THE COTSWOLD SCHOOL

Bourton-on-the-Water

Gloucestershire GL54 2BD

Tel: 01451 820554 Fax: 01451 810658

e-mail: admin@mail.cotswold.gloucs.sch.uk

The Cotswold News

June

2010

An ‘Outstanding’ 11-18 School, Ofsted 2009

Specialist Language College, since 2002

DCSF Leading Edge School, since 2004

Specialist Science College, since 2006

National Support School, since 2009

The official opening in June of the new Cotswold School Sports Hall by Mike Gatting OBE (ex-England Cricket Captain) proved a double celebration as the school received news that Sport England has agreed funding for the next phase of our vision to become a centre for community sport.

The £210,000 award from Sport England ensures that building work can now begin on changing rooms, disabled facilities and a community room with viewing area and kitchen. The project, which will be completed by December, will transform our school sports hall into a first-rate facility for sports clubs and community groups to use in the evenings, weekends and holidays. As well as enabling a range of extended sporting opportuni-ties for young people after school, the project will increase participation and enjoyment of sport amongst all age groups in the North Cotswolds.

Gatting opens a new era in Cotswold School sport

Sport England funding makes vision for community sport a reality

We were delighted to welcome Mike Gatting OBE as our Guest of Honour to officially open the Sports Hall itself. Mike captained the England Cricket Team from 1986-1988, winning the Ashes in Australia 1986-7 and notching up 10 hundreds for England, including a score of 207 against India.

He was delighted to see our cricketers practising in the Sports Hall’s new cricket nets and to present trophies to our victorious U15 County Cricket champions. Mike also presented medals to the U16 Netball team (Runners-Up in the County RAF Tournament), long-service teaching awards to Mr Daniels and Mr Kempson and unveiled a plaque celebrating the official opening of the Sports Hall. In his speech, Mike Gatting described The Cotswold School as an outstanding example of a MAD school – M.A.D. standing for Making A Difference to the sporting opportunities of all of its students.

Guests were entertained by our Jazz group and enjoyed Strawberries and Cream in the sunshine. We were even graced by the presence of 3 daleks, much to the delight of lifelong Dr Who fan Mike Gatting! Following the opening, Mike joined the MCC team in a match against our Cotswold School First X1—kindly hosted by Bourton Cricket Club. The day was a perfect start to a new era in sport at The Cotswold School and in our local area.

The Cotswold News

Congratulations to: • our Year 9 Athletes who took part at the

recent District Championships. We fielded a very strong boys and girls team with some excellent results The boys finished 6th in Division 1, against very tough oppo-sition and the girls won Division 2 com-fortably which sees the year 9 age group being promoted to division 1 next year. Stand out individual performances came from Rick Coleman (2nd in High Jump and Hurdles), Corrigan Cox (1st in 1500m) and Becky Pearson (1st in Long Jump). Well done to all of the athletes.

• to all the athletes who competed at the Gloucestershire County Championships on Saturday 12th June. Corrigan Cox won the U15 1500m by 20 seconds. Rick Coleman came 2nd in the U15 High Jump and Andrew Scull came 2nd in the U17 400m with a personal best time of 52.3 seconds. Corrigan, Rick and Andrew all went on to compete in the South West Championships with Corrigan achieving a personal best of 4 min 54 sec in the U15 1500m and Rick coming 3rd in the High Jump with a personal best of 1m69cm. Fantastic!

• to the Minor boys athletics team (Year 7 & 8) who performed exceptionally well at the Cheltenham District Championships

• to the school Cricket teams who have enjoyed the best ever season in the s chool’s 22 year history. Both the U15 and U13 teams won all their league matches and have qualified for the Cheltenham District Finals in July. In the County Cup competitions, the U12’s and U14’s both reached semi-finals whilst the U15’s went all the way to win the County Cup with wins over Bournside, Central, Wycliffe College, Crypt and Wydean. A narrow defeat to Colstons (Bristol) was all that prevented them also being crowned Regional Champions. Well done to all our cricketers on such superb performances and thanks to all the staff who have coached and organised the teams so effectively.

• Alice Powell on being the first female to ever win a Formula Renault race—her victory coming at Silverstone recently. What an achievement for a 17-year old! We’re very proud of all that Alice is achieving.

The Cotswold School World Cup is well underway, producing intense excitement as each Year 7 tutor group takes the part of a dif-ferent country throughout June. The competition is very tightly fought at the moment with a number of contenders for the 'Golden Boot' award. Watch this space as the tournament develops!!

The Girls in Sport presentation evening is fast approaching - it will be held on Monday 5th July, 7.00-8.30pm. If you would like to attend, please see Miss Hemming as soon as possible.

Academy Status The Governing Body recently held a helpful meeting for parents to ask questions about the implications of Academy status and were very grateful to those parents who attended. Governors are now awaiting further information over the summer on the financial implications of becoming an academy. Further information will be published on the school website. If you wish to express your view on the desirability of becoming an Academy, please e-mail the school on: admin@mail.cotswold.gloucs.sch.uk

Year 11 on the Campaign Trail ! Friday 7

th May 2010 was an historic day in the

world of politics. The nation had a hung parlia-ment and the Cotswold School Year 11’s had a new leader! For two months each Year 11 tutor groups had been working on the task of creating their own political party and producing a three minute advert to highlight the aims and policies of the party together with a stand and a presen-tation. Policies included: Health and Safety gone mad, National Service for the unemployed, better pay for Servicemen and women, more finance for alternative fuels and price capping on professional sportsmen. The whole year group voted in a secret ballot. The atmosphere between the parties was very tense while the votes were counted but unlike the national election there was an outright winner with an overall majority of 55! - the B.E.S.T (Ben Edwards Supporting Teenagers) Party. They even had an acceptance speech prepared! Well Done to all!

Year 9 Music Showcase Year 9 pupils entertained the school this month in their first ever music showcases - two lunchtime concerts held under the canopy. Highlights included “Hallelujah” by a group led by Sarah Frosh, solos by Emily Eaton, Euan Johnstone, Hannah Barnham and Phoebe Dry, guitar by Charlie Meyrick and piano by Hannah Jenkins. Well done everybody – and thank you.

Summer Nights – a mini concert series for the end of term Summer Nights One is subtitled “East meets West” and features school music groups - including our Chinese pupils. Summer Nights Two combines school music and drama groups. The dates are Wednesday 7 July and Thursday 8 July and tickets are £3 from pupil reception.

Ultimate piano lesson Part of the Cheltenham Science Festival, this was a whistle-stop tour of the history of the piano from the technology point of view. A group of sixth formers, Year 9s and interested parents attended and found out a lot about the eighteenth century “fortepiano” and the modern grand.

Instrumental lessons As usual at this time of year we are putting to-gether schedules for September’s instrumental lessons. This requires a lot of careful planning – so if you want to sign up for an instrument (or are planning to stop having lessons) now would be a very good time to speak to Mr Briggs.

The Cotswold News

Language College News

Adult Holiday Language Programme We are now half way through our adult holiday language programme which has received some very positive feedback. Thanks to Mrs Hudson who did the French, Miss Rodda who did the Spanish and to Mrs Chatburn who did the Italian

NVQ French We have just completed the NVQ course for the first time with our year 11s who have worked hard to complete their portfolios. According to our end of year 11 survey the course has gone down very well and the pupils can look forward to results day in August with confidence! Mrs Hudson has passed her training as an official assessor and the school is now an approved centre for NVQ languages with very positive feedback from those sent to check us out! Mrs Kelman will be training up as an assessor next year as we continue the programme.

Media Interest in Language College We were thrilled to be visited by Radio Gloucestershire who did a morning feature on us as a specialist language college. There were interviews every half hour or so with Mr Morgan, Mrs Hudson, Miss Rodda, Miss Tingle (in a classroom situation), Miss Underwood and with sixth formers James Ager and Emily Bayliss. Richard, the interviewer, was very impressed with what was on offer and with the enthusiasm of the pupils! On another media note the partnership between the MFL depart-ment and the Language College is now featured on the website of Pulhams, our language college sponsors. Our fame is spreading!

We were also visited by TF1 (main French TV news channel) for the third time in five years. They filmed a Year 9 French lesson, Year 7 PE and interviewed both Miss Underwood and lots of pupils to canvass opinion about the length of the school day which is a hot topic (and much longer!) in France at the moment!

Residential Trips 2011 Stop press – our French, German and Spanish residentials 2011 are now completely sold out. Receipt cards will be issued in due course. We had a great time in Barcelona over half term on this year’s Spanish trip visiting the Nou Camp, la Sagrada Familia, the Olympic Stadium, Las Ramblas and Parc Guell and we still found time to do wine tasting and shopping! Many thanks to Miss Tingle for organising it.

Language Plays We recently enjoyed the last play in our Onatti season when our Year 7 and guests from 6 of our primary schools were treated to the junior French play. Interactive as ever, there were some great impromptu performances from volunteers from the audience! The Year 6 pupils will be treated to a different sort of performance from “Whisper and Shout!” on their second induction day in July.

Science College News

Year 6 gifted and talented pupils from local primary schools were faced with a forensic problem…who committed the crime! They had to use complex scientific techniques such as fingerprint patterns and microscopic crystal identification to solve the crime and find the perpetrator. It was a close competition with a race to solve the clues. Congratulations go to the winning detectives Henry Oughton, Hollie Hathaway and Rachael Silsock from St David’s School.

Year 10 National Biology Challenge Congratulations to Kieran Wiseman who has been awarded the prestigious Bronze Award for the 2010 Biology Challenge. This is a na-tional challenge open to all schools and the competition is fierce. Kieran completed two papers on biology topics ranging from genetics to population ecology and achieved the highest score in the Cotswold School to date.

Astronomy GCSE After another interesting and successful year we are pleased to be continuing our GCSE Astronomy course. The course is open to Year 12 pupils, staff and adults in the local area; it is suitable for anyone with an interest in gaining practical experience of the subject. This is a one year GCSE course. The majority of the course is available online, with worksheets and resources accessible so that people can work at their own pace. Tutorial sessions will also be available in school throughout the year. The June written examination makes up 75% of the marks for the course and two pieces of course-work, completed during the year make up the remaining 25%. There will also be a number of “Sky at Night” evenings where we use the school telescopes to view the stars and plan-ets. We will continue to have evening visits from local Astronomy Groups, who in the past have given really interesting talks and demon-strations. Further information can be obtained from Mr. Kemp on 01451 820554 or by E-mail: admin@mail.cotswold.gloucs.sch.uk Proposed addition of a Blazer to the Year 10 and Year 11 School Uniform The school council, having consulted students on the issue of uniform, are proposing the addition of a blazer for Years 10 and 11 only. This would become compulsory, though for the first year only would be optional for Year 11. The blazer would be worn over the top of the existing school jumper. The blazers would be black with the school badge sewn in; the price would be around £25, to be purchased from the school shop. Examples of how the blazers would look are on display in the school foyer. If you have any views on this proposal, please let us know on: admin@mail.cotswold.gloucs.sch.uk Having listened to the feedback of parents, Governors will make a decision and, should the change be agreed, plenty of notice would be provided in the Autumn term before the blazer was intro-duced.

The Cotswold News

DIARY DATES — July Thursday 1st July Year 6 induction Day; Year 6 Parents Evening, Hall 7.00 pm

Friday 2nd July Year 5 Science and Technology Day

Tuesday 6th July Sports Day, 12.30 pm

Wed 7th & Thurs 8th July “Summer Nights” Music Concerts

Monday 12th July UCAS Week; Year 10 Work experience all week, Year 9 Enterprise Day; French and German Trips depart

Tues 13th-Thurs 15th July Activities Week

Friday 16th July Break up at 2.00pm

Science and Engineering

Cheltenham Science Festival Trip An action packed day at Cheltenham Sci-ence Festival was enjoyed by 40 members of the After School Science and Engineering Club. First up was a code-making and deci-phering challenge run by GCHQ and STEM-WORKS staff, who were extremely im-pressed with the ingenuity and teamworking skills displayed by all the teams. However, the winning team consisting of Ben Darwent, Tom Kirkman and Tom Wise, look to have the brightest futures in possible espionage! The EDF Arena tent in Imperial Gardens then played host to an explosive Flash-Bang Show with Dr Frank Mair from Manchester University Chemistry Department. This fa-mous show lived up to its billing and drew lots of oohs and aahs from the audience. Finally, the day was completed with a di-verse selection of activities in the Discovery Zone. This ranged from decommissioning nuclear power stations, to presenting the weather on TV, building flood de-fences, experi-menting with yeast, con-structing circuits and completing the Impact Trail to obtain loads of freebies, the most popular being the GCHQ frisbee (although one of these was left adorning a tree in Imperial Gardens!). This highly educational day cele-brated the enthusiasm students have shown for Science and Engineering during their participation in the various activities under-taken in this flourishing club.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Update Year 10 Bronze Expedition Five groups of Year 10 students took on their initial practice expedition, hiking 30km

from Chedworth to Bourton, whilst camping overnight at Folly Farm. The cool sunny weather proved ideal hiking weather for the first day of the expe-dition with several groups util-ising the conditions to the full and exploring much more of the Cotswolds than they had initially anticipated! This left them rather tired at the end of the day. After setting-up camp and

practising their cooking skills (with varying degrees of suc-cess) the teams prepared

for the second day of their expedition with a good nights sleep. Early morning rain failed to dampen their morale and despite aching limbs and blisters they all battled back to school eventually...The teams are now busy honing their navigational skills and preparing for their assessed expedition in July. Many thanks are due to Mr Sweetlove, Mrs Ellis, Miss Hanks, Miss Griffiths, Miss Bishop and as ever to Dr Major and Mr Smith.

PART TIME LIBRARY ASSISTANT

(To cover maternity leave)

Required from 2010 a library assistant to assist with the smooth running of the school

library, term time only, hours negotiable. Some experience of Heritage Library Sys-

tem an advantage but not essential as train-ing will be given. Typing skills, computer literacy, some knowledge of literature and the ability to work with children essential.

There is the possibility of some other work for a suitable candidate.

Please apply in writing together with a CV as soon as possible to the Headteacher