Some 5600 students applied and only 76 reached the final at Wembley Stadium and we were part of it, along with Coca-Cola and Nick Hewer. It began with an enrichment we thought looked “cool” and ended with a special encounter with Alan Sugar’s right hand man.

For the Real Business Challenge we were asked to form a creative company, to develop a new sustainable healthy juice brand to present it to Coca-Cola Enterprises. The brief we were set was to invent a new, sustainable healthy juice brand that has clear health benefits for the consumer. The juice brand had to be original – with an original brand name, logo and slogan. It had to be presented in a 500ml package and have an on-pack promotion that - in some way - encourages healthy lifestyles. We had to think about the ingredients of our drink and what qualities those ingredients have.

Our product name was Limberry which was a healthy juice made from fresh berries with a hint of lime. After several weeks of working on our juice product the team had to present to a “Dragon’s Den” style panel along with 3 other teams that had also been doing the enrichment that term. On the day of the presentation one of our team was off school , but we had some tricks up our sleeve. I had made the drink at home on the morning of the presentation and when we entered the judging room with a taster for the panel it blew the judges away. We were desperate to win but we knew we were against some stiff competition.

The next day we had to meet Mrs Hawley to find out which team had given the best presentation and would be entered with Coca-Cola for an opportunity to go to a regional final. It was between us and “Fridge Fruits” but when Mrs Hawley announced the winning

team was “Limberry” we all screamed with excitement. Our entry was put forward to Coca-Cola in December and just before the Christmas holidays the school received an email congratulating us on reaching the regional final in Derby on the 5th February.

But this was only the first step, on the day of the regional final we all had to meet at school at 7.30am and Mrs Post drove us in

the school minibus to Derby County Football Stadium. When we arrived we were shown to one of the function rooms which was full of schools from the East Midlands region. A man called Bill arrived and welcomed us and explained our challenge. At first we thought “not a chance” but then we had a team talk and we were determined to win. A couple of hours had passed and already we had written and recorded a radio advert in a real recording studio and we were practicing for the big presentation.

Each team had to give a four minute presentation to a judging panel on how they would choose to promote the Special Olympics, which are the Olympic Games for people with learning disabilities. Our presentation was next to the last and it was nerve wrecking waiting to go up to present in front of the whole room but we were still confident we could win. The judges left the room to deliberate and to choose the best team. When the

by Rhys hill, yeaR 9

Continued on Page 4

Uppingham Community CollegeA Specialist Technology Academy

Newsletter: April 2013

PRINCIPAL’SMessageDear Parents & Guardians,

As we approach this Easter holiday I would like to update you with the plans for the college’s future development to provide outstanding opportunities for all our students. We are about to embark on an exciting new phase in the history of the college – one that should provide significant changes in what we can offer our young people to enhance their educational experience.

You will, I hope, recall the Future Vision information that was sent out to you some time ago. We wish to create a learning environment that will enhance and extend our curriculum provision and ensure that all our students experience the best that we can offer.

The development of a second indoor sports facility, state of the art Science facilities, improved and enhanced performing arts spaces and a new 6 classroom block to replace our existing Maths mobiles are all possibilities that we are currently exploring.

It will require a great deal of external funding to achieve these ambitious targets. Some of this will come from the college’s own reserves, some from designated funding streams such as Sport England, but much of it will require significant fundraising. To facilitate the realisation of this the Governors have created a Future Vision Steering Group. The parents who attended the Parent Forum on this topic have agreed to reignite the Parent and Friends Association to support the projects. The role of the Steering Group is to ‘support the Principal and Senior Leadership Team in turning the college’s ‘Future Vision’ into reality. Its purpose is to ensure, on behalf of the Trustees and Governing Body, that there is a cohesive development plan in place and raise the funds necessary to execute it.’

This is a significant step change for the future of the college and will provide exciting opportunities for our current and future students.

If you would like to offer your support for this project please email me on principal@ucc.rutland.sch.uk for more information.

Have an enjoyable Easter holiday.

Regards

Jan TurnerImportANt term DAtes

APRIL11th

teRm begins

yR 8 giRls hPV immunisations

12th

yR 10 & 11 english moCk gCse (am)15th-19th

musiC instRumental lessons staRt this week

16th-17th

yR 11 gCse Pe exam

17th

yR 11 sPRing PRofiles home

19th

yR 10 danCe leadeRshiP tRiP

23Rd -24th yR 11 gCse aRt exam

25th

yRs 7&8 JunioR maths Challenge

28th

yR 7/8/9 Pe tRiP to wembley aRena - basketball final

29th

yR 10 fRenCh gCse ContRolled sPeaking

29th-3Rd

yR 10 fRenCh gCse ContRolled wRiting

30th

yR 10 fRenCh gCse ContRolled sPeaking

MAY1st

yR 10 fRenCh gCse ContRolled sPeaking

2nd

yR 10 sPanish gCse ContRolled sPeaking

3Rd

yR 10 geRman gCse ContRolled sPeaking

6th

bank holiday

7th-10th

yR 10 geRman & sPanish gCse ContRolled wRiting

yR 10 exams

13th fRenCh listening & Reading

yRs 10 & 11 Religious eduCation (full & shoRt CouRse)

14th

aRt modeRation

biology (unit 2 & 3)Pe (unit 3)

tRiangulaR athletiCs – ks3 CoRby

15th yR 8 extended PRofiles home

15th-16th

yR 10 exams

16th

Pe (unit 5)17th

CitizenshiP (full CouRse)sPanish listening & Reading

18th-25th

yR 9 fRenCh exChange - to fRanCe

20th

ChemistRy (unit 2 & 3)english liteRatuRe (unit 1)

21st

business studies (shoRt CouRse)22nd

CitizenshiP (full CouRse)dRama (unit 1)

geRman listening & Reading

yR 7 extended PRofiles home

yR 8 PaRents’ eVening

23Rd

PhysiCs (unit 2 & 3)24th

musiC listening

24th

last day of teRm

27th-31st

summeR half teRm

JUnE3Rd

teRm begins

Why WIsepAy?

• You can see that your child is eating here and what/when they are eating.

• Easy to use, an email address is all that is needed.

• Secure instant payment that can be linked to any bank or credit card.

• Trips, lunches, buses, music fees and nursery fees can be paid online. Other items being added all the time.

If you don’t already use wisepay and wish to do so, email finance@ucc.rutland.sch.uk with

2

BUs pAss pAymeNts

The deadline for the Summer Term Bus Passes was Friday 22nd March. Terms 3 and 4 should be received by 15 December 2012. The routes are...

UCC1 roUte

Market Harborough, Opp Police Station, Leicester Rd - (7.30am), Centre (the Square) - (7.35am)Sutton Bassett, Bottom of Sutton Lane - (7.42am), 5 Main Street- (7.44am)Weston by Welland, Ashley Rd/N Lea Opp Post Box - (7.46am)Ashley, Main Street, The George Pub - (7.50am)East Carlton, A427 Bus Shelter - (7.59am)Middleton, Berry Rd / Bury Close - (8.04am)Cottingham, Outside No 8 High Street - (8.06am), Rockingham Road - (8.08am)Rockingham, Gretton Rd / The Cottons Junction - (8.12am) Uppingham Community College, Arrive AM - (8.20am)Uppingham Community College, Leave PM - Mon & Wed - (2.50pm), Tues & Thurs - (3.35pm), Fri - (2.00pm)

UCC2 roUte

Houghton on the Hill, A47 Uppingham Rd Bus Stop, Opp Rose & Crown - (7.40am)Billesdon, Leicester Rd / Long Lane, Bus Shelter - (7.50am)Uppingham Community College, Arrive AM - (8.20am)Uppingham Community College, Leave PM - Mon & Wed - (2.50pm), Tues & Thurs - (3.35pm), Fri - (2.00pm)

Summer Term bus permit’s will be available from Monday 25th March for those students that have paid. Students will need to surrender their old permit in order to obtain their new one from student services.

CreAtIve INterpretAtIoNs of the fIrst WorlD WAr

by mRs RogeRs

The History Department were once again inundated with amazing History timeline projects this month with many going that extra mile to be both original and creative. Students were given the brief to create a timeline of the key events of the First World War. They were told to produce this as creatively as they could. With this in mind three pupils in particular pushed the boundaries. Amy Shorley

combined her passion for cake baking with History to produce her interpretation of the Battle of the Somme Thiepval memorial out of cake and icing. This was topped off with the timeline being produced on sugar paper and stuck to the cake. A masterpiece that also tasted delicious according to the Year Nine students who benefited from it!

Ben Powis combined his interest in art and design to produce a model 1st World War trench including barbed wire and mud with the key events as flags positioned around the trench.

Art and History also combined with Felix Colbert’s interpretation of a First World War trench. It is a simple and poignant white structure with black and red splashes representing the amount of blood and death that were experienced during trench warfare. The timeline draped as a banner spanning the width of the trench completes this masterpiece.

I am consistently astounded and impressed by the level of creativity and outstanding effort that have been put into the Year Nine projects this term. Those pictured here are a representation of a year group’s work that is totally inspired and shows the level of brilliance and depth of understanding that our students can produce.

CromWell– hero or vIllAIN – yeAr eIght DeCIDe

Students are consistently asked to make decisions in their History lessons using a variety of evidence. This term, the Year Eight students have been deciding whether Cromwell was a

Hero or a Villain. In order to demonstrate their understanding they were asked as a homework project to create a Cromwell puppet. The aim of this was to show the two sides of Cromwell and they presented the plays they had written in class. Once again, the Year Eight students rose to the occasion and 8KR, 8WW, 8LR and 8PR produced some spectacular puppets. By far the largest was produced by Thea Crutchley and Isla Collins who built a life size model of Cromwell. Inspired by the Horrible Histories famous Charles II rap, Elliot Green, Theo Keightley and Tom Wright wrote and performed a Cromwell rap to explain Cromwell’s personality. Most importantly, the students understood in a creative and active way that historical interpretation is open to debate and dependent upon the evidence used. This is a key historical concept that is sometimes difficult to grasp but made that bit easier when the learning takes place with a creative approach.

3

winners were announced as Uppingham Community College we could not believe it. Mrs Post cheered loudly from the back of the room, and I suppose it was up to me as CEO of the company to receive the award. I went up to the podium shaking with nerves and then ran back to my team with a leap of joy. We were so proud of ourselves, congratulating each other, thanking Mrs Hawley. It was amazing we were going to the national finals.

On 5th March, one month later we were on our way. We caught the train to London from Peterborough station and before we knew it we were checking in our rooms at the Premier Inn at Wembley. We had dinner at Planet Hollywood then went to the West End to watch Wicked, the musical. The whole evening was amazing and everything was paid for by Coca-Cola.

The following morning we had to be at Wembley for 9am where we were given

a short tour of the stadium and then into a room full of the final 76 students for our new challenge. We had to set up a display of our Limberry product in the form of a market stall from where we would pitch our idea to members of the Coca-Cola judging panel. We also had to create a new presentation and promotional materials to

link our juice to the Special Olympics. We got to work allocating different roles and Coca-Cola allocated us a business mentor for the challenge, she helped us put together our sales pitch. It is very intense and competitive especially when you can see the quality of the work that some of the teams are producing around you.

Nick Hewer of the Apprentice and Countdown was the special guest for the day and he visited our table and gave us a few tips on the design of our juice bottle which we were glad to take on board. He especially liked our sales pitch. Then it was time to get up in front of the whole room and the panel of judges to present our Special Olympics campaign. The judges were Karen Wallen, Chief Executive of Special Olympics Great Britain, Amy Leonard, Chief Executive of The Transformation Trust, Joey Tabone, Chief Executive of Start! and Coca-Cola Enterprise Managing Director, Simon Baldry.

Everything went well but sadly we didn’t get into the final three, the winners were Strathaven Academy from Scotland who to be fair did a fantastic job. But we believe we were all winners to get so far. We had a great experience and we all learnt so much through this extraordinary process. We would just like to thank Mrs Hawley who made this whole thing possible, and we would recommend it to anyone. Thankyou – the Limberry Team (Rhys Hill, Tristan Hubbard, Alex Mapletoft, Lucy Mann, Ben Drury and Will Partington).

4

leICestershIreCoUNty CoUNCIl

Go GoLd AwARds CEREMonYon 28th FEbRUARY 2013

The Leicestershire County Council run a scheme where talented athletes in Leicestershire can receive funds towards the expenses for their particular sporting events and also receive free membership to their local gym. Elise Whearity has received an award of £300 for the year for playing netball for the East Midlands Region.

the DUke of eDINBUrgh’s

AWArD

These students have completed their bronze and silver award. If you are interested in doing your Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, see Mrs Thomas.

BroNze AWArDBen Mayers

Kate GrunwaldNatalia Sanz-Dawson

Ella BrahmachariFreya Wedderkop

Hollie DenneyCullen Loftus

sIlver AWArDJoseph Cunningham

Jonti Brogan (Ex-Pupil)

NoW offerINg theJohN mUIr AWArD

At present UCC has met the criteria for the students working on the project to gain the John Muir Award.

Students are working together to turn a piece of disused school field into a useable worthwhile location, which students will be able to access either by walking through or cycling along. The project will be on going and is hoped would

benefit many students for years to come. We are discovering the beauty of the untouched area, what wild life inhabitats it, how to conserve it, while opening it up for others to use.

treNt vAlley kArt ClUB(tvkC) WINter serIes

Teddy Wilson raced against 66 competitors in his IAME Cadet class in the Trent Valley Kart Club (TVKC) Winter Series at PFi Circuit during the weekend of 2nd-3rd March and won. He has now won four out of his last five outings - good preparation for his major Championships which start next month.

fIrst AID INterNAtIoNAl

The follow students have successfully passed the First Aid international Community Course:

Victoira Forbes

Toby Williams

Tadd Robson

Odin Richards

Jess Millbank

Henry Bray

Henrietta Durden

Elizabeth Parker

Alexander Wright

Phoebe Lawton

Olivia Gerard

Lydia Thompson-O’Connor

Karalaini Kataiwai

Ellie Joyce

Charlotte Clarke

Ariane Joudrey

Angela Wilson

Alec Hill

Tom Horton-Bell

Toby Rees

Oliver Upton

Megan Hickman

James Clarke

Henry Doe

Emma Thomas

Brandon Finlay Wilson

5

shoW my homeWorkby mR andeRson

From the start of the Summer Term, all homework that is set for students in Years 7 to 10 will be available on the Show my Homework website. This shows clearly the due date of the homework and includes details of the task, and may have other resources or links attached.

To find your child’s homework on the Show my Homework Website simply follow the steps below:

1. Go to the UCC website.

2. Click on the ‘Parent Links’ drop down menu at the top, then select ‘Homework’ .This will take you to the Show My Homework Calendar for UCC.

3. You will be able to see all the homework for the current week. You may then filter the results for a year group, or any particular class or teacher.

4. Click on any homework ‘box’ for further details of the task and any attachments.

We have trialled this system for 2 terms with Year 7, and staff, students and parents have found it to be a very useful additional support to the Homework Planner.

hoW Do We mArk Work At UCC?

You may have noticed that we have introduced a revised way of marking and feeding back to students this term. The aim of this is to make it more clear to students what they are doing well and what they need to improve on. Students will routinely receive a ‘What Went Well (www.)’, and an ‘Even better If… (ebi.)’ comment on appropriate work. This may be classwork, homework or an assessment piece.

The chart opposite shows the marking symbols you should expect to see on your child’s work:

self-AssesseD means that the work has been marked by the student using guidance given by the teacher, such as mark schemes or success criteria.

peer-AssesseD means that the work has been marked by another student, again using guidance provided by the teacher. This has been shown to really improve students’ understanding of the work.

verBAlly AssesseD means that the teacher has provided verbal comments on the work, such as suggestions for improvements. This is more likely to be used in subjects where there is on-going project work, such as DT.

For more detail, please go to the college website and click on ‘The Curriculum’, then ‘Assessment’, and then ‘How Do We Mark Work at UCC?’.

mAths Booster ClAsses

Year 11

Maths Revision Surgeries

Held every Friday2.00pm - 3.00pm

All welcome

ImportANt NotICefrom the

mAths DepArtmeNt We are finding an increasing number of students, in all years, not arriving to Maths lessons correctly equipped to work. Equipment

is available at the school shop at competitive prices. This includes scientific calculators, recommended by the Maths Department, priced at £7 and Maths sets at £1.50. Pencil cases and calculators should be named clearly.

yeAr 11

bEst In sChooL

Becci Glover

bEst In YEAR

Becci Glover

GoLd

Becci GloverMatthew Cocking

sILvER

David ConingsbyGeorge Wright

Gemma HillKiera Atton

bRonzE

Adam DalbyArthur Cunningham

Daniel Webster

yeAr 10

bEst In YEAR

Megan Scott

sILvER

Megan ScottSam Williams

bRonzE

Charlotte HillJarom Cheek

yeAr 9

bEst In YEAR

Toby Leah

sILvER

Toby LeahBenjamin TaylorAngela Wilson

BronzeSam Rossell

Alex MapletoftScarlett Kennedy

Ukmt INtermeDIAte mAthsChAlleNge resUlts

Congratulations to the following students who achieved certificates in the Maths Challenge event held in February 2013.

6

regIoNAl teAmmAths ChAlleNge

By Lucy Collins, 9ASH

On February 27th, a group of four students (Ellie Dunk, Robbie English, Lucy Collins & Jonathan Collins) took part in the Regional Maths Challenge at Ratcliffe College. We were there with 28 other schools from around Leicestershire, Rutland and surrounding counties taking part in four rounds of group and paired challenges.

The day tested our problem solving and communication skills within the group and pairs, as well as our mathematical knowledge. We weren’t too optimistic as we were caught out by prime numbers in the warm up questions! In the first activity we had 45 minutes to solve 10 questions as a group, we thought we had a good start with 54 out of 60 marks.

In the next challenge we completed a maths crossword in pairs, relying on each other’s answers as parts of the clues to our own. In the afternoon there were several short ‘maths relays’ when we were getting very frustrated at missing the first answers and therefore the following answers were incorrect.

We finished the day with an ultimate maths relay where we had to answer as many questions in pairs as we could in around 30 minutes, not being able to give the other pair their question until ours was right on the first or second go.

We were very pleased with finishing in 13th place and I think we all enjoyed the day, especially fathoming out our foam cube puzzles on the way back to UCC!

WorlD Book DAythuRsday 7th maRCh

by mRs duffy, head of english

Students in the English department enthusiastically dressed up and spoke about their favourite book or character for World Book Day. Year 7 were tasked to either dress up or bring in an object relating to a book. They then presented this to the class who were allowed three questions to guess the book/character. There was a real mix of books showcased throughout the day, highlighting a diverse range of reading materials ranging from ‘Just William’ to the infamous ‘Gruffalo’. Both students and staff seemed to especially love the opportunity to reminisce about books they had loved when they were younger and we will be following the most popular books up in future reading lessons.

AUthor vIsIt‘geoRgia twynham’

by ChaRlotte ChRistie, 8Jl

On Wednesday 27th of February, self-published author, Georgia Twynham, visited UCC for periods 1 and 2 to talk to a small group of gifted and talented students. This

group consisted of mainly Years 8 and 9, who were all fascinated and thrilled to have another author visit the school.

Georgia was a funny, excitable and friendly person who was delighted to tell her story of how she became an author. Her story was full of ups and downs; when she got

the inspiration to become an author from J.K Rowling, to when she finally published her first book ‘The Thirteenth’. First she explained how while she was in school she had difficulty reading, and only when she became a mother did she start reading more. She bought a children’s book for her young child, and read it. She enjoyed it so much she started to read horror books by Stephen King, but got a little bit frightened! She turned to fantasy books and has read the Hunger Games, all of the Harry Potter series and many more. She also said that as a child she was a great fan of Star Wars, and that sci-fi had a great impact on her writing career.

Georgia has written three books so far and is now working on the fourth, at the moment her books are; The Thirteenth, The Turncoats and Nyteria Rising.

After Georgia’s visit the students are keen to carry on writing, and we all hope she does well in finishing her series. Thanks Georgia, and Good Luck!

7

Well done to all Year 11 GCSE students who completed their final controlled assessment piece on February 25th. Students were moderated by our elected AQA moderator and also chief moderator for the exam board. Despite the pressure, our students demonstrated great skill and professionalism and performed some exceptional work. They were so impressive that the chief moderator requested the films of the performances so they could be used for training purposes.

Particularly mentioned by the examiners were Tom Wharton and Anya Loomes for their emotional rollercoaster portrayal of the pub landlord and landlady in Jim Cartwright’s ‘Two’. Tom and Anya had the audience laughing hysterically at their constant bickering as a married couple running a ‘typical northern pub’, and then brought them smashing back to reality as their final scene revealed a family tragedy which had torn them apart. Also mentioned was Dec Moran, from the same performance, with his portrayal of the Irish charmer, and con artist, Moth contrasted with his sinister and disturbing portrayal of Roy. Finally, Charlie Lilley for his hilarious portrayal of long suffering wimp Mr Iger, who finally stands up to his bully wife.

We are delighted with what the students have achieved over their 2 years on the course, and the moderation day was a real privilege to be part of. We are incredibly proud of everyone that performed on that day.

yeAr 10 CoNtrolleD AssessmeNt DAte

Thursday 23rd May is a date for the diary. Year 10 GCSE Drama students will perform their second controlled assessment piece on this evening. The performance is a physical theatre piece influenced by the work they created during their recent Frantic Assembly workshop. Family, as ever, will be invited to watch.

stUDeNt voICe teAm

This term, a group of students have been working towards developing a student voice team. These students have given up some of their own time to work through a training programme to develop their insight and

knowledge as a learner, and how this can be used to further develop learning and teaching. They have looked at learning and teaching from different perspectives and have even had a go at planning their own lessons in the role of a teacher. They have worked incredibly hard and we are looking forward to working alongside them as they develop their skills further and put their findings into practice. Thank you and well done to all the students involved.

thE stUdEnt voICE tEAM ARE:

Fay Wilkins, Amy Hall, Tom Glover, Toby Leah, Rachel Cross, Lucy Collins, Alexa Smith, Heather Newton, Laura Gardner, Aime Hornby, Poppy Culbert, Kai Chan, Caitlin Steward, Jonathan Collins and Jamie Duggan.

tom whaRton

and anya loomes

yeAr 11CoNtrolleD AssessmeNts

8

spotlIght 2013by mR Rhodes

I would just like to say a massive well done to all the students involved in this years spotlight showcase. The students auditioned for a place in the annual spotlight dance show and the listed students were given a place. They have worked incredibly hard over a limited amount of time and we are really proud of what they have done so far. It is great to be attending the showcase with such a range of dance talent and style, ranging from FYI’s cheeky Charleston, all the way to Route 66’s impressive individual and iconic style. Good luck in the showcase everyone.

frANtIC AssemBly

On March 7th we had our annual visit from Frantic Assembly, who came in to work with our Year 10 GCSE Drama students. Frantic Assembly are a professional theatre company who specialise in creating theatre from movement based work, devising performance solely from movement in the first instance before layering it with action, character, plot and dialogue.

Our students took part in a 3 hour workshop, working with Naomi Said, one of Frantic Assembly’s most experienced and skilled choreographers. The workshop was aimed at introducing students to the style of physical theatre in preparation for their next controlled assessment piece.

Naomi really put the students through their

paces, starting with a 30 minute cardio vascular warm up, and then running through a number of Frantic Assembly’s most famous activities which are aimed at stimulating ideas and creating performance.

We had very high expectations of our students during the day and we are very pleased to say that, as ever, they really rose to the challenge and created some outstanding work. Naomi commented on their commitment focus and professionalism throughout the 3 hours.

We are very proud to say that we have strong relationships with Frantic Assembly and our students proved why the theatre company are always so keen to come back and work with us each year.

Well done to all the Year 10 students who took part.

At the end of last term a group of Year 10s attended a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) event entitled the “Big Bang”. The objective was to showcase the wide variety of careers in STEM and along with the opportunity to meet prospective employers, there were many exciting activities for the Year 10s to get involved in.

The day kicked off with a hovercraft ride and ended with calculating the velocity of a gun shot! In between they established

that Georgia Hart had the cleanest hands in the group, simulated the layers of skin by making trifle (and eating it), dismantled and reassembled PCs and lay on cushions on the floor of a planetarium learning about the physiological changes in astronauts. In a reaction time challenge it took 4 of them to beat the record of a single person. Megan Scott achieved the best single person score in the group, George Hibbitt won the Wii fit challenge and Sam Williams had the closest estimate for the velocity of a bullet – 1064 mph c.f. with the actual velocity of 1077 mph!

The Year 10s received many compliments from the staff at New College, and the team involved in the Big Bang activity, for their enthusiasm and their willingness to get involved in all of the activities. They demons t ra ted great teamwork on the group activities and their competitive natures kept pushing them to try and beat the activity records. The net outcome was that a lot of fun was had by all!

WorD gAmes

“Students have been enjoying playing Scrabble, Boogle Flash and PDQ at Wednesday Word Games lunchtime sessions, which have been held in the library throughout this winter.”

Fiona GinnLucy Ginn

Katie JacksonNicola Chattaway

Elise Whearity, Bella ChapmanBecci GloverAlice Dickens

Lucy SaddingtonKaty YoungRobyn Ryan

Sophia GinnsRoisin MoranJessica Homer

Jenna WoodsElle GallagherHope Millard

Maddie TophamHolly Rhodes

Sanjna ShardaTanja Kovacevic

Millie BoonGeorgia Lorentzen

Ciara BradleySian Carroll

Lucy McFadyenMegan Davis

Laura Gardner

spotlIght performers

new College stamfoRd

by mRs Robson

9

On March 7th, Mr Chambers was invited along with 3 of his

students to present at the annual Naace Strategic Conference. Each year ICT teachers come together to discuss the use of ICT in schools. This year we were invited to present our use of Kodu in the classroom.

Our year 7 students have been learning how to develop their programming skills in the classroom and they have started by using Kodu. They learn to develop computer games with the use of X-Box controllers. They learn to understand the basics such as “When this happens, the program will do this”.

Three of our year 7 students, William Rhodes, Dawid Czajka and Evan Jones have been using this in many different games and are getting an entry ready for the Kodu Kup competition we’re entering as a school.

William, Dawid and Evan presented their use of ICT and stood up in front of a large crowd of adults. Everyone was very impressed with their confidence and their presentation skills. They were very smart and were even showing some of the adults around the event how they could improve their skills in Kodu.

The ICT department would like to offer a special thank you to these students for supporting this and well done on your successful presentation. You can see more pictures from the event by going to the new ICT blog www.uccict.wordpress.com.

ks4 spANIsh eXChANge7th-14th FEbRUARY 2013

by soPhie JaCkson, 10tlw& hollie maRRiott, 10em

On Thursday 7th February, we arrived at school at 5am in the morning, from there we made our way to Stansted Airport and arrived in Malaga at 11.30am Spanish time. We were greeted by Mrs Soto and the head teacher of the Spanish school (IES Alba Longa), we were all so excited and it was so hot compared to England! Then Mrs Soto, the head teacher, Mr Duffin, Mrs Park, Lydia, Celia, Hollie, Lucy, Bexi, Karl, Joe Bennett, Joe Bell and I made our way to the school.

The school was a lot different to UCC and it was weird to be stared at by everyone but then we were greeted by our Spanish exchange person and their families and then went to our new homes for the next week. All of them were so kind and friendly throughout the whole week, and all of us made friends with people who weren’t on the Exchange as well.

The first evening we all met in Granada, the town for a sort of word hunt, both the English students and our exchange people were put in pairs and then two or more pairs went around trying to find the places which meet the clues. It was a really good way to start talking with our people, making friends and getting to know the town. On Friday we all went into school, and did some lessons and then sport after lunch with the whole bilingual

class, the school doesn’t have a uniform or a PE uniform so they do sport in the clothes they went to school in. At break/lunch it was weird how everyone from all years just stared at us but they were all nice and funny so it was all good. Over the weekend we all did different things but on Saturday night we all went bowling which was fun and on Sunday evening we all went to this exercise park which was fun because we don’t have them in England.

On Monday we went round this old Muslim palace and then went to a park instead of the beach which was good because we could all talk to each other. On Tuesday we went to the Alhambra Palace which is one of the most well-known tourist attractions in Spain, and then on Wednesday it was Valentine’s Day and Hollie’s birthday! We went to the Sierra Nevada which is a huge mountain range and the largest ski resort in Spain. There we had a tour round CAR which is a high intensity sports centre where Olympic teams train and then we went on a big walk with special paddle shoes on and then sledging which was really fun! It was cold/hot at the same time but was just a big laugh really. Then at night it was a costume party with the whole bilingual class again, everyone made an effort and it was funny to see everyone dancing. On Thursday 15th February we all met at the school, said goodbye to everyone and went to the airport to go home, it was really sad but we all had an amazing experience, made new friends and have great memories.

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CoUNty INDoorCrICket fINAls

Our Year 7 Cricket Team recently represented Rutland in the U13 Indoor Cricket Finals which took place at Leicester. Having beaten Catmose College to qualify for the event the team travelled across and played against teams who were a year older than them.

Despite this they managed to push both Lancaster Boys and Crown Hills close in the their group matches eventually losing both by narrow margins. The boys enjoyed the event and are looking forward to challenging for the finals when they get to Year 8.

trIANgUlArCross CoUNtry

The annual Rutland Triangular Cross Country took place recently at Oakham Rugby Club.

Students from all year groups ran for the college on what proved to be testing courses and conditions.

Cross CoUNtry CoUNty ChAmpIoNshIps

at RatCliffe College

2nd febRuaRy 2013

Left to right: Caitriona Deely, Brayden Morrow, William Rhodes, Jay Francois, Adam Cooper, Matthew Mustard and Jona Toroca.

kArAte

On Sunday 13th February David Dalby entered the national black belt Karate Championships, he came 3rd in team katas and won a medal and 3rd in individual katas and won a trophy.

feNCINg

Janni Vizma represented UCC at the Leicestershire and Rutland Junior Schools’ Fencing competition recently and won Silver in the Under 13 Boys category. He fenced brilliantly and was a credit to the school. Daniel Webster has qualified for the British Youth Championships Finals after competing in Mansfield (The Samworth Church Academy) at the U16 Boys East Midlands BYC Qualifier last Saturday. He now goes to Sheffield in May at the Institute of Sport.

BADmINtoN trIp

Members of our Key Stage 3 Badminton teams were lucky enough to receive free tickets to the recent All England Badminton Championships which took place at the NIA, Birmingham. These students pictured above watched matches involving the number 1 and 2 seeds in

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the world as well as some incredible double and mixed doubles matches. Following on from Olympian Anthony Clark’s recent visits the trip was a great experience of watching top level badminton played and the speed and athleticism involved in the matches.

roWINg teAm

Melton and Rutland schools held a secondary Rowing competition for the first time this month. Teams from UCC, Catmose, Casterton, John Ferneley, Longfield and Belvoir High School took part in the event which was staged at Catmose College.

UCC students showed themselves to have tremendous potential in the event with the Key Stage 4 team winning the event and the Key Stage 3 team coming in second. Teams were made up of 4 boys and 4 girls and raced in individual and team events and have now qualified for the County finals which are taking place at Loughborough University as part of School Games finals day.

leICester tIgers trIp

Students from UCC attended the recent match between Leicester Tigers v Saracens. Tigers dominated the first half but Saracens put in a tremendous second half to run out 32 v 27 winners.

rUgBy UpDAte

This has been a busy term of rugby matches with all five of our year groups fielding teams.

Our Year 7 team (photo 165) have shown great enthusiasm with over 20 players turning up for each match and are unbeaten so far.

The Year 8 team are currently undefeated and are in the County Cup final against Welland Park this week.

The Year 9 team have won all their league games but were unfortunate to lose their County Cup game to Lancaster Boys 19 v 26.

The Year 10 have struggled to find opponents to play them but won their only full match so far 27 v 10 against John Ferneley.

The Year 11 team had a good run in the County Cup but came up against a particularly good Robert Smyth side in the semi-final losing 50 v 0.

NetBAll UpDAte

This has been another busy term for the Netball teams. The photo’s show the Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 teams at their recent matches with Catmose College.

The Year 7 and 8 teams have had mixed fortunes winning two and losing two games so far.

The Year 9, 10, and 11 teams all continued their winning ways and have a great chance of winning their respective leagues going into this week’s final round of fixtures against Belvoir High School.

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