Contents

February 2017
Contents
Headteacher
Literacy Focus
Rotary Chef
Google Day
Sport News
Page 2
Page 3
Page 5
Page 6
Page 9
Photograph - Google Expedition Day
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Sixth Form trip to Iceland, February 2017
POSITIVE Attitude
The immediate period after
Christmas can sometimes seem
an anti-climax; the weather is
cold, early mornings and
evenings are dark, Christmas is
over, and it can be hard to
get really motivated. However,
this was NOT the case at
Southam College as students
returned in the New Year with
really positive attitudes, and as
a result we have had an
excellent half term.
One project this term highlights
what students can achieve with
a positive attitude. Last year we
had a competition to design a
sculpture, the brief was to
ensure that the design reflected
what Southam College meant to
each entrant. Amongst the
many enteries one student in
Year 8 created a design made
out of foil, it showed how
students support each other,
and then with the
encouragement of their
teachers they rise up and fulfil
their potential. From this
concept a wonderful sculpture,
sponsored by Pod Living
architects, was created. (See
page 4.)
When the sculpture was
unveiled students, staff and
visitors could not walk past
without stopping to look at it.
This piece of modern art now
has pride of place at the front of
the school, and was designed
by Charlee Shepperd in Year 8.
Well done Charlee, you have
created something quite unique
which will be seen by
thousand’s of people for many
years to come!
Students with the support of
parents/ carers and teachers
make this a great school. A
school where there are
wonderful opportunities to
experience new things and
participate in amazing events.
This was brought home to me in
the last week when we saw
students going to New York and
Iceland. In addition, over the
last half term we have seen trips
to the Houses of Parliament and
visits to places of religious
worship, cooking competitions
and a huge array of sporting
fixtures. All of these
experiences, in addition to the
variety of opportunities for
learning in lessons make our
school a vibrant learning
community, a community I am
very fortunate to be part off. A
community which is driven by
hugely talented and
hardworking staff who give
every student the opportunity to
achieve their potential. This is
exemplified by the large number
of revision classes currently
being delivered afterschool and
at half term. Students sitting
examinations in the summer
(only 12 school weeks until the
exams begin) must take
advantage of these
classes, and really focus on
their studies. At this stage with
hard work and purposeful
revision, any grade
is achievable.
Great work everybody for
making the last half term so
memorable; can’t wait for the
next one.
Mr Samra, Head teacher
2

Literacy Focus at Southam College
Accelerated Reader
Year 7 and 8 have now taken
the Star Reader Test twice
so we can gauge their
reading level and see what
progress they have made
since their start at Southam
College. The library is as
busy as ever, with new stock
and popular titles. Don’t
forget that for Year 7 The
Midnight Pirates is due back
to school as soon as
possible.
Core Support
Our new style of Year 7 Core
Support is proving to be very
purposeful. Students are
now very familiar with the
Fresh Start module booklets,
and have recently been busy
completing revision for their
upcoming Maths exam.
Year 7 Book Group –
coming soon!
Miss Coleby will soon be
setting up a reading group
for Year 7 students who
enjoyed her visits to their
primary schools in Year 6. It
will run very much like an
adult book group, with
students selecting what they
would like to read and
holding discussions about
what they have read.
Spelling
Following our school policy
of ‘Brain, Book, Buddy,
Boss’ students are being
encouraged to be far more
independent in the
strategies they use for
correct spelling. All our
students in school are
familiar with the phonics
method of spelling that they
will have initially learned at
primary school in Key Stage
1. At Southam College we
want students to use the
same strategies as Key
Stage 1! When students
ask for a spelling they are
being encouraged to sound
out each syllable, and apply
their knowledge of spelling
rules to help them.
For example, when
spelling ‘example’: ex –
am –p –le. Students
should recognise that ‘le’
is a common ending.
Word of the Week
The Word of the Week is
still going strong! It is
displayed in school on
posters as well as on the
school website. Particular
favourites from this term
are:
Fettle (noun): meaning state
or condition. For example
'She was in fine fettle when
I saw her, laughing and
joking.
Peruse (verb): meaning to
read through with
thoroughness or care. For
example 'I will peruse your
coursework and let you
know what I think.'
Leave of Absence
If you are considering taking your child out of school for any reason, please ensure you are
fully aware of the increasingly tight restrictions on schools to authorise absence. Please
navigate from our homepage >> About Us >> School Policies >> Leave of Absence to find
full details.
Medical Appointments
Although our attendance figures are well above the Warwickshire and National average we do
not compare as well locally with medical appointments in school time. Please make every effort
to arrange these out of school hours where possible.
3

New Sculpture takes pride of place
Students were asked to take part
in a fantastic opportunity where
they would be involved in creating
a new sculpture that they felt
represented the college. Students
submitted ideas to the Art
Department, there were some
b r i l l i a n t e n t r i e s t h a t r e a l l y
demonstrated Southam's ethos of
'Being the Best you can Be'.
The sculpture that really caught
our eye was that of Charlee
Shepherd; she actually made a
prototype for us out of foil. You
could see how much thought and
consideration had gone into the
piece and how she had been
inspired by other sculptors work
and in particular by the work of
Alberto Giacometti.
Charlee describes how her
sculpture represents Southam College:
'All the figures represent the pupils and the teachers at our school; we are all joined and working together
in different ways to reach our goal and be the best we can be. The colours represent our House Teams
and this unites us all together.'
We liaised with a sculptor called David O'Keefe who we commissioned to work on Charlee's sculpture to
make it into a realistic form. The sculpture has been made entirely out of steel and we are very proud to
showcase this at the front of our school.
Chinese New Year Celebrations - The Year of the Rooster
Students from across the school got involved with a range of activities to celebrate the
Year of the Rooster. MFL and English lessons for Year 7 & 8 focused on the Chinese
zodiac and the role of women in China. At lunchtime, Miss Chen led celebrations in the
library with lantern making, a ‘guess the teacher’ quiz, bookmark for every student ,which
revealed more about their own zodiac sign.
4

Rotary
Young Chef 2017
Another outstanding performance from our
budding chefs at Southam College.
We were delighted with both the outcome and
presentation from all the students who took part
in the competition. The judges had a very
difficult job of deciding which four students to
put forward for the next round. After lots of taste
testing and deliberating the results were as
follows:
1. Abigail Egglestone and Emily Aries
2. Seth Harper and Ethan Coulter
3. Jake Hill and Jess Johnston
4 .Elicia Glover and Alice Versey
Abigail Egglestone, Emily Aries, Seth Harper
and Ethan Coulter will all go through to the next
round which is being held at Rugby College on
Saturday 4th March. We wish them every
success in the next round.
First Round
Rotary Young Chef
competition.
5

Google Expeditions Day
Sixth Form Trip to Cern
Students from all year groups and across a range of
subjects enthusiastically travelled the world using the
Google Expeditions app and cardboard viewers!
Expedition destinations included Borneo, the
Galapagos Islands, Antarctica, New York, Berlin,
Barcelona and many more, taking in many of the
natural and man-made wonders of the world! Students
were immersed in their expedition locations, giving
them a memorable experience and an appreciation of
the different environments around the world! A big
thank you to Amait from the Google Expeditions team
for helping the day to run smoothly and all the teachers
who ran expeditions. #GoogleExpeditions
Mr Clarke
Twenty four sixth form students once again travelled to
CERN this year to see the research of particle
physicists and the work of the Large Hadron Collider.
The students this year were taken to see a real particle
accelerator, designed to make antimatter to be held
and studied. They also learnt about the storage facility
of CERN and how it was made possible to store
2Terabytes of data an hour!
Mr Etheridge
6

Wall of Life Competition Winners
Huge congratulations to the joint winners of the Wall
of Life Competition for Holocaust Memorial Day,
Sarah Costa and Alex Lyle. Both girls produced a
thought provoking piece of work in reflection of the
themes of absence and loss. I was really impressed
with the effort and creativity that you both included
within your entries. HAPS are on the way to both of
you.
Mrs Morten
Philosophy and
Ethics Trip
Year 8 students have recently
completed a tour of Birmingham.
During this visit, Philosophy and
Ethics students had the
opportunity to visit an Islamic
Exhibition and a Synagogue.
Here students explored the
Islamic faith and how it is
practiced today, from the 5 pillars
to family life. Moreover, students
also experienced a Jewish
Culture first hand where they got
to dress in the tallit, kippur and
tefillin within a synagogue. This
was a great experience as it will
support students knowledge and
understanding for the Philosophy
and Ethics GCSE but also
enhance compassion,
tolerance and respect amongst
all students.
Well done Year 8!
Good Luck!
7

College Council 2017
The Council members are here to help and be a voice for you.
Two students from year 7,
8, 9, 10 and 12 have been
selected based on
manifestos they have
written showing their
dedication and
motivation to the school.
The job of the College
Council is to act as a
representative and use
their voices to speak for
their year groups in school
matters and as a part of
their launch into these new
roles, they will be holding a
vote for how best to serve
the rest of their fellow
students. Representatives
from your year group will be
collecting these votes to
see what area the school,
as a collective, would like to
be improved.
The first idea we will be
implementing will be the
Drop Box. A box will be put
in each social area and can
be used to express any
concerns or ideas you may
have about the school. This
will be a permanent fixture
and will be checked
regularly by the
representatives for each
year group.
98

Sports News
Girls Rugby
Training
Another successful evening at
Girls rugby training. The girls
have many fixtures lined up so
have been practising their
scrums and tackles this week
in preparation.
Girls Rugby is on every
Wednesday for all ages and
abilities.
Speak to Miss Warman for
more details..
Warwickshire County Cross
Country Championships
January 21st - On a cold
frosty Saturday morning
Southam College Cross
Country team competed in the
Warwickshire County Cross
Country Championships at
Kineton.
The first race of the morning
was the minor girls race which
s a w t h e f i r s t o f m a n y
successful races for the
S o u t h a m C ollege team.
Elspeth Unitt was the first girl home in 5th place,
closely followed by Ruby Irving and Poppy Hilton
in 8th and 19th respectively.
The minor boys race followed shortly after which
saw Alex Gidney head to the front of the race from
the gun. Alex had a fantastic run coming home in
second place. Shortly behind was Luke Granfield
32nd and Jacob Beeston in 38th.
Georgina Hurt was our only representative in the
intermediate girls event. Georgina battled through
an extremely tough race with some very fast girls
in the field, she managed to save a sprint finish for
9th place.
Alex Ibbs was in a
similar situation being
the only senior boy
representing the
school. Alex ran hard at
the front of the pack for
the 1st 1000m however
couldn't hold it and
finished in 8th place.
Performance of the day came in the intermediate
boys race where Dom Priest followed the senior
boys the whole way and with a fast finish
completed the race in 1st place and as County
Champion. Shortly behind Will Eadon and Marley
Broughman completed the race in 18th and 24th
respectively.
Final two races saw the junior girls and boys
races. The girls race saw the Lovett's take to the
course in a tough race with a field consisting of yr8
and 9 students. Emily raced well and finished in
13th with Ana coming home in 24th. The boys race
was equally as hard seeing Jacob Watson, Joe
Quincey, Josh Farrell and Jack Collins coming
home in 34th, 39th, 41st and 49th respectively.
Well done for brilliant performances on such a
bitter morning.
Miss Warman
9

Year 7 Rugby - Wonderful Willis in Die Hard Star Performance!
Y7 Southam A 15 King Henry V111 A 25
A superb battling performance from prop forward Dylan Willis was the highlight of an excellent game
against illustrious opponents who brought the Y7's four month winning run to an end. Dylan along with
fellow forwards Will Scott, Nick Houldey, Austin Turner and Eden Wood powered up the pitch and
increasing teamwork is going to make this impressive pack a daunting prospect for the opposition.
King Henry V111 were excellent opponents, who played the game in the right spirit and will always be
welcomed back. Their Fly Half made the crucial difference, his dazzling runs brought him the tries. Archie
Coats and Dion Tulloch closed him down well in in the
later stages of the game. The backs need to consider
their line speed to close the opposition down quicker
and to consistently make tackles. The handling in
freezing conditions was impressive but the backs
needed to find a cutting edge in attack.
Nick Houldey secured Southam's first try after a typical
powerhouse break. Austin Turner gave Southam late
hope with two fine tries following excellent forward play
as Southam battled hard to the end. The quality of
Austin's tenacious play gives us great hopes for him in
the future.
Jack Barley-Morey deserves a mention for some excellent
low tackles and a good run after a fine high catch. Rhys
Bennett played well at centre; having to play out of position
following some high profile absentees.
Year 7 Rugby . . . Turner-Round
Y7 Southam 55 Fairfax 5
January 28th - A magnificent four-try star performance from Austin Turner led Y7 to a dramatic
turnaround from last week's narrow defeat. Austin and Archie Coats lead by example on the pitch
but they took control of the warm up without me having to say a word. This made us look like a
professional outfit from start to finish.
There were excellent A Team debuts from Harvey Calder, John Novy and Ben Ellis. A tactical
switch moved Nick Houldey to centre. His devastating runs tore at the heart of Faifax's defence.
Nick scored two and had to be substituted to balance up the
game with the half time score of 35-0.
Archie Coats' dazzling footwork had brought him two early
tries. Full Back Spencer Wadsworth danced around the
opposition whilst Dylan Willis blasted through them for a try
each. The best try came in the second half after excellent
straight running and sharp passing by the backs released
Rhys Bennett to finish in the corner.
Fine performances from Charlie Morrison, James Taylor and
Will Scott kept the team moving forward. Eden Wood
produced another sensational effort. His immense strength
continually led to powerful runs with several defenders
hanging off him.
The final mention goes to excellent Scrum Half Dan Boag
who linked forwards and backs superbly. Dan was quick to
note that the consolation Fairfax try came in the last few
minutes when he had been subbed.
A big thank you to Fairfax for their excellent spirit throughout
this well refereed game. The drinks and doughnuts were
gratefully received afterwards.
10 11

KS4 Table Tennis
Silver Lining on Top Quality Performance
Having qualified from the Level 2 Regional Games Southam went forward
to represent Central Warwickshire in the Level 3 County Games. The
format for the tournament saw seedings paired up against each other to
compete in a first to 11, best of 3 sets game, with each player's score
contributing to the overall team total.
Having been given a tough draw Southam began their campaign against
Ashlawn School, Eastern Warwickshire. The quality of the group became
evident as Ashlawn came out to impress with only third seed Alex Costa
taking a set, which saw Ashlawn win the match 4-0.
Having seen the level of competition Southam knew they had to up their
game against Arden Academy, South Solihull if they were to keep their
semi-final hopes alive. First seed Ben Hall and second seed Dom Priest
both won in straight sets to give Southam the advantage. After Arden
pulled a game back fourth seed Seb Priest sealed the match 3-1 with a close final game.
Confidence now flying high and the prospect of qualification guaranteed with a win, Southam
took on a second Arden team who replaced a last minute drop out. All four boys had solid
performances to take the match 4-0 without dropping a set. This saw Southam qualify as
runners up and drawn against the other group winners.
Studley High, South Warwickshire were waiting in the semi-final after breezing through their
group without losing a match. Ben and Dom found it hard work against spirited opponents who
took each game 2-0 putting pressure on the final games. With only straight set wins going to be
good enough for a hope of reaching the final, Alex and Seb rose to the
challenge pulling the match level at 2-2. A count back on points scored
was all that separated the two teams and fortunately Southam reigned
victorious by 5 points, 69-64.
Unexpectedly the final saw a rematch against Ashlawn School who sailed
through their semi-final. A feeling of deja vu as a determined Southam
were unable to differ the earlier result going down 4-0. A fantastic
performance by all the players throughout the day showed the hard work
paid off. Southam claimed the silver medal and cemented themselves
as the second best school in the Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull
county.

SIXTH FORMER ALEX SEDGWICK TAKES
SECOND PLACE IN DUBAI 24 HOURS
Sixth form student and racing driver Alex Sedgwick, made a
successful start to 2017 when he finished second in the 2017
Dubai 24 Hour race.
Alex was contesting the race as part of the Cooksport race team
which is managed up by British Touring Car driver Josh Cook. Alex
was one of the five drivers chosen for the twice around the clock
race in a specially built Renaultsport Clio race car, supported by
Renaultsport France.
The race is the first major endurance race in 2017 and a total of 95
cars entered the race which included cars entered by factory teams from Porsche, Audi,
Mercedes Benz, Lamborghini and BMW. Alex lined up on the grid with two recent Formula
1 drivers, the 2015 endurance World Champion and a number of other professional racing
drivers, using the race to prepare for their 2017 season.
At seventeen, Alex was the youngest driver on the grid but, even at this young age, the
team gave him the responsibility to start the race. Alex drove a total of just over eight
hours in four sessions, including two sessions during the night. He also had to deal with a
damaged car after it was hit by another car, with just three hours of the race remaining. As
the driver involved in the accident was not able to get back in the repaired car, it was Alex
who was given the job of deciding whether the car was safe to continue racing. Using all
his racing experience he was able to drive fast enough to maintain the team’s position. His
ability to lap in a damaged car as fast as the other cars, enabled the team to maintain
their second place to the chequered flag.
Congratulations to Alex and the team on this huge
achievement (He also set the team’s fastest lap time on
their way to second place!)