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News @ The Dixie Christmas 2015

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From the Headmaster

ear Parents and Friends of the School,

I finished my newsletter at the end of the last academic year with the

sentence, ‘I have a sneaky suspicion that next year will be even better’,

but I had no idea quite how much better! For the first time in the school’s

history the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI) has rated the School

to be excellent across all eight categories and this gave us plenty to

celebrate as a school. In particular, a top grade for teaching is particularly

elusive and we were delighted that inspectors recognised and commented

on ‘The Dixie Difference’, a phrase our parents use in describing the

school.

D

There were a whole series of celebratory

events, including the whole school party

complete with fruit cocktails, ‘excellent’

balloons and over 300 of Mrs Mallard’s

‘excellent’ cupcakes! There are more events

planned for 2016, including the planting of 8

‘excellent’ trees in the grounds of our Junior

School — a permanent reminder of just how

impressive the students, parents and staff at

the school are!

I could not be prouder of the school, staff,

parents and pupils and I am absolutely thrilled

that no school in the wider area has received a

more glowing assessment from ISI. As with any

report, there are recommendations for further

improvement and together

with the senior team and

whole staff, we are already

making plans to build on

o u r s u c c e s s e s , t o

further enhance our

excellence across the board.


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From the Headmaster

Our Christmas Carol Service in St. Peter’s Church was a

wonderful evening of festive music-making. The various

choirs and orchestras were at their very best and readers

from the student body took us through the Christmas

story with a mix of secular and sacred readings.

The School orchestra, windband, Dixie

Brass, Dixie community choir, junior

choir, Year 6 & 7 singers and senior

choir performed a varied programme

which showed our huge range of

talent as well as musical opportunity

in the school. Lauren Nicholls and

Natalka Smaditch had their own com-

positions performed on the evening.

Chatting to students on the walk back from the carol service I was reminded how much fun it is to

be part of a choir and orchestra. We are a busy school and in the last assembly of the term I

challenged the students: “if you are not involved outside of the classroom, why on earth not? We

will be looking at every individual’s weekly commitments after Christmas to make sure you are all

getting from school as well as giving to school as much as you should be.” We have over 60 clubs

and societies running during the school day as well as after school and from January one more to

add to the list: The Dixie Diggers! Judy Buckell, former Governor and

local professional gardener will be guiding our Year 6 and 7 students

as they grow, plant and look after the school’s flowers and trees.

No experience necessary!


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From the Headmaster

The Christmas celebrations continued in

school with our Christmas dinner.

Mrs Mallard’s fantastic festive fare was

appreciated by all and the standard of jokes in

the crackers were delightfully poor.

From the Chemistry club’s

‘Chemistree’ to Dixie’s Midday

runners @ Christmas, festive

spirit has been much in

evidence. Dixie’s Midday run-

ners set off with the cry ‘Come

on Eileen’, a cultural reference

lost on many of the students!

Another traditional part of our end of term

celebrations is the internal concert. There

were a wealth of performers from Year six all

the way through to the Upper

Sixth ‘dance’ choreographed by

Jade Burton. The concert was

ably compered by Richard

Wilkinson and Liban Warsame

and the concert concluded with

two numbers by the staff band,

complete with backing singers.


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From the Headmaster

Another tradition in school is the Samaritan’s Purse

Christmas Shoebox Appeal. The school made a record

contribution of 112 shoeboxes for the Samaritan's Purse.

This included a single contribution from Georgia Nelson in

Year 11 of 40 boxes.

Mrs Scott who organised the appeal said "It was hard

work and by the end, my classroom was so full of boxes I

couldn't move. It was like Santa's grotto. Dixie students

are always generous, but this time they really rose to the

challenge".

Dixie Rocks was a fantastic evening

of music-making which coincided

with the Christmas light switch-on in

town. Several hidden stars came out

to shine and over 180 were packed

in to the hall to enjoy the bands’

musical offerings, from Year 6 up.


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From the Headmaster

Bernard Heathcote, aged 95, who was amongst the oldest if

not the oldest former pupil of The Dixie Grammar School, died

on 3 November 2015 and his funeral was on 25 November.

The school were represented at his funeral by Mrs Laird, Mrs

Lambourne, Mr Haddon and Mr Hamson. Whilst a pupil at

Dixie he became Headboy, won the Victor Ludorum on two

occasions and was captain of the football and cricket

teams. After leaving school he spent five years in the Army,

Royal Signals, two of the years spent in India. Following the

war he did a one year emergency teacher training course at

Saltley, Birmingham Training College. Mr Heathcote then

taught at a local school until his retirement in 1985.

In his retirement he gave of his free time and came back to the Dixie to teach chess. He was ‘A

splendid disciplinarian, firm yet kindly, with great interest in the welfare of the children and all

their activities both in and out of school, realising fully that every child is an individual in their

own right’. Many of our Alumni commented on Facebook following the news of his passing.

Another event that seems to have become

something of a Dixie tradition is the Year 6

trip to Harry Potter World. Here is Erin

Hurst’s account of the day:

“I loved going to the Harry Potter trip be-

cause it felt like everything was real. I also

liked it because I am a big fan of the films and

seeing how the films were made was really

fun. My favourite room was the outside bit

because you saw Harry Potter’s house and

got to go in the flying car. I also loved going

on the Hogwarts Express because you got to

see all the different compartments on the

train from all the different movies. When I am

older I would love to have a job designing all

the costumes for the movie because the

clothes of the characters show their personal-

ity. I learnt that making a movie is a lot of

work. If I could I would love to go to Hogwarts

but unfortunately you can’t.”


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From the Headmaster

Dixie’s Medical Society has been very well supported by our budding medics and Christian

Smaditch has done a fantastic job in putting together a programme involving a diverse range of

speakers. Many thanks to the parents and governors who have contributed so readily to the

programme. The latest session given by Mrs Rachel Greasley was a practical session on ‘Basic

Airway Management’ and was a huge success and great fun!

One area which has long

been a tradition in school

has been our charitable

giving and along with the

previously mentioned

shoebox appeal, this term

has been no different.

£2220.20 has been raised

this term for good causes

and there are two I would

like to highlight in particular – the cakes sale organised

by Year 11 students in response to the Paris tragedy,

which raised £228.29 and the Muscular Dystrophy dona-

tion of £275. Both these have resulted from what I

consider to be the very best of the Dixie – student

initiative. The latter was raised through the sale of

truffles and was organised by the Year 7 and 8 business

club, with the help of Mr Kirkwood and Mr Whitehead.

The other new initiative this term

was the Dixie Community Choir,

formed over the last few weeks to

sing carols in the Hinckley

Community Hospital (as well as

our carol service). They performed

in their Christmas jumpers and I

am thrilled that the name of the

Dixie was associated with such a

fitting event at Christmas.


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From the Headmaster

There has been fierce inter-House competition this term from quizzes to bake offs and from

football to photos. The inaugural House bake-off was the brain child of Head Girl, Kiran Bansal,

and was very keenly contested and even more keenly judged!

The winners in each year group were as follows:

Year 6 Lucas Barter (Christmas tree cakes), Year 7 Jenny Smart (snowman cupcakes), Year 8 Alice

Wright (Reindeer Cakes), Year 9 TIE! Oliver Grundy (Santa faces) and Chloe Vinestock (Ginger

and Toffee Swirl), Year 11 and Sixth Form Jade Burton (Festive Sugarcraft cakes).

The overall winner was Jade Burton, but all those who baked contributed points to the House

total, which for the bake-off gave Lancaster 11 points and York 10.

The House quizzes are now well-established fixtures in the House competition and both the

Lower School and Middle school crowns went to York House.

The other big House event was the Chairman of Governors’ Inaugural Photo competition. Every

entry was awarded one point for the House and the standard was particularly high. There were

category and overall winners and for each, the ICT department team on the top floor have con-

verted all the photos into a 2016 calendar. The winner of each category is in bold:

Landscape & Travel winners: Lower School: Amber Jackson (Blue sky/trees), Middle School: Katy

Hurst (purple sky), Upper School: Abby Riley (shoe and lake).

Portrait category winners: Lower School: Alice Whitmore (girl), Middle School: Cameron Overton

(Blacksmith), Upper School: Zach Gauhar (Ducklings)


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From the Headmaster

Action category winners: Lower School: Ethan Kirwan-Jones (Trampoline), Middle School: Jared

Cutler (5 people in mud), Upper School: James Evans (Pop Singer).

There were 3 other winners of calendars – we needed 12 images for the 12 months and the fol-

lowing just missed out on a prize on the evening, but were highly commended by the judges –

Nadia Hurley Smith (tree) and Job Davies (Bridge 44).

The photo competition ended up in victory for Lancaster—8 points to York’s 6. Many congratu-

lations to the overall winner, Alice Whitmore, and thanks to the Governors for putting up such

generous prizes.

In addition this term, there have been House competitions in tennis, badminton, football, netball

and as ever, the number of credits won by each individual counts towards the House total. Once

all is calculated, the standing at the end of the Autumn Term are: York 41, Lancaster 34.

Year 6 inter-House Hockey

Away from House events, but staying with

sport, congratulations to all our swimmers, but

particularly to the five who have won the Mid-

lands competition and, therefore, qualify for

the National ISA Finals in London on 23 Janu-

ary. Becky Smart Year 8 girls’ individual Breast-

stroke and medley relay, Oliver Crane Year 7

boys’ individual fly and freestyle plus both re-

lays, Ryan Gordon Year 11 and over Individual

Medley, individual fly plus 2 relays, Rhys Chiles

Year 11 and over individual breaststroke, plus 2

relays, Dan Kennedy Year 6 Individual Butterfly

plus relay.


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From the Headmaster

As well as intra-school competitions, there have been many inter-school challenges and

overall the statistics make for pleasant reading:

From 80 competitive fixtures, to have won or drawn 50 is very encouraging and I am particularly

pleased that we manage these results with our policy of inclusion—for example, every boy in

Year 7 has represented the school in rugby this term. Girls’ rugby has continued to grow in

popularity and their involvement in two tournaments this term has been fantastic.

After Christmas, Mr Fielding tells me he is looking at some squash coaching for our senior pupils

(Year 11-13) in senior games afternoons linking with Hinckley squash club. Also, senior pupils will

have the opportunity to use the gym at Hinckley Leisure centre as part of our broad activities

programme. There are 10 spaces remaining. Touch rugby club on Mondays will revert back to

football club from January until February half term and then we will be running some grass

rugby sessions again from February until Easter through our school club link with Paul Walsh and

Hinckley Rugby Club.

After Christmas, Monday Football club is for all years (boys) until February half-term on the astro

-turf and Rugby after Feb half-term until Easter 4.00pm -5.15pm on grass.

Maths Challenge

It was my pleasure to award the follow-

ing Maths Challenge certificates in the

final assembly:

Hockey

Hockey Training is offered for both boys and girls in every year group. The training days for each

age group are as follows:

Tuesday 4.15pm-5.30pm U11 – Year 6, U12—Year 7, U13—Year 8

Thursday 4.15pm-5.30pm U14—Year 9, U15—Year 10, U16/U18

Training will re-start on Tuesday 12 January for U11-13 and on Thursday 14 January for U14-18.

We have a very active Tournament Schedule throughout March, therefore training sessions will

finish at the end of February for the Tuesday group. The Thursday group will not have training on

the 3rd and 17th March due to fixtures on those dates. Travel to the Astro will be via school

minibus, but parents should collect children from the Pavilion at 5.30pm.


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From the Headmaster

The new arrangements for recreation are working very well and I am delighted that Year 8 and

9 students are getting more use of Barton Road and also that the 14 acre field at the back of

school is getting used. Year 6 and 7 campers braved an October evening setting camp, cooking

on open fires and sang songs with hot chocolate around the camp fire before settling down to

what was intended to be a good night’s sleep! In the morning they got the fires going again,

cooked breakfast and then made catapults. They returned to school exhausted, but having had

a fantastic time in the great outdoors.

The Rugby World Cup may not have lived up to ex-

pectations for England fans, but the concert organ-

ised by Christian Smaditch in Leicester Cathedral was

anything but a disappointment. It raised money for

the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust (JHMT) and

Christian organised the concert from start to finish,

including managing the logistics of moving our

school piano to the Cathedral. The concert featured

talented musicians from the area and included an

eclectic range of musical styles. Included in the pro-

gramme were Lauren Nicholls (flute), Natalka and

Sophia Smaditch (singing), Libby Goodman (singing

and French horn) as well as Christian himself. The

concert was sold out and raised in excess of £3500

for this very worthy cause.


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Mrs Rhodes, English and Drama teacher has just completed her Yoga Alliance 200 hour teacher

training certificate and will be running an exam stress-busting session with Year 11 on Tuesday 5

January 9.30am—11.30am in the pavilion. During the 2 hour session, students will learn about

breathing and visualisation techniques to help them relax and remain calm during exams, as well

as simple yoga poses to focus and still the mind at home. These are valuable skills for students

to learn at what can be a very stressful time for them but also a fun activity designed for relaxa-

tion.

In addition she will be running Yoga sessions for Years 10 - 13 on Mondays after school,

4.15pm—5.15pm at the pavilion. Complete beginners are welcome! All equipment will be pro-

vided by Mrs Rhodes, but students will need to wear loose, comfortable clothing suitable for

gentle exercise; this does not need to be their school PE kit.

We were thrilled to welcome Mr Wei, our Confucius Classroom teacher to the school this half

term. He will be with us for two years, and as well as running our Taiji classes on Tuesday after

school, he will be giving language conversation practice to our Mandarin students and is also

teaching Mandarin to local primary schools, under the banner of the Dixie. He will be starting

Mandarin classes for parents in the New Year—look out for details via ParentMail.

Girls’ Rugby vs Ashby

Two final reminders from me:

Lost property: We urge students not to bring valuable items to school but would like to remind

everyone that the student themselves is responsible for their property. If bringing valuables to

school is unavoidable they may hand them in at the office for safe-keeping. Valuable items

handed in will be kept safely for a period of at least 6 months and we will take reasonable steps

to return them but please be aware that unnamed watches, locked phones etc. are usually un-

traceable and will be passed on to charity if they cannot be returned.

Road-crossing: Please remind your children not to cross the road immediately outside school,

but rather to use the zebra crossing by the chip shop. If you are picking your children up by car

after 4.20pm, then please do feel free to drive into school and meet in the yard.

It has been a busy term, and reading students’ reports has underlined to me just how much has

been achieved since September. Year 11 students return in January for Mock Exams and we wish

them well as they revise over the break (as well as relax).

All that remains is for me to wish you

all a peaceful Christmas and Happy

New Year.

Richard Lynn

Headmaster

U13 Hockey - Dixie 2 Twycross 1

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