
longer expedition routes. Many thanks
are due to Mr Phillips, Mr M Smith,
Mr MacMorland and Mr Ellis for supervising
the students.
Three groups of Year 12 students are
off on a 3-day practice expedition in
the Forest of Dean over the
Easter Holidays and are hoping
for some dry weather.....
- Dr B Major
Some favourable
early
spring weather
has also allowed the groups to complete
their initial practice outdoor training
walks around Bourton, with all the
C O T S W O L D N E W S

Governors’ Corner
P A G E 14
The Clerk to Governors reports:
School governors have been very busy
recently with committee meetings
which will be recorded on the school
calendar from now on.
Since the last issue of Cotswold News
there have been meetings for Pay and
Performance, Finance, Premises, Sport
and Recreational Facilities, Teaching
and Learning. There was also training
on RAISE, the annual school data document
which enables governors to familiarise
themselves with exam performance
data.
This is also the season for visiting departments
as each curriculum area has a
link governor who visits once a year at
least. This enables them to see policies
and schemes of work in action and to
understand how the school and departments
function on a day to day basis. It
also allows Governors to monitor the
progress of departments against predictions
and school expectations and to
challenge the measures undertaken by
the teachers. Finally it provides an opportunity
to engage with students and
staff and to hear their views about that
particular department as well as the
school in general.
Many of our policies have been due for
renewal this year and governors have
been involved in reviewing them according
to their area of expertise. This
involves reading and amending them as
appropriate and then recommending them
for adoption to the Full Governing Body.
The school has thanked the entire Governing
Body for their on-going challenge
and support which was duly
noted in our recent OFSTED
inspection. We are most
grateful in particular to
Amanda Everitt ( Chair) , Bob
Hadley ( Vice Chair) , Catherine
Roffe and Laurie Baker
who came in at very short
notice to represent the Governing
Body and to be interviewed
by the Lead Inspector.
Ofsted inspectors required
evidence from Governors’
meetings, and scrutinised
Minutes to ensure that legal
requirements were being fulfilled.
We are therefore delighted
with the high praise for governors
delivered in the final
report:
“Governors bring a wealth of
experience from industry,
commerce and education to
their role, which they use very
effectively to challenge the
leadership of the academy to
maintain and improve high quality teaching
and raise standards of achievement.”
Mrs Fran Hudson, Clerk to Governors
Funding update
Each year, our school, along with over
2,200 others from around the country, bid
for funds from the Education Funding Authority
(EFA) in the hope of securing finance
that can be invested in priority projects on
our school site to benefit our children. We
were therefore disappointed to receive notice
that our bid has not been successful in
the most recent EFA bidding round. The
critical issues for our school are, at present:
roof repairs, toilet refurbishment, and capacity.
As you will appreciate, these types of
projects cannot be left ignored. As a result,
your governing body is exploring all avenues
for raising funds. Should you have any suggestions
or leads regarding corporate giving,
please get in touch with the School Development
Manager, Mrs Monteith. The
school, and students, would be hugely
grateful. Thank you for your help.
- Mrs A Everitt, Chair of Governors
The Cotswold School PTA
Everyone is warmly invited to attend the next gathering of the PTA. You can hear about what
we are planning, join in (if you are able), pose any questions you might have for the school
and enjoy the refreshments.
WHEN: 7.00pm, 12th May 2015
WHERE: School Library
For more information, please contact: cotswoldpta@talktalk.net
OUR MOTTO: Absolutely no arm twisting (we promise!)
The Cotswold School Academy Trust is a company incorporated in England and Wales operating as a charity
and limited by guarantee with registered Company Number 7338767