TODAY

OSA
TODAY
Spring Edition 2016
Front Cover by India Burroughs Thompson, Year 11, GCSE Photography
ONSLOW ST. AUDREY’S
HATFIELD’S BUSINESS & ENTERPRISE ACADEMY

HEADLINES
Greetings,
It has been a busy and challenging term and I would like to put on record my heartfelt
gratitude to the students and staff that have carried us through, relatively unscathed.
This term has seen progress at the school moving on apace. The windows are now
complete and make the school look much smarter and feel warmer in significant parts of
the school. Breaking news just in is that we have secured another £1.4 million to complete
the rest of the refurbishment of the windows and improve the heating around the school.
Further fantastic investment in our young people.
Despite significant staff illnesses, accidents and operations, pupil achievement is being
reported to be meeting targets from a number of angles which is pleasing. The use of the
online interactive websites – Show My Homework and Parent Portal - have both shown
significant increases in usage.
Parents choosing the school for their year 6 child to come here is at a record high at 173
for September 2016. We have set up formal links with both a school in China and Swidnik
in Poland, supported by the Mayor. The building programme has also moved forward with
initial plans being agreed. Our Football Academy were the proud winners of the
Hertfordshire Schools District Cup and we have seen wonderful performances and
achievements in Dance, Music, the CCF and Dragons Den. It is wonderful to see the
students working hard, achieving their goals and realising their dreams.
My heartfelt thanks to the staff at the school for all their support and hard work. My
thanks also to the parents, carers and guardians of our young people for your continued
faith in the school and the love and support you provide for your children.
I hope and expect Year 11.12 and 13 to be completing at least 3 hours of revision each day
during the holidays in preparation for their exams after the holidays. A large holiday is
waiting for them after the exams!
I wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable Easter break.
Mike Harpham

HMD Don't Stand By
Each year Onslow St Audrey's a end the Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony in
Ha ield, and are invited to exhibit students' art work.
This year's theme was 'Don't Stand By', which we used to theme the GCSE
coursework. Last summer the students visited the Imperial War Museum where
students took part in a Holocaust workshop and went to the Holocaust exhibi on.
This visit allowed the students to gain a deeper understanding of the Holocaust
and WWII in general.
Their final pieces were mature, crea ve and sensi ve responses to the theme.
The guests at the ceremony were extremely complimentary of the work and of the
way the students conducted themselves.
The art work can now be seen on display outside of the main school hall.

OSA Awarded Communicating
Excellence Award 2015
We were delighted to receive the 'Communicating Excellence Award, 2015' from
Isabella Donnelly and Kim Bowyer (pictured) from education marketing specialists,
Grebot Donnelly this month. This was in recognition of our highly successful marketing
strategy and follows being voted “Secondary School of the Year” in the Welwyn and
Hatfield Times' Schools Awards.
W e h a v e i m p r o v e d
engagement with local
primary schools, raised our
profile locally, nationally
and internationally and
have increased coverage in
the local media.
This has paid considerable
dividends, significantly
increasing confidence in
the school and raising
student numbers, resulting
in additional revenue for
investment in the school.
Headteacher, Michael Harpham, commented: “Our work with Grebot Donnelly has
provided my team with the tools, knowledge and confidence to more effectively promote
Onslow St Audrey's. We have seen rapid improvements and successes over the past year
and our students, parents and the local community are engaged and excited to be part of
our journey.”
It is an exciting time for us. We have ambitious plans for the future which highlight how we
are committed to investing in our students' future, our students' learning and
development and our community.

Intermediate International Award
OSA's journey to International Accreditation continues apace!
We were delighted to receive our Intermediate International School
Award from the British Council, and the highly positive feedback about our
global education policies and endeavours. We would like to thank the
British Council for their continued support.
Our formal accreditation plan has also received official British Council
approval. We have excellent links with two schools in France, one in Spain,
our official partnership with Yangzhou No.1 Middle School in China, as well
as our International Government initiatives with the MOD. We are
confident that our students' international education is second to none.
We are proud of the Global Citizenship skills our students are acquiring, as
well as the multiple international opportunities we make available to
them, ensuring our students are truly prepared for a 21st Century
globalised economy, marketplace and inter-cultural society.
Local primary schools
explore Computer Science at
Onslow St Audrey's School
We have been hosting exciting sessions on
Computer Science, where Year 5 and 6 were
g i v e n t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o ex p l o r e
programming and make games. Oak View,
Howe Dell, St Phillip Howard and The Ryde are
the latest schools that have visited us this year
and many other local primary schools will have
the opportunity in the new year.
Year 5 and 6 have benefitted from this project
because they have been given an insight into
Computer Science and experienced life in a
secondary school. The Year 5 and 6 students
got to explore block programming and Scratch.
They managed to create a maze game where
the character moved around the maze
collecting prizes. They felt a tremendous sense
of achievement when they managed to code it
all themselves!
We are proud of our year 7, 8 and 9 students
who supported and lead the sessions. They
received a Computer Science leader badge
and certificate in full school assembly.

Ministry of Defence
Employability Workshop
Years 12, 10 and 9 benefited from a fantastic MOD
Employability Workshop delivered by our friend at the
Ministry, Mr Gillman. Students were shown why almost
half of all applications submitted for vacant positions are
not even considered and they also participated in a
valuable networking and 'what's good about me'
exercise.
The students then participated in an interview activity
which gave them the opportunity to see the interview
from both sides of the table, both as an applicant and as a
member of the interview panel which really
demonstrated the attractive professional behaviour
which is necessary to succeed. Once again we offer our
sincere thanks to Mr Gillman for adding to our student's
pathways to success.
Ministry of Defence
International
Crisis Workshop
We were absolutely thrilled when our friend at the
Ministry of Defence, Mr Andy Gillman, returned to
host a fantastic International Crisis workshop for our
Year 10 students. Mr Gillman has devised a
comprehensive programme to graphically illustrate
the components of government and how they work
together to solve a world crisis. The workshop
further illustrates the value of effective diplomacy
and how escalation of a conflict can have global
consequences.
Our Year 10 students worked in teams to fulfil crucial
ministerial positions such as Prime Minister, Foreign
Secretary, Defence Secretary etc. and evaluated the
detailed information gathered about the crisis to
formulate plans of action which they presented to
'the press'. They also answered some difficult
questions about the content of their plans.
The students performed exceptionally well and all
received a Ministry of Defence certificate.
Congratulations are in order for the winning team of
Xander Peveri, Alfie Godwin, Harley-Anna Tillotson,
Esmeralda Kurti, Cerys Brady and Chloe Harrington
who will progress to represent the school in the
MOD Inter-School Challenge. We would like to offer
our heartfelt thanks to the marvellous Mr Gillman
for this all his initiatives which our students benefit
from. We look forward to welcoming him back to our
school in May.

Year 10 World of Work
and Employability Event
On Thursday 11 February all year
10 students were invited to
participate in a World of Work
and Employability Event. The foci
for the event was for students to
plan and prepare for their work
experience placement giving
them the skills to make a business
call, attend an interview and
understand business dress
standards in the workplace.
Throughout the day students attended a series of workshops led by a range of staff
and external agencies including the University of Hertfordshire, The Hertfordshire
Chamber of Commerce and self-acclaimed international/national speaker,
professional actor, writer, performer, comedian and presenter (and one of the few
educators to have been in both Coronation Street and EastEnders) Dave Keeling.
Work experience is often key in helping decide futures and may lead to
opportunities for part time work. It is important that students are well prepared
and make the most of this experience and this bespoke day set them in good stead
for their future career.
Students attended the day wearing smart business dress as would be appropriate
for attending an interview and Luiza Hogea and Charlie Broux won first prize for
Best Dressed Boy and Girl.

Switched on to Switching Off
Eight Sixth Form students participated in a ten week 'Switch On To Switching Off'
(SOTTO) programme run by Groundwork East. Representing Onslow St Audrey's
school in the local community as Energy Ambassadors, they attended training to
acquire the skills and knowledge to run a programme of energy awareness
workshops with a group of primary school children.
Each Ambassador was allocated a local primary school, where their responsibility
was to work alongside the staff, to run a weekly 1-hour workshop over a period of
10 weeks. During these workshops, they supported the group to monitor the
school's energy consumption, ran a whole school energy saving campaign and
analysed the final results.
As always our Sixth Form students were a credit to our school and we are very
proud of their involvement in this programme. We would also like to congratulate
each of the primary schools who took part, (Howe Dell, Green Lanes, Oakview, St
Philip Howard, Ryde and North Mymms, St Marys). The children worked very hard
on their projects and showed a natural flair for the task at hand; we very much look
forward to them joining our school in the near future.

The Woodland Trust
A group of six students and three staff were invited by the Woodland
Trust to plant as many trees as they could at Hertswood Forest.
We succeeded in planting 61 saplings in just under an hour. Our
students certainly did us proud as the Woodland Trust thought we
would only manage 30. It was cold and muddy but we were all kitted
out in our welly boots and warm clothes and soon they were so
engrossed in their digging that they forgot about the weather (at
least it didn't snow!)
The students thoroughly enjoyed the event and their behaviour was
superb. The men who were there to support the students were very
impressed.
OSA students work at King's College,
University of Cambridge
We were absolutely thrilled when four of our Year 11 G&T students won places to participate in a twoday
archive event offered by King's College, University of Cambridge and the Fitzwilliam Museum.
Robyn Harvey-Smith, Ellie Rastall, Amy Smith and Georgina Spelman-Bates spent the first day at
King's College during half term and undertook a case study of renowned war poet, Rupert Brooke.
As well as other academics and collections experts,
the students worked with King's Archivist, Peter
Monteith and gained access to Brooke's original
letters, poems and photographs. The event
developed and enhanced valuable research skills and
demonstrated how the students could broaden their
lines of enquiry.
The students were certainly inspired and Robyn said
of the event, 'It was a really great experience. At times
it was challenging but it actually showed us that we
can hold our own at that level'. Georgina agreed, 'It's
made me more determined than ever to aim for
Cambridge as my first choice University. I can't wait for
the second half of the experience at the Fitzwilliam
Museum'.
Well done girls! As with all of our students, we will
support your future aspirations all the way!.

Year 10 G&T Oxbridge
Head Start Event
Some of our Year 10 students attended a marvellous Oxbridge Head Start event with other G&T students from
consortium schools recently. The day began with a presentation from the University of Cambridge on what entry
to Oxford or Cambridge requires and how studying there could benefit the students.
Chloe Harrington told us, 'It was really useful to do the exercises about thinking like a university student and it
came very naturally. Most exciting for me however, was working with other academic students from different
schools. We were sort of dreading it when we got split up but it was a great experience and I think it's helped us all
to be less insular'.
We would like to thank Tom Norwood from the University of Cambridge and Mr Pearce who organised the event
on behalf of the consortium. It proved to be a lively and entertaining way of showing all the students who
participated that Oxbridge is entirely accessible for anyone prepared to work hard enough; a lesson our gifted
Year 10s certainly took to heart.
History Workshop with
University of Hertfordshire
A group of our talented Year 9 and 10 historians
undertook a valuable workshop with Sarah Lloyd
from the University of Hertfordshire's Heritage
Hub. The Hub has possession of a young boy's
1917 diary as well as a young girl's account book
from the same year and Mrs Lloyd, along with
Mrs Marcham & Mrs Llewellyn, worked with the
students to extract information from these
artefacts, as well as compare them with our own
1917 diary from sapper Edwin Payne.
The students identified that the UH diary hardly
mentioned the war but concentrated on details
about local life, work and self-improvement,
fascinating information given that many of the
participating students were the same age as the
author. Mrs Lloyd also introduced the students to
the 'Every Day Lives in War' research initiative
and our students identified some interesting
research topics as a result. We would like to
thank Mrs Lloyd for this development
opportunity and look forward to celebrating our
student's ongoing research successes.

Year 7 G&T Mitsubishi Science & Ecology Workshop
25 Year 7 students had a fantastic G&T visit to Mitsubishi and their award
winning educational workshop with Mrs Marcham and Mrs Younger. They
started with a short seminar about renewable energy and began to
complete their workbooks. After being given some fruit at break time, the
students delivered their food waste to Mitsubishi's wormery and learned
about the compost it created to feed the orchard. The students then
divided into three groups and each visited a different ecology workstation.
Each group conducted transferable energy experiments and plotted the
results, they made bird feeders to take home out of their break-time cup
and they conducted solar energy circuit experiments which were a hit with
each group.
The students also received certificates and were impeccably behaved,
exactly what we expect from Onslow St Audrey's students! We would like
to thank the Mitsubishi professionals who donate their time to deliver the
workshop and Mitsubishi Electric for providing such a fabulous resource.
Another Spectacular
Night of Science
under the Stars!
Our fabulous Science Department hosted another
fabulous Astronomy Evening for a class of delightful
Year 5 students from The Ryde and their teachers.
Ms Hare delivered a tour de force seminar on space,
planets and space technology, followed by Mr Poore
leading an exercise on the phases of the moon.
The group then toasted marshmallows to have with
their hot chocolate and used our high powered
telescopes to examine the full moon. Mr Poore also
showed the group how to identify the different
constellations and we were blessed with a
beautifully clear sky so the students could really
appreciate the stars. Staff and students were
absolutely thrilled with the event and The Ryde have
already reserved their place for the next after-school
Science workshop in April.
We would also like to thank Year 9 Astronomy expert,
Craig Walker, for volunteering to assist at the event,
he was invaluable and has received some welldeserved
gold stars from Head of Science, Ms Davis.
Well done to all those involved and we look forward
to the next event!

Dragons' Quiz 'n Chip Success
Our final Dragon's event was held on 5th February, and what an event to finish on! Over 120
people including the Mayor and her family, the Resolve Charity, staff, friends and parents of OSA
came to support us.
As with every event we supported Resolve Charity by making it non-alcoholic and were able to
supply soft drinks kindly donated by Grace Foods.
The evening could not have gone better, having already raised £1700 from the sale of quiz and
raffle tickets, we went on to raise a further £800 from our auction.
Thanks to the massive talents of Auctioneer Neville Collman, who drove the crowds to up their
bids for a week's stay in the Lake District which was kindly donated by our very own Headteacher
Mr Harpham.
It was an amazing night and everyone
that attended really enjoyed the event,
Parent Lisa Bailey said 'Well done
everyone, and thank you for organising
the quiz night, it was such good fun.'
We would like to thank everyone that has
supported our events, whether through
attendance, donations or general help.
We could not have raised the amount we
did without you.
OSA Film Festival
This term our Year 7 students were lucky enough to have
been selected to participate in a mini film festival. This
exciting opportunity has been afforded to them by a
company called INTO Film.
INTO Film run clubs nationwide, and seek to put film at the
heart of children and young people's learning, contributing
to their cultural, creative and personal development.
Alfie Rafferty, Vienna Tillotson, Ricardo Coehlo, Aarian
Cooper-Patel, Sydney Neale, William Scull, Sam Woodgate
and Harrison Newman have been working tirelessly on this
project and the result is a short film they have called Bully
Bodyguard.
Aarian said it has been “so much fun” producing Bully
Bodyguard, and most students are keen to get involved in
their own film projects. The film is entirely original, the
students came up with the concept themselves, they
created the script, and with a little guidance from Ms.
McEwan, they shot and edited all the scenes themselves.

G&T University of Cambridge Visit
University of
Oxford Visit
Year 12 students Brice Adusei and Alex McIntyre had an
absolutely fantastic time during their three-day residential
placement at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge,
participating in the innovative Medicine Shadowing Scheme.
Supported by current under-graduates, they were given a full
experience of life as a Cambridge Medicine student.
Brice found the experience entirely inspirational, 'We had the
opportunity to attend lectures, talks, workshops and
supervisions. We were given an interview experience and were
included in social activities such as movie night and a last night
party. It was absolutely fantastic.
Alex was equally inspired, 'Everyone we met was incredibly
welcoming and experiences such as the mock interview have
really helped to demystify the application process. The
questions were difficult and entirely science based but that's
what you'd expect. The Caius under-graduates made it clear
that the answer wasn't the most important element, it's that
you show how your mind works and how you would tackle
difficult questions. Most of the under-graduates were from
state schools like us, including Luke, the president of the
medical society, and it was very reassuring.
We would also like to thank all of the students and staff at Caius
College who were involved in making this commendable and
valuable opportunity available for our students and for making
them feel so welcome. We look forward to more of our students
returning to the University of Cambridge!
Several of our talented Year 10 and 11 students enjoyed an instructive visit to Balliol College, University of Oxford during our
last INSET day. The day started with comprehensive presentation about which university to choose, how important A Level
subject choices are, and the various courses available and the requirements for them. The presentation also included
information about the specific benefits of studying at Oxbridge and the uncompromising message that students would
need to achieve A grades to access them.
Year 11 student Georgina Spelman-Bates said, 'We've all told Mrs
Marcham that we want to return to both Oxford and Cambridge in
Year 12. Where we aim to study is a really important decision and
these visits are a great help'. Potential Archaeology and Anthropology
Year 11 student Amy Smith told us: 'It was a really valuable visit. I
especially took notice when our host told us not to worry about
facilitating subjects unless we were assured we could earn A grades in
them.'
We would like to thank Kate and Zoe from Balliol College, Oxford and
also to congratulate all of the students who attended for making the
mature decision to give up their INSET day to invest in their futures.
Further visits to Oxbridge for all senior year groups are a part of our
regular enrichment plans.

OSA Heritage Society Research
Visit
Our Heritage Society were delighted to be asked to
assist The Welwyn Garden City Heritage Trust with
their latest project. The Trust are exploring the origins
of WGC as one of the first 'new towns' and have already
completed two successful HLF projects on this theme
called, 'Who do you think we are?' and 'Where do you
think we worked?'. OSA were delighted to assist with
research for the latter project and to be credited in
their excellent book and we are now hard art work on
their new project, 'Where do you think we played?'
The focus of the research concerns the many clubs and
societies in which residents of the brand new town
spent their leisure hours and bonded as citizens in the
1920s. Heritage Society Committee members, Robyn
Harvey-Smith, Ellie Rastall and Georgina Spelman-
Bates met WGC Heritage Trust research expert
Vanessa Godfrey in the Local Studies section of WGC
Library and investigated copies of the Welwyn News
and The Pilot from the early 1920s.
Our Year 11 Committee members will feed back to the
rest of the OSA Heritage Society and we look forward
to continuing our work with the WGC Heritage Trust
and uncovering more fascinating local research. We
would like to thank Vanessa Godfrey for working with
our students. Any students who are interested in
joining the Heritage Society should contact Mrs
Marcham. jmarcham@onslow.herts.sch.uk
Visit to Guardian
Newspaper
On Wednesday 13th January 2016 a group of
25 Year 9 Students went to the Guardian
Newspaper for a workshop on World War I.
The ability to access the paper's archives and
design and complete a replica WWI
newspaper was an exciting opportunity. The
students worked with a qualified teacher and
journalist to help prepare the broadsheet to a
tight deadline.
The skills they had to pick up quickly were
story editing, picture editing and proof
reading, together with speed reading and
working as a team.
Luckily, we had covered much of WWI so their
historical skills were put to good use and
enhanced the experience.
Mrs Llewellyn

CCF at the Mayor's Mul -Faith Service
Our hard-working cadets were delighted to support Welwyn & Ha ield Mayor, Lynne
Sparks at her ground-breaking mul -faith service. Cadets Greenaway, Ramsay and Folds
helped over 200 guests with their parking needs whilst Corporal Murphy and Lance
Corporal Bailey led cadets Hoult-Allen and Hart in a carpet guard for the dis nguished
arrivals and helped with sea ng.
It was a wonderful service featuring representa ves from many diverse faiths including a
Catholic Bishop, local Chris an churches, Judaism, Hinduism, the Muslim community
and the Baha'i community. Our own Headteacher, Mr Harpham not only wrote the
introduc on for the programme but also beau fully played the piano during the service
and school governor and local Pastor Heather Dyce gave an address.
Whilst the Mayor's guests enjoyed a wonderful buffet, our CCF cadets took round
collec on ns for the Mayor's chosen charity, Resolve, and over £165 was raised for the
deserving cause. This was a joyous occasion which OSA were proud to host and the CCF
cadets were proud to serve.
CCF Training
Weekend
During a CCF training weekend 20 cadets
undertook a full day of First Aid training with
Lawrie Symons, learning about breaks, sprains,
burns, resuscitation, bandaging, use of a
defibrillator and much more. The cadets all earned
certificates and a First Aid badge to add to their
brassards. Mr Symons contacted our Headteacher,
Mr Harpham to say, 'Needed to let you know how
well your students in the CCF did on Saturday. They
were a real joy to train, they were focused
throughout the day and a credit to you and the
school. Also a credit to the CCF officers who run
the unit'.
The next day the cadets braved the freezing
conditions to practice drill in the snow with Sgt Eyre
from the ATC, for which they were commended by
The Combined Cadet Force on Twitter, 'Now that is
commitment! Keep up the good work'. They also
undertook command tasks and once again
exhibited exemplary behaviour and dedication.
Well done to all of the cadets who attended.

Student Plays Interna onal Football
Year 10 student Tiernan Parker was called up to play for Northern Ireland Under 15s last
weekend.
Tiernan, who currently plays for Luton Town Academy as their under 15 goalkeeper, went up
against Glasgow Rangers on Sunday.
We caught up with Tiernan to find out how it was to play his first International game...
How did playing for Northern Ireland come about?
'My friend who plays for Arsenal under 15s put my name forward, but they had already heard of
me as my Nan is Irish.'
What team would you ultimately like to play for?
'I really don't know, but I support Arsenal.'
How did it feel to play for Northern Ireland?
'Natural, I didn't really feel under any pressure.'
Did you win?
'No, unfortunately we lost 1-0.'
Everybody at Onslow St Audrey's would like to
extend their congratulations to Tiernan.
PE Update
Year 7 + 8 Basketball
Well done to all of those boys who have played in the Basketball teams this term. We have had
some great successes in the District League but the main success came in the District Rally which
is a mini Competition run on a League basis.
Our Year 7 students won our group with 4 wins and a draw against Mt Grace, Chancellors,
Owens, Stanborough and Sir Fredric Osborn. This put us through to the final where we played
Chancellors – we were 2 – 0 with 1 minute to play when we scored a basket but it was called for
travelling, and literally on the final whistle we scored again only for travelling again. A great
performance from the boys
The Year 8 students also performed exceptionally well and we were able to enter 2 teams, we
didn't get to the final but all of the boys were a credit to the school.
Squads for the season have been:

Year 10 Volleyball
In the recent Mid Herts Volleyball Competition, we entered a team for both the Year 10 boys and
girls
The boys acquitted themselves well having success against Sir Frederic Osborn school and finished
4th. The girls performed even better and played fantastically well as a team to finish 2nd with a
pulsating game against Stanborough which we won 25 – 24. This meant that the girls finished 2nd.
Squads for the Competition were:
The Girls Volleyball Team
Leadership Activity
Again its been a busy time for our Sports Leaders this half term.
The Year 9s have been active supporting Mr Willis, our School Sport Co-odinator for Primary Schools.
1. The following students helped out a speedstacking competition in January:
Radek Jurus, Daniel Joo, Georgianna Dabica, Ioanna Enache.
2. In February there was an Onslow family Sports Hall Athletics competition at Hatfield Leisure
Centre and these students helped to make it a really successful event:
Attila Bertelan, Chloe Boyce, George Cooke, Daniel Greenaway, Megan Harvey-Smith, Aaron
McCarthy, Daniel Oraegbuna from Year 9.
Nicole Mountford, Jake Harrington, Sam Eastwood, Oscar Cork, Kieran Baugh from Year 12/13.
3. On February 25th Kallum Cornish and Cameron Oakaby-Wright from Year 12 refereed Oak
View and Green Lanes Primaries in an after school Tag Rugby match. They both showed great
maturity in ensuring that the younger students had a wonderful experience.

Extended Learning Days
We held our 3rd Extended Learning Day of the Year to try and encourage to engage in new
challenges.
Year 7 – Had a Tudor day spending the afternoon with King Henry VIII at Hatfield House.
Year 8 – Went through a Carousel of activity during the day studying:
Financial Affairs
Repairing Plugs / Changing Bike Tyres with Mr Hutchings and Mr Jackson.
Get Set Community – this involved groups developing an idea to encourage either a greater
emphasis on fitness or an activity involving Community Groups – ideas included a sponsored walk.
Get Set Fresh – a session run by Mr Benson which was trying to get the students to think more
carefully about what they eat, hopefully becoming healthier in the process.
Magic Tricks – something different to show students it is possible to perform magic tricks.
Year 9-11 – focused more on coursework and exam study activities.
ELD
Ben Powell
Year 11 Photography
Retro photo shoot with ageing effects