H2U Vol 6 Issue 5 Year 9 Special.pub - Highcliffe School

H2U 

Excellence by Design and through Innovation 

Welcome to the Year 9 

H2U special edition. You 

will enjoy reading about 

the diverse activities and 

accomplishments of our 

year group during 

this vitally important 

year. It has been a 

great privilege for me 

to have welcomed 

this cohort of students 

into the school 

in Year 7 and watch 

them develop over 

the last two and a 

half years. 

Creating the future 

This is a vital year 

for our students in 

Year 9, this is where 

they not only make 

decisions that shape their 

future in KS4 and beyond 

but it is also where they 

lay the foundations for 

success as they move into 

the upper school. 

We have the National 

Curriculum (SAT) Tests 

in May. To help all our students 

achieve to their potential 

we are running a 

The 

Credits 

Year 9—A Special Edition 

great many booster and 

revision classes. For details 

of these (as well as specific 

information from the 

Maths, English and Science 

faculties relevant to the 

tests) see page 3. 

To further help students 

we have provided a handy 

pull out and keep general 

guide featuring tips and 

good habits to ensure success. 

You will find this between 

pages 12 and 13. 

Please make sure they 

take this out and keep it 

visible on their workspace 

at home. 

I strongly encourage all 

our students to take full 

advantage of all 

these opportunities 

on offer. 

Now is the time 

to create the future! 

Having a go 

What you hope 

for as a Head of 

Achievement is 

that your students 

are happy 

and fulfilled, enjoy 

their time at 

school and attempt 

to become 

involved in as many activities 

as possible. I stressed 

in the very first assembly 

that I didn’t want anyone 

to leave the school with 

the words ‘If only…’, or ‘I 

wish…’. There are more 

opportunities on offer at 

Highcliffe than any other 

school I can think of and 

all the students have been 

encouraged to ‘Have a go’ 

Contributors : Mr Garner, Mr Yapp, Georgia Sachs, Stephen Hutt, Mrs Bunnett, Mrs Finch, Mark Lockett, 

Harry Matthews, Miss Barrall, Miss Grover, Kirstie Darke, Sarah Huggens, Miss Clark, Miss Swan, Mr Dean, 

Mr Burgan, Mrs Prince, Mrs Barclay, Ms Cullen, Mrs Gabony, Mrs Pearson, Thomas Smith, Amy Gilbert, Frau 

Weidemann, Lucy Worden, Issy Donald, Amy Curry, Carys Gallagher, Claire Kendall, Samantha Millard, Mr 

Hill, Mrs Edwards, Mr Bryden, Miss Court, Ebony Day, Hannah Vincent, Fenella Courage, Sofia Constantinou, 

Abi Stone, Mr Alan Williams, Ellie Sherwood, Mrs K Roberts 

Editorial/Production Team: J Potts, M Gower, S Bagshaw, J Coleman, P Coughlan, 

“I believe in using what you have, instead of mourning for that which you do not. In thirty years 

time, I want to be able to look back at my youth and know that I used my talents fully: that I 

wasted nothing” 

A former Highcliffe Sixth Former 

H2U, Vol 6 Issue 5 Year 9 Special - February 2007 Page 1

at as many things as possible. 

And have they had a go! 

This H2U shows it to be a 

phrase that sums Year 9 

up very well. In addition 

to this they have consistently 

surprised me with 

their levels of resourcefulness, 

enthusiasm and good 

humour. Our students 

The school, led by its Eco- 

Club, has recently 

achieved the Eco-School 

Award. In the next general 

issue we carry a full report 

of this. Year 9 students 

have been prime movers in 

this and below is an article 

on its recent activities written 

by two Year 9 students. 

“The Eco-Club has been up 

and running for over 2 

months now, and we want 

to let you know what’s 

been going on! This article 

is about the amount of 

rubbish 

polluting 

our 

school 

grounds 

and inside 

the 

school. 

Last 

year, 

our club 

decided 

to make a video of the 

amount of rubbish that 

people drop around school. 

We interviewed teachers 

such as Mr Maurice and Mr 

Evans. We asked them 

have excelled in so many 

areas that we felt it was 

time to show you exactly 

what they have been doing. 

Achievement and humility 

What came across whilst 

helping to compile this issue 

was the humility with which 

a great deal of this success 

was presented to us. So we 

decided to shout for them 

In the Community 

Making Highcliffe an Eco-School 

what they thought of rubbish 

and roughly how much 

they saw a day. The results 

were appalling. One of the 

dinner ladies picked up 

roughly six bin bags a day, 

as well as Geoff. the 

Groundsman, and the people 

on Litter Duty. That is an 

abysmal amount to be contaminating 

our grounds. 

Another activity that the 

Eco-Club has been doing for 

a while is recycling around 

school. As you may have 

seen, in most rooms now, 

there are recycling boxes to 

put any 

waste paper 

in, but as 

those boxes 

break quite 

easily, we 

are hoping 

to do some 

fundraising 

soon, and 

the money 

will go to 

plastic recycling 

boxes and other environmental 

causes. 

Also, we are proud to announce 

the winner of the 

by giving them this term’s 

H2U as their platform! 

Enjoy reading this issue. It 

represents a snapshot of a 

very impressive year group 

and one that continues to 

go from strength to 

strength. 

John Garner 

Head of Achievement 

Year 9 

Green Quiz in the last H2U. 

Well done to Jade Harrison-Jeive 

who got 8/10 in 

her entry! 

Following the Christmas 

card envelope recycling 

competition 10.6 proved to 

be the most popular tutor 

group in the school. Good 

work 10.6! 

In addition, we would also 

like to point out mobile 

phone recycling which recycles 

old phones that you 

don’t need. Bring them in 

to school – and we’ll recycle 

them for you. You 

never know what they 

could be used for!” 

Kirstie Darke(9.1) and 

Sarah Huggens (9.2) 


Preparing for your SAT Tests 

Mathematics 

KS3 Practice Mental Questions 

A selection of questions that could appear on the mental 

test. 

Levels 3-5 (5 seconds to answer) 

1. Change one hundred and thirty millimetres into 

centimetres. 

2. Imagine two squares that are the same size. 

Imagine you join them side by side. What is 

the name of the new shape you have made? 

3. How many centimetres are there in two metres? 

4. Write the number three thousand and six in figures 

5. What is nine multiplied by seven? 

6. What number should you subtract from twenty 

to get the answer 13? 

7. What is fifty- eight multiplied by ten? 

8. Write a number that is bigger than 24 and a 

half but smaller than 25. 

Levels 5- 8 (10 seconds to answer) 

9. How many millilitres are there in 3 litres? 

10. A quarter of a number is 1.25. What is the 

number? 

11. What is 48 divided by 8? 

12. Write seven hundredths as a decimal. 

13. I throw 2 dice. The probability I get a total of 

eight is five thirty-sixths. What is the probability 

I do not get a total of eight? 

14. I spend two pounds seventeen pence. How 

much change will I get from five pounds? 

15. Thirty five percent of a number is forty-two. 

What is seventy percent of the number? 

16. What is 5.1 multiplied by a thousand? 

English 

Year 9 Mock SAT’s 

Results 

Congratulations to Year 

9 who have already 

shown their talent with 

an excellent set of 

mock results which included: 

88% Level 5 and 

above 

63% Level 6 and 

above 

16 pupils at Level 8 

Special congratulations 

Samantha Millard 

137 out of 150 

William Baughan 

126 out of 150 

Stephen Hutt 

124 out of 150 

All of these were in the 

Level 6 to 8 paper . 

Year 9 Booster classes 

Tuesdays from 

13 th March to 1 st May, 

3.30pm to 4.30pm. 

A series of 6 lessons to 

help all ability levels 

achieve a higher grade. 

A letter will be issued. 

Please return the form to 

your class teacher. 

Booster Classes: Enhance your English skills: Prepare for the SATs 

Classes are open to all in Year 9 and will take place on the following dates: 

Mondays from 3.30pm – 4.30pm, 19th and 26 th March, 16 th , 23 rd and 30 th April 

and Saturday morning, 28 th April from 9.00am – 1130am. 

These sessions will be available for all students. However, we would particularly 

like students to attend who are borderline levels 4/5 and 5/6. 

Students will be taught in ability groups. 


Date 

Revision Help—Reading and Writing 

BBC Learning Zone will be airing the following KS3 English revision programmes: 

Thursday, 22 nd February 2007 

0200HRS KS3 English 1 : Reading and writing non-fiction texts. 

Thursday, 01 st March 2007 

0200HRS KS3 English 2 : Aspects of reading and writing fiction. 

Don’t forget to set your recorder! 

Additionally, the BBC has some very useful interactive revision sites through the 

BBC Bitesize link.: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/english/ 

Science Booster Classes Timetable & Revision Materials 

Wednesday 

28/02/07 

Wednesday 

07/03/07 

Wednesday 

14/03/07 

Wednesday 

21/03/07 

Wednesday 

28/03/07 

Time 4/5 Booster 5/6 Booster A 5/6 Booster B 6/7 Booster Open 

Revision 

3.30-4.30 

pm 

3.30-4.30 

pm 

3.30-4.30 

pm 

3.30-4.30 

pm 

3.30-4.30 

pm 

Cells 

Miss High 

Sc 6 

Particles 

Mrs Barclay 

Sc 7 

Energy 

Mrs Johnson 

Sc 8 

Interdependence 

Mrs Johnson 

Sc 8 

Forces 

Mr Johansen 

Sc 4 

Forces 

Mr Evans 

Sc 3 

Cells 

Mrs Stone 

Sc 12 

Particles 

Mrs Barclay 

Sc 7 

Energy 

Miss Berkeley 

Sc 1 


Ms Cullen 

Sc 5 

Particles 

Mr Johansen 

Sc 4 

Energy 

Miss Berkeley 

Sc 1 


Ms Cullen 

Sc 5 

Forces 

Mr Evans 

Sc 3 

Cells 

Mrs Stone 

Sc 12 


Mr Wilson 

Sc 8 

Forces 

Mr Evans 

Sc 3 

Cells 

Mr Wilson 

Sc 10 

Particles 

Mr Johansen 

Sc 8 

Energy 

Miss Berkeley 

Sc 1 

Energy 

Miss Berkeley 

Sc 1 


Ms Cullen 

Sc 5 

Forces 

Miss Berkeley 

Sc 1 

Cells 

Miss High 

Sc 6 

Particles 

Mrs Barclay 

Sc 7 

SATs Revision Materials—Science 

We have packs of examination papers so that you can practise lots of SAT 

questions before the big day (Tuesday 8 th May). These are for sale at 

lunch times between 1.20 pm and 1.40 pm in the Science Prep Room. The 

cost of these is £2.00. Cheques should be made payable to Highcliffe School. 

Remember that there is a limited supply of revision guides that may be borrowed 

from the library. 

Report by Ms Cullen 


Humanities 

Christmas in The 

Trenches 

One evening in December 

Year 9 students and their 

parents had the opportunity 

to see History come 

alive. Students had been 

busy producing projects on 

First World War trenches 

and the evening was the 

first opportunity for everyone 

to see their work. 

Some students 

had 

produced 

thoughtful researchprojects 

on the 

Battle of the 

Somme and 

their Powerpointpresentations 

were 

on show. 

Other students 

had 

made reconstructions 

of 

the trenches themselves. 

Jade Southwell, Abigail 

Stone and Joshua Askew 

were all awarded prizes for 

their trenches as they were 

judged the best by parents 

and students who attended 

the evening. 

There was also information 

Faculty News 

about the first Christmas of 

the war when many of the 

soldiers held an unofficial 

truce and a football match 

was held between the Germans 

and the English. The 

Germans were winning but 

then the match had to be 

abandoned as the ball got 

caught on the barbed wire. 

Report by Ms Barrall 

Imperial War Museum 

On the 14th November 

2006, a group of Year 9 students 

visited the Imperial 

War Museum in 

London. At first 

we separated 

into groups and 

visited the large 

exhibit. There 

were many 

things to look at 

in the exhibit, 

such as weapons, 

war vehicles and 

paintings. After 

the large exhibit 

some of us went 

to the ‘Trench 

experience’. 

When we got 

there an actor, 

posing as 

an old WW1 

soldier told us 

a bit about 

the war, from 

his own 

‘experience’. 

From 

there we 

went into 

the 

‘trench’, 

you could see some 

manikins fashioned to 

look like WW1 soldiers. 

There was also a fairly 

musty smell in the 

trench, and some sound 

effects! Some of the students 

visited the ‘Artefacts 

workshop’, where they 

studied old objects like 

helmets and guns, they 

also watched clips from the 

World Wars. Some students 

managed to get into 

see the ‘Blitz experience’, 

where you were shown 

around by a guide, in an 

old ‘London street’ which 

was being ‘blitzed’. It was 

pretty cool, the ground 

shook and the lights went 

out. This might have been 

really scary however, if 

you had experienced this 

during World War 2. After 

this we went to the WW1 

and WW2 exhibits. 

There were masses of artefacts 

including: signs, 

weapons and paintings, all 

of which were very informative. 

At the meeting 

point there was a huge 

clock that counted all the 

lives lost due to war. It 

was creepy, because every 

time we went back there 

the number had increased. 

It was 

kind of sad, seeing 

how many people 

had died! 

Right at the end of 

the trip we took it 

in turns to visit the 

shops. Of course, 

with any trip, this 

part is very challenging! 

Overall I 

think I have learnt 

a lot from this experience, 

including the 

devastating consequences 

of war and the impact it 

has on many lives. 

Report by Harry Matthews 

(9.2) 


Geography and Social 

Enterprise 

Last term Year 9 Geography 

students learned about 

Development, covering the 

differences between MED- 

C’c and LEDC’s – or More 

Economically Developed 

Countries and Less Economically 

Developed Countries. 

We also looked at the difference 

between relative 

and absolute poverty, the 

benefits of world trade and 

problems of globalisation, 

and the reasons behind the 

trade gap between poor 

and rich countries. 

The unit also studied the 

Millennium Development 

Goals set in the year 2000 

by nearly 200 countries 

round the world in an effort 

to make the world a 

better place. Year 9s 

looked at the progress and 

limits being made regarding 

issues such as infant 

mortality, literacy rates, 

maternal health and combating 

serious diseases 

such as HIV and malaria. 

The Trading Game was a 

way to reflect on the unit 

as a whole and coincided 

with Enterprise Week last 

November – with a focus 

on Social Enterprise. Mr 

Newitt and Ms Kennedy 

worked hard to set up the 

exercise in the Performance 

Hall. 

The aim was to highlight 

how some countries will 

remain poor if the richer 

countries do not take some 

responsibility to make 

changes for humanitarian 

reasons rather than ones 

based on profit. Please 

read the report below to 

find out what happened. 

Trading Game 

“The world economy, a 

hugely complicated balancing 

act, controlling more or 

else everything in the world. 

A system where making the 

right decision means the difference 

between financial 

security or misery for millions; 

a nation’s lasting success 

or complete melt down! 

So imagine my amazement 

when I was asked to write a 

report on it and told to go to 

the Performance Hall. There, 

members of the Humanities 

department were unpacking 

paper, scissors and protractors 

from boxes labelled 

with countries’ names. It 

soon emerged that each box 

represented a nation and 

the items inside them that 

nations resources. Year 9, 

as part of Business and Enterprise 

Week, were about 

to experience ‘The Trading 

Game’. 

The aim of the game is to 

make money by producing, 

and selling different shaped 

paper, the catch being different 

shapes are worth different, 

fluctuating amounts. 

Things were made more realistic 

with certain countries 

having more paper (i.e. raw 

materials) or scissors/ 

protractors (i.e. tools). So 

with nations like the USA 

and Britain trading their excess 

tools with less industrialised 

nations such as such 

as Malaysia and Bolivia for 

raw materials the game began. 

Mr. Newitt was in 

charge of the ‘business news 

white board’ (a job presenting 

CNBC must surely follow) 

deciding the amount 

paid for each shape on a 

supply and demand basis. 

Unfortunately the game was 

realistic even to the lengths 

countries would go to in 

order to succeed. Not 

naming names (China, 

USA and Bolivia) but certain 

groups either stole 

from or deliberately polluted 

the area surrounding 

their neighbours. As industrial 

pollution (paper 

scraps on the floor) resulted 

in a heavy fines on 

the nearest country this 

proved costly to many 

countries. Interestingly, 

whilst being successful legitimately, 

Britain did 

spend a lot of time stealing 

from Bangladesh, India 

and assorted African countries… 

France and South Africa 

ran out overall winners 

with Tanzania making the 

most of all the less economically 

developed countries. 

In the end Ms. Finch, 

Ms. Kennedy and Mr. 

Newitt should take the 

credit for creating an interesting 

(and fun) way of 

showing the supply and 

demand economy in action.” 

Report by Mrs Finch 

and Mark Lockett 

A New Arrival 

The Child Development 

Class would like to announce 

the arrival of a 

bouncy baby girl. Yet to 

be named, the RealCare 

Baby II is a virtual baby, 

weighing in at 6 ½ pounds. 

She will cry, fuss and 

make happy sounds depending 

on her care. The 

virtual baby will be used by 

the students to gain an insight 

into the demanding 

role of caring for a newborn. 

Each student will be caring 

for the baby for 3 days 


over a weekend, collecting 

the baby on a Friday and 

returning her on a Monday 

morning. 

The doll is installed with 

software that records the 

student’s response to the 

Christmas Concert 

On the 18 th and 19 th of December 

2006 Highcliffe 

school hosted a Christmas 

concert. Many students of 

all ages participated in a 

variety of performances 

ranging 

from dance 

to group 

singing. 

There were 

many vocal 

performances 

such 

as ‘Shout’ 

and 

‘Vocalis’ 

singing 

numbers 

such as 

“Let it Be” 

and 

“Joseph 

and his 

Amazing- 

Expressive Arts 

baby’s 

care 

needs. 

Each 

student 

will 

complete 

a 

diary of 

their 

weekend 

and 

will be 

given a 

chance 

to discuss 

the experience. We 

are hoping to select the 

first student after the half 

term - so watch this space 

for her thoughts on virtual 

parenting! 

Report by Mrs Bunnett 

Technicolour Dreamcoat 

and featuring a few select 

soloists. 

Also Miss Clark’s dance 

group performed dances 

to two numbers, “Santa 

Clause is 

Coming to 

town” and 

“Don’t stop 

me now”. Mr 

Banister’s 

Guitar group 

were there 

along with 

the jazz band 

and some 

gifted A-level 

students both 

sang and performed 

on 

musical instruments. 

The cast from 

the forthcom- 

ing musical “Can’t Stop the 

Beat” performed the finale 

to the first act of the concert 

with the song “Can’t 

Stop the Beat” from the 

musical “Hairspray”. Mr 

Gutteridge’s band ‘Mr G 

and the Hot rock Snow 

Men’ were there and they 

gave a stunning performance 

of the old favourite 

“When the Snowman 

Brings the Snow” with a 

little help from the entire 

cast for the Grand Finale. 

Overall a enjoyable evening 

for all! 

Report by 

Georgia Sachs (9.7) 

and Stephen Hutt (9.7) 

Year 9 Dance Festival 

Well done to the Year 9 

girls who performed in a 

dance festival held at 2 

Riversmeet last term. The 

girls had to choreograph a 

five-minute dance and lead 

a set dance for all the participants 

at the festival. 

The girls performed in 

front of a big audience 

with students from Christchurch 

Infants, Mudeford 

Infants, Christchurch Juniors, 

Mudeford Juniors, Priory 

Primary, Highcliffe St 

Mark, Somerford Primary, 

Burton Primary, The 

Grange and Twynham 

School. The girls had been 

rehearsing for weeks after 

school under the direction 

of Miss Clark. On the day 

the girls’ nerves began to 

build but they gave a 

cracking performance and 

were given a huge round 

of applause. I hope the 

students feel proud of their 

achievement as they all 

gave an excellent performance 

and displayed confident 

leadership skills. 

Well done to: 

Jenny Higson, Rachael 

Stone, Lucy Worden, Isa- 


elle Donald, Lucy Coates, 

Antonia Dymond, Amanda 

Alexander, Amelia Alexander, 

Harriet Bailey, Sofia 

Constantinou, Sasha 

Butterfield, Nirvana Warner-Hughes, 

Joanna Bunnett, 

Sian Murphy, Sophie 

Kelleway, Jade Southwell, 

Lauren Coulson, Lucinda 

Coulson 

Report by Miss L Swan & 

Miss A Clark 

Year 9 Girls Rugby 

Tournament 

On Tuesday 13 th February, 

the Year 9 girls rugby team 

will be taking part in a 

rugby festival held at North 

Dorset Rugby Club, Gillingham. 

This is 

the first time 

Highcliffe has 

entered a 

girls rugby 

team for any 

competition/ 

match. The 

girls have 

been practising 

for weeks 

and in the 

run up to the 

festival they 

have even 

been using their lunchtimes. 

They look to be a 

strong team and I wish 

them all the very best. 

Special thanks to Gordon 

Hordsley who has given up 

a lot of time to coach the 

girls. Come on Highcliffe! 

Team members: 

Natalie 

Martin, Carys 

Gallagher, 

Amanda Alexander, 

Hannah 

Golding, Lucy 

Webb, Danielle 

Sparks, Suzie 

Collins, Hannah 

Vincent, Amelia 

Alexander, Amy 

Curry, Sophie Kelleway, 

Alex Calder, Jenny Higson 

Report by Miss L Swan 

Rugby 

On Wednesday 15th November, 

Highcliffe's U14 Rugby 

Team travelled to St Peters 

Southbourne Site to play in 

the annual Bournemouth 

District Rugby Tournament. 

Some 10 schools entered 

the event which started at 

11.00am and ended after 

the final at 3.00pm. 

Having won their group, 

Highcliffe prepared to play 

Arnewood in the final, who 

had got through on tries 

scored in a tight group A. It 

was in the final that Highcliffe's 

U14 played their best 

rugby. Linking the forwards 

and the backs with intelligence, 

pace and power. 

Tries from Calum Marrs x 2, 

Mat Wiles and Will Baughan 

led to a 26-0 victory. It was 

a very strong performance 

that all the players can be 

proud of. Over the day 

they had won the event 

without conceding a point. 

A fantastic and very difficult 

achievement. Congratulations 

to the players 

involved. I look forward to 

some more fixtures in the 

new year. Well done! 

I would also like to pass on 

my many thanks to the 

team’s parents whose tremendous 

support added to 

a highly successful and enjoyable 

day for the students 

involved. 

Team: Dan Hancock, Rhys 

Frampton, Matthew Mabey, 

James Olsen, Calum Marrs, 

Will Baughan (c), James 

Runnalls, Ryan Dunlop, Peter 

Crowley, Matt Wiles, 

Phil Sparks, James O'Callaghan, 

Will Fry, Luke Taylor, 

Jamie Rogers, Matt 

Bramwell & Josh Harris 

Report by Mr Dean 

Year 9 Basketball: 

League Champions 2007 

The Year 9 Basketball 

team continued to grow in 

strength over the course of 

the year based on the fact 

that the team continue to 

want to improve their 

game. They could have 

rested on their laurels, as 

they haven't lost a game in 

over 2 years! However, Mr 

Hallam saw good numbers 

continually show up for 

training on a Friday lunchtime. 

This enabled the excellent 

results throughout 

the season, as come match 

day all the other school 

and made particularly progress. 

What was also very 

pleasing was the fact that 

Highcliffe put out an A and 

B team for every single fix- 


ture. 

Will Baughan captained the 

side with considerable skill, 

and ended up being the 

top points scorer for the 

season. But it was really 

down to great teamwork 

between the whole squad 

that won us the league. 

Calum Marrs stepped up to 

the mark in the absence of 

Will Baughan in the last 

game of the season with a 

dominant display, which 

helped win the game. Will 

Fry continued to make 

darting runs down the 

right flank scoring some 

Correct Equipment 

Please make sure you are 

organised for class and 

properly equipped. Each 

Maths teacher is now able 

to sell basic Maths equipment. 

Or enter the Maths 

challenge every 2 weeks 

on the plasma screens 

around school, you could 

then win a geometry set! 

Chess Club 

Calling all players—Chess 

Club has now started. 

Mr Callear runs it on 

Wednesday lunch times in 

IT4. All are welcome, from 

beginners to advanced. 

quite unlikely baskets. 

Jamie Runnalls always 

scored under real pressure 

when needed. David Johnson, 

probably the best 

pound for pound player on 

the pitch, grew in stature 

throughout the season. 

Mitchell East played superbly, 

and led from the 

front for the B team, scoring 

many different baskets from 

range. Arran Hemish, Steven 

Alton and Jeremy Saunders 

showed great awareness 

on court, and enforced 

tactical changes. And a final 

mention to Phil Sparks who, 

on his return from repre- 

Mathematics/ICT 

It is not just a fun game, it 

teaches analytic thinking, 

concentration skills and 

mathematical strategy. 

Can you beat Mr Lose ex 

county and staff champion? 

Puzzle Club 

Will be starting soon in Ma1. 

Play your favourite mathematical 

games such as connect 

4 and mastermind. 

Learn ancient games that 

are still popular now or 

practise modern puzzles 

such as Sudoku. Test yourself 

with the example on the 

following page. 

Report by Mr 

Burgan 

Moving from 

Year 9 to Year 

10 in ICT. 

DiDA at Highcliffe. 

“...designed to 

senting the United Kingdom 

in the World Sailing 

Championships in Uruguay, 

ran down the final seconds 

of the clock and Highcliffe 

won the league title. 

Players: 

Will Fry, Mat Mabey, Will 

Baughan, Jamie Runnalls, 

Jeremy Saunders, 

Scott Woodbridge, Phil 

Sparks, David Johnson, 

Mitch East, Steven Alton, 

Arran Hemish, 

Callum Marrs, Josh Harris, 

James Olsen. 

stimulate students’ creativity 

and develop real-world, 

practical skills…” 

What is DiDA? 

DiDA is the Diploma in 

Digital Applications, a 

revolutionary suite of three 

paperless qualifications 

from Edexcel that focuses 

on the practical application 

of technology 

Why do DiDA? 

DiDA qualifications prepare 

students for the real world 

of work or further education. 

They are designed to 

stimulate students’ creativity, 

developing real-world, 

practical skills that will motivate 

learning across a 

wide range of subjects. 

What qualifications will 

you get? 

As a suite of qualifications, 


DiDA offers: 

Award (AiDA), which is 

equivalent to one GCSE. 

Certificate (CiDA) which is 

equivalent to two GCSEs. 

The full Diploma (DiDA), 

equivalent to four GCSEs. 

So how does it work? 

You have already started!! 

We are all in Year 9 currently 

working on the 

Theme Park Project which 

is a practice project designed 

to teach the skills 

that are vital to achieve 

the DiDA qualification in 

Years 10 and 11. 

If you choose ICT as an option 

you will be entered for 

the CiDA qualification leading 

to 2 GCSEs. 

but the good news is that 

even if you don’t make ICT 

your option choice you can 

still achieve 1 GCSE in this 

subject because you will still 

have one lesson a week and 

will be entered for the AiDA 

qualification. 

This qualification can also be 

continued in the Sixth Form, 

working towards the full diploma. 

Sudoku 

And finally, what do our 

current Year 10’s think 

of DiDA? 

“A great experience” – Jamie 

Stanbury 

“It’s fun… it’s easy… it’s 

DiDA” – Chris Banks 

“You will learn programs 

that you will actually use in 

real life” – Ryan Flanagan 

“A good experience for 

those who want to go into 

the computer business” – 

Ross Burridge 

“The tasks are well written 

and easy to understand” – 

Ryan Lawrence 

Report by Mrs Prince 

Rules: 

Place a digit (1 to 9) in each empty cell, so every row, every column and 

every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. 

Tip use a pencil not a pen so that errors can be erased. 


Science 

Einstein’s Pants 

On the 7 th February all students 

from our year group 

viewed a performance by a 

theatre company that 

helped to raise our awareness 

of Global Warming. 

We then got involved in 

discussions about the most 

important problems and 

solutions to this issue. 

The theatre company 

called ‘Solomon Productions’ 

presented a 

play in a fun and easy 

way for us to understand. 

I came away 

with a far better 

knowledge on the effects 

Global Warming 

has on our lives. 

Many thanks to Mark Hyde, 

Joel Sams and Jade 

English 

‘Much Ado About Nothing’ 

The English Faculty are delighted 

to inform Year 9 

that the Arty – Fact Theatre 

Company will be performing 

an inspiring version 

of Shakespeare’s 

‘Much Ado About Nothing’ 

in preparation for the 2007 

SATs. 

The performance incorporates: 

Key Themes and Images 

Clearly Defined Characters 

Essential Plot Line 

Expertly Abridged Text 

KS3 Friendly Direction 

This will be a one and a 

half hours production, in 

Attention 

all Y10 Students and Parents: 

Year 10 Science GCSE exam 

The exam date for 

Unit 3 Additional Science, which all Y10 

will take, has been changed by OCR 

from 20/6/07 to Thursday 14/6/07 pm 

Donohue for their 

excellent performance 

Report by Fenella 

Courage 

Space Club 

If you have an interest 

in space or 

the universe then 

this is the place for you. 

the hall, on the 30 th March. 

Report by Mrs Pearson 

Get Reading! 

"I don't like reading!" or "I 

can't find anything to 

read!" are common moans 

from students whatever 

the year group. And yet, 

as I frequently point out to 

students, one of the single 

most effective things a 

student can do to improve 

their English and general 

understanding of the world 

is read. In our heart 

of hearts, many of us know 

this, but are not sure what 

to do about it. What's 

more, many students want 

to read, but there are 

more and more distractions. 

Ironically, we are living in 

Tuesdays - 3:30 – 4:15 

in Sc1. Find out about 

space travel, why stars 

twinkle, how stars burn, 

how the universe started. 

Just a few of the questions 

that are asked all the time. 

So if you want to be a real 

Space Cadet … come and 

join us! 

Report by Mrs Barclay 

a period when more books 

are being published for 

children than ever before. 

So what's the problem? 

Many of us want to read; 

we know it's a good idea 

and there's plenty to 

choose from. In fact, it's 

this final point that is often 

the nub the problem. With 

so much to choose from, 

we don't know where to 

start. We're like a mouse 

given the keys to a cheese 

shop. We nibble a bit here, 

lose interest, and nibble it 

a bit from somewhere else, 

but never really get anywhere. 

To help students to make a 

choice, make a point of 

looking at the recommended 

reading lists in the 

library or ask your teacher. 

Another thing a student 


Literacy Quiz 

Commas are a frequent bugbear of students. Where 

should the commas go in these sentences if they are to 

make sense? 

1. If a pregnant woman smokes her baby will be damaged. 

2. She is a famous singer whilst her husband remains 

unknown. 

3. In the valley below the villages looked small. 

can do is look at the following 

great website - I 

defy any student to come 

away from this website 

without having found a 

book that would interest 

them! 

The website's called "coolreads". 

It's made by 11- 

16 year olds for 11-16 

year olds. It lists all different 

books by genre , so if 

it's "sport" you're into then 

you can look up all the fiction 

books about "sport". If 

it's "animals" then you can 

look up fiction books about 

"animals" and so on. 

What's great about the site 

though is that you can 

read reviews of these 

books written by 11-16 

year olds. This all helps 

you make a good choice. 

Go on! Give it a try! You 

won't be disappointed! The 

site address is: 

www.cool-reads.co.uk/ 

Report by Mr Bryden 

Web Sites to Support 

Your Reading 

www.aboutteens.org 

Teen site including reviews 

and links 

www.booktrusted.com 

Young Book Trust 

www.cool-reads.co.uk/ 

Cool Reads, hundreds of 

recommendations from 10- 

15 year olds. 

http://kotn.ntu.ac.uk/index. 

htm 

Kids on the Net, includes interviews 

with authors, book 

reviews and young people’s 

own writing. 

www.poetryzone.co.uk 

Lots of activities and links. 

www.storiesfromtheweb. 

org/sfwhomepage.htm 

Aimed at children 8-11 

years – very interactive 

award winning site. 

Calling all budding authors 

and poets! 

Always dreamed of being fa- 

mous? Fancy having your 

work published? Now’s 

your chance to make those 

dreams come true. 

Due to the recent success 

in the Young Writers narrative 

and poetry competitions, 

the English Department 

have decided to create 

a ‘Highcliffe Anthology’. 

We need YOU! Or, more 

specifically, any poems or 

stories that you are particularly 

proud of and wish 

to be considered for publication. 

The anthology aims to reflect 

some of the outstanding 

talent we have in 

the school - from Year 7 

through to Year 13. 

Please submit work electronically 

to hpearson@hs 

Work submitted must be 

your own work, and no 

longer than 30 lines for poems 

and 500 words for 

stories. 

We are looking forward to 

reading your work! 

On the following pages are 

examples of Year 9 work 

in English. 

We hope you enjoy them as 

much as we did. 

Mrs Gabony 


”Success is a Lifestyle Choice!” 

Special Supplement—Year 9 SATs 

Year 9 Booster Classes 

The Year 9 National Curriculum Tests this year run from 

Tuesday 8 th – Friday 11 th May 2007. Could all parents 

please ensure that their children are present in school on 

these days. 

To help our students to prepare themselves for these 

tests, the English, Mathematics and Science Faculties will be once again running 

booster classes. The purpose of these optional extra sessions is to help the students 

to focus on areas for revision and to prepare themselves for the tests. 

These booster classes will run after school and are open to all students, who will 

be taught in ability groups. Over the last few years they have been very well attended 

by students and have been an invaluable aid to helping students prepare 

for the National Curriculum tests. As a school we strongly encourage all students 

to attend. 

Details of the sessions are as follows, more specific information can be found in 

the relevant ‘Faculty News’ section of this issue: 

English 

Mondays 3.30pm – 4.30pm starting on 19 th March until 30 th April, 2007 and on the 

morning of Saturday 28 th April, 9.30am – 11.30am. 

Mathematics 

Tuesdays 3.30pm – 4.30pm starting on 13 th March until 1 st May 2007. 

Science 

Wednesdays 3.30pm – 4.30pm starting on 28 th February until 28 th March 2007. 

A letter outlining these sessions has been sent out to all Year 9 parents. If you 

would like your son/daughter to attend booster classes in these subjects, please 

complete the reply slips attached to the letter and ask your son/daughter to return 

them to their English, Mathematics and Science teachers. 

As well as offering a general invitation to all Year 9 students to attend booster sessions, 

the English and Science faculties will be personally inviting targeted students 

to attend booster sessions. If this applies to your son/daughter, you will receive 

additional letters from these subject 

areas. 

If you would like any further information, 

please do not hesitate to 

contact either Mr Garner or Mr Yapp 

via the School Office. 

H2U Supplement, “Success is a lifestyle choice” - February 2007 Page i

• Preparation is everything: make sure you know well in advance 

what to expect in the exam so that you can target your revision effectively. 

• Find somewhere quiet and free from clutter where you can work 

without being disturbed. 

• Make a revision timetable. Plan it carefully. Time spent here will 

save you lots of time later on. 

• Be realistic in what you’re going to attempt. Don’t spend all night 

on one subject. Variety will keep your mind fresh. 

• Use the revision guides. They are specifically designed for the 

SATs. Get a recommendation for your subject from your teacher. 

• Don't just copy out your notes. Jot ideas onto cards. Draw diagrams 

too - they're easier to remember when you’re actually in the 

exam. Put key words and phrases on sticky notes around the 

house, so you'll see them often. 

• Don't do it all on your own. A problem shared is a problem 

halved. So, get friends and family to help: put a copy of your revision 

timetable up in the kitchen. Revision with a friend is great - 

you can share ideas and help each other. Two brains are better 

than one! 

• As the exams get closer, decide whether you should refine your 

timetable. Focus on the areas in which you are weakest. 

• Ask your teachers for some past papers to see what kind of questions 

you'll get. Allow time to practise under exam conditions if possible. 

• Do allow yourself lots of breaks. Short concentrated bursts are 

more effective than staring at a computer screen for hours. Eat 

well, drink lots of water and rest when you’re tired. 

… and finally: 

Revision 

Tips 

Good luck! 

(although if you follow these guidelines luck will have 

nothing to do with it!) 

H2U Supplement, “Success is a lifestyle choice” - February 2007 Page ii

Attendance leads to success! 

If a Highcliffe student is absent less than one day a month, they have a 

87% chance of getting 5 A*s - Cs. 

Or put another way, if a student misses less than 7 days (including holidays, illness, 

etc) in the year up to May, they have almost 9 chances in 10 of getting 5 A*s - Cs. 

If a Highcliffe student is absent less than one day a fortnight, they have a 

75% chance of getting 5 A*s - Cs 

Or put another way, if a student misses less than 15 days (including holidays, illness, 

etc) in the year up to May, they have almost 8 chances in 10 of getting 5 A*s - Cs. 

If a Highcliffe student is absent once a week or more, they have 

only a 20% chance of getting 5 A*s - Cs 

Or put another way, if a student misses more than 30 days (including holidays, 

illness, etc) in the year up to May, they have only 2 chances in 10 

of getting 5 A*s - Cs. 

What goes for KS4 also is true for KS3, so…. 

Congratulations to the following Year 9 students for achieving 

100% attendance in the Autumn Term! 

9.2: Lucy Coates, Arran Hemish, Andrew Rooke. 

9.4: Victoria Blackmore, Antonia Dymond, Adam Horwich. 

9.5: Liam Flower, Natalie Martin. 

9.6: Phillip beal, Rhys Frampton, Holly Grisdale. 

9.7: Daniel Williams. 9.8: Neil Chapman, Carys Gallagher. 

Merits 

Merits: Which Tutor Group is winning? 

1600 

1400 

1200 

1000 

800 

600 

400 

200 

0 

357 360 330 

Year 9 Merits February 8th 2007 

536 

1504 

1190 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

Tutor Group 

Don’t forget to cash in your merits in the Library on Monday, Thursday 

and Friday lunchtimes! 

Check your organiser – have you got merits you need to cash in? 

H2U Supplement, “Success is a lifestyle choice” - February 2007 Page iii 

527 

895

The Key Stage 3 Highcliffe Challenge 

One of the School’s most important methods for students recording 

and gaining recognition for their activities is the Highcliffe Challenge. 

This covers all activities that students are involved in, both 

outside the classroom at Highcliffe and in the wider community. 

The Highcliffe Challenge is an online system for recording all these 

activities. The full list of challenges in each key stage can be found 

on www.MyHighcliffe.com. 

As we near the end of Key Stage 3 for this year group, 178 Year 9 

students have started on the Key Stage 3 Highcliffe Challenge and 

11 have completed it. 

As this edition of H2U shows, there are many, many different activities 

taking place at Highcliffe throughout the year. I would like 

to encourage all Year 9 students to regularly review their involvement 

in school life (as well as the activities they take part in outside 

of school) and use these to apply to pass the different 

‘challenges’. Hopefully all the activities reported in this edition of 

H2U will help many more Year 9 students on their way to pass the 

Highcliffe Challenge before the end of the school year! 

H2U Supplement, “Success is a lifestyle choice” - February 2007 Page iv

Dear Friend, 

ARE YOU STRESSED OUT? Feeling jaded by consumerism? Why not take a street retreat- the 

ultimate alternative mini break. It’s more cleansing than a spa, and offer three days of sleeping 

rough, smelling bad and begging for survivall. You too can get an authentic taste of homelessness! 

-- Perhaps this is an UNFAIR portrayal of homelessness but an accurate picture of the purgatory 

it is to live, sleep and eat on the street. And IT’S EVERYWHERE As all you have to do is look 

around you to see those condemned to life and death on the streets! 

The worst of it is that homelessness is on the rise, thanks to drugs, domestic violence, debt 

and redundancy. So that between the years 2002 to 2004 homelessness rose in Britain from 

89,400 people to over 97,300. Meaning an increase of over 7,900 people living on the streets, 

a percentage of over 8%! 

Imagine this:- very recently we found a small boy, his name was Tom and he was aged just 

eleven, although he had been on the streets from the age of just eight, thrown out during a cold 

winter by his mother who had abused and mistreated Tom. Along side all this, his Mum was mentally 

unstable and suffered with severe depression, she was on anti-depressants and had a very 

bad drink problem. After Tom was thrown out, his mother committed suicide by hanging herself 

from a bridge. Meanwhile, Tom was huddled in just a thin cotton shirt in a bus shelter not far 

from the bridge. Moreover he was frozen, he was lost and the only thing he owned was the thin 

clothes that were the only thing that protected him from the bitter cold. 

In effect, over the next three years Tom was beaten, robbed, harassed and manically depressed. 

However, miraculously he lived… He lived out of bins, from change he either found or begged for 

and slept in bus shelters subways and train stations. He lived for the hope that someday, someone 

would come to his aid… and eventually, they did. 

When we found him he was depressed, bruised, under nourished, and almost suicidal. He hated 

the world and was on the brink of killing himself. Therefore, we gave him a home, foster parents, 

food, and most importantly… hope. Consequently, he is now back in school, he has friends, he 

has family, he has hope… 

We are Help the Homeless, and that is exactly what we do! We have many volunteers all over the 

country, who change lives by giving people a second chance in life. Nonetheless we cannot do it 

by ourselves. We need your help! 

But how? I hear you say. How can I help the thousands having to beg for survival, sleeping 

through cold dark nights with the constant fear of being attacked or raped. 

• You can help. 

• You can make a difference. 

• You can change lives. 

• We can do it together. 

ACT BEFORE HOMELESSNESS TAKES HOLD. HELP THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SENTENCED TO 

DEATH! 

Just two pounds a month will help the vulnerable men, women, children sentenced to 

life on the streets. 

Just Call 10293847566574839201 today. 

Do a good deed today! Do something new! Give to a worthy cause and HELP THE HOMELESS today! 

by Thomas Smith (9.7) 


First Chapter of the Sequel to ‘Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry’ 

After what had happened over the past year, I was feeling a little relieved to have a 

break from it all. I sat on the porch, watching the setting sun on the horizon. There 

was a cool breeze in the air, the aftermath of last week’s storm. It felt like life was finally 

going to return to normal. Well, as normal as it would get for us. The only thing 

missing was TJ. 

Although I had never really liked him, he was almost a part of me that I always expected 

to be there. 

After the sheriff and Mr Jamison had taken him away that fearful night, he had remained 

in custody. This was only due to Mr Jamison, who was using all the power he 

had to keep him there, instead of letting TJ go straight to prison. 

Even as I was thinking about him, I knew Mr Jamison would be sitting in his office, 

trying to compile a court case for TJ. But we all knew it was going to be hard. There 

wasn’t much in the way of evidence, and most of what there was pointed towards TJ 

as the culprit. As for any witnesses, they were all white people. 

“It ain’t fair,” I said to mamma. “Why does TJ have to go to court? He ain’t done 

nuthin’ wrong!” 

Mamma sat next to me and pulled me into her lap. “Sometimes, Cassie, life jus’ ain’t 

fair. When you are older, then you’ll understand better. Life is complicated,” she answered. 

As I looked out at the singed cotton field, I was reminded of papa, and his bravery 

that dreadful night. A tear rolled down my cheek and I thought of him down in Louisiana, 

working all day on the railroad. He had left a few days after the incident, hoping 

that he still had a job after all the time he had been away. We needed the money to 

pay for our food and taxes. I just wished that he didn’t have to go. 

Stacey emerged from the forest; his head was lowered, and he dragged his feet. Every 

day so far this week, he had gone into the forest where the small peaceful lake was. 

He would sit there all day, thinking. Whenever I tried to talk to him, he would just tell 

me to go away. 

“Mamma,” I asked, “why does Stacey just sit in the forest all day?” 

“Because he misses TJ,” she replied softly, “and he feels it’s his fault that all of this 

has happened.” But it wasn’t his fault. I thought – it was that RW and Melvin’s fault. 

They were the ones that had gotten TJ into all this business in the first place. 

Mama left and went into the kitchen to check on the dinner. The smell of it enticed me 

inside and I sat down at the table, followed by Little Man and Christopher John. Stacey 

soon joined us, but no one said anything. 

In bed that night, I thought about how I could cheer Stacey up. I didn’t like it when he 

was gloomy and sad. Everything seemed confusing, especially as Big Ma usually spent 

all day at the Averys now, helping and comforting Mrs Avery. 

When I awoke the next morning, I heard a strange voice coming from the kitchen. I 

went in to see who was there. A strange white man was standing there, talking to 

mamma. They didn’t see me as I crept into the room, and I decided not to disturb 

their conversation. 


“You say David sent you?” mamma asked. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied gently. “Said you were having a spot of trouble with a young 

black friend of yours.” Mamma looked a little taken aback by this. I quickly ran into the 

boys’ room and woke them all up. “Hey y’all! Wake up!” I cried excitedly. They all 

groaned at me but eventually got up. I told them about the new visitor and we rushed 

into the other room to find out more about him. “Ah, children – your papa has sent a 

visitor,” mamma told us. “Hey there!” he said. “I’m Mr Avonberry.” We all suddenly 

seemed a bit shy of him. The only white man that we trusted was Mr Jamison. We had 

learned to be wary of white men. 

When he had left, mamma explained to us that he was a lawyer from Louisiana. He had 

heard from papa about the incident with TJ and he had come to help us. He was a good 

lawyer and had earned himself a respectable reputation in Louisiana. He had decided to 

come and help the small black community with their problem, down here in Mississippi. 

This was the help we needed. The help that TJ needed. When Stacey heard the news, joy 

sprang through his body. He was filled with hope. We all were. 

As the weeks went by, we felt a little better, knowing that we had helped TJ in some way. 

Stacey, especially, walked around in a pleasanter mood, and no longer cut himself off 

from the rest of us. 

Mr Avonberry visited a few times in the week, to gather evidence and talk to each of us 

about what had happened. I was a little alarmed that he wanted to talk to me as I had 

barely been a part of anything that had happened, but he wanted to know my opinion, 

and so I told him, as truthfully as I could, what I had witnessed happening. He also asked 

about what TJ was like and who he hung around with before all this happened. 

************** 

There were now only three days until the court case and Mr Avonberry had gathered as 

much evidence as he could. He would now be sitting in Mr Jamison’s office, compiling a 

report about the incident. TJ had been so lucky that papa had found Mr Avonberry and 

sent him down here. If it weren’t for papa then TJ would not have even a glimmer of 

hope at the moment. It was not that Mr Jamison wasn’t a good lawyer, of course, but Mr 

Avonberry had more experience and training than he had. 

The day of the court case dawned bright and clear. I awoke early for some reason, and 

so did everyone else it seemed. We started our daily chores around the fields, eager to 

keep ourselves busy and stop us thinking about what was happening. We all knew it 

would be a long day. Around midday, we were all sitting on the porch. All the chores had 

been done and we were waiting to hear from Mr Avonberry about how it had all gone. 

Although he was not due back for a few hours yet, none of us wanted to leave the porch 

in case he came whilst we were gone. Eventually – after three long hours of waiting – a 

car pulled up on the lawn. Mr Avonberry got out, followed by Mr Jamison. They were 

wearing serious expressions on their faces. They came up to the porch and sat down, 

looking at our eager and expectant faces. 

“I don’t know what to say,” started Mr Jamison. “I don’t want to upset you all … “ 

“We lost the case,” Mr Avonberry continued. “There were just too many people against 

us, with stronger evidence too. We did everything in our power that we could, but … “ 

His voice tailed off as he looked at our disappointed faces. 

“So what will happen now?” mamma asked shakily. 

“He has been sentenced to the chain gang, I’m afraid. I am so sorry,” he said. 

Stacey fled to his room; he was unable to stop the tears spurting down his face. I knew 

how badly he was taking this. 

This was the end for TJ. Soon, we would have to say our last goodbyes. 

By Amy Gilbert (9.6) 


Modern Foreign Languages 

Year 9 MFL students: 

Open Evening 

As part of this special H2U 

issue I would like to take 

this opportunity to celebrate 

the enormous contributions 

a group of Year 9 

MFL students made to the 

open evening in 2006 by 

playing an active role in 

the organisation of an international 

café in the languages’ 

corridor. 

When I asked students 

who are studying German 

and French in Year 9 if 

they were interested in 

taking part in an International 

Café I was overwhelmed 

by the enthusiastic 

response! While preparing 

for the evening the 

group of students gave up 

many lunch hours in the 

IT room in order to prepare 

menus in foreign languages, 

design advertising 

posters and leaflets and 

researching food items in 

German, French, Spanish 

and Italian! On the night 

my café team turned up 

smartly dressed as waiter 

and waitresses ( with their 

own name tags ) an hour 

before opening time and 

helped with the final 

preparations. All cakes 

baked by the girls and 

myself looked so delicious 

that most of the 

food could have been 

sold to staff before the 

actual opening! 

Finally the first guests 

arrived and the “team 

sprang into action”. 

Due to its success the 

café even had to extend 

its opening 

hours… 

A lot of customers commented 

on our Highcliffe 

students and praised them 

for their conduct during the 

evening. I have to add that I 

was very proud of my team 

watching them serving customers 

with such confidence 

and I am looking forward to 

more events with them!!! 

Ein herzliches Dankeschön 

sagt dem “Traumteam”, allen 

Kunden und Schülern 

Frau Weidemann 

Here is an article about the 

international café written by 

Issy Donald (9.3) and 

Lucy Worden (9.3): 

“For the open evening in 

2006 we took part in the International 

Café as waiter 

and waitresses. 

We found doing the International 

Café was a different, 

yet really enjoyable experience. 

It was the highlight of 

the evening! It gave the 

Year 6 students and parents 

a real taste of languages at 

Highcliffe. We got lots of 

customers who were very 

impressed by handmade 

menus and food which was 

mostly homemade. 

Our German skills were 

challenged when we had to 

speak to the customers. It 

was hard work but the café 

turned out to be a big success!” 

Thanks to everyone who 

made the evening great: 

Lauren Parker-Perry, Issy 

Donald, Hannah Russell, 

Lucy Worden, Leigh-Ann 

Chandler, Alex Wooding, 

Sarah Hemming, Josh Harris, 

Sam Le Faux and Miss 

Weidemann. 

Year 9 teach in Open 

evening 

There was a fantastic response 

to the year 9 

Young Language Leaders 

offer of taster sessions on 

Open Evening last October. 

Eight Year 9 students offered 

to teach French, German, 

Italian or Spanish to 

parents and Year 6 students 

so that they could 

get a flavour of what 

learning a language is like. 

The students worked brilliantly 

to teach the topic of 

‘Animals’ using flashcards, 

cuddly toys and different 

games and activities. 

There was a real buzz in 

the classroom and I would 

like to thank them for their 

hard work and effort! 

European Day of Languages 

In registration, 

we went 

around all the 

Year 7 

classes and 

told them 

about the 

quiz that we 

had made. 

Others of us 

had put up 

posters with 

a country’s 

flag, currency, 

capital 


city and language. They 

then had a sheet with the 

names of the countries on 

and they had to find all the 

missing information. They 

could do the quiz at break 

time and then come and 

see us in ML3 at lunchtime. 

The first 10 got a big 

prize as well as 2 merits 

and some chocolate. The 

others who came after got 

2 merits, a sticker and 

some chocolate. We enjoyed 

using stamps 

and the Year 7s learnt 

about European countries. 

Report by 

Carys Gallagher(9.8) 

and Amy Curry (9.8) 

What the rest of the 

school did 

On Tuesday 26th September, 

Highcliffe 

School took part in European 

Day of Languages. 

We interviewed two 

Year 9 students, Fern Howard 

and Sarah Stocker, 

to find out what they did 

on the day. 

Year 9 all got stickers 

saying ‘’Speak to Me’’ in all 

sorts of European Languages, 

and in tutor time they 

talked about European Day 

of Languages. Also, they 

had to answer the register 

in a different language 

(one that they don’t learn 

in school). Sarah answered 

in Spanish and Fern answered 

in French. All of 

Year Nine enjoyed finding 

out about different countires 

and cultures. 

Report by 

Samantha Millard (9.8) 

and Claire Kendall (9.8) 

French Exchange with 

Cholet 2007 

Calling all Year 9 students 

of French! 

In June of this year we intend 

to take between 20 

and 24 students from Year 

9 to Cholet in Western 

France for a week on our 

annual exchange. This has 

been extremely successful 

over the last 4 years since 

its inception and has become 

a very popular part 

of the 

Language 

College 

calendar. 

The 

group 

will 

travel by 

train 

from 


to 

Cholet: 

by Eurostar from London 

through the Channel Tunnel 

to Lille and then by 

TGV to Angers. We transfer 

to a local train for the 

last few kilometres to 

Cholet. 

During our stay we hope to 

travel to Paris for a day’s 

sightseeing to include the 

Eiffel Tower, the Arc de 

Triomphe and a boat trip 

on the Seine. Another day 

out with our penfriends 

will be to either 

the Puy du Fou 

or to Futuroscope, 

the innovative 

theme park devoted 

to film and the 

moving image. The 

collège Trémolières 

itself will provide 

plenty of activities 

including a picnic 

and a tour of the 

area by mountain 

bike and we will 

time our visit to coincide 

with their fun sports day: 

Trémosports. 

Students who wish to take 

part in this exchange 

should be able to host a 

French partner for a week 

in October in return. 

French skills must be good 

enough to communicate 

essential messages and 

students should be sociable 

and friendly. Have a 

word with your parents to 

see if you can join us. 

Watch out for the initial 

letters from Mr Hill, or better 

still, go and chat to him 

about your interest. We already 

have the names and 

details of the 24 French 

children wishing to make 

the exchange – will you be 

one of the English students 

travelling to Cholet? 

Report by Mr Hill 


Design 

and 

Technology 

The Design & 

Technology 

Faculty is 

pleased to 

invite you to 


Castle for an 

exhibition of 

student work. 

The exhibition 

runs until 25th 

February. 

Do come 

along. We are 

proud of our 

students, 

proud of their 

work and we 

would love to 

share it with 

you all. 


A number of 

Year 9 students 

took 

part in the trip 

to Hiroshima 

last term, 

namely –Philip 

Beal, Joshua 

Harris and 

James O’Callaghan. 

They took 

part in a variety 

of activities—asdetailed 

in our 

last issue. 

Not least of these was the 

trip to UNITAR where they 

had the honour of meeting 

The 

International 

Dimension 

Hiroshima and Highcliffe 

Exchange trip to Como 

This October twenty students 

from Years eight and 

nine participated in our 

third exchange visit to 

Como, Italy. 

The ‘Istituto Orsoline 

San Carlo 

Lake Como 

both 

Archbishop 

Desmond 

Tutu and 

the Dalai 

Lama. 

They all 

had a wonderfulexperience 

in 

Japan and 

they are 

now looking 

forward to 

welcoming 

their partnerstudents 

to 

Highcliffe in March. 

Report by Mr Bryden 

Spirits were high on the 

outgoing trip and, as the 

Italian Alps loomed high on 

the horizon, the students 

began to feel slightly nerv- 

The school sees its responsibilities as a Language College 

as going beyond the teaching of languages. It is about 

giving our young people a true sense of the world at large 

as well as their responsibilities and their opportunities 

within it. A vital component of this is the development of 

links with our partner schools whether via electronic 

technology or by the use of personal experience. 

Teaching English 

songs to Italian 

schoolchildren 

On the terraces 

of Milan’s 

‘Duomo’ 

ous about the prospect of 

spending the first evening 

with their host families. 

On our departure it was 

clear from the reaction of 

all involved that such fears 

were completely unfounded, 

that the trip had 

been a success and that 

the participants were looking 

forward to the return 

visit in March. The majority 

of participants had made a 

real effort to immerse 

themselves in the Italian 

culture and had been 

warmly received by their 

hosts. 

Although the English students 

were looking forward 

to going home and recounting 

what they had 

experienced in Italy, the 

resounding sentiment between 

exchange partners 

and families was ‘Ci mancherà 

tanto!’ (‘We’ll really 

miss you!’). 

Report by Miss Court 


Drama 

It is always pleasing to 

hear of Highcliffe Students 

who show initiative, 

both within and 

outside school. Here is a 

report from Ebony Day 

(Tutor Group 9.1). 

“Last Year I 

started an outside 

Drama Group 

called ‘Youngstar’. 

I have also recently 

been to an 

audition with an 

agency. A couple 

of weeks later I 

had a letter offering 

to have me in the 

agency. I hope this will 

help me to succeed in a 

career in acting.” 

Cross Country 

On the 30th November I 

ran in the Cross-Country 

Championship Event at 

Kings’ Park in Bournemouth. 

I was in the 

Junior Girls category, 

running a 3350m course 

against runners from all 

over the district. It was 

a very long and tiring 

course but I managed to 

come 8 th out of 70 runners. 

This means that I 

will be competing, representing 

Bournemouth, 

in the next round at 

Kingston Maurward 

where I will be joined by 

Alice Curtin who also ran 

very well. I would like 

to thank the PE staff for 

all their help, advice and 

...high, higher, Highcliffe 

support. 

Report by 

Hannah Vincent 

(Tutor Group 9.2) 

Dancing 

I have been dancing since 

the age of 5. I have lessons 

weekly at the Wessex 

Association of Dancing 

where I have studied 

Tap, Ballet, Jazz and 

modern Theatre styles. 

An annual show (see 

photo) is put on in November 

at the Pavilion 

Theatre in Bournemouth. 

Other shows take place in 

smaller venues in March 

each year. Recently our 

dance school was lucky 

enough to be recorded 

during our Tap lesson 

for a report on ‘Meridian 

Tonight’. It will be the 

first to air as part of a 

series on different dance 

styles starting 

this month. I 

really enjoy 

dancing as it 

is a great way 

to keep fit, 

have fun and 

socialise with 

different people. 

Report by 

Fenella Courage 


Art Competition 

Sofia Constantinou 


entered a Peace Poster 

competition last 

July. She won the competition 

for the Christchurch 

area and went 


through to the District 

(South West) heat. She 

won at this stage and 

her entry has now been 

sent to the National 

heat! If she wins here, 

the poster will be judged 

at an international 

level. She is waiting to 

hear the result. If she 

wins, she will receive a 

fantastic prize - a trip to 

New York and 1000 dollars 

spending 

money. Good luck 

Sofia - a fantastic design. 

The ‘Different Conditions’ 

Assembly 

Tutor group 9.5 organised 

an assembly about 

different conditions that 

exist in the school. We 

decided as a group to 

get a message across to 

Year 9, people with different 

conditions should 

not be treated any differently 

to those without. 

I felt that this assembly 

had an important 

meaning because it 

created an understanding 

to different disabilities. 

Everybody became involved 

in this assembly 

and all were given different 

parts to play. I 

created a power point 

presentation where I 

thoroughly researched 

each condition. This was 

played at the beginning 

with music supplied by 

Greg Ives. We chose the 

song ‘Everybody Hurts’ 

by REM because the 

words fitted appropri- 

ately to the topic of the 

assembly. 

We explained about the 

important conditions that 

exist in the school ranging 

from mental to physical 

disabilities. Everybody 

who took part in the assembly 

took it seriously. 

The assembly went well 

as everybody who attended 

had their full concentration 

and became 

more aware of all the 

conditions mentioned. 

As I have a condition 

called Ataxia, I feel more 

comfortable that everybody 

in my year knows 

what I have because they 

didn’t really understand 

and now they do. 

Report by Abi Stone 


Sailing Star 

Phil Sparks (Tutor 

Group 9.5) continues to 

make phenomenal progress 

with his sailing. He 

recently represented England 

at a major world 

championship event 

where he finished as the 

highest placed British 

competitor. Here are 

some edited highlights 

from the official press release. 

PRESS RELEASE 

Optimist Worlds 

Uruguay 2006 

Sparks wins race at 

Worlds 

After a difficult start ad- 

justing to big seas and 

strong winds, Sparks 

and Grant put together 

a good series to finish 

close to the top of the 

world class fleet. 

The Optimist World 

Championships is the 

toughest junior sailing 

event in the world. The 

top 5 sailors from more 

than 50 countries attend 

the event, which is held 

over 15 races with 2 discards….. 

Day 4 

The wind and sea state 

moderated a lot for the 

final three days and 

suited our sailors much 

better. Many of the top 

sailors found it their 

worst day but we, care 

of Phil, scored our first 

win for GBR for three 

years. It was harder for 

Jonny our oldest sailor 

and Aaron who did not 

seem to find it as easy 

as earlier in the week. 

Sparks scores 19,1,9. 

Day 5 

Again a hot but lighter 

wind day Sparks scoring 

11,5,12. Grant 24,8,14, 

and Anna scored her 

second best result of the 

worlds a pretty good 

23 rd . 

Final Day 

The offshore breeze 

showed no signs of giving 

way to the sea 

breeze as a constant 

battle took place between 

the two. Eventually 

the sea breeze sort 


of filled in and the first 

flight started. Immediately 

there was a 100degree 

shift to the left 

as the offshore breeze 

filled in again, which left 

most of the fleet completely 

stranded. Phil 

and James were both in 

this flight had great 

starts but were dog 

tucker, as the Kiwis call 

it, after about 20 seconds. 

By far the best result 

of the day was from 

Jonny, his last ever race 

in an Optimist. In a 

building wind and sea he 

showed his real class by 

bashing in an 11 th. It 

was a great way to finish. 

The team couldn’t have 

attended the worlds 

without the help and 

support of IOCA, RYA, 

Volvo and Musto. Special 

thanks to Carla 

Stanley our team 

leader/Mum for her tireless 

enthusiasm and 

support. 

Overall results 

1 Julian Autenrieth, 

Germany 

2 Griselda Khng, 

Singapore 

3 Edgar Diminich, 

Ecuador 

4 Stephanie Zimmer 

man, Peru 

5 Rufina Tan Hong 

Mui, Malaysia 

6 Marcus Hansen, New 

Zealand 

7 Jonathan Martinetti, 

Ecuador 

8 Benjamin Grez, 

Czechoslovakia 

9 Leonardo Dubbini, 

Italy 

10 Russell Kan, 

Singapore 

GBR:- 

27 Phil Sparks 

31 James Grant 

126 Anna Burnett 

175 Jonny House 

185 Aaron Smith 

Written by: Alan Williams 

Team Coach 

Rugby 

Rhys Frampton (Tutor 

Group 9.6) has recently 

gone through 4 stages in 

2 Hampshire rugby trials 

to be picked for the 

Hampshire Rugby Team. 

A fantastic achievement 

and a big well done to 

you!! 

Swimming 

Martin Littlefair 

(Tutor Group 9.6) is 

the big swimmer of the 

tutor group. He has recently 

been coming first 

in various swimming 

meets and is now aiming 

for national qualifying 

times in the 400m freestyle, 

100m and 200m 

breaststroke and the 

200m individual medley. 

Perhaps our own Highcliffe 

star in Olympics to 

come. Watch this 

space ... 

Tetrathlon 

Ayden Lee (Tutor 

Group 9.6) has really 

been working hard at his 

tetrathlon and he and 

his team have been 

achieving first or second 

places in recent competitions. 

A huge well 

done. 

In addition to this, 

Ayden has also recently 

passed his open water 

PADI which means he 

now has his scuba diving 

licence and can dive 

anywhere in the world. 

A great achievement! 

Orchestra 

Last Year I was a clarinettist 

in the National 

Childrens’ Orchestra of 

Great Britain. 

In October we were 

lucky enough to visit 

Beijing in China having 


een invited to perform 

a number of concerts 

spread over a ten day 

period. 

We started off with a 

childrens’ festival. 

There were 107 members 

of the orchestra so 

we had to be split in half 

so we could all fit on 

stage. Our last two concerts 

were amazing. 

One was at Beijing University 

and the other 

was in the Forbidden 

City Concert Hall. 

After the last concert we 

were told that we had 

received a better reception 

than the BBC Symphony 

Orchestra who 

had performed there on 

the previous night. 

Despite all the hard 

work we did have plenty 

of time to be tourists. 

We went to the Great 

Wall of China, a Panda 

Zoo and also travelled 

overnight by train to see 

the Terracotta Warriors 

display. We also did 

plenty of shopping and 

had plenty of fun bartering. 

Overall it was an incredible 

trip and all of us 

agreed that it was an incredible 

experience that 

we will never forget. 

Report by 

Ellie Sherwood 


Bandsman of the Year 

Just before Christmas 

Josh Askew (Tutor 

Group 9.8) was presented 

with the award of 

‘Bandsman of the Year 

2006’ in the 

Bournemouth 

Scout Band. 

Josh has been a 

member of the 

band for nearly 5 

years, during 

which time he has 

worked his way up 

from a ‘learner’ in the Cadet 

Band to becoming the 

main band’s chief drummer, 

playing side drum. 

Josh has played in many 

parades – including the 

annual Bournemouth St. 

George’s Day Parade 

and the very prestigious 

Lymington Remembrance 

Day Parade. In 

addition he has also 

taken part in many carnivals 

across the region 

as well as numerous 

fetes and scout events. 

This culminated last November 

in a weekend at 

the NIA in Birmingham 

playing in a Military Tattoo 

as part of the 

‘Massed Youth Bands’. 

Josh really enjoys playing 

in the band and 

takes his responsibilities 

very seriously. It is a 

difficult job being in 

charge of the timing of 

the music whilst marching 

in complicated patterns, 

and in all weathers. 

As his bandmaster said 

when he presented Josh 

with his shield, ‘This is a 

lad who does all we ask 

him and more!’ Well 

done, Josh! 


Can we take this opportunity to thank all parents who have taken advantage of the 

these achievement slips to inform us of the activities and successes of our young people. 

As ever we wish to celebrate all the achievements of the students, in and out of 

school. We are unable to do this without your support. 

Achievement to Celebrate 


Please use this slip to inform us of any 

achievement, whether in or out of school, of 

which you are proud and would like celebrated 

in the school newsletter. 





Name of Student : 

TG: 


TG: 

Nature of Achievement : 












TG: 


TG: 

H2U, Vol 6 Issue 5 Year 9 Special - February 2007 Page 24 

Highcliffe School, Parkside, Highcliffe, Christchurch, BH23 4QD newsletter@highcliffe.dorset.sch.uk 



Nature of Achievement :

H2U Vol 6 Issue 5 Year 9 Special.pub - Highcliffe School

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?