2009 courier autumn winter

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KING EDWARD VI COMMUNITY COLLEGE TOTNES FREE MAGAZINE ISSUE No. 162 Autumn/Winter 2009KING EDWARD VI COMMUNITY COLLEGE TOTNES FREE MAGAZINE ISSUE No. 162 Autumn/Winter 2009

SCHOOL TRIPS: Okehampton & GranadaSCHOOL TRIPS: Okehampton & Granada

KEVICC’s KEVICC’s Green FootprintGreen Footprint‘New BIOMASS ‘New BIOMASS

Heating System’ Heating System’

School of DreamsSchool of Dreams

KEVICC Garden ProjectKEVICC Garden Project

The Courier is back!

Welcome.Editor ia l

Well , what can I say? Cel ia ’s act is a hardone to fo l low, as I thought i t might be. Ihope that what the wonderful students (who have been so instrumental inpul l ing th is th ing off ) and I have produced is something that not only con-t inues the years of hard work and creat ive energy that Cel ia has put in,but a lso br ings a breath of f resh inspirat ion and a new sty le at a t ime ofmany post ive new direct ions for the col lege.

In th is issue you wi l l f ind most of the usual exci t ing suspects: updatesfrom the subjects, c lubs and projects, school t r ips, reports f rom commu-ni ty groups and, of course, the Chr istmas quiz! Thanks Pol ly.

Someone recent ly to ld me that ‘put t ing a magazine together is one of thehardest th ings you can do, next to making a f i lm’ . I have to say, that hav-ing now done both, they’re not far f rom the truth! I t ’s been a chal lengingand enjoyable exper ience with lots of lessons learnt throughout the cre-at ive process. Please accept my advance apologies i f you sent some-thing through and i t doesn’ t appear in the magazine. We had anincredibly di ff icul t job edi t ing and, unfortunately, had to cut a hugeamount at the last minute. But al l is not lost . We hope to feature mater ia lthat d idn’ t make i t into the magazine on the new Col lege websi te:www.kingedwardvi.devon.sch.uk

I t ’s not easy being a new member of staff , especial ly when most of yourt ime is spent knee high in soi l and tucked up behind the back of the s ixthform (I am also the Garden Supervisor!) . However, I look forward to get-t ing to know some of you in a bi t more depth over the next few months.Enjoy the fest ive season - and please do get in touch i f you’d l ike to havesomething in the next issue.

Cat Middle and The Courier Magazine Team

Page 3

The Courier Autumn/Winter 2009 The Courier Autumn/Winter 2009

FeaturesSchool of Dreams

Biomass Heating System

Recycling

Clubs/ProjectsRugby

Sport Coordinator Report

Football

The Garden Project

The Global Dimension

Space Flight Project

School TripsOkehampton

Granada

Subjects

Transition Town Totnes

Old Totnesian Society

Dartington

COMMUNITY

ContentsThe Courier Magazine

King Edward VI Community CollgeAshburton Road

Totnes

Devon

TQ9 5JX

Telephone: 01803 869200

Fax: 01803 869201

www.kingedwardvi.devon.sch.uk

Editor:Catherine Middleditch

[email protected]

Courier Team:Elsa Nightingale

Josh Antonios

NEXT ISSUE:

Content Deadline:

25th of February

Important Dates:

4 Jan

Start of Spring Term

12 Jan

Year 8 Parents’ Evening

26 Jan

Kennicott Open Evening

2 Feb

Year 9 Choices Evening

15-19 Feb

Half Term

4 Mar

Academic Tutoring Evening

5 Mar

Academic Tutoring Day

16 Mar

Year 12 Parents’ Evening

1 April

End of Spring Term

From the PrincipalI am grateful to Cat Middle who has taken on the role of editor of the Courier and this edi-

tion is another wonderful celebration of the richness of learning at KEVICC, and of the di-

verse achievements of students, staff and the wider community. I am filled with an

enormous sense of privilege as the new leader of this learning community. What strikes

me, on a daily basis, is the wide range of outstanding opportunities that our students

enjoy.

I was fortunate to be able to spend an evening and a day at the Year 7 Okehampton resi-

dential trip where I saw, first-hand, the nature of the learning that went on that week with

students and staff spending dedicated time together, sharing the challenges of archery,

climbing, mountain biking and living together! Whilst we are developing the Personal,

Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS) throughout the curriculum at KEVICC, there is no

doubt that Year 7 students are getting off to a flying start with these skills in the Okehamp-

ton week. At the other end of the age range, our older students have spent time in

Granada for a language-study visit. Following the visit, the Spanish host families wrote to

us at KEVICC, describing our students as ‘young people with open minds and open

hearts’. What an accolade for them!

Whilst we are working hard at KEVICC to ensure that our students achieve their very best

in examinations, we do not take our eye off the other important educational aspirations en-

shrined in our College Values. We are developing young people who are caring and com-

passionate, resilient and brave, with a positive attitude to life. These are attitudes I believe

our young people must develop in order to tackle the challenges of life, such as those

wrestled with at the recent Copenhagen Climate Change Summit. Both the ‘Big Stride,

Small Steps’ and ‘Garden Project’ articles here in the Courier demonstrate our commit-

ment at KEVICC to the green agenda.

Thank you to all the students, staff and parents who go the extra mile to make all these

fantastic learning opportunities a reality!

I wish all Courier readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Kate Mason

HUB

Year 11 English

Coursework Clinic

Every Thursday Room 165 3.40-5.00

Support and advice available for all

coursework assignments.

Just turn up with your work and your

queries.

Twilight Sessions

Redworth Library

WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY

3.30 until 5.00pm.

Overdue homework?

Struggling with an essay?

Need help finishing a project?

Then why not try the

Twilight Sessions?

Please make sure you have

permission from a parent/guardian

before you attend.

No need to book – just come along.

Redworth Library is open

Monday – Thursday until 4.00pm.

TA support is available

Wednesday and Thursday

between 3.30pm and 5.00pm.

You will need to make your own

travel arrangements.

Fast, Friendly,

Efficient Service!

We do our best in the

libraries to provide the learning re-

sources you need and any sugges-

tions for new stock are always

welcomed!

Jane Riley –

Redworth Librarian

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10-11

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granted. So, we'll have information boards and a view-

ing panel to see the woodchip being carried by a rotat-

ing screw (auger) into the boiler. We’ll alsol be able to

display data about it on computer screens using a so-

phisticated ICT monitoring programme.

The "small steps" of our energy project will be a new

Building Energy Management System, insulation of

Old Court and Main Court, electrical efficiency meas-

ures and a programme of awareness raising to make

sure we all save energy.

This will be an exciting project, supporting the other greeninitiatives at KEVICC to:

• reduce the environmental impact of the college

• spend our budget in the local economy

• understand the responsibility we all carry,

making changes in our lives

• take advantage of the educational opportunities

offered by the project

This project has been initiated by the KEVICC Envi-

ronmental and Sustainability Group. If you would like

further details, please contact: Chris Harris (Business

Manager) [email protected] or

Helen Ireland [email protected]

Page 5Page 4


We have been beaveringaway to raise the money for ourEnergy project and we've heard, in the last

couple of weeks, that the final big pieces of the fund-

ing jigsaw have fallen into place. Since we were of-

fered £89,000 from a central government source

(Dept of Energy & Climate Change) in July, and

£30,000 from the Lottery (Community Sustainable

Energy Programme), we have been offered an amaz-

ing £117,000 by Devon County Council and £19,000

by the utility company eDF. All of that comes to over a

quarter of a million pounds, plus the College's own

contribution, so the tender for a new biomass heating

system has been let. These are very expensive

pieces of equipment - modern, effective & efficient.

We have lots of detailed planning still to do but the

aim is to install the massive boiler in the ground floor

of the existing boiler house at Redworth, with proba-

bly 10,000 litres of thermal store: enormous water

tanks to store the heat generated by burning wood-

chip. At the moment, there are two pre-70's oil tanks

from when the school was heated with cheap oil.

These will be removed and the building remodelled to

accommodate all the new equipment, control panels

and gas back up. Just outside the boiler house is

space for a fuel store. This is where the woodchip de-

liveries will arrive by lorry (and, yes, you're right - the

transport for that will have a carbon footprint, but tiny

compared to the gas we use at the moment). So this

is the BIG STRIDE in tackling our carbon footprint:

the switch from fossil fuel to sustainable locally

sourced wood fuel. There are a couple of companies

seeking our business already.

Fuel from biological sources is carbon neutral. When

trees grow they take carbon dioxide out of the air and

fix it in the timber. As this is burnt in the boiler, over

90% of its energy is harnessed as heat and the CO2

is released back into the atmosphere. However, it is a

short cycle, unlike CO2 being emitted from ancient

fossil fuel sources. Moreover, we want to make it ob-

vious how we will be heating half the college. Gas is

piped in underground, we don't notice it, we take it for

AAtt ll aasstt wwee ccaannttee ll ll yyoouu !!TACKLING KEVICC's CARBON FOOTPRINT

SMALL STEPS & A BIG STRIDEBy Helen Ireland

HUB > FEATURES

Year 7 students from KEVICC

and Year 5 students from Marl-

don and Dartington primary

schools participated in a two day

workshop created by Honda.

The School of Dreams

programme explored the power

of dreams, imagination and

creativity.

Learners participated in activities that devel-

oped Personal Learning & Thinking Skills

(PLTS) as they worked co-operatively in

mixed teams on a variety of tasks requiring a

range of thinking strategies including infor-

mation processing, enquiry reasoning, cre-

ative thinking and evaluation, such as

creating a dream catcher.

Students using mind mapping tools to help

recap ideas

During the first day learners discussed differ-

ent learning styles which they incorporated

in their final group project about dreams.

Throughout the project, students focused on

effective presentation and communication

techniques which cumulated in a group pres-

entation.

Honda demonstrated the power of dreams

and how individuals can realise their own

dreams by using ‘real world’ examples from

Honda’s own experience. KEVICC students

Ella Watkins and Matt Swiss “enjoyed the

activities. They helped us to understand

what dreams mean as before I thought a

School of Dreams 15th – 16th October 2009

By Rebecca Pengelly

dream was simple but it is more than that It

is imagining something different.” Darcie, a

Year 5 student, thought “it was a lot of fun

and the activities we did were interesting as

we got to make dream catchers and mind

maps. It is really worth doing.”

All teaching staff participated actively in the

activities and teamwork and found the days

extremely beneficial to their students.

Gareth Brown from Marldon Primary School

felt that children working across schools in

groups was invaluable and that all activities

were based about working collaboratively.

He felt that it gave children confidence. As

they say, dreams can come true and by giv-

ing them a voice it had a real impact. Karen

Bradford from Dartington thought that their

students really benefitted from working with

people they didn’t usually work with and the

workshops meant they wanted to take more

risks with their learning.

Students from KEVICC learnt that they were

able to extend their learning in the PLTS and

many took lead roles in group work as well

as learning many new skills to aid them with

their learning in the future. At the end of the

programme, we were given a full set of re-

sources including manuals, PowerPoint

slides and props so that we can replicate the

programme with other students in our school

and our feeder primary schools.

Mixed group of students presenting their

dream to the rest of the group and teaching

staff including R. Pengelly (Head of Year 7),

E Osborn (Team leader of Year 7 Core Cur-

riculum), R Hutchinson and S McGinnis

(Vice Principals) and Kate Mason (Principal).

Cross phase group working cooperatively together with Honda School of Dreams

PAPER RECYCLING UPDATE

Elmhirst and Redworth are join-

ing Kenicott with the paper recy-

cling. It is very important that we

all work together to make this

scheme work. Please use the re-

cycling bins for paper only.

It will take a bit of time to get

used to separating waste but it

will be worth it!

Pilar Fernandez

School Sport

Coordinator ReportBy Martin Vizor

School Sport Coordinator

TournamentsTowards the end of the summer term, SouthBrent, Landscove and Marldon PrimarySchools represented the Learning Commu-nity at the School Sport Partnership AthleticsFinals. South Brent finished first and Marl-don third. South Brent went on to representthe School Sport Partnership at the regionalfinals in Torbay.

The first tournament this term was the Cen-tral Venue Indoor Athletics Tournament heldin the KEVICC Sports Hall on 21st and 28thSeptember. This was, again, won by SouthBrent with The Grove coming second. JoshGreen and Ryan Jeffery from Year 12, whoare working hard to achieve the Level 2Sports Leadership Award, officiated at theseevents.

On 19th October, eight teams entered theYear 5/6 Hi 5 Netball Tournament. Two ofour smaller schools were successful in thisevent with Diptford finishing as runners up toHarbertonford. These schools will now goon to represent the Learning Community atthe Partnership Finals. Josh Green andRyan Jeffery again officiated at this event.The picture below shows action from thetournament.

FestivalsOn 24th September Year 10 and Year 12Sports Leaders ran a Key Stage 1 Minifesti-val for St John’s, Grove and Stoke GabrielPrimary Schools. Year 6 students from StJohn’s acted as team leaders. The photosbelow show a selection of the activities runby KEVICC students.

40 Sports Leaders from KEVICC were in-volved in the running of two Hi 5 Netball Fes-tivals for nearly 300 Year 3/4 children fromten of our primary schools. The studentswere trained in their BTEC Sport lessonsand then ran their activity with a partner forfive groups of 14/15 children. KEVICCstudents were complimented on their leader-ship skills by the primary school staff attend-ing the event. All the students madesignificant progress during these festivals.The pictures below illustrate some of the stu-dents at work.

Page 7

School Sport Partnership LeadershipAcademyFive Sports Leaders were selected, on thebasis of their performance at some of theabove events, to attend the School SportPartnership Leadership Academy at theLeisure Centre in Moretonhampstead on11th November. The students, pictured below, are JoshGreen, Sam Nicholls, Beth Ricketts, LauraWhite and Jonathan Finch.

The students underwent multiskills trainingand learnt about some playground activitiesto use with Year 7 students. In the after-noon the students were split into two groups.The London 2012 Young Ambassador groupfocused upon developing a presentation take

into primary schools using the impetusof the London 2012 Olympic Games toget more children involved in sport atevery level. The second group lookedinto the possibility of setting up a SportCouncil in College in which the views ofstudents about Sport and Physical Ac-tivity at KEVICC could be brought for-ward.

The students all registered for the YouthSport Trust online volunteer passportscheme. This allows the students to logall their Sports Leadership trainingaswell as the volunteer hours they com-plete, both in College and in communityclubs.

Climbing Club

This term and next term we have bothPrimary and Secondary Climbing Clubsrunning. These clubs are funded in partby a government scheme called SportUnlimited. Thanks to the generosity ofMiss O’Neill in giving her time, the fund-ing will be used to buy new climbingequipment.

Results wise it has been a successful sea-son for the Year 10 team but with a littlemore commitment in some areas it couldhave been even better.

One match was lost: a friendly againstChurston Grammar School by a score of (0-24). However, the team won all their SouthDevon group games beating:

Coombeshead (57-0)Kingsbridge (37-27)Teignmouth (19-10)South Dartmoor (21-19)

Unfortunately, due to a lack of numbers wehad to concede the match against SouthDartmoor Community College meaning they,instead, progressed through to the DevonPlayoffs finals night.

However, many students have shown an im-pressive commitment and, to those, we saya big ‘well done’ and let’s hope next seasonwill be even better.

I am pleased to note that many of the squadare now playing regular club rugby; this willfurther improve their performances. JackBrierly, Todd Lowry and Charlie Fisk haveprogressed through to South Devon SchoolsTrials. Good luck to them!

Scott Hingston, Alex Posniak, Harry

Davis and Sam Hedges

HUB > CLUBSYear 10 RugbyBy Charlie Stephens

Page 7Page 6


Kennicott Football

Update

By Chris Chisholm

After several years of unprecedented suc-cess (having won the league on two occa-sions, runners-up on three and doublewinners in the memorable 2004-05 season)the Kennicott faithful expected a seasonstruggle with mid-term obscurity – an un-friendly beast at the best of times as HarryRednapp knows only too well. However, asmany know, “it’s a funny game football” and,just when you think you know somethingabout it, you find out you knew nothing (askRafa Benetiez if you don’t believe me!). TheClass of 2009 have been revealed to be arare vintage, with many old legs refindingtheir boots and making the Kennicott debut,led by Ben “I’m fairly reliable” Hubbard andSam “three point lane” Ben-Guest, eagerlysupported by Mike “Liver who?” Douglas,Ryan “Keep it green” Jones and Glyn “I amgetting there” Oakley. The upper sixth haveturned up in their droves. Well all apart fromKei “I don’t train in the rain” Kwagia who re-mains elusive on and off the field. This col-lection of old timers have mixed readily withnew boys Connor “Mr Reliable” Field andRichard “overlap” Harris and Josh “from Lon-don”. Only five players remain from last sea-son’s runners-up squad, led by the captainSean “mustn’t grumble” Holden who is truly

a class act on any football field. He hasbeen well supported by Mark “there is no ‘i’in team” Gilmour, Matt “one foot or two”Evans, Tom “right arm over” Durman, Charlie“grow your own” Watson and Ryan “three offthe tee” Stevenson.

The first warm up game was a turgid affairagainst the boys from the local Sports Col-lege who posted their first win at KEVICCsince 1999 by a single goal. Unperturbed bythe start of the season, the team really hittheir straps, winning the opening encounterby six goals against Teignmouth and winsagainst St Cuthbert Mayne (5-1) andChurston (4-2) soon followed. Their last winwas a comeback-from-behind victory againstSouth Hams team rivals, Kingsbridge, whohave yet to beat Kennicott in the league thiscentury! On a muddy surface, a 2-1 deficitwas turned into a 7-2 win, thanks to the wingplay of Holden, Watson and Stevenson andthe finishing of Mark “put me down for six”Gilmour. Twelve points from four games isan excellent start but, as seasoned watchersof Kennicott know only too well, hardergames lie ahead against their nemesisSouth Devon College, last beaten in 2003,the boys from the local eleven-plus estab-lishment and the Torbay Sports College but,so far, Kennicott can be proud of their teamwith twenty players regularly turning up fortraining and a brand new pristine kit gener-ously sponsore, once again, by KingfisherPrint who have been excellent supporters ofCollege football.

As ever, in keeping with the festive season, itis the time to be merry and, in keeping withtradition, I have asked Santa for a few gifts:A set of anti-teflon gloves for Tom Durman;a compass for Richard Harris to find wherethe goal is; a decent team to support forMichael Douglas; FIFA Manager 2010 [SouthDevon edition] for Charlie Watson as he likesto move in management circles; a right footfor Connor Field; standing up medicine forMatt Evans; a Green Army for Ryan Jones;made to measure shorts for Sam Ben-Guest;a book of passing for Mark Gilmour; trainingtimetable for Kei; a portable goal for Razzerand The Life and Times of General Custerfor captain Sean Holden. As for the coach, itseems Christmas has come early and I justwish for more of the same in 2010. Thebeautiful game is still alive in Totnes – and ifyou don’t believe me see for yourself on anygiven Wednesday.

Page 9

Football Match Report

By Anthony Goss

You thought the season was over when Eng-land beat Andorra. In order to commemorateone of KEVICC’s finest and most well re-spected teachers, the late Mr Tellam, theleaving Year 13 students played a charityfootball match against the teachers. After aminute’s applause, the match got under way.In the blistering heat, the students had theearly possession and chances, with TroyAbraham missing the first of many. After this

early threat, the match began to settle down(apart from when Jonjo Reeves fell over him-self!) The students thought that they took thelead seven minutes in, however Jack Pollardadmitted fouling the teachers’ keeperBradley Turner. Against the run of play, theteachers took lead with Lewis Newman-Hop-kins running down the left and lobbing IanCaunter in the students’ goal, to the shock ofthe students’ manager Anthony Goss on theside line. With less than 10 minutes left ofthe first half, Charlie Baxendale scored agoal which is already being described asgoal of next season. The young Totnesplayer was given too much room and hepunished the teachers with an amazing longrange effort. At half time the score was 1-1.After the much needed break (especially forthe teachers), the students continued topress on and were rewarded for their effortswith Baxendale scoring another good goalfrom just inside the area. The studentsthought that they had won it half way throughthe second half when skipper Ivan Woloshakset up Jim Pomeroy on the edge of the area.However, the teachers were not finished yet.Alan Hartigan and Jason Beynon continuedto press on and within the space of five min-utes they were level again. Lewis scored an-other lob from the left hand side andHartigan scored after the mistake betweenCaunter and student defender Ross Davis.This spurred the students to press for a win-ner and from then on it was one-way traffic.Towards the end, the students came closewith Jonjo Reeves, Krysten Coombs, CallumBrowse and Josh Patmore. Despite this,pressure, the teachers’ defence stoodstrong, with Derek Davies commanding theback four and taking on a few students aswell. The match finished with the score tiedat 3-3. Forgetting there was extra time, bothteams agreed to go straight to penalties.Jonjo and Krysten scored for the students(Krysten’s penalty being one the luckiestpenalties ever) and Matt Griffiths and Dun-can Chilton scored for the teachers. BothTurner and Caunter made first class saves inthe shoot-out. At the end of the shoot-out itwas 2-2, with both teams missing threepenalties each, most notably Beynon clear-ing the goal and hedge behind. This meantit went into sudden death. Caunter and Abra-ham scored for the students and Lewis got

his third but Derek Davies, who played sowell in defence, missed his penalty whichgave the students the win. Ross Hammondpresented a trophy to the students’ captain,Ivan, for their efforts.

Special thanks to: Neil Pollard for refereeingthe first half; Connor Field for collectingmoney and refereeing the second half; toLiam Bligh and Adam Perryman for beinglinesmen with make shift flags; Rob Jonesfor collecting in more money; Michael Sealeyof Totnes Trophies and Engraving for kindlydonating a trophy; Steve Jane for obtainingpermission from the FA; to the College for al-lowing the match to be played on the site; tothe groundsmen for cutting and marking outthe pitch and putting the goals and nets upand, of course, everyone who came,watched and played.

Skipper Ivan Woloshak and manager Anthony Goss

with the trophy

HUB > CLUBS

FOOTBALL

The Garden Project

Page 11

HUB > PROJECTS

Page 10


Project Aim: to work with young people to develop the garden area as a productive, educational and enjoyable resource.

The Kennicott Garden Club set up by Neil Edwards and now coordinated by Cat Middleruns on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday lunch times. It also takes place onThursdays after school, in conjunction with the Duke of Edinburgh Award. The GardenClub runs events, workshops and activities to attract students into the garden. Eventsso far have included an apple picking party, apple pulping, juicing and pasteurising.The Garden team has also run workshops on building raised beds, sheet mulching andbio-dynamic crop rotation. The apple juicing event was very successful and attractedover 40 students throughout the lunch break. Approximately 50 litres of apple juice wasproduced and sold in the Dining Room and at a College evening event. Land prepara-tion is well underway, with the raised beds finished and in place and horse manure onthe way. We are now focusing on designing the garden using a sustainable integratedholistic design system called ‘permaculture’.

Project Aim: to set up composting and wormeries for the food waste and otherinputs from the College to fertilise the garden. A staged process will build over one year,starting with just 5kg of waste from the kitchens per day, developing it to use up to 15kg(as well as paper towels, shredded cardboard and garden trimmings). Regulations relat-ing to Animal By Products will be followed.

Brown bins and corn starch bags are now in place in all three of the kitchens, so allcompostable waste is being collected by the council. New research into aerobic com-posting systems has been completed, including a site visit to Riverford and meetingswith both the Devon Community Composting Network and RIDAN (www.ridan.co.uk). Adecision has been made to implement the RIDAN system into the main Dining Room.The location has been decided and logistics are underway. Worm beds are currentlybeing set up in the garden. If you would like to get involved in the worm farm, thenplease contact Cat.

Project Aim: to establish poultry keeping, starting small with a flock of 15 hens,in an area protected by an electric fence, for free range egg production and increasingthe numbers as we gain experience. The supervisor, recruited with livestock keepingskills, will organise a core group of responsible young people and community membersto form a rota for their care, including weekends and holidays.

A number of local fencers and craftsmen have quoted on the chicken coup and fencingwork and the Garden Team has made a decision on who to go with. This will be imple-mented by the end of the year. A chicken house has been sourced through Freecycleand is onsite waiting for its occupants. Two students have so far volunteered to be partof the core ‘Chicken Care Group’. Research has been undertaken into what type ofchickens to get and where to source them locally. If you would like to join the ChickenGroup and learn how to take care of poultry then, again, please contact Cat.

Who has benefitted so far?Over 60 students have been involved in some way with the garden, both through thegarden events and activities and through the lunchtime club. There are also the stu-dents, staff, parents and community members who have benefitted from drinking KE-VICC juice from the Dining Room, and at the evening event where the juice was sold for£1 per cup. Some members of staff have also come to use the garden to relax in duringthe lunch break.

The project is being publicised through the College website and Portal, regularlythrough the ‘daily bulletin’, and a low energy hand painted chalk board has been placedat the entrance of the college. There will also be updates printed in The Courier and thelocal press.

Cat Middle (Garden Supervisor)[email protected] Thanks to all those who made the Apple Juicing event such a success. Hopefully, see you same time, same place next year?

KEVICC is committed to engaging our students in activities that

widen their understanding of the world

around them. Our link with the Mathieson

Music School is still going strong; we will be

visiting them again in February 2010 with a

reciprocal visit in June 2010. This year we

are jointly working on a project called ‘Fu-

tures’. Year 9 students will begin to think

about their own futures, their local communi-

ties’ futures and the future of the planet.

They will be sharing this work through work

exchanges with the students in the Math-

ieson Music School. The aim of our link with

Mathieson is to share teaching and learning

strategies and to gain a better understanding

of each other's cultures.

KEVICC is also getting involved in the British

Council run project called ‘Connecting Class-

rooms’. This project is aimed at embedding

the global dimension further into the curricu-

lum. KEVICC has joined the Devon cluster

that is going to be linking with Japan and

Korea. The project has gone through the ini-

tial set up stages and KEVICC is in the posi-

tion to now join the cluster as it expands.

Year 7-9 students will be carrying out project

work and then contacting students in Japan

and Korea to share this work. The students

will be using the British Council web based

forum for communication. This is currently in

its early stages but we hope it will help our

students to understand and empathise with

different cultural opinions.

We recently welcomed some Nepalese visi-

tors from Mahan Siddhartha High School in

Kathmandu. The school was established in

1993 by the headteacher, Babu Ram KC,

and his wife Jwala. The visit was arranged

by Angus Peachey in 8Sn1 whose family has

a link with this school. The visitors spent the

day touring KEVICC, observing lessons and

talking to 8Sn1 about life in Nepal. The dif-

ferences between our school and theirs are

great. They currently have around 500 pupils

aged from 3 up to 16 and about 40 boarders

in total, the majority of whom are orphaned

and being supported by the school. They are

without electricity for up to 12 hours in any

one day and the school doesn't have a gen-

erator or any alternative forms of power.

Children learn English from the youngest

age, and older children work only in English

for all classes. KEVICC is very grateful to

our visitors for the beautiful picture that they

gave us and for the insight into their culture.

We hope that they enjoyed their visit.

This is going to be an exciting year for the

Global Dimension at KEVICC, with new and

familiar projects running. There will be plenty

of opportunities for all our students to get in-

volved.

Lucy Carpenter

International Dimension Coordinator

Year 8 Cultural Awareness Project: Day 1This is an annual project, now in its sixth

year, which aims to get Year 8 students

thinking creatively about issues of culture,

race, gender and equal opportunities. On

16th November students produced a tapes-

try to represent their tutor group identity and

started to think about where they belong and

how they represent themselves. Each tutor

group worked exceptionally hard to get the

tasks set completed in the allocated time.

The tapestries produced were creative,

colourful and interesting. Engagement in the

work was good and the majority of students

proved to be a credit to their year group.

Team work was vital to get all sections of the

work completed and groups worked very

well together. The tapestries produced by

each tutor group are going to be displayed

for other year groups to see and the tutor

groups will revisit this work in the summer

term. Students will also be following up the

theme of identity within their academic tutor-

ing programme.

Lucy Carpenter

International Dimension Coordinator

The Courier Autumn/Winter 2009

The Global Dimension at KEVICC

Page 13


KEVICC SPACEFLIGHTPROJECT UPDATE

Last year, four of our Year 10 students won a competition run by

Cambridge University to build an experiment to fly into space. The

experiment to measure altitude and levels of EM radiation (UV,

visible and infra-red light) was completed by the deadline and flew

into space one sunny morning in July. Sadly, there was a problem

with the quick release mechanism and, after blowing off course,

the high-altitude balloon and all the experiments landed in the

North Sea. They were eventually recovered a couple of months

later on a beach in Denmark. None of our data survived, sadly,

but there were two photos from another experiment that prove we

really did make it into space!

Kizzy Brooks, Matt Trott, Rory Clements and Ben Ayles-Evans -

the KEVICC Spaceflight team - have been offered a chance to

build and fly a second experiment in the new year. They are cur-

rently seeking funding for the project.

Here are the two photos that were salvaged from the spaceflight.

The number hanging down is part of the flight reference for the

University experiment.

Katrina Fennell

Shortly after take off the balloon starts to rise over Cambridge

The balloon reaches the edge of the atmosphere and goes into space,

at its highest it was 3 times higher than an aeroplane gets to.

HUB > PROJECTS

Page 14


HUB > TRIPS

Some perspectives on the

trip to Granada with AS/A2

students

17th-24th October 2009By Rosie Nanji Rowe

We received lots of compliments about ourKEVICC students. They were great ambas-sadors for Totnes and KEVICC. Here aresome examples:

You are the “easiest” and most pleasantgroup for all of our teachers here with verypolite, respectful and well educated stu-dents; normally young people who are veryinterested in lessons and activities. I don’tknow if the reason is that they come from thecountryside or that you as the supervisingteachers do a great work here. Teachershere and all the landladies were happy withyou; there were no problems at all I think youagree. Director Margret Fortmann - Administrationand Marketing Escuela Montalban Granada

Comments, translated from Spanish, madeby teachers to Terry Hopkins and RosieNanji-Rowe during the study visit:‘We love your students. They are very open-minded and enthusiastic and respond to allour activities. They seem very happy andhave a go at everything.Maria Rodríguez - Director of Studies andteacher

They are so nice to work with and we enjoyall the students from Totnes. They are pleas-ant and very well -mannered. We had a lot offun togetherFrancisco José Guirado - Teacher

Your students have a good level of under-standing of the language and are very atten-tive. They are lovely to be with and verypolite.Juan Castro - our guide at the Alhambra

You are very lucky to teach such nice stu-dents. They are open-hearted. They makeour job so enjoyable.Marisa Muñoz Lozano - Teacher

Landladies went out of their way to praiseour students. Here are some of their com-ments to us on saying goodbye at the coach:

The boys, Richard and Joe, have been won-derful. They were very polite and well-man-nered. I want you to tell your school that I amvery impressed with your students fromTotnes. Carmen Ruiz

Can they stay for longer? I don’t have girls. Iwould love to have girls just like these. (Jas-mine and Zoe.) Thank you for coming.María del Mar Sanchez

One landlady gave me a handwritten letter.Translated, it says:I would like you to know just how good andrespectful Melissa and Alexandra have been.I would like to say thankyou to all of you forthe days which they have been in Granada.Thankyou. Respectfully yours,The family of Martinez Perendréz

Some reports by KEVICC students who tookpart in the trip:

To sum Granada up in one word: amazing.Our host family were lovely and we are stillin touch with some students from Norwaywho were staying with us. The lessons wereengaging and interesting, even if we weretoo tired to concentrate sometimes! I willnever forget Maria. She was the nicestteacher imaginable and we all learnt somuch with her. The trips were all very inter-esting, especially the beach at Nerja! I reallyenjoyed the freedom we had, going out andexperiencing the real Spain in our free timewas a definite highlight. During the trip wegot a real feel for Spanish culture and thebalance between social and cultural activi-ties and those with a more academic slantwas perfect. I had a brilliant time and if I hadthe chance would definitely go again (hint?!).Bethan Phillips - Year 12 IB Student

The trip to Granada in October of this yearwas, without a doubt, an unforgettable expe-rience, perfectly merging the study of theSpanish language and understanding theSpanish culture, particularly the cultureunique and iconic to the south of the country.During the morning, we went to a languageschool in the centre of the city. The teacherswere friendly, helpful and I feel I improved alot.

After school, we visited a variety of places,for example the breathtaking Alhambra andthe gorgeous Arabic baths. However, in myopinion, the best part of the trip was the visitto the flamenco caves. Much to my surprise,the family of dancers was a traditional gypsyfamily who had been dancing for genera-tions. On the walls around the cave werephotos of them with various celebrities in-cluding members of both the Spanish andEnglish royal families and Gene Kelly!

Instead of staying in a hotel or a hostel, westayed with people around the city. Our hostladies did not speak any English, forcing usto communicate the entire time in Spanish.Not only did this give us plenty of practice,but we were also able to compare the differ-ences between everyday life in Spain andEngland and have the opportunity to chat toa Spaniard about issues in Spain.

I would like to thank our host ladies and theschool in Granada for an amazing time. Fur-ther, the trip would have been impossible(and nowhere near as enjoyable) if it had notbeen for Rosie and Terry. Thank you somuch for organising everything and for beingsuch lovely company. Gracias!Imogen Hambly - Year 12 IB Student

GRANADAOkehamptonYEAR 7 OKEHAMPTONTEAM BUILDINGTRIP 2009

Year 7 have just returned from their

team building residential trip to Oke-

hampton Activity Centre in North

Devon. We were all very tired and

muddy after three days of outdoor activ-

ities. The weather was not great but the

team spirit was strong and we all got

stuck into our various activities despite

the constant rain and mud.

It was my first time joining Year 7 on

their adventure and I was really im-

pressed with the way so many of our

youngest students handled going away

from home for the first time and working

through many personal challenges –

like fear of heights (one I share!).

We took part in a range of fantastic ac-

tivities like archery, mountain biking,

climbing, abseiling, gorge scrambling,

high ropes, kayaking, canoeing and raft

building. Many students tried out new

things that they had never done before

and there were many profound learning

experiences as we learnt to overcome

our fears and take a ‘leap of faith’.

There are too many photos and stories

to fit in this article, but here are a few to

give a flavour of the week. More ‘magic

moments’ and stories from the students

will appear on the College website.

A big thank you to all the staff who gave

their time freely to help and support our

students, and a big thank you to the

students themselves who were great

ambassadors for the College during

their time at Okehampton.

Katrina Fennell

During our week in Granada there weremany highlights: watching gypsy flamenco inSacromonte; a visit to the Arabic baths;strolling through the narrow streets of the oldMoorish quarter of the Albaicín; lingering inthe small squares looking over the Alhambraand the beautiful snow-covered mountains ofthe Sierra Nevada. Here are some notesfrom my diary:

Saturday: It’s two in the morning and thefantastic Ross Hammond and Sarah Kehayaare ready to drive us to Bristol airport. Weare off to Granada! Arriving in Granada atmidday we are met by a clutch of landladieswho bustle us off for lunch. Later we meet atthe school and check out the city centre,making sure we’re back in time for dinner ateight.Sunday: We have a great day on the beachat Nerja. Some of us opt for paella, others adip in the sea. On the way, our coach drivertalks about the English residents, climatechange, illegal immigration and the changingfortunes of Malaga and the Costa TropicalMonday: Maria, Paco and José, conduct anenjoyable morning of lessons, totally inSpanish. Later we meet up for a guided tourof the Arab quarter with Paco who explainsthe history of Arab occupation of the penin-sular and the period of religious and cultural

Page 17Page 16


tolerance - la ‘convivencia - as yet unparal-leled, which flourished for almost eight cen-turies. We enter churches built uponmosques and hear the call to prayers fromthe minaret of the recently completedmosque which has been built to serve theneeds of the now established Moslem popu-lation of Granada. We end up reaching oneof the viewing points ‘miradores’ at sunsetand are able to view the Alhambra bathed inpink light whilst young Granadians gatherand play the guitar.Tuesday: Lessons in the morning are funand, after lunch, we go off in groups to ex-plore the city, admiring the wonderful Ren-aissance and Baroque architecture andabsorbing the underlying Arab influences inrounded archways, inner courtyards, bal-conies and fountains. Narrow cobbledstreets give glimpses into both past andpresent and we move from shadow to sun-light, resting in squares and by fountains andgardens. Some of us end up stuffing our-selves with chocolate and churros in the old-est churreria in Granada. Later we meetafter a light supper and walk to the 14th cen-tury baths where we relax and get a mas-sage. A sensory treat.Wednesday: Lessons are still fun and every-one turns up on time! I hear Joe got lockedin a wardrobe! We visit the Pabellon, part ofthe Science Museum, with fantastic informa-tion about Al Andalus and the Arab legacy inscience, language and architecture.Thursday: Lots of laughter coming from theclassrooms. Everyone is obviously enjoyingthemselves. This is an afternoon to do someshopping and explore the centre of the city abit more. Some of us find our way to theArab quarter - el Albaicin - where we relax ina ‘teteria’, choosing from a selection of ex-otic-sounding teas such as ‘1001 noches’,‘suenos del Alhambra’ , ‘Dawn in Granada’.Later that evening we wind our way up to thecaves of Sacramonte where we watch agypsy flamenco show - tablao - performed at

la Cueva Castanera. Inside, the walls arecovered with photos of celebrities who havevisited the ‘cueva’ including the Duke ofWindsor and his wife in the 1950’s, and In-grid Bergman. It is an exciting performanceand we get a taste of flamenco and the spiritof ‘duende’ through the dancers’ dramaticexpression and the intensity of stamping andclapping, rhythm, colour and movement. Friday: We meet up with our entertainingguide, Juan, for a tour of the Alhambra. Juangives us a fantastic insight into the history ofthe city of the Alhambra and adds in some ofthe best known legends surrounding theNazrid dynasties. Reeling with historical vis-tas and panoramic views, we head for thesummer palaces, the ‘Generalife’ where weadmire the acequias (irrigation channels)and absorb the atmosphere in the cool innercourtyards and gardens of the sultans. Sto-ries of beheadings and court intrigues weavein and out of the columns and archways andthe magic of the place touches us all. Fridayevening and we say goodbye - ‘mwa, mwa’ -to our landladies. We don’t all want to gohome! Eight hours later, Martin Walker andJonathan Mason meet us at Bristol airport.

The support from all mini-bus drivers wasmuch appreciated. Special mention, ofcourse, also goes to Terry Hopkins and SamWills for being great leaders on the trip.

Rosie Nanji-Rowe

HUB > TRIPS

GRANADA continued...

Leadership Training

As part of the BTEC Sport Programme,

Year 10 students have been working

with Martin Vizor our School Sport Co-

ordinator. They have been developing

their leadership skills ahead of running

Netball Festivals at KEVICC for Primary

School Students. The training helps the

students to develop their organisational

skills, communication skills and allows

them to work with young people. The

experience is great for them developing

confidence and is fantastic fun.

Several students have since been se-

lected to go to a Leadership Academy

where they will develop their skills fur-

ther. Well done to all the students in-

volved!

Year 7 settling well

into Physical

Education

A warm welcome to the new Year 7 stu-

dents who have started their first units

of work in PE.

The areas they will cover over the next

year will include multi skills and games

activities - such as rugby, football, net-

ball and hockey, as well as less tradi-

tional games like dodgeball and

rock-it-ball. The students will also put

together a range of aesthetic perform-

ance in dance and gymnastics and take

part in many other exciting new sporting

activities over the coming year and be-

yond. Welcome!

Page 18

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ffiirrsstt uunniittss ooff wwoorrkk iinn PPEE

Page 19


Frantic Thursdays!

PE Extra Curricular

Thursdays are an absolutely wild after-

noon with the whole of Elmhirst being

used for extra curricular Sport!

We have Year 7, Year 8 and Sixth Form

rugby training as well as Year 7, Year 8

and Year 9 girls’ hockey and football.

On the Redworth site there is more

sport with girls’ netball being played

every Thursday.

Thursdays are an absolutely wild afternoonwith the whole of Elmhirst

being used for extra curricular sport!

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ssttuuddeennttss hhaavvee

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HUB > SUBJECTS

NNEEWWSSFFLLAASSHHEESSFROM THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

STUDENTS to get MORE CHOICE

• For the first time, this year, we have offered students theTriple Science course at GCSE. It has been enthusiastically

received with two groups of students opting to take the course.

• In the 6th Form, with the introduction of the International Baccalaureate at KEVICC, students can now choose from a huge

range of options to suit their needs and ambitions: IB Biology, IB Chemistry, IB Physics, A levels in Geology, Chemistry,

Physics, Biology, Human Biology, Environmental Studies, Applied Science (Single and Double) and BTEC Science.

LABS REFURBISHED with a SUITE OF COMPUTERS

• We are delighted that two of our laboratories were refurbished over the summer holidays at the cost of £40,000. As part of the

refurbishment of Lab 19, we also installed 12 computers. These have been particularly useful for Year 10 students doing BTEC

Science.

MORE TRIPS and VISITS• Science week trips to Exeter University for a medley of hands-on fascinating Science experiments

• Year 10 and Year 11 trip to the National “Science Live” conference.

• Year 13 Human Biology trip to the Pathology Labs and Blood Bank at Torbay hospital.

• Year 13 Biologists and Human Biologists are to visit @Bristol for a DNA workshop

• Year 12 Biologists will be doing a residential field trip in Pembrokeshire

• Year 12 Environmental Studies students have been to Oyster Cove conducting ecology rocky shore surveys and species

identification and have been to the zoo for a talk on the conservation role of zoos and endangered species.

• Plus much more in the pipelines!

PHYSICALEDUCATION

At the beginning of

term, 15 Year 11

mathematicians trav-

elled to Exeter Uni-

versity to discover

how maths is used

beyond the class-

room. It was the first

time I had been on the

trip and it was a truly

inspirational day. We

talked about Derren

Brown’s so called prediction of the lot-

tery, how credit card payments are en-

crypted simply using prime numbers

and the Travelling Salesman Problem,

amongst other things. The students got

to experience lectures, workshops and

role play at a prestigious university.

The day ended with a hilarious talk by

Colin Wright on Maths and Juggling. I

think the students would agree that it

was the funniest hour and a half of

maths we have ever experienced. It

was a real laugh-out-loud lecture. If

you ever get a chance to see Colin

Wright in action, it is well worth watch-

ing. He juggled the whole way through

his talk and even juggled five balls at

one point, making up tricks as he went

along.

Danielle Scagell

6th Form physics

trip to discover the

origins of the uni-

verse

We are planning an

end of year trip to

Geneva, Switzerland,

to visit one of a tiny

handful of places in

the world where ex-

perimental particle

physics pushes at

the boundaries of es-

tablished and

specualtive theory

and understanding

about the very struc-

ture of the cosmos:

CERN.

This incredible place is the result of

countless billions of euros and interna-

tional collaboration far beyond that

which the world of politics achieves! It

can accelerate particles until they travel

round a 27km circular track 11,000

times a second. It is the birthplace of

the World Wide Web, made the discov-

ery of W and Z particles, and created

and captured the first anti-hydrogen

atoms! It has a string of Nobel prizes

and Nobel laureates to its name, and

currently involves 8000 scientists from

60 countries.

The experience will be a fantastic op-

portunity for those thinking about, or ac-

tively seeking to pursue, the study of

Physics further, or a fascinating glimpse

of fundamental research to those who

will ultimately follow a different path. We

go at a particularly exciting time with

the opening of the Large Hadron Col-

lider imminent: the most powerful parti-

cle accelerator ever.

Of course, it would be a shame to travel

so far without taking in some of the

sights, so we also plan to visit the fa-

mous alpine town of Chamonix, where

we may be able to take a telecabine

into the mountains, walk inside a glacier

etc. and to visit the excellent science

museum “Futuroscope” in Paris.

BandNight 1 washeld on Thursday1st October in theAriel Theatre andbuilt on last year’ssuccessful bandnights. The empha-sis on informality didnot stop the bandsfrom producing highquality musical mate-rial, whether it washome-produced orcover versions ofother artists’ songs.The range of styles was also impres-sive, with hard rock rubbing shoulderswith grunge, jazz, ballad and folk. Withsuch a diverse and large student popu-lation as KEVICC, it is inevitable thatdifferent students – of many ages – pre-sented a wonderful mix of musicalgems.

Sweet Addiction set the ball rollingwith a rollicking rock number. Althoughsounding a little under-rehearsed, theygave a good account of themselves andwarmed up the sizeable audience ofabout 80 people. A duet, consisting ofJethro Cooke on guitar and Lilly Unwinon vocals, accompanied most sensi-tively by Chris Smith on drums, made abeautiful contrast. These two newcom-ers to the KEVICC should go far. IttyGyro and the Pink Lloyds were ayoung band but have tremendous en-ergy, and are really tight. I was sorry tohear from one band member that theymight be breaking up: this is a shame,as they have a great future if they keeptogether. Cable to the Moon are expe-rienced old-timers, being Year 13 stu-dents. They produced a stunning piece,lasting over 10 minutes, surely worthyof (and inspired by) many classic ex-tended rock anthems. Theirs was a tourde force. The material never outlastedits welcome and the interplay of the fourmembers of the band was exciting andmusical. Environmental Noise were anew band. Focusing on the vocal tal-ents of Holly Cosgrove gave the band astrong resonance and the accompany-ing instrumentalists played with real in-telligence and sensitivity. The Jazz Triothat followed are very experienced Year13 musicians and gave us a wonderfulrendition of two classics. Will Gornall’spianistic skills develop apace. FaceValue ended the gig in fine style: theirexciting and extrovert presentation will-ing the loud and enthusiastic audienceto get up and dance with them in an ex-citing and fitting finale number.

Our thanks, as ever, to Tom Spurling forhis professional skills with the soundand light management.

Rupert Bond

FR

EN

CH


HUB > SUBJECTS

Visite à Vire – Vivele plaisir!

2009 has seen yetanother successfulFrench Exchange!34 students spent

eight days in Vire in

June 2009. The re-

turn leg of this Ex-

change was

completed in Octo-

ber when these 34

students hosted their

French partners here

in Devon.

This exchange is

open to all students

studying French in

Year 8. The dates of

the next visit to

France are: Monday

7th June – Tuesday

15th June, 2010.

Patricia Rhodes

Last year was the first time we of-fered Geology through to A2 level.The result? Three of our students

gained places to read geology at uni-

versity. Ross Minall is at Plymouth Uni-

versity and Steph Walker and Jack

Anderson (after his ‘gap’ year) are at

Royal Holloway and Bedford College

(part of the University of London). The

picture is of Steph in front of the mag-

nificent ‘Founders Hall’ which is one of

Royal Holloway’s halls of residence.

Dave Waistnidge

A LEVELGEOLOGYR O C K S

MA

TH

S

. . is your future

MediaOn Tuesday 17th November, KEVICC students’ video productions were screened atthe Barn Cinema, with music from Louis Clayton. This is the sixth annual film festivaland our third year at Dartington. The quality of work, which included GCSE and Alevel work, remains high with some exceptional pieces including Ben Boyd Taylor’s

GCSE production ‘No Glory for Heroes’. Ben’s short film was selected forthe National Film Festival at the Bradford Museum of Film and Photogra-phy, earlier in November. There was an increased number of GCSE pro-ductions screened this year, a reflection of the range and quality ofstudents’ work at KS4. This year the GCSE Media Studies results were astaggering 93% A*- C with 57% of students gaining an A* or A grade. Alevel grades were also impressive with many students going on to mediaproduction courses at Falmouth, London, Bristol and Bournemouth.

KEVICC Film Festival

Page 21Page 20

MU

SIC

PH

YS

ICS

EN

GL

ISH

www.booktrustchildrensbooks.org.uk

We have some wonderful student writers at

the College. In the English department, we

give students lots of opportunities to develop

their writing skills, both within the classroom

and through extra-curricular workshops.

This poem is by Oscar Kary (Year 10):

Fear

A jumble of words

A ripple in water

A distortion of sound

A stutter in laughter

Darker than time

Clear as a black night

Bringing us together

But the start of every fight

It is the heart of our insecurity

The rhyme to our impurity

The rhythm to our insanity

The voice of our blasphemy

More provocative than love

Meaner than the whitest of doves

Faster than our very destruction

But always one step behind

Pushing us along

It is here always listening

Inside our unconscious mind

The greatest of liars

The cage of the spark

That will light the most beautiful fires

Looking for something toread?

We’re often asked for ideas

for reading material for

students.

There are lists of

suggested titles on the

English page of the College

website, and I strongly

recommend this site:

Page 22


HUB > SUBJECTS

Photography The Growing Portrait

exhibition exh

ibition was

held in The A

riel Centre a

nd

was open to a

ll

members of KEVI

CC to

enter. Photo

s by students

.

PASSION IN

PRINTINGThe AS textile group

was treated to a

wonderfully informative

presentation based on

the current exhibition at

The Totnes Costume

Museum at Bogan

House.

This ‘tucked away’ museum in the High

Street houses some beautiful gems, repre-

senting over three hundred years of cos-

tume. Each summer, a themed exhibition

focuses the curator Julia Fox’s creative and

incredibly knowledgable mind to form a

show. This year’s theme is pattern and print-

ing in textiles, with a collection ranging from

18th century spring gowns, showing single

colour printing created for Nelson’s celebra-

tion, to current day screen printing by the

foremost designer practitioners Susan

Bosence and Caroline Hall.

Julia brought to life the social and historical

stories behind each costume’s origins, pro-

viding animated insight for our students.

Within Julia’s vast wealth of knowledge was

her specific hands-on involvement and expe-

rience with the Dartington Workshops during

the 1960’s.

Year 12 gained huge insight into the social

history underlying the development and pro-

duction of textile decoration over the cen-

turies, which today are often taken for

granted.

We would urge other students and parents to

seek out this incredible collection housed in

the oldest authentic dwelling in our town.

AS Theatre

Studies

‘The Skriker’

At the end of the half term, the AS The-

atre Studies group performed a potted

version of Caryl Churchill’s unusual play

‘The Skriker’. The class worked partic-

ularly hard as the entire process took

five weeks from page to stage. The

Skriker is a shapeshifter: ancient and

damaged. She is a creature from Eng-

lish folklore, a world long gone, intrinsi-

cally connected to nature and who has

become redundant in today’s con-

sumerist, wasteful society. The Skriker

wants to take a baby as it will revitalise

her fading powers. She appears in dif-

ferent guises to two teenage girls, Lily

and Josie, offering them wishes in re-

turn for Lily’s baby. Eight members of

the group played the role of the Skriker

as a chorus and took separate opportu-

nities to lead the ensemble when she

appeared to the two girls in a new form.

The style was intensely physical and re-

quired complete discipline from the per-

formers who worked very hard to

achieve a polished and fluid finish.

Congratulations to all those involved!

Jo Crook

Ally Keen

An

de

rs D

uckw

orth

Jay Travers

Gro

up

of A

2 s

tud

en

ts

Joe Keeley Photography

Staff Photography CompetitionThe photography department is running a competition each

month where members of staff can submit an image to them

(room 35) and the one that they think is the best will be displayed

in The Courier. Photos can be left in Ken Isaaks’ or Nick Range-

croft’s pigeon holes. All photos will need to have the entrants

name on the back. The photos will be returned back to the en-

trant’s pigeon hole when the judging is complete. Alternatively,

images can be e-mailed to Ken Isaaks:

[email protected]

Get snapping!

DA

WHERE DID THEY GO

????????????????

Page 25Page 24


One Cold Friday in November anyone passing the hut where the dancers spend their time might have been forgivenfor wondering if they had wandered away from the usual pathway into another place en-tirely. Instead of dancing, they were singing - loudly and confidently - all day long.

The genius behind this choral wonder - most dancers really don't like opening theirmouths to sing out - was an unassuming man with a very big voice and an even biggerpassion for musical theatre, called Steve Pritchett. Steve has taught in nearly all of theprofessional dance and theatre colleges (including Arts Ed, Mountview and Bretton Hall)for around 20 years and has worked as musical director, coach, audition and rehearsaldirector on nearly every West End show which has played over a similar time. He regu-larly rubs shoulders with the likes of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, counts the likes of WillYoung amongst his students and personally knows more West End and pop stars thanmost of us could name.

We had a fantastic day. The students made a glorious noise that they didn't know theycould make and they learned so much about auditions for colleges and professionalwork. Steve, in turn, was blown away by the standard of our students, commenting thatthe work he pushed them to do was not altered in any way from the scores which wouldbe used for the actual shows themselves, with all the original harmonies and nuancesbeing included in minute detail. He found it hard to believe that some of those attendingwere in Year 10 and he felt that the Year 13 students who are on the audition roundsthis year would be very likely to be successful at any of the colleges they apply to, stat-ing that most of them he could have picked up and dropped into an Arts Ed orMountview student group that very day. The promise shown by the lower years im-pressed him so very much that he was very keen to keep an eye on them and has of-fered to come back in early spring to work solely on audition skills, choice of song andstyles of delivery.

Having such a positive response from someone who was going back to London to havelunch the following day with Robbie Williams, before flying to Milan to work with theforemost theatre school in Italy, is a huge accolade for both the students and the teach-ers they work with every day here in Totnes. The buzz he left behind persists and hasgiven the students another push to raise the stakes and truly reach for the stars. I thinkthey may just get there too!

So where did our graduates go?

Our 15 & 16 year old leavers went to:

Ballet West (Scotland) - Joe WakefieldHammond College of PerformingArts (Chester) - Victoria PearmanPerformers College (London) -Matthew EdwardsIdyllwild Academy of Performing Arts(California) - Miracle Chance

Our 6th form BTEC leavers went to:

University of Middlesex (Dance &Performance) - Joe EamesNottingham University (BEd withDance) - Ruth BowkerLondon Studio Centre - Becky Cookand Jodie BurrowsPerformers College - Layla Walter-Bodyworks (Cambridge) - ChloeWeaver

As part of the Vocational Dance Foun-dation Course, the BTEC studies em-phasise the theoretical and contextualstudy of technical and creative danceproviding students with the academicexperience and UCAS credits theyneed to succeed in degree levelcourses, either at dance college or Uni-versity. The optional FDI courses startstudents on the road to becomingteachers in their own right and integratewell with the BTEC studies. But thefocus of the course remains on trainingand turning out highly skilled, maturedancers who win funded places at thecolleges of their choice.

Far from being a specialist choice,Totnes School of Dance VocationalDance Course, provided in partnershipwith Kennicott 6th Form College, opensthe doors to academic and vocationalchoices at degree level or as traineeteachers, within a framework wherewould-be dancers are trained to reachtheir physical peak in readiness forwhat might lie ahead.

Jacqui Gee

Life has been so busy this term that wehave barely had time to think aboutthose who have left us and to wishthem all the very best of luck in theirnew pursuits. Last year at TotnesSchool of Dance, saw one of the mostimportant steps forward in our trainingprovision since we moved into our pur-pose built studios six years ago. It wasthe end of the first two year cycle of ournew BTEC courses. Courses at Level3 (A level) and Level 2 (GCSE) con-cluded with all of our National Diplomastudents and three out of four of ourNational Certificate students gaining themaximum distinction grades (equivalentto three or two A Levels at grade A).Our Level 2 students were equallyamazing with half of them gaining Dis-tinction * (equivalent to four GCSEs atgrade A*). At FDI, nine students suc-cessfully passed in one, two or threedance genres – an outstandingachievement by any standards!

We are so excited by the way our fulltime course has developed from theoriginal two students seven years ago –one of whom is now a full time memberof our talented teaching team – to the40 BTEC students we are now prepar-ing to take their next steps on the roadto a professional dance career. And be-cause we write the course ourselves,we are in total control of the course sothat training dancers is still our primaryfocus.

HUB > SUBJECTS

KEVICC 7 TOTNES SCHOOL OF DANCE IN PARTNERSHIP

DO YOU DREAM OF BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL DANCER?Do you want to train intensively in dance as if you were away at a residential vocationaldance school whilst living at home and studying for your GCSE and A level qualifica-tions? Because we have developed this ground breaking partnership, this dream isnow a reality.

Building on the excellent dance curriculum offered at KEVICC, from Year 7, this partner-ship between a specialist Performing Arts College and a highly respected, nationallyrecognised dance school has given dance at KEVICC a whole new perspective.

WHAT’S ON OFFER?

Access to regular dance classes, in all genres, to fit within and around your school dayto ISTD and RAD vocationals to Advanced 2 level.

Access to master classes, exam coaching and workshops with guest teachers.

QUALIFICATIONS

LEVEL 2BTEC First Certificate (2 GCSE equivalent) and First Diploma (4 GCSE equivalent) inPerforming Arts (DANCE)GCSE Dance

LEVEL 3Full Time Vocational Dance Foundation Course 16+ ENTRY BY AUDITION leading toBTEC National Certificate and National DiplomaFDI in Modern, Ballet, Tap, GreekRAD & ISTD to Advanced 2

Subjects: Technique in Ballet, Modern, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Greek, Musical The-atre, Choreography, Dance History, Conditioning, Performance & Audition skills

Prepare to take the next step ....Call 01803 866066

News from the

Drama DepartmentNever mind a comparison with a sum-mer’s day – this is truly the season ofmost wonderful mists and mellow fruitful-ness, ‘close bosom-friend of the maturingsun’ and I love it !

Once again, the busy squirrels that we arein the Drama Department have been gath-ering nuts and ‘plumping out hazel shells’– metaphorically of course. Rehearsalsare well underway for ‘West Side Story’,the challenging and moving productionthat we are staging between February 10– 13 . Tickets will shortly be available fromthe Ariel Centre at the same price as lastyear of £8, £6 concession, £3 for KEVICCstudents. True to form, this is an ambitiouspiece, particularly when it comes to the or-chestration (did Bernstein have to makethings so complicated?) and the choreog-raphy (damn that Jerome Robbins!). It isalso, of course, a very powerful and mov-ing piece and it is lovely to see these earlythreads of dance, music and drama com-ing together. We have a very talentedcast, from top to bottom , and I am surethat they will all rise to this challenge.

We took all of our GCSE Drama studentsin Year 11, all 55 of them, to London inOctober to see a stunning production of‘Warhorse’. We brought most of themhome! Some would have stayed andseen the show again if the could have.The following week we hosted two nightsof colourful chaos in the form of the fan-tastically funny ‘Forkbeard Fantasy’ –again watched and enjoyed by many ofour students. I would love to live in theirheads for a while – I imagine it to be aplace of inspired lunacy! And, to top thingsoff, we hosted a Frantic Assembly work-shop on the 24th November.

The following week Mrs Crook’s AS groupstaged an adaptation of Carol Churchill’s‘Skriker’. This was a visual and aural treatfor us and is discussed in a separate arti-cle. Since half-term, we have had a trip tosee ‘Grand Guignol’ at the Drum in Ply-mouth – a dark and disturbing tale. Wehave the hilarious ‘ That Magnificent Manand his Flying Machine’ in rehearsal. Post-poned from fireworks night, it can now becaught at the first of our famous Christ-mas Late Night shopping events, outsidethe Mansion, on 8th December. The showfeels like it is the love-child of an en-counter between Monty Python and ChittyChitty Bang Bang – don’t miss it!

The Year 12 Performing Arts group isworking on two shows – Complicite’s‘Street of Crocodiles’ and Frantic Assem-bly’s ‘Peepshow’. The former can becaught on the evenings of 9th, 10th, and11th December. It is, indeed, ‘all goingon’ in the Performing Arts department –much to celebrate and look forward to.There is nothing ‘mellow’ about us!!

Jonathan Mason

Page 26


KEVICC Percussion Ensemble

Our fantastic KEVICC Percussion Group - Jamie Benzies, George Hadow and Harriet Riley

(Year 13) and Kizzy Brooks, Jess Clarke, Molly Lopresti-Richards and Bill Massey (Year 11)

entered the Music for Youth Regional Finals earlier in the year and were selected to perform

at the National Finals in Birmingham in the summer. They said it was great fun and that they

just love playing together. They said they enjoyed the experience of a music competition as

well!

They also performed at Dartington earlier this term as part of a South West Music School

Young Artists' showcase. Harriet, Kizzy and Molly have all been selected, through a really

testing audition, to be SWMS students. South West Music School is part of a new national

network of Centres of Advanced Training, supported by the Department for Children, Schools

and Families Music and Dance Scheme, for exceptionally talented young musicians aged

between 8 and 18. There are only about 45 students altogether, so for KEVICC to have three

percussionists accepted is quite exceptional. We are very proud of them all, and of Kath

Banks, our percussion teacher who directs the Percussion Group.

Dartington Summer

Youth Programme

For three weeks in the summer, the Darting-

ton Summer Youth Programme ran on the

KEVICC site, with stunningly good courses

available to students both locally and nation-

ally.

Professional groups such as 6pac Jazz, tu-

tors from the Birmingham Music Conserva-

tiore and individuals highly respected in their

field ran courses in jazz, strings, rock, sound

engineering and folk. For the students in-

volved they had opportunities to play in en-

semble groups of very high calibre, to have

HUB > SUBJECTS

Performing Arts

Christmas ConcertsThe KEVICC Christmas Concerts willbe on Monday 14 December at 6pm inthe Great Hall at Dartington, andWednesday 16 December at 7pm in StJohn's Church, Bridgetown, Totnes.

Everyone is very welcome to come andshare these very special KEVICC occa-sions, which this year are entitled AFestive Celebration of our Family andFriends, but please note that admissionthis year is by ticket only in both ven-ues.

Tickets for Dartington are available fromthe Dartington Box Office 01803847070, and for St John's from KEVICCReception 01803 869200.

Events in the Ariel Centre Spring2010. Watch for posters for details!

14th January - Drumcrazy 10th An-niversary Community DrumCircle

20th January - Practical MusicianshipWorkshops

3rd February - Practical MusicianshipWorkshops

20 March - Harberton Folk present AlyBain & Phil Cunningham

professional one-to-one sessions, to learn

and develop skills and friendships .. .and to

have a great deal of fun. The concerts were

thrilling occasions, and the standard of per-

formance very high indeed.

Comments from parents included:

I am so glad my son attended the course. He

is having a wonderful time.

What an exceptional opportunity for my chil-

dren to work alongside professional musi-

cians. Every KEVICC musician should want

to come on these courses.

Harberton FolkKEVICC is delighted that John and Jan Culf of Harberton Folk have come back from re-tirement to programme folk events in the Ariel Theatre again.

Already this term they have put on two successful events and, by the time you read this,they will have had another sell-out event in early December.

There are several expensive pieces of 'kit' in constant use in the College that have beenbought for us by Harberton Folk: the projector in the Theatre; the power unit for the The-atre seating; six large trestle tables for events use - and many many thousands ofpounds have gone into microphones, speakers, lightin, tech desk improvements anddrinks glasses.

John and Jan have just paid £300 for chair fixings that will enable us to put in an extrarow of seating for capacity audiences that complies with health and safety require-ments. These have already been used twice and are highly successful.

Not only are we really grateful for all their financial support, but also they give the Col-lege, and the local community, wonderful evenings of highly professional music.

Thank you, John and Jan, all your volunteer stewards and your new team of supportersfrom the Harberton Cricket Club.

Written by Polly Morrow

Page 28


COMMUNITY

KEVICC Transition Tales Did you know that around 550 KEVICC students have been involved in creating Transition Tales since the project started in2007?

What is a Transition Tale?Transition Tales are stories of a not too distant future – the year2030. Stop for a moment and think how old you will be then andwhat you want to be doing.What’s it all about?

Imagining and co-creating visionsof 2030 has been the excitingpulse at the heart of the Transition Tales project.

After a pilot session with one class of Year 9students, the Transition Tales project kickedoff in 2008, working with the whole of Year 7and all of their wonderful staff at KEVICC,thanks to Emma Osbourn, dynamic Year 7Curriculum Team Leader.

Out of this came a full series of films - NewsReports from 2030, co-written, co-directedand co-produced by Year 7. In the Autumn of2008 these were uploaded onto YouTube.Type in Transition Tales to see all the films.

The films premiered at the Ariel Centre aspart of the Totnes Festival, supported by therenowned and thought-provoking storytellerAshley Ramsden of Emerson College.

In 2009, Year 7 recorded a whole load moreexciting films – fairy tales, ads, TV pro-gramme spoofs, stories of all kinds. Theseare in the process of being edited and will begoing on to YouTube too. The 2009 pro-gramme had new features, including a trip tothe woods and a chance to play ‘The Questto 2030’ - a game that really allows you tolive in 2030. The interest this game hasstirred outside of KEVICC means it will begoing on a nationwide tour next spring.

This year’s Year 7 - you are not forgotten! Inthe summer term, you will be heading on anadventure to Embercombe, an inspiring edu-cation and community project near Exeter,on a whole Transition Tales day out.

Not been involved yet and feeling left out? Not for long! We want to work with as manyKEVICC students and staff as possible.These are a few of the things looming largeon the horizon that we are really excitedabout:

• Your amazing garden – some great Tran-sition Tales are yet to be created there. Didyou know the garden is growing some of thefood that might end up in your schoollunch...and that you can help grow it?

• Media students. Are you in Year 12 or 13doing Media this year? Are you looking for aspecial project? If so, we need you! We des-perately need help to finish editing 2009’sfilms ready to upload onto YouTube, so farour only offer has come from someone inBerlin – we reckon a KEVICC team of edi-tors will be the best! Too busy this term? Youcan be involved in the summer term - cometo Embercombe with us and film the wholeproject!

• Your Family – groups are needed to pilot a‘Transition Tales across the generations’project. Get together a load of your familyand friends – as wide an age range as youcan – and we’ll come along and run a Quest2030 session with you. It’s great fun!

• Story Tellers. No matter what year groupyou are in, no matter whether you are stu-dent, parent or staff, if you want to tell Tran-sition Tales we want to hear from you!

So what’s all the fuss about?We are co-creating Transition Tales with asmany people as possible across the countryand beyond because we believe peoplemake all the difference. With all the stuffyou’ll have heard on the TV and radio aboutClimate Change, the Credit Crunch, unreli-able oil supplies and other such monsters,we’re going to need a whole bunch of he-roes. As we have shown at KEVICC, with anenergetic burst of community building and alot of new ideas, we have all the heroes weneed! To find out more and to get involved, contactSteph Bradley, and the others in the Transi-tion Tales team, Jeff van Zyl & Mara Greeneat [email protected]

Transition in Action

throughout Totnes and

the District

Transition Tales is the schools programmethat came out of the Transition Town TotnesProject. It began at KEVICC and continuesto grow and get more exciting here while italso attracts interest from beyond the Totnesdistrict boundaries. Transition Tales is nowbeing taken up by communities and schoolsacross the UK, Europe - even worldwide.

The Transition Town Totnes project tells asimilar story. Inspired by a project he hadconducted with a group of students in a towncalled Kinsale in Ireland, teacher Rob Hop-kins, together with fellow Totnes resident,Naresh Giangrande, started to develop aprocess by which members of the commu-nity could come together and explore the im-plications of diminishing oil supplies (peakoil) and climate change, and how, as a com-munity, we can take positive action to dosomething about it. The residents of Totnesand District responded enthusiastically andthe Transition Town Totnes project was bornin 2006.

Since then a range of projects have sprungup across the town and district, all creativelyaddressing the twin challenges of peak oiland climate change by strengthening ourcommunities and relocalising our services.The people involved in the Transition Townproject firmly believe that by tackling theseissues as a community we can actually en-able our town and district to become an evenbetter place to live than it is already: morelocal jobs; vibrant town and village life; re-

sumed interest and understanding of ourfarming heritage; improved relations be-tween the generations; healthier transportand building … the list goes on. This casehas proved so compelling that many othertowns, villages, cities and islands have takenon the idea. There are now hundreds ofTransition communities across the world andthousands more considering it.

A sample of our projects:

A Celebration of Local Food Guide -It takes about ten calories of fossil fuel en-ergy to get every calorie of food onto ourplates so ‘how will we feed ourselves whenthere is less oil available?’ is a big questionwe have been asking. Beginning with the‘celebration of local food’, many other foodand gardening projects have followed.

Perhaps the most famous being the Garden-share scheme that links people with gar-dens who do not have the time or skills tomanage them, with people who want to getgrowing but have no garden. TV chef, HughFearnley-Whittingstall, got wind of this proj-ect and used a TV programme filmed inTotnes to launch his national ‘Landshare’scheme.

The Totnes Pound - Currently about 80p inevery pound spent in a typical rural townsuch as Totnes leaves the local economyafter the first transaction, such as throughnational and international chains. Our iconiclocal currency, the Totnes Pound, is de-signed to keep money circulating within thelocal economy. Every time you spend theTotnes Pound, you are helping to strengthenthe local economy and build resilience intoour community.

Transition Together - Many people want totake practical action in many ways but find itvery difficult to do so on their own or as asingle household. With this in mind, Transi-tion Together was designed. Transition To-gether is a very local, community-buildingprogramme available for free to anyone liv-ing here in Totnes and its surrounding vil-lages. It is packed with top tips on ways youcan take effective, practical, money and en-ergy-saving steps together with a group ofneighbours, friends and family.

The future with 2030 VisionAs KEVICC students have been invited toimagine what they will be doing in 2030, resi-dents of all ages across Totnes and Districthave been invited to do the same as part ofour Energy Descent Plan Project. What willTotnes and District look like in 2030 once wehave successfully made that Transition tobeing significantly less dependent on oil?And what do we need to put into place in themeantime in order for that to become reality?

The Energy Descent Plan process askedthose questions and many of its findingsthrough the community responses will beavailable in print this winter. Many of theideas that emerged are already coming intobeing. We are beginning to see projects thatinvolve local landowners, builders, the NHS,local schools and many other keys pieces ofour community infrastructure come togetherin some very exciting proposals and busi-nesses. At a time when much of our econ-omy is in recession, TTT is creating jobs andbringing investment into the town.

To learn more or to get involved in Transition

Town Totnes or any of its established proj-

ects, please contact us on 01803 867358 or

[email protected].

TT rr aa nn ss ii tt ii oo nn TT oowwnn TT oo tt nn ee ss

DDaarrttiinnggttoonnThe Arts at Dartington-Spring 2010 summary

A fantastic range of live music events will be breezing into

Dartington this spring.

Kicking off the programme on 7th February is the Britten Sinfonia who will be presenting their

selection of music from both sides of the Atlantic, Britten America. This concert offers a rare

opportunity to hear celebrated tenor Mark Padmore paired with the exuberant violinist Pekka

Kuusisto in a new work by Nico Muhly, composer for the Oscar-nominated film The Reader.

Muhly is gaining a reputation as being one of the most impressive composers of new music,

effortlessly crossing the boundaries between classical and pop music.

On 20th May folk-lovers are in for treat as Mercury Prize nominated folk singer Eliza Carthy

comes to the Great Hall. Winner of a staggering seven BBC Folk Awards, Eliza has per-

formed and recorded with a diverse range of artists from Paul Weller and Billy Bragg to

Damon Albarn and Nick Cave. Eliza is a truly innovative singer and fiddle-player and this,

combined with the amazing atmosphere and acoustics of the Great Hall, makes this a unique

folk music event. For this performance, Eliza will be joined by Barney Morse Brown from The

Imagined Village and Phil Alexander from Salsa Celtica.

Visit www.dartington.org/arts for dates, ticket prices and to hear or watch some of the above

artists at work. You can also call the Box Office on 01803 847070. For more information on

the Arts at Dartington you can join Dartington’s Facebook group at www.facebook.com/Dart-

ington or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DartingtonHall.

There is a further list of events here : http://www.dartington.org/arts/live-events

COMMUNITY

Contemporary theatre show by Third Angel,

‘Class of ‘76’ on 25th February

Singer/songwriter showcase from fantastic

regional musicians on 27th February

Jackie Oates, a young female folk singer

who won the Best Newcomer award at the

BBC Folk Awards 2009. She was a founder

member of Northumbrian group and Mercury

nominated Rachel Unthank and the Winter-

set until early 2007 before starting to make

her mark as a solo artist. More information

here: http://www.jackieoates.co.uk/biogShe will be performing on 6th March in the

Great Hall.

Joe Broughton’s folk and world music group,

Urban Folk Quartet. Joe has run the Folk-

world course at the Dartington Summer

Youth Programme for last three years which

is always highly oversubscribed, so this is

brilliant opportunity to see him play with his

band. 26th March in the Great Hall.

Tickets are available for these events from

16th December.

The Old Totnesian Society

The Old Totnesian Society held its 2009

Annual General Meeting and reunion at the Royal

Seven Stars Hotel, Totnes on Friday 23rd October.

Prior to meeting at the hotel, members met for an informal gathering at

The Mansion, Fore Street, Totnes where stories of old, various photo-

graphs and even an old school report were shared with friends.

The retiring President, Ms Alison Strong, in her address to the meeting,

welcomed a number of new faces and reported that a number of new

members had joined the Society and it that it was hoped that this would

lead to more. Members heard of the support given by the Society to vari-

ous departments at KEVICC and to individual students. Details of these

are contained in the latest Society newsletter, copies of which will be avail-

able in the Kennicott Library. The more members there are will result in

more finance being available to offer further support. The new member-

ship package for school leavers, which enables individuals to obtain a five

or ten year membership at a reduced rate, was reported upon.

The new President is Roger Foord-Evans

of Buckland-in-the-Moor. He was a former

pupil of the Grammar School from 1946 -

1949. Roger has served in the Royal

Navy, been a tea planter in Pakistan, been

involved with social work with disturbed

teenagers and young adults and finally a

psychotherapist in Mental Health. Roger

already has a connection with the College

in that he has grandchildren there as stu-

dents. He has also been working with the

History Department on a project concern-

ing Captain (Major) Willis V.C. which it is

hoped will result in an interesting booklet

about a heroic old boy.

The Society has a website - www. oldtotnesians.com - which is linked in

with the College website and it contains details of forthcoming events.

The website also contains many archives of

the old schools of Totnes and these are

being added to all the time. Members of the

Society are the alumni of KEVICC and the

previous three schools which were joined to-

gether in 1966 to form the current College.

Barry G J Warren

Honorary Secretary

NEW DEPUTY PRESIDENT IS‘GREEN’.The Old Totnesian Society has appointed a

new Deputy President with a view to bringing

together alumni from the old boys and girls

who attended the separate schools prior to

amalgamation in 1966 as well as the stu-

dents and staff who now leave KEVICC. He

is Richard C Walter who is married and lives

in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He is from

the same year group as retiring President Al-

ison Strong, being at school from 1965 to

1972.

Richard is soon to take early retirement

which will enable him to develop his many

interests further and to devote more effort to

the Old Totnesians. Here, Richard tells us a

bit about himself and his interests.

“My time at Totnes wasspent at Kennicott as aboarder.

“My time at Totnes was spent at Kennicott as

a boarder. Being born on a farm in North

Devon and passing the 11+, the only option

was to board either at Totnes or Crediton. In

1965 there was space at Totnes and that's

where I was sent. The transition to compre-

hensive, under Mr Snape, happened in my

second year so schooling took place in a

round robin of environments from Mansion to

Girls’ High to Redworth and back to Man-

sion, all among a myriad of building works

and the creation of a 6th Form centre at the

Mansion. It was a brilliant lesson in adapting

to change, one that has served me well.

After Totnes, I decided to study Engineering

at Lancaster. Only after choosing it did I find

just how far away it was from North Devon,

much to my parents’ amazement! I then

worked for a spell in the gas industry before

moving to settle in Cheltenham where I still

live.

My work was initially as an engineer (electri-

cal/electronic), then as a Project Manager,

growing up with the development of PM as a

discipline, then working and helping develop

Programme Management. I've also studied

law and psychology a bit too. I've worked a

lot with computers, and was on the net in the

1990s, before the web was invented, back in

the old FTP days. I have had my own web

site for over 10 years.

I've done a lot of conservation work, both

with the local wildlife trust and, globally, with

Earthwatch in South America. I've travelled

to 55 countries plus 32 states in the US and

given a talk at the Royal Geographic Society

in London about Earthwatch. I love public

speaking and am a keen photographer, ini-

tially with my own darkroom before the digi-

tal days, and done some video editing too.

I've installed solar PV and a wind generator

on my house and run them, along with a

solar hot water system, for nearly four years.

I'm currently installing a Ground Source Heat

Pump system in our cottage in Ireland, and

will then build a micro-hydro system there,

so I'll have experience with all the micro-gen

systems available.

I've retained my schoolboy disinterest in all

things sporting (!), neither watching nor tak-

ing part in any sports, but I have been danc-

ing and helping teach Salsa for about 11

years and, more recently, DJing, mostly for

Salsa nights and other one-off events.

I am very pleased, and truly honoured, to be

elected Deputy President of the Old Totne-

sians. It’s a society I was aware of when I

left KEVIC in 1972 but, at that time of transi-

tion from grammar school to comprehensive,

there was little contact between the society

and those then at school. Re-establishing

this link and making the Old Tots relevant to

today's alumni is something the committee

have been working on for some time now,

and that I wish to help develop.”

Richard Walter

If you are a community group and

would like to write an article for The

Courier, please get in contact.

Theatr

e

CinemaPerfor

mance

Dance

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