Cottesloe Review - The Cottesloe School

The Cottesloe Review
www.cottesloeschool.org.uk
WEDNESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2011
We finished last year on a very high note with the School being awarded the
top grade of ‘outstanding’ for our programme of staff professional
development. The Cottesloe is the first school in this part of Buckinghamshire
(grammar or upper) to receive the CPD Mark and to have our in-house staff
training rated at the highest level is a huge achievement.
BUSINESS MATTERS
That’s the Business! Mr Peel, Rhys Evans and Emmanuel Ajala
Congratulations to the Faculty of Business and
ICT who have recently won The Good Schools
Guide award for boys achieving the best results
for the OCR National Certificate (Level 3) in
Business Studies. This is a national award, and a
huge achievement!
Mr Peel, Head of Faculty said “I am proud of this award; it
is a fantastic reflection of the efforts from both students and
staff, and I am delighted that the Faculty has been
recognised in this way. I would particularly like to thank
Mrs Lynott and Mrs Day who were instrumental in this
success.”
The Faculty achieved a 100% pass rate last year, with 94%
of students achieving a Grade C or above, 50% of which
achieved a Grade A equivalent. This year the Faculty has
recently achieved another 100% pass rate, of which 80% of
students achieved a Grade A (A-Level equivalent).
COMFORT FOOD
Another highlight of this
year must be the opening
of the new state-of-theart
Kitchen and Dining
Hall so that students can
sit indoors and enjoy a
freshly-prepared
nutritious meal with their
friends in more suitable
and comfortable
surroundings.
DELIGHT
AT RESULTS!
Exam results at The Cottesloe School this year
have been outstanding! 70% of students have
achieved 5 or more A* to C passes at GCSE and
our A level results have been the best ever
recorded with a pass rate in excess of 97% and
over 42% of all grades at A*, A or B level.
Head teacher, Nigel Fox expressed his delight at
the results and paid tribute to the hard work of
students and staff. “The grades achieved reflect the
huge improvements made at the school over the last
few years, not least with respect to teaching and
learning.
Students and
staff can be
immensely
proud of their
efforts over the
past year and
the results
were no less
than they
deserved. We look forward to even greater success
in the years to come”. Mr Fox also praises the
large number of students who gained A*, A, or B
in all their subjects. “Their obvious ability and
hard work make them excellent undergraduates at
some of Britain’s best universities – we wish them
well in their future studies”.
“
Students are confident, articulate and
welcoming. There is high participation in the
wide range of extra curricular activities, and
Year 7 students in particular are brimming with
enthusiasm about the opportunities their new
school is providing them with”.
Ofsted 2009
For admissions please contact the School Admissions Officer. Tel: 01296 688264 or email: office@cottesloe.bucks.sch.uk

CAN WE HAVE SOME MORE?
At the end of last year our
attentions were turned towards the
Christmas production of Oliver!
The first night was such a hit that in
true Oliver tradition, the audience
left shouting for “More!” and several people rebooked
to come and see it again! The result was
that Thursday was also packed and Friday was a
total sell out!
Unveiling the art installation at Friars Square, Aylesbury
The Cottesloe School Head of Art, Mrs Bye, worked
on a project with her Year 10 GCSE students and
the Management Team at Friars Square Shopping
Centre on a major Art project, which was unveiled
on 23 rd September last year. The finished work is a
huge colour mural, dedicated
to the legendary Aylesbury
music venue known as
‘Friars Club’, and pays
tribute to many of the acts
who played at Friars, and
was created by a process that
was chosen to honour the
historic printing tradition of
Aylesbury. The artwork now
sits proudly in the shopping centre, showcasing the
undoubted talent of our students.
THE 2012 PARALYMPICS
Aylesbury will play host to The 2012
Paralympics which will receive
major world wide coverage.
With many schools clambering to
‘get on board’ The Cottesloe School are very
fortunate to have forged close links with
organisations that will be responsible for promoting
the town and related projects. Aylesbury Town
Centre & Friars Square Management have already
offered us the chance to get involved with some of
the major events planned for the town during 2012.
Students performing in last
years’ production of Oliver!
2011 Christmas Production
From A Midsummer Night’s Dream to The
Snowman in one evening, this promises to be
the perfect pre-Christmas warm-up not to be
missed! Tickets on sale now.
The Cottesloe School Performing Arts Department
are proud to present
Seasonal Rêverie
featuring
Shakespeare’s
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
and
Howard Blake’s ‘The Snowman’
Performances begin at 7:30pm on
Wednesday 7th, Thursday 8th
and Friday 9th December
Tickets available from Mrs Hosier in the Finance
Office: Adult £5, student/concession £2.50
All profits raised are going towards the performing arts
2012 tour to Germany

BUILDING A STRONG
LOCAL COMMUNITY
Our community links are very
important to us, so both students
and staff are involved in a wide
range of activities within our local
community. We also have a strong
and supportive PTA in the ‘Friends
of Cottesloe School’ who run a
variety of events that everyone can
take part in.
In addition to the regular visits our
students make to our neighbours at
Carey Lodge, Sixth Formers have
the opportunity to visit fellow
students at The MacIntyre School in
Wingrave.
We are so proud of our School that
we want to reach out to parents &
carers, relatives, ex-students and
future students across the region to
share our news and let you know
how you can be part of The
Cottesloe School Community.
Cottesloe Storytellers
GOOD NEIGHBOURS
On a Wednesday afternoon
about twenty Sixth Formers visit
our neighbours at Carey Lodge
retirement home to entertain the
residents there. They play games
such as dominos, pool, cards and
table football, and create quizzes
for everyone to participate in.
They also help out with
gardening, and recently planted
some spring bulbs so the
residents can sit out in the
garden and enjoy the various
colours.
Getting involved in activities
with residents of Carey Lodge
“
Working with The MacIntyre School has been such a great
experience, the students are so open and enthusiastic, they are
an inspiration and we love spending time in their company.”
Sixth Form Student
The Society for
Storytelling (SFS)
encourage members of
the community to take
part in storytelling, so
last term we arranged for a
group of Year 9 Cottesloe
students to visit
neighbouring Overstone
School where they read four Roald
Dahl stories to the primary school
students.
Some of the Cottesloe storytellers
are ex-students of Overstone so it
was particularly nice for them to
be able to visit their old school
teachers and demonstrate how
well they are doing, as well as
being positive role models for the
Overstone students.
“We worked in pairs and read the
stories four times to different
classes” explained Cottesloe
student Adam, “we had to learn
quickly how to adjust our storytelling
to suit each age group.
Year 2 laughed out loud at all the
funny bits and when we’d finished
they wanted us to do it again! It
was brilliant!”
Getting tyred-out
during Holidays
During their summer
break, Cottesloe
teachers Mr Curtis and
Mr Peel successfully completed
their epic mission to cycle from
John O’Groats to Lands End in
order to boost literacy among
students by improving the School’s
Library facilities.
Coming up at The Cottesloe School...
3 rd October - Macmillan
Coffee Morning
15 th October
Quiz Night & Fish Supper
7:30-10:30pm
Contact Mrs Hedley for information /
tickets: shedley@blpmail.org.uk
24 th November
Pamper evening
& Gift Fayre
7pm-10pm
Tickets
£2
We are delighted to announce the completion of our new netball courts, which, along with our two
gyms, drama /dance studios, school hall & new dining facilities, are now available for hire.
For further information, rates and availability, call Site Manager Simon Howes on 01296 689701

High Performers in UK Maths Challenge
Sixty of our best mathematicians in
Years 7 and 8 were tried and tested
at the UK Junior Maths Challenge,
answering questions that require
logical thought and understanding
as well as straight forward
mathematical knowledge. We had
some outstanding performances
with a large number of our students
gaining Silver and Bronze awards.
Next year we’re going for Gold!
The Cottesloe School
Wednesday 28 September 2011
The History Department had a
very busy year. The GCSE
course includes an in-depth study
of WWI so in January a group of
students travelled to Belgium
and France to visit the battlefield
sites. They visited the Menin
Gate at Ypres and students took
part in the Last Post ceremony
which has taken place every
night since the end of WWI.
Later in the year the History
Squad visited the School to
entertain and educate our Year 7
students about the medieval
period with tales of battles and
early medicine.
Sharing Successes
We love hearing about the
achievements made by our
students both in and out of
School. Students wishing to share
their news can submit an article,
via their teacher, which we then
publish in the School newsletter.
Photography:
“Wildlife Photography is
my favourite hobby and I
enjoy viewing the BBC
Summerwatch gallery.
Wildlife photographers
submit their photos and
the Summerwatch team
choose up to 20 images
to show in their galleries.
I took this photo of a
Marsh Harrier whilst on holiday in
Jersey, uploaded it to the BBC
gallery, and was later delighted to
find it had been selected as ‘photo of
the day”. Owen Hearn (Year 7 2010-11)
Year 8 heard about the English
Civil war and were able to see
authentic muskets discharged on
the coach park. In line with their
study of WWI, Year 9 students
were able see and try on
uniforms from the period and
heard details about battles
specifically the Battle of the
Somme.
We were privileged to have a
guest speaker, Mrs Humphries,
who was a Jewish child refugee
on the kindertransport. These
were a number of trains set up by
Sir Nicholas Winton to save
Jewish children from Nazi death
camps. Mrs Humphries came to
England at the age of 10 with her
Tennis: In early May, at 15 years
of age Claudia Marsala became 8 th
in Great Britain’s under 18 Girls
National Tennis Rankings. Claudia
has worked very hard to achieve
this, and with the Lawn Tennis
Association funding her, aims to
improve her International ranking
during the next two years.
Football: At 9 years old Phillippa
Cowley trialled
for MK dons
and won a
place in the
under 10s
girls team. In
2010 she was
entered for
trials with
Arsenal Under
14s girls
football club where she played for
one season. Phillippa has been
selected by Arsenal to play in their
U15 squad for the forthcoming
season 2011 /2012.
Owen captured this image
of a Marsh Harrier
sister and survived the war. Her
story was both moving and
informative and brought to life
for our Year 9 students the
Holocaust which we have been
studying this year.
Mrs Humphries
In Year 8 Neel Slatter went to
Sweden with Luton Town and
competed in the Aroscupen Cup in
Vasteras, near Stockholm. Luton
On the ball: Phillippa and Neel
won all their matches scoring 24
goals and only conceding one. They
then went into the knock-out phase
and beat three teams on their way
to the final. The final was shown live
in England via the internet.
www.cottesloeschool.org.uk